When ideas are coming fast and furious, rattling around in my poor brain until I’m dreaming of them, it’s a relief – and so much fun! – to spend time zipping from one idea and medium to the next, shoving things out of the way enough that I can keep playing.
Every once in a while, though, the adult emerges and looks – appalled – at the mess I’ve created once again. The stern taskmaster says that I MUST clean things up before starting anything else.
I went upstairs several days ago. intending to at least START with the tractor in there, but got some ideas for new magnets and I simply gave in to the need to play. I had a GREAT time, got the magnets finished, priced them yesterday and put them into the basket I take back and forth to my local booth in town.
I then listened to the taskmaster and decided to at LEAST get the drafting table cleared off.
My plan is to continue my cleaning efforts up there today. at LEAST getting another table cleaned off.
Happy Tuesday!
Two days ago I went to my art room full of good intentions to clean things up and organize. I’ve been reasonably productive lately, so things are really a mess. :0)
I started with my drafting table because that’s where I do most of my work. As I cleaned it off, I got some ideas for new magnets to make for sale in my booth in Rags & Roses. The cleaning stopped as I started gathering the things I wanted…
Today I will go up and see if I can actually finish cleaning off the drafting table, as well as tackling more of the art room…
I’ll start painting the clothespin magnets as soon as the glue dries. :0)
Filed under Lewis Art, playing in my art room
Yesterday I started making a dozen hand-painted wooden magnets. This is a fun thing. I’m enjoying coming up with different ideas for each one. I’m also going to see about making some magnets with painted clothespins. These can be done inexpensively, so if people like them, they can buy several without spending a lot. I hope the magnets make people smile.
I’ll post some pics later.
Filed under playing in my art room
Happy Tuesday!
Happy Birthday, Laufrain!!!!! Have a wonderful day celebrating YOU!
I will go to town twice today. TRIP ONE: drive trash down to the bottom of the driveway, get the mail and run errands. TRIP TWO: drive to Rags & Roses Collective in Greenwood, taking the things I want to put in to the booth I share with Carla, reorganizing the booth, and bringing some things home.
I have 2 stars on my desk calendar for my exercising yesterday and hope to earn 2 more today.
I’m planning to spend time in my art room making more magnets, plus clean up a bit so I can decide what I’ll try next. I’ve been having a lot of fun experimenting, trying new forms of art, playing with techniques, seeing what happens.
We’re having a gorgeous day with sunshine and a high of 53 degrees F. today – can’t beat that for the middle of January. :0)
I hope that you will make this a good day, too.
Filed under DIET!, exercise, Friendship, playing in my art room, Thoughts on a ________
I have been having a blast playing in my art room, experimenting with my new ‘bleeding tissue paper.’ I’ve tried to do something a bit different with each picture, and I think I’m starting to get a feel for it.
One big lesson – ‘bleeding tissue paper’ is, indeed, different from regular tissue paper. I don’t know how it’s different, I just know that regular tissue paper doesn’t work. I have ordered some different shapes online, and have gotten distracted by trying to find the SHAPES and gotten some UNbleeding tissue paper in really nice shapes…. :0( I ordered correctly enough times, though, to have a reasonable supply to work with. I also am delighted that my sister-in-law encouraged me by sending an assortment of sheets of bleeding tissue paper so I can cut out whatever shapes I want, as well.
The tissue paper works a bit like watercolor. You wet the canvas, paper, or whatever you’re working on. (I use a tiny spray bottle). Then you choose one piece of tissue paper, place it where you want, and then use a paint brush (or the spray again) to wet it down in place. When you have done enough, you let it dry, remove the tissue paper, and see what you have. You can keep adding and enriching until you get the colors you like.
Today I’m starting one where I’ll use rectangular shapes, and then overlay some circular shapes to see what happens. The main part of the pic is a kitty. As soon as I finish my elliptical trainer time, I’ll head upstairs to play. :0)
We’re having a good day. It’s cold outside (35 degrees F., cloudy and gray, with a bit of spitting rain.)
We just got back from Lunch Bunch. One of our good friends and her husband was there. The other friend and her daughter weren’t. (My friend wasn’t feeling well, so maybe we can see each other and catch up next Friday.)
We hadn’t seen each other since the Friday before Christmas, so it was GREAT to be able to share a meal and catch up. We came straight home afterwards so that we could try what will be the last attempt at a ‘fix’ for our broken microwave.
We bought it in 2004, so we can’t complain that we haven’t gotten our money’s worth, but it would be wonderful if we could fix it. The mechanism that goes between the rotary turntable motor in the bottom to the part the plate sits on inside the microwave is the problem. We have mixed up some really good, apoxy-type glue to see if we can bridge the gap and make the parts work together again. (The plastic parts are not replaceable and we cannot remove them because one part is under a metal plate that is welded in.) So, this is a last-ditch effort before we either live with a microwave where the plate doesn’t rotate or we buy a new microwave. We have it glued now, and will look at it again tomorrow.
I will head out as soon as I finish a cup of coffee to the garage to do my elliptical trainer exercise for today. I’m looking forward to playing in my art room this afternoon. I have another piece started and am eager to see how it turns out. I am planning to take the bleeding tissue paper artwork I’ve done recently to Rags & Roses (the local shop in town where a friend and I share a booth ) either tomorrow or Tuesday. I will do my yoga practice when I finish in the art room. Today is DAY TWO of getting serious about our diet and exercise plan.
My husband is working on an addition to our house security system. He has the physical part done now, and is waiting for help on a password before he can finish up.
I’m in the middle of re-reading #32 in J.D. Robb’s (Nora Roberts’) In Death series. I’m re-reading the series in preparation for the latest to come out in paperback (# 51 Shadows in Death) that I received recently.
It’s a good day to have a warm, dry house and too many interesting things to do for the time I have.
Actually, the past week was a mixed bag.
THING ONE: FOOD-DIET-EXERCISE – I raked myself over the coals about stuffing too much food into my face and not exercising enough. My sister-in-law kindly told me to give myself a break and make little changes on a regular basis to get back to my better habits. My husband is determined wait to go back on our diet on the 6th – or maybe 7th – we haven’t completely hashed that out yet. I don’t know why we’re waiting. I guess it’s because we still have some wonderfully delicious bad stuff to eat our way through, though I am determined not to buy any MORE of it for myself. I got the makings of beef stew in the slow cooker this morning. We’ll have a bowl of that with a roll this evening. I will do my yoga stretches this afternoon.
THING TWO: WEATHER – Arkansas ran the gamut on weather this past week. We had sunshine and spring-like weather, as we’re having today, with sunshine and low 50’s. We had sleet and rain and gusty wind. We had drizzles and gloomy gray days. We had a PERFECT snow – with HUGE fluffy flakes coming down while we fixed lunch, making us feel we were in the middle of our own, private snow globe. (This was perfect because that gorgeous snow, though heavy, melted as it hit the ground and caused no trouble. :0) )
THING THREE: PLAYING IN MY ART ROOM – I discovered an art form that is new to me – bleeding tissue paper art. The effect is watercolor. The sky is the limit on what you can do with it. I found it on YouTube and watched some demonstrations, drooling. I found some people who do mouth-watering art with it, giving me some really high goals to try to reach as I practice. My sister-in-law sent me a package of large sheets of the special tissue paper to get me started. I ordered some pre-cut shapes in different sizes today that will be delivered in the coming week so I can concentrate on playing, saving the sheets for larger, more complicated shapes. I’m having a BLAST experimenting. :0)
Another thing for which I am setting up is painting some wooden fridge magnets. I can play with my Unicorn Spit paint for these. I can also see what happens with my alcohol inks, my new bleeding tissue paper, and more. I have the magnets, and my wooden circles should be delivered sometime next week.
THING FOUR: SUNDAY CHORES – I don’t have a lot to do today (translated to mean that I CHOOSE to do), but I WILL spend some time cleaning my aquarium so my fish can start the new year with sparkling clean water and some different decorations, just for giggles. I wish I knew what they THOUGHT about the decorations they have. I really wouldn’t mind it if the two of them held their noses when I started to put something in the aquarium they really don’t care for. They don’t say anything one way or the other. The only thing they DO that shows me they are really interested is both of them get into the corner of the tank, wriggling their bodies and opening and closing their mouths to HINT that they would like to be fed yet again. (Seems like they, too, are on a SPLURGE eating push until the 6th or 7th…. )
Have a happy Sunday!
I told you that my wonderful sister-in-law read about my new interest in bleeding tissue paper art, and that she immediately sent me a large package of assorted colors. (I found out that BLEEDING tissue paper is different from regular, wrapping tissue paper. I have no idea HOW. I just found out that regular stuff doesn’t bleed – except for one sheet I had of blue…)
I decided that today was the day to get started. I have a drawing sketched out and just finished putting down the first layer of tissue paper pieces. I’m going to let that dry, remove the pieces, and decide what comes next. There is no real ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ about this – another thing I really like about it. You just do what you like and see what happens. Since I love watercolors, I like some of the effects you can get. I also really like mixing media, so it’s possible to get 3-D, textures, etc.
Anyway, I’m having a blast experimenting. :0) If I don’t end up with a COMPLETE mess, I’ll share it when it’s finished.
I hope that YOU are having some fun today, too.
Filed under bleeding tissue paper art
I just had the joy of chatting with our son. He lives in Thailand, and so is 12 hours ahead of us. He said the fireworks were starting there.
I also went ahead and started my 2021 calendar, needing the boost of another gorgeous Australian firefighter with sweet animal to start my day. I figure with the way the world is, YOU might need a boost, too –
So, here are Richard and Abigail to welcome us to January 1st tomorrow. :0)
Our weather sucks – it’s 33 degrees F. right now with heavy rain and local flooding forecast for this afternoon through tomorrow. It’s a very good day to have a warm, dry house on top of a ridge line.
I am enjoying watching YouTube video demonstrations of the bleeding tissue paper art technique. I’ve watched two very different techniques, both with stunning results. My wonderful sister-in-law sent me a big package of large bleeding tissue paper sheets in assorted colors, so I spent last night dreaming of things to try with it. I also received 1″ round magnets I ordered that I’m going to try to paint and sell at our local booth. I’ll spend some time watching a few more videos and then go up and start getting my act together to try some new art!
My husband has requested I make chili mac tonight for dinner. I’ll do that – kind of as a ‘last hurrah’ from our ‘hang-the-diet’ eating splurge of the last few weeks. I am talking to myself (I know) – trying to get ready for a new day, new year, ‘new-motivation-for-diet-and-exercise’ frame of mind for tomorrow.
Enjoy your New Year’s Eve celebrations wherever you are. I wish you the very best for 2021.
I came upon an art form new to me a couple of days ago. It has me by the throat now. I was dreaming about it last night and ideas are rattling around in my head. I hope to be able to get up to my art room today to make a first pass.
I was looking at examples of things done by those who know what they’re doing and I’m again in awe of the talent some folks have. Their work makes my mouth water.
I’m going to go up and play, and then I’ll share some of the work that makes me proud to exist on the same planet as these creative people.
I hope you are having a happy Saturday.
Filed under playing in my art room
Today is a wonderful day to stay inside, warm and dry.
First, we need to get our mail and then mail some things at the post office. THEN we’ll enjoy the rest of the day inside. :0)
I will try to find the time and energy to get up to my art room today. It’s been awhile, and ideas are starting to rattle around in my brain on things I would like to try. That idea fights with things I am passing that definitely need my attention today, so I’m not sure which will win out.
I hope that YOU are having a nice Saturday, doing something fun.
I’ve spent part of two days in my art room, playing with a new idea that was entertaining me while I was sleeping. I’m having a lot of fun with it, and will try to finish up today.
The idea was ‘Friendship Frames,’ with paintings on 6″x8″ hard canvas boards with a different friendship quote on each. I’ve had fun with colors, texture, and more, thinking of my good friends as I play. I’ll post a pic of one of them when they are finished.
I have to tell you that I am newly encouraged about my efforts since I had my first sale on Amazon Handmade yesterday. This is a new venue for me, and I was afraid that it was SO large it would be a miracle if people found my listings, much less liked what I did enough to buy something. I feel WONDERFUL that I sold a package of my hand-painted note cards. :0)
Filed under Friendship, playing in my art room
I dreamed of some ideas for Christmas presents. I woke up early this morning with more ideas. I will see if I can get started on them when we get home from Lunch Bunch.
So far, changing the time back an hour is messing with me. I liked the idea of getting an extra hour of sleep, but the reality is that I am waking up super early – the middle of the night for me – and having grim thoughts. This is not like me and I’m going to see what I can do to stop the cycle.
Our weather is gorgeous again today, so I’ll plan to spend some time outside. There are LOTS of things to do.
I feel good today. My mouth is no longer hurting from my tooth filling. I had a wonderful massage yesterday. I’ll see my friends, and hopefully have a productive day.
I hope that YOU have a great day, too! :0)
I’ve been having fun in my art room the past couple of days. I’m having a great time creating “Jewels” from my old jewelry collection parts. I’m hoping that these will be adopted out of my booth in town, finding a home where they have hit the right note with someone. :0)
Filed under Lewis Art
It looks like night outside. It is 44 degrees F. (wind chill of 38), and is raining a LOT. UGH. I am very thankful I have a warm, dry house and don’t have to go out.
That said, it’s a lovely day for inside stuff. I am planning to play in my art room today. I dreamed about cartoony ‘animals’ made from old jewelry on a hard canvas board with a colorful, painted background around them. Even if the idea doesn’t turn out at all, it’ll be fun to try… :0)
I am also starting to gather things to add to my booth in town. Next week I will change the Halloween stuff for Thanksgiving and Christmas things. It’s fun to change the whole look of our little booth. I’m hoping people will find something they like and will take it home.
I may be totally UN-technical, but I managed to make Firefox my default browser on my computer yesterday. I have moved most of my stuff from Chrome to Firefox now, and am working to put all the posts I’ve written since WordPress did their upgrade into categories, now that I can SEE them and ACCESS them again. This will take awhile, because, as you know, I write several posts each day, but I’m hoping to be caught up soon.
I had a nice chat with our son this morning. He lives in Thailand, renting a house in the country there, and simply loves it. He has privacy to meditate, do the work he needs to do for his client, make music in his music room without bothering anyone, etc. He is living his dream and it fills me with joy. I feel lucky that he is such a good communicator. I can almost forget that he is across the world from us.
I’m still laughing that Amber, our 95-pound yellow lab, was FINALLY persuaded to ‘get DOWN’ out of my office chair with me. She was just outside. My husband let her in, not bothering to even run a towel over her, and she came straight for me. She was halfway up into my chair before I could react. Now “I” will have to run a towel over BOTH of us to make us acceptable to be in the house…
I hope that you are having a fun day today.
The second tee is a ‘redo,’ since I forgot to seal the paint and it all came off in the clothes washer.
Both tees are ones I painted because I’m a slob. No matter how careful I try to be, I end up with stains that won’t come out. Instead of pitching the tees, I paint them.
Filed under playing in my art room
I just had a good time finishing up the last 8 bookmarks. I enjoy painting them, gluing them, sealing them, etc., but it’s a whole other joy to choose special do-dads to be attached to them. :0)
I will get them ready to take to the booth Carla and I rent at Rags & Roses Collective in Greenwood.
Filed under Lewis Art
I’m a bit hard on books. Mine tend to have dog-eared corners on some of the pages, maybe a note to myself here and there in a margin, or they might show how much I have read them by staying open at certain spots.
When I read books belonging to someone else, like the library, a friend, or now – while I’m reading my husband’s collection of the Honor Harrington series by David Weber – I use a bookmark so that I can return them in good shape.
I’m using a bookmark I made years ago. I don’t really like it, but it’s the only one I have. THAT’S what got me going on making a bunch of new ones.
So far, I’ve finished 8 bookmarks. I’ll take the ones I’ve finished to the booth tomorrow.
I enjoy choosing a doo-dad to attach to each one, making it different from the rest. I have a whole collection of odds and ends that I paw through to find one that grabs my attention.
I may be the last person on the planet to need a bookmark, since fewer people seem to read for pleasure now, and those who do may be using a tablet, but I have a great time making them. I hope that someone who visits our booth at Rags & Roses finds one of these fun, for themselves, or for kids or grandkids.
I’ll finish up the rest of them soon.
Filed under Lewis Art, playing in my art room
Thankful Thirteen via lovethispic.com
I am having a wonderful Thursday, and I hope that you are, too.
Getty Images
My day started off with a wonderful massage from Lynn Moody. If you are in the Greenwood area, give her a call at 479-629-7601 and see if you can book one. You’ll be SO glad you did! Besides my NORMAL miracle massage, I mentioned that my neck was stiff and sore. She did some magic with a towel and expert lifting and twisting and made it stop hurting! :0)
Yesterday our new food group, REAL FOOD – also in Greenwood – (479) 414-6337 – posted the choices for the week coming up. My husband and I ordered with enthusiasm, and will pick up our goodies next Monday. Since we don’t have any nutrition information, my husband and I are watching the scales and building our eating day around the Real Food meal as our main meal, with a snacky-type lunch. We are fasting from dinner until lunch the following day, except for drinking water and coffee the next morning, with very careful – if any – snacking. Fingers are crossed that things works well for us. Their food is delicious!
Amazon Handmade
I have added some hand-painted totes to Amazon Handmade today. For some unknown reason, one of the images is not showing. I’m still fighting with that, but hopefully will solve the problem soon. It’s SO exciting to be adding my stuff to their website!
I am going to go up and play in my art room some this afternoon. I’m still working on the bunch of bookmarks I started about a week ago. I’m adding some ribbons, strings, and/or doo-dads to each of them. I will post some pics when I have several finished, but I’m having a lot of fun. I am planning to take them to the booth I share with my friend, Carla, at Rags & Roses Collective – 479-597-3107 – in Greenwood.
These are hand-painted, super light-weight wooden earrings. They are 3 inches in diameter.
I just finished listing them on my Etsy website, Eyecatching Earrings on Etsy, if you’d like to see them, and more.
Filed under Lewis Art, playing in my art room
source unknown
I can’t decide my favorite between the Tawny Owl and this sweet Shoebill Stork. I think they are both wonderful.
I had fun yesterday working in my art room a bit. I decided to try a new ‘stained glass’ look on a couple of pairs of earrings. I’ll post them later to see what you think.
My South Beach efforts are paying off. I’m down 11.2 lbs since we started with them, and down 40.2 overall since my lardiest. I’m almost into ‘new territory’ on my weight loss efforts – about 2 lbs to go.
I’ve decided that no matter how hard I try, my body measurements aren’t that accurate. Today they are showing I’ve lost 33.2 inches since I began trying to lose weight and exercise. This varies – due to my ineptness – but it shows the general trend is downward, always a good thing. Suffice to say I’m down a few sizes and my current clothes are looser. My husband noticed my jeans are looser, and I was able to finally wear a blouse today that I’ve kept for years, hoping I could lose enough weight for it to not be too tight. Today it’s loose! :0)
I’m getting into the habit of doing my elliptical trainer (or equivalent cardio/whole body exercise plus about 30 minutes or so of yoga stretches & abdominal exercises daily. I am feeling better with less pain/stiffness and am feeling my stomach muscles when I walk now, if that makes any sense…
We will join our friends for Lunch Bunch in about an hour. I love getting to see their faces, laugh with them, and catch up on what has been happening since last week.
I will start getting things out of our greenhouse today.
It would take too much money and too much work to get it back to working condition since the storm. We weren’t able to afford to heat and cool it, so it’s better to take it down. We will do this a bit at a time, salvaging what we can.
Our weather has been perfect lately – cooler temperatures and lower humidity. I think tomorrow we start getting back to our normal too hot, too humid summer tomorrow, so we will enjoy every minute today, enjoying having the doors open and ceiling fans.
I hope YOUR day is wonderful, too.
Stay safe and well.
The newest painted wooden earrings are 3 inches in diameter. I painted each pair a different solid color and then had a lot of fun adding a floral design to each one.
I will add the findings to each pair – French hooks on some, posts on others, and clip-on’s on some.
I will then take individual pictures of each pair and list them on my earrings website for sale.
If you would like to see more, please go to EyecatchingEarrings on Etsy
Filed under Lewis Art, playing in my art room
We had a bad storm overnight and into the morning hours yesterday, with a LOT of wind and rain. My husband says it was the worst damage we have had since we have lived here – over 30 years now. We lost a shutter beside one of our second floor windows, and there are branches and leaves EVERYWHERE.
The main loss is our greenhouse.
We have decided to take it down. The cost to repair it, plus our labor on it, is just too much at this point in our lives. We couldn’t afford to heat or cool it, so the ability to get seeds to sprout, grow plants for the garden, and over winter plants was disappointing. We will salvage what we can and dispose of the rest.
I am concentrating on cleaning up around the house and the yard first. I spent over an hour yesterday picking up branches and throwing them off the edge of the civilized part of our yard. My back is telling me about it today. I will concentrate today’s efforts on using the leaf blower to clean off the deck, sidewalks, driveway pad and front porch.
Lowes
I am giving myself a gold star for this work, counting the exercise in the heat as my elliptical practice. Today I will do the leaf blowing and then do my yoga to try to stretch things out afterwards.
I was so hot and tired yesterday I didn’t get up to my art room to work on the new earrings I have started. I will try to make sure I make time to get up there today. I have the basic solid colors on both sides of the wooden earrings, and am eager to start the decorative fun part as soon as possible. I will post pics when they are finished.
I told you recently that we bought a new filter system for our aquarium.
It has a three-medium system to filter the water: charcoal, foam, and a stuff they call biomax. The three media are changed at different times – charcoal every month, foam every two months, and biomax every three months. I have had to resort to putting these on my calendar as recurring items with the time differential to keep up. What I have learned to this point is that I will need to change the water once a month to keep the water as clean as I would like it. It has been a MONTH this time (!) instead of every week, but the water is getting cloudy now. This is quite a change and I am grateful. I want to take good care of my fish, but cleaning out the tank and changing the water is not one of my favorite activities. Once a month seems like a luxury!!!! :0) It’s on my list for today.
GMW.cn
Due to the South Beach diet and my exercising, I have now recently lost 9 pounds. (A total of 37 pounds and 41 inches since my lardiest.) I am hopeful to be able to report more poundage and inches lost by the end of Month # 2 on the commercial stuff. I am re-learning portion control and the fact that I don’t need to eat until I don’t want any more at each meal. I am re-learning to serve a SERVING – either as measured by the South Beach stuff, or in my recipe books on servings on my DIY meals each week – reminding myself that there is a snack coming mid-morning or mid-afternoon and I probably won’t starve to death today. ( I DON’T remind myself often that I could live off my lard for MONTHS, if needed, as I am trying to think positively.) :0) I am carefully planning DIY meals for each week, and my husband is cooperating by not throwing as many poor choices into the cart while we’re grocery shopping.
I hope you have an enjoyable day today.
artstudio-ABSTRACTS by Sabina via cathy ruggiero
I am finally giving myself the gift to play in my art room this afternoon. I have a new size of wooden earring blanks, and my head is buzzing with possible ideas for painting them.
I will post them when they are finished.
I hope that you are having fun today, too.
Filed under playing in my art room
Andy Seliverstoff via Jeff Jett – LinkedIn
If you’re like me, you look for things to bring your spirits up each day while we’re facing such an awful time worldwide. The photo above is one of those things for me, and I wanted to share it with you.
Another thing that will brighten our personal day is that we’re meeting our good friends for Lunch Bunch today. The restaurant has been able to open its doors, so we can enjoy the comfort of air conditioning while we eat and catch up.
The governor of our state of Arkansas has now issued the mandatory wearing of face masks in public, starting Monday. My husband is on notice that he either complies, has to sit in the car and wait for me, or stays home. His brother even cared enough to order and send him a Marine Corp-themed face mask. It will be interesting. If you look up “stubborn” in the dictionary, my husband’s picture and name should be there. :0/
We want to put something in our safe deposit box at the bank today. I also want to verify our master list of what is there for our records. In order to do this, we had to call and make an appointment. Life used to be so much simpler. As I sigh, I’m glad we can do this at all now.
I am still trying to get up to my art room to play with the idea of pulled string art. Life happens each afternoon, so I haven’t been able to try it yet. Maybe I will find the time (and energy) this afternoon.
123RF.com
ABSTRACTS by Sabina via cathy ruggiero
creativeartworksblog 