Butterfly

I hated the way I drew the first “monarch” but I like it better now that there is colour and it has some friends on the page. 

  

Orange Bubly

My husband was just going to leave it but I thought we should pick it up so I could try it to see if I liked it.  It meh, it’s okay but I didn’t think it tasted like orange all that much.

 

Friday night takeout

On Friday we do our weekly grocery shop and this week we stopped in to the Moose Lodge to pick up one of their weekly Friday night takeout dinners.  If you don’t know,  the Moose Lodge is a service organization and so the money from this weekly event goes to boys and girls clubs. This week it was Christmas in August so Turkey dinner with all the fixings including dessert. All reasonably priced! If you are in Canada or the US, check to see if your local lodge is participating in this.  We don’t belong but anyone can order a meal.  I like that we don’t have to cook one night a week and it is good simple food.  

There was a long queue so I had plenty of time to draw.   I just finished painting it.  I just loved the coral colour of this woman’s purse.  The last page in my pocket Stillman and Birn sketchbook. 

Stitching sketchbook edge

Today was about stitching (aka embroidery)! 

You can see the stitches on my handmade sketchbook at the bottom of this photo.  I used 3 stitches in each hole!  I quite like this edging on these two pages of the book.  

I forgot how much I like stitching!  

Crayons in wood

I used some wood blanks that I got at the $ store a few years back for a different project.  I don’t have a heat gun so I did the next best thing!  To heat up the crayons, I used parchment paper top and bottom and used my “craft iron” (and old travel iron from a charity shop that I use only for craft projects)!!  This looks better in the photo than in real life.  I had a good time playing and crayon “sniffing”! We had our apple trees pruned last fall because they had gone wild.   That sparked a desire to draw their interesting shapes that I never seemed to notice before. Thanks Carla, I used what I have and that is a good thing. 

Mouse Magic

Late yesterday afternoon my mouse went on the blink.  Thankfully I have an old USB mouse handy.  This morning I tackled the problem: switched the batteries; nope, not the batteries; turned the Bluetooth off and on; nope, not the Bluetooth.  Ugh!!! How much is a new one! No way,  I’m not paying that!  Hopped on to the internet again and found out that I might be able to fix it with some vinegar, cotton swab and a scalpel.  Phew! So glad the problem has been solved all thanks to the internet. 

Stitching Envelopes

No time for sketching, I’m stitching names on envelopes.  Chantel sent me a sprig of lavender from her garden so I used purple variegated floss for her name. Since I’m making mail art, I’m also making paper flowers.  The purple flower is my prototype but I prefer the red and yellow one!  I hope Evelin likes it (she is my foster daughter in Bolivia).  I’ve started one for my granddaughter too!!

Fence Post Friday

Happy Fence Post Friday everyone!  My “old guy” (yes, that is what I call my hubby!) suggested that I should drive by to get this shot for this weeks post!!  Thanks Eldon!  How beautiful are this house and the surrounding grounds! 

Enjoy your weekend, it’s going to be another hot one!

Cedar berries

Fence Post Friday

Happy Fence Post Friday everyone!!  It should be another hot one here in central Ontario!  I grabbed this shot earlier this week while we were in Lakefield.  Looks to me like it is a “tres chic” women’s wear shop! Their motto must be it is cool to be hip!  Enjoy the weekend, we should have wonderful weather! 

For those who aren’t Canadian, this shops name caught my eye because of the name!  The “Tragically Hip” was a well know rock band in Canada! I too loved “The Hip”!! 

Anyway, I just love a white picket fence! 

Tag your it

Waiting in the line for the cashier.  That is what we seem to do the most of these days, waiting in lines and keeping socially distant.  What to do, what to do?!?!! so in the end I didn’t do anything!  I was really interested in seeing the price of the shirt but I kept my nose out.  Before COVID,  I would have approached her and spoken quietly to give her the heads up.  Now…. nary a word.  What would you have done?

Mixtures and Spot Varnish

From a class with Carla Sonheim.  Mixtures and Spot Varnish

I used Quink black ink, red Ecoline liquid watercolour and white acrylic ink and one I used blue acrylic ink and a purple highlighter. The smiley face top right is just the way it happen; one of those happy accidents!!  Same with the Jimmy Durante smiley face on the next row!! The only thing I added was the left eye.  I loved the eyebrow and his schnauze nose! I made the eyes for the clown fish and the smoking eye by drawing on the sticky side of the packing tape and cutting it out.  You can’t see it here but the eyes are shiny in real life!  I did loads more but these were my favourites!  Very fun!

Anne -Part Two

This is a Part 2 from yesterday….  I was going to gesso over this page because I just hated the drawing I did on site.  I couldn’t painted it there as it was later in the afternoon and I had just over a hour drive to get home. 

Anyway, I decided to “get over myself” and added the paint this morning. I had to look up MANSE in the dictionary and turns out it means a Presbyterian minister’s house.   How fitting! The house was built in 1886, I laughed when the tour guide said that she wasn’t going to take us in the basement because it was creepy!!!  Our house was built in 1892 and our basement is indeed “creepy” too!!  

I don’t know who design the floor plan but it is a horrible layout where there was four doors and the back staircase leading to a super small dining room.  

In the end, I’m glad I stuck to it and finished the page. 

Anne of Green Gables Author

Yesterday I went for a drive and had a tour of where L. M. Montgomery wrote 11 of her 22 books.  She wrote the hugely popular Anne of Green Gables series.  I love seeing where she wrote them in “long hand”!!  The home is only a few doors down from the Presbyterian church where her husband was the pastor. This is only a representative illustration but I wanted to document my visit. 

Inspired by…

Here is my go for today.  I enjoyed my attempt at making some art inspired by Patricia Govezensky.  I love her rich colours!! 

I used different types of markers that I had in my case and pencil crayons for the skin tone.