AEDM Day 30 - I did it!!

I can't believe I did it! I am so proud of myself :) I really didn't think I would be able to do AEDM for the entire month *wow*!
I create an illustration of  this quote as my last entry because its one of my favorites, because I love to illustrate quotes and it means alot to me. Most importantly because I find that I have been using my age more and more to avoid or make excuses to not do or try something, whether its new or scary or... whatever. It's all in my head - just words. This is a great reminder!

I am also so glad I did this challenge because I got to meet so many terrific people! I can't wait to see what everyone continues to do and I look forward to keeping up with all my new artist friends! I have already signed on with Lynn at Blue Skies to participate in her December Linky! You can go to the Blue Skies site and find out more. Here is a bit of info, but do visit Lynn!

When:

Every Friday in December.

(2, 9, 16, 23 and 30th)

Where:

Blueskies 

Every Friday for the month of December, (the 2, 9,16, 23 and 30th)

you can join in. Share your moment that you were able to "TAKE GOOD CARE OF."

Post it on your blog, link it to this Blue Skies and we can all encourage each other through the month.

Happy Holidays in December to everyone and I am looking forward to seeing all the art to come in December and in the new year! I hope people still keep visiting me and I love love love comments and conversing with you all! Bless your face ;))

Day 28 + 29 More Ink and Doggie Treats

 Double duty here at the end of the month! Work is pretty busy and creating artwork is




Moleskine sketch of Dog Biscuits

 taking a bit of a back seat for me these past few days, unfortunatley. I really would like to keep at creating at least once a day, after the challenge is over....we'll see:)  The art group I am in will keep things busy but I think that I can do even just a little something on a daily basis. I really ought to work on Etsy a bit more but I am pretty discouraged with my shop for the moment. I need to refresh!




Continuing with my color inks. I like this quote and have done it several times!



Through this challenge, I have met so many nice people who happen to be awfully good artists! I love jumping on and looking at all the terrific blogs. Off to look at some now!

AEDM Days 26 + 27 - INKYDINK

 On Saturday, Day 26, I visited Michaels and purchased these W/N Inks. I had a 50% coupon so I had to get them ;) To hell, with Christmas shopping! I tried them out last night and continued on this morning, Day 27. I tried using a brush as well as my calligraphy pens. They aren't too forgiving so  typical method of 'winging it' isn't working out as well as it usually does. LOL!



My attempt at using the inks like watercolor. They dry super fast! No chance for fooling around and pushing colors..






George Eliot quote

 








I love this Buddha quote... I just found it recently

 So this is the last day of the long weekend. We're going to run over to IKEA and then off to our friends' home to help them trim their tree. They are much organized than us. We're trying to remember where our tree is:) Last year we had a real one but this year I'm going to stick with our lovely artifical tree. It really is so lifelike and easy! Have a wonderful day and happy Day 27!

AEDM Day 25

 Day 25 Sketch on the train going to and coming from NYC

I had high ambitions for sketching while in NYC but I didn't get anything done except on the train! Hope everyone is having a good Saturday!

AEDM Day 24 ~ White on White collage [Happy Thanksgiving]



This Is How We Do It

I've put the final touchs on my collage today! The group at Art(that Matters) is presenting a show called White On White and it was decided that all art is to be all white. Since I do watercolor primarily I knew I'd have to venture out of my comfort zone if I were to do something following that criteria. I went to Home Depot and picked all the paint chips in the white section. There were hundreds of whites!! So I made this collage then painted over with some white acrylic paint. I glued it all down on to a masonite board. I like how it came out. Not sure if I'll attempt another collage soon, its alot of work!

We took our little trip into the city to see the parade and I took loads of photos. I'll post all of them on my Flickr photostream later this evening. Here are a few favorites:



We took the LIRR into Penn. It was early :) Joey's looking tired!



70th Street and CPW... They were out in full force!

 



Beautiful day for a parade!



detail



Broadway



Tree at the Althrop Building , Upper West Side

Chestnuts are out, that means Christmas is here!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

AEDM Day 23 - Things to Remember

 

inside flap


  

I took another stab at the india ink and I love it! I just need a better brush and I'm going to try with a nib as well. I have to first figure out where they are! My office looks organized but get into that closet and its a disaster. Why oh why do i need three half  full art tool boxes? I have to consolidate ALOT of things. Something for the New Year's resolution list!

Well, tomorrow is Thanksgiving and Joe, Carl and I are hopping on the train and heading for uptown NYC to catch a look at the parade. We're positioning ourselves away from the midtown crowd and going up to where it starts. I plan on bringing my sketch book and hope I don't enjoy the parade so much that I forget to sketch LOL. I think Joey is going to really enjoy it. I just hope the weather holds up because we'd love to trip about after the parade... I have a feeling we're going to just 'wing' dinner as we don't have any hard plans. Having said that, there is still a big meal in our near future, as we always go to my sister's Day After Thanksgiving Dinner. She's a nurse and works on Thanksgiving Day. So her DATD is becoming more and more of a tradition for us.

AEDM ~ Day 22 A Lesson in India Ink

I finished my cover this morning. I started on it last night and was so upset that I had ruined the front of my journal! But I kept at it and now I am satisfied. I just kept adding and adding. I had to laugh because Pauline's blog post yesterday was all about this exact process!

I recently bought india ink at Blicks, after being pursuaded by my favorite salesman there. I haven't used this in such a long time but I remember in college using a brush so I took out my worst one because I was afraid of what the ink would do to a good one. After reading the bottle I found out that its waterproof . Now I need to get some brush soap, I think. I'm happy with the results and am going to put a set of colored inks on my Christmas list. That or a gift card:)

This past weekend I went to a fantastic Christmas fair. It's at a small church near to my parents' home. They have the best stuff there! I got this terrific composition notebook with the cover (check out the inside flap and pocket on front) for [get this] $3.00! The prices are too low! They had a homemade table runner for $7! You've gotta love it.

AEDM Days 20 + 21

Sunday

Monday

Since I was out at doctor appointments on Friday I tried to catch up with work on Sunday (Day 20) so I am a bit behind. On Sunday, I tried to work a bit on another of my abstract paintings and then this morning I carved a few more new stamps . At first I thought they were too simple, particularly the square ones, but there is so much that can be done with them. I'm going to use them tomorrow in my handmade journal. Here are some photos from the past few days from Long Island:

This is a picture of our back yard from last Friday, there is a big deck off the back of the house and up top is a dog run. The development is very hilly! More leaves are on the deck this morning.... All the rest came down yesterday.

This is a photo of a house at the corner of Hill and Glen Cove. The trees here were so beautiful and vibrant! There all gone now, this morning. I drove past and everything is on the ground and raked up.

Close up of a yellow one:)

Last but not least, by any means, is Delilah, the latest addition to the family. My sister's family adopted this cutie pie last week and we paid a visit to her and the rest of the brood on Saturday. Isn't she cute? She's a jumpy one for sure!

AEDM Day 19 ~ Today is the Day

It certainly is! It's 9:30 now and getting on my way to Suffolk to hit some holiday fairs. I have my day's art work done and I feel so organized! I have gotten to my third page in my handmade journal! Plugging along here:))Here are some of my handmade lino stamps. I have to ask Santa for some new stamp pads this year. Right now I am working with chalk pads, which are okay but I would like to get some nice juicy new stamp pads with cool colors. Goes on the dream list.

The sun is shining, its not too cold and leaves are falling as I type this. I think I am over my spell of insomnia and I am so delighted...fingers crossed:) Hope everyone is having a wonderful Saturday, enjoy the day!

AEDM Day 17+18 - A Likeness of My Mom

I tried to catch her from a photo. Boy, portraits are tough. I wrote a 'Likeness' rather than a "Portrait". More of a caricature..I like the loose feel and I didn't do a underlying sketch, I just drew it with my markers. I have to say the left side of her face is spot on but the right, I got carried away I guess. I have a nice photo of my sister and another of my two brothers and my son. I'd like to take a stab at those. I suppose it I were to do a true caricature it would involve exaggerating one specific feature (?). Don't know. Work has been super busy so I had a good run of it but the coming days are going to be tough as my colleague is on vacation and I'm helping to cover him. ..I am soooo looking forward to Thanksgiving and having those four days off. woohoo.

AEDM -Day 16 Pasta in the Pantry

{click to see a larger view on flickr!}

My finished page, detailing the influx of carbs in my home this weekend. I get that tomato sauce at Waldbaums. It's so good and organic too. She even gave me the ricotta (2) and the blocks of mozzarella cheese (2).

Below are my pages from this afternoon. I brushed the colors in quickly after I ate lunch. Then back to work. I've been busy and worked till 7:30 tonight. My good husband made the baked ziti dinner. He didn't cut the cheese into cubes like I do but everyone has their own way of doing things and it was delicious as ever. He's a much better cook than I will ever be and more adventurous.

The page colors are off in this photo. the pink/red page looks orange/red here:) that green page is for tomorrow, maybe.

AEDM Day 15 - Tiny Buddha

This is my first page in my new handmade journal. I am going to title my journal "What I See".

As I journaled, I first noticed this little sculpture while out for a walk and I was delighted. I get happier and happier as the days go by because no one has lifted him :) Maybe they don't see him because he's so small (1"h)? Or he looks so quiet they don't want to disturb him? For whatever reason, I like when I see him...So the sketch started of a bit hairy. I don't usually use Fabriano watercolor paper and its quite different from my beloved Arches CP. Its alot more rough. So I began the sketch using a thicker pointed marker but I forgot that it not water resistant! So I continued on and then decided to use my thin Staedtler markers for color and , silly me, those are not water resistent either. I decided what the heck and put my brush in the water and figured I'll do my best! The colors ran quite a bit but I was able to control them pretty well, in my opinion. I added a little bit of watercolor here and there and got this done pretty quickly. Its 12 now and I started it all at 10:45... sloppy but quick. Thanks for stopping by and reading about my tiny friend.

AEDM Day 14 - Once and Again

I avoided the large empty white journal and decided to paint another abstract. Tomorrow I'll attempt the journal I made this weekend:) I trying to keep with a theme/style here with the abstracts I have painted so far. My colleagues at Art(that matters) are very supportive and give me alot of tips and encouragement. I also have to say that support I get on Flickr is amazing and I've met so many nice and super talented artists on there as well as thru AEDM!! Its all good.

AEDM Day 13 Afternoon Performance

Coming in a little late tonight...back from Mom and Dad's. Mom took me and the kids to a show at SB Staller Center. The show was for all ages and we all had lots of fun. The kids had a great time as did Mom. So while waiting for the show to start I took out my sketchbook and pen and drew what I saw. Tomorrow I'm going to start on my new journal book that I made yesterday. I'm going to have a think on what I'll do..Good night!

AEDM Day 12 ~ Making Journals.

This is a sketch I did a few weeks back.. this morning I added color:) The other creative activity I did was create this AWESOME journal. I found a post on Elvie Studio's blog about a tutorial by Teesha Moore. A very cool activity, making a journal out of a single sheet of 30x22 watercolor paper:) I can't wait to fill it!
What a beautiful Saturday in NY! Mom, Dad and Eric swung by this afternoon. Mom and I took a trip to Michaels. I was pleasantly surprised at the register. The two circle punches I purchased were on sale 40% off and I had a 25% coupon that could be applied to sale items. All is right with the world. When we returned home we found out Dad had made a few trips to the local stationery store, he won $25 on a scratch off ticket, went back to cash in bought a few more, won $50, repeat, then $25, repeat, then finished off with $5. I think I got that straight, nevertheless Pop is on a winning streak. Boy, was he delighted, it was so much fun. That is his only vice, scratch-offs, haha! go figure. This evening mom helped me put together two journals. I tried to convince her to take one but I think she had more fun just putting it together:)

AEDM DAY 11 ~ Tape and Sticker job

this is what I am working on inside.

The other day I put my white gel pen to my moleskine cover and 1) I wasn't thrilled with what I drew and 2) the gel stuff never truly dries it just stays sticky and leaves white on whatever it touches :( I decided to take some K&Company stamp stickers I have and my washi tape and cover up the white mess! I think it looks cute. I like the image so much I made it a wallpaper on my iPhone! I love that about the phone. I used to have the Android but switched when my plan came due. I jumped at the chance to get an iPhone. I love that it is almost the same as my other favorite, the iPad. Having said that I still like the PC most of all but the other two are fast runners-up!

AEDM Day 10 ~ Jar of Tape

I got this great jar of tape but NEVER use it. It's like the blank canvas syndrome! I like to just look at all the great colors and daydream as to what great craft I can do with them but I never get around to it! Crazy I know... I have some washi tape in there (awesomeness) and the rest is a great crepe-type tape (super colors). I should commit to using that tape during this challenge. I just have to figure out what craft is 'tape-worthy' enough to use it. haha!

AEDM Day 9 ~Another Rumi

I found this site online that has these amazing quotes and I am stuck under "R" for Rumi...I just love his stuff. I ought to get serious and buy a book to use as reference. I try to be clever sometimes and it usually ends up backfiring on me but I'm a little too snarky to go full blown bewilderment, even though I know thats the place to be.

I am working alot these days and staying up late working, not feeling so good, then on to grumbling a little bit about everything....even this challenge! Gee I'm 9 days in and all pissy because I have to draw a bit.. But I have to remember that art is what I need to get through the tough days, lousy doctor visits and general wise ass-iness that comes in my life from all directions. Art's my tonic, the penicillin ... pretty bewildering I suppose ;)

AEDM Day 8

Like that old Queen song goes "It's late, it's late, it's late, but not too late" Bringing up the rear tonight. I am held back by sixth grade homework, ugh! Oh well , its all good:)) I should have got out the watercolors but I was too tired so I used my thin markers...I am fine with them but the colors could be better...always! Now that Queen song is in my head! I loved the band as a kid. My older cousins followed them and of course I listened to it too, due to them. I wish I had the chance to see them in concert. Whenever I hear Freddie Mercury I have to smile.

AEDM ~Day 7 - Cloudiness and Ropes of Rain

Coming in again late...oh well:)) I did this drawing originall on black board with white gel pen but it didn't looks so great to me, so I switched up the colors in Picnik. I put the black one down below too. Hope everyone is enjoying this challenge. I am having a great time checking out people's blogs as well as meeting up with others on Flickr. I went to Art(that Matters) tonight for our bi-monthly meeting. We're planning a show in December called "White on White" and all the artwork has to be done in white or slight variations of white with tints of colors. I have tried a few ideas but still having a think about it:) This is tough! But it will be fun. We're all getting involved with the hanging, planning, advertising, etc. They've even decided to serve white food at the opening, LOL! They stopped at dressing in all white.