Warmth

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

(Well! That lettering didn't work out, did it?)

Got a brochure in the mail today for CPE sessions in faraway, warm resort locales. I took one look at this cover and thought, "Ohhh...I want to go there!"

Kudos to the advertising guys for this company. They made me want their product.

It was cold, wet and icky today. I wanted to be anywhere warm. The chill was seeping through all my layers of clothing. I just couldn't get warm enough.

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Process notes:
I was tired of the same old title lettering I've been using. It's quick, easy, and brainless so I tend to use it quite a bit. I wanted to experiment with a different kind of lettering. Um, *FAIL*.

I couldn't figure out which parts of the letters should be fat and which should be just single lines. I guess I need to work out the whole alphabet so the letters will at least appear to be from the same font type. I've got a mixture of styles going on here. Not good. But a sketchbook is the place to work through that kinda stuff, right???

Christmas Loot - Returns

Monday, December 27, 2010

Hubby gave me three really cool hoodies and some gloves for Christmas...all the wrong size. He said he was afraid the hoodies would be too large when in fact they were too small.

Bless his heart, in his eyes I'm still that little slip of a girl he married 30 years ago. I so love him for that. He can make that kind of sizing mistake year after year after year.

But he thinks I have gigantic hands.

So tonight we exchanged the three little girly hoodies and big boy gloves for one big boy hoodie and two pairs of little girly gloves and a girly scarf...just exactly what I needed.

He's such a sweetie. I think I'll keep him around for a while longer.

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Process notes: Those red bows on the gloves aren't permanent fixtures. That would be waaay too girly-girl for me.

Added bonus of buying stuff today: 60% off after-Christmas sale!

Possum Christmas

Saturday, December 25, 2010 - Christmas Day

Clan Speck gathered at the farm this evening for our Christmas celebration. There were 16 folks this year and food for 50.

The evening was enjoyable and uneventful - until we were about to leave. Hubby was locking up the garage when he saw a nekkid tail disappear around the mower, then into the well pump alcove. He found two teenaged possums huddled there, bedding down for the night.

The alarm was sounded and the whole house emptied to see the critters and to take photos. Much ewwwwing and squealing ensued.

I learned that if you poke a possum with the handle of a leaf rake he will curl up in a ball and "play possum." You can pick him up and tote him away by the tail. Learn something new every day.

The possum pair were relocated to the edge of the woods via tail (by two of the Brothers Speck, not Hubby.)

The farm dogs didn't seem interested in chasing them, didn't even bother to sniff them as they were being toted away. Those farm dogs are worthless as critter chasers! They were probably sharing their dog food with the possums.

The possums will probably find their way back to the doghouse and spend the night there. Good Grief!

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Process notes:
The critter drawn here does not resemble an Arkansas possum in the least. Please don't get the impression we have some genetically altered possum species living here.

The title of this entry in my journal reads "POSSOM CHRITMAS." The spellchecker on my Pentel Pocket Brush Pen was broken. Managed to fix Christmas digitally. Gave up on trying to fix all the possoms. I *knew* that didn't look right.

Wrapping Paper

Friday, December 24, 2010 - Christmas Eve

Actually it is 3:00 AM Christmas Day. I should go to bed but I'm not at all tired. I've cooked all day for tomorrow's family gathering while Hubby played golf. I was happy not to have him underfoot all day.

He and his golf buddies came in from the course and shed man-smells in my living room for 2-3 hours while making lewd comments* about women golfers on TV. (eyeroll) Why do they revert to junior high locker room mentality when they run in packs???

Realized I hadn't wrapped the gifts for the nieces so I dug out an old but unopened roll of wrapping paper. There's no telling how long I've had this. It had the cutest peeping characters on it. Had to draw.

I have to get up in just a few hours but do I brush my teeth and put on my jammies? No! I pull out the watercolor palette and the waterbrush.

I'll probably pay for the lack of sleep tomorrow.

Sigh.

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*"Grrrr...She can grip my club like that any time she wants."

The Mailbox

Thursday, December 23, 2010 - Hubby got his mom a new mailbox for Christmas. He worked on getting the post put together and mounting the box on the post.

My job was to get all the stickery bits on the number holder thingy. The white background oval was a reflective sticker and the numbers were peel-n-stick.

When I was finished I trotted it in to show him. I held it up and asked:

Me: "What do you think???"

Him: "Are those her numbers???"

I tipped my head and gave him a look, wondering when it would dawn on him how silly that question was. Yes, of course those are her numbers. I looked up her address to make double-sure before I stuck them on both sides of the thingy.

He seemed earnest in his query and was waiting for an answer, so I gave him one befitting the question.

Me: "Nope, I just picked some random numbers to mess with the mailman's head."

Sigh.

Decorate!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010 - Finally got the house decorated for Christmas today. Better late than never I guess.

I've been wanting to draw these decorations since I pulled them from their box two weeks ago. Yes, I procrastinate.

I love the solemn little snowman. He's my favorite.

A Christmas Story

Saturday, December 18, 2010 - Went to see the holiday lights contest at Mr. Hotdog & Cindy Lou's campsite. Took the hayride tour to see the whole campground, ate a processed hamburger, and drank some hot chocolate that really hit the spot.

The light competition was really fierce this year. The most imaginative display was a lighted canoe adrift on a pond of blue lights.

Mr. Hotdog and Cindy Lou had "A Christmas Story" as a theme, complete with the leg lamp and Red Ryder BB gun. They made a perfect fireplace from a cardboard box and even had fortune cookies in a hubcap.

They won third place. Plans are already being made for next year's competition.

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Process notes: I drew all this from memory. Last year I tried drawing in the darkness out there and decided *that* was for the birds. I could barely see my sketchbook. This year I merely took copious mental notes and drew when I got home.

Really Tall Piano

Tuesday, December 14, 2010 - Sketching with Miz Dee in the lobby of Rehab. We decided to draw the beautiful grand piano and the Christmas tree beyond.

I got the legs on the piano just a *leetle* bit long. LOL! Oh well, it looks kinda like a stand-up bar piano.

Miz Dee says she's bustin' outta Rehab on Saturday come hell or high water. She's ready to be back home in her own bed surrounded by "her own junk."

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Update 12/23/2010 - Miz Dee finally did get home on Saturday, Dec. 18th; 38 days from when this whole ordeal first started. Needless to say, she is doing the Pink Bunny Slipper Happy Dance!

Comp Book Covers

Sunday, December 19, 2010

I've been having a ball making composition book covers. This blue one, "Awesomesauce", was my experimental model.



I started with a piece of blue shirting material and Mod Podged it down to both back and front. Next I Mod Podged the maps down, let it dry, then drew on it with metallic gel pens. A final cost of Mod Podge finished it off. The Mod Podge made the cover slick and durable. I can't feel the texture of the background fabric now.



The "Book of Whatever" was filled with my ramblings on pens, inks and journals before I made the cover. It came out so cool I didn't want to pack it away on the shelf. It has a map on the back too, cut from an old atlas I got at the thrift store for $1.00.

What's so cool about Mod Podge is it is stupid-proof. Thick or thin coats dry equally well and equally hard. It can be sanded smooth, so anything coated with Mod Podge can be sanded down (or off) as well. I don't know why it took me so long to discover this great stuff.

Radar Love

EDM #13 - Draw Your Telephone

Journaling:

Hubby called on his way home to say he was picking up steaks for supper and would be home in about 30 minutes.

When I hung up I stared at the phone for a second thinking I surely would like to click the autodial button and talk to Nana for those 30 minutes. I didn't really have anything to say so I really shouldn't call.

As those thoughts were running through my head as I stared at the phone, it suddenly lit up and started playing Nana's ringtone. Yep, it was Nana calling me!

I told her all this and she laughed saying she didn't really have anything to talk about either. She just wanted to natter a few minutes.

The Radar Love between sisters is a magical and wondrous thing.

Gut Bug

Journaling:

Spent a lot of time here today in a cold, clammy, drenching sweat with "stuff" coming out both ends. (TMI?)

Laying on a bathmat for a long time is tough on the shoulders.

It was not a good day.

Hoarders Marathon

Journaling:

There was and all-day marathon of "Hoarders" on A&E. Watched several episodes from Season 1. Hubby watch a couple with me then got into a cleaning frenzy.

We cleaned up all the stuff sitting around in the dining room. Then we tore apart the living room, bedroom and office, moving furniture from the walls, dusting backs and underneath.

We took pictures off the walls, dusting the backs and behind them. We wiped the baseboards and vacuumed all the rooms. Then we pulled apart the office closet and tossed out a pile of stuff.

The house was sparkling clean after that.

Thank you Hoarders!

Everything Old is New Again

Journaling:

Hubby got out today and worked on refinishing the headlight lenses on his truck. They are plastic and had gotten yellowed and cloudy because of time, heat and sunlight.

When he was finished they looked brand new.

Process notes:
Hubby's truck isn't really that icky color. I was trying an experiment with the watercolors by painting in the shadows first, then the color. It was a big fail. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Taylor Mali - Poet - Teacher

Journaling:
Discovered the joy who is Taylor Mali today. Watch his YouTube videos over and over and got happier at each viewing.

A lawyer once asked him, "Mali, you're a teacher, what do *you* make?" (This was during a conversation about occupations and salaries.)

And Mali replied, "I make a difference. What about you?"

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From one of his poems:

"When two boys are fighting, I break it up. When two girls are fighting I wait until that shit's over then drag what's left to the nurse's office."

Funeral Food

Journaling:
Miz Dee brought us supper of three-cheese lasagna, salad with artichoke hearts, and garlic bread with Parmesan cheese.

She said it's customary in the south to bring food when there's been a death in the family.

God bless her!

RIP Smudge

Took Smudge to the vet for the final time today. She did not put up much of a fight.

We buried her under the bridal wreath bush in the backyard next to Molly and Beluga.

Then we cried.

She was a good kitty.

Holiday Greetings!

Happy Holidays to you folks out there with shining eyes and rosy cheeks who revel in the holiday spirit. For you I have a holiday wreath:



And for you folks who would rather just skip on over to January, I know how you feel. For you I have a deliciously evil snowman who has watched waaaaay to much Home Shopping Network with jingle bell music:



I was having a little Sharpie moment last night.

Hubby said he didn't think the snowman looked evil. I think he actually looks like a psychotic mass-murderer crackhead snowman, but what do I know??? He's kinda giving me nightmares.

Sold!

Woot! Sold my first two pieces of artwork! I was more than a little stunned at that turn of events, considering I didn't want to sell them.

Our local arts center had a membership show and competition. Most of my artwork is bound in my visual journal and runs across a 2-page spread. I didn't have anything frameable except the last few Urban Sketches I've done which were bound in a spiral sketchbook.

I did want to support the arts center with the entry fee and some artwork so the gallery walls wouldn't be so nekkid. Support your local arts!

So, with chagrin, I cut the sketches out of my sketchbook, matted and framed them. I tagged them with a price I didn't think anyone would pay for a sketchy-sketch. To my amazement they both sold!

Arrrggghhhh! I actually wanted to keep them. I rillyrilly didn't think they would sell.

The lady at the arts center told me that they could have sold at least 6-8 prints of Elm Street Bakery if they had been available. Oy. I have no idea how to make an arty print.

Here they are, matted and framed:

Elm Street Bakery




Hammond Shed



To the unknown purchasers:

Thank you so much for buying my little sketches and supporting our little local arts center. I hope they bring you much enjoyment.

When visitors look at them, tip their head to one side, and with a puzzled expression say, "They're so......" and struggle for the right word....

Quirky.

Quirky is the word they will be searching for there.

Just trying to be helpful.

Speck