Clip Art Bonaza!

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I’ve been getting into using Illustrator a lot more and learning how to make nice vector graphic logos and such for my clients.

However, I am finding that recreating the wheel… or say a rose…. is very time consuming.  I’ve found some stuff online, but still, it does take a long time to search out the proper rose bud or toaster or car or whatever….  to use in a compiliation for a logo or whatever task I need.

SO I went to my favorite shopping store…. Ebay… and I bought up two HUGE clip art collections for next to nuthing!

The first one I was a little disappointed in….  it seems to imply that the DVD had like bazillion clipart pieces on it..   Yippeee!   And it only cost me like $15.

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Problem is… they are all online!    You actually got a one year subscription for their website and it’s a pretty nice place and they have all sorts of things from photos to vector art to type fonts and sounds, web animations and all that stuff… pretty cool.  And another year subscription is only like $23.   I figure that is one hour of my time a year.   I think that’s not a bad deal.   If I can save one hour of having to recreate something simple, with their membership…  not a bad deal.

The second set though, was a little more cooler….  it’s actually like 28 cds worth of stuff… not online, no membership club, just a ton of cds and all.

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It’s a Master Clips Art Explosion collection and it’s really pretty good.   Only drawback is that it’s Windows based… and I am a Mac gal.   We do have a token Sony Vaio in the house, so I’ll just have to use it when I need to go clip art shopping!   Actually I think that the CDs might work on the Mac, I just won’t be able to use their interactive catalog system them…   of course, I haven’t tried that yet, but I will!

Again, got all these on Ebay for $20.

So my graphic arts tip of the day is to remember that saving time makes more time for you to bill for your talents…  Remember to occasionally look into time saving tools and software that will help to build your business.  And remember to look to places like Ebay for gently used goodies….  sure is a good deal!

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Maggie’s Photography

Both of my daughters love photography.  My eldest daughter is currently in college for photography and she does some beautiful work.   She just got a beautiful Nikon 85 digital SLR for Christmas and I am SO jealous!  (g)  She lets me use it, but I don’t want to drop it or anything… I would have a hard time to replace it or fix it!!!  Someday I might have  one of my own, so I kinda stick to my point and shoot for just fun…

I had a nice Fuji but it started to develop a difficulty that made it hard to use for most of more professional shoots…  it would not focus well in low light.  So I gave it to my younger daughter Maggie.   It works pretty good in brighter light and daylight… and she has been amazing me with some of her shots!

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Maggie doesn’t let anything like technique or that sort of sence of “I shouldn’t shoot this till I get it right” that tends to hold us back from creatively expressing our art… she just shoots.  Alot.  And through windows, in the car, hanging over things, looking straight up in the air in buildings and so on.   She will be laying on my bed talking to me and then shoot out my window into the darkness and get a creepy eiry shot…  she doesn’t know the boundries of convention of photography, so she just shoots.

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Lately, she’s been shooting the critters that visit her feeders.   Through a window, that is covered with plastic.   Yeah.   Oh yeah, and zoomed to the max.   And she is getting some awesome shots.  I love this one with the squirrel.

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Did I tell you she’s in the mobile home?  At the kitchen sink?

And she tells me that these starlings are very nice, because one is older and one is younger and she likes the way their feathers look all mostly sparkly.

Through plastic.

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She was telling me that she liked this picture but that she thought the camera was focusing on stuff in the background too much and so we started to talk about depth of field and all that and then I stopped.

She was looking at me with a little sad look in her face.   Too much information…  I don’t want to rob her of the marvelous experience of just learning that on her own.  Besides 14 year olds already know everything, don’t they?

I’ll just let her learn all that on her own.  There’s enough time for her to learn all the technical jargon for that she’ll already have mastered by the time she’s ready to start college and her photography career…  I think she’ll need a better camera next Christmas as well!

You can visit her photo blog here….

www.mywoozels.com

She just started to add her own photography up there… it’s pretty cool to see what a kid can do!

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Moby Meat Loaf

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Moby Homes and Meat Loaf just seem to go hand in hand.  After all, it’s hard to afford beef tenderloin on a mobile home mamma’s budget.  I get raves for my meatloaf… so I figgered it would be the best first addition to the Mobile Home Woman’s cooking collection!

And just like a favorite blogging cooks… I’m gonna take photos of the process!  Of course, I’m just using my little point and shoot camera… but I’ll do my best to make them purdy and appealing!   Let me tell you… this is some good meatloaf!

I’m dedicating this post to my friend Dave because he LOVES my meatloaf.   I know cuz I think the first time I made it for him, he was not too sure about it… he’s not really a meatloaf kind of guy!  (g)  (He likes chicken a bit more…)  but he was kind enough to give it a try and then he was totally sold…  he even thought it was better than his own mom’s!  (Sorry Grandma Russell!!!  She still make the best cookies though…)

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3 Pounds of kinda cheap higher fat hamburger

1 pound good mild sausage

3 eggs

2 cups Italian breadcrumbs

about a cup of ketchup

1 package onion soup mix

2-4 tablespoons of dehydrated onion (to taste)

1 teaspoon of garlic salt

1 teaspoon of season salt

a splash of milk

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I start with all the spices.  Mix them up with a little stir

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Then add eggs, breadcrumbs and ketchup.  If you want, add a little bit of BBQ sauce… that can give it a zippy taste.

Mix it all up good and this is where you add a spash of milk.   If it’s looking a little too thick… then add a little splash of milk.   Stir and take a look.   With the breadcrumbs, it can sometimes be a little too dry.  You want a sort of pasty sauce thing going on.

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Now add the meat…

You might wonder why I like to use a good higher grade sausage, and yet a kinda lower grade hamburger.   Well…   the basic stuff has more fat.   And more fat makes for a juicier and more flavorable meat loaf.   You can use a real lean sirloin hamburger if you want, but I have found that the tube stuff really works best.  Now, if I’m going to use ground beef for say spaghetti or burgers, or anything else?  I’ll use a leaner meat.  But too lean in your meat loaf and you get a crumbly sorta dry loaf.   That’s probably the biggest secret in my meat loaf.   Higher fat in the beef.

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And stir together good.    Wash your hands good and use them… it’s really the best way to get the meats to mush all together with the spicy paste sauce.

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At this point… because there are just three of us in our family…  I cut this mixed load yumminess into two halves and freeze one half and cook the other.  It freezes pretty nice… just thaw it and you got a meat loaf ready to go.

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And of course, every good moby home cook knows that you got to do a purdy design with the ketchup over the top of your beauty… sometimes I do a sort of lattice of the red stuff… other times just a good squiggle.   But remember to get a lot of the stuff over your loaf… that is part of the best part of a good trailer park meatloaf…  that ketchup kinda gets a little hard and sorta sweet and it’s just perfect.

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Pop in a 350 degree oven for about an hour or so… watch it after 45 minutes and when it looks nice and golden brown and the ketchup is still red but getting a little hard looking, then that baby is ready to come out and set a few minutes.   Pour off the fat and slap ‘er on your best garage sale dish and you’re ready for some good eating.

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The perfect side dishes are a can of corn with some real butter in it, and a big pot of mashed potatoes….   and you are ready for some fine eatin’…   and remember, that cold slice meatloaf makes some mighty fine sandwiches… that is if there is anything left!

The dawgs in the house will be waiting to lick clean that pan, especially it there is crispy bits that stuck to the bottom… everyone loves moby home meat loaf!

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