Poppies finished!

I finished a rather large painting a few days ago! I wanted something to fill in the big blank space on our livingroom wall, so this is what I came up with! It's the biggest painting I've ever done (24x36), and I really enjoyed it, so I'll probably be doing another big one for the opposite wall!

This is the small watercolor version I painted first.

Almonds Almonds Almonds!

Mmmm... Fresh, foamy almond milk! Love it!! 

I've been making almond milk at least once a week, and my favorite part is when it has just come out of the blender all foamy! A few people have asked how I make it, so here's my super simple recipe!

Almond Milk:

All the amounts are variable, depending on how thick you like your milk and how you like the flavor. Experiment and have fun!

I use about 1 Cup of raw almonds for 4 Cups of almond milk.

-Soak almonds in water, anywhere from 7-12 hrs. I usually put them in a bowl of water when I go to bed if I want to make the milk in the morning, or start them in the morning before school if I will have more time in the evening. 

-Drain and rinse in fresh water. 

-Place about 1 Cup of almonds (or slightly more for thicker milk) in a blender with 4 Cups of water and a pinch of salt, and blend thoroughly.

-Pour the milk through a nut-milk bag or other fine fabric to strain it, and squeeze the pulp. The milk will be foamy and delicious!

-For VANILLA Almond milk, rinse out your blender and pour your strained milk back in, along with a blurp of vanilla and 4 or 5 dates (or sweetener of your choice). Also, when I make vanilla milk I usually wait to put the salt in until this step, but I don't think it matters.

-Blend thoroughly again, and there you have it!

After a while in the fridge the foam settles out and there may be some unusual looking separation that occurs, but it is actually usual... just shake it up a bit and it will look normal again!

Enjoy!

P.S. If you're wondering what to do with the almond pulp, just place it on a cookie sheet and brake it up as fine as you can, and place it in a warm oven (I warm up the oven and then turn it off - you don't want to bake it, just dry it out). When the pulp is dry, blend it into flour in your blender. Then make gluten-free cookies out of it! :)

Weekend Gnome project!

Last weekend my core group at school had an October "harvest party" and costume contest - the costume theme was from the woods (like trees, mushrooms, animals, Robin Hood, etc...). Sooo, because I love gnomes so much, I decided I would become a forest gnome!

I only had a few days to create a costume, and the challenge was that the only fabric I had on hand was.... a set of ugly tan curtains that had been abandoned in the bottom of our linen closet. So, I decided to cut them up!

This costume was the result! The curtain turned into a cute tunic with yarn ties at the neck, the skirt I had made a few years ago out of scraps of quilt fabric, and I ran to Joanns to grab a piece of reddish-orange for my hat.

Leaf embellishments

I realized as I was working on the details of the shirt, that I was spending an awful lot of time on a simple curtain costume, but hey, I was having fun sewing! I did the seams well and put time and excellence into it just because I can!

Sleeve detail 

Skirt patches

I had great fun being a gnome for a day! I'm sure I will find an excuse to dress up again sometime soon!

My First grapes!

I always feel especially accomplished and proud of myself when I create something that is not only beautiful, but also useful or... edible! Hence, being here at school and producing two batches of jam had me quite pleased!






This was my first time making grape jam, and my first time picking grapes! Concord grapes are beautiful! A friend took me to her elderly friend's house who had offered her grapes to us, and we picked buckets full! Well, bowls full...

I washed, cooked, and painstakingly removed all the seeds from the grapes, and then made my jam! It is not only beautiful, but quite tasty too :)

 

The finished product!!

Baby quilt

This was my second baby project this summer! I saw a picture of a large version of this patchwork quilt on pinterest, but there were no instructions or specifications. So I took the idea to my Aunt, who is a quilter extraordinaire, and she helped me come up with a basic pattern for this adorable baby quilt! It was a really fun project! Especially since it's for my little nephew who is arriving in October! :D

I had to add some water to the scene, because it's a PNW quilt and we live on an island!

Quilted free hand on my sewing machine.

A sweater for Ruben

My first baby sweater! I was altering and adjusting the pattern as I went, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out in the end, but when it was all finished I loved it! It is so small and cute - I have fallen in love with baby sweaters! Good thing I have a nephew coming in a few months so I can make more :)

This is the pattern I used, though I customized it a bit, as I always do! :)

Petite Purls baby sweater

The handsome man himself!