Crochet? Anyone?

I learned to knit when I was 5. My grandmother taught me. She said the hardest part about teaching me was that the knitting needles were so long and my hands were so small. Today, there are all sizes of needle lengths for even the smallest of hands. I knitted a few scarfs and afghans, and even learned to crochet while growing up. I haven't done either of these since college. I wish I learned more from my grandmother in this realm. She was the best at all things hand-made. She always inspired me and still does.

I came upon this picture in flickr and then checked out Attic24's blog. I am in love with her afghans. The colors are so beautiful. Bright and bold, just wonderful. It makes me happy just looking at these things!

I'd like to learn how to do "granny squares". Because I could do these on the go. A square here, and there. Also, with the summer months coming they wouldn't be so darn hot to sit under as I crochet. I found a shop here locally that can teach me. Note-to-self: Take crochet lessons this summer.

I want a Mentor

Build, yep, that's what I'm doing. That's what we all are doing! We are
building our lives. No, I really don't have a model or a personal guru
that I can run up to every time I feel stuck and need some help in the
decisions I'm facing. I've got to figure it out for myself. I've got
guidelines (the bible, morals, ethics), but on the day-to-day little
minor things it's pretty much up to me and the little choices I make.

For instance, I'm re-painting my Family Room. It was a light brown. This
room doesn't get much light. It faces South. When the sun is high in the
sky it doesn't really get into the room. I've been calling it THE CAVE.
The paint I've chosen is very light, almost a white. I like how it's
transforming the room. It's got a Beach House feel to it now. I want
it to be PERFECT! But I don't trust myself and my DECORATOR skills to
pull it off. I want someone to copy, someone to come running up and
TELL ME WHAT TO DO.

But I'm going to have to be BRAVE. I'm going to take it a little slow.
I'm going to have to ignore the voices in this house who don't like
change. And trust that the vision for this room will appear. I'm already
getting some ideas, and scrapping some other ones. It's fun!

How do you mentor yourself?

"Maybe being brave is no more than staring down the "less than" feeling and stepping up to the "I am worthy" feeling." -Terri St.Cloud

You Are What You Think

I have started collecting quotes that I love. I have a little 4x6 notebook that
I carry in my bag and when I see a quote that resonates with me I'll jot it down.
This quote is by Dale Carnegie. Wouldn't that have been fun to listen in on one of his talks? I can really get inspired by great speakers, speakers that tap into my self-reliance. My wanting to do more with my life, my self. I love to be around "Yes" people, it's like they give me permission.

What are some of your favorite quotes? Please share!

Mother's Day

I'm so lucky, I've been playing for the last 5 hours! I've finished up my "Doodle Alphabet" inspired by Sue Doodles at www.suedoodles.wordpress.com. I've sat
outside on one of those crisp 70 degree sunny days listening to my Kim Komando podcast as I played with my pitt, sharpie and faber-cast markers. And now my DH is making dinner, my DD is doing the salad and I get to enjoy the company of my DS for a few more hours before he goes back to school.

Yep! Life is Good!

Hope everyone is enjoying their own Special Mother's Day blessings as well!

Flicker Favorites Mosaic

1. in the dead of night, 2. trying to find my way home, 3. Party Dots Closeup, 4. Journal Page in Progress, 5. Journal Page in Progress, 6. hopscotch #2, 7. orange slide, 8. Pieces in Rhythm, 9. bfacetoon21, 10. 52Q: How do I feel today?, 11. Journal for today, 12. Babette-ish crochet cushion, 13. Beware the Grinch!, 14. Fanciful, 15. Easter Birds, 16. circle.doodle

Alphabet Doodles

I came across this blog from Sue Doodles. Isn't she so creative? I love the way she doodles. Being one that was fresh out of ideas but oh so willing to "do something" I was inspired to try my own set of Alphabet doodles. I use really good pens when I can. I have fallen in love with the 0.05 Black Micron pen. It allows me to outline real fine and it doesn't bleed into the paper.

I've uploaded the letters I have so far into Flickr. I've been doodling during my
break at work. I carry my son's old blue pencil case and a clipboard and doodle
for 30 minutes. I found some art paper at Hobby Lobby, but it's not as good as
the paper I bought from the Art Store. The down side of the art store paper is it comes in 24x36 and I have to cut it down to 8x10. The Hobby Lobby paper is already precut. I've noticed that the colors are better with the art store paper. This paper is much more forgiving to erasing pencil marks. The Hobby Lobby paper likes to take up the ink more. It has a bit of a tendency to bleed and absorb the colors and if I've erased, it grips the ink even more.

Ah well, at least I'm staying out of trouble! And having some fun at it too!!

SLOW, Mom's playing

I was wandering around Half-Price books children's section looking for a book that could teach me some fundamentals in drawing. I spotted a sticker book about SIGNS, so I grabbed it. The book is great! It's loaded with simple graphic designs. It was just what I was looking for. I was drawn to the "SLOW, Children playing" sign. Not only because I love the color yellow, but it made me think of my kids and how fast they've gone thru their childhood.

And well, now I'm in my second childhood!! LOL!! I feel like I'm a kid again, because I'm letting myself doodle, and play with paint and just indulge myself. Because now, I have some time. I think the hardest part for me is to just play with markers and paints. To allow myself to experiment with color and shape and to let it show that I'm a novice. It's so relaxing.

What are you doing that you haven't done since you were a kid?

Mandela and.....

I stumbled upon ihanna's blog and they were talking about Mandala's. Wow, lots of pretty mandala's out there. So, being the adventurous type I thought I'd give it a try. I think it's best if I limit myself to using no more that 4 colors. Because being a color-freak, I get very carried away and it's like mixing paint, if I use too many it'll start to look muddy.

Journal Quote (Norman Vincent Peale)
Believe in Yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy....Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture... DO NOT BUILD UP OBSTACLES in your imagination...Do not be awestruck by other people and try to copy them. Nobody can be You as efficiently as you can. Remind yourself that God is with you and nothing can defeat him.

Yes! The Weekend

I'd like to tell you this is where I'll be this weekend! I'd love to be going to the beach for Spring Break. I have big plans for my Beach Weeks! I'm usually lucky if I get half of what I set out to do accomplished! But what really matters does get accomplished. I come back refreshed, relaxed, a little tanner. Our family has a couple more stories from events. I find there is no place I'd rather go on vacation than a quiet beach. I get to dream here! I get to indulge myself here! I get to challenge myself as well!

But, this isn't where I'll be this weekend......
However, only in TWENTY short weeks, this is EXACTLY where I will be!

Have a great weekend everyone!

What are your TRUE COLORS?

I'm always such a sucker for the quickie quizzes that analyze personalities.
Because I truly believe that the hardest person to live with is the one in the
mirror. I think we can be our bestest friend or our worstest enemy. So, if I
stumble upon a little quiz that takes only a few minutes, I find I always have
the time.

Below is the analysis of my personality, just by answering about 20 word
choices. Here's the LINK. See what it says about you!

Your rainbow is shaded green.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is says about you: You are an intelligent person. You feel strong ties to nature and your mood changes with its cycles. Those around you admire your fresh outlook and vitality.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

These 2 feet

We had this picture sitting around and I was looking for something to do. So, I gridded it up and made a separate larger grid on my art paper.

I drew the outlines of the feet. I was awfully glad I had the squares to keep me in line. Hahaha. Then I traced the pencil lines with permanent marker. Erased the pencil grid and just started playing.


I used some markers and watercolor paints in the background. The paints give it a much more interesting look. They also can be marked over, whereas where I used marker in a colored section the paper tends to hold onto the marker color more. Doesn't lend itself to layering as easily.


I don't know if this is done yet. I'm fighting an urge to doodle all over the place here. I am finding I love using the black/white box strips. It's something that I enjoy doing and it tends to add a lot of POP to the drawing.

I came across this article by Anahata Katkin called "A grain of Salt" where she talks about "art journaling" and the way you use symbols I thought it was so interesting. She gives us permission to use and reuse any elements that we like in our art journals. Here's the Link, it's a really good read and gets my creative juices going. I think this can be applied to many other areas (digital scrapbooking, writing) too.

Unwavering Hope

Unwavering Hope
Originally uploaded by jenlemen

This lady Jenlemen has got some really fun art. I came upon her
thru Kelly Rae's
blog. I love the colors and the simplicity of these.
Just wanted to share.

Post-its

I received a free sample of this Sticky Picture Paper from Post-it awhile back......I wasn't sure what I'd do with it but hey, "it's free" right? Who can pass up free? So, today I created the "Create Everyday" sign with Erica Hite's Creative Spirit Collection from this month's Scrapgirls Club. See collection HERE

I printed it out on the Post-it paper and put it in my new Journal. Isn't it cute?

However, I'm a little disappointed that when it printed it left a white band on one side( see the right side). So, I'll have to play with this next time I go to print something on this paper. I think I'll have to resize to 3x5 then print it on the 4x6paper.

Self Portrait Two

I tried another Self-portrait while waiting for "dear daughter" to get out of school. Done thru the rear-view mirror. I was thinking I'd do a series of these. It would be fun to see how my face changes? In this one I look like I have the full "Angelina Jolie" lips! Yeah wouldn't that be nice! I'd probably rather have another physical characteristic from her other than her lips!


Self Portrait One

Make your own Camera Strap

For a really thorough tutorial, you've got to check out this site from "made by petchy"...Here


1- Gather your fabric. You don't need much.

2- Make a pattern from newspaper. Outline your strap, then do another line about .5 inch out from the first. Trust me it's better to cut more fabric then less.

3- Turn your edges in and sew.

4- Put the strap slipcover on your camera strap, reattach the strap to the camera body.

5- VOILA- you're new camera strap. That can be changed according to your mood. I made two. It can be cleaned if it gets dirty.

Art Journal Zentangle

This started out as an Art Journal page with some affirmations and some quotes. I like to use Red and Green together. They are complimentary on the color wheel.

Do you Zentangle?

Here is my attempt at a Zentangle! This is incredibly relaxing and it really helps me keep my hand steady for the finer lines. The only Fine point Sharpie I had on hand was a purple one. I tried this in another medium, it was an Art Journal page. I'll scan and post next. I find it's important to use a pen you like that really grips the paper. Possibly a color that inspires you. Remember, it doesn't have to be done in all one color. It is alot of fun! Give it try next time you find yourself with some extra time. You may really surprise yourself!!

To find out more about Zentangle, click
Here

Rubik's Cube

I was in college when these came out in the early 80's and they frustrated me then but not as much as they frustrate me NOW! My 20 yr old college student son wanted one of these. So while in Chicago we ran into a Walgreens on Thanksgiving day. When we returned home he played around with it some then turned to me and said, "Mom would you like to time me to see how fast I can complete this"......Sure I said........I hit my watch and kind of ignored him figuring that I'd watch the last part in about 10 minutes.......2 minutes 16 seconds later, he handed it to me and said "DONE".....

Ugh! I then tried for about 5 minutes and couldn't even get one side. He gave me a few pointers but I so lack patience for this. I gave up 5 minutes later! My mind is not wired for this, at all!

But what a hoot that his mind is!

When was the last time you bought a CD?

I am really not sure when I've bought a CD last. I think it was around 2003.
I am LOVING, let me repeat LOVING the way I can get music now! How I wish I had an ipod when I was in high school. I can get any song I want for .99 cents, I can find the artist and the song title in minutes. Downloaded and listening to my new tune within, what? Five minutes? Three??? Not only did I never know who sang the song I wanted back in high school or what the title of the song was. The ultimate embarassment would be when I had to "perform", you know sing a few lines, hum a tune, give them a clue!! Since I can't carry a tune, my friends would laugh and then they'd take over and sing it to the helpful attendant. Then of course, I'd have to fork over $8-12 bucks for the entire CD, and I usually just listened to the one song. As I got a little older I started listening to the entire CD. Then I found out that there were other songs on the CD that I became more fond of than the one I bought it for. Amazing!!

But all that has ended now! Cuz, I'm downloadin' and backing up!
Yep, this is the life!

Yeah.....I think I'll keep my day job!

Came across this site and I was fascinated with the concept of drawing a self-portrait. I wanted to try it, to really s-t-r-e-t-c-h my artistic/creative muscles. Well, as you can see, it really needs more stretching. This was really fun. I only had 15 minutes while waiting for my daughter to get out of school and I was armed with 2 fine-point Sharpies in purple and red. I was lucky I had my sketch pad with me and this is what I got. Looking thru the rearview mirror. I also, took a picture for comparisons sake, but dummy me, I deleted it by accident. Oh well, I'll have to try this experiment again.