Soup Weather is Upon Us! Yay!!

My daughter and I are making beef barley soup (more like a stew) as I write this today. I don't usually make my blogs about food but I've got to say the aroma wafting through the house is amazing at the moment and I'm very happy. My kids are both great cooks and I would like to thank my Dad for that. The younger one sat at his side all the time to watch what he did and she duplicated much when she was old enough to cook on her own, while the other decided eating it was much more interesting. Until she got older and became a master at creating homemade soups. Yum. This particular recipe was inspired by our Great Aunt Ella, who made this a favorite for my girls and I when we lived next door to each other. Smelling it cook all day and then enjoying a bowl once ready was a nice family memory for us. Although it doesn't really taste like her soup (we added red wine to ours, something she would never have done), it is absolutely delicious.

 Here it is without the barley in it which got added a little bit after this photo was taken. Mmm-mmm. 😋

Now, onto the art part, something I do best.

I started taking the month-long fodder challenge and the watched the first class. I haven't completed the project and cannot show it until it's finished, so be on the lookout for that. I might actually wait until the end of the month and share all I did. I'm not positive I'll do everything offered but I do love watching and taking notes and getting inspired!

I did do a little embroidery. I love it so far. I think I'm going to play with wildflowers next but that'll take some time. This is a good piece of practice fabric to use. It's an old dust cover for a chair. Those were used in our house because we always had chairs that required them. After I cut out the rips and the wear and tear from a lot of them, I have a good amount of fabric to play with for embroidery practice.

I've been cutting up papers, adding embellishments on them, making them small cards or pieces that can be added to cards at some point. I'm actually making more collage fodder, which is fine by me. I was fussy for a few days until I realized I could draw botanical patterns or use a lot of the flower stencils I have and create some great looking pieces to go in my journals. It's all for me and my art practice, so it doesn't matter how much or little I have; as long as I have what I need to keep being creative, it's all good!

Painting papers leaves some beautiful marks on my paper towels and Sidekick journal. Love these rich looking colors!!

Watercolor and isopropyl alcohol created the below. I've done this technique for years and really love the unpredictable way it all comes out. You never know when you spray or blot alcohol on the paint what you'll get.

I've been cutting out my little doodles as I find them. Actually some of the below in the first photo are fairly new to be added to the small storage container for future use in my flower journal. I've used a lot of the doodles that I made last year, adding them to the flower journal, so I have room now to add more. Yay!

This photo below is of the remnants of a piece of paper I use as a protector for the page or table when I use alcohol ink markers. I usually end up doodling on them at some point, sometimes to see if the pens work or just mindlessly draw something. When it's fairly colorful, I cut some shapes out and use the rest for cards or the layered technique in collage that I like to do, shown in the second photo below.

 

Days 215-220 in the collage a day journal.

 

Enjoy your week!

Cindy,  EarthMotherMosaics - Mixed Media Art

Instagram: @artbyearthmothermosaics 

Stay Peaceful and Enjoy the Journey