Wednesday is just starting....

Wednesday is indeed just starting...only 1:40 a.m. as I start typing this post out.
Sleep is a mess still. My family just doesn't understand my sleeping patterns. But then neither do I. I hurt like a big dog today and there are dishes, laundry, vaccuuming and tree dismantling to be done. I really want the Christmas out of the livingroom! It's been there quite long enough!
I have laundry started, two loads down and still about five or six to go. I let that laundry get out of hand! And we won't talk about the state of the kitchen...it's atrocious actually. I intend on tackling that today as well.
I've been working on downloading my cd collection to this new pc since I got up earlier this evening. Got Nickleback in right now. Had LeAnne Womack just previous. I have quite an electic collection of music. I lost all the music files from the old pc cause I don't have any idea how to transfer them to the new pc so I just started over. No biggie! I don't have all the cds that were on the old pc, but most of them and then some that were never downloaded to the old pc so I have a whole new collection of music on the new pc, basically.

Here is the ATC for the 365 Project for the 12th. Got it drawn as the time was drawing near...was about 11:30 p.m. when I drew it. Lots of the participants were doing pears for their daily ATCs so I just decided I'd do one as well. There are some awesome pears in the collection from some awesome artists.

Pear #48

Markers on recycled cardstock.

12 January 2010

Why pear #48? Well, it certainly is not the 48th pear I've drawn, least I don't think it is. Pear just didn't seem enough for a title! I've done that before though, put a number, a random number behind the title of an ATC.

This is the only piece of art I have to show you all today. Enjoy.

If I hadn't slept the day away on Tuesday, I may have gone outside and taken some pictures with the camera, but beings I did sleep Tuesday away....16 hours of it anyway... I did not get outside to take any pictures! It was a nice day out too.

The snow is melting quite nicely and leaving some puddles behind. There's a nice big puddle by the front door that I wish was not there, but the dog seems not to notice it is there and he hasn't stepped in it on his way back into the house.

I'd love to show you all the cutest video I took of my granddaughter sitting on my son's lap over Christmas but I can't figure out how to add video to these posts. Gonna have to study on that. Annabel was blowing raspberries. She's only 4 months old in that video. It was just too cute! Next post I'll show you all a picture of her and her papa.

The kids keep trying to get me to move down to Nickerson where they are. That ain't happening though! No matter how much I miss them, I cannot just pack up and move! Just can't do it!

I should have more than just one ATC to show you all tomorrow. I have pictures on the camera of another book I sewed up the day before yesterday but I've yet to download those pictures. When the book covers are dry that I just gessoed, I'll get them decorated and the book sewn and you'll get to see that one too. I already have the pages cut and holes punched in them for sewing. I have to go out to the garage (in the dark) to get the foil tape to use on the book covers I just gessoed. I probably could have foregone the gessoing but it's already done so gessoed they are! Might as well walk across the highway and get the mail out of the mailbox while I'm out there.

I have paperwork to fill out tonight as well. That paperwork has got to be done and returned by the end of the week! That's a must! I have to do that paperwork every January and I hate having to do it. It's not a hard task, it's just that I don't like doing it! It isn't just filling out their paperwork, it's also gathering other paperwork for them. A trip to the bank is in order for that paperwork too.

Hopefully my van is fixed. I don't know if it is or not. Sam looked at it on Monday, put the battery charger on it. I don't know if it started or not though cause I went to sleep before he was done with it and he never wakes me for anything. It wouldn't matter if he did wake me...I'll go back to sleep without any trouble but that's just how my brother is. I think he thinks I will get mad if he wakes me but I won't get mad. I never get mad about anything too often. It takes a great deal to get me angry and waking me from sleep is not one of those things!

Well, I'm just rambling now so I'll close out this post and bid you all a wonderful Wednesday! Go get your hugs!

Peace

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Tuesday......

I only have a couple peices of art to show you today. The purple horse is my ATC for yesterday. It's done in, yep, you guessed it! Markers on recycled cardstock.

Purple Horse

11 January 2010

markers on recycled cardstock

Bunny Twinchie

11 January 2010

Old Cat Inchies

2009

I drew the Bunny today, for my sister Jeanny to make into a pendant for a necklace. The inchies were all drawn sometime last year. Sis wants those for pendants as well.

yeah, It is Tuesday, no doubt about it!

I've accomplished zilch today. Nadda! Zip!

The old body is still in rebel mode and I'm fixing to head back to bed! I shall yak at you all tomorrow....

Peace

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A New Skill Learned, Art and Some Critters

Hello Readers!
Hope you all are doing alright today. I'm better than yesterday in some ways and not so good in others. I won't complain about my aches and pains though cause they don't make any more sense to you all than they do to me.

As the title of the post suggests, I learned a new skill since I posted last. The first pictures in this post show that skill. Granted there is great room for improvement, but I'm pretty proud of this little blank book!
I spent a few hours over at YouTube watching bookbinding tutorials. I was attempting to understand how to do the coptic stitch. I got it down pat! Least the basic anyway! I couldn't believe how easy it was once I did a few holes in the first signature. Got my rhythm and sailed through it!

10 January 2010

My first attempt at stitching a book with coptic stitch.

Book covers are an unaltered board from a kids game. Pages inside are in signatures of 5 sheets of paper folded in half to make 10 pages, 4 signatures sewn with yellow hemp cord. The book wobbles a bit but that is from my inexperience with the skill.
Overall, I am very pleased with the results!

Thanks to ANg for pointing me in the right direction at YouTube!

After I had made this book, I made another book. The second one is the same size as the book I showed you all yesterday or the day before. The little black one with inchies in it. I haven't taken its picture yet though cause the box isn't done.

I'm gonna have to transcribe the story in the book. The little book has 50 pages. I wrote a story in it after I had stitched it together. No rough draft, just whatever came to mind as I was writing. It's a bit of a nonesense story, but fun. Susan laughed when I read it to her. The book has a few pictures in it but I gave up the drawing when I realized how badly those line drawings really sucked! I'll show it to you and I'll write the story out for you all when the box is done.

I DID promise you all ART. I did not specify that all of it would be my own! :)

To make a long story, short, I found this picture of these elephants on the sd card from my old camera that refused to talk to the pc for the longest time.

I took this picture in April of 2007 when I was in California with my friend Robyn.

We were on Hollywood Blvd at the time, having lunch with Dorthea who drove us to the Education Building in downtown Los Angeles that day and then took us sight-seeing. Dorthea was 83 yrs old at the time. I never felt more safe in a vehicle than with Dorthea tranversing the freeway. That traffic was a NIGHTMARE to me, but Dorthea knew what she was doing.

I collect elephants so this place totally fascinated me! These statues were atop the vender buildings in a courtyard of sorts. There was a fountain in the middle of the courtyard that was flush with the pavement. The jets of water shot up from the pavement and folks, young kids and teenagers playing in the water. It was a cool place! Thought I'd show you all the elephants though cause they were the best part of that courtyard! Cool aye? I've no idea who the artist is that created these guys.

OK, now on to art I'm more familiar with.

Red Bird Pink

10 January 2010

Markers on recycled cardstock.

This is my card for the 365 Project. I need to get a button to add to this blog for the Project. I got the idea for this bird off that game board I made the blank book out of.

At The Station

10 January 2010

Markers on recycled cardstock.

Red Butterflies

9 January 2010

Collage and markers on recycled cardstock. I used 5 different images cut from magazines for this card. The background is a book with a man standing atop it. The leaves and flower petals were an ad for a car, The stems were a picture of the earth with arcing lines showing some sort of statistic, the butterflies were an antique picture in red tones of a Mexican Bandito (those are bullets on the bottom butterfly) and the flower centers were a picture of a multi-story building.

Time for critters:

Lobster

This rubber lobster resides in my kitchen. If you push the button on his base, he'll sing and dance. He will also totally freak the cat out! He sits on the three tiered cart at the moment but eventually he will get put on the cupboard door. I paid a dollar for him at a yard sale. I just couldn't leave something this cool there!

There's Fred waiting for me to catch up with him. He's on his way home, but he ain't going unless I do as well. That's my house in the background and Susan's pumphouse wall in the foreground. Nothing lives in that pen but the goldfish in the horse tank in the corner. This path looks a whole lot better in the summer time when everything is green. The fence is covered with virginia creeper then. I'll be glad when all that snow is gone. This was taken yesterday afternoon. We are supposed to get temps in the 40s today so more of it will be gone by nightfall.

There's Fred (again) in one of his favorite spots....lounging on the sofa. That dog has gone on a diet. He always gains weight in the winter time. No one wants to go out and play ball with him for too long in the winter. It's too danged cold to do it consistently. Perhaps today Evelyn will play ball with him for awhile while the sun shines.

I took six pictures of this silly Billy cat while he sat on the cabinet in front of the kitchen sink. He refused to keep his eyes open. He has the prettiest yellow eyes.

Lola wanted canned catfood. She doesn't like the dry stuff. As you can see, the plate behind her has already had canned catfood on it and she is not getting anymore at this point. She's another silly critter. She's a good little mouser though! She caught another one just after 1 a.m. She and Billy had stalked the bottom of the fridge all night. I wondered which of them would succeed in eliminating the vermin. She gave that dog what-for when he tried to take her mouse away.

Doob's like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah...go away!"

All the critters are quite well. Thankfully. Doobie went outside earlier today. That's an unusual occurance for Doob. She hardly ever goes out and never when it's cold. She didn't stay out very long, but she did make it all the way over to the side porch of the burned house. That's a ways for her to travel when she does go out. She was ready to come in less than half an hour after she went out. Guess she just needed some fresh air.

The sun has come up and it's about time for me to go down. I'll come yak at you all again tomorrow with at least one piece of art. Until then....get your hugs, give a few, collect some kisses if you can and be happy!

Peace

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Art for Saturday.....and not much more.

I don't have a lot to say today. I don't feel well, all run down and tired. Following, you will find art from Friday and Saturday (today). Enjoy!

9 January 2010

Red Butterflies

Collage with magazine pictures and sharpies on recycled cardstock.

I think my muse is at kindergarten class today.

8 January 2010

The Blue Snake

Markers on recycled cardstock.

Yes, I know the snake is not actually blue! It was blue though when I drew this card in my sister's van while she was driving down the road. Once I got home I realized that snake didn't really look like much of a snake when it was light blue in color so I made it a green snake and pretty much got rid of all those blue lines made on this card when it was drawn. Still doesn't look a whole lot like a snake....his nose is a bit wonky.

8 January 2010

Ralph's Adventure

Markers on recycled cardstock.

This one was drawn while riding down the road as well. I need to go fix this picture! I guess I didn't do that when I did the others.

Over the Bridge

8 January 2010

This one was drawn while riding in the backseat of my sister's van while she drove down the highway. Just like the other ones here.

Markers on recycled cardstock.

I thought about coloring this one in but I like that it looks somewhat like a snow scene without any color. It IS a snow scene and if I'd added color, I think I would have lost that feel in the picture. Not a great drawing...but each drawing completed is practice and practice makes perfect. (Well, as perfect as I'm ever gonna get. I don't really think perfection can ever be met! We can only strive for excellence. And God knows I need a lot of practice to get anywhere close to that!)

8 January 2010

Gus the 'Pus

Markers on recycled cardstock.

This one, too, was drawn while in the back seat of my sister's van while riding down the highway. I put color to these after I got home. I only took a few markers with me on that trip so there was no way to really add color and make it come out decent (for any of the four posted here that were done on the 8th).

I kinda like this one!

I'll probably have made more art before the day is done. I've added more to my large canvas and took pictures of it yesterday. Added more stuff just a little while ago. Another couple of days and it should be DONE! And then I'll take some more pictures of it and you all will get to see it!

Until then though...I am out of here for now. Think I'm going to go crawl back in my bed for another nap. I've already taken one 5 hour nap today and it didn't seem to help any so maybe another nap will help.

Get your hugs, people! You really do need them. I'm staying away from folks today so there will be no hugs for me. I sure could use some hugs but, I don't want to give whatever is wrong with me to anyone else!

Peace

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More Cold Weather and A Few Pieces of Art

Once again I started yakking before I uploaded pictures so the pictures are all out of sync but here we go nonetheless. You all should be used to my wonky posts by now anyway!

Free As A Bird

markers on recycled cardstock

ATC

6 january 2010

Bentley

markers on recycled cardstock

ATC

23 December 2009

The Book of Tiny Art

7 January 2010

Matchbox/Little Book Swap AFA

This little book is made from kraft paper colored black with a big fat sharpie and inchies from the crop of 2009 inside the book. The book cover is kraft paper sandwiched between two pcs of tyvek and glued with E6000 at the spine. The book fits inside the matchbox which was colored inside and out with that same big fat sharpie. The landscape on the top of the box was done in markers on cardstock on 6 January 2010. There are two blue glass beads attached with copper wire on the front of the drawer of the box for easy opening. This pc will be swapped out when I get it and the other one I've yet to make in the mail.

Winter snow! Guess we are going to have a weather picture before we get through all the art. This picture was taken out my front door looking towards the northeast. There is an open field out there though you can't really tell that too well in the picture. Not a lot of snow out there on the 5th but some. And now there's another inch on top of what you see in the picture!

Elephant
8 x 10 stretched canvas painted in acrylics
I gave this painting to Evelyn for Christmas. She loved it!

See! Snow on the ground 29 December 2009. This one was taken about two miles south of town on Highway 183 headed north. It was COLD that day! Sam and I were headed home from Hays when I took this picture as Sam was driving down the road.

I had to try out the zoom on my camera for the first time with this picture of a little squirell in a tree in Sam's front yard. Not the greatest picture in the world! I was sitting in Sam's truck and took this picture through the windshield.

I'm not entirely certain where this one was taken. Somewhere on Highway 183 south of the county line. I was just messing around with the new camera. This one was taken probably 25-30 miles south of home. Not as much snow in Ellis County as there was in Rooks County that day.

I am beginning to think the cold weather is never going to end. I know it will eventually. But spring is still a long ways off!

Wind and cold today. Though the sun out in full force... it was blinding actually! All that snow on the ground was just way to bright for these old eyeballs of mine! I didn't get up until after dark but I was up a few times during the day to let the dog out and back in. I could barely see from the blinding white of the sun and snow outside.

Not a lot of snow, mind you, but it does cover everything out there! An inch or so of new stuff on top of the old stuff from the previous two snow storms that moved through my neck of the woods.

I'll be working on my that other little book and matchbox tonight. In the morning I am going to Kearny, Nebraska with Susan and Linda. Susan has a drs appt up there and I'm just going along for the ride. Linda will drive from Phillipsburg. Susan can't drive at the moment cause of her neck (which is why she's going to see the doc in Kearny) so I will drive her from Stockton to Pburg and let Linda take over from there beings she will be driving her van.

I don't have much of anything of importance to say today so I'll bid you a good one for now. Don't forget that hugs are essential to a human being, so get yourself as many of them as you can.

Peace

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Art Today!!!!

We will have art today! Yeah!!!!
The inchies that follow were done in the last week of December. The Orange Star was done by daughter-in-law, Lue and the rest are mine. I still have another batch of inchies to scan but gave up on the inchies because it took three tries to get these 12 scanned with all 12 of them in the frame! Don't know what the devil was the problem that the left hand column got cut off on those first two scans. But here they are... new inchies to look at!
I am thinking highly of joining the 365 Day Challenge...I'm not sure that is exactly what it is called...anyway the idea is to do 1 ATC a day for 365 days. I missed out on the first two days of the new year. No new ATCs made those two days...but there's one for each of the days since. They aren't all here, but there is one for each day since the 3rd of Jan. I still have to scan the January 6 card.

4 January 2010

Peace

Markers on recycled cardstock.

3 January 2010

Joseph

Markers on recycled cardstock.

5 January 2010

Banks--Asleep on the Table

markers on recycled cardstock

5 January 2010

A Hangover In The Making

markers on recycled cardstock

Looks as though I did two on the 5th of January. Does that put me ahead of the game??? I don't think it matters if you make one or twenty three of them on any given day, the goal is to do ONE a day.

Seems I finally figured out that scanner. No new drivers to upload thankfully. I really thought it would be harder! I just tried to use the scanner to see if it would work and voila! Yep, works great! Works different than it did with Windows XP, but not so different that I couldn't figure it out!

It's snowing as I type out this entry. All the critters have opted to stay inside for today. Billy cat hasn't been out for any length of time in a few days. It's terribly cold out! The temp is in the low 20s but the windchill is down in the single digits...Ma said the TV said the windchill was sitting at a whopping 4F about 20 minutes ago. The wind is terrible! Straight out of the northwest. That open field to the north of the house leaves nothing to block the wind so it's coming in gale force, it seems. Not sure what the wind speed is, but the roof is making all kinds of racket from it. A metal roof does make a lot of noise in the wind and the stronger the wind, the louder the noise! I don't know how much snow accumulation there is to be. Ma said a trace to an inch... looks like we've surpassed the inch mark already though. The rug on the ground at the bottom of the front steps is covered now.

It's perfectly OK with me if it snows bunches! I have no plans to travel any farther than my sister's house next door. I will have to hoof it to Susan's if I decide I need to get out, but I've done that so many times I could close my eyes and get there quite easily. A bit of blowing snow isn't going to deter me. It's the wind that might keep inside where it's warm.

Today I am working on some swap obligations. I entered the Matchbox/Little Book Swap over at AFA (the link's still up there in the left hand corner). The idea of this swap is to make a little book that fits nicely in a 32 count matchbox. I made a lovely little green book to fit in a matchbox earlier today. Only problem is that even though the book is TINY, it's not tiny enough to fit in that matchbox. So back to the drawing board to make an even tinier book.

In making that little green book, I learned how to do long stitch binding. My attempt was a little loose but the next book, the binding will be tighter and it will fit in a matchbox! It has to fit in the matchbox or I can't use it for the swap!

What are these little books about? Well, the green one I made that didn't quite work out right is just inchies glued to the pages. I may still add some text, haven't decided on that yet. I discovered in making this book that my markers do not like gesso. So I don't think I'll be writing in the book with markers but will have to find something else that will not smear on the pages. This project will be completed by the end of my day. The matchboxes might not get done so soon, but the little books will. I have to make a minimum of 2 books for 2 matchboxes. I will probably make 3 of them so the host has one to keep for herself. That's not required, but always appreciated.

I traded 3 ATCs day before yesterday. Old ones that had been on flickr forever! They went in the mail yesterday, headed to NY, USA. I have 6 bird inchies that need to be put in a envelope and sent off as well. I need an address to send those to though....

Really not a whole lot happening in my world. The van won't start cause it's too damn cold out for it to start. I think it might be in need of a new battery. It really doesn't matter that it won't start. I can get a ride to town if I really need to go to town. Which, today, I don't need to go to town cause I was just there yesterday. I borrowed Susan's little red car for that trip.

I hope you all are doing well in the new year. Don't forget to collect your hugs, give a few kisses and just generally be happy! Life is way too short to waste it on negativity and being mean.

I shall post again soon!

Peace

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Cold in Kansas

This could be fun!~ I have a kitten on the desk walking all over the keyboard and trying to stick her nose up mine. She's purring so loud, I'm surprised you all can't hear her too! I just came from the kitchen where I found her sitting on the cabinet staring at the sink. She followed me back to the deskroom. Aren't I the lucky one! :)

As the title of this post says, it is cold in Kansas! And it doesn't appear as though it will warm up any time soon. My old body hates the cold worse than the heat of summer. This weather plays havoc with me! On top of that, I'm getting a cold and my nose is all clogged up and I've had a headache for three days now. Not to worry though, I shall survive, I'm sure.

I still haven't downloaded the drivers for the scanner so there isn't any art to show you all. I got a new computer for Christmas and the only bad thing about getting a new computer is getting it up and running smoothly with all the accesories one needs with their computer. I know it's not going to be a hard chore to get the scanner/printer up and working compatibly with this new machine, it is that I know it will be a daunting chore as I don't speak computer any more than I speak Swahili....so wish me luck getting it all going without pulling my hair out!

This new machine didn't even come with a user's manual! How am I to know how to use all the features it has? I think I need to look around in the Start menu and see if there isn't an owner's manual built into this thing!

That silly kitten is trying to drink my coffee. She just stuck her nose in it. Meowing her fool head off about something. Wish she didn't insist on sitting on the desk when I'm trying to type but every time I put her on the floor, she immediately jumps right back up here on the desk. She never wants anything to do with me unless I'm sitting in this chair with my hands on the keyboard, or when I'm cooking. She's such a pretty little cat, full of charm, that I can't get mad at her for just being her.

I thought she was a goner the night before last. She shot out the front door when I let Fred in. It was late, dark and cold out there when she decided to make her escape. I was going to go after her but she ran down the steps so fast, I lost sight of her. About an hour later, when she hadn't come to the door to be let back in, I called for her. No Lola though. Then about an hour later I sent Fred out to find her. He was out for about 15 minutes and came back without her. She's just a kitten, only about four months old and out in the dark is not a good place for a kitten to be. Not out here in the country. I thought for sure she was going to supper for the coyotes. Finally, about three hours after she had made her escape, I heard her at the front door. She always climbs up the porch railing and hangs off the screen door knob, makes all kinds of racket along with meowing as loud as she possibly can. I was very glad to see her!
I let her out during the day when she wants to go out. When it's light outside she isn't in danger from the coyotes, but night is a whole other story. She does have her markings in her favor as camouflage at night but she has white feet and a white chest which work against her in the dark. Coyotes have excellent eyesight and she can't run fast enough to get away from one.
I've lost kittens to the coyotes. Not a good thing.

That Fred dog is asleep on my bed at the moment. Snoring most likely with his head on my pillow, enjoying his nap. Billy is outside as far as I know. Haven't laid eyes on him today yet. I'll send Fred out later to bring Billy cat inside. It's funny, but when I tell that dog to bring Billy back with him, Fred 8 times out of 10 has that cat in tow when he comes back inside.

Doobie is asleep in the laundry room on top of that stack of blankets on the counter in there. She will be hollering for supper before too much longer.

I do wish the scanner were already hooked up! I have some stuff to scan! Guess I should shut this down and go hook it up! That's the only way it's gonna get that way!
You all go get your hugs for the day...
Peace
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