Jumping From One Project to Another

knitting a hat

crocheting a scarf like object

making an art  journal

painting

my "art studio"

my "art studio" "work table"

a pile of dollies (previously destined for Ebay or Etsy)

It's just plain crazy. Instead of focusing on one craft project, I keep switching to a different one. Knitting. Crocheting. Painting. Journal Making. Arrrggh. And the sad thing is I'm doing a sloppy job on all of them.  Case in point: I've been making my art journals for the last several years and I still end up with holes spaced unevenly on the spine, pages too big to fit in the covers (even though I thought I had measured and cut carefully,)  gloppy paint and glue on the front and back covers. AND, I should be outside taking care of fall garden tasks OR starting to get ready for our trip to Portland at the end of this upcoming week. 

It's Here!

First Tiny Fallen Leaves on Sidewalk

More Tiny Paintings on Canvas

Girl Wearing Green Scarf Turban

I like tiny stuff so naturally I like to do paintings on these little 2x3-in. canvasses.

Yellow Haired  Boy...Brown Haired Girl...Grey Haired Girl

Girl Standing in Sunflowers watercolor on paper 11x14 (too big to fit on scanner--had to scan it in two parts.) I couldn't get accurate colors, even adjusting in photo shop. The sunflower leaves are actually green and there is more orange on flowers themselves.

Ghostly Girl (gouache on canvas board 5x7) She is actually not quite this pale.

Double Feature Guy (acrylic on canvas 9x11)  I'll probably keep working on this a bit.

Dancers

Some more water color paintings on paper ( Dancers)

A little sketchbook painting of  "a couple."

Some Links to My Favorite Children's Online Magazines

I've always loved children's "fashion"  magazines, especially those with beautiful, interesting and sometimes quirky photography and art.  (O.K. I liked Highlights for Children (Goofus and Gallant!!!)  when I was a child --always read it in the dentist/doctor office-- and Ranger Rick when my kids were little and of course Cricket Magazine.)

When I worked in "advertising" I loved Child magazine. I think Cookie  tried to replace that.  Both gone. 

So here are the children's online magazines I like now...(thank you  decor8blog.com)

fryd

papier mache

la  petite magazine

small magazine

And once again Blogger...why can't I get the rest of the links to be in the same color as this????

Four Little Paintings on Canvas

a very very  tiny painting (2x3 in.)

trying to paint a watercolor on small canvas (2.5x3.5)

an acrylic painting of a man for a change(3x5)

an acrylic painting on canvas of a  woman with greenish hair (4x6)

a  little sketchbook painting (3.5x5)

another little sketchbook painting

More Blogs I Like

Squirkworld  Lots of knitting, crocheting, and general craftiness along with interesting musings on a number of things including migraines and music! (Squirky also happens to be my daughter.)


Crazy Aunt Purl  More knitting, cats, and general hilarity. This was the first blog I ever read. (I had googled roll- brim knit hat.)

The Pioneer Woman The second blog I ever read. I don't follow it as frequently as I used to, but do check in every once in awhile. Evidently there is a movie in the works based on this woman's blog/life. Ranch life, cooking, home decor, kids, and homeschooling. She's also very funny.

And artist's blogs I follow. Beautiful photos, artwork, lifestyles.

Misty Mawn 

Kelly Rae Roberts

Judy Wise   I'm taking a workshop with her in Portland this fall!


Teesha Moore  The artist that inspired me to start doing art journals several years ago. She's amazing!

Ornamental  Nina Bagley writes so eloquently about her life and her art.

Sanctuary Art  Love her decorating projects and general craftiness. Also her  music playlist.

Cathy Cullis  She makes tiny dolls, intricate embroidery pictures, little books and  interesting water colors

(Apologies for the formatting on this. There is something about using Blogger that I don't get...)

Linkies! Home Decor!

 I keep meaning to share my favorite blogs/websites. I have my blogroll that I go through everyday--usually in a certain order. A lot of women artists and crafty people, and a few other non-artist sites as well. But for today, here are a few of my favorite home decor sites.

                                                                   how not to decorate

Lonny Magazine
An online decorating lifestyle magazine. I especially like the current issue.


Decor 8 Blog
A blog that features gorgeous photos of everything decor inspired: magazines, shops, products, photography and photo stylists portfolios.


Apartment Therapy
I'm totally addicted to the home tours on this one.

Next time I'll share some of  my other favorite blogs.

Some Paintings in a Watercolor Booklet...

as if they were in my art journal. I need to make a new art journal, but in the meantime, I'm just grabbing whatever paper I can and drawing/painting/collaging away. The thing is, this "Acquerello" watercolor booklet is 9x4.5"  and  doesn't fit on the scanner to show the whole piece (as I painted it.) So here they are, slightly cropped.

Trying to do Real Art...(i.e. painting on a canvas)

For some reason, I don't consider my previous paintings in my art journal pages "real art." So I had to go out and buy some tiny canvasses to paint on.  That should make it real enough. And here they are! Yep, there is no difference except I can hang them on a wall.  And if I paint a bigger "stretched" canvas that will make it even morel like "real art." Or not. I just like to "do" art. Since I can't figure out how to had a caption to these pictures, I will put them here: upper left painting is acrylic on a 3x5 canvas " Purple Dress Girl." Upper right is a tiny stretched canvas, 2x3 "Grey Nude" watercolor.  The last is a  5x7 canvas painted with gouache (which I love)  called "Flowered Girl."   It's  so interesting and so much fun to try different arts/crafts/painting/knitting/crocheting/doll making/not to mention gardening/cooking/baking/sewing/. I guess I  really like the "art" of being a homemaker/artist/retired person.

Some Watercolor Paintings I've Been Doing Lately

They are all on watercolor "postcards" from a booklet that I have had for a very long time. Too bad the water causes the paper to wrinkle. I put them under a stack of heavy books because I want to straighten them out and maybe frame them.

Rain Storm and Sunflowers

It never fails...as soon as all the sunflowers are at their peak, a big storm comes along and smashes them to the ground. Yes, we badly needed the rain, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Three Herbs that Smell So Good to Me

I love the smell of herbs, crushed between my  fingers or as I'm watering my garden, hit with water that releases their smell. I also love the smell of basil, but mostly the taste of it. And every other herb.

Rosemary in a pot on my deck.

 
Cilantro forming seed berries.

 

And a bonus guest appearance by sweet smelling lavender. And that is thyme in the picture above but I can't get blogger to let me add that text. grrrr.