More goodies...

 This I did up last night. Combo of chalks, Pearl EX powder applied with a water brush. Really like it up close, great texture.

 This is supposed to be done with Pan Pastels, however, I haven't decided to buy any of them yet- they are a big investment for something I might not use alot. ?The pastels I did have I feel gave a fair representation of shading and blending and I am more than satisfied with this lesson.

 The little pearls are handmade using Liquid Pearls. Thought they added just the right touch.

 The next 3 photos are a resist technique. I used crayola crayons and oil pastels to create the vine frames. The poem is mine in this one.

 You then color over the resist with Koi watercolors. Used to do this with Stampin' Up! products, not difficult. Love this Stress saying.

Did this one on a very hot day, the coloring looked so cool it reminded me of a cool lake or a stream in the woods.















Except for my accordian books, I am caught up with all the regular lessons. Some of my class peers have been creating extra lessons to take us through this classless slump. I'll have to look at those lessons. I am also taking classes with Donna Downey- very mixed media. Beautiful stuff until she does her signature drippage on to the page. Maybe more about that next time.

Thanks for stopping by.

This is me....

It's Sunday morning, the second day of a 4 day vacation from work. I slept late and am enjoying that first cuppa. I need at least another cuppa to function and, of course, the funny part is- no matter how many cups I have, they are all decaf so none of them are gonna jump start me. Sigh!!

For my art class, we were asked to draw ourselves and use the drawing as our profile picture on FaceBook. So, here I am.  Love the turtleneck sweater, wish I had one.

Will be back with some more stuff later today, I hope. I have a To-Do list that is pretty extensive for the 3 days left and of course the temperature is up in the 80's so the outside stuff may stay on the list. The yard is suffering from my inability to go outside and weed, mow and straighten.

On the good side, I may be going to see my sister, Alison, in August. Stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by.

Color Lovin' #6 with cats and a little trying to let go....

I am sure if you have cats you know there is very little you can do alone. While taking the photos for my class, I had all sorts of help. These two vie for sitting in my lap at night. So, you have my lap, a cat or two, and on top of that you have whatever I hoped to creatively work on.

Gracie and Trouble needed to get involved.

They rub on my practice journal, nudge my pens, pencils, paintbrushes. They want to be petted right when I am doing something intricate. Or have their ears cleaned or tell me about their day. " I slept, I ate, I slept, I drank, I moved to another chair, I slept."

Photo below is part of my doodling therapy. I am practicing to loosen my hand and mind so that my silliness can come out. I don't know if I will ever be as good as my FB mates on Color Lovin', I don't even know if I want to go all into this Artful Journaling and creating the pages on a daily basis. I just know that I have learned so much from these class about new products and some old products I had sitting around for a long time and was afraid to use. I've learned more about what stuff works well together, the reactions between paints and pencils and pens.

 After I sketched in the basic idea, I painted this with Koi watercolors.I then used a black marker to outline areas. It is too stylized for doodling but I liked the colors.

 I wasn't happy with it until I had the idea to write around the flowers.

"Oh, would he kiss her or walk away? She held her breath and waited. He moved closer and closer."

Now it has earned its place in the book.

 Fiona is always up for a romp on the craft table. I was actually distracted by the kittens on the patio/nursery and was trying to take a picture of them when Fiona kept putting her feet up on my thigh and meowing so I took her picture also. There is a lot of love in that face. She loves to make eye contact.

This doodle uses Koi watercolors, Inktense watercolor pencils, SU WC pencils, a gel glitter pen and a black calligraphy pen to write the words.

 Still too designed, but I did manage to get some layering done. Color on color on color.

I do like how the branches could become lines for the poem.

 "A shaft of sunlight breaking through
Can make the whole world shining new;
Can shape tomorrow, change a life..."
Part of a poem by Helen L. Marshall

 This one I did for real silliness. Caterpillar Romance is created with Twinkling H2Os. This product comes in tiny pots, a turn on in itself. You add a drop or two of water to the caked color and stir with your brush and you have a wonderful smooth paint that has mica in it. You cannot see the lovely sparkle sheen that the page has.  H2Os are similar to Perfect Pearls and Pearl Ex but both of these are powders that can be used dry or wet..
Although all my work has a juvenile look about it, I guess I need to embrace that look and make the most of it.


At the library, I am always worried I will make a costly mistake, I suffer through the audit, worrying someone will tell me I am wrong. When the Newsletter and Calendar go out, I am waiting for someone to tell me I didn't proofread well enough. I am constantly worried that my memory will start to fade before I retire and people will notice that I can't remember where I have filed things- I always want, need, gotta be PERFECT for people who don't appreciate me or take me for granted.

Here, in this world, I just have to BE.

Don't like what I created?

Crumple it up and throw it away, cover it over with something else, cut it up and use it on something else---- or simply TURN THE PAGE.

And still I criticize myself, what gives?

 Thanks for stopping by.