She Never Shuts Up!

In third grade a new boy moved into the neighborhood. He was from Greece and didn’t speak a word of English. The teacher said, “Put him next to Robin. He’ll learn English faster that way, she never shuts up!”

I was both proud and insulted at the same time!

Having a Play Date With Myself

This little guy has a motion detector in it. When you walk by it starts to laugh hysterically and rolls back and forth until it sounds like it has exhausted itself. You can't help but laugh along with it. Sometimes the cat sets it off. She is not amused, but we laugh like hell!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY FRIEND!

Bad Hair Cut

I feel like that poor pathetic poodle you see who has just come from the groomer. You know, the one with the pink bows in its fur, the pom-pom cut and painted toe nails. You can just see on their face how embarrassed they are!

(and the really pathetic part is, I cut my own hair!)

Reality Check

Boy, start feeling just a little bit sorry for yourself and life gives you a reality check.

There I was, sitting in the ‘inner’ waiting room, feeling just a tad hard done by. Tired of being poked and prodded and just generally manhandled by the medical profession and there sitting across from me is a lovely lady.

We smile at each other and in due time start to compare notes.

I take it ALL back. All the moaning and groaning and complaining. Compared to this smiling, stalwart woman I've had it easy!

Just when you think you’ve reached a point of having had enough, life shows you how easy it’s really been.

I am humbled.

I Learned a New Trick

I learned a new trick today. My hot flashes have gotten so bad I now fog up my own glasses!

Sitting still!

Ain’t menopause grand?

Leap of Faith

Well, just slid in under the deadline! 

 This is what I finally settled on for my submission to the 25^th Annual All Florida Juried Exhibition. (third time’s the charm, right? Lol)



'Family Portrait'





library

Now it’s a waiting game.

I guess this could be considered part of this month’s Sketchbook Challenge theme “branching out.’ I find the hard part is putting myself out there and entering.

I don’t really care if I get accepted or not. Well, okay, I care, but that’s not the part that matters. It’s putting myself out there and DOING that matters. Acceptance is just the icing on the cake.

Don’t get me wrong. If I get juried in you’ll be able to hear my gleeful shriek of happiness for miles. But if I don’t, it will be okay and I’ll try again next year.

One of my favorite quotes is “When we make such a leap of faith, it is the actual stepping out that creates a bridge to see us safely to the other side.” Soren Kiekegaard

(deep, ain't I? lol)



Note to Self

You need to sketch every day!

No matter what the subject is, just get out your pen and DO IT!

No excuses! 

Quick, straight to pen sketches.

Avoidance

I seem to be avoiding finishing the faces I was working on. I don’t know why.

Or maybe I do.

Fear of messing them up? Fear that they won’t turn out as well as I had hoped? Fear that they will be rejected?

Basically fear.

So instead of doing the work I SHOULD be doing, I’m doing this.

Hello

My name is Killer.

I’m a big scary guard dog.

I protect my pack and my home.

No other dogs in the neighborhood dare come in my yard because they know I’ll kick their ass!

Woof!

Scathingly Brilliant Idea Alert

I have another scathingly brilliant idea!

Forget the detox diets……
The purges…….
The cleanses…….
Go have your colonoscopy!

Not only will you be as clean as a whistle (‘nuff said!)
But you will have done your ‘due diligence’ for your health and hopefully have a good report to boot!

I know, I’m brilliant! Hahahahahaha

(this has been a Public Service Announcement!)

Apparently

Apparently I had a brain fart ordered two of these by mistake.

Would anyone like one?

It’s still in its plastic wrapper. E-mail me your address and I’ll send it to you.

(First one to comment will get it.)

Me and my Mamo

You know how, as you’re sitting in that tiny cubicle all alone wearing the ever so fashionable smock waiting your turn to have ‘the girls’ mashed and mishandled, your mind kind of wanders?

Well, as I was waiting my turn the phrase ‘me and my mamo’ popped into my head, and I started to fool around to come up with lyrics that fit the melody of ‘Me and my Shadow’.

Here goes:

Me and my mamo
Strolling down the long hallway
Oh me and my mamo
Not a soul around to take my fears away

And when it’s appointment time I bare myself   
And plop the girls on the icy metal shelf
Just me and my mamo
All alone and feeling……….. COLD!

So what do you think? Do I have a promising career as a lyricist? LOL

Do you think it will ever make the top ten?

Moleskin

I ordered a Moleskin. It came today.
So cute, so pristine, so scary!
I wonder how long it will be before I have the courage to sully its pages!
Lol

Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin

Addendum to previous post 'Owner’s manual’

Add this to the ever growing list of things I thought I’d never have to say or do.

Chin Hairs?

Really?

And who thought THAT one was going to be so hilarious?

It’s a good thing I’m blonde, (they don’t really show) but….add to the mix failing eyesight trying to hone in on a blonde teeny chin hair and you’ve got the stuff bad sit coms are made of!

Ouch!

GOT IT!

Dreams

I dreamed about this last night, so I had to get it out of my head.

The Tombows are singing me their siren song! And dancing in my dreams! (Don’t ask! LOL)

Not sure if it's finished or not. I guess I'll just let it sit and see if it calls to me for more.
Any ideas greatfully accepted.

Getting the Mail

Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!

I’m really beginning to enjoy getting the mail!

Look what came today!

From Kim Henkel at Letting in the Light as part of the
Pay it Forward event.

A beautiful diminutive handmade booklet and envelope.

I wish you could reach through your monitor and FEEL this. It’s just lovely! The paper has a ‘finish’ to it that makes it just yummy!
 
And Kim’s beautiful filigree embellishments are exquisite!

I am in AWE of all of you artists out there!

And grateful for being on the receiving end of such bounty!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Kim!

(I was going to use this as part of a birthday greeting for a friend, but I'm thinking I might just have to keep this one for myself! LOL)

O M G

I am totally, unequivocally, and completely blown away!

Look at what came in the mail today!

This is what Connie Jo sent me.

Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?
 
How did she know I’m a sucker for handmade journals? How did she know that I swoon over fibers and beads?

Oh, Connie Jo, you are a true artisan!

A hardcover, hand bound journal with lovely deckled edge pages! (I’ll have to wait until I get much better at sketching to even THINK about making a mark in this!)

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Back in the Day

Back in the day I used to have a doctor, who, after examining me, would pat me on the knee and say ‘get dressed and I’ll meet you in my office’.

I would sit across from her (psychologically equaling the playing field [psych 101]) FULLY CLOTHED and we would discuss whatever needed discussing.

Whatever happened to that courtesy?

Am I the only person left on the planet that prefers to meet someone for the first time with my clothes ON?

I realize the Dr.’s need to push us through in order to cover their malpractice premiums, but still…. How long does it really take to look someone IN THE EYE and have a conversation?

Just sayin’.

Been Having Trouble

The past week or so I’ve hit a real block. Every time I sit down to sketch, the page just stares up at me and seems so say ‘I dare you!’ It’s been a real effort to put pen to paper.

Hmmmm…..

So, I decided to do some silly little exercises to see if it would jump start me.

I liked Carla Sonheim’s little Tombow bunny tutorial and thought it was just the thing to get me going.

I swear, someday my husband is going to call the authorities and have them take me away.

Here I sit, drawing mostly unrecognizable ‘beings’ and laughing myself silly.

Ah, Carla, for the ‘art of silly’ I heartily thank you!

I feel sorry for this generation

They are going to come to the end of their lives and look up from all their handheld gadgets and say,

“Oh crap, I was so busy texting and googling and facebooking and tweeting…..I missed my REAL life!”

(I know, I’m showing my age! Lol)

I also….

make soap.
 It all started several years ago when eldest son was still in college. He saw the movie ‘Fight Club’ and thought we could make a bazillion dollars if we made soap and sold it to all of his ‘rich’ dorm mates for exorbitant prices. (watch the movie, you’ll get it.)

I soon found out that ‘Let’s make soap’ meant ‘mom, you do the research, buy the ingredients and make the soap. I’ll sit back in my dorm room and see if anybody beats a path to my door to buy it.’

But I digress.

It turns out that handmade soap is far superior to anything that you can buy. I really like how moisturizing it is. I’ve had lots of compliments on my skin. (Mostly by nurses in medical settings, but still…)

The problem is, the soap I make turns out, um, well, let’s just say I make the ugliest soap on the planet. Don’t get me wrong. It’s great soap, functionally speaking. But it looks just awful!

Needless to say our business did not take off like we anticipated.

See what I mean?

(I know, I wouldn't pay good money for this either!)

‘Babyhair’

Have I mentioned that we like to name things in our family?

Inanimate things mostly, but we also like to make up nicknames for each other. Some are cute, others not so much.

One of the cuter ones was my youngest son’s, ‘babyhair’.


It was bestowed upon him by a friend, actually, because he had the most beautiful silky, fine blonde hair! Just like a baby. He still had this fine wispy hair well into elementary school.

I found this

as I was looking for an old family picture.

 I would like to take credit for it but, alas, I can’t.

 It was done by a very talented young lady at Disney World years ago, as we stood in awe and watched her sketch it in less than a minute!

I think he should use it as his avatar, but I’m only his mother, so what do I know! lol

Okay, all together now.....  'aww'!

out on a limb

I was just fooling around trying to get a better feel for the Tombow. This seemed like a simple shape. I didn't do it consciously!
Hahahaha...out on a limb!
It fits right in with this month's Sketchbook Challenge theme.

Kind of reminds me of the peace dove poster from the seventies. (uh oh, is my hippie is showing?)

Tombow Pens

This week’s lesson for Jane LaFazio’s watercolor class is shoes. I like shoes.
Well, I don’t like wearing them but sketching them I thought would be fun.
And it is.
Except……..part of the lesson was to use Tombow pens. I didn’t have any. I didn’t even know what they were! So, out I go to buy some.
I found a pack with several colors, one of which was pink. Okay, this is good. I’ll do my pink ‘slip ons’ as one of the sketches. I’m good to go.
Apparently I need much more practice with Tombow’s! Bwhahahahaha

Hmmmmm…..

Well, it looks like no one is interested in participating in Pay it Forward.

I’m not quite sure what to make of that.

 Is it because you don't have a blog to continue the event? Or maybe, (gasp) nobody wants the note cards I’m offering! Lol

But I’d like to give the note cards away anyway. No strings attached. You don’t have to join the event (or do anything!) If you’d like a few free note cards, just e-mail me with your address and I’ll send them right out.

Pay it Forward

I am joining the Pay It Forward event.

 I joined up by leaving a comment on Kim Henkel’s blog at 

Letting in the Light and in turn, I will be giving away 5 sets of assorted note cards to the first five people who leave a comment on this post.

Each of the 5 people that leave a comment on this post should then blog about this on their blog and give away five items that are handmade,

and on and on it goes...

If you are interested in joining in this event and would like me to send a set of my

note cards just leave me a comment letting me know!

Each set contains four cards (4.25 X 5.5 inches) and four envelopes. Blank inside so you can add your own sentiment.  All cards are printed on coated digital bright white 80lb. super smooth card stock with Epson Dura Brite Ultra ink. Each assortment is slightly different, but here are the images that may be included.

(I will ship internationally!)