Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Junk Food Again Next Year - Happy New Year!

Our Resolution - Do it Again Next Year!

Hi Everybody! - I wasn't going to blog again until Jan. 10th, but today I participated in friendly banter with a couple of swell gals in a facebook group (ladies, you know who you are).

In the back and forth posts, I posted what we do EVERY year for New Year's Eve. I think we have been doing this for 30 years now - so even before my husband and I had kids.

We have a picnic style Junk Food Night and watch a movie at home on New Year's Eve. AND we RESOLVE to do it again next year :-) The menu is absolutely what ever you want. Candy, ice cream, etc.

This year's menu: cheddar cheese that squirts out of a can, home made orange julius smoothies, little smokies, summer sausage, Ritz crackers, sour cream and onion dip, chips, cheddar popcorn, caramel popcorn, AND in the paper bag between the second and third blue paper plates in the photo above is KFC Chicken Bites. We used to get popcorn chicken, but they are not offering it any more.

Don't believe me? click the photo to see it larger.

God only knows how many years we have had KFC Chicken. My son wanted it one year when he was small along with the cheese-in-a-can.

Even better? It is all done by 8:00 pm and my husband and I can call it good :-) The kids head out to their friends homes.

So there. I have publicly admitted my New Year's resolution is to have junk food again on New Year's Eve. What is your New Year's resolution or tradition?

Have a wonderful and prosperous New Year!

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Happy Holidays 2013! "Elfed Myself"

Happy Holidays to all of you! I will be back blogging January 10th.  I gotta say, I do have some awesome dancing moves!

 Note: I removed the dancing elf video of myself because it auto plays and I can't figure how to shut off the music! To annoying to have running while you are reading other post :-)





Friday, December 13, 2013

Artist Spotlight - Kimberly McSparran


Read about the big names Kimberly has designed for!

 

Tell us a bit about yourself: Did you go to school for art? Are you self taught?
Long before I entered kindergarten, I began drawing and knitting. In first grade, I won the Easter Egg Hunt Poster contest. In second grade, I made myself a bikini. I continued to draw, paint and sew throughout high school. As a young model, I “recreated” everything I saw in the New York showrooms. I decided to become a Fashion Designer and began studying fashion design at the University of Vermont. After my first semester, I decided to switch into fine arts. Between my metal-smithing and oral interpretation teachers, for whom I made illustrations, I was encouraged to attend a higher caliber art school and transferred in the middle of my sophomore year to Syracuse to study illustration. I spent my junior year at St. Martins College of Art in London where I first met Robert Welch, the famous metal-smith. Little did I know, three years later I would be at the New York Hilton introducing three flatware patterns I designed for Yamazaki along with Robert Welch and four other international designers. My career in the Tabletop Industry had begun.

What inspires you / where do you get inspiration from?

I am inspired by everything that surrounds me. I grew up in the hills a of Pennsylvania. I was constantly found in streams and ponds looking for polliwogs, turtles and frogs. I loved long walks through the fields with my dog Muffin, who I watched as she pranced through the tall grass. After school, I would visit horses on my way home, even before I began to ride. I was fascinated by nature.
In London I learned of Sir Edward Burne Jones and did my thesis on him. He and William Morris were best friends at Oxford, so I studied about him as well. These Pre-Raphaelite artists strongly influenced my art. A trip to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, blew me away and I began to draw everything I could see. That summer, I traveled to every museum I could get to throughout Europe.

Do you work in just one medium? Several?

I have worked in watercolors for decades since my work was primarily for delicate designs for dinnerware,  stationery, fabrics and wall coverings. When I began getting commissions for Pet Portraits I began working in oils and love it. I use Liquin and water soluble oil paints so I can use glazing techniques just like in watercolors and I can work quickly.

What are you working on now?
My current licenses are Lunt Silver for Reed and Barton, designdesign, and Jason Products. I have licensed my designs to over 30 manufacturers internationally for the past 3 decades. Several manufacturers are still in production with my designs since the 90's.

Anything else you want to tell everyone?
I am obsessed with my art and want to paint and draw all the time. I don't think I could ever really retire because, I can't stop myself from wanting to create things. Painting to me is like dancing, I love the flowing lines, I adore color and new color combinations...I never know what's going to happen next. The painting just evolves.

Are you an early riser? or night owl?

I start working at 7:30 or 8 each morning and work till 7 or 8 at night. Then have my dinner and walk my dogs. I don't pull all niter's or work past 11 pm. I'll get up early if I have to finish something up.

What is your favorite food?
My favorite foods are salads with arugula, basil, tomatoes from my garden with fresh mozzarella, fresh grilled tuna fish and shellfish. Another reason to live in the Hamptons!

Website: mcsparrandesign.com
For licensing inquiries please contact; Jen Kramer Jenerosity Marketing



Read more! Enter: Artist Spotlight in the blog search box.
If you are interested in being spotlighted - email me: anntroe@cox.net

Thanks doodlebugerz for reading and posting your comments. MAKE MY DAY and follow this blog :-D

Friday, December 6, 2013

Bucking "Target's" Color Trends this Holiday

Traditional colors work too.

Last night my high school senior daughter and I decorated a gingerbread house. We have been doing this for MANY years and usually buy a kit from Target. This year Target's kit had pastel color candy in it.


I figured my daughter would like the colors. When we got started she was unhappy with the pastel color selections. The side she decorated is in the photo above on the left with the traditional red and green. She is by far the largest consumer of stuff in our house and is a walking resource of trend information!, —right down to her brand new Vera Bradley iPhone case. I would never have guessed she would want traditional colors.

That got me thinking. I am sure there is a LOT of thought that goes into what colors will be trendy in the coming year. But given the choice at the store, "trend consumer daughter " would have bought the traditional red and green kit.

Are color trends all that trendy? Or are they just what's available at the time of purchase. Weigh in and tell me your thoughts
- Thanks!
Make my day and follow this bog :-D


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