Got a tree today!

We continued our tradition of cutting down our own Christmas tree today. This is by far the biggest one we have ever had. It's a really pretty one though, and looks even better all decked out in the living room.

2 Munchkins

Man these 2 are CUTE!! I know I'm biased but they ARE cute. I'm pretty proud of the shots I got in our little homemade photo shoot too.

Watercolor Journal Pages

Here are some recent pages from my watercolor journal. This one is sheets of 140lb CP Fabriano watercolor paper bound by rings. The first one is of our new house here in NC and the second is a little bird that was sitting on the deck railing singing to me for a few days. I'm not sure what kind of bird it is.

Sterling Hoopla Earrings

I MADE THESE!!! And they turned out pretty cool! I took a class at Panopolie, a cool bead store in Raleigh. They are made of 14 gauge sterling silver wire which I soldered, hammered and textured. Veeeerrrry fun. I've been wanting to get back into more 3D art and this was definitely a fun class. Now onto finding a kiln to replace mine that bit the dust after 2 moves. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands muddy again, it's been too long...

Beeswax!

I took a Beeswax Postcard class at a store here in NC called Artists' Oasis. LOVE the store, LOVE the class, LOVE the result! I just wish I lived closer to the store...

September Doodle Diary

I FINALLY got my scanner to cooperate so I'll post the doodle diary I did for September. I haven't been able to do too much lately with the move but here it is. This was for the Blue Haze yahoo group swap.

Lettering

Just some more lettering in the previous style.

Happy!

Here's a little doodle I did for an anniversary card I'm about to send. It's Micron pens and Zig markers- LOVE them!

The Sunroom

My favorite room in this house.

Roses

These lasted much longer than the orchid and were/are beautiful!
I've started using Fabriano cold press paper and I'm loving it. By far my favorite thing to work on lately.

Petunias

I sketched this tonight pretty quickly. I haven't used hot press paper much and I'm not sure how much I like it for watercolor so far...

Watercolor Journal Pages

Here are a couple recent pages. I had to sketch the orchids quickly since they didn't last long. They were beautiful though.

New Outfit

Not for me, but doesn't she look so much better in her new black attire? Waaaaayyy cool! I still need to name her...

Calligraphy Exchange

They are done and on their way! Here's an example of what I did- with a portion of the addy blurred for privacy. I included the handwritten quote and a photo of an orchid I took at White River Garden in Indy.
This one was sent to Angela, a Calligrapher friend of mine in Washington state. She is AMAZING. If you ever need a Calligrapher, contact her!

Jimmy the cardinal

I made this poster for my son's school. The principal is retiring this year and this is for the farewell open house. It's almost 7 feet long so I put the kids in there for scale.

ATC Swap

The theme this month is "children" and since I have 2, well, I just had to use them. It kind of looks like there is a halo over J's head.

Charm Swap

I had only planned on making a few like this but the other method I wanted to use didn't work out well so I made them all like this.

Good Old Watercolors

I'm working on a swap for the Calligraphy Exchange yahoo group. The theme this time is flowers and as I was trying to come up with an idea I started doodling in my sketchbook. I was reminded of how much I love the simple look of ink and watercolors. So simple, so pretty.

ATCs

I thought I'd post some of the ATCs I've made recently for the Indy Altered Arts group. This group has really opened my eyes to altered art and I'm learning so much.

Tagged!

Bianca from the Indy Altered Arts group tagged me the other day. I have to list 6 weird things about myself and then tag 3 other people. Here you go:

1. I can touch the tip of my nose with my tongue
2. I can tie cherry stems in a knot with my tongue
3. I secretly want to be a Charlie's Angel
4. I have 7 earrings in my left ear and only 2 in my right. Everyone thought I'd "outgrow" them but at 36 I have no plans to let them go.
5. I superstitiously turn the volume down to a certain # in my car before I shut it off
6. I'd wash my car every day if it were warm enough

I'm tagging Mitzi, Nicolette and...one more person I have yet to figure out!

Still A Chick

I'm so NOT a girly girl. I'm not into doilies and frilly stuff and I get very irritated if I can't wear jeans. I like to say I'm unique. One of my most favorite compliments came from a guy friend who said "You're one of the guys but you're still a chick." I love it! That pretty much sums me up.

Since I'm "still a chick" there is just SOMETHING about dress forms that I love. I found this one at Home Goods the other day and HAD to bring it home. I want to put her in the studio but there just isn't any room. She's not as tall as me but is definitely life size at about 58" tall. Right now she's in the corner of our bedroom hanging out and looking cool. I think I might spray paint her black but I'm not sure yet. Yes, she has this weird birdcage-like hole in her belly but I'm thinking a bucket of colored pencils or some other art supply would fit nicely.

Unfortunately the husband doesn't share my enthusiasm. He keeps asking if he can bring home a neon Miller Lite sign. I say find a Sam Adams one and we'll talk. See, I can still hang with the guys ;)

Long Time No Blog...

Wow has it been a long time since I posted anything here! I HAVE been busy, just not blogging about it! I thought it was time to at least post a pic of the studio so here you go. It's pretty small but much bigger than the kitchen table I used to work on so you won't catch me complaining! The kids and husband still call it the "office" but I say once there are more art supplies than office supplies, it's a STUDIO!

I was going to have my very handy husband built me the dream table but then I found this one. I did have my husband build me the rubber stamp shelf hanging on the wall. I designed it and he built it out of 1x2" pieces of pine and then I painted it black. LOVE that too. It's so nice to have them all out on display instead of crammed in boxes. This way they actually get used.