HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY READERS

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”


Happy Thanksgiving
 
Mommy's Blog

Attitude of Gratitude

On this Thanksgiving day and everyday, I count my blessings and try to practice an attitude of gratitude for all of the good in my life, of which there is so much.

On Sunday Nov. 14th I had a mini Thanksgiving dinner for my son Jesse before he left again for work in Norway as he won't be home for the holidays, a first for us. This Apple Pie that I baked for him shows a little of how I am feeling today, a little heartbroken that he is so far away from us as we will all gather together and share in this day. Our nephew and Godchild Danny is also not with us as he is still on ship, the USS Harry S Truman, in the gulf,  but should be home in time for Christmas.

To everyone out there in blogland and to all those of you who cannot be with family today,

Happy Thanksgiving and God Bless!



Happy Thanksgiving Layout

A Gift

4 Years ago yesterday we were given a most precious gift, our first grandchild, Savannah.

She loves to spend time with us doing anything we are doing and she loves to use my camera to take pictures, so it was a no brainer that this year she would receive her own for her birthday.

Now I know enough to know kids don't want a pink non breakable frustrating picture taking camera. They want one just like yours. I also wanted her to have a camera with a viewfinder, not just an LCD screen to learn with. Not easy to find in a 4 year old price range. So i decided on this one that she could grow with.

She stayed at work with us for awhile and after having lunch and ringing the big bell and having everyone sing her Happy Birthday, we went off on our first photo shoot.

We chose the Assateague Island wildlife refuge as it was a beautiful day and we hoped for some wild pony pictures.

We were not disappointed.

Her Great Grandfather, my Dad, was along for the ride and was a help for those difficult shots.

A very patient Great Blue Heron waited as she composed just the perfect picture ( this is my photo, we didn't have time yesterday to upload hers) 

Then we took a stroll up to the lighthouse for some closeups, she was hoping to see some deer but none were out yesterday, they must know it's hunting season!

I was taking some closeups of the wonderful textures for later use and turned to see that she was following my lead, can you just feel my pride and joy?

It was a great day enjoyed by all. Can you tell her 2 favorite colors are purple and lime green? A real artist in training! And she told her Mom that she wanted butterflies and dragonflies on her cake!

I don't know about her, but our wishes have definitely come true!



Village People

Materials

Scissors
Cardboard tissue tubes
Colored paper Fine-tipped markers
Glue

Instructions
For each figure, wrap a cardboard tissue tube with a 4- by 6-inch rectangle of colored paper and glue the paper in place.
Draw the facial features on a 2- by 3-inch piece of paper with markers. Glue the face onto the tube.
For the hair, cut fringe along one side of a small paper rectangle. Roll the hair around a pen to make curls, trim it, and glue it into place.
Cut and decorate headbands and feathers for the Native Americans and collars for the Pilgrims.
For the Pilgrim girl's bonnet, wrap a 2- by 5-inch paper rectangle around the top of the tube with the ends overlapping and glue at the back.
For the Pilgrim boy's hat, cut out a black circle 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Roll and glue a black, 2- by 5-inch paper rectangle into a tube shape. Cut slits along one end, fold in the tabs, and glue them to the center of the paper circle. Add a 1/2-inch band and square buckle and glue the hat to the boy's head.

http://familyfun.go.com/

Teeny Turkeys

Ingredients

Cocktail pumpernickel bread
Vegetable cream cheese

DECORATIONS:
Peas (eyes)
Red pepper
Pepperoni
Cheese
Cashew
Slivered almond
Parsley

Instructions

For each sandwich, spread vegetable cream cheese between 2 slices of cocktail pumpernickel bread.
For the head, use a small drinking glass or round cookie cutter to cut a circle from another slice of bread, then stick it to the top of the sandwich with a dab of cream cheese.
Likewise, add facial features such as pea eyes, a red pepper or pepperoni snood (above the beak), and a pepper, cheese, or cashew beak. Finally, wedge pepper, slivered-almond, or parsley-sprig feathers between the bread slices.

http://familyfun.go.com/

Sweet Scarecrows

Ingredients

Cookies (ours were about 2 1/2 inches in diameter)
White frosting
Assorted sugar wafers (ours were about 2 1/2 inches long)
Candy corn
Mini chocolate chips
Bran cereal (we used Kellogg's All-Bran Extra Fiber)
Chocolate sprinkles

Instructions

Frost the top of each cookie.

Cut a sugar wafer in half. Add a dollop of frosting to the top edge of the cookie and stick a wafer half to it for a hat top, as shown.
Place a whole sugar wafer just below the hat top for a brim. Use a little more frosting to decorate it with slices of candy corn or mini chocolate chips.

Press pieces of bran cereal hair into the frosting around the hat.
For the face, press on a candy corn nose, mini chocolate chip eyes, and a chocolate sprinkle stitched mouth.

http://familyfun.go.com/

Aut-yum Leaves

Ingredients

1 egg
1 teaspoon of water
Prepared pie crust
Mini chocolate chips
Peanut butter chips
Raw sugar
Flour for work surface


Instructions

Heat the oven to 375°. Whisk one egg with a teaspoon of water and set it aside.
On a floured surface, roll out a prepared pie crust so it's about 1/8-inch thick. Use a large leaf-shaped cookie cutter (ours is 4 1/2-inches wide) to make as many dough leaf pairs as possible.
For each pocket, spread about 4 teaspoons of mini chocolate chips and peanut butter chips on a leaf, leaving a 1/2-inch margin at the edge. Brush egg wash onto the edge, place a second leaf on top, and press the edges to seal.
Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle it generously with raw sugar. Bake the leaves on a parchment-covered cookie sheet until their edges are just beginning to brown, about 12 minutes. Let them rest on the sheet a few minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

http://familyfun.go.com/

Turkey Cupcakes Gobble Gobble

I love to make Turkey Cupcakes every Thanksgiving they look cute and fun to make.

Ingredients

Cupcake
Chocolate frosting
3 oval shortbread cookies (Keebler Sandies Right Bites Shortbread)
6 to 10 candy corn pieces
White icing
Black decorators' gel
Red fruit leather ( strawberry Fruit by the Foot)

Instructions

Frost the cupcake, then press in a cookie head and 2 cookie wings.
Press in a row or two of candy corn tail feathers.

To make an eye, add a small dot of white icing to the head, then add a dot of black decorators' gel for a pupil.

For a beak, cut the white tip from a piece of candy corn and press it in place.

To make the wattle, cut a 1-inch square of fruit leather. Roll it into a tube and stick it in place over the beak.

http://familyfun.go.com/

And the Winners Are...

My son and my husband each drew 3 names. They are listed in the order in which they were drawn,

1- pretty things- The Jeweler's Directory of Decorative Finishes

2-Denise Werkheiser-The Surface Designers Handbook

3-Summers Studio-Semiprecious Salvage

4-Carol-Creative paint Workshop

5-Kathy-please contact me, no email on your profile

6-Janice-will let you know as soon as I hear from Kathy

If you could just email me your mailing address and your choices 1-6 I will let you know which you won! Thanks for participating!



Handmade Metal Cards: Miniature Art Gifts

I recently started creating handmade metal art cards featuring my designs and art work. They consist of embossed miniature paintings on aluminum metal. Some of them feature artwork on both sides of the card (two-in-one art cards). These versatile miniature art pieces measure 4 by 4 inches and can easily be placed on a desk or tabletop as decoration. They can also be framed and hung up as wall art, or used as drink coasters.

 

 Sax Player: ($50) (Two-In-One Art Card)

Description: 4.1" by 4.25", Metal Art Card 

Front: Sax Player black art painting by Injete 

Back: Abstract metal art by Injete Chesoni

 

They make the perfect gift for art lovers and collectors. Each metal art card is released in limited editions. If you would like to buy handmade metal art cards please send me an email at minjete@gmail.com. I have posted photographs of my current collection of handmade metal art cards and some suggested uses below. You can also buy art gifts and cards online featuring my designs at my Zazzle store and drink coasters from my Printfection store. My Zazzle art gift products include greeting cards, art calendars, poetry and art posters, Christmas ornaments, canvas art prints, fridge magnets, mugs, steins, sandstone drink coasters, t-shirts, keychains and art postcards.

  

Three Flirts: ($50) (Two-In-One Art Card)
Description: 4.25” by 4.25”, Handmade Metal Card
Front: Three Flirts African Art Painting by Injete
Back: Abstract art by Injete Chesoni

Guitar Player: ($50) (Two-In-One Art Card)
Description: 4” by 4”, Embossed Metal Art Card
Front: Guitar Player Miniature Art by Injete
Back: Abstract Art by Injete Chesoni

 African Bwa Sun Mask: ($50) (Two-In-One Art Card)
Description: 4” by 4”, Handmade Embossed Metal Card
Front: Tribal African Art Mask painting by Injete
Back: Abstract art by Injete Chesoni

 

 African Bwa Plank Mask: ($50) (Two-In-One Art Card)
Description: 4” by 4”, Handmade Embossed Metal Card
Front: Tribal African Art Mask painting by Injete
Back: Abstract art by Injete Chesoni

 African Fang Ngil Mask: ($50) (Two-In-One Art Card)
Description: 4” by 4”, Handmade Embossed Metal Art Card
Front: Fang African Mask painting by Injete
Back: Abstract art by Injete Chesoni

Orange Confusion: ($35) (One Sided Art Card)
To Buy Art Cards E-mail: minjete@gmail.com
Description: 4 by 4 inches, Handmade Metal Art Card
Abstract Miniature Art by Injete Chesoni

African Thinking Man: ($35) (One Sided Art Card)
To Buy Art Cards E-mail: minjete@gmail.com
Description: 4” by 4”, Handmade Card on Embossed Metal
African Art Miniature Painting by Injete Chesoni

 

Green Confusion: ($35) (One Sided Art Card)
To Buy Art Cards E-mail: minjete@gmail.com
Description: 4” by 4”, Handmade Embossed Metal Card
Abstract miniature acrylic painting by Injete

 Sienna Thinker: ($35) (One Sided Art Card)
To Buy Art Cards E-mail: minjete@gmail.com
Description: 4” by 4”, Handmade Metal Card
Miniature metal painting by Injete Chesoni

Gift Ideas and Uses for Miniature Metal Art Cards

• Place them on a desk or tabletop as decoration.
• Frame them and hung them up as decorative wall art. 
• Frame them and use them as drink coasters. 
• Use them as dining table centerpieces and decoration. 
• Give them as wedding gift favors.
• Give them as an art gift and greeting card. You can inscribe a message directly in the card using an ink-free or dried up ballpoint pen or you can write your message on a piece of paper and glue it inside the card.

Home and Away (Giveaway That Is!)

As promised here is the follow up to yesterday's post ,of the studio at home. This came about last year when i was facing surgery and didn't know how long the recuperation was going to be, so I moved the jewelry components from my studio to home so as to be able to do something if I was stuck here for awhile. Fortunately all went well and I had a short recup but liked the ability to go to the worktable and put a little somethin somethin together while dinner was cooking or laundry was going , so here it has stayed.

This is one side of our enclosed front porch which faces East with a few North and South facing windows and has lovely light most of the day. There are 12 windows altogether. Being out here makes me happy, I love this space. This is where we usually drink our coffee/ tea in the mornings, listen to music and have a drink in the evenings and occassionally eat meals at the table and chairs on the other side.  It is very peaceful.

This is the worktable, again, NEVER looks this clean! See that beautiful roman glass? I can't wait to set that in a bezel and create something wonderful with it, if you remember I love everything glass! The necklace on the hand display was made by my grandaughter. The stacked white jewelry display trays hold seed beads by color groups.  Ok so I have a little latent OCD, not generally evident.

I take that back.... This is a bookcase which used to hold photo albums in the spare bedroom, now holds beads and gems and findings and vintage treasures. Organized for the most part by....you guessed it, color.

This is the enclosed south facing side porch, AKA the laundry room. This is the original workbench i bought from Harbor Freight which was set up while taking the homesteaders metalsmithing class. This is where I will be doing all my metalsmithing now. I have the flex shaft, brake shear, anvils (notice the larger one on the floor to the left) and bench grinder attached (thanks Ray). I can hammer out here without disturbing the peace too much now. The plastic containers hold the metals and I'm thinking of sliding them beneath the workbench so as to put more of the tools in easy access ( the knife box from yesterday will help here) and out of the drawers. I had avoided that so as to be able to vacuum under there easily.

Now, don't ever think if you drop by this will ever look like this again! Like I said yesterday it's because nothing is happening right now. As soon as it gets started all bets are off!

Now for the Giveaway!

Here's one thing I found out while cleaning, I am not allowing myself to order a book from Amazon or go to Barnes and Noble for the latest magazine, BEFORE CHECKING THE STUDIO FIRST!!!

Remember that pile of books and magazines on the floor? Well, once excavated i found that I must not have realized a particular book or magazine that i wanted was in said pile so i bought one again! To the tune of 6 very nice books and 6 magazines.  Good for you though, I have paired one book with one magazine so there will be 6 giveaways! 

Very simply leave a comment on this post, anything at all (please be nice) and on Sunday evening I will draw 6 names , first one drawn gets first choice, second one drawn gets second choice etc. Last one drawn will get whatever remains.  If you feel like spreading the word on your blog that would be very nice but not necessary. 

Good Luck and thanks for sticking with me through the studio redo!

Handmade Metal Art Cards: Miniature Paintings

This blog post features my first collection of miniature art paintings on metal. All the art pieces featured here have been sold or presented as gifts. However, limited editions are available on request. To order send an email to minjete@gmail.com. These versatile handmade metal art cards feature colorful paintings on embossed aluminum metal. They measure 4 by 4 inches and due to their card shape can be used in a variety of ways. They are an art collector’s delight and each metal art card is released in limited editions. You can buy art gifts and cards online featuring these designs at my Zazzle store and drink coasters at my Printfection store.

 Handmade Metal Art Cards: Mary's Flower Art Painting

Suggested Uses for Handmade Metal Art Cards:
1. Place on a desk or tabletop as decoration.
2. Frame and hung up as decorative wall art.
3. Frame and use as drink coasters.
4. Use them as dining table centerpieces and decoration.
5. Give them away as wedding gift favors.
6. Give them away as an art gift and greeting card. You can inscribe a message directly in the card using an ink-free/dried up ballpoint pen or write it on a piece of paper and glue it inside the card. 

 Miniature African Art Painting: Thinking African Man Art Card

Handmade Metal Art Cards: Green Juggler

 

 

Miniature Art Painting: Kandi's Metal Flower Art Card

 Miniature African Art Painting: African Girl in Green Art Card

Handmade Miniature Metal Art Cards: John's Praying Hands

Miniature African Art Painting: African Woman in Red Art Card

Handmade Metal Art Cards: Elvira's Butterfly

 

Miniature Metal Art Painting: Purple Flower Art Card

Miniature Abstract Metal Art Painting: Purple Juggler Metal Card