a new Gluten free recipe

Free Bunny pin cushion pattern and tutorial

Hop on over to my sewing page to find the bunny...and don't forget to have a look around and leave a comment!

Thanks everyone!

Joann

Studio Tour

some pictures of my studio over  on my studio page

Pages Update

Crackle top Ginger snaps recipe on my Gluten free page
Some older works in my Portfolio
Classes update
Something new on my sewing page

New Work

Thicket - American Tree Sparrow

currently exhibiting at Paint Ontario

Lambton Heritage Museum, Grand Bend Ontario

Titmouse - Plum Blossoms

acrylic on panel

Currently exhibiting at "Paint Ontario"

Lambton Heritage Museum, Grand Bend Ontario

if you are interested in either of these paintings please visit Paint Ontario from

March 9th to March 31st 2013

or email me for information

another kick at the can.....

Hi All!

I'm going to give this another try....  I tried to limit this blog to my artwork and photography which are my greatest passion but I have many other creative interests that over my life time have shared space with my career as an artist and art teacher - my hobbies I guess you could call them. I've sewn clothing and home decor my whole life,

roman blinds in our family room

made quilts for our beds, knitted sweaters for myself and my family, embroidered my jeans and blouses as a teenager in the 70's,

yes, I still have one of those shirts!

crocheted scarfs and doilies, tried needle punch and needle felting, created boxes full of decorations for Christmas,  Easter and Halloween,  made all sorts of funky garden decor items to accent my perennial gardens, candles, weaving's....you name it, I must have tried it! Some I loved, some went into the "won't try that again" bin.  Currently I enjoy my sewing and quilting, I am having fun with felting old wool sweaters and the cute stuff I can make from them and I also try and squeeze in some time for sculpting seasonal characters in papier mache.

Man in the Moon

I have added a tutorials page where I will occasionally be sharing some of my how-to's with you. First up will be a pin cushion perfect for Easter!

  I have also added a page for gluten free recipes. I have suffered my whole life with "irritable bowel" that turned out to be not just a gluten allergy but full blown undiagnosed celiac disease. I love to bake, always have and I even won a few ribbons for my baking ...and so, to come to the realization that I have to re-think what I have eaten my whole life was quite a life altering moment for me!

 So I cheated...and I cheated...just a little bite won't hurt will it?  Well it did, and it does...so having had a good look at what I could eat from the dry and tasteless pickings in the "gluten free" section I set about to reinvent all of my treasured baking recipes as gluten free versions and you know what...if you start with a good recipe converting it to gluten free wasn't that hard and the results are nothing short of AMAZING!  Cookies, cakes, puddings, pies, sticky gooey cinnamon buns - Gluten - who needs it!

GF Bread...well, that was another story!  I can't tell you how many "bricks" went into the compost or out to the bird squirrel feeder until I finally had it right.  My recipe smells like wheat bread, looks like a whole grain wheat bread and most importantly tastes like wheat bread.