ATCs & Peeling Paint

This week's challenge at Artygirlz is to make an atc. I'm sharing three. These two are watercolor/wc pencils, pencil, and ultra fine black sharpie on wc paper in a Moleskine wc pocket book. They are some of my doodle drawings painted.

I am late with the Inspire Me Thursday challenge for last week, which is peeling paint. Below are two inchies and an atc, which have the peeling paint technique applied to them in acrylics. The atc has four layers of paint, which was very bright, so I stamped on a piece of rice paper and glued on top to tone it down. The words are written in a fine black sharpie.

The inchies are done in copper and blue, then coated with acrylic medium, which is making them look kind of milky looking. They also have copper glitter embedded in the medium. They are backgrounds ready for something to be added. All are laying on a postcard sized piece of acrylic coated wc paper.

Close up of ATC

I missed participating in both challenges for a week or two. It's good to back back. Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoy. 8:)

Creative Every Day Challenge

I'm still playing and experimenting and having a blast doing it!

This is one of the journal pages I did this week. It's a watercolor sketch in my Moleskine sketchbook.

I didn't know you could hear butterflies, but you can. I was sitting outside last summer watching Jim do something and it was very quiet. All of a sudden a large yellow/black butterfly flew right over my shoulder next to my right ear. It was a very soft, fast thumping sound. I was so thrilled to have heard one. (It doesn't take a lot to amuse me, does it? :))

I also took some photos of Sammidog in his woolly lined coat that mama got him for Christmas. It was freezing out, but he didn't like the coat at all. It was a little snug since he's fattened up some. (See the cat in the background looking at him like he's stupid?) It wasn't long before the coat was laying in the yard and he was back in his house snuggled up. I managed to get a couple of pictures though. Here's one. Watch for more on my other blog.

Also, I continue to do my doodle sketches, at least one, every day and I did some sketching at night while watching TV, plus I finished the last assignment for a two year course on writing a novel this week. And I re-styled my hair, using actual hair curlers, which I hadn't used in years.

Sammiedog and I had to walk to check on the cows Saturday, because the four wheeler wouldn't start. That was a creative/playful experience in itself. It was very cold and quiet, but we enjoyed the walk immensely. You can see, hear, and experience so much more walking than you can over the roar of an atv. We could hear the birds, and the ground crunching under our feet. The ponds had a lot of ice on them, which was beautiful in the sunlight. We found a new baby calf curled up near a bush with his mama close by. My mind was whirling with images by the time we got back to the house and Sammidog had a blast running all over the fields.

Wish I had carried my camera with me, but I didn't. Would love to have shared it with you in pictures.

Below is a double page I did in my Moleskine sketchbook, which has cream colored pages, this morning. I used paint instead of my pencil to do my doodle sketch for a change. I haven't decided yet whether to draw the images out or collage and write something over it. It'll come to me, hopefully while I'm clearing some of the dust out of the house. :)

These pages were made using crimson and yellow ochre pan watercolors. I used a little too much water and one of the pages buckled a little, but it will straighten out. I used a hake brush to swipe the two colors all over the pages, let them settle a little, then dripped clear water around on them, let it settle some, then spattered red, then ochre, all over. Then, because I had used too much water and it was standing on the pages, I tilted the book and let it run. Finally, I used a blow dryer to blow it around and help it dry. This is what I wound up with.

I can see all sorts of images living together in there. Can you? :)

Anyway, these are some of the creative things I've been up to this week. Hope you enjoy. Wish I had more pictures to show you. Maybe next time. :)

Thanks for visiting and Have a wonderful, magical, creative week!

Playing and Rambling

This is another double page in my Moleskine sketchbook. It's a quirky sketch in watercolor, and the angel's wings are actually a water-based metallic copper, which looks cool in reality, but didn't show up so well in the photo. The words are original and digitally added. I am going to do some journaling around the words later.

Lately I'm doing a lot of experimenting and just PLAYing. I'm learning so much by doing that, besides having so much fun it's unreal. :)

I'm also working on the last assignment for a novel writing course that I should have finished months ago. It's the business part of the course and I hate that, so I've procrastinated. I have part of it done. Now I have to write a synopsis. I thought I would do that first thing this morning, but I got sidetracked. Another form of procrastination for me. :)

It's very cold today and supposed to be even colder tonight, like about 2 degrees. I noticed a cow acting like she was thinking about giving birth yesterday. I hope she waits until it warms up a little. I feel so sorry for outside animals in really cold or really hot weather.

They caught the prisoner. He was a white middle-aged male and was in prison for burglary. He escaped Friday night and got lost in the woods. They captured the woman who was waiting in the car before he got to her. They didn't catch him until Sunday night, so he was out all weekend in freezing, pouring down rain, with nothing to eat, huddling in out buildings. They transferred him to another prison. He didn't have long left to serve. A lot of times they escape so they can stay in prison. So far, nobody on the outside has been hurt when they escape, but there's always a chance that they will get cornered and hurt or kill somebody. Anyway, it ended well this time.

Have a blessed day!

3 Challenges in 1 + A Prison Escape

This double journal page is my entry for 3 challenges this week. Arty Girlz' challenge is "anything but a card". Inspire Me Thursday's challenge is "fuse". So I'm sharing journal pages, on which I'm "fusing" my art and writing together. I plan to write a little story around the words on the page to go with the picture, which I will then share on my writing blog Scribbles From Rabbit Hop. It's also one of the four double journal pages I've done this week for the Creative Every Day 2009 challenge.

It's a quirky journal sketch in my Moleskine sketchbook, done in ultra fine black sharpie, wc/pencils, and a touch of white gouashe. I was going for a dreamy feel. The letters were added digitally.

I wish the colors were better. The lady's hat is really purple. I couldn't get it adjusted. Maybe the colors don't look too garish on your pc. I promise it looks better in reality. I have to find a better place to make my photos. My dining room light is flourescent with a yellow cast and my walls are kind of a paprika color. Not too good for art pictures. :)

It's pouring rain here, and they called me early this morning that they've had a prison escape. They've never done that before. They usually catch them pretty quick, and often a female guard has helped them escape. The prison is about four miles from us and it houses murderers, rapists, etc. They didn't say which direction they thought he/they went.

Hubby left Wed. and I haven't checked the cows since then, so I really need to do so today, which is a little scary, since I have to ride through woods and fields. Maybe they will catch him/them pronto. Maybe I'll just stay in with the doors locked. This is another one of those times when the Be Brave challenge applies (see button on side for link). Makes me glad Sammidog adopted us, although he'd come nearer loving them to death than attacking. He's still mostly pup. Like I said, not too many dull moments around here. :)

Hope my sleepflyer makes you smile. Have a great, creative weekend!

Cleaning Poem by unknown poet

I got this little poem from my cousin's wife this morning, and it made me smile, so I thought I'd share it with you. I could totally identify. :)

Cleaning Poem
by unknown

I asked the Lord to tell me
Why my house is such a mess.
He asked if I'd been 'computering',
And I had to answer 'yes.'

He told me to get off my fanny
And tidy up the house.
And so I started cleaning up...
The smudges off my mouse.

I wiped and shined the topside.
That really did the trick....
I was just admiring my work...

I didn't mean to 'click.'

But click, I did, and oops I found
A real absorbing site.
That I got SO way into.
I was into it all night. <>

Nothing's changed except my mouse
It's very, very shiny.
I guess my house will stay a mess....
While I sit here on my hiney.


I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Best Wishes for 2009

Elephants and Playing

The Inspire Me Thursday challenge this week is elephant, so I'm sharing a small watercolor painting that I did. It came out of one of my quirky doodle sketches. I was "playing" with colors intuitively. Playing also ties in with the creative every day theme for January.


The little guy below was half of a salt/pepper set. He was in a box of "stuff" that my dad bought at an auction. I confiscated him to give to a friend who collects elephants, but he didn't want to leave my house, so I had to find her another elephant at a flea market, which she seemed to like.

He's been sitting on the window sill over my kitchen sink for years now. The cork stopper is gone and he has 10 cents marked in black on the bottom. Somehow or other his toes have gotten chipped off since he's been here. There's just something about him that endears him to me. What can I say?
I've gotten off to a slow start creatively so far this year, but I'll eventually get back on track. So far I've written a page in my 14 x 17 sketchbook and collaged another page, played with the mp3 player that Santa brought me, designed a new banner for this blog, taken some pictures, and done quite a bit of creative thinking.

I'm thinking that I'm going to have to clean off my work area (see previous post...only it looks worse now) before I can get much done though. Things are piled up so high that they're beginning to slide off. I bought some of the large red storage envelopes from Dick Blick to hold my drawings, paper paintings, etc. I just haven't put them to use yet.

I didn't make any resolutions this year. I make the same ones every year and I never do them, so I didn't bother this time. I am making a list of goals that I would like to achieve creatively though, even though Jim is retiring in Feb, and our lives will change drastically again. We'll see how it goes. :)

Bobbie Tail & Nacho Say...

For some reason I couldn't get the writing on the picture to go any bigger, no matter which font I used. Sorry! It says, "Happy Mooooooo Year From Rabbit Hop."

Wishing you all the best year ever.