Goodby February

Goodby February, March is just a leap day away!


The children had 4-H on Thursday and did photography and made strawberry freezer jam.  

Sawyer's photo

Evi's photo

Jubilee's photo

The children taking photos was actually quite stressful for me.  I had to relinquish my camera, which I do not like to do.  I guess my camera feels very personal.  I would love for them to have their own cameras to record the adventures of their childhood. 

Club 4-H!  I am grateful for my friend Michelle, that despite having a two week old baby, is running (hosting) 4-H every month in her home.  It has been such a fun experience for the children!

Such a great place to play...er...take pictures.

A beautiful group of girls!

I spent weeks pondering a Blick order (online art supply store).  I read up on journals, journaling pens, surfaces for oil pastels, and finally decided on an order.  It came this weekend and I was so excited to open up a box filled with art supplies!  Phil took the children with him to his classroom to work on his homework and let them run around in the gym while I took a blissful afternoon drinking tea and playing with my new art supplies.  With Phil gone all last weekend, and afternoon plans everyday this week, I was falling asleep before 9:00 the past couple of days so a little quite and creative time was just what I needed!

New journaling pens

Several new journals, different sizes, different weights of paper

Prepping surfaces for oil pastels


Starting a new journal!

I am not sure you can read this page BUT I wrote that this particular journal is for:  learning, experimenting, getting messy, study, inspiration, spilling tea on, not perfection, principles and elements of design, thoughts, quotes, traveling and adventuring, color and texture, abstract.

One area I have struggled with when it comes to journaling and art is being a "perfectionist".  I tend to want things symmetrical, geometric, neat, clean, tidy, etc.. It isn't the way I want to be, it isn't the way that I think I am drawn to, but for some reason, I have a really hard time being loose and free with art.  I do fine with crochet and color and texture but when it comes to composition...I am often stuck before I get started.


I drew this in a brief sketch, using black permanent marker (no pencil first!), then colored pens, then used my new watercolor pens (which I love).  It is not as colorful as I would like (needs more deep and cooler colors) but I think I will leave it alone and maybe make another and then add more detail work.  The work is inspired by Ella Fizhugh Gregory.  I have several of her art pieces pinned on my pinterest art page.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Boots

Image
Last week, was snowy and cold cold cold, then rainy.  I continued to work on getting the yard cleaned up.  I dug out the ponds and refilled the holes with dirt.  I loaded up rocks, pavers, and bricks.  I cleaned out the water features.  I collected the strawberry runners so I would have starts to plant.  I unloaded 2 loads of bark dust.  The children were a tremendous help.  They loaded an entire trailer of firewood all by themselves and then helped with another load of rocks and bricks.  I am amazed at how much there is to load and fix just in the yard alone.  It is a lot of work for the simple concept of "curb" appeal.   Waiting for the snow to melt so I can put down the bark dust. Even with two pairs of socks, my feet were freezing so I broke down and bought a pair of Muck Boots.  The funny thing is, 2 years ago, I really wanted to have a new pair of winter boots but I just couldn't justify paying so much money just to have ...
Read more

Then Came Dense Fog and the Thunderstorm

Image
Sunday, I woke up to a dense fog and smoke cover combination.  I think this is probably the densest fog I have ever been in. Before the sun came up, it was white.  Once it got lighter outside the smoke color showed through. On the porch, looking toward the swimming pool (North) but unable to see it or the goat barn or the walnut trees. On the porch, looking toward the barn, only able to see the garden before the parking area. Outside the window looking at the tree block, barely 30 feet away. I am not sure how I let Phil talk me into (trying) going to the store...but the fog was supposed to lift by 11:00 and we were scheduled to gather at the Rawie's for church and I needed ingredients to put together something for the potluck.  (We ended up having to cancel our homechurch.) Our mailbox, we couldn't see any cars, so we had to roll down the windows and listen.  I was already terrified at this point and didn't want to continue. After having to slam on his brakes multipl...
Read more

More Hats

Image
The Etsy shop is still a work in progress and unfortunately the name Over the Top is already taken.  I have been tossing around the names Tip Top and Whimsy.  I managed to get 7 hats made during the month of November.  I have a couple that I can put on Etsy when we are ready to list them and several Christmas hats made for the children.  I have been timing how long it takes me to make a hat and I am surprised (and not in a good way LOL) at the number of hours I spend.  A baby hat takes over 5-6 hours, a child's hat takes about 7-8 hours, and an adult hat 10 plus hours.  It takes even longer if I decide to tear out the stitching because it isn't looking the way I had imagined.  The more yarn variety I use, the longer it takes me to weave in the ends.  I usually spend over an hour just with a tapestry needle making all the ends secure.  Minimum wage plus materials puts the hats in the 50-80 dollar range.  Yikes!  I would never pay th...
Read more