Frugal Brushes

Journaling:

Found the brush I wanted in a "value pack" at Wal-Mart. 25 brushes for $4.67. That's about 18¢ per brush...and my kind of price.

Yes, I'm a tightwad.

The one I wanted was a 1/2" camel wash brush. I thought I was looking for a shader. Hummm.....

I'm finishing up Journal #4 (4 x 6) and will be going to a larger format with Journal #5 (6 x 9). I figured I needed a larger brush to cover a little more territory. I currently use a 1/4" flat shader (or I thought it was a shader) and a little tiny microscopic liner brush for the fine lines. Even in the 4x6 the 1/4" brush was a bit too little.

My search began.

Pondered on all the brushes at DickBlick.com for a long time. The cheapest brush I found was in the $8-$9 range. Since I don't know beans about brushes I didn't want to spend that kind of money and have it be a crappy brush. I've done that before.

Hubby says I shouldn't say tightwad, I should say frugal. Meh. Same difference. I loath parting with money. I couldn't see spending at least $8.oo for a single brush, plus the shipping (even if I was buying more than just the brush.) I abuse brushes so I don't need shouldn't have expensive brushes.

I know, I know, $8.00 is not an expensive brush. I'm a tightwad, remember?

Went to Wal-Mart and pondered the selection there. Bags o' brushes for $4-$5. Love that kind of pricing. And it looked like the brush I wanted was in there plus several alternatives. Woot! Into the cart.

The other 24 brushes won't go to waste. Hubby will get the bristle brushes for his grease and industrial adhesives. They, hopefully, will keep him out of my "good" brushes. The big nylon brushes will go in the wall painting box because sometimes I need a little bitty brush to get into tight spaces.

I already have a set of small nylon brushes I use for calligraphy so the new ones are duplicates. They will get get gooed up with masking fluid and hit the trash after one use. At 18¢ per brush they aren't worth trying to clean.

All in all, Momma is happy.

And, if you are up surfing the Internet in your jammies at this hour instead of out partying, Happy New Year!

Moo Moo Moo

Journaling:

Hubby got this goofy thing as a Secret Santa gift at work. He moos a chorus of Jingle Bells then poops a piece of candy into the snowdrift.

Um, OK....

Hubby has gone to play with his brothers for the day so I have a kitchen pass today. Still in my jammies at 5:00 p.m. looking at paints and brushes on dickblick.com.

I'm sure this thing makes a statement about American culture today. I'm just not sure what that statement would be exactly.

Church Plate

Journaling:

A souvenir plate from the church I grew up in. Many memories are associated with this church, but not the plate. I'm recording the memories and the plate is going to live with my niece.

The Rest of the Story

These church plates were once a hot commodity. Everybody wanted one and there were few to go around. One hung in my grandmother's kitchen since the beginning of time. Her daughters and granddaughters all said they wanted to have it when she died. Decades later, after she passed away, the granddaughters all got to go through her house and take whatever mementos we wanted.

Mammaw always said she didn't want her family fighting over her stuff when she died. We did, but not in the way she imagined. We argued over who *had* to take things, not who *got* to take things.

"You take it."
"No, *you* take it."
"No *YOU* have to take it."

In the end the church plate was still left hanging on the wall to go in the massive yard sale. I ended up with it since I was the only grandkid who hadn't found one by then.

This church building was built in 1909 and by the early 1970s was literally crumbling to the ground. All the three-story portions were razed and a new building erected on the same site. The six gorgeous stained glass windows were taken apart piece by piece, cleaned, re-leaded and reinstalled in the new building. Daddy was on the building committee for the new church and his name is on the new cornerstone.

The old building was dark and musty and creepy. Doorways had been sealed shut, passageways blocked, rooms were hidden by renovation, and the basement held all kinds of imaginary monsters. It was a child explorer's delight. I can still remember the light (or lack of it), the smell, the creaky back stairs, and the way sounds echoed in various parts of the building.

Kiddo choir practice was Wednesday afternoons right after school. If we behaved we got a soda from the old hump-shouldered Coca-Cola chest cooler. Nu-Grape was my favorite. Then we got to roller skate.

There was a cabinet full of old metal skates, the kind that clamped down to your shoe toe and had a leather strap around the ankle. There was always a wild search for the lone skate key to get them tightened down. I broke my arm skating at church, the only broken bone I've ever had.

On Sunday nights we had MYF (Methodist Youth Fellowship). It was the place to be on Sunday nights if you were a teenager in our little bitty town. Years later I realized some of the kids were Catholic, Jewish and Presbyterian. I thought at the time their families were members of our church. (shrug) I had no idea.

My parents were married in this church, my oldest sister was the first baby baptized in the current baptistry, and she was married in this church as well. There are lots more memories, but that's plenty of ancient history to chew on for the time being.

After Christmas Dinner

Journaling:

After Christmas Dinner at Sissy's House

Brother-in-laws sitting around the table after dinner discussing man-stuff. Sisters are in the kitchen discussing girl stuff. Pie has not yet been eaten.

Prissy Sister after pie. She'll get a kick out of the Madonna halo. (The swirls on the shirt are pale blue. They scanned gray. Grrrrr!)

Sister Nana after pie. She doesn't look like a women's prison matron in real life. Ugh! Sorry Nana!

Note to self:
Need to practice drawing and painting lips!

Christmas Eve - 11:30 PM

I got up this morning and got right to work. Unusual for me. I wrapped the last of the presents, stowed the Christmas wrap for another year, did all the laundry, and cleaned the office. I was finished by 4:00 p.m. and didn't know what to do with myself after that. Usually I don't get started on this stuff until late at night.

Cooked supper, then fell asleep watching "It's a Wonderful Life." Woke up as the credits were rolling so now I'm wide awake. Realized I still needed to draw some family tchochke so I could drop it off with my sisters on Christmas.

Journaling:

I got this old can and ruler from Daddy's workshop back when I was a teenager. I thought they were cool because they were old.

I've been lugging them around for three decades. Not it's time for them to go. Taking them to Prissy Sister to decorate the antique bedroom in her new "old farmhouse."

Journaling:

Daddy's Navy Signal Flags flashcard deck. I'm guessing these are from the Korean War era.

I played with them as a child and must have chewed up a few. Some are missing and some have teeth marks. They are going to live at Nana's house now.

What's on the other side:

1.) E - ECHO - EASY
Hoisted singly means: "I am directing course to starboard"
Morse Code Symbol: (dot)

2.) G - GOLF - GEORGE
Hoisted singly means: "I require a pilot"
Morse Code Symbol: (dash-dash-dot)

3.) Z - ZULU - ZEBRA
To be used to address or call shore stations
Morse Code Symbol: (dash-dash-dot-dot)

4.) EMERGENCY (U.S. Nave Special Pennant)
Means: "Signal (S) Flying are to be obeyed as soon as understood"
Written: EMERG

5.) International Code Two Flag Hoist
NECTAR - NAN
COCA - CHARLIE
Means: "I am in distress and require immediate assistance"

6.) NEGATIVE (U.S. Navy Special Pennant)
Means: "In reply to a signal - "No" or permission not granted"
Written: NEGAT

There are many more than just these six. I just picked the most colorful ones to draw. There were also six vessel identification cards. The front had an actual black and white photo and the reverse had the silhouette and ship specifications.

It is now 2:15 a.m. Christmas morning. I'm going to bed while watching A Christmas Story. "You'll shoot yer eye out kid!" I love this movie.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Presents 2009

These are the Christmas presents I made for my side of the family. I wanted to give them gift cards to restaurants because they are all chow hounds and don't need any more tchochke cluttering up their homes. However, I wasn't sure which restaurants would be appropriate, so I decided green cash always works. That seemed so impersonal so I thought up this cheesecake card and Eat Me® moneyholder.

The inside of the cheesecake card says:

Nobody wants an ugly sweater in the wrong size, another doo-dad to sit around the house and collect dust, or (heaven forbid) any form of underwear for Christmas. Everybody likes to eat but the Post Office smooshes cheesecakes, so the "Eat Me" card was our solution. Let the feasting begin! (OK, so maybe you can feast in January.)

Merry Christmas,

Love,
Hubby & Speck

All the parts were individually hand-cut, hand-drawn, and hand-painted. (I was really sick of drawing cheesecake by the time I was finished.)

The only thing that didn't start out life as a piece of watercolor paper is the purple envelope. Purple is Christmassy, isn't it???

I started these at 11:30 p.m. on December 22 - NOT a good idea to wait to the last minute. I had the whole concept planned in my head for over a month, but procrastination got the better of me.

I worked all night, finished up at 6:00 a.m. Dec. 23, and headed for the Post Office as soon as it opened. The P.O. said the three to be delivered in Arkansas should arrive the next day, Christmas Eve. The one to the Left Coast might make it by Valentine's Day.

I drew the big bow on the purple envelope to convey to the recipients that this part was their present...like a box wrapped with a bow...so they would wait until Christmas Day to open it. Nobody got the concept and opened them as soon as they arrived. Sigh.

I guess I should have drawn a "Do Not Open 'Til Christmas!" sticker on the purple envelope too.


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Footnote:
The Left Coast one finally was delivered so I can post this now on January 23, 2010.

Her Very Own Personal Summer

Don't mess with Momma when she's havin' a hot flash.

Campground Christmas - Process

I'm a big Process Junkie. I like to see the process of making artwork. I don't think I've ever shown any before and after pics of my sketches, mainly because it doesn't occur to me to to scan them at the beginning.

I admire people who can paint on location, really I do. Not my cup of tea though. I'm usually doing good just to get the foundations of the sketch drawn. I lay down a few basic lines, try to remember details, maybe take a few reference photos. Then I come home and add a liberal dose of paint and imagination.

I didn't get a good look at the sketches I had drawn at the campground until I got home. It was *very* dark out there, plus I am getting old and need lots of light to see well these days.

The "before" sketches are just as I drew them on-site. The "after" sketches are after much pondering on how to portray lights in blackness without using masking fluid, and several hours hunkered over a paint palette.

I didn't draw their feet because I couldn't *see* their feet. It was complete inky blackness from the waist down even with the campfire.