[mini cupcakes for the teenager]

My eldest son turns thirteen tomorrow, so a day with his mates at the indoor skate park is planned, and I shall merely tag along as the food and drink carrier.

I have yet to make the famous 'scooby snacks', that went off a treat at my Mum's wedding in April, however, I have triumphed with mini cupcakes. I used my new food processor to make the cake mixture, and whatever magic it wielded resulted in the most delicious, moist and perfect textured cakey mouthfuls of yumminess!

No doubt the boys will 'inhale' these little cakes inbetween carving it up on the quarter pipe and the mini bowl...

[Courtney’s special hat]

Our dancing instructor is moving to Alice Springs, and we joked at our last class for the year she’d need a hat with corks for the flies. But not any ordinary hat ... hers would need bling! Well, I thought I'd make one!!

[teacher’s pet part 2]

My eldest had his Year 7 Graduation tonight, marking the end of his primary school years.

Here's the card we made for his teacher:

He's really going to miss her...

[teacher’s pet]

It’s the last week of school for my kids this coming week, and I only get a gift for the teacher if my boys say they want to ... so here’s the first creation for my littlest man's teacher, who just loves owls!

The gift box is handmade and it's decorated with a Christmas decoration that's intertwined around the box’s ribbon. I love what my Grade 2er wrote on the inside of the card for his teacher. Nawwww, so cute.

[quilled Chrissy decorations]

It's such a busy, busy time of the year ... with end of year celebrations happening and yet to happen! 

Tonight I'm heading out to dinner with my girlfriends and we've reached a little milestone ... we all met when our kids were in preschool and this year marks when those little preschoolers finish primary school! Where did the time go?? Over the last 7 years we've lost a few of the 'originals' who've moved away, but essentially it's still the same group of friends, which I think is rather cool.

Anyways, I managed to whip up some cute little quilled decorations for everyone last night - momentarily escaping the work and other chores to find a little Christmas spirit. :)

'Tis the season... :)

[Christmas papier mache bowls]

I was again wondering why I proposed such long-winded projects for my Year 2 art gig on Wednesday arvos ... especially as this one took four weeks for all the kids to glue two layers of newspaper into the plastic bowl mould. Thankfully this week I could finally undercoat/seal them at home and then the kids got to decorate them yesterday. 

I will have to take photos of the designs the kids have done and show you, but for now, you'll have to be satisfied with my prototype design I did as an example...

BTW (this bowl won't be gracing my Christmas table - the teacher really wanted one, so it's hers now!)

Bowls, bowls, everywhere... took a couple of days to do two coats of undercoat/primer so no newsprint showed through!

[patchwork owl proposal]

I've put together a proposal to create a group art project with my son's Grade 2 class – some wall art to go up at school! The kids will decorate the 'feathers' of the owl with their own design and will be made of laser cut MDF. The eyes, 'horns', beak and wings will be made of 3D recycled objects, such as hubcaps for eyes, showerheads for the centre of the eye, and plate aluminium (or faux metal decorated MDF). The kid's pieces and the 'found objects' will be assembled by myself and another artist friend. 

As this year's Grade 2s won $1000 for the school to put towards an art project with their self portrait collaborative artwork, we're hoping to get the 'feathers' done before school finishes this year – before they're split up into different Grade 3 classes next year. Afterall, they won the prize!

Let's hope the Principal likes it and approves it soon!

[rediscovering my Tupperware]

I do love Tupperware ... so much so, that on the rare occasions I've been to a party I always get asked if I'd like to be a demonstrator. Not my thing I'm afraid, but I'll happily sing its praises to all that'll listen.

Wednesday night is always a bit mad in our house, as the boys have a TaeKwonDo class at 5.30pm, which unfortunately wreaks havoc with either eating or preparing dinner at a decent hour. Rather than have them pig out on bikkies before training, tonight I decided to make a 'Jel-Ring' pizza for them. I could prepare the 'pizza' ahead of time, and put it in the fridge until it was time to turn it out on a tray and cook in the oven (which only took 15 minutes). 

JEL-RING PIZZA

1 loaf of bread

1 tub pizza sauce* 

crushed pineapple

diced ham

1 small onion chopped

grated Mozarella cheese

(and any other filling you'd like)

*I made my own pizza sauce with tomato sauce, minced garlic, oregano and basil

Remove crusts from bread and spread with pizza sauce. 

Place a generous layer of cheese in the gel-ring. 

Cover the cheese layer with a layer of bread, sauce side to the cheese. 

Add another layer of cheese and a layer of each of the fillings. 

Cover with another layer of bread, sauce side to the fillings.

Push the bread down so the ingredients 'squash down into the mould'.

Repeat with another layer of cheese, fillings and finish with a final layer of bread.

Seal and refrigerate for at least half an hour. 

Turn out onto an oven tray (lined with baking paper), and place in a moderate oven until crisp.

So if you have one of these goodies that you 'bought on a whim' at a Tupperware party, why don't you try this quick snack or rush-hour dinner and you can rediscover your Tupperware too!

[winners are grinners]

Well the art prize tradition is alive and well in our family. My youngest son came away with 2nd prize for his sculpture at the Youth Art Awards tonight, and his classmate got 1st prize. Such happy boys, and finally they are stepping out of the shadow of both their older brothers who often did the 1st-2nd prize thing a few years back in the same awards. Just following a good tradition I say!

The other exciting news is that the group entry by their Grade 2 class also won 1st prize! How awesome is that?
The school now has $1000 to spend on art, so we'll be busy, busy, busy trying to see what wonderful art activity we can organise for the class before the end of the school year - which only has 8 weeks left!

[reminiscing with cake]

Bought a plain sponge at the shops, topped it whipped cream and sprinkled it with jelly crystals just like my Mum-in-law used to. Hubby took a bite and then smiled, as all the memories of his Mum came flooding back. Sometimes it's just nice to 'reflect' on what once was.

[muffins in the mail]

I have a very dear friend from my art college days who I hardly see, but we still stay in touch for birthdays, Christmas etc. Yesterday I happened to be thinking about her and how she was going, and then as if by magic the postie delivered a parcel from her. Serendipity!

I received a lovely card, and on the back was a recipe for Chocolate Muffins - so I made them this morning.

Here's the recipe:

p.s. I did find an error in the recipe though, in that they don't mention when to add the melted chocolate. I ended up just throwing in the chocolate buttons to make it a a choc chip version, but in hindsight, perhaps I should've either added a little more milk so the mixture was less ‘lumpy’ and I would've gotten a smoother and more rounded top to each muffin. Nevertheless, I'm sure they'll taste scrummy!

[first cariacture]

I got asked by a friend to do a cariacture, and replied to this request with, ‘It's not my strongest skill, but I'll give it a go’. It's a bit scary trying to capture someone’s likeness, portraits are a tricky business, and usually something I'm not game to have a go at for someone other than my own family. I’ve also had to keep reminding myself that a drawing of this nature is not meant to be an exact photographic replica of the subject, but capture an essence of the person. I don't think I ‘nailed it’, but am pretty happy with the results, and my good mate Mikey thinks it’s great, so that’s all that matters isn’t it? And he's promised me a nice drop of Chardonnay for my efforts. Happy days. :)

[kid's self portraits]

Very exciting! Last term, my son's Grade 2 class painted self portraits which are now all mounted onto a board ready to be delivered tomorrow as their group entry for the local Youth Art Awards. I think they did a fantastic job!

  

The children were asked to draw a self portrait expressing an emotion, either:

Happy, Sad, Surprised, Angry, Shy, Excited or Scared.

Artwork Description:

As a class, the children have found that everyone is a little bit different, but they have learned to fit in together and work as one. This piece shows this in a visual way. They also explored some new art techniques in applying salt to watercolours to create interesting patterns as the salt absorbed the water in the paint.

Awards night is on 19 October.

[brekky bars & chocolate hedgehogs]

I have a new ‘toy’ in the kitchen. A Tupperware ‘T-Bar’ set, which is basically a mould for home-made muesli bars. I've been experimenting with the recipes in the book that comes with it ... and the result must have turned out OK, because the bars I made last Saturday have been eaten already!

BREKKY BARS

3 vita-brit bars

1/4 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup rice bubbles

2 tbs LSA (Linseed, Sunflower & Almond Meal)*

40g butter

2 tbs golden syrup

Method:

Break up the vita-brits and mix with rolled oats, rice bubbles and LSA.

Melt the butter and syrup together and then combine with the dry ingredients.

Press into the mould and set for one hour in the fridge.

*You could always use some other crushed nuts instead.

I've been having a Brekky Bar broken up in a plate with vanilla yoghurt for breakfast - YUM!

CHOCOLATE HEDGEHOGS

100g granita biscuits

1/4 cup (45g) almonds*

180g milk or dark chocolate

40g butter

2 tbs golden syrup

Method:

Put the biscuits and almonds into a sandwich bag and then crush with a mallet (I use a meat tenderiser).

Melt the chocolate, butter and syrup together and then combine with the dry ingredients.

Press into the mould and set for one hour in the fridge.

I recommend cutting these bars into 3 pieces - they're a bit rich to have an entire bar in one sitting - plus it makes them last a few days longer before you have to make more! Great morning tea snack for the kid's lunchboxes, or with a cuppa at home. I think next time I make these I won't crush the biscuit up as finely as I have so far, then these hedgehogs should be even more ‘fudgier’.  :)

*I replaced the almonds for cashews the first time I made it, and also added a couple of tbs of diced tinned raspberries.

[cool 'Ness]

My youngest son has done a sculpture for the local Youth Art Awards next week. He made a foil structure in the basic shape (you can see his mini-prototype in the background of the photo above), and then put papier maché over the top. Once it was dry, he painted a layer of undercoat and then did the final paint job. 

It's called ‘Trashy the Seamonster’, not ‘Nessie’, which would be kinda cool.

[arty blog catchup]

Been very slack in the blogging world the past month ... too busy to stop and share all the amazing projects I've been working on ... not to mention packing for and going on a week's holiday on our little speedboat in Southern Moreton Bay. The weather was just perfect and I so wish I was still sitting bobbing in the ocean. But alas, reality has returned with a resounding ‘Thump!’

Just a quick photo catchup on what arty activities I've been up to these past few weeks...

Stage Prop for my son's Year 7 classes ‘Salvagé’ Recycled Fashion Parade performance: 

(I made the prop, but the kids did the painting under my supervision. Turned out so much better than I was expecting, and the smoke machine on stage looked fab.)

A 40th Birthday Card/Frame (with quilling embellishments): 

A Quilled 50th Birthday Card/Frame: 

...and opening night of my first group exhibition ‘Dare to Do Square’ at the Pine Rivers Regional Art Gallery at Strathpine in Brisbane: 

Above: My piece ‘The Meeting Place’. The exhibition is on display until 3 November 2012.

[happy father's day ... for yesterday]

It's been a little while since posts, as I've been so busy with deadlines, but thought I'd share this father's day project we've done with the Grade 2s these past two weeks.

This 'World's Greatest Dad' Trophy was filled with chocky's for Dad. I was inspired by this site for the concept, but I made a few modifications (to save drying time for paint) by making a pre-fabricated flat pack that the kids could cut out and assemble. (The experience of a graphic designer's packaging skills come in handy some time!)

I found an image of marble and then made a mock brass trophy plate for the front.

I love this box design, no pesky glue required! 

Printed on light (200gsm) card, it's strong enough to fold and join really well.

 

Cut out and folded like this... assembled like that with the 'flaps' tucked in...

and then sticky-taped closed.

 

A couple of foam cups were glued together, and then 'sponged' with gold paint (we used paper towel for this process ... less cleaning up this way as we could just throw the dirty paper towel away!) 

Then we glued the pipe cleaner 'handles' on. They were approximately 10cm long, so we could get three pieces per pipe cleaner. Don't forget to sponge some gold into the 'top' of the trophy to finish the edge, so you don't see any white when you've got it filled with goodies.

How did you spend your father's day? 

 My boys and I took a little trip on the City Cat ferry from Hamilton to Southbank, and then a ride on 'The Wheel of Brisbane' for Dad's day. Was a gorgeous spring day to be out and about!

[dancing at the Show]

Got to dance again with all the divas and the kids last night at the Pine Rivers Show. We had a great time!

Getting my 'GAGA' on, to 'Edge of Glory'

Cheer dance

Finale - I'm in the very back row on the left