Sunday, April 28, 2019

Hobby Lobby Haul

So, I finally got to go back to Hobby Lobby after a year and a half! I live in a rural area and it takes a while to get to the nearest one.


2 Krylon spray sealers (clear and matte), 2 pks of white gelly roll pens (different sizes), a box of beads to get one particular peacock feather bead, 3 jewelry charms (owl head, elephant, cross),  2 pks of mini wooden fabric stamps, large black ink pad, 6x6 watercolor pad, 5x5 Handbook sketchbook, and 4 tee shirts, which I plan to paint on, plus two free cup holders from the Dragonfly coffee shop on the way!

Much of it was on SALE! Can't wait to use the new stuff!

It was actually a delayed trip to Alabama to celebrate our 49th anniversary and hubby's 72nd birthday, and it was a beautiful day! He went to Harbour Freight and I went to Hobby Lobby, which happens to be in the same strip mall, thank goodness, so we were both happy.

We also ate at the Cracker Barrel, using a gift card that our nephew's family gave us for Christmas, and hubby went in a couple of sporting goods stores while I waited in the car. I did go in Target, but something I had eaten disagreed with me, and I had to leave after a fast trip to the bathroom. Not fun!

After the hour and a half trip down there, over an hour in Hobby Lobby, eating at Cracker Barrel, and waiting for hubby while he was in the sporting goods stores and the grocery store, I was spent anyway, so we got ice cream on the way out of town, to eat on the road, and headed home, another hour and a half. Got back to Rabbit Hop and home late evening, both exhausted, but happy. It was a good day of togetherness without even a cross word. Thankful for the bonding time together!

These road trips are getting fewer as we get older and our health more fragile, so we cherish them when we do take them. 😊





Star Quilt Mama Made

The last hand quilted quilt that mama made for me, before she passed away in 2017, fits my queen sized bed. I recently wanted a change from the Dutch Doll quilt that I had been sleeping under for many years, so I pulled this one out and put it on my bed. It doesn't show in the pictures, but the bed ruffle is the same color as the curtains. Also my original artwork on the walls, which is also about to be replaced, except for the large one over the bed.


My mom also made the crochet doily over the lampshade on the night stand.




My large weaving loom waiting between the bed and the window for me to finish the piece started on it...


I have many beautiful quilts given to me by my grandmothers, aunts, and several by mama over the years, plus I inherited what she left behind, plus a few from hubby's mom and aunt. I love quilts, and quilted some as a teenager, when one neighbor would hang quilting frames from the ceiling and other neighbors would come and they would all sit around and work on the quilt while they visited. I never really took to quilting myself, although I did piece together and sew one on my sewing machine once when I was younger. Takes a lot of patience, even on a machine!

My mom lived alone the last fourteen years of her life and spent many hours at night quilting on frames that could be held on her lap, or crocheting doilies, while listening to the TV. Most of them were given as gifts to people she loved.

Why do we not realize how special the people in our lives are until they're gone? It's so sad how we take them for granted when we have them, and can not begin to even imagine how hard the loss will be when they're gone.

Yesterday would have been mama's 87th birthday. Happy Birthday, Mama! RIP 💔

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Watercolor Works In Progress-Flowers, Bowl, Houses


So I finally got to watercolor some! Because I can do it in my recliner using very few supplies (all my main supplies are still in boxes and workspaces covered up). The only thing not pictured is my Stabilo pencil, my brush pen full of water, and a paper towel! Kuretake pan watercolor set

The larger 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" watercolor painting is in my mixed media journal and started as a quirky doodle (intuitive) sketch using a water soluble Stabilo pencil. The other is a 6" x 6" watercolor paper pad that I've sketched out a simple bowl on with the Stabilo pencil, then added water with the brush pen.


Here I've added some color to the bowl painting, and while waiting for it to dry, started another simple house painting, also on watercolor paper.

Not quite sure how I'm going to finish any of these yet, but I have some ideas. I will share when they're finished!

Creativity is a great stress reliever. Try it. You'll like it!

Monday, April 15, 2019

Mindless Sketches and a Quirky/Intuitive Doodle Sketch



Playing with bird, horse, and eye sketches, plus a great quote, in my mixed media sketchbook/journal. The quote says, "Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." Lao Tzu


Just mindless people sketching two different times while watching TV. Stabilo water soluble pencil in  5.5" x 8.5" mixed media sketchbook/journal.


The last quirky doodle sketch I've done, so far, this year, same sketchbook/journal and pencil!

I do these when I don't have time or energy to work on something bigger or more complicated. It keeps me kind of in creative mode, and right now I'm not participating in any online classes, groups, etc., because I focusing on cleaning out and up my house, then my mom's house, but I still want to stay in some sort of creative practice.

It's good to keep a couple of art supplies by your favorite chair, bed, etc., so when you have a few minutes you can doodle and relax. Of course, the doodling can sometimes turn into hours, and that's ok! Sometimes you mind just needs a rest from life and the chaos going on around you! 😊

Do at least one thing every day that makes you happy and feeds your soul! Even if it's only five minutes!

Quirky Zen Doodle Sketch Painting




This started out a few weeks ago as a quirky doodle sketch with egg shapes in a kind of landscape. Just line shapes pulled out of chaotic water-soluble pencil lines. Then a couple of weeks ago, as a break from de-cluttering, I took a notion to do a little watercoloring, so I picked up my Kuretake watercolor set and a brush pen and colored in the different shapes, letting the Stabilo pencil and watercolors mingle some, and left it to dry. I was working in my mixed media journal, which tends to buckle when too much water is used. When it was dry, I closed the book for a few days to flatten the page.

One evening, while resting, I picked up my black gel pen and started zen doodling patterns on the egg shapes, and also the background. The lavendar egg in front wasn't on the original sketch at this point. I overdid the black doodling on the ground planes and sky and went back over it with watercolor, mixing the ink and wc together. Again, I left it to dry and flatten the page.

Last week, I finally got to go to Hobby Lobby, a rarity since we live in a rural area about seventy miles from the nearest one and we are old, and picked up some white gel pens, among other things (see other post). The next day, I used one of the white gel pens to do some more zen doodling, and I added the lavender egg in front to keep the yellow egg from looking too much like it was floating. I also did some more tweaking with the Stabilo water soluble pencil and the water brush and a paper towel.

Just playing around in the 5.5" x 8.5" mixed media sketchbook, because most of my art supplies are still in boxes where I can't get to them while I'm de-cluttering, waiting to be organized. This was very relaxing and fun too, because I didn't worry about the lines and shapes being perfect. I just let them be!

The best art fun is the art you do for yourself, where you can just play and be yourself, without worrying about the "rules". If someone else likes it, great! Even if you don't like the finished piece yourself, you've created something that wasn't in the world before, and every piece is a kind of self portrait. Maybe you don't like it now, but somewhere down the road you will look at it with fresh eyes and know what you were going through at the time, and you will see it in a whole new way and cherish it. At least, I find that true for myself!

Friday, April 5, 2019

Purging Continues...

De-cluttering and organization of my studio is still in progress, although I got interrupted and it stalled for a few days, then I got started doing the same in our bedroom and some in the kitchen, in between Dr., dentist, Optometrist, beauty shop, and lawyer visits. I have sorted a little more in the studio since the last post, but it is still a mess in progress. Sorry, no pix!

Well, I did get new glasses and a too short hair cut! Concentrating on the selfie! Still terrible at it!


Needless to say, any artwork is also on hiatus, as everything is in boxes waiting to be sorted and put in specific places. Not participating in art classes/groups for now either! I am having art withdrawals, but am determined to do as much purging/cleaning in the whole house as I can.

I am so proud of myself for what I have gotten rid of, by either taking it to the dump or donation place. It's a slow go, since I have chronic health problems and tire easily, but I'm so thankful for what I have been able to do, and hopefully, I will be able to clean out and up every room. Also, on the lookout for new curtains for every room, and I have paint for the main bathroom, as soon as hubby gets the new floor down!

Today was spent in our bedroom again, and I made a dent finally that could be seen. The house is nothing like Hoarders on TV, but due to illness and care giving of our parents, it had to be put on hold for several years. Stuff kept coming in, but not much going out.

 I have felt like I was suffocating, and have been embarrassed for visitors to come for a while now, so it is exhilarating to see empty clean spaces appearing, albeit exhausting.

Part of the clutter is stuff that I thought was important and/or wanted from my parents house after my mom died, so I still have that to go through and also a couple of rooms in her house to still sort through. Although her house is bothering me, I have elected, right now, to concentrate on the house we live in, which is getting increasingly dangerous for hubby and me. We are getting up in years, and there is danger of tripping and falling over the clutter, not to mention if it caught fire.

I am trying to be ruthless and get rid of stuff that we've held on to for various reasons, even if we didn't like or want it, and I'm forcing myself to stay out of the garbage bags already filled up and set to travel, lest I drag stuff out and put it back, which I  have been prone to do in the past.

We are not going to be here many more years, not even promised the next minute, and we need to get things in order while we can. Besides, we don't have any children, and I hate to think about anyone else having to go through everything and talking about us, which will probably happen anyway.

Anyway, I accomplished a lot today, so I may be down tomorrow, but for today, I am thankful and proud! Now I need a hot shower and some supper!

Have an awesome weekend!