Sunshine on a Cloudy Day.
Open your eyes
and look around.
I bet you will see
sunshine can be found.
…even on the cloudiest of days…
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Snowstorm Stella & Perky Portulacas
Perky Portulacas in Pink & Orange – 8×10 Watercolor on Saunders 140 lb Cold Press
Snowstorm Stella & Perky Portulacas.
Last night
when all the talk was about Snowstorm Stella
that is supposed to be coming our way…
(could a snowstorm have a lovelier name?!)
I thought of my Grandma –
my Stella Star.
And as I painted what started out to possibly be poppies,
they seemed to emerge as perky portulacas.
When I think of Grandma,
I think of portulacas.
Grandma had a next door neighbor and best buddy
who grew the most amazing portulacas.
I remembered hot, lazy summer evenings
with Grandma and her friend and the talks we had.
I remember all the things I learned about life and love
from these special times.
So as I smiled at the snowstorm with the most beautiful name,
I fondly reminisced about my Grandma and portulacas.
And these wild and loose and crazy
pink and orange flowers grew on the page
With joy and happiness
and gratitude and love.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Watercolor Paint: Daniel Smith Cadmium Orange, Winsor & Newton Permanent Rose, Daniel Smith Lemon Yellow, Daniel Smith Cobalt Blue
A Brunch & Bubbly Bridal Shower
I had the joy and privilege of hosting a Brunch & Bubbly Bridal Shower for my bright and bubbly daughter-in-law to be this past weekend.
I had fun decorating and preparing for our girly party!
Thanks to Matron of Honor and beautiful sister, Laura, and loving, gentle mom, Pat for co-hosting with me.
(And a super special thanks to my BFF Jill for taking all of these photos as well as helping with anything else needed while I was busy hosting.)
Liz was surrounded by the love of her Mom and three sisters…
and there is another beautiful girl on the way to add to this gang!
First things first – the Bubbly!
and a toast to the bride-to-be.
Friends and family attended.
Families mingled meeting and getting to know each other…
and several generations shared in the joy and love.
New moms and great grandmoms…
and moms with babies on the way,
and moms who get to share ❤ .
Then there was brunch.
Where we served a buffet of Chicken Salad on Sliced Crostini, Crispy Veggies with Hummus, Fresh Fruit and Honey Walnut Brie, along with…
Mini BLTs served on Heart-shaped biscuits,
Loaded Deviled Eggs,
and a Strawberry Spinach Salad with Feta Cheese and Candied Pecans.
Aunt Kathy made the MOST amazing cupcakes I’ve every tasted! Strawberry Lemon with Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting,
My friend, Pam who makes the most amazingly beautiful sugar cookiedoodles, made these gorgeous and delicious treats that we served along with my cookie pops.
The guests brought and shared amazing gifts for our newlyweds to be.
We played a few games. Pretty simple ones really… Like guess the number of corks and gave away prizes when a timer went off during gift opening.
Some sweet and funny stories were shared when guests filled out a “Mad Lib” story…
and then chose to share with the group.
And then the groom-to-be (my son, Nick) arrived with flowers, smiles, and a tight hug.
Favors of Homemade Lavender Sugar Scrub were given to guests as a thank you before leaving.
A kiss and an “I love you” at the end of the day, but the beginning of a lifetime. (with a little bit of sweet granddaughter drool on my shoulder)
It was a great day to celebrate a great young lady!
Love you Liz!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Thanks Jill!
Party Supplies:
Toasting Flutes for Mimosa Bar
Juice Carafes for Mimosa Bar
Tissue Paper Tassel Garland
Tissue Paper Pom Poms
Tissue Paper Honeycomb Balls
So Lovely is…
So lovely is…
the rise of the sun
on early morning walks
with a best friend
who is enthralled
with the excitement
of new discoveries
in the early dawn dew.
Seek
and
Cherish
the moments!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Unplug
Almost
everything
will work again
if you
Unplug it
for a few minutes…
Including you.
– Ann Lamott
Unplug….
even if only
for a few minutes.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Its Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature!
Its Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature!
Alright….
who tried to slip
Mother Nature
some Chiffon margarine
in place of butter?
Woke up early this morning
knowing it was coming…
the weather people
kept telling us.
But to see daffodils blooming
and tree buds bursting
in a haze of green
against a blue sky
and warm, sunny breeze
just yesterday…
and wake up to this –
albeit splendid beauty-
this morning…
Someone had to have tried to
fool Mother Nature!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Mixing Basics in Watercolor: Blue, Red, & Yellow
Mixing Basics in Watercolor: Blue – Red – Yellow.
Going back to basics with my new watercolor palette and realizing all the colors that can be created by using three simple basics. For all three of these simple, loose, impressionistic flowers, I used the same colors: Cobalt Blue, Permanent Rose, and Lemon Yellow.
For the first I mixed Permanent Rose with just a drop of Cobalt Blue for the flowers and Cobalt Blue and Lemon Yellow pretty equally for the green.
For the second I mixed Cobalt Blue with just a drop of Permanent Rose for the flowers and Cobalt Blue and Lemon Yellow with an emphasis on the Cobalt Blue in places nearer the flower.
For the third I mixed Lemon Yellow with just a drop of Permanent Rose for the flowers and Cobalt Blue and Lemon Yellow, but only a tiny bit of Cobalt Blue to lighten up the green.
And there are likely hundreds more color combinations in various shades that could be achieved by simply using these three basic colors.
It’s fun and easy and creates such clean, bright, un-muddied results when you keep it simple.
I also used one brush for everything – the Rekab 320S #2 Squirrel Mop (which I could only find by ordering from Australia, but LOVE it – also recommended by Debi Riley), It is so versatile, but I really had to learn to use it after using inexpensive synthetic brushes at first. This brush holds a lot of water and paint. It also can come to a fine point and do small lines with a light touch, and can make fat, wash strokes too.
So if you are even thinking of giving watercolor painting a try…. three colors, one brush (you don’t have to order from Australia – but find a nice natural hair medium sized brush to achieve results you will really enjoy) and some paper (I recommend you start with Cold Press 140lb Arches) is really all you need to create some beauty and experiment with this wonderful hobby.
Thanks to the inspiration of Debi Riley on Watercolor Basics! So much to learn from such talent!
Enjoy the journey!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Cake Pops! Tips for Beginners
Cake Pops! Tips for Beginners.
I adore cake pops!
Because… really… what could be better than a bite-sized morsel of cake dunked in chocolate? And then maybe adorned with sprinkles?!
They are delicious and pretty and cute; but until this past weekend, I had never tried to make them.
I wanted to practice for an upcoming event or two, so I read and researched and asked around and gave them a whirl this past weekend.
They are really not that difficult, but there are a few tricks to success. I thought I would provide a few tips that helped make mine turn out delicious and beautiful! At least that is the consensus I got from the party I took them to as “practice” pops.
To make cake pops, bake a cake mix – whatever you favorite flavor is. Then follow these tips for success.
- Freeze cake – even if overnight. It allows you to plan ahead and also adds to the moisture of the cake. Simply place baked cake – crumbled, broken pieces, or all in one piece – in a large Ziploc bag in the freezer.
- 1 boxed cake mix makes approximately 3 dozen cake balls.
- When ready to assemble, defrost the cake and crumble to fine crumbs with your hands in the bag.
- Add only enough frosting (ready made works perfect) to add a bit of “glue” for forming and holding balls together. I used 1 heaping tablespoon – that is it! This allows your cake balls to truly taste like cake.
- Scoop crumb mixture with a small scoop to form uniformly-sized 1 inch balls. Then roll with your hands to round ball.
- Melt chocolate candy melts in microwave in a deep cup that is not too wide to allow for ease of dipping. It only takes 1 1/2 – 2 minutes.
- Dip tips of sticks into candy melts and insert into cake balls.
- Refrigerate or freeze for at least a half hour or several hours.
- Remelt chocolate at 30 second intervals until desired consistency.
- Dip cake balls on sticks into chocolate candy melts. Allow excess to drain.
- Place on parchment paper if using with stick up, and sprinkle with jimmies or edible glitter.
- Stick into styrofoam if using cake ball up and decorate as desired.
- Make ahead up to 3-5 days if needed – no more than 7 days. (there are horror stories of moldy cake balls made too far ahead of time)
- I found this site – Heavenly Cake Pops – to be extremely informative.
Have fun and enjoy!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Every Bunny Loves Some Bunny Sometime
Funny Bunny 8×10 Watercolor
Every Bunny Loves Some Bunny Sometime…
Every Bunny falls in love somehow…
Well – I’m surely not Dean Martin, but I do love painting bunnies…
especially funny bunnies this time of year with Spring and Easter right around the corner.
And Remember – in case you doubt…
You Alone are Enough
You have nothing to prove
to Any Bunny!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
I used only three colors to create all of the colors in this silly critter: Cobalt Blue, Permanent Rose, and Quinacridone Gold, which also also created purples and greens and a dark “mud” to be almost black without looking too black.
A Ghost in the Tree
A Ghost in the Tree
(A bit of Silly… Poetry)
Do you agree
with me?
Do you see
a ghost in the tree?
On a carefree
walk of sightsee,
it caused a teeny
bit of anxiety.
But Charlie in his chivalry
helped me gain clarity
and guaranteed
it was but a tree.
Such pedigree
to disagree
and decree
it must be too much coffee.
It was a beauty.
Could it be
a chickadee
or chimpanzee?
Whoppee
and Yippee
for a tree designee
of imaginative jubilee!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
the creative life in between 