It's All About Soup ~ Look There's a Chicken ~ Art Journal Pages

7" x 10" Watercolor sketch of some diet soup ingredients for the Artist Food Network Blog. There you will find the recipe if you want a low calorie soup recipe. This is not a new recipe but one that goes under many names such as the cabbage soup diet and I don't play by the rules either. I'm a diet cheater as if I get a chance to go to I Hop for pancakes or Hoffbrau for a steak, I'm outta here. I'm not recommending it but just saying this is what I'm doing and I've lost a few this week but it's more a "supplemental soup" than being very strict on the program. There has to be a goodbye to December's chocolate and pizza festival and I don't want to be this fluffy in 6 months.

Journal Page 56

Cleaned out another spot. Family Christmas Party and there is always food. Something new in my journal as I wanted each person there to "sign my book". What fun to look back and see that Gracie was making a backward 5 and she chose to write Gracie instead of Grace. I decided to draw my gifts instead of name them.

Journal Page 57

More gifts, more drawing and another reason I'm enjoying keeping an art journal for drawing practice and taking a closer look at objects and there is a great benefit in jogging a foggy memory. Don't you like the ornament with the woman clasping a book to her chest? It's very suitable for an ex-librarian and a lover of art books and yes, the rear view mirror chimes are hanging in my car accenting the left over Colorado french fries from our speedy trip the 14th.

Journal Page 58

I took the advice written on a gift from the previous page, a bracelet that said " Seize the day and make the most of your life." I seized it to journal and blog and stay in my bathrobe. I made a pocket from an envelope to secure the Christmas letter and attached the card on front.

Journal Page 59

Party time is over and time to reflect on the possibility of losing weight and limiting it to one English pea a day, doing some Google searches and looking at diet books, taking off to Walmart to buy some healthy groceries and finding a book I wanted to read, "23 Minutes in Hell", so I went to Luby's bought soup and came home and read the book and made soup on Sunday. The book is written by Bill Wiese and is a sobering book and more gripping than making soup.

Finally on Monday I got to go paint with 5 Canvas by Canvas members and it was mostly talking over each other and interrupted conversations when we began to say "Look there's a chicken" after I repeated the Bob Burridge joke from the Corpus Workshop. Bob was delivering a lecture on color in the 2nd story art center, surrounded by glass windows overlooking the bay when he blurted out, "Look at that orange barge on the blue horizon" then laughed and said, "I don't have ADD" and "They said I have ADD - they just don't understand OHHH, there's a chicken" and boy, oh, boy can I relate to this statement after not seeing girlfriends for several weeks and we're all a little ADD when we reconnect.

We decided that we needed to go check out Brad Pitt in the Benjamin Button movie but first an I Hop fix. One of my CBC friends described the movie as from "Depends to Pampers". After two days of fun, then computer problems, a grandson fix and I paid him in food and gas money. Vista and I do not have a good relationship.

Journal Page 60

There is "Change" in store for 2009 and we will continue to reach forward to what lies ahead. No resolutions but thoughts about trying to get my house under control, taking care of buisiness, painting more and walking (just remember to carry my id!!), and listen to my dowloaded Thru the Bible series while I walk.. Just for Today.

May you have a blessed New Year.

Angel at Rest ~ Skinny Girl Award ~ CBC Mini Paintings

$40.00
6" x 6" acrylic on canvas
Purchase through Canvas by Canvas.com
Angels are referred to as Watchers, Holy Ones, Host of Heaven, Spirits, Messengers, Guardians and our Champions. They are commonly depicted as having halos and wings and in Christian iconography they are shown as a winged human form and are powerful and are used to execute God's will. This angel is an imaginary angel at rest and as a former librarian, I gave her a book to read but even though she is supposed to be on a "rest break" she still looks down guarding her charges. I used some Pearlescent paint on the wings. Wikipedia has a long article on angels.
Canvas by Canvas has been painting some mini paintings for their upcoming shows and we have done, fish lures and flys, high heels, cupcakes, and now angels. I am one of the 11 members of CBC.
Since March, some of us at CBC have been in a weight war. See my post of July 30, 2007.
Yesterday was weigh in day at the Upstairs Gallery annex. This a photo of the winner, Nancy..yep, that's me being presented with the Skinny Girl Award by the keeper of the money, Cindy Yandell. It was her idea for us to undertake this project and I'm glad I joined in with the group as I've lost 19 pounds and plan to lose some more. I really didn't get serious until about a month ago and this post tells a little about one of my tactics.

Nancy is holding the $$$, Cindy Y is presenting the Skinny Girl Award.

I hope to use some of the cash award to take more art workshops and photo op trips.
Other blogs where I post:
http://artistfoodnetwork.blogspot.com
http://canvasbycanvas.blogspot.com
http://myspace.com/nancystandlee
TO PURCHASE PAINTINGS: Go to Paypal on http://nancystandlee.blogspot.com
Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often

Sunflower Painting ~ Summer Friends ~ Thru the Bible Radio ~ Art Blog

$80.00
11" x 15" Watercolor
This summer has brought changes in my lifestyle as I've become interested in blogging and in some weight issues. ( See Post in Artist Food Network) and for the past two weeks I've begun a walking program. I have listened to Thru the Bible Radio off and on for years but this is the way I'm listening while I walk. On the home page you will see a free MP3 Download option.

WELCOME! Thru The Bible is a 30-minute Bible study radio program that takes the listener through the entire Bible in just 5 years, going back and forth between the Old and New Testaments. This Bible study program has been aired on radio stations in the U.S. since 1967, and is now being produced in over 100 languages around the world.

Because the mission of Thru the Bible Radio is to take the whole Word to the whole world, we are making these files available to you free of charge for your personal use.

John Vernon McGee was born in Hillsboro, Texas, in 1904. Dr. McGee remarked, "When I was born and the doctor gave me the customary whack, my mother said that I let out a yell that could be heard on all four borders of Texas!"

How To Download:

Please note that these zipped MP3 files are large and therefore suitable for download only by using a high-speed internet connection. Dial-up users are advised not to attempt to download them. To begin the download, simply click on one of the primary download links in the first two columns and choose where on your computer you'd like the zipped file to be saved. Before you can play the MP3s, they must be unzipped or extracted back into individual mp3 files. To do this you will need a zipping software (such as WinZip or the Extraction Wizard in Windows XP) to unzip the file. Once they have been downloaded and unzipped, you can begin studying the Bible along with Dr. McGee!

Hints: Download to your Desktop and on the last Extract choice of the original file you are trying to extract - (Extract to Title of what you have downloaded or you’ll have files all over the desktop.) Right click on the Last extract. Delete the original book type icon and start saving all the Bible Books to a folder. I save the current Book only and delete it when I’ve finished listening to save room on my Samsung Digital Audio Player. It’s easier for me to just start playing where I’ve left off the day before. I tie the Sportline Step Counter around my waist and when I return from about a 30 minute walk, I post the activity on the Calorie Counter Plus site.
With a MP3 player download you can start anywhere you like in the J. Vernon McGee broadcast and listen when it’s convenient. I am listening to these chapters as I walk in this Texas August heat and each day I look forward to my chapters and my walk as I find walking needs a little something extra. Walking is a priority as I’ve mentioned before as some of my collaborative painting group from Canvas by Canvas are in a weight loss war and the weigh in date is drawing near, September 4. There is a cash bonus involved plus the benefit of some better fitting jeans.

If you like a little religious humor, you might find this worth looking at; however, there are several comments posted pro and con about the Baptism Cannonball.

Other Blogs where I post:

Oh, yes I forgot to mention MySpace has been updated. I visited a 13 year old grand daughter yesterday and she thought my site was much too plain. I asked her to find me something she would recommend. I like her choice.

http://artistfoodnetwork.blogspot.com

http://canvasbycanvas.blogspot.com

http://myspace.com/nancystandlee

TO VIEW MORE PAINTINGS OR PURCHASE: Go to Paypal on http://nancystandlee.blogspot.com

Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often