North West Florida Sea Oats: August Meeting and Paint In

No newsletter this month. I think the above caption says it all. I know you all had a great time last month finishing up with our Christmas in July. Thanks to Sue, Jackie, and Janice L. for teaching us their cute ornaments. I am proud to say I finished all of mine.

This month we will have Debbie Bryan teaching us jewelry making. We will also celebrate our birthday so there will be cake and ice cream for dessert and lots of door prizes.

I think we will have a board next year and we may have a new place to meet. I have asked Jackie to be President and I think she just might do it. I have also contacted the Library and there is a good chance we will be able to use their meeting room...I had to submit an application and let's pray it goes through. The good news for the folks from Alabama, it is just two blocks from Hobby Lobby.

I had planned to bring in my sled that I plan to teach but couldn't find it anywhere. After looking back I realized I sold it last year so I will attach a photo. Here it is base coated in black:

And here he is base coated in cream

Same design and basically same colors. I will bring in these photos and will give you all the info at the next meeting. You will need to basecoat your box, sled, plaque or whatever you decide to paint on before class, and trace on your design. There will be no charge for this class.

Now, let me tell you what I am making this month. I love vanilla and I go through a lot of it but have you seen the prices for those little 3 ounce bottles? Well, I bought a big bottle of vodka,

Then I added about 20 vanilla beans that I cut up the center and I used Madagascar beans but any old vanilla bean will do. Who knew that there were so many different kinds out there? So now you can see the beans in the vodka. If you noticed that there was a bit of vodka missing - you are right. But since I am not fond of alcohol, it wasn't me drinking it. I was afraid it would overflow when I put the beans in it so I removed about half a cup and poured it in another container and started a smaller bottle of vanilla. If you would like to do this you will need to store the vodka in a dark place and then shake it once a week. It is already turning a dark color but it will take about 4 months for it to be regular vanilla. The best part about this was the smell of my hands - so vanillaee..(I know it isn't a real word). This was found on Pinterest.