I took this photo last April when we visited Costa Rica. I watched this bird for a long time. He was very methodically gathering a large pile of what I assumed to be nesting materials. I wish I could have seen how he was going to take that whole pile somewhere and make a nest with it when he was done collecting.
For anybody’s that been following me for awhile, you may recall that last June I finally got my husband to move out of his home “office” and into his new office space right here in our town. I did all of the decorating in the space and some of the design. It was a fun project and Jim is really pleased with the results. If you want to check it out again click here.
Just to give a quick update on his space, the conference room table did finally arrive on it’s slow boat from Africa (literally), and when paired with the bright green leather chairs that I fought hard for and the orange walls it really is a stunning conference room. The table was Jim’s choice. It’s made of antique South African hardwood railroad ties and it is so heavy it took 4 professional movers to get it up the stairs. Honestly we were glad the building was made with cement floors or the thing might go crashing through to the 1st floor it’s so heavy.
And much to my astonishment I.T. is still alive! Jim was mad at me when I bought him as the company mascot but I think everyone has grown quite fond of him.
His office is located on the second floor of a fairly new building in town and when you walked out of the elevator you exited into this large square hall with a smaller hallway off to the left. It was completely empty; there wasn’t a stick of furniture in it or a piece of art on the walls. It looked terrible and was unwelcoming. When he first complained about it I bought 3 little pieces to put under the window so it wasn’t completely barren, but it still looked pretty bad.
Jim got together with the other two companies that share the space and they decided on a budget to decorate the hall. Somehow I got appointed decorator. I didn’t want the job. I didn’t need the job. Lord knows I have enough to do already. And I wasn’t getting paid to do the job. When he first asked me to do it I thought he just meant a trip or two to Home Goods and throw some pieces around. But when they got together to discuss it the budget was actually pretty decent. Not decent enough that I could spend wildly, but decent enough that I could make it look pretty good I thought. The only condition I had was that there would be no “approval process”. I would do it and all choices would be mine and if they didn’t like it too bad, they could return it all and hire someone else.
If I had known how time consuming the job would actually become I would have turned it down flat.
I did let Jim choose from 3 pieces the main hallway table that you saw right as you exited the elevator. Based on his choice I decorated around that piece. It’s kind of a modern/asian theme I guess. I couldn’t seen to get a great shot with the afternoon light, but this is what that space looks like now.
This is what it looked like when you were facing the elevator. Jim’s office entry is on the left and the smaller hallway shoots off on the right in the middle of this square entryway. That’s my dad. He graciously agreed to help me pick up and deliver all of the Home Goods pieces with his pickup truck. He’s too old to be doing this stuff anymore. He kept saying “Three Men & A Truck, that’s what they’re for.” Poor dad.
This is what it looks like to the left of the elevator now by the entrance to Jim’s office.
And this is what it looks like to the right of the elevator.
This was what the smaller hallway leading down to the other offices looked like before.
And this is what it looks like now.
This piece of art (can you call it art when you buy it at Home Goods?) was in the clearance section. I’d actually noticed it there for a long time because it was so unusual and textural. It had some damage to it though, but I thought I could fix it. I did and you can’t even tell anymore. It’s a great piece right over the water fountain.
This is at the very end of the hall centered right in a doorway leading to a smaller hall with the fire exit in it. All of this stuff was from Home Goods and I loved it. I would put that hutch in my own home in a heartbeat.
Actually, everything in this hallway with the exception of the circles mirror is from Home Goods. If you go there regularly you can really get some amazing stuff.
So I’m happy to say that my work at J. Carpenter & Co. is now done. I’m pleased with the results and delighted that it’s over.
This is Jet. He was Jive's corral-mate at Puzzleface Ranch. I love the reflection of me taking the photo in his eye.
I honestly cannot remember where I took this photo. I love it though! I'm going to guess New Mexico.
My husband was bugging me to sign my daughter Maia, who loves to draw, up for another art class at a small art school located one town away. Truthfully the thought of adding one more thing to my — or my kids — schedule was enough to make me want to put a gun to my head. Maia did take a drawing class there last year and enjoyed it, but it’s a haul to get there. Without a babysitter it means leaving the other kids alone for longer than I’m comfortable with on a weekly basis.
However, I decided that while drawing is one of the crafts that I have the least talent in, I could give all of my kids little art lessons and give them a broader range of art skills in other subjects that I am more familiar with.
Why I decided to choose encaustic painting with wax for our first official art lesson I will never know. I think it was like the 8th day of cancelled school in a month due to snow so I wasn’t thinking clearly anymore. Encaustic painting is a skill that I have tried in the past, but have certainly never mastered. It involves hot wax, high heat guns and is frustrating. But, being the idiot that I am, that was what I went with right out of the gate. Like I said, I wasn’t thinking clearly.
The kids all had thank you letters that to write for someone and so did I, so we chose this as an opportunity to send a unique thank you. I started with simple 5″ x 7″ canvas boards and had the kids write out their letters themselves on the computer and then printed them on printable fabric sheets that you can get at most office supply stores with margins that fit the 5″ x 7″ canvas size appropriately. Using spray adhesive I applied the letters to the backside of the canvas board.
I use a special metal board/plate specifically for encaustic wax that I place over a electric skillet. This enables you to get more small containers of wax onto the area than you would be able to put into the skillet itself and keeps it at the proper temperature. As you can imagine, any brush you use for encaustic wax is pretty much forever going to be an encaustic-wax-only brush since you’ll never be able to get that wax out of that brush properly, so get yourself some inexpensive paint brushes for a project like this.
On the canvas side you start with a base layer of clear wax that you paint on with a brush.Then, using a high-heat gun (or a hairdryer if you don’t have one), melt the wax onto until it becomes a flat smooth surface.
Then we all started playing around with things. Colored wax, cutout paper, scrapbooking embellishments and other things. I even used a hole punch to create a textured surface that was kind of fun. I used a little spray adhesive to get the items to stick initially, and then we would paint more wax; either colored or clear, and using the heat gun again you carefully melt the surface until smooth again. This can get a little frustrating since sometimes when you’re melting the wax with the heat gun they move around on the surface, but it was a good learning experience for all of us. You can keep layering things on in this way.
It ended up taking us three full hours to get these done and frankly I was completely wiped out by the end. Now I know what an art teacher feels like – but then again I don’t know how many encaustic painting classes for 10-12 year olds there are out there.
This was India's and she did it for her friend Cornelia.
India did two - this one was for Cornelia's parents who we recently visited up in Boston.
This was Evan's creation.
This was Maia's lovely card.
And this was mine. It's kind of hard to tell the 48-year old's apart from the 10-year old's I think.
Now, even though in hindsight I will say this was probably not the right project to start the art lessons with, the kids were totally enthralled with the project for the entire 3 hours. They were enthusiastic to learn the process and fascinated in the different things you could do with the colors and layers.
There really are some amazing things you can do with encaustic wax and painting. The leader maker of encaustic wax supplies is R & F Handmade Paints, which is located just two hours from my house in Kingston, New york. I’ve made the trip up there just to see the place and buy supplies and they gave me a tour of the whole facility and showed me how they make their products. It’s just a small warehouse building and each project really is made by hand in small batches. They give some really great classes that are on my short list of things to do. Check out their website to find out more information and particularly to see some of the artists works that they show there to see what really is possible with encaustics. It’s an artistic medium that I really want to learn more about – especially encaustic collage and photography.
Our next art class will be something much simpler. Linoleum cutting and printmaking. Do you remember making linoleum cuttings in art class in school? I sure do. The products have changed a little bit and now there are softer, easier to carve materials that serve the same purpose. I’ve researched this pretty throughly in preparation and have come up with samples to show the kids and have ideas for each of them to use for their project. I’ll let you know how the next “art class” goes.
How did God ever create something as incredibly beautiful as a peacock?
I found this shed on one of my driving toodles in Wyoming. I just love the rusty green shed in contrast with the different greens of the grass and bushes.
When India and I were stranded unexpectedly in Salt Lake City on our way out to Wyoming for our Christmas Break we ate at an amazing foodie restaurant called The Copper Onion. The dish that India ordered was Beef Stroganoff. Now my mother used to make this all the time when I was a kid, but what India received looked — and tasted — nothing like the gloppy, overly sour-creamed, overly tomato filled meal my mother made. Good gracious it was delicious. A mildly creamy, flavorful sauce with just the slightest hint (a whisper you might even say) of tomato flavor. The noodles they used were really really wide – half the width of a lasagna noodle. The beef was so tender. I would have gladly traded my spaghetti carbonara with her if she’d been willing. She wasn’t.
So I came home from vacation determined to re-create this dish as best I could. I was pretty pleased with the results, and I think if you try it you will be too. I would try to buy the best cut of beef you can for this. You can certainly use the boneless sirloin steak that most recipes I researched seemed to call for (and that I used), but when I make it again I might try a flank steak or perhaps even splurge on a fillet and really live it up. I tried to get some really wide noodles similar to the ones at The Copper Onion, but the great local cheese store was closed that day because it was another one of those snow days we’ve had so many of this year. Feel free to try a different noodle too if you’d like.
An original recipe by Craft Farm Girl©, 2011
Yield: Makes 6 servings
Ingredients:
Put a large pot of salted water on to boil for the egg noodles.
Pour the soy sauce over the steak and toss to coat. Set aside.
While meat marinates, place mushrooms in medium microwave-safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Remember to poke a hole or two in the plastic wrap with a knife. Microwave on high power until mushrooms have decreased in volume by half, 4 to 5 minutes (there should be as much as ¼ cup liquid in bowl). Drain mushrooms and set aside; discard liquid.
Combine water, dry mustard, sugar, and ½ teaspoon pepper in small bowl until smooth paste forms; set aside.
Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper & toss to coat. Heat half of the vegetable oil in heavy large skillet over high heat until very hot. Working in two batches, add meat in single layer and cook just until brown on outside, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Melt 3 tablespoons butter in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onions and shallots and sauté until tender, scraping up browned bits, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and sauté until onions and shallots are nicely browned, about 12 minutes.
Add beef broth, cream & Cognac. Simmer until liquid thickens and just coats the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes. Stir in sour cream, tomato paste and dry mustard paste and whisk to combine.
Add the microwaved button mushrooms. Add meat and any accumulated juices from bowl. Simmer over medium-low heat until meat is heated through but still medium-rare, about 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Now before you begin the final steps you should put the egg noodles on to boil. Cook according to package directions until the noodles are al dente. Drain and return to pasta pot.
Remove saucepan from heat.. Pour the mixture over the egg noodles and sprinkle with the paprika. Toss with tongs to combine and evenly coat noodles with sauce. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Print This Recipe
There are abandoned homesteads all over Wyoming. You run across them all the time when you're trail riding up in the mountains. This is a window in one of my favorites located in Dubois right off the highway that I photograph every year. Those poor pioneers. It's like one day they just say "That's it - I can't survive one more winter here" and they just leave - the furniture is still there, the curtains are still hanging in tatters on the windows, the coffee pot is still on the old cookstove. One day I'd like to do a photo book of old abandoned homesteads.
