More ATC's and a new artistic interest...

I still have one ATC to make for the Muppet swap, but I'm also signed up for the May Bizarre Holidays swap and that deadline is much closer, so I started on those cards today. Here are two I've finished.

And here's one I've penciled in. It's Dinosaur Day.

I've also drawn one for Jigsaw Puzzle Day, but that wasn't even exciting enough to take a photo of! I hope when I get it painted it will be cute, at least.

My new interest is (drumroll) SCRATCH BOARD! Here's my first attempt at making marks.

 Do you like my scratching tool? I actually found this among some of Bob's old tools out in a shed the other day. I thought, "I can use this scalpel-like instrument for something!"  (I just looked it up online. It's a carving knife!) It works really well for this. I may eventually buy one of the pen-like scratching instruments with a nib, but for now I'm finding freebies around the house and experimenting. This is "student grade" scratchboard, but that's okay, because I'm a student! (It was tricky taking this photo left-handed!)

It's overcast and windy this evening. I think it's in the 30's. I love to listen to the wind whistling in the chimney and rumbling around the corners of the house. :) Nice to be inside and warm!

You all enjoy your Sunday evening. I'm enjoying mine! I think I'll read for a while. Tomorrow's a work day. :p

Shalom!

Finished ATC's...

 

Got home from babysitting about an hour and a half ago. I'm bushed! Tomorrow an auctioneer from Fargo is coming to look over all of the stuff out in our pasture to let us know if there's enough there for a sale. He's an acquaintance of the Richards family from way back, so I think he's very trustworthy. Tomorrow evening I'll babysit the grandgirls again so Micah and Adam can go out on a date to celebrate Adam's birthday and their anniversary (and probably Micah's birthday of a couple of weeks ago).

 

On Sunday I'm hoping to do a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y  n-o-t-h-i-n-g!

 

Shalom to all!

 

P.S.-Glenn, have you ever read Matt Walsh's blog? I LOVE that kid! :)

The Muppet adventure continues...

My next two Muppets are still a work in progress. I started these two and just couldn't quit! (That's why I just finished dinner at 9:00!) I'm still trying to decide on Muppet #4. Gonzo?

I enjoyed my afternoon with Hazel and Audrey. Micah said they weren't feeling well. Both have slight colds, but I didn't notice much decrease in activity! :)

I'm off to do some blog reading and checking in on Facebook before bedtime. Hope you all have a restful night.

Shalom!

Muppet ATC...

My next two swaps are May Bizarre Holidays and Muppets! Here is my first Muppet. I'm not sure if I'm finished with it yet.

Off to work soon. Have a great day and peace in God!

Color combos...

I don't know about you guys but I have a hard time figuring out which colors look good together. I've wanted to make some original art to sell, but I feel very insecure about coming up with a color palette. Well, the Frugal Crafter mentioned a website called Design Seeds, and I said "Hallelujah! Just what I've been looking for!" Just about every day they put up a new set of color ideas. I'm hoping to try some of these out this weekend when I have more time.  Two more sites are Colour Lovers and letschipit.com. I haven't checked those out yet.

From Design-Seeds.com

Just a tidbit that I thought was worthy of sharing!

Have a great day and shalom!

Carnivorism and Dave Ramsey...

My nicest Easter treat? Phone calls from my two boys who live afar!

Saturday night Jordan called after an eight hour day of rehearsing at his church for the Easter concert they do every year. Fortunately, he wasn't going to sing the lead on all of that music. His pastor is quite talented and musical. Jordan did background vocals mostly, but it was a long day! We had a good long conversation about all he's learning in life. Dave Ramsey was mentioned as we spoke of his books and my intentions of reading them. Everyone in this family is working on getting finances in order. Since my husband's passing my oldest stepson is trying to get things straightened out with my finances and this help is spilling over to all of his younger siblings. It's a good thing! Jordan and his girlfriend recently broke off their relationship (amicably-they work together) and I wanted to be sure he was really okay. He said he is and he's waiting on the Lord because He wants God's will in all of his life and he's willing to go in any direction the Lord leads him.I thoroughly enjoyed hearing Jordan's voice and knowing that all is well with him!

Jordan leading worship at his church in Burleson, TX.

 



Yesterday my son Josh called from Kentucky to wish me a Happy Easter and once again a long conversation ensued. He and his wife are trying to live a vegan lifestyle (though their kids don't follow all of that). I mentioned the possibility of someday buying a couple of sheep and raising my own meat for the freezer. This brought up a discussion of how efficient it is to feed animals lots of grains and how efficiently that is then turned into meat on the animal. It's not an efficient use of grain at all, as it seems. I'm willing to learn more about this. They are very concerned about food supplies for the world and how that grain could be better used to feed starving people. After our conversation I ordered two books from Amazon; namely Your Money or Your Life and Afluenza. The first I've been meaning to read for years and the second is about our culture's overconsumption of goods. My kids are teaching me a lot!

Josh and Jess

I'm also joining MK's revolution of reading! What a good idea! And with all the books on my list I'd better get started right away! Right now I'm reading Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L'Engle. (Note the closed laptop. What discipline!)

But now I must get ready to go to work. I'm very proud of myself for getting some house cleaning done and some work on sorting through newspaper clippings of my daughter's gymnastics years. Baby steps will get it done eventually, as son Jordan reminded me in our conversation. :)

Y'all have a great day filled with the shalom of the Lord.

HE IS RISEN!

Happy Easter, all!

My Easter will be spent at work, alas, but I hope you all have a wonderful Easter!

I babysat the grandgirls today and got a few cute shots.

 

Audrey reading some books that I brought for her. Her mom read these when she was Audrey's age!

 

Playing doctor. (That's the gel mat from the kitchen floor she's using for her patient to lay on!)

 

Hazel discovered the books!

 

 

It was another action packed day with the girls. Always teetering on the brink of disaster as their fertile little brains come up with 1,00l ways to get a boo-boo. They are clever! And very sweet and huggable! :)

 

Good night for now! And shalom to all!

Art restoration backwoods style...

Who needs an art degree? I just wing it when it comes to art restoration. I bought this Charles Russell print at a garage sale last summer for the grand sum of $5. The person who put price stickers on things plunked the sticker right on top of the paper in the upper left hand corner resulting in a big white spot when I removed it! Today I got tired of looking at that white spot so I decided to paint over it. I knew I could never match the old, aged looking paint color, so...I painted my own happy little clouds in the sky! lol!

Charles is rolling over in his grave as we speak! I'm still not finished with these clouds. Judging from the rider and mule and the rock in the background, I need some orangey sunshine on those clouds. They're pretty flat at the moment.

Anyway, I thought it was pretty fun being so audacious! Why not? It's just a cheap print! I had some acrylic paint left over on my palette, so I slapped it onto a canvas panel...

...then I mixed up some more and splashed it onto another canvas. I have NO IDEA what I'm going to paint on top of these two backgrounds, but I've been putting off doing anything with these canvases and I think I needed to do SOMETHING to get started!

I've been reading "Living Your Strengths", which is a very intriguing book on finding out what your talents are and turning them into strengths. Finding your niche in the church and in life in general. I'm probably going to take the Clifton StrengthsFinder test this afternoon to find out what my five Signature Themes are (five main talents). I have some idea, but I'd like to see what their opinion is. It costs about $10 to take the test. I hope it's worth it!

Have a wonderful weekend! I'm going to try to stay warm (it's still damp and cold outside here) and have some artsy fun this afternoon. Maybe I'll play some Rend Collective while I play. :)

Shalom!

Plein aire idea...

Did I spell that correctly? Anyway, I think it was the Frugal Crafter who suggested using lemonade mix jars for carrying water when you are out and about doing art. To tell you the truth, I've never done art anywhere but at home, but I though I might pack up a few things and take a stroll out to my woods someday when the weather is warm enough.

Aren't these a good idea?  (I remembered that I had two of these in my cupboard that had been there for quite some time. I dumped the contents, which were getting a little old, and now I have travel jars for my watercoloring!)

The lid can be used so you have a clean water and dirty water container in one.

Learning all kinds of good things from the Frugal Crafter! I'm thinking about making some things for a craft fair. I might have to aim for summer 2015. I'm kind of late getting the idea! :)

This is what our area looks like at the moment. Bleck. But I have hope! God renews it every year. Patience! :)

 

Babysitting soon so I'll wrap this up. Have a great weekend!

Shalom!

Revelation!

This is a photo I put on Facebook and thought I'd share here. I used Picmonkey to add the text and the photo was taken in my back yard a year or two ago.

 

And a TON of collages I made using Picmonkey. "Someday" I'm going to print these all off and put them in my photo albums. I'd really like to get some of my favorites out of my camera and computer and onto paper. I don't trust technology!

Jordan, Micah and Josh with Nathan

Micah and Jordan, Josh, Micah and Adam

Jordan at the Alamo! Nathan and Josh and Micah.



Audrey with Micah and Grandpa Bob

Grandpa Bob with Audrey and in upper right with Starry and Audrey.

Audrey's first birthday and with cousin Nathan.

Hazel arrives on the scene! (These photos aren't in neat chronological order.)

Hazel with Grandpa and Audrey & gramps on the piano.

 

Hazel meets Uncle Jordan!

Audrey being sweet.

Sisters! And more Hazel.

Audrey (left) and two Hazels.

 

The many talents of Audrey.

 

Sporting the new diapers and Hazey in pigtails.

More of my three favorite people! (Four counting Nathan!)

 

Okay, got that out of my system for now. I'd better have some lunch and pack the granny bag for my visit with Audrey and Hazel. :)

 

Shalom all!

A bookish post...

Gretchen Joanna was talking about books on her blog, to which I commented. I'll probably cover the same ground here, but I wanted to rejoice in the abundance of books I'm looking forward to reading!

The Imitation of Christ is my current devotional. (I found it at the thrift store for $2!) I just finished Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle and A Circle of Quiet will be read soon. I look forward to its autobiographical viewpoint. Josephus has been on my shelves for years (decades?), and I want to begin it, at least. My new NIV Bible (well, 1990 edition) arrived and I've been making my marks. The Giant Print is such a blessing!

My fat, pink journal. Love writing my thoughts in it for my children to read later.

Erwin Raphael McManus is becoming a favorite author. Chasing Daylight will be the second of his books I'll read. I was actually using that magnifying glass the other day to read an article that a friend of mine printed out for me. The type was tiny!

My new beloved Giant Print NIV...So nice to read without eye strain!

I borrowed this book from my daughter. It's very interesting, though you're supposed to take the Clifton StrengthsFinder test online before reading it. I'm cheap, so I'll try to figure out what my strengths are as I go along. Like I needed another book to read! ;)

This, of course, is the tip of the iceberg of reading. My Kindle contains titles by G.K. Chesterton, The Rule of St. Benedict, Kathleen Norris, 14 titles by Beth Moore, Tozer, C.S. Lewis, The Common Book of Prayer (which I'm trying to puzzle out) and many others. I'll never get through everything...which is wonderful! There's always something to look forward to!

My Beefsteak tomatoes have germinated!

And here are an acorn and hubbard that just broke through the soil yesterday. I'd better water everyone. They're sitting on the piano bench next to the sliding glass doors. They really aren't yellow. It was the flash. :)

My three newest brushes. I thought  they were a good investment since the Frugal Crafter said they should last for many years if I take care of them.

These are my 4 ATC's for the "3 Marker Challenge". I was supposed to randomly choose 3 markers and then use them to make a card. Meh! I really didn't enjoy being restricted to 3 colors, and most of my markers seem to be very dark, so it's hard to get a satisfactory result. At least for me. Oh well, it was a learning experience!

 

I'm off to do some reading before bed. God bless all and shalom to you!