xo French-Kissed Toast xo

Ok, I have to first tell you that this whole project came about after I saw a
Valentine's-themed photo contest that I wanted to enter ;)  The contest requires that you take a picture of naturally-occuring or people-made hearts!  If you'd like to find out more go to: Valentine's Day Competetion

So after thinking for a bit I decided to make and then take photos of clever,
heart-shaped french toasts (much to my honey's delight!) 

I used the heart-shaped cutter that I used for my home made Valentine's post and cut out hearts in 3 pieces of bread (the cutter is big so it ate up most of the pieces of bread).

Next I mixed 1 egg, a splash of vanilla extract, and a 1/4 cup of milk together in a bigger bowl

One by one, I dunked a heart on both sides and, (with a bit of melted butter), into the pan it went!

Then onto the table they went with some syrup and butter for a very sweet and
sweet-toothed guy to enjoy ;)

I had a fun time with this project ;)  Thanks for reading!

Our project from lastnight's Art Class :)

I'm taking a very fun and cool 10-week art class through my local recreation & education department.  The class is called 'Girls Nite Out'.  I thought I had an idea, but I wasn't sure what the class would really be like.  After meeting for the first time tonight, I'm in love :).  I was welcomed into a rustic, but warm and homey backyard studio that was stacked with craft supplies, layered in paint, and occupied by some very nice womyn.  It was someone's Birthday tonight so she brought in cake for the whole class!  Another classmate brought in homemade cookies-I couldn't believe the sense of community I felt :)

The teacher for the class has been doing this class for over 3 years (been a local artist for much longer than that) and my classmates were a mix of old and new participants of it.  She set us to work giving us this picture, wires, bells, and other interesting items and told us to go for it!

I was amazed at what my classmates created along side me!

 

 I started curling some wire and ended up with a sort of fish sculpture :) 

It was just great to be able to have the time, space, and a very supportive environment to cleverly create in.  My goal is to report to you each week what we make, so stay tuned!

Who says valentines are just for kids?!

I have always really liked Valentines Day!  With someone or single-who cares?!  I see Valentines Day as a day to celebrate relationships/friendships and tell your buds/family how much you love them!  I know...it sounds cheesy, but that's me!!!! ;)

This year I decided to try and make my own valentines by making my own clip art!  I made a cool valentines design on card stock using cookie cutters as stencils, Crayola mini stampers, etc.and then took a picture of it.

I saw a stamp that I really liked in a Martha Stewart article and practiced drawing it on pink post-it's.  I thought the design looked cool so I took a picture of it too and then used a pant program to make the background space pink to match.

I uploaded my 2 valentinesy pictures to Walgreens.com photo and selected to have my pic's printed out as "wallet size".  When I picked them up there were 4 of the same images on 2 4X6's:

I cut them out and played around with different colors of card stock, shapes, and placements.

I used double-sided tape to stick everything together-I think it works better than glue ;)

Now I have some clever Valentines clip art that I made myself (!) and can use again and again in different ways.  Along with sending out cards in the mail, I might send out a "handmade" email wishing friends V-Day happiness and use the pictures in the email to warm up my message! 

Home Made Brownies! Easy, Clever, and I'm Never Going Back to the Box!

 

My friend and I were talking the other day about  how brownies made from pantry ingredients were probably better than the box mixes we usually buy.  I decided to try that thought out and loved the results!  Not only are these some of the best brownies I've ever had, they don't taste like preservatives!  Woohoo ;)  I found a great recipe from allrecipes.com and just made a few changes based on the comments others had written & what was in my pantry/fridge.  Here's the recipe that I'm sticking with:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  

Mix 1 stick of very softened (room temp or it will cook the eggs) salted butter, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla in a large bowl and set aside.  I used a fork to break up my eggs really well.  (To soften it, I leave my butter out for an hour or so or I nuke it for a minute and then let it cool to room temp.)

Next mix together 2 cups of white sugar, 1/2 cup of bakers chocolate (powder), 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt really well with a fork in a medium bowl and set aside.  Why a fork?  Because I don't have a whisk or electric mixer and spoons/spatulas don't combine dry ingredients as well ;)

Add 1/3 of your dry ingredients to your wet, combine well, and keep adding a little at a time then mixing until the dry's gone.  Lightly spray a 9X13 inch deep pan with non-stick spray, add your brownie batter, and stick it on the top rack of your oven for 25 minutes.  My oven cooks things crazy quickly (sometimes burning them) so it might be a little longer for you-when you can stick a knife in the middle and it comes out clean, it's done. 

As soon as take the brownies out, use a knife to go around and loosen up the sides and make your cut lines. Let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  I found if I cut right away it's easier to get them out than if I do it later.

Enjoy :)

Try My Bewitching Chocolate Chip & Walnut Cookies Recipe!

I'm having lunch with some friends today and am bringing the dessert-my bewitching cookies!  I named them that because they're like magic for your taste buds ;)  Before I give you my recipe I want to share with you a few tools that have made baking cookies more fun and less stressful for me:

-Big and heavy aluminum foil (I never cook right on the pan-it's too much clean up business for me!)

-Large cookie sheets (Ikea has some nice affordable ones)
-Mixing bowls that are not very heavy, easy to clean, and easy to hold onto-I love the Oxo soft grips bowls!
-A sturdy, silicon spatula instead of a mixing spoon

-An ice cream scoop or "disher"

-A sturdy cookie spatula (Oxo makes a really great one-works well with grilled cheeses too!)
-A cooling rack(s)

Ok so first thing's first!  Ingredients:

-1/2 cup of softened salted butter (I zap mine in the microwave for about 50 seconds)

-1/2 cup of white sugar

-1/2 cup of light brown sugar

-1 egg

-A little less than 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon (it's not enough to make it super cinnamony, but it adds that little tasty kick)
-1 and 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

-1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

-1 Tablespoon of hot water

-1/4 teaspoon of fine salt (table salt is just fine)

-1 and 1/2 cups of MILK CHOCOLATE chips

-1 and 1/2 cups of coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and get to creaming that butter, white sugar, and brown sugar together.  Next add in your egg.  When the egg's fully mixed in add your cinnamon.  Mix together the baking soda and hot water in a little dish using a spoon and then add it into the batter.  Next add in your flour, then your chips and walnuts.  Foil a large cookie sheet (don't fold down the foil-let it be) and scoop rough balls of dough onto the sheet.  Once your tray is filled (these don't spread too much so I usually put them pretty close to each other) use your fingers to push the dough down lightly.  

Bake your cookies for about 7 minutes.  These will be done when you can see the tops and bottom edges are light brown.  After you take the pan out of the oven, hold the top right corner and bottom left corner of the foil in your hands and drop the foil from a few inches above a flat surface.  Let the cookies sit for a minute and then move them with a cookie spatula onto your cooling racks.  After a few minutes the cookies will be crunchy on the outside and a little gooey on the inside.  My recipe makes about 12-15 cookies.  Note: When the cookies have cooled, store them in a zip top bag or air tight storage container to keep them from getting stale.

Enjoy feeling clever when you've bewitched your friends with these ;)

Cute and Original Holiday card:

 

So last year  I started my holiday tradition of making my own holiday card using my favorite little piggies as the stars for the photos on the card :)  Last year I went on snapfish and used one of their templates to create a cute card.  Since the template I chose had candy canes and snow flakes on it, I went to the dollar store and found a snowflake dish towel and some plastic candy canes for the boys to pose with.  I didn't use a backdrop (you can see window blinds behind Monty) and I took the photo at night in a poorly lit room (which made everything look a little yellow). 

This year I thought I could do a little better with the shoot set up and chose to print the photo out as regular 4X6's (about $2 and I picked them up the same day from Walgreens!)  Since my home has better lighting during the day I took the picture during daylight hours and pulled the blinds up behind me (when I take pictures I've found that lighting from behind me is better than lighting from behind my subjects).  I also thought about my backdrop: I took an old sheet and threw it over our love seat; this made the boys stand out more and the background less busy. 

For props this year I found some "pet hats" from the dollar store!  They velcro underneath the chin or you can just put it on their head (Igore did not want to wear the chin strap!). 

 

For the text on the "card" I just thought about some funny holiday sayings and then used Photoshop Elements 8 to add text.  You could also add text using a basic paint program on your computer.  Just be sure to save the file as a JPEG.  When you've made your card the way you want, upload it online to Walgreens, Snapfish, CVS, etc. and add it to your cart.  On Walgreens you can click on your cart and preview how the photo will look when it's printed.  I used this feature and adjusted where I needed my text to be based on where the photo would be cropped when it was printed. 

If you choose to do this project with your pets and you're looking for ideas....you could put big bows on them and then type "Cute enough to go under the tree"  Or make some little scarves out of old clothes and type "Baby it's cold outside".  Those are just a couple off the top of my head; I'm sure you'll come up with some even more clever ideas ;)  Happy Holidays!!!!

My space...not the social networking site ;)

Hi you!  I know I haven't posted in a while and I apologize for that.  Right now I'm going through a career transition...this is a greatly exciting and terrifying thing.  The lesson that I think I've been learning the most is how to love and care about myself.  How can I confidently apply for a job if I'm not my biggest fan?  I guess I can say that I'm a work in progress ;)  Part of this process has allowed me to realize that I need to have an inspiring space to give me some positive assurance.  I'm a huge fan of the show The Big C.  In the show the main character, Cathy, is fighting cancer.  One of the things that Cathy used to "keep her head in the game" is she created a happiness tree.  Basically Cathy took pictures and placed them in a tree shape above her bed.  Every morning she is reminded of things to be happy about/be inspired by.  One day last week I realized that I needed something like Cathy's happiness tree.

I have a corner in our spare bed room with my desk in it.  I started filling my blank corner with a Van Gogh print that my dad gave me when I was a kid and then a calendar which starts on January 1, 2011.  I don't have a lot of spare cash right now so I went through some old magazines and cut out pictures that I felt a connection with.  One of my favorite pictures is of a White Oak tree.  The picture was actually a part of an ad which started off, "White Oaks are synonymous with strength and longevity."  I cut the ad off, but wrote that sentence on the picture and then added "You are a White Oak." :)  I put up a clever picture with a quote, "No one will grant your wishes.  You better make them happen."

My corner, like myself, is a work in progress and I'm happy that I will never be finished with it; like me!  Thanks for reading-I appreciate knowing that you're out there rooting for me :)

Thanks for coming out!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Ypsi Art in the Park art show/fundraiser yesterday.  It was great talking with everyone and hearing such nice comments :)  

If you're visiting this site and wondering where my online store is, its located at: http://cleverjenoe.yolasite.com/
:)

Thanks David Bromstad!

Awesome Update: "Anonymous" posted David Bromstad's actual technique video with the 'how to' for this project.  Thank you Anonymous!!!  :)  Here's the link: http://www.hgtv.com/video/celebrity-art-project-video/index.html

I was watching "Color Splash" on HGTV one day and the host of the show, David Bromstad, was creating a great painting using acrylic paint and a water spray bottle. He'd paint a little and then spray it. The water would give it a kind of rained-on look, but in a good way.

I thought it was pretty clever so I made a painting using this technique.

Try out this out, but be prepared to catch the dripping water and paint with something besides your carpet!

Additional Comments: Folk Art is the brand of acrylic paint that I used.  I find that the acrylics that come in the tubes are thick and hard to manipulate so try to get it in the container-I think it's pre-mixed with water.

It's like making a mixed tape for the whole world ;)

http://8tracks.com/ is a music site where you can listen for free to mixes made by fellow music lovers!  You can also create a mix; which, to me, feels like I'm making a mixed tape for the whole world to hear :)  Ahhh mixed tapes!  how I miss them....

So go to the site and click where appropriate to listen to some great mixes or you can search for specifics up on the right hand side at the top.  If you want to hear a clever mix from me type in "sounds from jenoe" and get to listening!  Another great mix is called "music for the reluctant studyer".  You can also (on the right hand side) listen to Halloween-type mixes; I just saw one called "Vampire Dance Party" ;)  And if you make a mix, post it on here so we can listen to it too!
--- ---
Ok, I forgot to put this the first time: If you are creating a mix, when you get to the "select tracks for your mix" page, click on the "all tracks" tab, type what you want to search for in the box, and then hit enter.  Once you see the song you want appear, drag it over to the left side box.  It took me a little bit to figure this out on my own ;)

A clever book club you'll have time and energy for:

Real Simple Magazine has an option for those of us who want to have the literary joy ;) of belonging to a book club, but without the pressure, planning, or even leaving our houses!

Each month people vote online which book they want to read (there's 3 or 4 options posted and you just have to pick one).  After the votes are in, the book is announced, and you get to reading.  During the month you can go on Real Simple's website and submit comments about the book/comment on what others have said.  Didn't finish the book within the month?  You're not the only one!  You can still go on after the month and post/comment.  Sometimes I just use this club to find good books to read and I skip the book club all together ;)

Check it out for yourself: http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/entertainment/arts-culture/no-obligation-book-club-00000000009249/index.html

Google Docs ;)

Have you used Google Docs yet?  If you haven't, you will after you hear more about them!  It's a clever tool to create a document online and share it with others.  No more emailing drafts back and forth to others-do everything in real time.  It is great for working on projects with colleagues who are in a different location, or even on a different computer ;)  It would also be great for students working on group projects together.  My friend and I are constantly creating/updating our resume's.  Google Docs lets us show each other what we're working on and then invite one another to view and edit OR just view what we've put together.  It's very handy!

Here is a link for more information and how to use Google Docs (Google says it better than I can and why reinvent the wheel?!)  http://www.google.com/google-d-s/tour1.html

Caprese Pasta and Garlic Bread

I love Caprese salad and I love pasta so I thought, why not combine the two?  This is what you'll need for this easy and scrumptious dinner:

-Fresh mozzarella (I usually can't find this anywhere except Whole Foods or a local dairy)
-A thing of Grape or Cherry tomatoes
-Some fresh Basil leaves
-Pasta you like
-Good extra virgin olive oil (I like the Filippo Berio Extra Virgin)
-2 Elephant garlic cloves or 4-5 regular garlic cloves
-A loaf or already baked bread from the bakery/deli (Kroger, Meijer, and Whole Foods by me makes these)
-Mc Cormick 'Italian Herb Seasoning' Grinder (so delicious on any savory foods)
-Some sea salt

Let's get cooking!  (haha)
-Preheat your oven to 400 degrees (for the garlic bread)
-Start chopping up your garlic (I like pieces a little bigger than a dice, but you pick what you like best)
-Line a cookie sheet with foil
-Cut your loaf in half and place cut-side up on the cookie sheet
-Drizzle the bread with a little oil, put some garlic on it, then season it, and put it aside

-Fill a pot with enough water for your pasta (directions for pasta cooking are usually on the box) and set that to boil
-Rinse your basil and tomatoes and start chopping up the basil-I grab as many leaves as I want, stack them up on top of each other and start making strips

-When your water starts to boil, throw a little bit of salt in, and your pasta
-When the pasta's cooked, drain it, return it to pot, throw in tomatoes and mozzarella (drained), and put the pot lid back on

-Put your garlic bread into the oven for 4-5 minutes depending on how done you like it
-In a small/medium size skillet pour in enough oil to cover about 3/4 of the surface and then add in the rest of your garlic

-Turn your burner up and fry for about 2 minutes then pour into a larger bowl

-Pour your pasta mix into the bowl, add the basil strips and use tongs or a spoon to mix everything up

Take your bread out, dish out the pasta (season it with the grinder!), and enjoy a great and easy dinner!