An infographic?

Apparently, some folks are familiar with this word. I wasn't sure if I had the grasp of the concept when we were assigned to design a personal infographic. It seems to mean a group of pictures with text that gives some information about our lives. The results were very different for each person. This was my attempt, though I thought it rather dry compared to what some folks came up with. However...we are encouraged not to compare ourselves with others, so...

 My granddaughter, Starry, has one of those birthdays that sneak up on you. You turn to the new month on your calendar and THERE SHE IS! February 3rd! I have to get a card and send it right away! Hey, wait a minute. I have blank watercolor cards and envelopes. Why don't I just make one? So, I did... Got it in the mail, too! Yay, Grandma!

 I enclosed some birthday money and a page of glittery butterfly stickers for her to put on the walls at home, lol.

 I used my new Kuretake Gansai Tambi paints for the first time. I like them a lot! It's fun to have so many color choices without having to mix anything! (I'm lazy and usually don't end up with the color I want.)

 These are for the Hand-drawn Sunflowers swap. Three of them were from a larger painting that I cut into pieces. Sly, eh?

 Movie night! I'm off tomorrow, too, so I had to get two, right? I love both of these movies enough to watch them a second time. :)

Wanna hear something weird? I had my groceries bagged in a paper bag yesterday. I usually have plastic bags, but I thought, "Hey, I could use that paper to do art on!" Freaky! ;) And I'm helping the planet. Yup.

Some of you may remember that I've been putting photo albums together for my kids. I finally mailed them off. No, I haven't gotten through all of my pictures, but I had filled the binders! I'll send them more pics as I sort through them. My son, Jordan, PM'd me through Facebook to let me know he had gotten his album, and he thinks it's awesome! His favorite photo he calls "Jord and Corn". Isn't he adorable? (He'll really appreciate me sharing this with the world. Naw. He's got a great sense of humor.)

Jordan then...

...and now. (There's no hair under that cap.)

As long as I'm running down rabbit trails, here's something that really surprised and amazed me. You've seen quite a few pictures here of our old log house next door. We've always felt apologetic when family came to visit. My daughter-in-law from Maryland posted a picture of her childhood home a little while back, and I was so tickled to see that she lived in a very modest log home as a child! Never knew that! (She's from either VA or West VA.)

We're all more alike than we know...sometimes. ;)

 

Thanks for dropping in! I'm off to do more art and maybe other things as well. I'm so grateful for rest days!

Shalom, my friends!

An accordion book...

To wrap up the second week of Sketchbook Skool our assignment was to create an accordion book. It was supposed to tell something about us. Here's mine...

 Our first mini-assignment for this week was to draw a dog in a minute or two. The idea was to show everyone's different styles of drawing. She's encouraging us not to try to emulate someone else's style, but to just be ourselves.

I'll be balancing my dinner of tilapia and veggies on my lap as I watch some more art class. I have to work tomorrow (my "weekend off"), but I get Sunday and Monday off.

Have a great weekend, everyone! Shalom!

A few odds and ends...

I often snap a picture of my old log house which I can see out my west window. That's where I lived for 22 years or so, and where I lived while writing much of my Backwoods Crazyquilt blog. I want to have photos to remember it when I move away. It's where most of our memories were made of raising our wonderful kids.

I bought some M. Graham watercolors a while back. I'd been wanting some more artist grade paints and didn't like my Winsor and Newton paints so much. They didn't seem to have much pigment. I searched around for empty pallets to buy to put the tube paints in. They're expensive! So, I came up with the idea to remove the W&N paints from their little palette and refill it with the M. Grahams. It was a messy process. They were stuck in pretty well. I had to soak them in the sink and then pry them out. Here's the palette with the new paints in it. It was worth the effort to have them in a handy sized palette.

I saved the old Winsor and Newton paints. If I don't use them the grandgirls can. :)

 

 This is something I came across in my old sketchbook. I used The Drawing Textbook for my kids' art lessons many years ago when we homeschooled. I pulled it out years later and worked through it myself. It's a lot of fun. I still haven't finished it.

This is another project for Sketchbook Skool. I entered a contest to win some new drawing pens. Don't know who won yet. It was a random drawing.

Well, I'd better get ready for work. I have the next two days off!!! Art time!!! :)

Have a great day filled with God's shalom!

ATC Catch Up...

Just a quick post to catch up on my ATC's. Here are my cards for my latest swaps.

The Australian Aboriginal Style swap...

And the Pen and Ink Swap...
(I really enjoy basic pen and ink more than anything else. Glad I rediscovered that thanks to this swap!)

 

You folks light up my life! Ciao for now!

Shalom on your households!

A famous quote...

Today's homework assignment for Sketchbook Skool was to do some hand lettering using a quote. I used a quote from one of my favorite people...Hazel. She was explaining how the boo-boo on her arm had come to be.

I think I kind of overdid it.

Is this version better?

No, no. You don't really have to answer! The main point was to practice some hand lettering. I made too big a deal out of it. Sometimes simpler is better...

I'm off to post my drawing on the Sketchbook School site. We're having another really cold spell. Glad I get to stay home this weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Shalom.

I've got mail!

It's so much fun to come home late from work and find two packages in the mail! Climbing out of my car and into the 2* outside of it, I crunched across the snowy road, and by the glow of the streetlight I could dimly make out the form of two largish envelopes. Yay!

Thanks for that top one, Glenn! It contains copies of a CD which I'm going to include in my kids' photo albums. I made a tape of myself singing waaaaay back in 1978. I was living in a small apartment in Angleton, TX. My folks lived in Colorado. So, I made the tape for them to listen to. My guitar playing was very amateurish and the vocals...inconsistent, to say the least. I sang two songs I'd written and a few worship songs that others had written. I also sang along to LP's of Love Song and 2nd Chapter of Acts. It was quite the hodge podge of techniques, lol! Anyway, I figure it's part of the family history and the kids will get a smile out of it. There's also a CD of my son Jordan singing a song he wrote, based on Psalm 86. I'd lost my copy, so thanks again, Glenn, for sending that!

The other package contained this wonderful book which Gretchen was kind enough to send me. I look forward to reading it, and thanks so much for your generosity, Gretchen!

 

Today was the beginning of Sketchbook Skool! I managed to watch a couple of short videos this morning before work, but now I have the whole weekend to delve into those lessons! I'm so excited! One of the videos talked about moving out of your comfort zone. On my way home tonight it occurred to me that one of the things I'd love to do is learn how to draw and paint angels to illustrate scriptures. This would really be outside my comfort zone because human faces and figures are difficult. But it gives me a goal, and it's something I've wanted to do for so long, but kept putting off because I felt I couldn't do the subject justice. I just have to be willing to work at it and practice, practice, practice! So, Dori, I will endeavor to join you in making some angelic art that will glorify God! :)

Thanks for stopping by, everyone! I'm off to Sketchbook Skool! :)

 

Shalom!

Every Day Matters #10 and 11...

It's been a full day off!

Daughter Micah's mini-van was making a lot of racket going down the road. I suggested (nagged?) that she should get it into the shop ASAP because it sounded like something was very wrong. They planned to get it in in the next couple of weeks when they had funds. Knowing she has a lot of long trips in the near future I insisted on paying for it (they will pay me back) so it would get done right away. She was going to take it this morning while I babysat, but she came down with the flu. So badly that hubby Adam stayed home to take care of the girls. I drove the van into town to the shop for her and had a nice couple of hours to read while I waited. :) As it turns out the left front wheel bearings were going out. The mechanic said the wheel was about to leave the vehicle!! I'm not sure if that is literally what would happen, but I'm sure glad it got fixed!

My reading for those couple of hours was The Creative License by Danny Gregory. Really good and inspirational stuff to get one drawing. I'm not much for public sketching, so I waited until I got home to do these two sketches for the Every Day Matters Challenge.

 I rather like this hand drawing. I spent quite a bit of time on it.

 The glasses...meh. I think I used up all my oomph on the hand sketch, lol.

I used this photo for the glasses sketch, since I can't see to sketch if I take my glasses off! I think I'll read some more of that book. It's good! It's giving me some great ideas for future sketches.

Otherwise, I took a nice nap, had a nice supper, and watched Downton Abbey...twice! I also watched yesterday's church service from my online church. I was home from the auto repair shop by 11, so I had lots of day left. I had even packed a lunch in case I was there all day. I was determined to stay until that car was fixed. Can't have all my precious girls driving in an unsafe vehicle, can I? (What a pushy mom/grandma!)

I pray for a hedge of protection around all of my family members, every day. I really praised God for His protection of Micah and her family, and the double blessing that the repairs weren't very expensive. That's provision!

Thanks for dropping by and listening to me ramble on. :) Everyone stay warm! (Pom, I hope you find a nice heater!)

Shalom, friends and family!

Idle pleasures...

Michael Nobbs, of the Sustainably Creative website, was talking about the finer points of "loafing". He suggested that an occasional day of loafing is a good thing to energize our creative engines. Some things he includes in his list of necessities for optimal loafing are snacks, lots of tea, a small project to work on, a notebook for writing down ideas, a game, and a good book. I thought the book he suggested was interesting. The table of contents was kind of cute. (Click on the image to go to Amazon. Then click on the "Look Inside"link.)

One of the topics in the Table of Contents was "messing about in boats", which sounded like a quote from Wind in the Willows. It wasn't included in the preview material, so I'm not sure if that's what it was about. :)

After starting out at -22* this morning, I'm glad to be back home and warm. Thanks for stopping by, and everyone enjoy the small (idle?) pleasures of winter.

Shalom!

The challenge continues...

These are the next three sketches I did for the Every Day Matters challenge. When the Sketchbook Skool class begins this coming Friday, I'll stop doing this challenge. Don't want to get over committed!     

 

#7-Draw a bottle, jar or tin from your kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

 #8-Draw your watch or a piece of jewelry. This is a necklace my mom bought for me when she traveled to Israel. It's a favorite!

 

#9-Draw a cluttered or chaotic desk or countertop.

Time for bed! Thanks for dropping by! It's extremely cold here. Stay warm where you are!
Shalom.

A beloved childhood toy...

I'm doing a challenge called Every Day Matters. Each day we're given a prompt to use when drawing a sketch. The prompt for today was to draw a beloved childhood toy. This is what I drew. I was five, in 1961, when my folks bought this metal, ride-on horse for me. You could lean to one side and the legs on the opposite side swung forward. So cool!

I'm not sure what I was trying to achieve with the scribbly background. I had just been watching lots of videos by Koosje Koene. (She's fun to watch. You should!) She's one of the teachers at Sketchbook Skool. She was encouraging us to experiment and not worry about perfection. I guess I did that, eh? What a mess! Ha ha!

Here's a photo of the real horsey. I see my brothers got BB guns! They were in 7th heaven, too!

 

And here's the house we lived in. A haunted farm house! Nah. Seriously, it was kind of a cool place to live. It was in Round Rock, Texas, which is now quite a built up area, but was country then. There was a pasture full of cows in our back yard and my grandma and uncle lived in the old trailer next door. We didn't live there long, but it was fun!

 

That's my mama posing in the foreground. Us kids (we kids?) were sitting on the front porch. Well, that's today's little stroll down memory lane. I'm glad my sketch for today brought back some good memories of my childhood. :)

Y'all stay warm, ya hear?

Shalom!

A bookish day...

Do you have a Little Free Library in your community? Several have sprung up in my area, but I just noticed one on the front porch of a business right here in tiny Nevis, MN. I don't think it was there a year ago. I just had to investigate!

This is a picture from Google, but our little library is very similar.

 

This morning before work, I chose two books to take with me after work so I could trade for something in the little library. I have to say, I was very disappointed at the selection of books. It kind of looks like people just leave their junky novels. I couldn't find anything I was the least bit interested in taking home. I left my two books and then a plot began to take shape in my head. I'm going to make a habit of replacing some of the less inspiring volumes with some classics, or at least something a little more interesting. Ha ha! I feel like Robin Hood! (This girl needs a hobby, right?) I think it will be a fun winter project.

In other book news, I found these two volumes in my mail today!

I bought Traveling Light for a young man at work who is struggling with some burdens. I read it years ago, but flipping through it I think I might read it again before giving it to him. I think I've forgotten a lot of what's in it. The Creative License looks like a fun read. Lots of illustrations!
(Oh, and I didn't pay $9.24 for Traveling Light. I paid 35 cents, plus postage!)

In addition to all the reading I have lined up, I signed up for a six-week art course through Sketchbook Skool. It promises to be tons of fun, learning a lot about drawing, painting and creativity from some really cool artist/teachers. One great thing about it is that I can do it when it's convenient for me, and the videos are mine to watch for-ev-er! Klass (they spell everything with k's) begins officially on Jan. 15th, but there are some preparatory videos to watch now. That's where I'm headed next.

Did anyone happen to watch Downton Abbey? (She asked as if she didn't know she was speaking to a bunch of DA fanatics.) The loose ends are being tied up. Too bad it's the last season!

I have a Christmas dinner cooking. Since I spent Christmas with my daughter and her family I didn't get the perk of leftovers...so I'm making some. :)

Thanks for checking in! Have a great evening and...

Shalom!