Peruvian Purple Potatoes

Yep....purple potatoes for dinner!  Maria's Produce Market has a variety of fresh vegetables that I've never ever seen before.  Many of the customers are from India, Peru and Guatemala, thus the unfamiliar offerings.  I don't have the slightest idea how to prepare most of the vegetables they offer but with potatoes.....I thought I'd be safe.  I oven roasted them with fresh rosemary, garlic, olive oil and S&P.  They didn't crisp up like I wanted so I finished them off in a saute pan.  Although they tasted like regular potatoes, the brilliant purple color (the photo doesn't do them justice) made them taste even better!

GROW - My Color Challenge Project

My collage for Louise Gale's Color Challenge is on its way to my swap partner in Spain.  The challenge was to use complementary colors and create something using the theme of Blooms, Flowers and Fauna.  I chose the colors purple and yellow (we could use black and white as well) and created this mixed media piece. I cut petals out of magazine pages and used text from an old gardening book, some paint, buttons and a found wire hanger.  I hope Jo enjoys it!

Stuff I Find When Looking Down

Whenever I'm walking outside, I'm always looking down for treasures. I never know what I'll find but it's usually rusty and cool and I just have to have it!! My girls are used to this - they often help me find great pieces that I might have missed had there not been four more eyes looking! I'm not happy until my pockets are full! I have quite a collection of these "treasures" waiting to be re-purposed in the right art project. My favorite is twisted old wire which makes unique hangers for my collages or mixed media pieces.

Writing this post has gotten me thinking about how this relates to life. How often do we miss what's right under our feet because we are so focused on looking ahead to where we're going? While I'm great at looking down and finding odds and ends under my feet, I'm not great at applying this to my own life.  Sometimes I find myself so immersed in future concerns that I'm missing the little (but important) things happening right under my nose. It's like thinking about what I'll have for dessert before I've even started eating my dinner!  The challenge for me is to take notice and "collect"  the little things I find all around me in the present.....laughter, hugs, a smile, kind words.............these are the real treasures!

This is my favorite recent
yard sale purchase.  It's an old rustic 3-1/2' fruit stand sign that's just perfect on the fence in my garden.  I love the way the paint is peeling. 

Challenging Myself with a Creative Color Challenge!

In December, I participated in my first swap!  It was Louise Gale's Creative Color Challenge and consisted of making three ornaments to swap with others.  The challenge was to create using only gold, red and green (black and white too).  It was such fun creating ornaments to send out and then receiving wonderful handmade ornaments from Puerto Rico, Canada and California.  Louise's latest Creative Color Challenge is taking place now.  It's to create a piece of art to swap, using a pair complementary colors.  The theme is Blooms, Flowers and Fauna.  I'm working on a collage and will share it later after it's been mailed out.  It's due to be mailed out on Monday so I'd better get busy!........I always did work better under pressure!