Loose water coloring 2020

I've been trying to learn how to be more loose in my water coloring painting. I mean how hard can it be to make a simple tree? When ever I try, my tree leans right even if I turn the page at an angle. I've watched dozen of videos on how to do it too.  Finally after many attempts I tried paint from the bottom up which I've never seen a YouTuber do. And it worked!  I have finally can get a straight tree. Now just have to keep working on being loose and not overwork it. 

Since I had so many test runs, I decided to turn them into Christmas cards for my upcoming card swaps. another great thing besides learning something new is I'm shopping from my stash for the swap. Didn't have to go out and buy anything. Now I just hope the USPS is still up and running at the end of the year. 

Tim Holtz inks - Water Color 2020

Tim Holtz was doing product videos every Saturday during the shut down. It was so inspiring and encouraging to use your art supplies and just play. I had this Penny Black stamp for years and finally broke it out. :) 

Working in the garden and playing in the dirt.

There's nothing better than harvesting things from your garden!  I planted lemon grass years ago and just now using it to make lemon grass mint tea. 

Today I planned to clean up and cut back my lavender plants now that the bees are done with them. I'm also making a new zen garden area so when I look out my kitchen window I see something peaceful. 

Water color brush holder - ash tray 2020

Not being a smoker or coming from a home where anyone smoked, I thought these glass dishes looked like a paint brush. Really I think it was suppose to look like smoke. :)  Anyways I'm using them to hold my brushes when I'm only using a few colors. I add water to the bowl part to use as a palette.  I don't paint a lot, so I also use these ashtrays to hold little bits of whatever I'm working on. I can't remember where I got them but if I had to guess I would say the thrift stores down in Carmel. 

Tim Holtz Stamp Set - 2020

I'ts been a struggle for me to be creative during the lock down and all the other things happening in states. People being just plain stupid about not wanting to wear a mask or treating people unkindly. 
Tim Holtz and Sandy Allnock (people I follow on Youtube) have always been encouraging to just have fun and play with your art supplies. What's the point of collecting them but never use them? My work table has been a little lonely and the cobwebs had started forming. 
I modified one of TH stamps to make the stem bend more and tried my hand at water coloring with distress ink, something I've never done before. This process took several weeks because I could only sit for a few minutes at a time. My creative mojo would just vanish. 

Estate Sale Find 2020 - Vintage 8 Foot Bench

I'm a picker from way back and one of the number one rules of the game is when you see it, buy it. I wasn't always a big fan of estate sales because it made me sad when you go into someone's house and get a small snapshot of their life. I guess when I first started out I went to smaller estate sales and it was just very sad. 
While in Carmel I went to some estate sales because I was bored and the vibe was very different. The homes where bright and sunny with a lot of character. The people had traveled and collected many different  things, a life well lived. 
A good friend recently had an estate sale at her parents home after her father passed away. They were very kind people and avid collectors. They liked to support local artists so collected many things.  My daughter had just moved to a new condo in S.F. the same week of the sale so I asked about the 8 foot long bench that was used at the kitchen table. Luck would have it that is was for sale and I got first dibs on it.  My daughter's condo has a very long and wide hallway and I thought it would not only look great but be functional. Being a very original piece of furniture, I knew I wasn't come across one again and not many homes have the space for it. The major issue was getting it up to S.F. I was lucky it fit into my car (by just an inch) if I rolled down the windows. So as you can see, it's getting used and I know J&J would be very pleased it went to a good home. 

Grandson Mees born June 30, 2020

My grandson Mees (pronounced Mace - it's Dutch) was born a little early on June 30, 2020. Took a week before I got to meet him in person. He's doing very well and his parents are working on his feeding and sleeping schedule. Many more sleepiness nights ahead! :) 

Handling Stress

A friend posted what you do doing stressful times. I had to really think about it for awhile. My work schedule is crazy, not because it's very physical (I am always moving when working) but dealing with all the new procedures because of the virus and how people are reacting to them. It's very draining mentally. :(
To me cooking is a creative outlet. Using what I already have in my kitchen and garden is what I enjoy and calms my brain. I sometimes follow a recipe but most of the time I just wing it. I made this stewish thing becasue I had a big can of tomato sauce. Not sure how I ended up with it since I don't eat things from a can. I didn't even own a can opener until recently.  Everything came from what I already had and it turned out great!

Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks 2020

If you're into crafting, you have to watch Tim Holtz's Facebook videos he has been doing every Saturday during the shut down. The videos are two hours long. Tim goes into details (reason the videos are so long) about the product, why it was developed (that's the part I like most) and what you can do with it. It's so inspiring to watch and encouraging to just be creative. I have it playing while I'm cleaning up my work table. Yes it takes hours for me to get things cleaned up. :) 
The crane is a die I borrowed from a friend so I don't know the company that makes it. The gold is wallpaper from FabMo, which is now open. You can find some really cool stuff in the wallpaper section.
 I do plan to add a sentiment to the card at some point but the inspiration just hasn't hit yet. Having too much fun making backgrounds. Thanks Tim!!!!

In the garden 2020

It's been a crazy month working 6 days a week while my office figures out all the new protocols we have to follow. We had hopes that the rest of the staff would return but with the virus spiking with places opening up, we're still working with a skeleton crew. 
Spending time in my garden is my escape from all the stress. Annie likes it too, more time to play fetch. 
My daughter likes spearmint tea so I started growing it in my garden making sure not to mix it up with my regular mint. I let my
cilantro (the white flowers) and regular mint flower for the bees. I really don't use cilantro but it's easy to grow, nothing likes to eat it and the bees love it. :) 

Get Well Card for Tui

One of Annie's doggie buddies was attacked by a coyote a few weeks ago. Tui was in her yard with her owner going into the house. It is strange for the coyote to get that close to a human let alon
e that close as they were going into the house! She has a case on her front leg but is doing well. 
Where I live every property owner has to clear their hillsides of all weeds so it's been non stop weed whackers and chain saws. People are also cutting down trees because of the wild fires CA has had. It's sad to see the trees go down but I'm sure the insurance companies are having a say in all that. With all that happening there are a lot of sticks on the ground, which is a favorite of Annie. She keeps bringing me them to me to throw. I saw on Pinterest someone had wrapped yarn around a tree branch so I decided to use a stash of "thrums" (end cuts from a loom) and give it a try. Then I thought it would make a cute card to send to Tui, Annie sending one of her favorite things all dressed up. 

Alter art house - 2020

I was inspired by all the big YT artists I follow on just making art for the fun of it and using what you have. 

For me, when I'm in a creative blah time, I just break out my twinkling H2O watercolors (I like the shimmer of the watercolors and I have a lot of them) and slap color down on paper. Never sure what I will do with the paper once I'm done with it but I know at some point in the future I will find a use for it. 

I saved a post from Pinterest about making these little houses from the paper used to protect your work surface when painting. I decided to give it a try. I realized that the artist who posted the original photo had to have made some of the elements (color of windows, doors etc...) to accent her houses because I doubt that those highlights would have been randomly found on her scrap paper but still a great idea!

My card design sat on my desk for a few days because I wanted to add a sentiment but could find the right one. I also don't have a printer at home or stamp letters small enough to write my own. During this down time of having to stay home I put all my wood mounted stamps that I store in my printer's cabinet back in order of theme. Over the years they have gotten put back in wrong drawers. Two hours later, everyone was in the correct place and I found the perfect stamp for my card. It is an old  wood mounted Amuse stamp from years ago. 

So today I'm going to try and finish off a dozen cards to send off to my friends. There are weeds outside that need my attention but with unlimited time at home now, one more day won't  make any difference. :)