fashion friday- express yourself!

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garlic ginger wings

 

  With the Super Bowl this weekend I thought it would be to share one of my husband Andy's delicious recipes for wings. He is a master at making oven baked wings in variety of different flavors. My favorite are his garlic ginger wings. They are crispy, a little spicy and CRAZY yummy!

    

INGREDIENTS

    

    Wings:

    1-1/2 to 2 pounds chicken wings, cut at joint, no tips

    Salt and pepper to taste

    Sriracha to taste (I use 1 to 2 tablespoons, depending on who's eating them)

    Around 1 tablespoon peanut oil

    Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

    Line a baking sheet with foil and grease foil with non-stick cooking spray

    Place chicken wings in large mixing bowl and add salt, pepper, sriracha and peanut oil

    Stir mixture so the wings are coated
    Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes
    Turn wings and return to oven. Cook until crispy for another 20 minutes

   Glaze:

    2-3 finely chopped garlic cloves

   1-1.5 inch chunk of fresh ginger root, minced

   1 tablespoon Sambal (or preferred type of chile pepper sauce)

   1/2 cup of packed brown sugar

   1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar
   1 tablespoon of soy sauce

    Whisk together ingredients and bring mixture to a boil.  Immediately remove from heat.

     Place wings into a large mixing bowl.  

    Pour desired amount of the glaze over the wings and toss. 
    Use extra sauce for dipping.

    Transfer to plate and let wings sit for approx. 5 min for the sauce to absorb into the meat.
    Garnish with basil.    

messy kits in the shop!

Slowly but surely I am adding all kinds of fun things to the SHOP and I now have messy kits back in stock. Kits are full of over 30 pieces a variety of messy painted canvas, painted paper, printed paper and fabric with my designs and 1 feather rubber stamp. View more details HERE

messy time

lucy and alisa brayer from Alisa Burke on Vimeo.

paper hearts

If there is one thing I have A LOT of- it is handmade paper! Painted paper, messy paper, stamped paper, Lucy's scribbled paper, doodled paper- you name it I have it because I rarely throw anything creative away! So since Valentines Day is around the corner I wanted to put all my paper to use to create some fun little paper hearts!

1. I gathered up all of my favorite papers. This was the perfect opportunity to use the huge stash of Lucy's drawings that we have saved! 2. Next, I cut out hearts with two sides (front and a back). 3. Then I created simple little wings from card stock. 

The last step was to glue around the edges, the front and back of the heart with hot glue and leave an opening. I stuffed the paper heart with a little bit of stuffing and then glued the opening shut. The result is a colorful little stuffed paper heart with wings- perfect to slip into a pocket, a lunch bag or an envelope!

fashion friday- embroidery hoop bangles

A while back I used small embroidery hoops to create wood burned bangles and since then I have been finding all kinds of ways to transform embroidery hoops into unique bangles. The hoops (I used 3") are super light, thin (so you can layer lots of them comfortably) and really cheap! You could use just about any mixed media techniques on the surface- here are three of my favorites!

Grab a permanent marker and doodle!

Use colorful acrylic paint and go wild with layers!

Any kind of fiber can be used to wrap around the hoop!

the art of blogging: my favorite tips

Blogging has played a huge role in the evolution of my creative business. What began back in 2005 as a way to document my journey as an artist, has grown into something I never could have imagined! I currently have millions of readers all over the world, my blog has enabled me to generate income for my creative business and many of my posts and projects have "gone viral" or been picked up by a variety of media outlets. Needless to say I've learned a lot about the art of blogging and while I am not an expert, I do have all kinds of tips and valuable information to share!

My latest class The Art of Blogging is in full swing and while I can't give everything away, I thought it would be fun to put together a "mini lesson" here on my blog. So I have gathered 6 of my favorite blogging tips and instead of writing it all down (too lazy) I've put it into video. Try and imagine we are sitting down together for a conversation all about blogging!

Just a word of warning: this video is 28 minutes long and I talk a lot and share A LOT of information. So if you don't have the time or the patience to watch me blab, feel free to skip 

to the bloopers at the end or read the summary below :)

blogging tips from Alisa Burke on Vimeo.

Summary:

1. DEFINE WHO YOU ARE: Take some time to really reflect on who you are what sets you apart from other people. Ask yourself a few questions- 

• Why do you blog?
• What are your blogging goals?
• What unique experiences, talents, gifts, passion, and knowledge do you have to share?
• How can you use those uniques things in your blog content? 
• What kind of people do you want to read your blog?

2. LOOK INTO YOUR LIFE FOR INSPIRATION: Your life is the best place to look for inspiration and ideas for blogging content. Start taking notice of the things that you do and write them down. They don't have to be special or extraordinary, they simply have to be things from your life. Once you have a big list, you can then go back and really take time to think about how you could turn some of those things into blog content. 

3. LOOK FOR TREND NOT IDEAS: If you need to use the internet for inspiration don't get caught up in copying or using someone's ideas- instead try looking for trends that you can use a starting point and then add your twist. 

4. TAKE GREAT PHOTOS: Photography is what will really make your content stand out! 

• Make a little time to learn and experiment with taking photos. 
• Play with light, angles and creative ways to document your content. 
• Keep a camera on hand at all times. You never know when you might stumble on something special!

5. GREAT CONTENT IS THE BEST KIND OF MARKETING: Use social media to market your blog but try to find ways to come up with content that will keep readers coming back for more!

6. TAKE TIME TO GET ORGANIZED: A big part of planning and creating great blog content is staying organized.Treat the blogging process like a job with goals, steps, planning and a schedule:

• Make a list
• Keep a blogging calendar
• Stick to a schedule
• Create content in advance

a peek inside my sketchbook

the simple things