Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Yummy Sketch of the Day - My Birthday Cake and some fun updates...


Hi Everyone....
I am posting early today as I am heading out to hang with all my wonderful friends...My Birthday is tomorrow (January 31st) so for the "Yummy Sketch of the Day" I wanted to share some Birthday cake with all of you!!!
Tonight we are getting together for coffee and some treats...I am making my famous chocolate peanut butter cupcakes with ganache....a special request from my wonderful friends...
One of our friends is leaving on a cruise tomorrow so we are having a Birthday/ Bon Voyage party....plus tomorrow I get to have a special Birthday with my Sweetie pies...Brad and Cole...Life is good!
Have a wonderful night!!!!
Cheers,
Diana

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Yummy Sketch of the Day Request- Starbucks Latte with a chocolate drizzled Rice Krispies Square and some fun updates!

Hi Everyone....

Today's Yummy Sketch of the Day is a special request from Kathleen Rietz.

She requested one of my favorites ...a latte from Starbucks and a Rice Krispies Square with a special drizzle of chocolate and a Valentine's Day Candy Heart. These hearts have been around for years and you can read all about their history at Candy USA!. I love lots of cinnamon on my latte...yummm

I think I am heading to make a few lattes right now....

I also made a yummy batch of my homemade Macaroni and Cheese....I don't measure anything but the recipe goes something like this....Boil the water for your macaroni...I use a whole bag...then freeze the leftovers for lunches....



Add some butter (a few tablespoons or so)...to a sauce pan....add a few tablespoons of flour to make a rue...add salt and pepper to taste...and a pinch of nutmeg....I also add a tiny bit of garlic powder....once you cook off the flour taste, add a few cups of milk...continue cooking till it thickens. Now add some shredded cheddar cheese, some cream cheese and some parmesan....stir till well blended.....take a layer of pasta and place it on the bottom of a baking dish...( I line mine with foil and then parchment for easy clean up) take a can of plain tomatoe sauce...plain because you want to add the tomatoe goodness without any strong flavors....add a layer of tomatoe sauce, then add a layer of your cheese sauce, then add another layer of your pasta, etc etc ...till you have used up all of the pasta...on the last layer add the rest of your tomatoe and cheese sauce....grate fresh bread and add this to the top with a few pats of butter and a little sprinkling of parmesan...bake at 350 till it's all yummy and golden...about 30 minutes....if you want the top to be more crusty, switch to broil for a few minutes at the end....then serve it with a mixed green salad....yummm!

Have a wonderful night!

Cheers,
Diana








Monday, January 28, 2008

Yummy Sketch of the Day -- Quesadillas, a cupcake painting and some fun updates

Hi Everyone...



Inspired by a call with my friend Carmen...(she had a Mexican Lunch) I decided to feature some fresh Quesadillas for the "Yummy Sketch of the Day"....yum yum!



I also happened to do some research on making homemade tortillas and found the coolest web site with a easy How to make corn tortillas recipe...and so much more....I just have to find or make the cool contraption for flattening these....like this DIY Tortilla Press or this Tortilla Press "Tortilladora" you can purchase...



I also added the third painting in my "Sweet Escapes" Series...a yummy strawberry shortcake cupcake....this one is my personal favorite ...



and last but not least one of my favorite easy recipes....I shredded zucchini today for this recipe but you can also use pumpkin or squash...(pumpkin is what my Mom uses and is one of my favorite things to eat)...it is a great side dish or a nice light lunch....I slice an onion really fine and saute it with some olive oil, then add the shredded zucchini or squash or pumpkin, salt and pepper to taste and cook till it's soft and yummy ....then finish it off with a few spoons of sour cream....My husband loves these on top of mashed potatoes...but on their own they are divine too....



If you have some requests for the "Yummy Sketch of the Day" please feel free to leave me a comment....I love requests....



Cheers,

Diana



Sunday, January 27, 2008

2 Pre-Birthdays and a Bon Voyage with the Girls...what fun...


Tonight we all headed out to our favorite all you can eat chinese restaurant....to enjoy 2 pre-birthdays and one bon voyage...

We laughed and had a great time out as usual....I hit that gong about three times...every time I walked by it....and Mary and Carmen loved the cute umbrellas at the place...
They also make fresh waffles right in front of you for dessert...we add vanilla ice cream, fresh strawberries and whip cream for a very yummy treat....
Well back to the drawing board literally.... pop by tomorrow for another week of
"Yummy Sketches of the Day"
Cheers,
Diana

Friday, January 25, 2008

Illustration Friday Submission - "Tales & Legends" My take - The Legend of the Mermaid....

Hi Everyone...

One of my favorite Legends is the Mermaid...I still think it would be amazing to be able to breathe under water....

I found some cool links to some urban mermaid legends....

Fiji Mermaid

Dead Mermaid Found After Tsunami

Happy Friday Everyone!!!
oh added a mixed media collage painting of me as a mermaid too...heheheh
Cheers,
Diana






Thursday, January 24, 2008

Yummy Sketch of the Day -Crispy Oven Roasted Chicken and some potatoes...plus some fun updates...

Hi Everyone...

This week is flying by so quickly......
I was looking forward to watching Celebrity Apprentice this week...but with the abscence of my favorite start "Gene Simmons" I knew it just wouldn't be the same...he is missed....

I am thrilled that the men are still winning each and every week....the women just can't get it together and it's not a surprise with the high level of characters....It was a good show but with Gene it would have been even better...

Today I feature some Crispy oven roasted chicken and some potatoes and veggies as the "Yummy Sketch of the Day"....

I have also added another illustration from my 2008 Wedding Collection...

Hope you have a wonderful day !!

Cheers,
Diana






Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Yummy Sketch of the Day - Cupcake and second painting in my series "Sweet Escapes"

Hi Everyone....

Everything these days has been cupcakes...mini cupcakes, cupcake illustrations and cupcake paintings...so naturally I am featuring a cupcake for today's "Yummy Sketch of the Day"

I have also added a photo of the second painting in my series "Sweet Escapes" this one is chocolate orange dream....yummm!

Hope you enjoy it!

More to come...
Cheers,
Diana



Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Yummy Sketch of the Day - Candy ...special request for a violin and some fun updates....


Hi Everyone...

Today I had thoughts of being a child in a candy store so my feature "Yummy Sketch of the Day" is a bunch of colourful candy....

Hope it makes you smile and think of times when your eyes were wide as dinner plates being free to roam in a wonderful candy store....

I also have a request from Isabelle for a violin so I hope this one fits the bill....

and to top it all off I added some photos of today's baking...some mini carrot cupcakes with my special cream cheese icing and a mini carrot cake....

I have been painting and enjoying all of the snow outside...

Have a great night...

Cheers,
Diana













Inspire Me Thursday - Outside my comfort zone...

I have thought about this week's theme and thought and thought about doing something outside my comfort zone...and this is what came to mind...
There was this tree in the far distance that I could see from all of our back windows and from our backyard....it was a very old and wonderful tree....it gave me inspiration and comfort just looking at it change throughout the seasons...Over the last few years it was not doing so well and the owner had to have it cut down on January 21st 2008....The day this happened I just watched in awe as the tree fell to the ground bringing with it many of my thoughts. The tree was so large and was more than 100 years old...imagine all that has happened in it's lifetime...Later that day my husband brought me a part of that tree...(he knew how much it meant to me) I am going out of my comfort zone and will be carving something special out of that tree....I am wondering what it will be ....it has to be something magical, something as special as that tree was to me...
Wish me luck...
Cheers,
Diana






Monday, January 21, 2008

Yummy Sketch of the Day - Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and a Yummy Painting - Cupcake

Hi Everyone...

I feature some very wholesome but yummy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies for today's "Yummy Sketch of the Day" I was inspired by my IF submission this week ....and what better way to enjoy them....with a tall glass of ice cold milk....

Today I also feature a "Yummy Painting of the Week"


I am working on a series titled "Sweet Escapes" and this is the first painting in that series....

Have a wonderful day!

Cheers,
Diana



Sunday, January 20, 2008

Yummy Sketch of the Day - Lasagna and some fun updates...


Hi Everyone....

Today I am featuring a big slice of Lasagna....Kathleen mentioned she has a delish recipe for meatless lasagna...so maybe she will feature her recipe for everyone!!!

I hope it fills you up and makes you feel warm...


The weekend seemed to fly by...Friday was a wonderful time with all of my friends...we laughed so hard and they enjoyed my cupcakes...

I am working on so many new illustrations and some new paintings....the illustrations are for children's lit work and I have a series of cupcake paintings I am working on. I am really enjoying my series of paintings...(you know me and cupcakes...lol)

I will post some once they are complete...

I have also added another dress from my 2008 collection...These are going to be Bridesmaid and Maid of Honor cards....

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are inspired to do something creative this week...

Cheers,

Diana



Saturday, January 19, 2008

Illustration Friday Submission - Theme "Plain"


Hi Everyone....

This week's I was a bit stumped on what to do...the only thing that came to me...was this illustration....

The Story behind it....

"Mom told us she was baking "Plain" Oatmeal cookies...but to our surprise she put chocolate chips in them...Yipppppppeeeeeeeee"

all the children smile .....

Have a wonderful day and happy illustrating!

Cheers,

Diana



Thursday, January 17, 2008

Yummy Sketch of the Day - croissant and another dress from my 2008 collection and some fun updates....

Hi Everyone...

A big post for tonight....I am featuring a yummy buttery croissant as the "Yummy Sketch of the Day" I found some cool Translations of the word in so many languages....

Chinese: 牛角面包, 新月形面包 (xīnyuè xíng miànbāo)
Croatian: kroasan (hr) m.
Czech: rohlík m.
Dutch: croissant (nl) m.
Finnish: voisarvi
French: croissant (fr) m.
German: Croissant (de) n., Hörnchen (de) n.
Hungarian: kifli (hu)
Italian: brioche (it) f., cornetto (it) m.
Japanese クロワッサン (kurowassan)
Korean: 크르와상 (keureuwasang)
Portuguese: croissant (pt) m.
Russian: круассан (kruassán) m.
Slovak: rožok m.
Spanish: media luna f., croissant m., cruasán m., cuerno m., cangrejo m. (Costa Rica)
Swedish: giffel c., croissant c.
(thanks to http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/croissant)

I received a few phone calls and e-mails with special requests so I will be working on some fun Illustrations in the coming weeks.....

I have also added another peek at one of the dresses in the 2008 Collection....red hot!

and posted some photos of the cupcakes I baked for a special road trip my friends and I are heading out on Friday....these will tie us over with all the shopping we will be doing before our big dinner out.....

these cupcakes are my version of what a reese's peanut butter cups chocolate bar would be if it was re-incarnated into a yummy cupcake....

I used only the finest chocolate to make the brownie like cupcakes....then placed a special peanut butter filling in each that is baked in....and to top it all off a chocolate ganache icing with some heart sprinkles.....

What fun! and I can't wait till Friday....

Tonight I am looking forward to "celebrity apprentice" hope the guys can go 3 for 3....

Have a wonderful night/day everyone!

Cheers,
Diana



Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Yummy Sketch of the Day -steak and a steamy baked potatoe...and some fun updates...

I was a bit hungry today and since we will be bbq'n up a storm tonight I thought it would be nice to share a nice steak and steamy baked potatoe with you as my featured "Yummy Sketch of the Day"....

I have been taking it easy today...I call it a day to be grateful...I take a moment to enjoy all the wonderful things in my life ....and to refocus on whats important....
I also made some yummy guacamole ... it was so tasty with my lunch today.... I made up this recipe a while back and everyone loves it.... click on my photo to link to some fun facts on Avocados.....

I take a nice ripe avocado, one vine ripened tomatoe (remove the seeds) cut it into a nice dice...chop up 2 green scallions, use a rasp to shred up a small clove of garlic, add the juice of 1 lime, add 2 or so tablespoons of sour cream and salt and pepper to taste...
I use a fork to combine all the ingredients until its nice and creamy.... I enjoy this as lunch by adding it to the top of some kidney beans....I have even use this recipe as an appetizer with wedges of greek style flatbread baked with a little shredded cheese....yummmmmmmmm!



Yesterday I received a "you make my day award" from Melissa...she always leaves me the most wondeful comments ....
Here are the rules attached to these awards:

1. You must write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think and/or made your day.
2. Acknowledge the post of the award giver.
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award" and/or "You Made my Day Award" with a link to the post that you wrote.
4. Tell the award winners that they won by commenting on their blogs with the news.

I picked 11 blogs....they are inspiring. entertaining and always make my day with their special creativity....

Melissa and Emmitt's Blog
Lisa Lorenz Studio Blog
Claudine Hellmuth
Get Zapped
CES
Kathleen Rietz - Artist
Candace
Nancy Lefko - collage art blog
Roberta Baird- A Mouse in the House
Steve - go flying turtle
Kathy - wellerwishes


oh and one more cool link....I am going to try this....Grow your own Avocado Tree

Have a wonderful day!

Cheers,
Diana

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Yummy Sketch of the Day - chocolate donut with sprinkles and some fun updates!

Hi Everyone...

Today's Yummy Sketch of the day is a fresh chocolate donut covered with icing and sprinkles....

I spent most of my morning organizing our kitchen cabinets and pantry.....feels so much better having everything in it's special place...and wow ...I found so many things in our pantry that I never even knew we had....

The afternoon was focused on some work on my 2008 Dress Collection Illustrations. Here is one of the dresses in that collection. It will be used for special Bridesmaid Greeting Cards....I had so much fun designing all these cute and colourful dresses....

I will feature some more throughout the week....

I also just received a wonderful award today....It came from Melissa , a wonderful artist who loves Pugs...and you have to head over to her site to check out her art and her cute little Emmitt....very sweet....I will post more about the award and feature some wonderful blogs that make my day tomorrow....


Have a wonderful day!

Cheers,
Diana




Monday, January 14, 2008

Yummy Sketch of the Day - Soft boiled egg with toast triangles ....and some updates...

Hi Everyone....

Today was a busy day filled with some fun art, some self promotion for my freelance work and some baking for my husband and his friends at work.

For my Yummy Sketch of the Day.... I feature a nice soft boiled egg with toast....hope you enjoy it!

I also added some photos of my yummy baking from today....I baked some strawberry blueberry oatmeal muffins....they turned out yummy....


Have a wonderful day!

Cheers,
Diana





Sunday, January 13, 2008

Yummy Sketch of the Day Requests.....Some Pho and some Petite Fours

Hi Everyone....

Busy weekend spending time with family and friends. I also worked on my IF submission and some "Yummy Sketch of the Day" requests....and some new card designs....

The first Yummy request is from Get Zapped ....the reason it took a while was I never ate a nice bowl of Pho with tofu...hope you think it looks great....it was fun doing some research about this Vietnamese soup that can be consumed anytime...even for breakfast.....

The second request is from Kathleen, she was in the mood for some yummy petite fours with a nice cup of tea....yummy....and speaking of tea...I think I have consumed about 14 -16 cups of that delicious Blueberry Green tea.....

I managed to design 20 more cards this weekend...and will post some of the designs later this week....
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Diana


Saturday, January 12, 2008

Illustration Friday Submission - Stitch - my hand stitched doll


When I was about 5 years old...I got a little raggedy anne doll....she is about 4-5 inches tall and I took her everywhere I went for years....She was hand stitched ....so I thought I would make a special illustration as a tribute to her....perfect for this week's theme ....
To this day, I still have this doll and it sits on my desk in my studio...bringing me a smile and warmth from the past and inspiration for the future...
silly I know...but funny how something from our childhood can do all that...
Have a wonderful day!
Cheers,
Diana

Friday, January 11, 2008

Yummy Sketch of the Day - Apple and some fun updates


Hi Everyone...
Today was a big feast day for us so I decided to post a healthy "Yummy Sketch of the Day"
an apple....plus the word is being used by our 18 month old son...he walks around asking for apples all the time...very cute....
I have a few special requests that I will be completing on the weekend...one of the requests requires me to do some research as I never ate it before...or don't think I have anyway....It came from Get Zapped and it is a request for a bowl of hot Pho (with tofu) ....so pop back to check it out....I love the challenge of having to investigate the food to be able to draw it...so thank you!!!!

Yesterday I also went out shopping and found a new brand of green tea....Blueberry Green Tea made by Tetley It is the best green tea I have ever had....it is so refreshing and yummy I think I drank about 4 cups of it yesterday and lastnight....and the way it smells as you brew it....amazing!



Blueberry Green Tea
Real blueberries give this green tea its' distinctive all-natural flavour and colour. Fragrant, gentle and sweet, it offers the health-promoting benefits of green tea as well as those of blueberry with every sip. It’s a combination that’s hard to resist.
Click here to discover the origins of this and other types of tea.



Well tonight we went out for a lovely dinner and now it's time to just relax and enjoy friday night...
Have a wonderful Day!

Cheers,
Diana

Thursday, January 10, 2008

3 "Yummy Sketch of the Day" Requests and some updates....

Hi Everyone...

I was so happy that I received 3 special requests for my "Yummy Sketch of the Day" The First request is from CES, she was craving some chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce and chocolate cake on the side...my kind of chocolate feast..lol

My second request is from Kathleen. She was in the mood for a nice plate of Sushi with a side of miso...and some chopsticks....( I had to make them pink)

My third request is from Candace. She was craving a memory from summer time...a nice mint chocolate ice cream cone....my favorite too! Make sure you link over to all their sites....they have wonderful blogs...

I spent another wonderful day in the studio painting and dreaming and spending some time on my business plan for 2008. On top of that debating on what my next wood burning project will be....and just finished watching "Celebrity Apprentice" ....I am addicted to the show and it's only in it's second week...the guys are the best and I laughed at Gene Simmons...what a wonderful character....so positive and so sure ....the best was when he said that they have no time for the client...too funny.....but I have to say the guys commercial won me over 10x more versus the women's one....the voice and the use of celebrity made more business sense to me and I can see Pedigree using it....who wouldn't....

Well have a wonderful night and wonderful day....and I look forward to more requests....

Cheers,
Diana






 
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