Skip a few and we are at 24

 Ok, I know I dropped the ball. I have gone a few days over a week without posting...or creating. Life happens and mine has been hitting some bumps!

If any of you have teenagers, you will understand. My husband and I have been having a time with our teenager, but we are working through everything, together. However, during all this, my creative juices have not been flowing.

But with a new week and a new order for ToodleLou Designs and A Bee & A Lily, I have been creating again. Not only have I been cutting and painting tin, I have been working on my canvas/decal project. 

I added a few more painterly details and then applied the decal. That- was -a -pain -in -the -butt! As I figured, the decal did not want to stick to the painted canvas very well. It took forever to get it on!

 As you can see, the words and crystals did not stand out very well. So, I added some black around them. This helped some, but it still needed more.

 I painted the decal words red. I don't know if I like it or not. It is just NOT looking how I envisioned it. It needs more. I WILL figure this out! Oh well, at least I am creating again.

Twelve

 I FINALLY took down our Christmas Tree and decorations today. I thought about leaving them up until Valentine's Day, but I figured my husband would not approve. Honestly, I would hate myself for doing that, too... That's my anal A-type personality for ya.

Once I had everything down and put away, I cleaned, of course. Then I re-decorated to freshen up the place. I love decorating! I thought about taking pictures of everything I did and using those as my creation for the day, but I was SO motivated ( even with a horrid cough ) that I put another layer on my wall decal canvas project.

I still have a few more steps to do before I add the decal and seal it all up nice and pretty. I am planning on selling this on Etsy, unless I fall completely in love with it once I am done. I mean, it would look GREaT on my mantel!

Eleven

 My mother and I delivered a Mardi GRAS order to Little Miss Muffins today, so by the time I got home I was too tired to paint, sew, bead,etc. I did have to cook dinner. I tried another new recipe and it was a success with the boys and myself! Very yummy!

I bought a Lawry's Chimichurri Burrito Casserole seasoning pack at my local grocery store and was glad I did. I've made Mexican Casseroles in the past and none had enough flavor. This did!

You brown a pound of beef. Take the seasoning pack and mix it with a cup and a half of water and 8 ounces of tomatoe sauce. Once the meat is cooked, drain it and add one cup of the sauce and then a can of black beans that have been drained and rinsed, to the meat.

The original recipe says to make eight burritos, but under that there is an idea to make a layered casserole instead. I made the layered casserole. 

Take three 8" flour tortillas and layer them on the bottom of a 13" baking dish. Now put half the meat mixture on that and sprinkle on some cheese. Next put two tortillas down and then the rest of the meat and some more cheese. Top the casserole with three more tortillas and pour the remaining sauce over it. Finally top with more cheese and bake in a 350degree oven for 15 minutes.

I promise, you are gonna like it if you love Mexican dishes.

Ten

Today was another COOK day! I was not feeling too hot by the end of the day. All I wanted was warm yummy soup. I wanted Egg Drop Soup. I googled and here is what I came up with...

 

 This was a great quick and easy recipe from allrecipes.com ! 4 cups chicken broth, some ginger and fresh chives, a little cornstarch and then some whisked eggs... Whala! ( Urban Dictionary calls this the bastardized English version of the French word 'viola' ... Hahahahaha ) You have egg drop soup!

I will say this, read the comments. I agree with most comments that say to add the cornstarch before the eggs. I added my eggs before thickening the soup and they were a little on the pouffy side. It still tasted great! Also, definitely add some soy sauce and extra ginger and chives. One person said to add sherry for an extra umph. I will try this next time.

Here's my soup...

 

Ninth

 Today was another busy day for 'A Bee & A Lily'. We worked overtime trying to finish the order to deliver tomorrow. Unfortunately, the drying time for the glitter took longer than planned, so we will have to finish things tomorrow and deliver Wednesday.

I finally get in the house and open my iPad to Pinterest. It is here I sit for an hour! I love looking at things people have pinned. There are so many fantastic ideas out there and Pinterest is a great tool for sharing them!

I was looking at a lot of food pins tonight. With the New Year, I always feel the need to eat better. I want to eat more fresh and healthy foods. So tonight I cooked one of the recipes. A simple, healthy, delicious recipe!

www.eatingwell.com

Baked Parmesan Tomatoes! Yumm-O! I usually bake a tomato with just a vinergarette salad dressing and some salt, but this was a nice change. However, I did not have any Parmesan cheese, so I used the smoked Gouda that was in our fridge. FabulOUS!

Ninth creation.... Good eats! Maybe I will feel like painting tomorrow. If not, I can always cook!

5-8

Ok. Ok. I know. It hasn't even been a whole week and I missed a few days of blogging and creating. But to be completely honest, I did create. I just didn't blog about it. So here goes...

For the fifth day, I again turned to my 'Mess' book. I pulled out the kiddy markers and had fun creating a pattern with one tiny blip in it. It was simple and not necessarily perfect, but I enjoyed it. Repeating the colors over and over was relaxing.

For the sixth and seventh days, I worked in the shed. I cut tin, painted tin, glittered and wired tin. My mom and I made TONS of King Cakes and Mardi Gras Fleur de Lis and Mardi Gras Crowns. We had a delivery on Friday and a second delivery scheduled for Tuesday. She and I were busy, busy, busy. 

I would have loved to have come into the house those two nights and painted something, or sewn something, but by the time the work day was done, I was totally exhausted. ( By the way, I know I overuse the comma. Sorry) So, I am counting that work as my creations for those two days.

Pictures will come soon of our Tin Hangers. I plan to set up a small photoshoot tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Today is the eight day. It is a Sunday, but I did do a little something.

The other day at Hobby Lobby, I found a wall decal on sale. I bought it with a plan! I have a canvas and plan on painting it and then sticking the decal on permanently. I hope it comes out as good as it looks in my head.

Today was just the beginning of this project. I will work on it more this week. Here are the pictures of what I have done so far.

The following pictures is just a bit of inspiration I found the other day. I thought I would share it. I found it in a pack of card stock paper at Hobby Lobby. 

Fourth

In the Spring of 2011, I bought a book. I was so excited about this book! It was going to help me find some inspiration and get excited about creating again. It ended up stuck on my desk under a pile of other things...never opened. 

With my New Years challenge, I dug this book out and opened it up! It is fantastic! I highly recommend it to help 'get ya outta that funk'. "MESS  The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes" by Keri Smith is definitely gonna help me achieve my goal of an art a day this year.