Hummingbird Stamp and Mail Art

I found a hummingbird image in one of the books in the little girls' room and decided I really needed a hummingbird stamp. I must admit there is something very soothing about carving, even when I make mistakes. I also tried my hand at a dead tree to use in my mail art with a Fall theme.

And I got the postcards ready to mail, but because I am leaving early this morning to go north and the deadline for mailing them is actually mid-December, I will wait to post them until I return early next week. I will drive into Leslie to mail them as the ladies there really appreciate seeing the arty things I send.

I used a filter to obliterate the addy.

I had a wonderful workout in my personal training session yesterday afternoon and shortly after I got home Miss Z came for the night and then my daughter and her two girls came for a late dinner. It was wonderful to have the three girls here together. The baby really loves her two bigger cousins and they all had a great time.

I've had a shower this morning, but need to go blow dry my hair and get packed while Miss Z is still sleeping. Then I will have a quick bite and play with her for a bit before I head out. I am taking my camera with me and my iPad, so if I get a chance I will post from the road.

What are you up to today? Does it include travel? art? baking? Do share.....

xoxo

Cat and Leaf Stamps and Mail Art

I didn't go to my conditioning class yesterday morning as I couldn't seem to quit sneezing and blowing my nose. We share bands and balls and I just didn't think it would be right to be spreading all those germs. I did practice balancing on my ball. I am getting better, but am not ready for the photographer yet.


I did spend a bit of time carving in the afternoon when I felt that I was going to have to have a nap. I didn't want to go to sleep because I needed to get to the post office and I had a Friends of the Library meeting in the afternoon. The post office and the Henrietta Branch of the library are very near each other. This time I carved a folk arty cat and a whimsical leaf. I am beginning to think I am addicted to this carving. I have so much pleasure making them. I do believe it is time to try another face.

I think I mentioned that I was participating in a postcard swap whose focus was hand carved stamps. I received my first one yesterday and is it beautiful! And such a large stamp. Isn't this gorgeous? It is from Donna Barnitz and I feel quite special to have such a treasure arrive at my door.

Today I am going back to the Salvation Army in Howell, but this time I am taking my daughter with me. It is so much fun to spend a day with her. She is much better at looking for treasures, especially of the clothing variety. She is looking for work clothes and I am looking for fall tops. We will have lunch out and come back when we want to. Neither of us has any obligations today. What fun!

The Tigers are on this evening, so I will be spending some time in front of the TV, but watching baseball is such that I could be working on some art at the same time, just not something messy. Maybe I will begin my value study of the Van Gogh flowers that I've been assigned.

What about you? What are you doing today? Does it include a bit of creativity? Do share...

xoxo

Watercolor Part II, Hand Carved Stamps, and Artistic License

I showed you a very insipid watercolor the other day and had already assigned it to the pile that will either have its backside used for a retry or will be cut up into smaller sized art projects. Then the lovely and talented Martha Lever left a comment saying it wasn't a bad beginning, it just wasn't finished, and that the addition of some darks would surely rescue it. I decided to follow her advice and have added some darks and put it in a digital frame and I think it isn't all that bad. Thank you, Martha,

I spent most of the last two days with the lovely, but naughty, Miss Z. She is such a delight, but is such a whirling dervish that she keeps me hopping all the time. She is talking up a storm and is so much fun to have a conversation with. She keeps me in stitches. She is definitely not a baby anymore. This photo is when she is fresh out of the bath and I've put her hair up into a high ponytail. Her hair is quite blond, but looks darker when wet.

On Friday afternoon before she arrived I tried my hand at carving a word stamp - much more difficult than a picture. I think maybe I need to make the letters wider or something.

And then after Miss Z went home yesterday and the Tiger game ended (a real nail biter, but they finally won in a walk-off Don Kelly sac fly), I spent a bit more time in my art room and carved a sailboat, some birch trees, and a fish.

And perhaps the most exciting news is that I received my Artistic License in Saturday's mail. I received it from Brenda Swenson after completing the 75 Day Sketch Challenge and it is gorgeous. When I sent her my information, I included a self-portrait sketch as my official photo. Here is what it looks like. Here is the license and the lovely card it was sent in

I used the spatter brush on my addy to keep just a bit of privacy.

If, for some reason, you don't know Brenda Swenson, you really should check her out. She is a fabulously talented watercolorist, with a couple of books and articles in many publications. She teaches both in the USA and abroad. I'd love to be able to spend some time in a class of hers.

Today is Columbus Day, so I don't think mail will be delivered, and I believe the banks will be closed as well. The hubster was planning a trip into town that included a stop at the bank so he will have to rethink that one. As for me, I am planning on attending my conditioning class this morning and then will check to see if I can do my personal training this afternoon and Friday instead of my usual Wednesday and Friday. This week is shaping up to be extremely busy. Tomorrow I have a volunteer stint at the downtown branch of the library and then am spending the night at my daughter's in order to get her girls on the bus on Wednesday morning. She has to be to work at 6 am. On Wednesday I have a haircut and then am driving to Brighton to spend some time with my lovely sister-in-law and am spending the night. On Thursday I have the dentist for a routine cleaning.  I think at this point I only have my personal training session on Friday. My weeks are usually quite a bit more open than this, so this feels very full. I will have to find some "me and my art" time in there, too.

What about you? How is your week shaping up? Are you finding time for creativity? cooking? painting? making cards? playing in your art journal? Do share...

xoxo

Homemade Soup, Hand Carved Book Stamp, and WOYWW

So, I must admit it took longer than 15 minutes to make my Beef Mushroom Barley Soup yesterday, but I did get a lot of preparation done in the first 15 minutes and then momentum just took over. And, it was delish!! I decided on this kind because my daughter told me that it was her new favorite the last time I made it, and since I was spending the night last night, I took her a bowl to take to work for lunch today.

She rented the movie, It's Complicated, with Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin - laugh out loud funny. I didn't sleep very well. It is much lighter at her house in town than at my house in the middle of nowhere, but the morning went surprisingly well - until the bitter end. Little Miss M was in good spirits eating breakfast, getting dressed, hair brushed, teeth brushed, and then decided she didn't want to go. This time there were no tears and I put her on the bus with her older sister and I am now home with a big mug of coffee.

Yesterday afternoon while the soup cooked and after sharing coffee with the hubster in the swings in the yard, I made another stamp. It is a book. I was prompted to try this because the Illustration Friday topic is Book. I really like how it turned out. This two page spread will be finished some day with several more layers over these stamped images.

I had a wonderful phone call yesterday afternoon from a woman in Maine who wanted to order a couple of my handmade books for doing Zentangles. She originally called about just one of them, but at $20 each, she decided maybe she would get two. I agreed to sell her two for $35. I'm afraid my stock is quickly dwindling and it may be time for me to make more. I miss making them and have lots of supplies. Now if I can just make room to work on them. I thought you might see my dilemma about space to work on books if I showed you my worktable this Wednesday. So for WOYWW, I submit the following.

I did go to yoga yesterday morning and was glad afterward that I did. I am not going to the conditioning class this morning as I have my hour of personal training this afternoon. I call it personal training even though there are usually 4 or 5 of us there. I get a really good workout and much of it is personalized to my fitness level.

What are you up to today? Does it include time to play in your art space? If so, do share....

xoxo

Healing and More Hand Carved Stamps

I am not quite as bruised this morning, but am planning to stay home from yoga class again today. I am going to find out about a beginner class that may be offered after the one I've been going to that I think is a bit too advanced for me.


I spent a bit of time at my daughter's house yesterday and successfully got her wireless hooked up. I had taken my iPad with me, so I was able to use the wireless and I downloaded some beginner yoga videos and watched a couple of journaling videos - one of Inspiration Wednesday by Donna Downey and one about layers with Jellibellie. They were great!


After I got home, I carved a couple more stamps - actually I did three. A pear and a couple of Fall themed foliage stamps. Here is the pear in its positive and then negative carving. I thought that I wanted it to be a positive image - the one at the top, but then decided I wanted to be able to color it in, so I removed the inside portion to just get an outline.

And then I stamped it on the page in progress that I'd adhered to the pages.

And then I used Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayons to color the pear in. Now I'm really loving it!

And then I decided I wanted a sunflower stamp, but when I looked outside for inspiration, I saw some beyond their prime and decided I'd rather have the weedy look. So I carved two different ones and I really like them both.

I used different colors of ink to give them different looks.

Here is my Fall page in progress. I don't think it is done yet, but I like it so far.

Yesterday I got an email from Beth Berman which included a link to her blog, Sew Sew Art, where I found a tutorial for making a stamp using a photo. Needless to say, I followed that link and today I am going to try my hand at doing just that. Thanks so much Beth!

So my day will include carving stamps and making the fabulous beans to take to the pot luck tomorrow and who knows what else??!! What about you? What do you have planned for the day? Does it include cooking? art? Do tell.....

xoxo

List It Tuesday and Hand Carved Stamps

Aimee over at Artsyville has a link up for List It Tuesday and today's list is to be goals. So without further ado, I will enumerate a few of mine.

1. Get the beans made for the Friday pot luck at the local branch of the library.

2. Get outdoors and walk each day.

3. Keep going to fitness class and yoga.

4. Eat less.

5. Be thankful - for my health, my family, my friends.

6. Get my art room organized.

7. Play with watercolor at least once a week.

8. Do more sketching out of doors.


I am sure there are many more things I should be working on, but as I'm just out of bed, that will have to do.


A specific thing I have to do is get some special baked beans made for the library pot luck this Friday. I need to get out the recipe and get any missing ingredients tomorrow so I can make them on Thursday. This evening I am going to my daughter's house to spend the night so I can get the girls on the bus on Wednesday morning. I am hopeful to have a more patient, less tearful experience this time. I think she should have received her modem/router so I can hook that up for her so she will finally have wireless. I gave Miss P an old MacBook to use, so once the wireless is set up I will get her computer ready for her to use.


Yesterday I spent some time in the art room playing with stamping again. I made a swan and a zebra. I rather like them both. I'm not sure why the swan printed out with polka dots - perhaps it is a fashion statement.

And then I began a two page spread using them as well as an umbrella and some grasses to start. The left hand page needs some color, but so far, so good.

Just got off the phone with my daughter; she doesn't need me overnight for the morning after all, so I guess I am going to have revamp my day. Maybe I will find time to begin a watercolor painting today. But first, I have my yoga class at 9:30 so I'd best get around a bit.

What about you? What are you up to today? Does it include time for yourself? Will you be doing some art? Do share....

xoxo