Photo a Day Challenge

OK, I may be coming to the party a little bit late but I look great and ready to go! There is a great photo challenge going on right now at  Inspired by Family Magazine and co-hosted by The Hollie Rogue!

It's called The Photo-a-Day Mommy Moments Challenge and it challenges you to capture different moments in your day leading up to Mother's Day. There are themed prompts for each day if you'd like a guideline. Best part is that you could win TONS of STUFF, an even better part it will stretch your creativity and get you "shooting". Prizes will be given out at the end of the period.


They are looking for creativity and originality ladies! You don't have to be a professional, cell phones and point-and-shoots are perfectly acceptable!

You'll need to post your photo submissions to your blog and then link up to the photo challenge linky. All the details can be found here. The challenge and linky officially goes from April 16th - May 11th. 

I'll be posting my entries here in the next couple of weeks. Make sure to let me know if you participate so that I can keep an eye on my competition!



Have fun!

The Soul of an Artist

Does everyone have the ability to be creative they just haven't allowed themselves to find that part of them? OR are some people born with OR without the ability to be creative? I just came from one of those drink and paint places for my daughter's birthday (we drank izzies). They sketch the basics of the painting for you and then an instructor takes you through step by step how to paint whatever painting you may be trying to create. Most of the girls were 10ish and had a pretty good grasp of what was going on.  I watched my 4 (and 3/4 - she made me put that) year old tackling the Hogwarts Express Painting (not a beginner piece). She was doing amazing. Following the guide and following directions. Then I took my eyes away for a second and she had gone nuts! She followed some inner-voice and her Hogwarts Express became this unique abstract of a train. It's amazing and it got me wondering about creativity. 

I've always believed that everyone can be creative. You may need to practice a bit and figure out how to allow yourself to be creative, but everyone can be creative in  their own unique way. Watching my daughter made me realize, YES everyone can be creative but there are those innately talented people that are creative in spite of themselves. They can't help it. My daughter held it in as long as she could and then she HAD to let it out. I wish all parents would give their kids, or themselves for that matter, the chance to let it out, some really incredible things seem to happen when you do.

A Blog that Brightens my Day....

I stumbled across this blog. I don't even remember how. It is so clever and never fails to make me giggle  a little bit more during the day. Today was no exception.

http://girlonthecontrary.com/2012/04/20/i-can-never-order-pizza-again/

If you've ever had the question run across your mind... "Am I ordering too much take out?!" this will make you laugh out loud.

Life's Roadmap

I also wanted to brag a little bit. I'm currently in an art show and I sold my first piece yesterday. I'm excited. Artists put a little piece of themselves in everything they create. It's hard to put yourself out there on display. I am pretty excited. If you want to see the other amazing artists in the show here they are...

WHat would you be like if you were 15 years old today?

Gargoyle Series

Happy St Patrick's Day!

This is from a great blog theKitchn.com
I have been making this cake for a few years now. It's amazing and simple and complex and beautiful all at the same time. It's a one pot wonder! Enjoy it with a lovely pint of Guiness and toast the lovely Irish and all that they represent on this special day! Erin Go Bragh!

Recipe: Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Guinness Cake

As a person of Irish heritage, I always feel a little treacherous admitting this, but honestly I don’t really like to drink Guinness. Still, once a year I do consume a bit of Guinness to celebrate St. Patrick's Day—not in a pint glass, but in Nigella Lawson’s dark, moist Chocolate Guinness Cake.

This cake couldn’t be easier to make—it’s a single layer with a crown of fluffy frosting, and you toss it all together on the stove top. The results are always delicious, moist but not overly dense, with that complex undertone of beery flavor. I make it every year on St. Paddy’s Day.

Chocolate Guinness Cake

From Feast by Nigella Lawson (reprinted in the New York Times on 12/8/04)
Yield: One 9-inch cake (12 servings)

For the cake:

Butter for pan
1 cup Guinness stout
10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
3/8 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups superfine sugar (I have used regular granulated sugar with no ill effects)
3/8 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

For the topping:

1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream

For the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper. In a large saucepan, combine Guinness and butter. Place over medium-low heat until butter melts, then remove from heat. Add cocoa and superfine sugar, and whisk to blend.

In a small bowl, combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Add to Guinness mixture. Add flour and baking soda, and whisk again until smooth. Pour into buttered pan, and bake until risen and firm, 45 minutes to one hour. Place pan on a wire rack and cool completely in pan.

For the topping: Using a food processor or by hand, mix confectioners' sugar to break up lumps. Add cream cheese and blend until smooth. Add heavy cream, and mix until smooth and spreadable.

Remove cake from pan and place on a platter or cake stand. Ice top of cake only, so that it resembles a frothy pint of Guinness.

In a word... Spring!

A glimpse of Spring in Charlotte, NC