Projects for the Past Couple of Days

These are the two new pictures I've been working on for the past few days.

Both are on canvas board and colored with the Bic version of Sharpies. I also used some other permanent ink pens that have a smaller tip, to help add detail. I love the pens, they are so much fun.

I think I'm starting to be more interested in a medium that allows me to have more control than painting does. I love watercolor, but prefer watercolor pencils over paints. I don't want to spend so much time mixing my own colors. And since I haven't done it much, I'm not very good at getting my colors right.

As I was writing this I was thinking that perhaps I'm lazy, then realized that I'm just able to get more done with pens and pencils. Maybe when the kids are older I can spend more time with watercolor paints.

I still haven't gotten anything new on my Etsy shop, except one ACEO. I have lots of other things, but still have to work on getting the packaging together. Perhaps I should set a goal that by the end of next week I will have at least 2 of my new card sets listed on my Etsy shop. Ok, let's call it a committment!

Bailey Pooh Dog

We had to have our dog put to sleep today. She was 10 years old and had renal failure. I'm not sure what caused it, I only know her decline was quick. It's so weird to lose animals, they are just so much a part of your family. Since the kids were born, we mainly kept her in the back room off the kitchen. But there are so many familiar sounds that I'll miss: the jingling of her dog tags, the clicking of her nails on the tile, her little woofing noises when she was dreaming (probably about chasing squirrels) and her snoring.

We got her near the Farmer's Market in 1997. My husband had lost his black lab, Isaac, about 6 months earlier. There was a lady in the market parking lot trying to get rid of these puppies (there were 13 in Bailey's litter) and we stopped to look at them. I was just there to admire the cute puppies, Dan was apparently there to fall in love! Bailey was soooo cute. She was little, light brown with dark brown and white swirls and floppy ears. She was a stinker too. Very happy and bouncy. Dan played with her for a little while, then decided to bring her home.

She loved to play ball and to swim. She would fetch a ball as many times as a person would throw it and she couldn't pass up a puddle without stomping through it (kind of like my 5 year old). When we took her on hikes, she would, without fail, find every waterhole, pond, river and puddle in the woods and wade through it, even in the winter! She became very protective of us when my son was a baby. Before that time, she loved every dog and human and cat she came in contact with. We were incredibly blessed to have spent the past 10 years with her.

She was so sweet today. We could tell she was so weak and miserable, yet she still wagged her tail when we petted her and spoke to her. She was a wonderful dog and we will miss her!

Good Grief.....

Would you look at how long it has been since I've written! This blog is starting to have the same feel as my journal: months without writing, then lines and lines of beating myself up for not writing, then a short entry about how tired I am and how I wish I'd take the time to write about all the stuff that's going on...gee whiz it's a never ending cycle!

I actually have been doing some things. I got some beautiful watercolor pencils for Christmas from my friend, Jean. I also got some "artist bonus bucks" from my husband. I wasted no time spending that money and since I had a 50% off coupon from Michael's, I was able to buy quite a bit for my money: a new 12 x 12 papercutter, more watercolor pencils, some sharpie-like pens (24 wonderful colors), some thinner markers, watercolor paper and a couple of small canvas boards. I think there were a couple of other things, but I've forgotten.

With my new toys, I was inspired to crank out a few note cards. The first one is my favorite. It's unlike anything I've ever done before. I got some cards printed from the original and hope to get them together for my Etsy shop soon.

I'm in the process of revamping the Etsy shop. I changed my avatar because I got kind of tired of seeing my face everytime I logged in. I was self conscious about it from the beginning. So I chose one of my art cards because it's colorful and an attention getter (I think).

Even though I don't officially do New Year's resolutions, I am going to try to do better about writing this blog. I also hope to keep up on my etsy shop and add new things regularly.

Thanks for stopping by!