T stands for....THE BIG REVEAL!

Hello and welcome for the big 8th anniversary celebration and reveal of the ATC swap. Happy Anniversary, Elizabeth and Bleubeard! Since not all ATCs arrived at their destinations, there will another reveal event in the near future. As far as I know, my recipients didn't receive their letters so far, so I can only share the ATCs I got.

First I got the cutest little tea cards from Spyder. So many cute details! I so would love to share a cup of tea and a biscuit with you all now! And look at the little envelopes she send the ATCs in. Thank you, Lyn! 

 

 

Then I got another beautiful ATC from Nancy W. We both were a bit too fast and exchanged addresses before THE day. *LOL* So we decided to send each other an ATC apart from the swap. So this is what I got. I LOVE deer! Isn't he gorgeous? And there are copper details on the card, you can't really see in the photo. Thank you so much, Nancy! Love it!

And the deer came in this beautiful handmade daisy card! Daisies were my favorite flowers, when I was a kid, as they grew by the dozen in my parents lawn. Thanks again for swapping cards, Nancy, and I hope you get your ATCs soon, too.

Come and join a drink with us over at T stands for...!

 

Paint Party Friday: Blue Birds and Big Horses

 Hello and welcome for Paint Party Friday!

The last weeks I mostly painted ATCs, that I can't share yet, as they were made for a swap and the recipients are still waiting for their letters. I had so much fun painting in this tiny format.

But of course I have some birds and horses to share. Revisited some of my garden birds sketches and made some cards for my stash from them. Here's a nuthatch painted this week.

 

I love to "repaint" some of my sketches and check if I can see any progress on my painting technique. This nuthatch is from December 2020. I can definitely see some progress here.

 

 And here's a little blue tit I painted this week and I wasn't very happy with it, as it looks like I only added color without any sense.

This one is from February 2021. Not sure, if I like it better, but the raw paper surface certainly adds interest to this older version.

And here are some draft horse sketches. I'd like to make a small series of ATCs with domestic animals on them, so I need a horse. Already got a sheep and a pig. A cow is missing, too. We will see where this leads me. I definitely love big horses.

I think, this one would look nice on the ATC, but needs to be downsized

Have a great weekend and make sure to visit all the artists for PPF!

T stands for....Turkish Flatbread Recipe!

First: Happy 8th  T stands for.... Anniversary to you, Elizabeth and Bleubeard!

The tag of my peppermint tea bag says today: 

"Time for a cup of serenity". Yes, true! I should follow that advise and show more serenity, as life is a bit overwhelming lately.

Last week I shared a photo of Turkish flatbread with you for my T party post and some people asked for the recipe, so here it is. I translated it from German, so hopefully it's not complete nonsense. *LOL*

Ingredients for 2 Turkish flatbreads

500 grams wheat flour (type 405)

1 cube (42 grams) of yeast (dry yeast works fine, too)

1 teaspoon sugar

50 grams soft butter

1 egg

2 teaspoons salt

250 ml warm water

For the topping

2 tablespoons milk

a bit of salt

2 tablespoons of sesame

2 teaspoons of black sesame

Step 1: Put the flour into a bowl. Mix the yeast with warm water and sugar and pour in the middle of the flour.

Step 2: Add butter, egg and salt and knead for at least 5 min. Shape the dough into a ball, cover with a tea towel and let the dough rise for 40 min.

Step 3: Knead the dough once again (only for a short period), cut in half. Roll out both pieces flat and round (like you would do for pizza, approx. 25 cm in diameter) and put on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Let the dough rise for another 10 min, then cut a checkerboard pattern into them (do not cut all the way through the bread). Let the dough rise for another 60 min.

Step 4: Preheat the oven at 200°C(upper/lower heat) or 180°C (fan). Brush the dough with milk and sprinkle with salt and sesame. Bake for 20 min and let it cool. The bread tastes best fresh. Put into a plastic box/bag for storage.

Let me know if you baked it or if there are any mistakes in the recipe translation. Enjoy!

Paint Party Friday: Hedgehogs for a Birthday Card

Hello and welcome for Paint Party Friday!

This week was my husband's birthday and although we don't give each other any gifts, I usually paint him a card for birthdays or anniversaries.

He loves hedgehogs and so I sketched a lot of hedgehogs to have some to choose from. They all turned out cute, but I had to decide (not that that I wouldn't use the other cuties for future paintings *LOL*).

I really like the new watercolor paper and althought the format is a bit weird, it's perfect for cutting A 6 cards from it. Hedgie no 1 was this one. Painted with White Nights watercolors.

Hedgehog no 2 was a bit off center, so I decided to add a bumblebee to balance it out..

Glued both of the hedgies on cards. DH got the top oneand the other one went into my card stash. Always good to have some handpainted cards, so I don't have to paint some under pressure. Really in love with these two hedgehogs.

Have a great weekend and make sure to visit all the wonderful artists for Paint Party Friday.

T stands for....flavored water!

 Good morning! I'm a bit late to share my drink with T stands for...., but here we go. Did you ever try flavored water? I mean the ready-made ones in bottles?

My boss and his secretary lately bought some bottles with cucumber and lemon/lime flavored water. They both didn't like their choice, so I got a bottle of each to try...........what can I say? I know, why I only drink the "real" stuff and add lemon juice or pieces of fruit by myself.

I simply don't want to talk about the cucumber flavor and this stuff tasted like dishwashing detergent. *LOL*

So how about you? Do you drink flavored water? If yes, do you have a favorite brand or fruit you add? 

Two weeks ago I got a new recipe for Turkish flatbread and I had to try it. The first attempt was a bit too long in the oven and turned out dry. But yesterday's attempt.......look at it! It was as delicious as it looks. Yum!

Have a great day everyone!

Paint Party Friday: Woodland Animals and New Watercolor Paper

 Hello and welcome for Paint Party Friday!

I started a A5 mini series in watercolors with wood animals, maybe for hanging on the walls of our new house. Two are finished so far, a fox and a roe deer. All are painted on Canson 300g/m² paper with White Nights watercolors.

Love how the fox jumps while hunting mice! Some of you might know him already from Thursday Art Date with Rain, where I shared him for the "Jump" theme.

 

 

Both would look great framed and side by side on the wall.

 

 

Although I think I got the coloring of the roe deer right, it looks a bit plein to me, like I should have worked on the shading a bit more. But it's still a learning process.

This week I also got some new watercolor paper and ofc I had to try it at once. Beach scene! I really, really want to go and see the ocean this year. Hopefully it is possible. Really like the paper and will use it often in the future. Also used White Nights watercolors, as they are my favorites now.

 

 

Have a great weekend everyone and make sure to visit all the other artists for Paint Party Friday!

 

Thursday Art Date with Rain: Miniature

Hello and welcome! Today's theme for Thursday Art Date with Rain is "Miniature".  

I chose whales. They're not really miniature you say. Yes, they are, if you try to squeeze them onto bookmarks, which are only 4.5 cm wide and 15 cm high. *LOL*

I did the outlines with waterproof ink and then used watercolors for coloring. The paperstrips are leftover from bigger watercolor paper sheets I once cut off and didn't want to throw away. Rounded edges look nice on these. Just need to decide if they should get some nice ribbon or not. 

Also sketched out some more whales. I tried to stay in the 4.5 cm squares, but it didn't work out for some of them. *LOL*

Another miniature thing is my travel watercolor box and the mini sketchbook I made to go with it. Aren't they cute?

Thanks for visiting my bloig and please make sure to visit all the other fantastic artists joining Thursday Art Date with Rain!