Thinking, Painting, Laundry

I've been staring at this wood slice for several weeks now. I love the interesting shape! Nothing seems good enough to paint on it. I've considered a giraffe, a lion, a hedgehog, and a deer. All would be cute, but would they be just the perfect thing? Currently I have a nice coat of beige paint on for the background. Hopefully inspiration will strike soon!

  

In other news, Maura has been helping with the laundry lately. As you can see, lots of work is (not) getting done!

 

 

A Flock of Fancy Flies

I've spent the last few days skipping around my studio painting butterfly wings. I'm making a whole flock of them, I mean a gaggle, ummm a herd? Does anybody know what a large group of butterflies is called?

The River Critters Visit Tangents

I've really been putting my paintbrushes to work lately to get a jump start on the holiday season. I'm planning a little bit of a crossover from Watercolor Submarine into Tangents. My River Critters are making a guest appearance on some salvaged wood home decor. Here is a sneak preview of the action:

Find Your Voice Week Two

This week's Find Your Voice lesson is all about finding out who you are and how you tell stories. I've had a great time filling out the worksheet and responding to the writing prompt (which I won't currently share here, because my memoirs are as of yet unfinished - you'll have to wait for an official publication date - possibly 2078, I'll be senile enough then to spill my guts to the general public.)

I decided to use the photo prompt for my blog. A few other FYV participants made a "day in the life" photo montage for last week's prompt. It looked like fun, so I decided to do the same today. I'm kind of forgetful, though, so when I didn't remember to take a picture, I supplemented with drawings. You'll just have to take my word for it that these things really happened!


The first thing I did this morning was wake up. Then I made the arduous walk to my bathroom (almost ten feet down the hall from my bedroom.) When I looked in the mirror, I saw something like this:

 

Let's be honest, pixie cuts never look good right when you roll out of bed in the morning. But on this particular morning, my hair was an absolute monstrosity. I did my best to tame it, but it was still a little iffy when I left for work.

When I got to work, I completed various boring (but vital) office tasks. When I was finished, I did a little victory dance and then went upstairs to my studio to work on art - hooray! I did a little survey on my Facebook page yesterday, which led me to believe that turtles are more beloved than butterflies and foxes. This revelation led me to continue working on turtle themed items, which is awesome, because turtles are my number one favorite animal. Here's some of the "craftermath" of my creations:

I love being able to make use of photos I took while at the zoo - in the next picture you can get a little insight into how my photos help me:

I also spent a little time giggling at my newest variety of toilet labeling home decor. Yes, I think this kind of thing is hilarious, and I'm definitely making one of these toilet signs for my own favorite chair :)

Before I knew it, my tummy was telling me it was time for lunch! So I hopped in my tiny green car and drove home. On the way there, I noticed an extra large falcon (or hawk? I'm no bird expert, but he was big - with talons!) As I drove past, he quickly turned his head and gave me the evil eye. I think he probably then whispered something like, "I'm going to poop on your car later." But it was hard to tell from so far away. Of course, I didn't get a picture of this one, but I think I captured the spooky creature's essence in this drawing:

When I got home, my tummy was happy to find out that we had leftovers from last night's supper: Falafel and Greek salad. This is one of my favorite meals, but I don't make it often. I absolutely hate deep frying things. It's not that I don't LOVE the way deep fried food tastes, it just makes my kitchen feel like the back room of a fast food restaurant.

After lunch, I drove back to the shop on the usual gravel roads. I was a city girl for over 90% of my life, so driving on these sub-par roadways still scares me every time. For an example of how I feel when I drive on gravel, just view the drawing below. For me, it's like driving on the edge of a steep drop off that's riddled with sharp rocks, and the drop off goes into the ocean, and the ocean is filled with ravenous sharks. It's dramatic, I know, but it's how I feel...

Once I returned safely to the shop, I spent a little time cleaning up the greenhouse. I swear I've swept it a gazillion times, but no matter what I do the dust just seems to keep materializing and ruining everything!

Well, I'm not sure what else will happen today, because I can't predict the future (thankfully), but this is my "bloggin' time", so I can't wait around to find out. I suppose I'll just have to take a guess at what the rest of the day will be like. Hopefully my guess is accurate, because that. would. be. awesome.

My guess for the rest of today's events:

If you think Find Your Voice looks like fun - it's not too late to join! Check it out:

Woodland "Home" Project Report 1

I love collecting unwanted items and giving them new life, as do many people who are involved in the "repurposing", "upcycling", etc. world of crafting. Sometimes, however, I collect things without knowing what I'm going to do with them, and I have to contend with the haters who tell me that I'm collecting junk. It's not junk - it's art supplies!

One example of my non-junk, art supplies include my dusty crate full of little log slices that I rescued from a fire. They weren't actually on fire when I took them. They were just sitting on a table enjoying the last few moments of their former life as rustic, candle holding, wedding decorations. But, I was told that I could take what I wanted, and that the rest would be used as firewood. Therefore, they were rescued from a fire.  I've already used some of my log slices for little woodland critter paintings, but it's been awhile since I've created anything from my salvaged wood stash. This morning I felt like my crate of "rescued" log slices were glaring at me - "MAKE SOMETHING FROM ME!!!", they were shouting at me. So I've come up with a new project for them. I've decided to use four slices at a time to spell the word 'Home', which I think will look adorable above my TV, in my kitchen, or really hung anywhere in my home. To add to their cuteness, I'm going to paint little woodland animals on them as well. I started the project today - mostly I just planned, sketched and painted the lettering. I've posted a preliminary photo, and I'll be sure to keep you all updated as the project progresses. If they turn out adorable enough I'll probably be offering them in my Etsy store as well, but we will have to wait and see the final product!

My crate of rescued log slices

The first step in creating my new 'Home' sign

In other creative news, I have decided to expand my storytelling (and hopefully scrapbooking) abilities with a free online course this summer called Find Your Voice. It sounds like it should be an interesting and fun challenge to encourage me to be creative and expand my horizons this summer. I'm sure I'll be posting about my experiences on my blog. Class starts on Monday! If you're interested in joining you can check out the details here: http://rukristin.blogspot.com/search/label/Find%20Your%20Voice Can't wait to try new things - maybe after the course, I'll feel confident enough to finally put together my wedding scrapbook that I *almost* started over a year ago.