A year in Review….2012 Top Ten

Wow!  Another year has flown by…in my head it feels like it’s only September.

It’s time for me to be accountable.  Accountable to myself.  Because if I’m not happy with my choices, I’ll bet ya two dollars no one else will be.  Or care for that matter.

I believe we become what we think about….what we work on….what we spend our time doing.  What else is there to living?  Our choices are either productive or passive.  We are either moving forward or standing still.  Might as well learn a thing or two along the way.

Blog Business:

1- Interviewed 6 very Talented…Artistic ladies

• Sheila
• Janet
• Julie
• Lori
• Rachel
• Hanna

We learn so much from others!  Especially our contemporaries. So many ways to do art, to express yourself, to hone your skill. 

2- Completed 4 Graphite Sketches

• Runner
• OU Swimmer
• Wave Swimmer
• Graphite Girls

I love graphite, but get bored starring at black, white and "50 shades of gray" all day.

3- Enjoyed doodling 8 pieces

• Doodle Down
• Random Doodle
• WaterDoodle 4
• Doggie Doodle
• Alphabet Doodle
• Display Doodle
• Phone case Doodle
• Paisley Doodle

Being rather high-energy, having a portable project calms me down.

4- Added 5 birds to my Bird Series

• Sassy
• Pet Doctor
• Coach
• Ursula
• Kate

I guess you can tell by now…that I like to categorize people.  Probably not totally fair to them but it keeps me entertained.  However, it’s the ones I can’t figure out that bug me!

5- 16 Whimsy artsy drawings

• Freaky Friday
• Wacky Wednesday
• Theatrical Thursday
• Cartoon Creation
• Colorful Contours
• Balancing Botanicals
• Faces of Eve
• Twilight Zone
• Striped Hand
• Skull Candy
• Hair
• I Dance Because
• Right vs. Left
• Vitruvian Man
• Rainbow
• Danaus

Sometimes, I wake up….and I know what I will draw that day.  I guess I only woke up inspired 16 times this year!  Haha

6- 12 Color-Sketches

• Colored Legs
• Crabs
• Beach Girls
• Inward Dive
• Backstroke
• Fly
• Towel
• Portrait Pose
• Candid
• Figure 1
• Figure 2
• Figure 3

I almost gave up colored pencils….This is the whole reason I decided to take a drawing class.

7- 3 Watercolor Sketches

• Watercolor Figure 1
• Toddler Dress 1
• Toddler Dress 2

Lots of plusses to watercolor…..best used for color-flow sketches.  I find it very unpredictable.  But adore it’s vibrancy.

8- Sold 9 items on Etsy. 



I should really explore this avenue more.

9- Opened Draw.Doodle.Decorate facebook page



Still unsure on how best to approach this site.  It either entertains me or annoys me.  Guess that’s the nature of this beast.

10- Miscellaneous

• Quilt Show Inspiration outing
• Ongoing drawing classes

Well, there you have it, what I’ve been up to this year.  I’ve found that if you want to learn something new, you will find a way to work it in.

Blog Feedback with a Giveaway!

I was over at Daisy Yellow the other day and she was talking about blogging and why we visit certain blogs, and what we like about them.  Which lead me to do my own little reader survey about Draw, Doodle and Decorate.



So, I’ll start at the beginning with the obvious. 
1-Would you like to see more doodling on this blog?  Zentangles with or without color?



Or…
2- Are you more drawn to the Sketches here.  Do I post too many pictures of the process or not enough?



I could do more with my Doodled Alphabet.  Incorporate a letter or a Word into my posts more often. 
3-Would this be appealing?



Or….
4- Do you like colorful, whimsical and unrealistic type drawings?



I do a few birds a season….
5- Would you like to see more of these?  Less?  Should I offer a black/white coloring book type print made available for your own use?

 

Then there’s the ever-popular Doodle Directory…..
6- Would you like more posts related to the directory?



Just to keep it fair…..

7- Does the changing of the Blog Header make you dizzy or does it add interest when you stop by?
8- I plan on doing some interviews with other Artists/ Art Journalers.  Would this be of interest?
9- Artsy-type Book Reviews are always fun to read.  I think word of mouth in blog land, can really help a new writer.  Do you buy books after reading a good review?
10-  Product reviews are not my fortee…..I like what I like and tend to stick with what works.  But I love posts where I can see Art studios or Art tools.  Would these types of pictures be inspiring to you?



And now the moment we’ve all been waiting for…

I will give one FULL 40 print Doodle Directory to a RANDOM person who leaves a comment here with a Blog Suggest/Criticism or Insight by midnight EST May 11.  There’s no right or wrong answer, and I’ve developed pretty thick skin over the years.  So, don’t hold back!  Change is good and this is the only way I know how to get you guys to say what you might be thinking.  LOL!!
*Sorry, only open to people with a US snail mail address.

Thanks for playing and stopping by :)

Christmas and an Interview

Just a quick post to wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 

If you have some time and you’d like to find out a little more about me and blogging….. Eileen at the Artful Crafter has posted a 3 part interview about me HERE, HERE, and HERE.    Three parts, Yikes…..I guess it’s long because I actually had to think about the questions that I answered and I got to write the answers out!! 

Enjoy your day, everyone!!

7 Links Challenge

I’ve decided to play along with Tammy from her 7 Links Challenge post that’s been making the rounds in the blogosphere lately. I finally have some substance to this blog with over 210 posts……Wow! Did I just say that outloud? Who’d have thought this little artsy, quirky, bloggy habit could’ve been sustained this long? But I guess this is where we are headed, with our technology, and our super-fast mode of communicating. I’ve had such a fun time getting to know all you “bloggy” friends and visiting your little niche’s on the web. I really enjoy seeing what you’re up to. You are teaching me so much about art, photography, the internet, different sites, and it’s fun to see your fun and colorful personalities shine through! I hope that some of you play along with this little link challenge.

Just post a link in the comments to your response so we can hop over and have a look.

• 1- Your first post……..That would be Avatar Mosaic. It was a bit scary to post for the first time, but this was harmless enough. Click on the picture to see it larger, these avatars are too small to decipher unless you do.
• 2- The Post you enjoyed writing the most…….That would be My Manifesto or What do you want to be when you grow up? Obviously, not much art in those. They’re more about what I think. Art you enjoyed creating……that would have to be the Part 6 of the Friends Sketch. It was something I’ve never done before, even though it took a week to complete and I need a lot more practice sketching, I surprised myself.
• 3- The post which generated the most discussion……that would have to be Notes and a Doodle.
• 4- A post on someone else’s blog that you wish you’d written…….Can I pick more than one??? Good, here’s three.
• i. Artsyville’s- A Handwritten Perspective
• ii. Brooke Castillo’s- Live You
• iii. Christine Kane’s- How to stay motivated when you're not feeling it.
• 5- A post with a Title that makes you proud……..Oh, that’s easy it has to be Craving Color or A Bird in his Right Mind
• 6- A post you wish more people had read…….I like Art Inspires, even though it’s not a long post I think I was able to communicate what art means to me pretty openly.
• 7- Your most visited post ever…….Hands down it would have to be my Doodle Directory series of posts. Doodle Directory, Doodle Directory stimulus, Doodle Directory continued, and Doodles upon Doodles. Most fitting I’d say, with that being part of my blog name et al.

I wanted to thank everyone for all their nice comments on my last post about the recent passing of my Father. It really meant a lot to me.

What I need to be creative….1 of 3

I’m breaking this piece up into three segments. Because if you’re anything like me, when you stop in you probably don’t want to read an Essay. Just a few paragraphs is usually the best for my attention span.

What I need to be creative. Or just to create!!

1. FOOD

If you could view my blogger following list you’d see all the places blogs I’d like to visit. Every morning I always stop in and see what Tammy’s up to at Daisy Yellow. Sometime during the day, Janet will update her blog at Just Me and My Art and show us some of her beautiful Art journal pages or talk about an on-line class she’s taking. Throughout the day as the updates occur, I can’t bypass Aimee at Artsyville, or Sue at Sue Doodles. If I’m in need of a more charitable or grateful article, I’ll check out Christine’s blog at christinekane.com.

There are so many more blogs that I stop into on a weekly basis. Such as:

• Artsy-crafty babe
• Attic24
• Cathartic Creativity
• Elvie Studio
• ihanna
• Serena Lewis
• Shutter Sisters
• and recently Artist's Who Blog

These blogs are my food! My main meal! My get the creative juices going from the posts insights, articles, eye candy and quotes. I feel like I know these people, really!!

2. Visual Stimuli

Other than the blogs mentioned above. I need visual stimuli!! And lots of it! Books and Magazines and more Books are my friends. Nothing compares to the Somerset Studios magazines out there. They publish an Art Journaling magazine, Artful Blogging magazine, Somerset Workshop magazine and many, many more. Check out your local bookstore like Barnes and Noble or Borders if you want to see more. When I’m traveling or don’t want to be on-line I always reach for my books or magazines.

And another huge visual stimuli for me is ……

Flickr. I love to go into my Favorites, then click on a member that left a comment, from there I’ll check out their photostream, I can’t leave until I’ve looked at their Favorites, too! It is an amazing people connection. I find things that have been uploaded to flickr years ago. Some pics were not even posted into any groups, which means I never would have come across them. I will go weeks without checking out my “groups” pages for their recent uploads because I’m getting my artsy fix by “Favorites” hopping!

Thanks for stopping by! Please stay tuned for part Two tomorrow.

Eden