WOYWW and Salvation Army Finds

And so another Wednesday is at hand and I still haven't appreciably cleaned up my art space. I do want to participate in WOYWW, so I just got the camera and took a photo without tidying first.

As you can see, the fan that probably won't be needed until late April is still there and the space is still not ready for my next watercolor attempt. Perhaps later today I will get to it.

Yesterday my daughter and I went to the Salvation Army store in Howell to shop. On the way we stopped at Aunt Jan's for coffee. It was a very nice visit, but Jan had an art class in the early afternoon, so we didn't stay long. I didn't get photos of the things my daughter found - a couple of shirts and a handbag - but I did take photos of my finds. I was lucky enough to find a pair of snowpants for each of the smallest grandgirls and you should know that these items might be the most important things for Nana to have on hand in the winter in southern Michigan. The girls love to go outside in the snow and these are a must. Children's items were 20% off.

Snowpants - they should fit Miss Z and Miss M.

I also found a pair of shoes for myself. They still have the tag on them and they fit perfectly.

They were tagged $22, but I got them for $5.99.

This morning I've been playing with still life arrangements and must admit I am not at all sure which, if any, I will attempt to first sketch and then paint. How about throwing in your two cents - which of these do you think is the best candidate, or is there some arrangement of these things that would be more eye catching? Then I am looking at the first photo in this post and seeing the pitcher with the brushes in it - see it on the left back of the table? Maybe that would be a good addition/replacement in one of these.

I have my personal training class this afternoon and am looking forward to it. Other than that I don't have a plan, except the hubster just said it was supposed to get to 70º today, so I am thinking something out of doors. What about you? What do you have planned for the day? Does it involve artistic pursuits? Are you willing to share? Do you have a blog that you'd like to give me a link to so I can see what you are up to? 

xoxo

WOYWW

I didn't get much art done since the last time I "talked" to you, but I did have a nice evening with my daughter and her girls. We had hot cider and donut holes for a snack and then baths and bedtime for the girls. Dana and I watched "Salt" that she had borrowed from the library. Unbelievable, but a good watch. I slept better than I have the last couple of times I stayed and the morning was a pretty good one.


I have decided that I have to be more honest about my work space. The last time I participated in What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, I only showed a close up of a fairly uncluttered space, but today I decided to be more honest. Maybe it will help me to overcome the procrastination and do a bit of picking up and rearranging in here. I have three four separate work spaces in my art room and will share each one with you today. I was really tempted to tidy them up before snapping the pix, but as you can see, I didn't.

My computer station built into bookshelves by the hubster.

My mixed media/art journal/stamping space.

My watercolor space. I think the fan can be put away for a few months.

This is my drafting table the hubster built for me. It needs a serious clean up and the stool needs to be cleared off before I can sit here.

The volunteer stint at the library used book store went fairly well, but was a very long four hours. I was the best customer of the day. For $2 I got a handful of large print books for my Mom, a book about the crusades for the hubster and several books and a couple of magazines for myself.

Today I have a haircut and then am driving to Brighton to the Livingston County Library book sale with my sister-in-law and am spending the night at her house. I am expecting to have a great time as I always do when I spend time with her. She is a multifaceted, multi-talented artist who always has something fascinating to share with me. I may even get some sketching and/or painting done while I am there.

What about you? What are you planning for the day? Does it include creative time? 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