Sorry Friends

I have been absent for a while and have not been doing much art at all. However, the drought is broken, I am back.
I am finishing off a dotee doll for a swap - the theme is Russian and I will make another smaller doll to go in the pocket of this work in progress doll.



I have started a very special journal, utilising my moleskin that I have been too scared to touch for fear of spoiling it. The journal is entitled "Gratitude and Inspiration" and it is a special book to contain my personal thoughts of what I am grateful for and the things that inspire and uplift me. I am really excited about this - it is something that has been at the back of my mind for ages and I have a friend that is taking the journey with me. We will exchange our journals periodically to write uplifting messages to one another and then return them. I can't wait. The photo is of my first page and utilises caran d'ache soluble crayons, Golden liquid acrylics and distress ink, oh, plus some perfect pearls in multiple colours. It looks beautiful in real life, as it really sparkles depending on how you hold it, as I used some interference colours. Hopefully, this is the start of many more pages that I can read over and over to lift me when I am low and to remind me of how much I have to be grateful for. Thank you to those special friends that have emailed me to tell me how much they miss my blog posts - I appreciate each and every one of you.

Black and White Dotee Doll Swap

Here is the dotee doll I received from the black and white dotee doll swap held recently from a Yahoo group I belong to "Delightful Dotees". Jude made her for me - isn't she gorgeous?

Wedding over

My sister's wedding was beautiful. It was quite casual and laid back which was nice. Not very formal. She looked radiant as did he. I don't think I've ever seen her looking so happy. It was a lovely day. Glad it is over though. All my family was there which was such a surprise. I knew that 5 of us siblings would be there but you could have knocked me over with a feather when my brother from New Zealand knocked on my door on Thursday before the wedding. He'd received an email about the wedding the night before (he hadn't been able to access email for a while),phoned his boss to see if he could take some time off, phoned the airline to see when the next cheap fare was. He found out a plane was leaving for Melbourne from Christchurch the next morning at 6am, it was a cheap fare so he took it. He threw a few things in a suitcase, jumped in his car and drove from Queenstown where he lives, to Christchurch (600km I think he said - an all nighter driving). He got to the airport just in time (his car gave him trouble on the way and he couldn't drive over 80 kph). He hired a car when he got to Melbourne and drove to Adelaide where I live (another long, long drive - around 8 hours). He looked a little tired but it was so good to see him. I have 2 sisters and 3 brothers and we last were together at my mum's funeral a couple of years ago and before that it had been more than 25 years we had all been together. Everyone has gone now, which is sad, but it was so great to catch up with everyone. You can check out the photos here My facebook photos. The above photo is of me with my husband and children.
The sad, sad news is that my computer has been in the workshop for a couple of weeks now so I have been using my husband's laptop when I could. However, that has picked up a very bad virus from my son's USB, which has wiped out the hard drive. That is now useless. My Mac, may it rest in peace, had overheating problems which wiped out its motherboard. It will cost $1,000 to replace the components, or $2,000 to buy a new one. Oh the decisions to be made. Fortunately I do a full mirror backup every day so I can put everything that was on my old Mac onto a new one if that's the road I decide to travel. What do you think - should I buy a new one? I do love my Mac and really couldn't go back to a PC.

Black and White Dotee

I recently joined "Delightful Dotees", a yahoo group that is devoted to Dotee Dolls. In my excitement I signed up for a swap (one for one) with the group and I needed to create a black and white themed dotee. This is my effort. I'm actually pretty pleased with it because it is my first ever dotee. It was really fun to do and I can see that it could become quite addictive. My B&W dotee is ready to post so I hope Jude (the recipient) likes it.

Wedding Invitation

Since so many of you have asked to see the wedding invitation that I made for my sister's wedding, I managed to get a spare and photograph it. The invitation doesn't show up very well due to the subtle nature of the design. I cut cardstock to size and ran it through my cuttlebug with an embossing folder. I then used a Brilliance gold ink pad over the surface of the embossing to highlight it. I printed the details of the invitation onto vellum and printed it out on my laser printer and then cut it just smaller than the cardstock. I placed gold heart brads in each corner to secure the vellum to the cardstock. I didn't have much time to make the invitations so I needed to do something that was quick, easy but looked great and I was really happy with the way these turned out. They look so elegant in real life and my sister tells me that so many people commented on how beautiful the invitations were, so mission accomplished. The two photos show firstly the invitation in its entirety and the second a closer up look.

Where have I been?

Drowning in work I'm afraid. Every 2 and a half years the Child Care Centre where I work goes through an accreditation process and as one of the Team Leaders I need to ensure that everything is as it should be. Currently we are awaiting the validator's visit at which time she will go through everything with a fine toothed comb and we need to provide the evidence of our quality practices. I love my job and know that we work to the highest possible standard so this process doesn't phase me at all - it has just meant a bit extra work as I have only been in this role for 6 months and there were lots of things that needed to be done that hadn't been done by the previous team leader.

On top of that, my sister is getting married - yes, the sister that moved here from New Zealand with her daughter just before Christmas. She asked me to make the wedding invitations so I made 50 and they looked beautiful. They get married on the 4th July and I have been involved in the wedding preparations as well, which has taken up more of my time.

I am enrolled in several on line classes at the moment but am not doing any justice, hope to get back into it soon.

Oh, my daughter broke her arm the other day - she fell off a quad bike. She is quite proud of her purple cast but is quickly working out that she takes her arm for granted and how limiting it is for her. I have to put her hair in a pony tail, I will probably have to shower her or work out a way to wash her hair without getting the cast wet - oh and she has to have it on for six weeks.

I finally succombed and joined facebook, so if you want to add me as a friend, look in my side bar for my details.

That's all for now, sorry for my long absence.

Golden Angel

You may remember that just before Christmas I was painting four angels at the same time - each of them with a different colour hair, eyes and wing treatment. A couple of them went to secret santa gifts, one to a work colleague and the final one, lay unfinished in my studio until yesterday when I pulled out all stops and ta dah, she is done. She is my only blonde haired angel, or I like to call her golden. I think I need to continue my heart face, spiral hair girls, I quite enjoy doing them.

Great Mail Day and portrait progress

Yesterday and today have been great mail days. I received two art quilts that I bid on in the recent Collage Mania auction to raise funds for the American Cancer Society. Both these art quilts were made by the wonderful Fannie Narte in memory of my mother who passed away from cancer a couple of years ago. Fannie lovingly created these and the detail is amazing. I wish you could see them in real life. I am keeping the "Create" art quilt and will be giving the "Journey" art quilt to my sister. Thank you so much Fannie. You must go and check out her website - her art is amazing and so diverse. Oh, and Fannie included a something special for me in the parcel - a personally autographed copy of "Taking Flight" by Kelly Rae Roberts. Can you make out what the writing says? If you can, please let me know - I'm not that good at reading script. I love this book - it is one to reread over and over.

Today I received this charming mixed media piece that I purchased from Martha Lever. Isn't it divine?


I managed to finish the shading on the two girls, so now just finishing up the backgrounds and they will wing their way to two of the ladies who are participating in my "Pay it Forward" - so watch out for your mail deliverer, ladies.

Abstract

Here's something you probably didn't expect to see from me. I belong to a group called "Loosen Me Up" on Gary Reef's Ning Group. He recently posted the first exercise which was "painting to music".

I really enjoyed this exercise. There were a few firsts for me. One, take a tip from Gary - do it outside next time! Two, I actually used my easel for the first time ever - I bought it years ago with good intentions of taking up painting! Three - my first ever abstract.

I used colours that would go with my studio. I used a canvas that I had started a folk art painting on many, many years ago and never finished. It always bothered me to see a half completed painting just sitting there, now I don't need to be bothered any more! I debated on what to do the painting on - should I waste! a canvas, should I used poster board, butcher paper - what? Ultimately I am happy with the choice I made - I really like my painting and intend hanging it on the wall of my studio as a reminder to be more loose and free when I paint.

Oh, the music that I painted to in case you were wondering was ABBA Gold - haha, showing my age now. I used a very wide brush to start with (probably 4" wide) and then grabbed a brayer which was lying nearby which happened to have rubber bands wrapped around it, some bubble wrap and then finished off with a paste brush to flick paint everywhere (and I mean everywhere - I had a bit of cleaning up to do). Having said all that - I still have to loosen up a lot more which I look forward to doing as Gary's Ning group exercises continue.

Hair and Eyebrows

So much for my productive week - I think I spoke too soon - I haven't been able to get down to the studio until today. It has been showering today so the perfect opportunity to do some painting. Since I last posted about these paintings I have been somewhat preoccupied with making resources for my babies - I just love all of the babies, they are so gorgeous in their own precious, individual ways. You can tell I love my job can't you!! Anyway, back to the paintings - I have added hair and eyebrows which makes them look a bit more human. I still have the shading to do on the faces and of course I need to think of some background words/pictures to go along with them. Hmmmm, sometimes I think that is the most difficult part.

Blogger Friend Award

A new online art friend, Beckie Holso , was so sweet to award me with a "Friends" blog award. Here's the link to her blog: Art Beckons.




"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these kind writers."

Now I'm supposed to pass this award on to 5 other deserving bloggers who meet that criteria - check them out:

The Bodhi Chicklet
Faint Heart Art
Sherry Carrigan
Imagine, Create, Inspire
One Day at a Time

There are so many inspiring blogs out there that meet this criteria - I could have listed many more - I am so grateful to the technology that makes making friends all over the world so easy.

Portrait Progress

After an extremely unproductive morning - well I cleaned all the bathrooms first thing, before dropping the children to school, came home ate some toast and then went back to bed - until lunchtime. I was sooooo tired. Hope I'm not coming down with something again.

After I woke up (because the phone rang and my daughter wasn't well at school so I had to pick her up), I went down to the studio and did some more work on the portraits. Finished off the white base coats, and then mixed up the skin tone and painted the girls with 2 layers. Then a bit of shading and highlighting. I finished off the night by painting their eyes and mouths. I don't know when I'll get to the final shading and hair, soon I hope. Now that I'm at this stage, I will also finish off an angel that I painted before Christmas, she is just waiting for final shading and her hair to be finished off. Woo hoo, I'm on a roll. It feels good (doing happy dance).

Productive Day

Today has been great! Not only did I get all my grocery shopping done this morning, I also purchased two gorgeous artworks from Collage Mania - creations of the very talented Fannie. I'm so excited my bids were accepted, both of these were lovingly and graciously made by Fannie in memory of my mum, Zelda, who passed away from cancer two years ago. I am going to keep one and give one to my sister.

After lunch I thought I might go down to my studio and have a bit of a tidy up as it hadn't really been touched since my sister moved out of it in March. Having cleared my work surface I decided that I would do some wet felting to refresh my memory from the 2.5 hour course I did on the weekend. I am making a sketch book cover. There are no seams, it is felted with a pocket in it. I haven't finished it yet - it needs to dry and then I am going to add some further embellishments to it. I am really enjoying wet felting - I can just see the potential and possibilities. Don't you just love the colour of the pouch?



After dinner tonight, I again ventured down to the studio (it is in my backyard). I decided it was about time I did some more painting. I have started two girls, transferred from some sketches I did back in November last year. One of the girls has 3 coats of fluid titanium white on her face, the other only has one coat so far. I will photograph progress as I go so you can see how I go about it. I'm really not sure how these ones are going to turn out as when I prepared the backgrounds in December last year! I texturised them and some of the texture is on the face and neck - almost looks like they are prematurely aged! Oh well, we'll see how we go - gotta try these things.



I have also decided, in hindsight, to never do 3 courses at the same time ever again. Only ONE! OK, so if I ever again do anything so silly, please email me and tell me that I must be out of my mind. I couldn't do justice to any of the courses because not only was I really busy at the time, but I really needed to concentrate on just one process so that I could do that well, instead of three badly! Never mind, we live and learn.

Well that's it from me for today, I'm hoping to get some studio time tomorrow, though one of my things I really want to do is make some drawstring bags for storing heuristic play materials in for my babies at work. Hmmmm, that housework may just have to wait!

Wet felting project

Yesterday, I was able to attend my first wet feltmaking class. It is a 2-part class over two Saturday afternoons. I developed an interest in felting a couple of months ago, bought lots of wool and tools but didn't have the confidence to give it a go, even after watching lots of youtube videos! I saw this course advertised and even though it is an hour away from where I live, I thought it was an opportunity too good to miss. The tutor was great, explained and demonstrated in an easy to comprehend way and we were set loose to create our own felted piece. This photo is what I did, I have a feeling I may have over felted the piece, I must ask the tutor next week. We also learnt the process behind creating a double sided object such as a glasses case, or bag and how to go about it. Next week one of the things we are doing is round beads and sushi beads and some other bits and pieces. Have to tell you though, those felt making courses should have a disclaimer about the exercise that is involved. My arms and shoulders were aching when I go up this morning! Great work out. I am looking forward to creating more pieces and getting more adventurous and possibly incorporating felting into my mixed media pieces. The potential is endless really, felt is a vibrant medium that is beautiful to work with and with lots of possibilities. I'm a convert!

Tagged

I was tagged by the effervescent and talented Aimslee over at Paper Paisleys some time back and naughty me just hadn't got around to doing it. This is the result:



Way back when I was Joey Scout Leader our State Branch issued a challenge to take a photo of your section eating at an unusual place. We decided to eat popcorn on top of the bunyip cave - a local tourist attraction where I live. The children had to climb onto the top of the "cave" and then I took the photo. Guess what - we won the competition! Probably not the safest venue for the activity, in hindsight, but the kids had a great time and that's what is important, haha.

Here are the rules for this tag:

1. Go to the photo folder in your computer.
2. Go to the seventh folder of photos.
3. Go to the seventh picture.
4. Put the picture on your blog along with a description of it.
5. Invite seven friends to join the challenge.

I am not actually going to invite 7 friends, you are probably all tired of me tagging you - so I'll just leave it that if you really want to participate, go ahead. What photos do you have lurking on your hard drive?

Some sketches

I know it has been a while since I shared anything with you, that is because I haven't really done much. Yes, I know I participated in 3 courses, but I can't say that I have done anything with them yet! Maybe I should make May my "Make art every day month or else"! Here are a few sketches I did do in April, and I would like to paint them at some stage - wish me luck. Thank goodness so many of my blogger friends are so inspirational and they update their blogs more regularly than mine! Oh, and I have some paintings I need to do for my Pay it Forward participants too - can't wait to do those.

Surprise in the mail

I can't believe it has been over a month since my last blog entry - so sorry - have I been slack or what!!

Yesterday a lovely surprise arrived in the mail from the USA. Upon opening I discovered this gorgeous little cardboard shrine and a packet of ephemera. These were sent by the lovely and talented Carol over at Swallowcliffs Blogspot as part of her 29 gifts project. Carol made up 29 parcels containing pieces of art she had made, wrote about it on her blog and asked those that might be interested in receiving a parcel to indicate their interest by commenting on that blog post. From all the names of people that expressed interest, 29 names were drawn to randomly receive a package. How cool is that and how generous. I'm thinking about participating in it myself, but I have to create some artworks first and they'd have to be fairly light because postage from Australia to the States is horrendously expensive. If you want to find out more about the 29 gifts project go to 29 gifts. Thanks again Carol for your generosity.

Library Card Project

Jeanne over at One Day at a Time has got a few of us involved in a really fun project. She sent out library card envelopes to all participants with part of a story she has written in each envy. We each had to decorate the envy, take a photo of it and send it back to Jeanne. When all of the envies have been returned, Jeanne will publish the story in its entirety. I have just finished mine, and several other participants have returned theirs - so check it out on Jeanne's blog - she spins a great yarn!

I received a blog award recently from my dear Canadian friend, Kim at The Bodhi Chicklet. The award is called, Premio Dardos, meaning "prize darts.” This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his or her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day. Here's what it looks like:


Thanks so much Kim - sorry I didn't do the tag part of the award - if anybody is interested in doing it, check out Kim's blog and consider yourself tagged. I've been a bit busy lately!
I've been involved in several online classes which are and have been a lot of fun - Willowing's World of Whimsy, Paulette Insall's Organic Backgrounds, and Artella's Me-Flections - so lots to keep me busy and out of mischief.

Sketches for World of Whimsy Course

We have just had our second lesson for the World of Whimsy class with Willowing. The first lesson involved the "rule of thirds" and composition. The second lesson was all about sketching the whimsical creatures - heads, eyes, noses, mouths, bodies - a lot of fun. It is nice to do sketching that is less realistic and where really, anything can go. Sorry about the dreadful jpegs, I have had trouble with the scanner and camera - really consider yourself lucky you have anything to look at! Thanks to those who entered my Pay It Forward giveaway - everyone has sent me their snail mail addresses so in the next few months or so, look forward to receiving an original artwork from me in the post!

Pay It Forward Giveaway

I got this off Chavah's Blog. I had read about it before and had toyed with the idea of participating, but with so much happening in my life at the time I decided to postpone to a later date. Well, this is the later date!

According to the rules, you have 365 days to send out your homemade gifts. Rest assured, that if you win, I will not wait 365 days to send you your gift.

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me.

2. If you are one of the first three to make a comment, you are a winner! And you then agree to post this challenge on your own blog, meaning that you will pay it forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your 3 friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember it’s the spirit and the thought that count!

4. When you receive your gift, blog about it! If you are not one of the first three to comment on this post, you can still play along. Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same! It's all about paying it forward.

While I'm unsure of exactly what I'll be sending my 3 participants, it will more than likely be a mixed media piece, maybe a portrait or some whimsical art.

One World One Heart Blog Winners

There you have it - the winners of my draw. Congratulations. I will email each of you to notify you of your win and in return, you will need to supply me with your snail mail address so I can get the little elves winging their way to your home. Thanks for visiting my blog - hope you can come again soon.

Big Blog Browsing Butt

I have done it! I have visited all of the nearly 800 blogs that are participating in the One World One Heart International Blog Giveaway! I always used to call my butt "Browser Butt", but now I'm sure my butt size has increased due to my lack of physical activity through blog-hopping, my fingers may have lost some weight though! It is so amazing to see how many generous bloggers, worldwide, are participating in this amazing event. I have been blown away by the awesome talent that is out there, and the amazing giveaways they are offering.

I have been honoured with a blog award by Linda. It is the The Marie Antoinette, Real Person, A Real Award, thanks so much Linda.


The Marie Antoinette,
Real Person, A Real Award

Here are the rules for the award:

1. Put the picture of Marie Antoinette on your blog.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate at least 7 or more blogs.
4. Link to those blogs from your blog.
5. Leave a comment on their blogs to let them know you've shared the award with them.

Here are the wonderful bloggers I would like to nominate (in no particular order).

Kim - The Bodhi Chicklet
Fannie - Imagine, Create, Inspire
Martha - Martha Lever Lettering and Design
Vicki - Faint Heart Art
Annette - Annette in Oz
Jo - Art Heart Studio
Heather - Creative Solace

All these ladies, (and others) are a wonderful inspiration to me and have been very encouraging to me on my artistic journey. Thanks ladies. Even if you don't want to nominate 7 blogs, I hope you can accept this award from me with my heartfelt gratitude for who you are and all you do.

One World One Heart Blog Event and Giveaway

Sorry folks, comments are now closed for this giveaway. Stay tuned to find out the winners via random number generator. Good luck!

I've decided to hop on board the gypsy caravan and put up some giveaways for the One World One Heart worldwide blog giveaway.


I have six sets of these adorable little shelf sitters made from cotton spools, spelling out the word "peace". Leave a comment by February 11th and you will be entered into the draw to win a set. Good luck!

Fat Book Pages

Hi everyone, I know it has been a long time since my last post. I have been very busy in my new job and when I have been home I have been doing a lot of reading, to re-familiarise myself with the 0-2 year old age group (previously I taught 3-5 year olds). I am loving my new job role though, it is a pleasant change. Additionally, my sister and niece who are living with us at the moment, have taken over my art studio so it has been difficult to get in there, I like them to have their privacy. They have found a house that they like and are going to make an offer on it this week, so I should have my studio back within the month! Yay!

OK, today (Australia Day) I had no choice but to invade their personal space as I desperately needed to complete the 120 pages for the Fat Book Swap I am involved in. We needed to choose a technique that used recycled or cheap materials. I chose to use rubber band printing. I used cereal boxes as the basis for the 4x4 inch squares. I base coated these with acrylic paint (Payne's Grey). Using a brayer, I took off the handle and wound rubber bands of various widths around the brayer, overlapping them to get different sizes and effects. I rolled the brayer in another acrylic paint (Red Earth) and rolled the design across the fat book page. When that was dry (it didn't take long), I inked up the brayer on a gold Brilliance ink pad and again ran the design across the previously printed fat book page. It was a really fun technique to do, very speedy, very effective result. I found I could vary the design by curving the way I ran the brayer across the page, by criss-crossing, by shadowing, etc. Really there are so many options on how you can vary this technique. Give it a go. I have used it as backgrounds on my portraits for a different sort of effect. It would make a nice background for cards, ATC's, moos, etc.

CED Full Moon Dreaming

I feel better than I have in ages, I think the medication has really sorted me out, crossed fingers. I have started my new job role and my body definitely feels it. Lifting and lugging babies is great exercise, my muscles are testifying to this after only 2 days! Just goes to show how old and out of shape I am. Tonight, tired though I was, I decided enough was enough, it was time to play. My studio has been taken over by my sister and her niece, but undeterred I went down and retrieved my neocolor soluble crayons and some reservoir brushes and took them up to my bedroom where I had fun experimenting and messing around. It felt good! I was just using my sketchbook which doesn't hold up to wet media very well, but I wasn't really concerned about the buckling and the finished product, I was more focused on playing and exploring with no real goal in mind. Admittedly, these past few nights have seen my bedroom brightly lit by a full moon and I was wondering how I could capture the beauty with my meagre abilities. I keep reminding myself that I am a beginner, I have a long journey ahead of me and as long as I get some enjoyment, self satisfaction, and stress relief from my little creations, then life is good.

"Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best" ~ Henry Van Dyke

Oh, and here is a little sketch of a heart shaped girl - I think she looks a bit alien-like, so I've called her alien girl, hehe.

World of Whimsy

Hi Bloggers, I'm back in the land of the living, well my mind is willing, my body is weak, but I need to get back to work to earn some money to pay some bills - which pour in at this time of the year. A new school year commences in just two weeks and that means school fees, stationery, updating outgrown uniforms, bus tickets, well you get the idea. It was $165 just for a calculator for eldest son's math class, eeek. I'm still a little dizzy, but hopefully I'll be OK. Guess what, I've signed up for another on line class, how exciting. It is called World of Whimsy being run by Willowing. Check it out here. I haven't done an on line class since Paulette's faces class and I enjoyed and learnt so much from that. It doesn't start for a while yet so I have plenty of time to finish my 120 fat book technique pages that I need to do by the end of January. I have nothing to show you, I haven't had the energy to even pick up a pencil, let alone do anything with it, but I am hopeful I will get back into the swing of things this week. Thanks for all your well wishes while I was sick.

Sick Chook

There was a reason for all that sleeping, I've been one very sick chook. Thought I'd better let you all know before I head back to bed again. I'm on double strength penicillin so I should be getting better really soon. I'll have a lot of blog reading to do but at the moment I am too weak to stay on the computer for any length of time. Talk to you all soon.

Tortillas to die for

I had a terrible day today, well it started off good. Went to church, (that was the good part), but when I came home I was so tired I went to bed and slept until 4pm. Woke up and prepared dinner. We had burritos, a family favourite. I make a yummy lentil filling - this time I added a tin of tomatoes that had chilli in it, which gave the burrito mixture an extra zing and a batch of tortillas. No, I do not buy my tortillas, I make them from scratch. My family refuse to eat bought tortillas any more after tasting this wonderful recipe. Here is the link. You have to try these, they are fantastic and so easy to make. OK, they are a little time consuming, rolling them out - and I double the recipe. There are never any left after my ravenous mob get stuck into them, but on the odd occasion there are some left, they freeze really well, then a quick zap in the microwave and they are fresh once again. Oh, after I had my two tortillas, one big juicy peach and 4 yummy apricots, I felt terrible and went back to bed. My daughter woke me up at 10pm and asked if she should go to be yet. Hmmmm, let me think about that - YES! I got up at 11pm, checked my emails, and then went back to bed. Very unlike me. Back to work tomorrow - then I'll really have an excuse to be tired. OK, so no art as such, my creative effort for the day (CED) is my cooking of the burritos with a bit of a twist on my recipe. Oh, if you want the burrito mixture recipe, just say so and I'll post that too.

Sun Kissed Girl

I had a very productive day today, though not really a creative one. My house is clean though and so is my computer after deleting lots of unnecessary files. For my creative efforts today, I made a cushion cover for my daughter, a batch of playdough for work and this quick sketch. I've called her a sun kissed girl because it reminds me a little of my daughter, who is blond with a beautiful olive skin at this time of the year. We had the most perfect day today weather wise - don't be jealous now! I never did make it to the studio to paint my New Beginnings lady, I remembered I didn't have any masking tape - the boys used it up masking a perimeter for their Warhammer game. Hope everyone is having a great day.