Tuesday, May 28, 2013

WOYWW! 4th Anniversary! Yippee!

I'm posting this a little early because I work late tonight, but I wanted to be prepared for the WOYWW ATC swap! Yippee!

My desk doesn't look too messy. I've been working on ATC's for a swap that's not due until August! That's so far away! (At least I hope the summer doesn't speed by!)


I'm not fancy. I'm using an old file folder as a surface for doing mod podging/gluing. Whatever works! My handy dandy notepad contains info for the swaps I'm involved in. Where's Waldo?  Um, I mean, can you find the WOYWW button? Yup, he's still  hangin' around.


This is my watercolor "station" for the moment. I'm assuming we aren't supposed to post pics of the ATC's we're sending out to fellow WOYWWers. (Oh, wait! I see others are showing their cards! So here are mine!)

 
 
I think the second card is spoken for. This will be a lot of fun! Waiting in suspense for my card!


Have fun gawking at desks all around the globe at Julia's Stamping Ground!

Shalom!

Monday, May 27, 2013

Tiny art...

I've been enjoying doing some watercolor ATC's for the last couple of days. I don't know how everyone else does these, but this is the solution I came up with that works best for me.


For my first cards I cut them out first and then painted/color penciled/drew. That doesn't work well for me since they want to move around. Hence the boxes! Working so far! :)



Sort of a manga horse?
 
 


 I really loved doing this colorful little conch shell!
 
 So, I'm working at building up my supply of cards to trade and in the process I'm tricking myself into practicing art almost every day! (I'm so sneaky.) I have several lists of themes and subjects for cards which gives me lots of ideas. I may tackle an old car next!
 
Have a great and artful day!
 
Shalom!
 


Thursday, May 23, 2013

Art day!

I spent a lot of time "doing" art and took a 4 mile walk! (See my exercise blog post here, with pics!)

I made two ATC's for the WOYWW anniversary swap next week. I only made two. One for the regular swap and I think the other one is spoken for. Not sure I'm supposed to share them yet, so...

This is another ATC I'm working on. It's not for a particular swap, but just for one-on-one trading. I like this translucent look which I'll add text over. I may try to come up with several of this style.

 
It's similar to something I've done in my scripture journal. I may have found my style! :)

It's late, so I'll say adios for now! Peace upon you.


Wednesday, May 22, 2013

WOYWW?

Late getting here, but at least I made it, lol!

Just a few ATC's for the latest swap. I think I'm going to make a cute envelope for them out of a hymnal page or some other text. Gotta get them mailed tomorrow! (This is how your desk looks when your only tools are colored pencils, pens and watercolors!)


To the left...


I need to get into the Word more. I need fresh inspiration for my art and that's the direction I need to go!

Have fun trotting around the globe admiring desks! You can follow the links over at Julia's Stamping Ground! :D

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

My third swap...

I came across another interesting swap on ATC's for All. In this one you draw flowers using your non-dominant hand! I've done this before with faces, so I thought I'd give it a try. It's getting  late so I won't rattle on. Here they are!


Two of them are Israeli flowers and one is our state flower. The Lotus flower I came across in a bunch of flower images. Now to mail them off!

Shalom and good-night!

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Played in my art room...

It was a good day! A great service at church, Subway, then a Sunday drive. The Sunday drive was rather sobering as we drove around the area 10 miles south of our town where a huge area was burned by wildfires. Many homes lost. The black, charred woods were a sad sight. They'll never be replaced in our lifetimes. But no lives were lost, which is a real blessing!

Once at home I spent a lot of time in my art room mostly organizing, looking through notebooks and sketchbooks and packing up some mail art for my ATC swap and my art buddy. Hopefully I'll make it to the post office before work tomorrow!


Here's a shot of my blurry ATC notebook. Ready to be filled with ATC's as I receive them!

 
Who watches from the bookshelves? ;)

 
 
I came across this page from my scripture journal which I had removed and stuck in a notebook. I placed it on the shelf as a reminder.
 
 
 
After playing in my art room I decided I'd better get in my 2 mile walk because it was clouding up. I almost got back home before it started sprinkling! I gathered some baby leaves and a crispy fall leaf so you could see how small the three sprigs of oak leaves in the middle are compared to a full sized leaf.
 
 
Later in the evening I finally watched The Hobbit! It was fantastic and I look forward to the next in the series. I had to watch on my computer because the DVD player didn't want to load it. It was actually better on the computer (with headphones) because our DVD player makes a lot of noise. I think Bob preferred to watch TV while I watched the movie anyway. (Not much of a movie buff...unless John Wayne is involved.)
 


Lastly, I posted this on Facebook. I need to work on my handwriting, but I love this scripture.


And now, 'tis very late, so I'll say goodnight...

...and shalom!

Saturday, May 18, 2013

A small bit of art on a lazy Saturday morning...

Just a little ATC to send to an art buddy...


And some lovely block prints from a beautiful little book...


 
 
 
 

It's a drizzly day here. We sure do need rain, but I may have to wear my yellow rain poncho if I go walking later!

Have a great day and much peace!

Friday, May 17, 2013

ATC's for Self-Portrait Swap...

Finally finished the ATC's for the Self-Portrait swap! They aren't due for another month, but I like the feeling of finishing an assignment! :)

I call this one "5k"...original, huh?


Remember, these are supposed to highlight one of my interests!

The title of this one is "The Wonder of Reading"...



They don't have to look like me. (That's the rule I made up!)

Another original title is "Zentangles"!

 
 
Last and least is "Scary Old Lady with Tinwhistle"...
 


It doesn't matter that I  haven't touched my tinwhistle in ages. I'd still LIKE to someday! My hubby says this doesn't look like me. He had BETTER say that, lol!

Anyhoo, I'm off to post these on the ATC site so I can find out where to mail them.

Have a great weekend and much shalom!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

WOYWW!


Thanks for dropping by to see what's up on my desk for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday!
It's been a LONG day, so I haven't played at my desk today, but here's where I left it yesterday.
These are some ATC's I'm doing for the Self-Portrait swap at ATC's For All. They're supposed to show some of my interests, and hopefully don't have to actually look like me!

My desk...


and a close-up of the ATC's...


On my slant-top desk you'll find a sketchbook in which I'm jotting down some zentangle patterns...


It's late and I'm ex-HAUSTED, so I'll make this short and sweet as per Julia's instructions. You can find a list of more desks to visit at her blog called The Stamping Ground. Take a virtual world tour and have fun peering at desks! ;)

Shalom!

Monday, May 13, 2013

Doing a little painting...

Literally! A LITTLE painting!


And here's the aftermath. One self-portrait down, three to go! (Actually, I added a little more to this painting after I took this picture, but NOW it's finished!)


It's been a pleasant day off. It began with a long nap to get rid of a headache. Now I'm feeling good and having fun with art. Later, maybe a walk!

Have a great day and shalom!

Friday, May 10, 2013

Self-portraits...

I've completed my first group of ATC's and they are packed up and ready to go in the mail. So, now it's time to begin the second challenge which is to do 3 or 4 self-portraits. They need to incorporate something that indicates an interest that I have, such as jogging, music, etc. Here's what I have so far.


Hey, didn't say they had to actually LOOK like me! The four interests I plan to include are jogging, zentangling, drawing and attempting to learn to play the tinwhistle (an interest which is on the back burner right now, but still an interest).

Looks like a fun assignment and I have until June 15th to complete it. I don't think I'll sign up for any more swaps until I'm completely finished with this one, and I'm going to try to just do one at a time. Less hurried that way.

Have a great Mother's Day weekend, everyone!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Sometimes I'm sure I must be God's favorite...

I often feel that way after an especially good library book sale. I can almost feel Him smiling as I gasp and exclaim over the wonderful books that seem to have been placed on the shelves just for me to find! :)

A cartoon character was once heard to say, "If everybody's special, then nobody's special!" He must not realize that God has found a way to make us all favorites, so don't feel badly! Hee, hee...

A day off and a library book sale; the best combination ever! So, wanna see my loot?

 
Lots of little activity/color books, childrens' magazines and great books! Some of these are for when the grandgirls are a little older, but I love stocking my shelves in advance. :)

 
I also found lots of little fairy tales.

 
Can you believe it? Tasha Tudor's Corgiville Fair!! And The Velveteen Rabbit!!
I often pick books because I like the illustrations. If I don't love them, I can't see past them to the story. Go figure...

 
Great stuff! The Old Tree has a big pop-up tree in it. It needs some repair, so I'd better brush up on my taping skills!

 
The grown up books. Quite a hodge-podge. Has anyone read The Little Book by Selden Edwards? The flap sounded interesting. I hope I don't find it a vulgar story when I start reading!

 
These looked really interesting.

 
The CPR book I'm going to give to my daughter so she can learn how to do infant CPR. Beatrix Potter and Hill Top! Yay! Building my BP collection. Anyone studying Ancient Egypt? Don't know why I grabbed the Tut-ankh-amun coloring book. Do grandmas automatically grab coloring books? If anyone wants it speak up! :) The Cathedral Stained Glass coloring book is pretty cool. The pages are transparencies and you can use markers, crayons or even watercolors to color them. Play time!
 
 
The Hills of Home is a non-fiction book about a woman's life in England. Looks great! The little book on the lower left was written by a lady from Michigan. A gal I used to correspond with knew her, so I found it fascinating that one of her books showed up here. It looks very self-published and unique with lots of wonderful artwork.
 
Some good books about art and artists.
 
 
 
And I bought this little group for hubby.
 
 

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Finished my first batch of ATC's...

Here are my four ATC's for the Books, Books and More Books swap...






Loving it! Next I'll work on the Self-Portrait swap. That should be VERY interesting!

Nighty-night and shalom!

WOYWW!

Lisa has joined the ATC crowd! That's what's on my workdesk this week.


I just signed on at ATCs For All for two swaps and I'm really enjoying making these miniature pieces of art. I also entered the May contest, Black and White with a Pop of Color. It would be cool to win some art supplies!


Here's a closer look at what I'm working on so far. I can't show you the card I made for the contest. It's hush-hush until a winner is picked.


Have a colorful and artistic day! I must go and pack my lunch before I'm off to work. :)

If you'd like to visit more workdesks around the world go to Julia's blog! It's FUN!

Shalom!