WoodBurning, Sketching, Baby Shower and More

The hubster has been playing with wood burning for about a week and is getting quite good at it. I love the smell of the burnt wood when he brings it in to show me. I want to try to paint some of them so he made me a practice piece. I have put a layer of Acrylic Glazing Liquid on it (I don't have any GAC 100) which I think will act like a primer. Once I get a second layer on it and allow it to dry I am going to try using acrylic paint to see how it looks in color.

They don't really need paint, but I thought it might be fun to try it. Here is the one he brought in yesterday.

I am so jealous. I want to try to transfer one of my original sketches to wood and burn it to see how I like it. And perhaps I will. Stay tuned.

For now I just attempted a quick sketch of this scene.

It would appear I still need to work on perspective and relative sizes.

We had a very busy weekend. The hubster's sister came over on Saturday morning and she and I went to the baby shower. This may have been the best baby shower I've ever attended. Her family were the hostesses and her aunt's house had a huge kitchen/dining area with a long rectangular table that seated about 16 people quite well and there was a large island in the kitchen that seated the overflow. Her family is warm and friendly and I felt sincerely welcome.

There were about 30 adults and 6 or 7 little girls and except for a few minor skirmishes (among the little girls, of course) it was a lovely, peaceful afternoon. My daughter and her two little girls were there and my son's little girl was there and another sister-in-law was there. She drove over from Ann Arbor and it was lovely to see her. The mother received oodles of lovely gifts and looks exceptionally cute at 8+ months pregnant. 

Afterward, we went back to my house where the hubster made dinner while his sister and I played on the computer and visited. She brought her laptop with her so I could do some troubleshooting for her. We had a lovely evening visiting and watching tennis.

On Sunday morning, the hubster made coffee and breakfast and then after his sister left for home, I took Miss 8 and Miss 7 1/2 out for lunch. We had a lovely time. The girls colored pictures while waiting for their food and when we told the waitress that we were celebrating Miss 8's birthday, she brought out a large piece of chocolate cake with three spoons. I can't have cake so the little girls worked on it a bit. 

After doing a transfer of girls to my son I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some odds and ends and then made a quick stop at my daughter's house for a little bit more holding and hugging of Little Miss 3. She felt a bit left out when she didn't get to go out to lunch with the big girls.

When I got home I was really tired so I took a nap on the couch while the hubster was watching a football game. I found that a football game is practically as good as a baseball game for taking a nap. The hubster made dinner - brown rice with black beans and fried eggs over top - yummy!! I was supposed to do dishes, but got interested in the tennis matches so they are still in the sink even as I type this. I am going to have do the dishes before I go to my friend's house this morning for our book binding learning/teaching get together.

I am getting ready for the day packing up some book binding supplies and eagerly looking forward to this. Nancy and I always have a great time when we get together and there is bound (pun intended) to be a great deal of laughter as well as some really nice books being made today. I will share with you tomorrow.

For now, I'd better get the dishes done and have a bite of breakfast before showering and packing the car for my day's adventure.

I hope to see you tomorrow.......

xoxo

Housecleaning and Blind Contour Friday

My sister-in-law (who truly feels more like an actual sister) is coming tomorrow to go to the baby shower (my newest grandgirl is due in late February) and is staying overnight so the hubster and I are doing a good house cleaning. I don't have overnight company much, but it is a great incentive to finally do all the cleaning.

I am mostly done, just waiting to dust after everything settles from vacuuming. I took this opportunity to come into my work room and do a blind contour. I tried this time to do it without lifting my pen, but it looks like I did lift it to do the feet. I am going to try to get to the point where I don't lift my pen at all. The sketch next to it is somewhat of a blind sketch. I can't see the bear across the table with my glasses on and I can't see my sketchbook in front of me without my glasses. I did this without my glasses on and it was a bit difficult.

I hear the dryer blatting (I may have made up that word) and the kitchen floor is dry by now, so I need to get out and help the hubster put the table and chairs back and then I can finish the vacuuming.

I wonder what is for breakfast??

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I will try to have some wonderful new things to show you on Monday.

xoxo