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tinabritton-photography · 5 years

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Still Life and Product Photography

New brief called “Cheap”, but there is nothing cheap about the objects I acquired during the object finding exercise at 3 different pound shops. First shop was PoundBasket in Port Glasgow, 2nd was a pound stretch shop next to Tesco in Irvine, and 3rd was a pound shop at Irvine Mall. Ok, so what have I learned thus far? Well, I’ve learned that I am bipolar all over again. Bipolar people have difficulties with their moods, and their mood swings from different poles, but they also have problems mangaging money and making decisions.

Those last 2, yeah, that is me through and through the last few weeks. I bought enough stuff, and I am broke, to cover the entire class. That being said, much of it is fun, and you too could find this in your xmas stocking this year once this brief is finished ;). Yeah, I mean you.

This all being said, and, I digress, were some of the items a bit more than a pound? Yep, I won’t lie, but it astounds me what kinda-cool stuff you can get for £1 pound here in the UK, because in America your hard earned $1 gets you diddly.

Soon I will share an image of all the stuff I bought. LOL, yep, the horror :D.

This little guy below is so cool. You open it up and pour him into your hand and let the fun commence!

I told you! I cannot get everything I bought on this A1 sheet of white paper! The yellow bottle is the coolest, except, someone had stolen one of the batteries. There is a tiny wire inside with very small inline fairy lights. I had to order new batteries. They will be to here tomorrow. I have no idea whether it works or not yet. I walked up to the counter and asked the lady, ‘Is this really £1?”. She said, “Uh, yeah?” Ok, Sold! The Daisys on a stick, well, those are so cute, and the green bottle, it is shiny and has a skull hanging from it. Decisions, Decisions!

The first photographer and image I want to speak about is Laura Letinsky, a still-life photographer and her image “Untitled #54 from Hardly More Than Ever series 2002″.

When I first saw this image I felt like I walked into a room where there had been an indoor picnic happening, that must have ended because the ‘2′ people went outside to enjoy the sun after the rain had stopped. I say 2 people because there are 2 plates, however, could this be only a small section of a larger table? There is a sensuality about the scene. Peaches have long since represented the feminine. So what does the lollipop represent?

Being a dark person, I was pleasently surprised at how much I loved the colours in this image. In the background, the white looks muted green which is beautiful against the delicate oranges and reds in the image. Even the shadows appear a bit green. I even love the wrinkles in the make-shift table cloth and used napkin beneath the melon. I am actually waiting for someone to walk back in and grab one of those peaches or that lollipop before anyone else can.

What also catches my eye is the wonky line of the sloping table and the asymetric hanging of the back of the table cloth and leaving a bit of floor to give us a feeling of stability even though it appears there is none. There is a haphazardness to the whole seen giving the implication that the festivities are still going on elsewhere, otherwise, this would have already been cleared away.

Laura Letinsky, Untitled #54 from Hardly More Than Ever series 2002. Courtesy of the artist and Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York. (//www.umanitoba.ca, 2019)

Laura Letinsky was bornin 1962 in Winnipeg, Canada. She attended the University of Manitoba in 1986, and Yale School of Art in 1991.

Another of her works I really like is below . . .

It this too considered a still-life? I think so, yes, even though these are images of objects arranged. What brings these pieces together are the colours set against the vast violet white of the background.

Untitled #40, from the series Ill Form & Void Full, 2014. Archival pigment print. 49.5 x 58.12 inches, edition of 9. (Yanceyrichardson.com, 2019)

I am trying to stretch my mind and my acceptance around the fact that this is truly still-life. As an artist, I rail, however, I cannot deny that this is a spectacular still-life . . .

The colours, the placement. You can almost taste colours of the fruit. There is a depth to this piece, yet it is composed entirely of images cut and arranged on a surface.

(The Photographers' Gallery, 2019)

The second photographer I would like to take a look at is Peter Lippman.

The first image below is so apt; ash covering the old mechanical camera. A death of the analogue. But for me, not quite yet. The image is almost in total -grey with a very hint of blue? Subtle soft light causes a gradation across the still life and picking out highlights here and there. It could be natural light, or a soft box on low power. Even though the camera lies amongst the greys, there is good contrast, and the image gets its meaning across.

(Harvey et al., 2019)

The title of the image below is Banane. Apparently, it is a plantain fruit/pod from the banana family. This image is the plant on black background.The deep contrast and muted reds and purples coupled with the green of the stem really makes this image come alive. It reminds me of the human heart. The subtle smooth texture of the leaves juxtaposed with the texture at the crown of the plant is a visual treat.

(Harvey et al., 2019)

First of all, I actually love the colour of the background in this next image by Lippman. Is it the true colour of the scene, or is it burned in, a gradient as it gets darker toward the bottom? The broken glass provides visual texture and interest. Since these are fragrances for men, I think it adds a sense of danger to make men want the products. Heavy shadows weight the objects to the background. As for lighting, it could be continuous, but probably flash. I am not yet proficient enough to make that decision yet.

The 3rd photographer I’ve decided to write about here is Guido Mocafico. Mocafico is an Italian photographer. Though he now is getting more into the fine art of photography, he has been working as a commercial photographer with such names as Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Ralph Lauren and Chanel, just to name drop a few.

The image below is stunning. As soon as I saw it, I was intrigued, not only about the watch, but about that gorgeous shiny material it is sinking into. The highlights in the ‘goo’ mimic the hightlights of the watch and the white of the Roman numerals on the watch face. This makes the product really pop in my opinion. I can’t find a thing to criticize in this product image. The blacks and whites are perfectly balanced.

Heure noire. Numéro 122. Avril 2011. (Mocafico.com, 2019)

The image below feeds the need for black in me. The contrast, the middle tones, the grays, the highlights. I really am pulled in my all the textures and shapes. The smooth of the watch-face, the different directions of the toothed gears and motorcycle chain or timing belt, whichever it is. The glossy motor oil spills across the gears causing them to become something more beautiful than grimy metal. The solid blacks in between all the shapes makes each piece stand out to be counted.

Les temps modernes. Numéro 129. Décembre 2011 - janvier 2012. (Mocafico.com, 2019)

References

//www.umanitoba.ca, U. (2019). Laura Letinsky: Still Life Photographs, 1997-2012. [online] News.umanitoba.ca. Available at: https://news.umanitoba.ca/laura-letinsky-still-life-photographs-1997-2012/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019]. (//www.umanitoba.ca, 2019)

Yanceyrichardson.com. (2019). Laura Letinsky - Artists - Yancey Richardson. [online] Available at: http://www.yanceyrichardson.com/artists/laura-letinsky [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019]. (Yanceyrichardson.com, 2019)

The Photographers' Gallery (2019). An interview with Laura Letinsky. [image] Available at: https://vimeo.com/57683797 [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019]. (The Photographers' Gallery, 2019)

MCA. (2019). BMO Harris Bank Chicago Works: Laura Letinsky. [online] Available at: https://mcachicago.org/Exhibitions/2012/Laura-Letinsky [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019]. (MCA, 2019)

Peterlippmann.com. (2019). PETER LIPPMANN. [online] Available at: https://peterlippmann.com/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019]. (Peterlippmann.com, 2019)

Harvey, O., Naroop, A., Matthews, D., Dumontet, E., Almas, E., Walker, M., Riches, N., Lippmann, P., Douglas, W., Lippmann, P. and Lippmann, P. (2019).

Still Life/Food/People Photographer - Peter Lippmann - Trayler

. [online] Trayler & Trayler. Available at: http://traylerandtrayler.com/artists/peter-lippmann-2/ [Accessed 29 Oct. 2019]. (Harvey et al., 2019)

Maree, S. (2019). Peter Lippmann – Sophie Maree. [online] Sophie-maree.com. Available at: https://sophie-maree.com/portfolio-item/peter-lippmann/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019]. (Maree, 2019)

Milkbooks.com. (2019). Guido Mocafico. [online] Available at: https://www.milkbooks.com/blog/photo-wisdom/guido-mocafico/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019]. (Milkbooks.com, 2019)

Mocafico.com. (2019). Heure noire – Guido Mocafico. [online] Available at: http://www.mocafico.com/projets/photography/still-life/numero/heure-noire/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019]. (Mocafico.com, 2019)

Mocafico.com. (2019). Les temps modernes – Guido Mocafico. [online] Available at: http://www.mocafico.com/projets/photography/still-life/numero/les-temps-modernes/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2019]. (Mocafico.com, 2019)

#Cheap

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sending-the-message · 6 years

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Bleak Christmas by ecrowe

I told my wife I had a surprise for her the week before Christmas. She asked if it could wait until the day, but I said no, this couldn’t.

By the time she got out of bed, I had the car running. The ice that had spread across the windscreen overnight was gone and the inside would be toasty for her.

"What's this for?" she asked, standing in her dressing gown, peering out into the cold morning air.

"It's your surprise," I replied, handing over a red envelope.

She opened it. A mixture of confusion and excitement danced on her face.

"A photo of a cottage, I don't get it?"

"That's where we're spending Christmas."

"But the tree, the presents?"

"All sorted. I've covered everything."

"I don't know, I have work."

"No you don't, I spoke to your manager and it's all sorted."

"Really?"

"Really," I said grinning.

She jumped on the spot, the reality setting in.

"We're staying there?" she said, pointing to the photo, "It looks gorgeous! This is all so sudden. Let me pack."

"I've done that as well."

I had outdone myself this time.

"It looks exactly like the picture!" Sarah said, getting out of the car.

The snow had slowed our progress. We had arrived shortly after 3 o’clock; the sun was well into its journey to hide behind the horizon. The old stone cottage stood proud, its thatched roof, a bed for the blanket of snow that coated it. On the ground, untouched white lay in every direction, tinted orange by the winter evening sun.

"Oh and that snow, wow!" Sarah continued, "Come on, let’s go inside!"

I unlocked the door and the pleasant smell of burning wood enveloped us, like a welcome hug from an old friend.

In the living room the logs in the hearth crackled. A Christmas tree occupied the far corner. The baubles and tinsel reflected the glow of the fire in their mirror-like finish. Presents of different sizes and in an assortment of gift paper were stacked below.

Sarah turned to me, her eyebrow cocked, "Are you sure you did this? My Darren? My Darren did all this?"

"I had to call in a few favours, but yeah, I did."

"I love you," she murmured, as she wrapped her arms around me and squeezed. She relaxed her embrace and sighed in contentment.

I made a mental note to thank my friend Joe, without him, none of this would have been possible.

"Make yourself comfortable, I'll get the suitcases," I said.

I left the cottage, the icy cold air rushed in as if it were shoppers on Black Friday. I stumbled back from the shock, zipping up my coat in the process.

I followed my fresh footsteps back to the car, trying hard not to spoil anymore of the pristine snow. I opened the boot and took out our cases, not letting them touch the ground. Using my chin I pressed down on the lid, bending over to lock it in position before losing my grip. I dropped Sarah's case onto the driveway; with a satisfying poof, it landed. My game was over. I shut the boot and picked up the now damp case.

Something caught my eye. On the far side of the yard, I could see the outline of a figure. I left the luggage where it was and walked to the edge of the grass.

The snow crunched under foot, it had been years since I felt that. When I was close enough to see it, to see her, I stopped in my tracks. A woman stood next to a small brick wall, holding her hands out from her side, palms facing me. When I realised she had no clothing on, I averted my eyes.

"Can I help you?" I said, shielding my gaze, "Do you need me to get you a coat?"

I looked back up and she was gone. All I could see was the immaculate snow stretching off into the distance.

"What are you looking at?" Sarah asked from the door, "I heard you talking to someone, so came out."

"Oh, no-one. I thought I saw... It doesn't matter. I've got the cases," I said, holding them up to prove it.

I picked up the TV remote.

"We don't need to watch TV do we?" Sarah said pouting.

"What else are we going to do?"

"We could talk, or read, or..."

"I didn't bring a book," I replied.

"I'm sure there's something here to do. Have you tried looking in the cupboards? It is a holiday cottage after all."

I sighed and got up.

"Do you want me to open the wine?" she asked.

"Sure," I was going to need some alcohol if the TV was off limits.

I left the living room and walked the small hallway to the closet that sat at the end. I didn't notice when the temperature dropped. I stopped at the end and I gave out an involuntary shiver. It was much colder here than in the living room. I wondered how that was possible. How could the heat just stop here? I placed my hand on the cupboard's icy cold handle. I hesitated at first, but opened it anyway.

A mildewy odour drifted out, it clung to my throat, causing me to cough. I clicked on the small drawstring light, and saw the few games - Monopoly, Cluedo and Scrabble. I reached for the latter and pulled. As I did another one slid out. An unmarked scarlet box, it had the texture of how old book covers feel. On the side in gold gilding was the simple word - jigsaw.

I relaxed when I returned to the welcoming fire. Yet, the chill of the hallway had seeped into my bones.

"I found a couple of games," I said, holding out the Scrabble and Monopoly.

"Ugh," Sarah said, "We can't play Monopoly, it's such a horrible game."

"Scrabble then?"

"What's the other one you have?"

"It's a jigsaw of some sort."

"Ooo, that sounds fun. I haven't done one of those since I was a kid. What is it of?"

"I've no idea," I said, turning the box over, "there's no picture."

"Even better, it will be a surprise."

"Sure," I relented, discarding the other games.

Sarah snatched the box from me, placing it on the table and opened the lid.

"You have to start with the edges," she said, already searching through the container for the pieces, "I'm so excited!"

I poured myself a glass of wine and gulped the first few mouthfuls. Without prompting, she looked through her pile and began joining them together. I snuck my phone out of my pocket and texted Joe, thanking him for the cottage; a few seconds later a thumbs up emoji came back.

I couldn't believe how full the fridge was. I took out some cold meats and made each of us a sandwich.

"I hope you're okay with roast beef," I said, holding out the plate for Sarah.

She stared through me, her eyes wide and scared.

"She's still here you know," Sarah announced flatly.

"Who is?"

"Ann."

"Ann who?" I said confused.

Sarah continued to stare, turning her palms to face me.

"Sarah, are you okay?" I said raising my voice.

She shook her head.

"They look lovely," she said smiling.

I handed over the sandwich.

"Who's Ann?" I asked.

"What?"

"You said Ann is still here?"

She chuckled, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

She bit into bread and with a full mouth said, "Wow, this is good. Since when did you know how to make a sandwich?"

I feigned a smile.

The edges clicked into place in no time. The brush strokes gave away that the jigsaw was a painting of some sort. Blue sky decorated the top, with white snow along the left and bottom.

"You getting bored?" I asked.

Sarah curled up on the sofa.

"No, I’m tired; I think it's the wine."

I continued to search for pieces and every now and then one found its place, filling in the sky.

"Darren?" she asked through closed eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you, this has been great."

"You're welcome," I said, running my hand through her hair.

I took a sip of wine and continued with the puzzle.

Sarah gently snored beside me, but I hardly noticed; I was so enraptured by the jigsaw. As the scene unfolded, it was uncanny.

"Hey, Sarah, look at this!" I said, prodding her awake.

"She's outside," she mumbled in her semi-conscious state.

I ignored her.

"Check this out," I continued, shaking her awake.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"What does this look like to you?"

"You woke me up to show me that jigsaw? I'm going to go back to sleep."

"Sarah, seriously, look at it!"

She sighed, propping herself up.

"That over there," I said pointing to the right side of the puzzle, "Doesn't that look just like our car?"

She rubbed her eyes and squinted.

"I guess."

"Look, that's this cottage!"

She sounded intrigued, but still groggy from sleep. Around a third of the jigsaw was now complete.

The painting wasn't detailed enough to make out the registration plate. Aside from than that, the tiny vehicle was the spitting image of our car.

"That's this living room, isn't it?" I said.

Pieces were still missing, but the roaring fire was obvious, and the Christmas tree in the corner.

"Is that what you woke me up for?"

"Don't you find that strange?"

She relaxed back into the sofa, "Wake me up when it's complete."

As her head flopped to the side, she snored in earnest. I picked up my glass and saw that it was empty, and so was the bottle. I got up and made my way to the kitchen.

Six bottles of wine lay sideways in the chrome wine rack. I chose one at random and slid it out. I wiped away the dust to read the year - 1984. Joe had gone all out. I sank the corkscrew in and yanked. With a pop, the cork relented. I poured a glass and rested against the fridge, swilling the wine, doing my best to enjoy it, as a fine wine should be. I didn't know what I was doing. I tried to copy what I'd seen on TV, but I laughed to myself and took back a large gulp.

I was merry from the alcohol and also very relieved. Our marriage had been a little shaky recently, and I promised myself I'd be a better husband. Today was the happiest I'd seen Sarah for a long time. I grabbed my phone and composed another text to Joe.

Hey man. I can't believe the effort you put into this place. Setting up the Christmas tree and wrapping up the presents. The wine, and the fridge; so much food! I don't know how to repay you. The fire was a nice touch; that was the icing on the cake. Remind me I owe you big time!

I was about to press send when I saw the time, 23:55. Fuck it, I thought, and sent it anyway. He's not going to get annoyed if I wake him with that. He would love the fact I'm in debt to him, he'll lord that over me for years.

I gazed outside and poured myself another. Through the kitchen window I saw the snow glint in the light from inside. In the once perfect blanket of white, impressions led off into the darkness. Something was out there.

I rushed to the back door and entered the cold. It was now freezing and my jaw chattered. I turned on the torch function on my phone and shone it into the pitch black.

"Hello, is anyone out here?" I asked.

I jumped as the light illuminated a shivering naked woman.

"My name is Darren," I said, taking off my sweater, the chill of the night chilling me further, "Let me cover you up."

I approached slowly so as not to startle her, my heart raced.

"I'm going to put a jumper over your shoulders, okay?" I announced, lifting it up.

She turned to face me.

"She's out there alone, I can hear her."

"Sarah?" I shouted baffled.

Her eyes stared through me, her lips blue and quivering.

"Oh my God!"

I raced over and placed the sweater on her.

"Honey, you have to get back inside."

"Darren, what's happening? Is this a dream?"

"Sure," I said, "follow me."

I led her to the cottage, seeing her discarded clothes lying in the snow. I picked them up, one by one, as we approached the open front door.

I closed it behind me. Only embers remained in the fireplace, the cottage had lost most of its heat. I accompanied Sarah into the bedroom and tucked her in. She shivered throughout. I played with the small electric oil heater until it sprung into action. I waited, touching the metal surface until it began to heat up.

I heard her snore and let the anxiety drain. My muscles hurt from the panic. I pushed off my shoes and joined her in bed. I snuggled up behind her body a block of ice, her feet wet from the snow outside. I wrapped my arm around her and held her close. I don't know how long it was until I fell asleep. But when I awoke, it was morning.

I ran my hand along my wife's body, relieved she was now warm.

"Honey, how you feeling?"

"Ugh," she said turning over in bed to face me, "my head kills. How much did I drink?"

"Half a bottle of red."

"Is that all? I'm in so much pain, my feet hurt."

"What was the last thing you remember?"

As morning light that leaked in through the threadbare curtains, she covered her eyes.

"I don't know. Did I fall asleep on the couch?"

"Yeah," I said, not wanting to bring up the nocturnal sleep walking, "Do you want me to make you some breakfast?"

"No, I'm nauseated. Can I stay in bed?"

"Sure," I replied, getting up.

"It's so cold."

"Sorry."

I placed the blankets back down and she slipped them underneath her body.

"I'm going to get something to eat, I'll come check on you in a bit."

"Uh huh," was all she could muster.

I put on my clothes from the day before.

"If it'll cheer you up, you can open one of your presents early," I said smiling and leaving her to sleep.

In the living room the jigsaw loomed up at me. A compulsion pulled me to sit down and finish it, but I resisted, I was starving.

The fridge presented me with a dilemma, so much to eat. I scanned all the items, mentally picturing them and I weighed up how much I'd enjoy each. I reached stalemate with myself and decided to make the same sandwich I had the night before.

I stood chewing my creation and stared out of the kitchen window. I studied my wife's footprints from the night before. A fresh layer snow drifted to the ground. The anxiety from earlier rose up again, forming tight knots in my stomach, quashing my hunger. In the distance I saw the small stone wall. Behind it I could swear I saw the outline of a person. I placed my sandwich on the table and left via the back door.

Snow landed on my face, melting on impact. The wetness underfoot seeped into my shoes and chilled my feet. As more and more flakes settled, my skin turned numb. I jogged, heading straight for the stone wall. The snowfall thickened making it hard to see what appeared to be a person that stood out in the cold.

"Hello?" I asked, but heard nothing back in response.

My now damp T-shirt was cold and made me shiver. The naked woman, it was definitely a woman, who seemed to wait for me, held out her palms. At first I thought she was welcoming me. As I advanced, fresh cuts on her wrists began to bleed and drip.

"Miss!" I shouted, "I'll get you help."

I reached into my pocket to take out my phone, but it wasn't there. A mental image of the nightstand conjured up in my mind, seeing my mobile plugged into the wall socket on charge.

I moved forward with trepidation, wondering if she had been out here all night. But surely that would have been impossible. It was now that the structure of the stone wall became clear, it was a well. The woman waited behind. Too anxious to get any closer, I stopped.

She mouthed a silent shriek. Her eyes screamed back even louder. I tried to read her lips as she repeated the same word over and over again.

HELP!

I tried to formulate a plan. She was agitated and crying. Trying to keep calm, I moved one step at a time, holding my hands out in a soothing offer. Without a second thought, she crouched and fell into the hole.

I ran to the well, gripping the edge hard, gazing into the black water; its surface untouched, perfectly calm.

I placed my wet clothes over the oil heater and studied the empty bed, hearing the water run from the on-suite. Steam drifted into the room. The woman's petrified face still burnt into my retinas, still shouting that one word.

"Is that you, babe?" Sarah said from the bathroom.

"Yeah, I'm getting dressed," I replied, still in shock.

"Come in."

I smelt the fruity air, heavy with the fragrant scent of the bubble bath.

"How you feeling?" I asked.

"A bit better, thanks. Would you wash my hair?"

From the bath, she held up the shampoo; droplets of water ran down her forearm and dripped to the floor. My mind flashed back to the blood that dripped from the woman's wrists.

"Sure," I said, a little uneasy.

I knelt down next to her. I picked up a cup, filled it with water, and then poured it over her head, turning her blond hair a dark auburn colour. I lathered the liquid and she let out a satisfied sigh.

"This is nice," she cooed.

Cup by cup, I poured the water, flushing the soapy suds away.

"I still can't believe you did this," she said smiling.

I rubbed her hair and turned to look in the mirror at the end of the bath. A grin began to grow on my lips until I saw the reflection at which point my blood ran cold.

The woman glared at me, her eyes red and swollen from crying. The water coloured with a hint of pink. Her hands gripped the metal handles of the bath. Blood splashed from her wrists like a leaky tap.

"Holy shit!" I cried out, shuffling myself over to the other side of the room.

"Darren!" Sarah shouted, "What are you doing?"

I caught my breath, my heart racing in my chest.

"Darren?" her toned now concerned.

I didn't know what to say.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

A glint of light caught my eye; a single razor perched precariously on the tub.

I got up and picked up the blade.

"I saw this, sorry, I panicked."

"What? You think I was going to use that?" she said upset.

"No way, I uh..." I stumbled my words, "It's just dangerous is all. I'll leave you to it. Hope you enjoy the rest of your bath."

I left the room and headed straight to the cupboard.

I studied the razor in my hand; blood crusted the edge of the blade. I placed it on the top shelf, well out of Sarah's reach and opened the suitcase. I removed a fresh pair of clothes. Slipping on jeans, I saw my phone flash a green light, signalling I had a text.

I pushed my feet into my wet shoes and cursed at myself. Picking up the phone I read the single line message.

What the hell are you talking about? I didn't do that.

It was from Joe.

Angry, I called him back, leaving the bedroom as I did. I went outside, ready to shout at him, making sure I was out of earshot of Sarah.

"Hello?"

"Joe! What the hell is going on?!" I shouted down the phone.

"What do you mean?"

I snuck into the car, to make sure I could not be overheard.

"You swear you didn't put up the tree and wrap the presents?"

He laughed.

"What me? You know who you're talking to, right?"

"But, it's all there."

"I promise I never did!"

"What about the fridge?"

"What about it?"

"The food, it's chock full!"

"Not me mate."

"So, the fire, that wasn't you too?"

"Darren, all I did was what you asked. I put everything in the spare room. You realise I went out on a limb to get this place for you, don't you?"

I relented.

"Yeah, I appreciate that."

"The new owners won't be in until January. You haven't got anything to worry about."

"Fuck," I said.

When Joe offered me the place, he promised me that the last owner was out of the picture. It was a perfect opportunity to take Sarah somewhere nice for Christmas.

"What happened to the owners?"

"It was a young married couple. The husband went to prison earlier this year. His mother was selling it on his behalf, she couldn't afford the mortgage payments."

"Joe, I've seen things."

"I don't know what you mean."

"What happened to the wife?"

"I have no idea, I only sell the houses."

I went silent.

"Darren?"

"In the spare room you say?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks."

I hung up and got out the car. As I entered the cottage, I saw the fire in full swing, warming the place through. I headed straight for the spare room. And like Joe said, on the bed lay the Christmas tree, still in its box. Next to it, a selection of presents I had bought for Sarah, as well as some wrapping paper, tape and scissors. I closed the door behind me.

In the living room, I froze. Sarah stood, wearing a bathrobe, holding a present she had taken from under the tree. She raised it to her ear and shook.

"I wonder what it is," she beamed.

Carefully, she removed the tape and opened it. She revealed a pair of black lace panties.

"Darren?" she said seductively, "I could wear these tonight."

I feigned a smile back.

"Wait, these aren't my size."

She picked up the crumbled paper she had let fall to the floor and read the tag.

"Who the FUCK is Ann?"

"I can explain!" I said and immediately regretted it.

"Asshole! You haven't changed at all!" She threw the garment into the fire, which in turn roared with satisfaction.

"Sarah!" I pleaded.

But she was already in the bedroom. The door slamming behind her, confirmation I shouldn't follow.

I peered at the empty bottle of wine that sat on the table next to the jigsaw and worked out how many glasses I must have had. Five?

The puzzle was getting easier now the cottage was complete. Even in my inebriated state, it hypnotised me. The building covered in snow, the window into the living room showed the interior in so much detail.

The fireplace in the corner was exactly like it was here and the tree with the presents on the floor. Even the screwed up wrapping paper left strewn on the ground. And one man, with a glass of wine, finishing a jigsaw.

My ears tingled, as if someone or something was watching me. All that was remaining was the snow section in the bottom left, the hardest part.

I started to match the pure white pieces, placing them together separate from the main puzzle. I noticed what looked like footprints, and as the parts came together, a chill ran down my spine. Putting the completed section into the main picture, it was obvious to see. A delicate set of prints, running from the front of the cottage to the well in the corner.

Excited, I went to the kitchen and took out another bottle of wine, this time not giving the label a second thought. I picked up another glass and made my way to the bedroom, as a peace offering.

The living room was suddenly much colder. I placed the wine and glasses down when I heard the front door bang against the wind that now grew outside. My chest thumped as panic set in. I left the cottage.

My heart ached seeing the fresh footprints in the snow, identical to that of the jigsaw. The icy air hurt my skin. I trotted along the tracks that filled quickly with the new settling snow. The security light of the cottage did its best to illuminate my way. Its powerful beam penetrating far through the curtain of icy flakes that fell.

On the ground lay Sarah's T-Shirt, I picked it up, then her jeans, her socks, and then her underwear. I held them to my chest. I fell to the floor in front of the well, and crawled to the edge.

"Sarah? Are you down there?" I shouted.

In the moonlight, I could see the water line was lower than before and my wife smiled up at me.

"I found Ann," she laughed manically from the bottom of the well, stroking the decomposed head of the body she held in her hands.

"I told you she was here."

I dressed up smart. Wearing Sarah's favourite T-Shirt of mine and the jeans and shoes she had bought for me last Christmas. I drank from the tepid coffee, concerned she had not arrived.

"Can I get you another drink?"

"Thanks," I said, holding up my cup.

The jitters in my stomach were now a kaleidoscope of butterflies that made my leg shake sympathetically.

"Do you know how much longer she’ll be?"

"She’s on her way, I promise."

I gripped the bouquet of flowers that rested on the table.

There she was. I could see her through the glass.

Impatiently I stood up.

"Hi Sarah," I said as soon as the door opened.

Unconsciously mirroring her, I sat when she did.

"How’re you feeling?" I asked.

She smiled, her head lolling to the side gently.

"I'm good," she slurred.

I held out my hand.

"I brought you some flowers, they’re your favourite."

Her eyes did their best to focus on the roses. She brought them to her nose and breathed in deeply.

She looked to her right, "They smell lovely, don’t they. My husband bought them for me."

Puzzled, I stared at the empty seat next to her.

"I’m moving house tomorrow, just like I said; to be nearer to you."

"Did you hear that?" she said, turning to her right again, "my husband is moving closer to us. That’ll be nice."

"How long do you think she'll be here?" I asked the man next to me.

"She's doing well, aren't you Sarah?"

She nodded happily.

"Who’s she talking to?" I asked again.

"When someone goes through something so traumatic they can invent a coping mechanism; this is hers."

"I wish I could be here with you," I offered, a tear rolling down my cheek, "you must be so lonely."

She shook her head like a little child.

"No, I'm not lonely," she glanced over to the empty seat next to her, "Ann's here."

#reddit #nosleep #scary #story

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laurenlovecraft-ffxiv · 4 years

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20 Fun Facts About concrete countertops

The concrete ought to be combined to the "regularity of oatmeal." But...how thick does one take in your oatmeal? In essence, you would like the concrete to be dry plenty of to attenuate potential cracking for the duration of curing, but slim plenty of to operate with. We found that it absolutely was much better to err about the facet of staying just a little wetter than way too dry. (

This implies that small children are capable of being familiar with course inclusion somewhat previously than Piaget considered. This might be since the process was created much easier to know.

Armor WL550 - The Armor WL550 will darken the area to really make it look moist and result in drinking water and other liquids to bead off the surface. There isn't any surface area movie or coating to take care of!

From the third stage, small children at the moment are ready to comprehend that names were given to things by individuals and that dreams are thoughts that take place within their heads (Papalia & Olds, 1981).

As toddlers (ages 1-three decades) begin to explore their earth, they master which they can control their actions and act over the environment to get final results. Exactly what is the key developmental activity of the stage?

The countertops can be a roman slate texture immediately after currently being really hard troweled. They had been also sanded quite a few moments before the last colorant. The perimeters are shaped to appear to be broken stone. The sink/island includes a 2-foot overhang. See a lot more photos from this contractor >>

We placed some cardboard versus a person side and tipped the countertop up on to its aspect around the cardboard. This allowed us to slide it to the opposite aspect and then gently decrease it back down, now resting top up.

Piaget observed that small children Within this stage tend not to yet comprehend concrete logic, can not mentally manipulate details, and so are unable to take the point of view of Others, which he termed egocentrism.

Following age 65, many people are aiming to evaluate their lives and seem sensible of lifestyle and also the this means of their contributions. What exactly is the primary developmental endeavor of the stage?

Grade of concrete denotes its energy needed for design. One example is, M30 quality signifies that compressive energy necessary for construction is 30MPa. The initial letter in grade “M” is the combination and thirty may be the essential power in MPa.

Different paints should have their unique, distinct drying moments so always check the producer's Guidance. Do some research, and only tackle this job if the weather is right for it.[5]

This charcoal colored concrete countertop capabilities 3 copper inlays that serve as a trivet or hot plate. See more photos from this contractor >>

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An illuminated concrete countertop that includes fiber optic lighting. The Concrete Countertop Institute has been giving courses for incorporating fiber optics into counters because 2006.

Lost your password? Please enter your electronic mail tackle. You can receive a connection and will make a new password by using email.

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destinyhixon-blog · 5 years

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Looking for the best places to eat in Puerto Vallarta? Nobody can promise a perfect restaurant list since this is a big beach resort vacation destination with hundreds of spots to choose from. We have eaten our way across the area several times over the years though and have a good sense of which Puerto Vallarta restaurants live up to the hype, consistently.

First though, a quick geography lesson. There's a river just north of the PV airport that separates the state of Jalisco from the state of Nayarit. Jalisco contains Puerto Vallarta, as well as the Costalegre region to the south. Riviera Nayarit north of the river contains Nuevo Vallarta, Bucerias, Punta de Mita, and Sayulita. We're staying on the southern side of the river and airport for this article on where to eat, Puerto Vallarta proper between the Romantic Zone and the marina area.

Note that if you're staying at a high-end all-inclusive hotel in this area, you will probably eat extremely well. We've always been especially impressed with Casa Velas Hotel, which served up this fine dish you see below on my most recent trip.

Mexico is very kid-friendly, so even with the nicest places on this list you can bring the whole family if you want. In most months, reservations are recommended, especially for the smaller places: many are on Open Table.

Vallarta Marina Restaurants

Tintoque

In these days of Yelp trolls and professional bashers, it's hard to find a restaurant that gets nearly unanimous raves, but Tintoque has gotten pretty close. In the commercial area that's the entrance to the Marina zone, this standout gourmet spot serves up beautiful plates in a vibrant atmosphere without feeling overly stuffy. Don't come here for giant portions (see the next review for that), but come if you're a foodie who wants to be surprised and delighted with every bite. See more at the website here.

Sonora Grill Prime

We loved everything about this place, from the roaming mixologist's cart to the slabs of beef brought out to peruse to the fact that the place seemed to have a staff-to-guest ratio of one-to-one. This homage to beef has plenty of other things on the menu, plus it's a lot less stuffy than your usual steakhouse. Judging by the groups of Mexicans and foreigners alike who had a permanent smile on their face, this is a restaurant to enjoy with good friends who aren't in any hurry to leave. Part of a small chain with other outlets in Guadalajara and Monterrey. More info here.

Puerto Vallarta Dining in the Hotel Corridor

Lamara

I'm not sure we would have known about or found this ceviche and aguachile place if we weren't having our mid-day meal with a sometime local in the know, but it was a highlight of our week. Lamara serves super-fresh seafood in a variety of ways that look and taste incredible, all in big portions that are best passed around. They also have a full bar, an impressive craft beer list, and good desserts. This is a professional operation that knows where it excels and does it extremely well, at very fair prices. Lamara is a popular spot that frequently has a wait, plus they run out of things late in the day when they get busy, so the best bet on when to arrive is early afternoon, pre-comida. The best place to get more info is on their Facebook page.

La Leche

This just may be the coolest-looking restaurant around, plus it's one of the best places to eat in Puerto Vallarta. La Leche is "The Milk" and the interior is awash in white, but in a playful, artistic way with milk jugs running up the walls. The menu changes regularly depending on seasonality and the whims of the chef, so expect a few items done well from a chalkboard rather than an exhaustive printed menu where you're not sure what's good. This is where we had the prettiest salad of the week, everything super-fresh. There's a night club above if you feel like getting your groove on afterwards. See more here.

Icú Restaurant

This intimate restaurant in a nondescript, windowless building you could easily miss is one of Puerto Vallarta's hottest dining spots. We saw several groups turned away on a weeknight because they didn't have reservations. There's an open kitchen where you can see the chefs at work and a bar where the mixologist's skills are on display as well. Everything we tried here was excellent, from the "three textures of beets," grilled cauliflower, and huitlacoche soup that would all make a vegetarian happy, to the gorgeously presented catch of the day tacos on blue corn tortillas and tamal of the day that had succulent pork. The website has nothing but photos, but you can make a reservation there and start salivating.

Top Restaurants in Downtown Puerto Vallarta

Cafe des Artistes

Thierry Blouet is one of Mexico's best-known celebrity chefs, with a restaurant that really broke new ground when it opened three decades ago. It has since won a slew of awards as one of the best restaurants in Puerto Vallarta. He now has several places you can try in this area and a second by the same name at the JW Marriott in Los Cabos, but it's worth making a reservation at the original if you're a fan of fine dining. Cafe des Artistes has long been described as "Mexican dishes prepared with French techniques," so you get the best of both worlds, especially if you go for the tasting menu. You'll find carefully prepared tuna, octopus, lobster, and fish, but you can also try "seared rougié foie gras au mezcal and guava" or"confit suckling pig in black mole." Visit the official site here.

Hacienda San Angel Gourmet

[caption id="attachment_8075" align="aligncenter" width="600"] (c) Hacienda San Angel[/caption]

We're big fans of this well-designed boutique hotel in downtown Puerto Vallarta that sits right above the dome of the city's famous Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The restaurant at Hacienda San Angel is open to the public and has a romantic view of the sea and the city lights tumbling down the hillside. There's a wide range of seafood, a few meat items, and a smattering for vegetarians, such as ravioli stuffed with artichokes. You might want to bring a credit card and a back-up to this spot though: the majority of the main dishes are $30-$50. See more info here.

The Iguana Restaurant and Tequila Bar

Casa Kimberly is a sister hotel to Hacienda San Angel, the latter was Richard Burton's home here and the former was the home he bought for Elizabeth Taylor. The two were connected by a bridge over the narrow street below. You can stay in her original bedroom with its palatial bath at Casa Kimberly, or just come to this Vallarta restaurant for dinner and feel her presence with a large period portrait on the wall. Follow that link above for a full rundown on the hotel, but here's what my associate editor Lydia had to say about the popular restaurant. "The food has hints of Mexican influence but is a wide range of international choices including lambchops, grilled salmon, ceviche, lobster tacos and sea bass. Their desserts are heavenly, all with a Mexican flair, and the wine list is robust." As the name would suggest, they also have an excellent range of tequila choices at the bar. Get more info and make a reservation here.

Sapphire Beach Club Bistrot

[caption id="attachment_8076" align="aligncenter" width="600"] (c) Sapphire Beach Club[/caption]

We've written before about Mantamar Beach Club in Puerto Vallarta, but the gay-friendly Sapphire Beach Club nearby gets the nod as the best spot in the area for lunch or a sunset dinner. Run by the same owners as Azafran, this Mediterranean waterfront restaurant specializes in grilled seafood and meat, a good wine list, and an open kitchen. The shaded, open-air space filled with bleached wood furniture lets the sea and colorful dishes supply the color pops. You'll need to pay a one-day membership fee to join the club here at the end of the Old Town Romantic Zone, so come early and enjoy the pool, the beach palapas, and the fun atmosphere. See more at the Sapphire website.

Gaby's Restaurant and Bar

If you get tired of stacked-up pretty plates and complicated seafood concoctions, come to Gaby's when you're in the center of downtown near the main church and gazebo. In business since 1989 in the same location on three levels, this Puerto Vallarta Mexican restaurant with patios serves some of the best Mexican food in Puerto Vallarta for all three meals, the real deal with no watering down for tourists. Visit for good cocktails and authentic cuisine in a fun atmosphere in the heart of the action. More info here.

Which PV Restaurants to Avoid

We hope you find this rundown of some places to find the best food in the region useful. After all, there are a lot of mediocre places to eat, as in most beach resort areas, so we hope to help you stay out of those. In many cases you can find better food at a simpler local place a few blocks back or even from a street cart.

We are not going to call anyone out by name and say you shouldn't go there, but if you want to avoid boring, overpriced, uninspiring Puerto Vallarta food on vacation, here's our take on which places to avoid:

1) Restaurants that employ a full-time tout outside who is begging you to come in. "Hey guys, ready to eat something?"

2) Restaurants that have their own merchandise shop and menu items with trademark signs beside them.

3) Restaurants that blast the music so loud you can't hear each other because, "We need to make sure people know we are open."

For more info on the area, see the official website for local tourism.

How about you? Where did you find the best food in Puerto Vallarta on your vacation?

Article by Luxury Latin America editor Timothy Scott, all photos by the writer except where indicated plus Iguana Restaurant photo by associate editor Lydia Carey.

The post 10 Puerto Vallarta Restaurants to Put on Your List appeared first on Luxury Latin America Blog.

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doodlewash · 4 years

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Hello friends and fellow artists, my name is Manish and I am from Maharashtra, India. I would like to introduce myself and about my art journey with a beautiful quote which has always inspired me. “The creative adult is the child who has survived” – Ursula K. Le Guin.

As human beings, we all have a creative soul. I consider myself fortunate to have my origins from the lands of Ajanta and Ellora. Having visited these places numerous times was for sure a source of inspiration. These places are a manifestation of the fact that creativity and art is something that has been with us since the beginning of our existence.

My journey with art and watercolor started as a kindergartner. A close friend of mine, who used to draw and paint very well was another source of inspiration. We used to draw together with chalk on floors and driveways. That was a start of my art journey. Spending afternoons drawing and painting with my friend was a daily ritual. As a part of art classes in school, we all used watercolor because they are fun to work with. In those days we did not have washable colors like my kids do now.

As I grew up, the time came in my life, like everyone else, when we decide, what we want to do with our lives. Like a typical Indian family where kids are supposed to become engineers or doctors if they are good in other subjects, I chose to become an engineer.

In those days, I also enjoyed engineering drawing classes more than any other subjects. Drawing the sketches of geometrical objects was fun. I won many friends by helping them with their engineering drawing assignments. The numerous nights spent with those friends drawing huge sheets are still a part of phone calls with them. We all miss our college days, right?

In those days, I also used to sketch my friends’ portraits and actors from magazines. After entering a professional life as a software engineer and getting married, I lost touch with art for some time. But then one day, while cleaning a closet, my wife found my old sketches rolled in a container, accidentally. She was impressed and happy to see those sketches. Until that time, she had no idea about my secret creative life. She encouraged me to start drawing and painting again and promised to help me with time to follow my passion. She is amazing, she also insisted I join art classes and get formal training. And finally, I resumed my journey again.

Now, I live in the United States and paint almost every day. Apart from drawing and painting, I read lot of books, blogs. I am thankful to all those people who take time out of their hectic life to share their hard-earned knowledge and experiences through their blogs. I recently took a weeklong class for figure drawing at a local art gallery.

About My Inspiration

I love the light and shades and the magic it creates in nature. Be it buildings, roads, lakes. With all my work, I try to capture this magic. I believe transparency is the power of watercolor and it is a great tool to create that magic on paper. I tried different mediums like color pencils, crayons, acrylics, but freshness and transparency are the qualities, that make me come back to the medium of watercolor.

I tried to draw digitally with gadgets, but honestly, I did not enjoy it. The stickiness of pigments, the roughness of a watercolor paper, touch of brush is what I enjoy. The moment we sign a finished artwork, the moments when we remove the masking tape from a painting are as magical as sunshine. I want to live those moments again and again. That is the reason I go back to my easel every day. It is that process that enriches an artist in me. It is a meditation for me.Painters who paint in a loose style inspire me lot. I follow a lot of artists from all over the world.

My Process

I try to paint loose and am having a little success with it. Most of the time, I draw from reference photos. I use my own photos taken while traveling. Sometimes, I just go out and roam around the town. Downtown is my favorite place and every time it gives me a new subject to paint. Even after visiting numerous times, I feel there are a lot of places yet to be explored.

I never start painting without a value sketch. I try to understand value structure with a sketch, simplify by removing what is unnecessary and finalize composition. It can be done with a mechanical pencil or ball pen. Sometimes, I draw 3-4 sketches and choose one which I like.

While painting I try to minimize the number of big shapes and connect them with big washes. Try to achieve three values high, low and medium throughout the painting. Usually like to paint cityscapes, beautiful houses and shadows on them. Leaving the white paper randomly where I want to show bright lights and using dry brush to draw highlights or calligraphy stokes like branches of the tree or powerlines are some of my favorite techniques.

Watercolor Supplies

Brushes

I bought my first set of Escoda brushes recently. I’ve wanted to buy them for a long time, so it was like a dream came true. I read lots of good reviews about the quality of these brushes from reviewers and artists and I can vouch for that. These are the best brushes I have used so far. The amount of water they hold really helps when you are painting big landscapes.

I have been using Da Vinci brushes for around 3 years and they are equally good. When you are a beginner, it is difficult to choose supplies, particularly brushes. You want to have all of them, but a set of brushes like this can give you a head start on your journey. If you are a beginner and confused about brushes this is set it for you.

Pigments

1. Winsor & Newton Cotman travelers sketch box – I was using Winsor & Newton Cotman travelers sketch box for a long time. They are good quality colors for the beginner and economical as well. Convenient if you want to go out to paint. 2. Sennelier: After getting some confidence about my strokes and my work, I wanted to experiment with artist quality pigments. So, I did some research and decided to try Sennelier. I have been using it for almost a year and very satisfied with it. It is a wonderful experience to paint with artist grade colors.

Paper

Always 140 lbs., 100% cotton. I experimented with various brands of watercolor. The rough texture of 100% cotton paper favors my painting style. All of these four brands handle the washes very well: Saunders Waterford, Arches, Fabriano Artistico, Winsor & Newton.

Palette & Sketchbooks

John Pike Palette: I usually paint landscapes with big washes, and it is great to have big mixing area. This plate has two big mixing areas and I have using it for several years happily. For sketchbooks, I like Artists Loft.

I am grateful to Charlie and the Doodlewash community for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself.

Manish Rajguru Instagram

GUEST ARTIST: "About The Child Who Survived" by Manish Rajguru - #doodlewash #WorldWatercolorGroup #watercolor #watercolour Hello friends and fellow artists, my name is Manish and I am from Maharashtra, India. I would like to introduce myself and about my art journey with a beautiful quote which has always inspired me.

#WorldWatercolorGroup #architecture #artist #doodlewash #featured #India #landscapes #painting #Urban Sketchers #Urban Sketching #watercolor #watercolour

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rachelvalente · 4 years

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Recent Amazon Finds

I’m constantly asking my friends about what they’re buying & loving from Amazon because there’s so many product offerings that it can feel overwhelming – and I’m always afraid that I’m missing out on something good! Plus, there are so many third party sellers now, that it’s hard to sort out the good from the bad. So I thought I’d share some of my own recent purchases with you today – with the exception of some dog toys & treats, this is everything I’ve bought over the last month that I’ve been impressed with.

Cropped Workout Top I was needing some more long-sleeved tops for the gym so I ordered this one and loved it so much that I went back & immediately bought more colors. I went up a size and the fit is perfect – it’s just the right length for wearing with my high-waisted leggings & I like that it doesn’t shift around when I’m running.

Blue Light Blocking Glasses My beloved blue light glasses that I’ve had for years met an untimely death thanks to my rambunctious puppy. So I ordered these as a replacement & was amazed by the quality for the price – they come in a hard case with a microfiber cleaning cloth + I think this tortoise wayfarer style is universally flattering.

Sleek 7 Day Pillbox With all the travel I’ve been doing over the last few months, I was getting pretty tired of putting all my supplements into baggies every time I packed. This is the prettiest pillbox I’ve ever seen – it takes up minimal room in my luggage, there are dividers for each day and it’s just the right size for all my vitamins. I bought the rose gold color, but it also comes in champagne or black.

Silicone Dish Washing Gloves In my last Amazon post, I mentioned how we switched the whole family over from traditional loofahs to this silicone style – these gloves are like the kitchen version of that! Not only do they protect my nails while I’m washing dishes, but they make it so much easier to get plates & pans clean (compared to my old scrub brush). I ordered a second pair to use for giving the dog a bath – total game changer!

Beach Waver Tool My daughter was begging me to order this for her after using it at a friends’ house – so, of course, I had to try it out for myself! I probably wouldn’t do it every day, but it’s a fun way to create waves that are different than what I normally make. I would say these are a little bit tighter (think mermaid/island hair) and I was impressed with how long the waves held up. The other bonus: it’s much easier to use than a curling wand for those who feel intimidated by them.

Stainless Steel Odor Remover Bar I honestly don’t understand how this works, but it is like magic for getting rid of smells from fish, onion, garlic, you name it. Simply rub your hands over the bar under running water for 30 seconds and all those scents will vanish. Some of the reviews mentioned that they use it in their underarm area after working out, which has me intrigued!

Vitamin C Serum The vitamin C serum I was previously using got discontinued (hate it when that happens!), so after doing research and reading hundreds of reviews, I finally settled on this one to replace it with. I’ve only been using for a couple weeks, but I feel like my dark spots are getting lighter & less noticeable. This serum is 20% vitamin C and 5% hyaluronic acid, which really packs a punch. I apply this in the morning & only need 3 drops to cover my entire face.

Stainless Steel Squeegee I didn’t think there was such a thing as a pretty squeegee, but this stainless steel style is so modern & sleek. This works great in the shower and for cleaning windows or mirrors. It comes in 4 different lengths and is also available in silver.

Stackable Acrylic Storage Container My collection of hair accessories has definitely grown over the last couple of years so I needed a way to keep them all corralled neatly. This stackable storage tower is the perfect solution – you could actually use this for lots of different things (kids craft supplies, snacks, beauty products, etc.), but it’s just the right size for holding hair scarves, slips, scrunchies & headbands.

Apple Cider Vinegar Gummies I’ve been taking ACV gummies for a while but these are much better tasting than what I was using before. They’re not the cheapest supplement in my arsenal, but it’s worth it to me to buy the best quality I can get. For those who aren’t familiar with the benefits of ACV, it improves digestion, boosts your energy & can even help clear up your skin.

Croc Toiletry Bag Set When I travel, I use (and swear by) this makeup bag for all my cosmetics, but I was needing more bags to store my hair products & other toiletries in. This chic croc set of pouches gives you so many size options – I’ve been keeping the smallest one in my purse and the other three go into my suitcase. These also come in black, cognac, navy or red.

Scalloped Bikini I’m pretty excited about the fact that we will have an in-ground pool in our backyard starting in June, so we can go swimming anytime we want! So I decided I needed to order a couple new suits for the summer and I found some great affordable options on Amazon. This scalloped bikini has great coverage & is so flattering – I ordered based on the size chart & the fit is perfect (comes in 6 different colors). I also ordered this colorblocked 2-piece in pink, which hasn’t arrived yet…but the reviews look promising!

Peanut Butter Protein Bars I’m always on the hunt for portable snack options that have clean ingredients and this one is a new favorite of mine. The texture is a little crumbly at first bite, but it gets creamy as you eat it (these come in other flavors if you can’t do peanuts). I like that it’s a smaller size than other protein bars + there’s only 2 grams of sugar.

Pearl Drop Earrings My love for pearls knows no bounds so when I came across these pretty earrings, I couldn’t help myself! The size & weight of these makes them look so much more expensive than they are and they literally go with everything.

Adjustable Drawer Dividers I mentioned these last month, but I can’t say enough good things about how they have transformed my dresser and actually given me more space than I had before. They’re ideal for long drawers where you want to fit a bunch of different things in an organized way. And, because they’re adjustable, you can move them around as much as you need to.

Dainty Huggie Hoops Lately I’ve been wearing these 18k gold plated hoops in my second hole and I just love the look of them. They don’t irritate my sensitive skin and they add just enough interest while still being subtle enough for everyday wear.

Glycolic Acid Exfoliating Cleanser I’ve been experimenting with lots of new skincare products lately and, while not all of them are worthy of sharing here, this one is definitely something I’ll be buying again. It’s a really gentle exfoliant that produces a nice lather (a little goes a long way). I was a little worried that the glycolic acid would irritate my skin, but I’ve been using it every other day with no issues.

Checkered Sunglass Travel Case This was definitely an impulse purchase, but I love it so much! If you’re going on a warm weather vacation, this would be perfect for bringing along different pairs of sunglasses with you. At Christmas when we flew back to Oregon, I packed a pair of mine and my husband’s in two of the slots and put some bracelets & rings in the other slots. You could also stash this in your car so all your glasses are protected & in one spot.

Brown Sugar Container There’s nothing worse than going to bake and finding your brown sugar as hard as a rock. This storage container has solved the problem – just soak the terra cotta disk in water, snap it into the airtight lid and it will keep your brown sugar soft!

Microfiber Bed Sheet Set After hearing so many people rave about these sheets, I finally caved & ordered some for our master bed. Let’s just say, they definitely live up to the hype. These are so much softer than the cotton sheets we’d been using previously + they’ve held up great after multiple washes – and you just can’t beat the price!

Paleo Pancake Mix I’ve been using this pancake mix for a while and just discovered that it’s actually cheaper on Amazon than at Target, where I usually buy it. Even though the rest of my family isn’t paleo, they all prefer this grain-free mix over traditional pancakes (you can make waffles with it too). I’ve tinkered around with the recipe and have found the best results when I add 1 egg, use half water & half almond milk, plus a dash of vanilla extract. They come out fluffy & delicious every time!

Portable Phone Tripod I’ve been going through lots of family photos recently and found that we have so many of just the kids or of one of us with the kids…but so few of the 4 of us together. When we’re on road trips or camping, it’s hard to get pictures of our whole family, so I decided it was time to invest in a tripod that we can take with us when we’re traveling. This one is a great portable size, the legs are bendable (you can even wrap them around a pole or tree!) and it comes with a bluetooth remote.

Lifting Chin Mask I blame this purchase on Kathleen Jennings (who is great to follow for skincare tips & product reviews). She shared an Instagram story showing before & after of her results using this mask and I immediately added it to my cart. I’ve left it on for an hour and noticed a visible difference in the definition around & underneath my chin. This isn’t something I would use every day, so I plan on saving for special occasions, date nights/girls nights or when I’m really needing a little extra lift.

The post Recent Amazon Finds appeared first on Penny Pincher Fashion.

Recent Amazon Finds published first on https://skinalleyupdates.tumblr.com/

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homeguidedesignsg · 5 years

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The bedroom has several key areas that can be decorated and enhanced to bring a spirit of peacefulness and relaxation in this part of your home.

One of the key areas is the space behind and above the bed.

Traditionally, people use this space for the placement of a large and ornate headboard or a picture.

Both of these choices will look good, especially if they’re reflective of the aesthetic style and personality of the residents. Still, our interior designers offer a couple of alternative options worth exploring.

A Wall Mural

If you are an artistic person and you’d like to feature a beautiful and intricate piece in the bedroom, you can opt for a wall mural rather than a standard painting or a framed picture.

Murals are very impactful because the entire wall area behind and over the bed will be used as a canvas.

A professional can do the painting or you can create a DIY piece of art – such an installation is going to be even more meaningful. Various stencils are available for the purpose of creating your own murals. There’s no need to worry if you’re not that artistically inclined.

Currently several trends are hot in the realm of wall murals. Black and white graphical pieces are very hot because of the beautiful contrasting pieces you can create this way. Modern art (cubism or surrealism-style) pieces are also a great choice. They add a splash of colour to the bedroom, plus they’ll allow you to reveal the artist hidden inside without having to adhere to rules.

Patterned Rugs and Quilts

Are you tired of pictures, prints, posters or illustrations? If so, let your interior design company know and together, you can come up with a fun alternative for the space behind the bed.

Patterned rugs and quilts are a great choice.

For a start, they have a bit of an ethno/folk appeal. They add texture and warmth to the bedroom, creating a point of visual interest.

There are many possibilities to choose among. You will find traditional rugs, modern quilts, geometric shapes, patterns, colourful yarns and fluffy finishes.

Choose a rug or a quilt that falls inside the home interior design concept you’ve chosen. Alternatively, you can select a piece that’s in stark contrast (an ethnic traditional rug placed inside a minimalist bedroom) to benefit from the stunning contrast such a decorative choice will create.

Sculptural Pieces

Art is not limited only to 2D paintings, photos and illustrations.

Sculptural pieces and modern art installation are not featured that often in the contemporary Singapore HDB bedroom, usually because of the space it takes up. Such pieces, however, possess a lot of uniqueness. If you are looking for a distinctive and memorable design concept for the bedroom, sculptural modern art pieces are the best choice for you.

Origami-style figures in the area behind the bed will look as if they’re trying to pop out of the wall. You can use different colours of paper to make the display more engaging. Arrange the sculptural pieces in a freeform pattern (remember – there are no rules when it comes to choosing decorations for your home!).

Tiles, mirrored pieces, glass shards, sea shells varnished tree roots or twisted branches – all of these can be used to create your own sculptural displays.

There are dozens of modern art installation galleries online. Explore a few of these image selections to find the inspiration. Artists often manage to turn simple, everyday objects into sculptural pieces. Boards dismantled from a skateboard, for example, are a beautiful choice that looks urban and very fresh.

Vintage Finds & Mirrors

If rustic residential design is your thing, vintage pieces will be the best choice for the area behind and over your bed.

The local antique shop or even a flea market can help you identify little old treasures for placement in the bedroom.

Vintage cinema posters, woodcarvings, old skeleton keys, china, hand-painted signs, old-school picture frames and even vintage plate holders are a great choice. The options are limitless and many objects that aren’t used in the bedroom or for decorative pieces can be turned into art displays.

If none of these appeal to you, opt for a large vintage mirror with an ornate Victorian frame. It will add class and luxury to your personal space.

A Wrap-Around Headboard

Those who don’t appreciate traditional or vintage interior design choices should head in the exact opposite direction.

Modern interior design often breaks the rules and goes for choices that would have been deemed unacceptable a few decades ago. There is no regard for proportion, scale or matching textures and patterns. In fact, some of the greatest creations have broken most of the prominent interior design rules.

A wrap-around headboard is one such interior design element.

The headboard is so oversized that it extends to the ceiling. Occasionally, it may even crawl towards the chandelier in the bedroom. An oversized headboard will definitely look out of proportion but its goal would be to put emphasis on a notable element – the quality of the material that the headboard is made of, the richness of the colour, the ornate details.

Such a headboard will need to be custom-made for you, which is why you have to dedicate enough time to polishing the concept before getting in touch with a contractor.

Talk to your interior designer about the decorative choices you fancy the most. Based on these suggestions, a design professional will come up with a bedroom decoration idea that you’ll find aesthetically-pleasing.

At Home Guide, we take pride in our work and our ability to bring a client’s vision to reality. Let us know what style you’re looking for and how you’d like to transform your bedroom. Contact us today to modernise and enhance your HDB living space.

#Blog #bedroom #home #homedecor #homeinterior #interiordesign #residential

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twoguystrybbq-blog · 6 years

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Big T’s Bar B Q

Leo:

Well worth getting there early!

I have to admit, I was always a little reluctant to try Big T’s. It is located down from and kind of catty-corner to LC’s. But it is across the street from the “Relax Inn” and abuts another abandoned hotel, both of which scream horror movie. And the building seems a bit ramshackle from the outside, like it used to be a different restaurant, but I can never quite put my finger on which one. So, though I’d driven past it many, many times on my way to Chiefs or Royals games, I had never gone in and tried their barbeque.

I texted Ben all of this and his response was just, “You? Scared? Lol.” So, we agreed to go to Big T’s after work. It was a Tuesday. We weren’t able to go over the weekend because I had a wedding (with some amazing brisket if you are ever at the Loose Mansion) and Ben had a family obligation. I had not seen Gracie (you should know who this is by now) in a hot minute, so I volunteered to drive and met up with Ben at his apartment. After saying hi to Gracie, we got in my Kia (named Isabella) and headed over to Big T’s.

As we drove over to Big T’s, I showed Ben the text my boss had sent me with an alphabetical list of all of the BBQ joints in Kansas City. It was like our blog was meant to be. I mean, we start a barbeque blog and then a few weeks later the Kansas City Business Journal lists all of the barbeque restaurants in Kansas City for us? It has to be more than coincidence. Also, it was a little daunting because there are over 100 restaurants on the list!!! But going off of a list eases my mind a lot more than just Google searching to try and find all of the places we need to eat.

I’ve said in earlier blogs that each barbeque restaurant provides its own unique experience, which seems to flavor the barbeque, and Big T’s was no different. In fact, the experience began in the parking lot when Ben and I noticed a van in the drive-thru lane! A barbeque restaurant with a drive-thru, that’s something I’d not seen before. We entered and both experienced a weird déjà vu, as if we had been to this restaurant before. After we ordered, Ben and I talked about it and Big T’s reminded us of pizza joints that we had frequented when we had been kids (even though he is from Kansas and I’m originally from St. Louis). But we had not been to Big T’s before and if was certainly unique: with an ordering area connected to the dining area by a carpeted path and big, old fashioned booths for seating. The walls were covered with old Chief’s photos, the most recent from the late ‘90s, and newspaper articles featuring Big T’s. The lights were dim and it smelled heavenly.

Ben and I ended up ordering the same thing, which is a first if you don’t count the times we have shared food. The reason we ordered the same thing is because Ben tried to order sausage and Big T’s was out. We also found out that they were out of burnt ends. We were there about 6:30pm, so, a word to the wise, it might be best to go to Big T’s for lunch to make sure that you can get what you want! One family came in with a birthday cake, pushed two tables together, and was clearly ready for a party, but left shortly after that because there was not enough meat for the whole family.

So, we each got a platter with ribs and brisket that came with two sides (I got fries and onion rings). We got our drinks and went to sit down. It wasn’t long before the waitress was bringing our food out to us. It looked amazing. I stared at a big pile of thinly sliced brisket, covered in sauce and five massive ribs. Another note, Big T’s does not have their sauce out on the tables, so if you are a big sauce fan, be sure to ask for extra, which they will happily provide.

I dug in. Can I say again how much I love living in Kansas City and the access we have to amazing barbeque? Big T’s brisket was just lovely. And the sauce! It had the tang of Arthur Bryant’s original sauce and the slight sweetness like Slap’s; it was a great combination! The sauce was probably my favorite part of the meal (which is excellent because whatever you get, it’ll come with sauce), but I loved the brisket, too.

Oh, I forgot to tell you about the ribs! They were massive, probably the biggest ribs that I’ve gotten so far. But the bones were the smallest bones that I have ever seen in my life. Imagine: a massive rib, about five inches long and an inch wide, but the bone was only about half-an-inch long! It made me feel like a giant! Both Ben and I were perplexed as to what part of the cow or pig these tiny bones came from. But we both loved the amount of meat that came on them. Also, like other great ribs, they were deliciously tender, but had a tough, slightly burnt outside that was packed with the flavor from the smoker. They were excellent. I take it back, maybe the ribs were my favorite part of the meal…oh, well, either way, I think you should try it all!

It was a large amount of fantastic barbeque and it wasn’t long before I had the meat sweats (surprise, surprise). I powered through, finished it all, and licked my fingers clean. “Whew!” I exclaimed, “That was excellent!” Ben agreed and I could see that he was working up a healthy case of the meat sweats, too. We bussed our trays, said thanks to the staff for a wonderful meal, and headed out.

What a great experience and what great barbeque! Last week we went to a place that I’d never heard of before and this week we went to a place that I was hesitant to go. Both times it was a great time and broadened my horizons. So, maybe you’re like me and have driven past Big T’s hundreds of times, but have never gone in. Do yourself a favor and stop in the next time you drive by and get some delicious barbeque. Heck, why not go today?

Ben:

Our trip to Big T’s was a break in our routine. Not because it didn’t involve stuffing ourselves with copious amounts of smoked meats -- that’s the part of the routine that will never change. It was a break from the norm because we went on a Tuesday night, rather than our usual Saturday late lunch or Friday pre-game meal. Travel, family birthdays, weddings -- these things can get in the way of weekly barbecue. But here’s a fun fact: barbecue is as good on a Tuesday as it is on a Saturday.

Big T’s has two locations; we visited the one in that no man’s land part of Kansas City just Southwest of Arrowhead and Kauffman. It’s not quite in a neighborhood, nor is it quite the country, and it’s certainly not a suburb. No matter, though, as this must be the hot spot for barbecue, because Big T’s is just down the road from another Two Guys favorite -- LC’s. I spotted LC’s, it’s smoker billowing into the sky, on our drive to Big T’s, and instantly had a feeling of warmth. Like when you spot Christmas decorations in the basement. Good memories.

Big T’s looks like what you’d expect from a barbecue joint: small, unassuming, and simple. On the inside, Big T’s is equally straightforward with a counter and traditional menu hanging behind it. Nothing fancy at Big T’s, but at the same time everything you could possibly want: brisket, burnt ends, ribs, sausage, and turkey. The sides here have a bit more of a Southern feel to them, with corn on the cob, cornbread, and collard greens in addition to what I’d like to call the “Holy Trinity” of sides: beans, potato salad, slaw.

When I first ordered, I learned that Big T’s was out of a couple items -- the burnt ends and sausage. Here’s the thing about quality barbecue: at, say, a pizza joint, this would be unacceptable. But at a barbecue place, this can be a sign of good things to come. We were, after all, making our orders at the end of the day, and running out of menu items means two important things: 1) they’re only serving us fresh barbecue; and 2) they’re popular enough that they run out of items.

After re-thinking my order a bit, I settled on brisket, ribs, fries, and greens. As Leo ordered, I took note of one of my favorite features of many barbecue joints: the meat cave. Just like LC’s up the road, Big T’s smoker is right there behind the counter, and with every order placed, the pitmaster opens that glorious cavern of meats. Big T’s smoker looked just right, like it had been smoking meats around the clock for no less than a decade.

We sat down to wait for our food and discuss our first impressions of Big T’s. The interior is… unique. Dark lighting, carpet, and a huge mural of a rural farming scene. This maybe isn’t the place you’d take a date (and if you do, he/she is a keeper), but the interior boded well for the quality of barbecue we were about to dive into. I’d like to think that too much thought put into interior design is only a distraction from what’s really important: the quality of the barbecue. A good barbecue joint can stand alone on the quality of its product, no matter where it’s located or what building it’s in (see, also: Joe’s BBQ inside a gas station).

Unlike everywhere we had been so far, Big T’s doesn’t have its sauce out on the table or have a sauce station. Instead, our dinner plates came out pre-sauced, with the option of additional sauce.

I had no problem with the pre-saucing, because both Leo and I quickly agreed that the Big T’s sauce was spectacular. If, on one end of the spectrum is Slap’s with its super-sweet sauce, and on the other end is Arthur Bryant’s with it’s gritty vinegar sauce, Big T’s fits right in the middle. It’s just the right amount of sweetness that it actually enhances the meat without overpowering. The sauce felt like it soaked into the meat, rather than just being an add-on.

And let’s get to those dinner plates. No small portions here. The monstrous ribs were stacked onto a heap of brisket. The ribs were excellent, with a thicker-than-usual rub and skin that gives the rib a bit of texture, while the meat (of course) passed the fall-off-the bone test. The brisket was extra moist -- fans of brisket on the fattier side will appreciate Big T’s. And at the same time, because it’s thin sliced, the fat never feels overwhelming; you never feel like you’re just eating gristle. The brisket also had a strong rub. If I had to guess, I’d think that the rub is just coarse salt and pepper, but those simple ingredients mix perfectly with a nice hunk of brisket slow-smoked for hours on end.

Big-T’s sides, while simple, are worth traveling for. Full disclosure: I love collard greens. Will almost always order them. Big T’s did not disappoint in that regard. The greens didn’t have any bacon in them, but packed loads of spicy flavor. Again, if I had to guess, I’d say that these greens are made with incredibly simple ingredients, but when done right, the simple things are the best things. That same philosophy carried over to the fries, which were the big, fresh-cut variety. Straight from the potato, to the oil, a dash of salt, and into your mouth.

From the building it’s in, to the meats, to the sauce, to the sides, Big T’s is a pretty straightforward barbecue joint. No frills. No bells and whistles. But they know what they do and they do it well. It’s a place for truly authentic Kansas City barbecue with straight down the middle, reliably high-quality food.

We left Big T’s to grab a beer, but after our first couple sips, both of us agreed we were too stuffed to even consider a second beer. Big T’s turned us into teetotalers? A job well done.

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itsworn · 6 years

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Aged To Perfection: How To Create Believable Patina

Painting a faux patina surface is one of the most enjoyable painting processes because it’s an art form, and it encourages experimentation. It’s a chance to break free from rigid rules; you can scratch, dig, spatter—it doesn’t even matter if the paint surface bubbles or has defects. Defects are desirable and add to the overall weathered appearance.

Being Car Craft magazine, we wanted to create a license plate featuring our classic 1970s logo using patina techniques. For this exercise, we wanted to try something a little different than the layering and sanding method. Looking closely at old painted surfaces, rust forms under the paint and pushes up against it. The surface of the rust is rough and the high spots break through the paint, forming a random pattern of various sized pits in the paint from large bubbles to tiny pinpricks.

This technique will show you how to use rock salt as a masking agent. The different sizes of the salt particles mimic the different sizes of pits. The surface is painted to look like rust and wetted with a spray bottle. Salt is then scattered on the surface. When the water dries, the top layer of paint is sprayed. Once the paint is dry, the salt is brushed away, revealing the tones of the bottom layer of paint.

The Car Craft logo was actually done using several patina effects that can all be used independently of each other to various effect. One of the coolest aspects of weathered lettering is the way the paint surface wears down so that the brush strokes look almost transparent. To achieve this look, the paint is thinned down more than what would usually be used for brushed-on lettering. We also used enamel reducer to wipe away parts of the lettering, then slightly sand other areas.

The result has that look of old, blistered, weathered paint. The trick to painting patina is to experiment and practice. Play around on old parts and panels. If you want to use this technique on a vertical surface, you may need to use a medium lighter than rock salt, perhaps confetti or sawdust. Use a rinseable, water-soluble glue like egg white, and then sprinkle that on the side of the vehicle. The glue on the media makes it stick to the surface. Once the paint is sprayed, just wash it all off. That’s the fun of painting patina; there are no rules. In fact, some of the tools and materials you’ll use for patina you probably already have around the house. Start practicing on a sign for your shop or a gift for a friend. You might come up with something so cool, you’ll have to duplicate it on your car project!

The surface of this 1951 Chevy truck has a beautiful, natural patina. That’s real rust peeking out from that weathered orange paint. The lettering and logo, however, have been painted on and carefully worn away.

Here are the tools and materials that were used for this project. An issue of Car Craft from February 1976, rock salt, ProMask, masking tape, spray bottle, rulers, stencil paper, airbrush, PPG paint, sandpaper, stir sticks, and masking materials for the rust effect. These include stretched-out ultra-fine scuff pads, a bubble-effect Artool airbrush template, and an old mesh bag.

The first step when painting a logo or lettering is to figure the size that will best fit the space. Using a printer/scanner as a copier, we made up several sizes of the Car Craft logo. The middle size worked best on the license plate.

The logo was traced onto a piece of stencil paper using a window as a light table. Stencil or frisket paper can be found at any art store or online. Some people use a product called transfer tape. Transfer or application tape is an adhesive-backed paper that is applied to the surface of vinyl and stencil graphics to keep them intact after they’ve been cut. You can get a roll for less than $7 online.

The lettering is cut out using a No. 11 X-acto knife.

We mixed two colors for the rust effect (a dark brown and a yellow brown) to create a medium brown. The steel plate was prep sanded, and the dark brown was randomly sprayed across the surface, leaving small areas showing though. To create the muted tones, we used a scuff pad that was stretched enough to see through it. Light and medium brown colors were sprayed through that. Spray paint can also be used.

Plan the sizes, shapes, and the amount of “rust” you want to show; the salt will cover these areas. We poured rock salt into a plastic bag, and hit it with a hammer until there were different sizes of crystals. Spray a light coat of water over the plate, then place salt where you want “rust.” In areas where you want no top coat color, make sure to completely pile enough salt to cover any gaps.

After letting it dry, we mixed up some 1970s Car Craft-ish red, and gently sprayed a light coat over the plate. Use a low air pressure to make sure not to blow the salt off the plate. Four light coats were applied.

Here it is after 15 minutes of dry time, when it was no longer tacky. Brush the salt away away, using wax and grease remover to clean away any remaining salt or water. The edges of the top coat red were raised and blistered just like natural weathered paint! In fact, without graphics, you can call it a day right here, leaving it uncleared and raw, allowing nature to enhance the patina effect naturally. Our license plate calls for lettering, so the plate was clearcoated and sanded the next day.

Now our stencil goes on the beautifully aged plate. Spare no effort getting it centered precisely using pinstripe tape and a ruler.

Applying a stencil can be tricky. Here’s a simple way to get a good result: apply transfer tape to the surface of the stencil. Draw an arrow on the stencil to indicate which side is the top. Then peel half of the backing tape and cut it off, creating a hinge.

Hold the stencil with two hands, line up the left side with the border tape, keeping the right side raised up and making sure it remains aligned with the border tape on the right. Once both ends were aligned, press the stencil onto the surface. Remove the backing on the remaining side and press the stencil down. A squeegee can help remove any bubbles.

Remove the letters using tweezers. Use reducer to thin out some white paint and brush into the letter cut-outs. We took care to brush the paint strokes to the shape of the letters. In some places the paint was thicker, giving it the appearance of uneven fading from the elements.

Cut up an old white cotton t-shirt and fold a piece of the fabric, creating a “point.” Dip it in reducer and carefully wipe over areas of the lettering to smooth the fading effect. If you make a mistake, it’s easy to go back and brush on more white.

Remove the stencil and carefully wipe away any excess white paint that may have built up at the edge of the stencil lettering. Light sanding may also be done to increase the patina effect as needed. A machine-cut stencil was used for the very small lettering across the top.

SIDEBAR 1: For the CAD Savvy…

If you are familiar with working with CAD programs or have worked with graphics programs such as Corel or Adobe Illustrator, you can create your own lettering stencils without having to cut anything out. Simply type out the size lettering you want in the desired font, then save it to a flash drive or SD card. A sign shop can cut the stencil. Make sure to tell them not to “weed” the letters out of the stencil—leave them in place. Make sure to get some transfer tape to apply over the stencil after the stencil’s placement is determined. Once the stencil is in place, remove the transfer tape, and pick out the letters. This can be done with any design you draw on either of those programs. If you know how to create an AI or Corel file, you can make your own professional stencil.

SIDEBAR 2: Playing with Patina Techniques

This truck had the paint brushed on it. Normally, paint is smoothly applied, but to get a neat patina effect, instead of spraying a smooth coating on the bottom layer of your patina, try brushing on a rough, textured layer. Then spray the top coat over it, allow it to dry, and sand it. The raised parts of the texture will break through, giving a natural, random effect. Play around with this technique, maybe using the rough texture with several different layers and colors. Use a wooden pick or scribe to scratch down in the layers or pick away the paint.

SIDEBAR 3: Patina References & Ideas

Find photo references of natural patina that you like, then try and figure out the best way to duplicate the effect. Think your way through the process. Sometimes the simplest processes provide the best results. Painting patina isn’t about fancy spray guns or expensive tools, it’s about pure creativity. We’ve gotten some amazing paint effects using the leftover mesh bags from produce. The main thing with patina is to not be afraid to make mistakes; you might develop a technique of your own. If your first attempts aren’t what you want, just paint over them.

The post Aged To Perfection: How To Create Believable Patina appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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ceciliatan · 6 years

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2017 Duck Day Wrapup, Picspam, and Links

I haven’t had a spare minute to do a full write-up of this year’s Thanksgiving extravaganza that corwin and I put on, as usual, until now, that is! This post incorporates all the Instagram photos and links to various recipes I referred to online. (corwin’s recipes were mostly in books, I think.)

We always have a theme. Sometimes that theme is a cuisine (French, kaiseki). Other times it’s more conceptual, like the year we did the “Silk Road” so we could pull Far East, Middle East, and Mediterranean together, or the year Chanukah overlapped with Thanksgiving so we did each course as a different Festival of Lights (including Diwali and Yule).

This year we thought it would be fun to do something we’d never done before: AMERICAN. Here’s what the spoiler-free version of the menu looked like on our guest’s plates:

Deviled Egg

So the thing about the deviled egg is it’s a savory crisp meringue on the bottom, spread with kimchi mayonnaise (tastiest condiment corwin ever made), topped with ikura (salmon roe) and hot sauce pearls that are basically the same size, shape, and color as the salmon roe. We used Slap Ya Mama brand hot sauce and the Sphericator to make the pearls.

The crispy meringue was fun to experiment with and turns out its really quite easy. Like making meringue cookies except instead of adding sugar, you add finely grated cheese! I used basically this recipe: http://ift.tt/2Av13BU

Duck Day begins! “Deviled Egg” savory meringue with kimchi mayo, ikura, & hot sauce spheres (which look like ikura)

A post shared by Cecilia Tan (@ctan_writer) on Nov 23, 2017 at 5:57pm PST

Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Having totally faked people out with the “devilied egg” we figured we’d double-fake by giving them a “grilled cheese sandwich” that was actually… just the world’s best grilled cheese sandwich. Two kinds of cheese (comte and one other, I can’t remember but they came from Formaggio) on corwin’s home baked rye bread, served with a tomato soup shooter and corwin also made his own duck bacon.

Also on the plate, homemade smoked tomato powder. Because there wasn’t enough umami on the plate already…

Second course. Grilled cheese on rye with tomato soup & duck bacon. #duckday

A post shared by Cecilia Tan (@ctan_writer) on Nov 23, 2017 at 7:45pm PST

Chicken Pot Pie

Of course because it’s Duck Day this was actually duck pot pie. I made and served it as empanadas. Although I referred to a couple of different chicken pot pie recipes I didn’t use any of them. I roasted a few duck legs on the bone, then cubed up the roasted meat. I sauteed cubed carrots and onions in duck fat with some poultry herbs (parsley, sage, thyme), made a medium-dark roux as a duck-stock gravy base, mixed it all together and added green peas. No potato, no parsnip, no mushroom (although I considered wild mushrooms).

The empanada dough recipes I looked up were all pretty similar to my preferred food processor pie crust recipe (from Joy of Cooking, Flaky Pastry Dough, which can be made kosher non-dairy by using shortening instead of butter), and I ended up following the nice step-by-step instructions found at Laylita’s Recipes: http://ift.tt/2AAOUtm, except I forgot to use the egg wash on the exterior (actually corwin put the tray into the oven and didn’t realize there was one more potential step), so they came out without the dark crusty appearance you see in some photos.

In fact they came out like this:

Third course: “chicken pot pie.” It’s duck pot pie empanada with bechamel & fried sage. #duckday

A post shared by Cecilia Tan (@ctan_writer) on Nov 23, 2017 at 7:48pm PST

Served with a fried sage leaf, in a pool of bechamel sauce. They were so popular that the nine extra I had made were fought over. (Recipe made 25.) I used the Serious Eats bechamel recipe: http://ift.tt/2cAq3J5

Gumbo

One of our favorite things to do is deconstruct a traditional dish to highlight the various components, like the time we deconstructed a cassoulet by serving a piece of crisped confit with a white bean side (among other things). corwin’s concept for this dish was to deconstruct gumbo.

He made duck andouille sausage himself.

He made a traditional cajun “trinity” gumbo & passed it through a food mill.

He boiled the shrimp in a homemade version of “old bay.”

I made the green rice (bamboo rice) filé balls.

Fourth course: deconstructed gumbo. A Cajun boiled shrimp, duck andouille sausage, file jade rice ball, in gumbo

A post shared by Cecilia Tan (@ctan_writer) on Nov 23, 2017 at 7:51pm PST

Apple Pie

The joke here is that corwin hates apple pie. He doesn’t like the flavor of apples in general and especially does not like them cooked in desserts. Most of our friends know this. As soon as we decided on “American Classics” as our theme I challenged him, “Now you have to come up with something that is ‘apple pie’ but that YOU will like.”

He hit upon the perfect thing during our anniversary dinner (our 26th anniversary was in November) where we were served a quince-pear-apple cider as a pairing, and he said, aha! Palate cleanser! So we served the cider with an apple pie spiced slush that we adapted from an Emeril Lagasse recipe for apple pie spiced granita. (Same recipe except instead of making it a granita we just put it in the ice cream maker and turned it into a sorbet-like texture: http://ift.tt/1hUdj0T)

“Apple pie” palate cleanser. Apple pie spiced Fuji apple slush in pear-quince-apple cider. #duckday

A post shared by Cecilia Tan (@ctan_writer) on Nov 23, 2017 at 8:41pm PST

Burger & Onion Rings

This was my Asian-fusion course. Duckburger of course, but I wanted to do them slider-size, so why not as Momofuku-style steamed buns? Served with crispy shallots, a traditional vietnamese condiment? I forgot to put the shallots on the plates because I was too busy putting all the other fixin’s, including pickles (purple daikon kimchi and Korean cucumbers), ketchup (hoisin ketchup that corwin made), and onions (scallions).

“Burger & onion rings” – duck burger steamed buns with kimchi purple daikon, Korean cucumber & hoisin ketchup – not pictured are the crispy shallots.

A post shared by Cecilia Tan (@ctan_writer) on Nov 23, 2017 at 9:20pm PST

A korean pickle recipe I referred to but didn’t ultimately use: http://ift.tt/2Av1c8q The korean pickle recipe I did use: http://ift.tt/2AyGtOV Momofuku steamed bun recipe (makes 50, I halved it and used duck fat): http://ift.tt/2Av1egy Epicurious on crispy shallots: http://ift.tt/2AA90nu

Turducken

Strictly speaking we did not make a turducken. We made a doohickey. The outside layer was a duck, inside it was a chicken, and at the center was homemade turkey sausage. Kenji Lopez-Alt is usually right about this sort of thing and his insight into turducken was don’t try to put “stuffing” inside it. Just make it MEAT ALL THE WAY THROUGH. It’s basically a huge roulade.

corwin carving the turducken. (Actually a doohickey -duck outside a chicken outside turkey sausage)

A post shared by Cecilia Tan (@ctan_writer) on Nov 23, 2017 at 11:42pm PST

corwin deboned the birds and cooked them in the sous vide before assembling them for the final roasting step. He also made a savory cornbread that he turned into a traditional cajun-style dressing, and he also smoked duck legs to make the equivalent of “ham hocks” in order to make smoky greens for a side dish. Plus gravy. Everything came out fantastic.

The full fixings: gravy, Cajun cornbread stuffing, smoky greens.

A post shared by Cecilia Tan (@ctan_writer) on Nov 23, 2017 at 11:43pm PST

Ice Cream Sandwich

Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae

Bananas Foster

All three of the desserts were served as one course, as each one was served as an ice cream bon bon. These were mostly my doing.

The ice cream sandwich was vanilla ice cream between tiny chocolate chip cookies. The biggest challenge here was making chocolate chip cookies small enough and thin yet structural. I read a lot of blogs and articles about how to vary the thickness, chewiness, and so on on chocolate chip cookies. I decided what I wanted was a very thin cookie that could be bitten through easily even if it was still frozen. I knew from previous experience that a thicker cookie, even if baked “soft and chewy” would be hard as a rock out of the freezer. I was also guided by the always on-point Smitten Kitchen, who did a post on cookie ice cream sandwiches: http://ift.tt/2Av1fRE

The main secret to making very thin cookies was using Kerry Gold butter. It melts much more than regular butter. (And it’s delicious.)

The hot fudge brownie sundae was a deeply chocolatey ice cream (from the Ben & Jerry’s book), sitting atop a brownie base that I made by first baking brownies (using the recipe in Fannie Farmer, but with chocolate chips instead of nuts), then cutting the edges off and crumbling them up and balling them back together.

The freezing steps are slow. First you make the ice cream in the ice cream maker, and then pack it in a container and let it freeze overnight to be quite hard. The next day the temps were about 40 degrees out so I went and worked in our front porch to make the ice cream balls and stick them to the brownie bases, and then those all go back into the freezer for another day. The next day I made the chocolate coating by melting various chocolates together (some Callabaut, some others we had hanging around, mostly bittersweet). Then it’s about dipping each ice cream-brownie ball into the chocolate without leaving a hole in them or leaving ice cream and brownie crumbs in the chocolate. You have to do it quickly and then back into the freezer everything goes again.

I mostly used the techniques described in the Serious Eats Ice Cream Bon Bons recipe (http://ift.tt/1800rdZ) except I had the added complication of the brownie piece. I got the idea to crumble the brownies from a Food & Wine recipe for Ice Cream Bon Bons (http://ift.tt/2Av1gVI) although they leave their crumbs as a loose crust and I made mine into more of a cake ball (disc, really) and integrated it with the ice cream spheres in the second freezing step.

They came out fantastic and I am considering making a batch of these to have handy as small-size desserts just for our regular every-day eating purposes. Great way to have a small serving of ice cream!

When we served them we drizzled each chocolate bon bon with a little hot fudge from the Smitten Kitchen recipe. This was the one thing we didn’t make because as it turned out someone had given me a jar of it as a gift very recently, so we just used that. Smitten Kitchen really knows what’s what here: http://ift.tt/2tz9xFm (And thank you so much Kristina!)

Bananas Foster is a dessert we’ve served a few times at various dinner parties, including a previous Duck Day, but reformulating it into an ice cream bon bon was really fun.

First, the ice cream. I basically said to corwin “I want a brown sugar, brown butter ice cream with a touch of cinnamon.” He basically made a brown butter & cinnamon creme anglais (with brown instead of white sugar) and froze it in the ice cream maker. By itself this was extremely delicious.

I made slices of banana to serve as the base for each bon bon. A day after making the ice cream I scooped them into balls and froze them to the bananas. This proved to be trickier than the brownie both because the ice cream was softer in texture (even after freezing over night) and the bananas are slippery. But I eventually got them assembled and frozen.

The next day I made the white chocolate shell and the white chocolate just would not melt smooth. I think some of it had bloomed a bit and for whatever reason I could not get it to turn into a nice coating liquid. I’ve never had this problem before. Unfortunately it was the last step and I did it on Thursday when all the stores were closed and couldn’t start over with fresh ingredients and I also couldn’t risk burning it or seizing it. So I had to make it work.

In the end I used the petit four technique where you put them on a wire rack and pour the melted white chocolate over them. I figured it would be OK to have the banana exposed at the bottom. Because the texture never got completely smooth it wasn’t as pourable as I might have hoped, but it was good enough to get a kind of turtle-shell onto each bonbon. They didn’t look pretty, but they tasted great.

Dessert! I made all three of these ice cream bonbons – hot fudge brownie, bananas foster with brown sugar brown butter ice cream, and mini choc chip cookie sandwich.

A post shared by Cecilia Tan (@ctan_writer) on Nov 23, 2017 at 11:44pm PST

Full Menu with Wine Pairings

We sat down to service at 8:10pm and dessert hit the table at 1:35am. Believe it or not, that was more or less right on schedule.

Amuse “Deviled Egg” Savory meringue, kimchi mayo, caviar (ikura), and hot sauce pearls

Grilled Cheese Sandwich Two cheeses on homemade rye With tomato soup and duck bacon Pairing: Hexamer 2015 Riesling “Porphyr”

Chicken Pot Pie Duck stew empanada With bechamel & sage Pairing: Cote-de-Brouilly 2016 Beaujolais Domaine de la Voûte des Crozes

Gumbo Deconstructed Andouille sausage and cajun-boiled shrimp With a filé rice ball Pairing: (keep drinking the Beaujolais)

Apple Pie Palate Cleanser Apple, pear, quince cider (from Cidrerie du Vulcain) with an apple-pie spiced ice garnished with fuji apples

Burger & Onion Rings Duck steamed bun with pickled purple daikon and cucumber kim chi, with hoisin ketchup served with crispy shallots Pairing: Gigondas 2013 Domaine du Gour de Chaulé

Turducken (Doohickey) Duck, around a chicken, around turkey sausage With corn bread dressing and smoky greens Pairing: Gundlach Bundschu 2016 Gewurztraminer Sonoma

Dessert Trio of ice cream bonbons: • hot fudge brownie sundae: chocolate chip brownie, chocolate ice cream, enrobed in chocolate • bananas foster: banana, brown butter and brown sugar ice cream, enrobed in white chocolate • tiny chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches

And then there was the thing we didn’t serve. I made yuzu fruit jellies as mignardise! And completely forgot to get them out. But the recipe I used came from MyRecipes.com (http://ift.tt/2AB8FRv) and the uncut jellies looked like this:

A glimpse of my Duck Day cooking prep

A post shared by Cecilia Tan (@ctan_writer) on Nov 22, 2017 at 3:05am PST

from cecilia tan http://ift.tt/2AC3nW1 via IFTTT

#cecilia tan

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wallvisionco · 6 years

Text

How to Decorate on a Budget

Sometimes we just need change. Our environments affect our emotions big time, and changing things up can spur creativity and relief when feeling stuck or stagnant. Redecorating a room, or a whole house, can change the energy of a space in major ways. You can make a house look and feel completely different with just a few small changes.

Home Decoration on a Budget

Redecorating can cost a fortune, though. You can take a big hit with a big purchase like a furniture item even at somewhere like IKEA, and small purchases over time, like for throw pillows or paintings, can really add up. But that doesn’t mean you have to sit and stare at the same rooms forever. There are plenty of ways to redecorate your home on a budget. In fact, you hardly have to spend anything at all to make major changes that will leave your home looking like a completely different place.

Rearrange The Room

Before you spend a dollar on anything, why don’t you try rearranging things first? It’s free, and you might be surprised what a difference that changing the layout of a room can make. Small changes, like moving an end table or an armchair to the other end of the room, can actually be quite noticeable and pretty refreshing. Try switching your paintings around, swapping out vases, and changing your table and bookshelf ornaments. Maybe that mirror in your hallway would look great in your living room instead.

If you want to make bigger changes, you might want to enlist some help. Call a friend over to help you move furniture around. It can be helpful to measure the room and all the pieces of furniture so that you can make a detailed room plan before you start moving anything. Moving furniture can open up a room and create space, or divide a room up into several different sections. You can morph your house into a completely different place just by moving the furniture around.

Paint The Walls

It might seem like an obvious suggestion, but there’s really no understating how much a fresh coat of paint can do for a room. Light colors can make rooms seem instantly bigger, airier, and more cheerful. White or light colored walls are a great touch for small rooms, or those without windows. On the other side of the spectrum, darker colors can make rooms seem warm, cozy, and inviting. Assess what kind of lighting you’re working with before you decide which way to go.

And don’t think you have to settle for just one color—what if you paint just one wall a new color? Or all of the walls different colors? Go for a spectrum or even paint a mural! You’re not limited to a single color—in fact, you’re not limited just to solid paint colors for your walls at all.

Try Out Wall Stickers

Wall stickers do wonders as an alternative to paint, or as a complement and companion. They are great in kids rooms, since they can be changed out conveniently as children grow older and grow out of preferences. Of course, it’s not just children whose tastes change. Wall stickers are wonderful because you don’t have to commit the way you have to do with a coat of paint. This makes them the perfect solution if you’re not allowed to paint, or if you’re just someone who likes to redecorate a lot and you anticipate making more changes in the future.

There’s just so much you can do with wall stickers. Small wall sticker decals add flavor and flair to bedrooms and bathrooms. Quotes can bring meaning and inspiration to any space. Big ones can act as centerpieces in a room, drawing attention to themselves like giant art pieces. You can use geometric patterns like stripes to create room-widening visual effects, or even use a sticker to cover a whole section of a wall like wallpaper. Pair sky blue paint with some nature stickers, or a peach coat with pastel or watercolor flower stickers. Wall stickers let you take paint, and then think bigger.

They’re just so versatile. They can be small and fun and frivolous or big and dramatic and somber. They can replace expensive art pieces, and they can add massive value to a room without the permanence of paint or even nail holes. And the best part: if you get sick of a wall decal or sticker placement somewhere, you can just move it somewhere else and try again!

Find Some Free Art

Some people buy art to hang in frames, but if you’re on a budget, why not make use of all the free art available to you? Websites like WikiCommons and Flickr’s Creative Commons are full of free images, contributed with limited or no copyright restrictions by their creators. Search through these resources for gorgeous nature shots, cityscapes, and artistic photography.

Use your own pictures! Print out pictures of your family and friends and hang them around your house. You can use frames and set them on tables, or you can go without and make interesting patterns with the photographs themselves. Your own Instagram can be a fabulous source of free art, since those photos have probably already been edited, and you already know you like all the pictures.

Open your mind to unusual and alternative art. Frame wallpaper, or cut it out into shapes and patterns. Make a collage, a dream board, or a vision board. And keep your eyes open when you’re walking down the street. You never know what someone might throw away. You could find the painting that brings your whole room together on the sidewalk someday.

Don’t Forget The Curtains

Curtains are often-overlooked home details that can subtly add to or subtract from the decor. Ugly curtains can stifle a room, but you might not notice that they’re the source of the problem. If you have regular white curtains, it might be worth trying something different. Even if they’re not detracting from the feel of the room, they aren’t adding anything, either. And if you’re decorating on a budget, you can’t let any style opportunity slide.

Experiment with different textures and styles, too. Hanging gauzy, lightweight curtains that let sun in but maintain privacy can completely change the feel of a room. Using bamboo blinds instead of the plastic ones can bring your bathroom up several levels of class. Try hanging two sets on a window of different, complementary colors, or a neutral color translucent set inside of a heavier accent color. Do long curtains look elegant in your bedroom? Do you want to match the paint on the walls, or try a contrasting color? A small curtain change can make a big difference.

Roll Out A Rug

You’ve only got one floor, so you better make sure the rug on it is doing its job. Do you have a rug? If not, you should seriously consider getting one. You don’t have to carpet a whole room to experience the benefits of a full floor rug. Carpeting is complicated and needs professionals. Instead, you can roll a rug out, giving you the freedom to DIY (which is cheaper, too) and to change up the look of the room whenever you please.

If you don’t want a full-floor rug, there’s always accent rugs and medium-sized rugs to use as centerpieces. Throw an accent rug down in a doorway to give a room some separation, or in front of a piece of furniture like a bookshelf to add character and interest. Stick a round rug under your kitchen table to pull the room together, or in a hallway to add style to a bare floor. Attention will naturally gravitate towards where you put your rug, so they can be great tools together with wall stickers and other kinds of wall art to create energetically themed areas.

Experiment a little with color and patterns. Light colors, like wall paint, can make rooms seem more spacious, while dark colors make them cozy. Solid colors are simple enough to pair with anything, but a rug with an interesting pattern can be the perfect detail to liven up a home. A rug with an interesting pattern, like these, are basically pieces of art for your floor, adding color and creativity to any room.

Make Old Stuff New Stuff

If you’re sick of your old stuff, instead of replacing it all, why not just make your old stuff new? Throw a coat of paint on your furniture. Something like red or blue or another bright color will set a bold and modern tone. Black is hip and sleek. White is bright and classic-looking and can make any knickknack or piece of furniture look vintage and classy. Don’t stop at paint, either. You can cover your lampshades with fabric for a chic new look, experimenting with different shades to see how the hue of the light changes.

And while you’re rejeuvinating old things, it might be fun to change up the way you’re already using things. Throw a table cloth over a storage trunk, and you’ve got a coffee table. Take those decorative plates that you never use down from the cabinets and hang them on pegs or nails in your kitchen. Maybe your couch blanket is beautiful enough to hang as a tapestry, or your kitchen chair works better as an end table. Don’t be afraid to see things with new eyes to repurpose them in cool new ways.

Reuse And Recycle

Reusing your recyclables as decorations will increase, rather than reduce, the style of your home. Collect, wash out, paint and decorate supplies like glass bottles, jelly jars, coffee tans, and cookie tins. You can use them as flowerpots, coin jars, office supply holders, and so much more.

Those teacups and candy dishes you’re sick of? Use them as soap trays for the bathroom, or as a key receptacle on your kitchen counter. Start paying attention next time you’re taking the garbage out, because you very well might be throwing away something that can be re-purposed as a style element.

Repurposed T-Shirts

It is just amazing how much you can do with an old T-shirt. Sew them around pillows to turn them into funky, hip, and vintage-looking throws that add character to any room. You can choose funny slogans, band T-shirts, or even just solid color shirts. Your old, worn-in T-shirts will make for the softest, most comfortable pillowcases out there. And if you don’t want to use the whole graphic or logo, you can always cut up shirts to knit into a quilt. A t-shirt quilt thrown over the back of the couch would be a really fun addition to a room.

You can also frame T-shirts as though they were pictures. There are some really beautiful printed tees out there these days, and it’s never been easier to put real art on the front of a shirt. So why not use your art shirt as just that – art? Stick a graphic tee on the wall as an art feature, or hang up a band T-shirt as a memento of a great concert. Using T-shirts as art gives you all the sentimentality and nostalgia that wearing them would, with decorative perks.

One Splurge

These simple decorating tips are, of course, about redecorating on a budget. But if you have anything to spare, consider splurging—even just a little—on one single piece of décor that really matters to you. With some careful planning, this one investment can transform a house made out of found supplies into a home truly and tastefully tied together.

This one splurge can be anything that makes you happy and looks great in your house. Maybe it’s a nice set of thick towels in an accent color that makes your bathroom pop. It could be a plush Turkish rug, the pattern as the centerpiece of your entire room. A piece of artwork or furniture like a couch or a bed is always a practical splurge option, as these get the most use from residents or visitors, and it makes sense to spend well on something you’ll spend a lot of time using. Whatever it is, you deserve to own something that makes you smile when you walk through the door. Don’t be afraid to splurge on something that makes you feel proud to be home, and that reminds you that home is a castle, decorated exactly the way you want.

from Wall Vision - News https://www.wallvision.com.au/blogs/news/decoration-on-a-budget

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