OMG(osh)

Okay, now I REALLY feel inadequate! LOL

(is this real?)

Wherein I Do Battle with Prehistoric Beasts

I was minding my own business last night when, out of the corner of my eye, I spied a movement that shouldn’t have been.

Husband was sweetly snoring in bed along with, the only other living being in the house besides me, the cat.

So as you might surmise, I was curious as to what was moving.

As I turned to look I was confronted with a prehistoric creature of unmitigated yuckiness! A GARGANTUAN palmetto bug! (I hate these things! As many times as ‘they’ tell me it’s not a cockroach I totally disagree!)

These suckers have the speed and agility of a cheetah.

It bolted behind a chest that we use as a liquor cabinet. I gingerly pulled out said chest only to see it dash inside.

So at approximately 2 AM I was very carefully emptying out the contents of the liquor cabinet looking for a two foot long palmetto bug. (At this point I must admit I contemplated leaving it for Husband to deal with in the morning, but sleep would be impossible knowing that this Creature from the Black Lagoon was stalking the house.)

When ‘the creature’ finally emerged from his hiding place I  chased him crazily around the living room weaving between the liquor bottles that were now standing on the floor, like traffic cones in a bizarre kind of driving test, brandishing my sneaker (for squashing purposes) as said bottles went tumbling, clinking and clanking into one another (and I think I might have screamed just a little.)

All I’m saying is I wasn’t quiet.

At this point I didn’t care if I woke Husband (then HE could deal with “The Beast”.) 

But fate was on my side and I was victorious against my enemy.

As I crawled into bed a few minutes later Husband was still snuggled warmly in the blankets, softly snoring, unaware of the colossal battle I had just waged.

The man can sleep through ANYTHING!

Attitude Defined

This is one of my favorite pictures of all times.
Son 2 circa 1993.
How can you NOT love this kid? Look at that attitude!

Once upon a time

Once upon a time, in my younger days, I made a statement that I wanted to be surrounded by males. (I was joking of course……. mostly. lol)

Well, as it turns out, that’s just what I got!

In my life I’ve been surrounded by:
Husband
Son 1
Son 2
Male dog
And numerous male cats!

Husband reminded me of this statement the other day, and then added ‘be careful what you wish for, you just might get it!’ LOL

But, the thing is….it’s EXACTLY what I wanted!

Happy Birthday Big Brother!

Red Tulip

I’ve been working on this for so long I’m cross eyed and I’ve lost all perspective! Can’t decide if I want to add a background color or not. (I’ve tried adding one in Photoshop and I STILL can’t decide! So I guess it’s done for now. Lol)

I Don't Like Change

I’m set in my ways. So why does the universe feel the need to change stupid unimportant things just to piss me off?

The Cable Company, (which shall remain nameless for the sake of Husband’s gainful employment) in its infinite wisdom, has deemed it necessary to change their whole system which includes the on screen menu.

Granted, this ‘new’ Cable Company’s old menu sucked. But, be that as it may, I was USED to it! Now they feel it necessary to send me into a tailspin with this new system.

I’M OLD! I don’t take well to new things! Didn’t they think of that before making such a radical move?

All I know is they didn’t ask me (which clearly, they should have!)

And now I have to learn something new?

But it's okay, I've totally got it all under control.

The mail brings such lovely things!

(she says jumping up and down like an excited five year old!
Tee Hee!)
 Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!

The mail carrier is beginning to think I’m nuts! I get so excited when I hear his truck I actually go out to meet him! (well, not ALWAYS, but I was expecting something this time!)

And was I rewarded for it today!

Lovely Joanna from Gathering Wild sent me the most AMAZING gift!
I don’t know which is more beautiful, the package or the artwork inside!
So as the saying goes, ‘a picture (or ten or eleven) is worth a thousand words!

Is that not the most beautiful package you’ve ever seen? I waited a long time, enjoying the outside, before I allowed myself to open it. (which I did VERY carefully so as not to damage it!)

And it kept getting better and better!

"Planted"

Just beautiful!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Joanna, your generosity overwhelms me and your talent takes my breath away!

Things I CAN Resist

I hate to vacuum.
At least when we still had Sammy, our golden retriever, there was instant gratification to vacuuming.
You could actually see the result (the carpet got darker after a layer of Sammy was removed! LOL)
Now it’s just me, husband and the cat. And her fur just kind of rolls around in fuzzy little tumble weeds.
I feel like I’m not getting anywhere when I vacuum.
I think this is reason enough to stop this stupid activity altogether.

Who’s with me?

Can't Resist a Good Book

Baking 101

Every once in a while I get it into my head that I want to bake fresh bread.

The problem is I’m yeast impaired.

I cannot, for the life of me, get the yeast to proof and come alive.

I do everything right. I check the expiration date on the package, I use filtered water, I use a thermometer to check the temperature of the water. What I’m saying is, I’m precise.

Husband, on the other hand, grabs a packet of yeast, microwaves some filtered water, sticks in his finger to test the temperature, throws in the yeast, a little flour and sugar (no measuring mind you) and fifteen minutes later has a living, breathing organism that threatens to take over the kitchen!

Look into my bowl and it looks like a forlorn mud puddle.

It’s Official



(the magic of Photoshop!)

 It’s official, the exhibit coordinator for the All Florida Exhibition Show called today to tell me I didn’t make it into the show.
How nice was that? To personally call AND to encourage me to try two other upcoming shows. I guess that’s why I like her!
Thanks for all your support and encouragement too, it really helps!

Playing like a kid

Sometimes I just can't resist playing like a kindergartener! (All this 'grown up' painting is HARD!) LOL

Sneezing Fool

I’m usually a sneezing fool when it comes to fresh flowers. So it doesn’t happen very often, but husband bought me flowers for our anniversary last Sunday.

In his usual romantic way, he put them where he knew I’d be sure to find them when I awoke.

In the bathroom!

Hahahahahaha

(gotta love a man with a twisted sense of humor!)

Can’t resist

Playing in Photoshop and bad puns! LOL



dandy lions




dandy lions colored in Photoshop



Rejection? I Think?

I didn't make it into the ‘All Florida Exhibition’.
The guidelines say, “Artists juried into the exhibition will receive phone call or e-mail notification by May 15th.”
I haven’t heard, so I guess not.
(I kind of wish they would notify you one way or the other.)

Funny thing is, I'm not that disappointed.

On to the next challenge!



I DID IT

I did it! I did it! I did it!

I have been trying (and failing) to do watercolor in that ‘loose’ watery style that I admire so much in my fellow Sketchbook Challenge artists.

I’ve been ‘studying’. Reading books, scrutinizing the works of the artists I admire, and watching tons of YouTube videos.

And I think I finally did it!

At least I’m pleased with it.

I saw a picture in the latest copy of Artful Blogging (page 8, lower left corner, if anybody wants to see my inspiration.)

The minute I saw it I knew I wanted to try and paint it.

Here is the result.

Now if I could just remember how I did it! LOL

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY (to us)

Has it really been 30 years?
Holy cow!
Time flies when you're having fun!

(who ARE these people, but more importantly, what happened to them? LOL)

This is What Happens at 3 AM

I couldn’t sleep last night. So I got up and turned on the ‘puter, grabbed my clipboard and stated searching for something to sketch.
I decided on some one liners and contour sketches.
These were hilarious  at three A.M.!



blind contour



Oh my! is right, and yet this appeals to me in a weird, ghoulish kind of way! (Whoops, I think my psyche is showing!)

I'm calling this 'Founding Fathers with Alien'. The figure on the left makes me think of George Washington in his powdered wig. (You can decide on the alien!) 

Free pad of Palette Paper

(only missing two sheets, LOL!)

I bought a pad of Palette Paper. I don't really like it.
 
Email me your address If you would like it.

Silver Tongued Devil

We were running errands the other day, husband and I.

I ran into the bank and he stayed in the car.

As I jumped back into the car he said, “You should see how your hair lights up in the sunlight! It looks like chrome!” (referring to my graying locks.)

I burst out laughing!

Do I get ‘How do I love thee…..?’ ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day…..?’

Nope. Not me, I get CHROME!

Bwahahahahahahaha

Move over Keats, my man’s got a way with words!

Playing

I was trying to rescue a piece of painted fabric. (I should have taken a ‘before’ picture but I forgot, sorry.)

It was originally a gawdawful combination of greens. Way too dark so I just kept adding paint till it was less awful.

I still didn’t like it so I covered it with circles and leaf shapes cut from an old children’s book, did some free motion stitching, more paint, sloshed (a technical term) on some Collagepauge and stuck some tissue paper on the back side. The Collagepauge gives it an interesting stiff plastic-y feel.

Better but still not one of my favorite pieces.

Not knowing what to do with it, I turned it into a folder using a
Kim Henkel idea.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

Keep the Change

Setting the stage:

Growing up we used to take car trips a lot.

My father was a big joker.

Okay, now you have the background information you need.

So, we’re in the car going through the toll booth at the George Washington Bridge. (For all of you non New Yorkers, it’s a busy toll.) My father hands the toll taker a twenty dollar bill and with a wave of his hand blithely says, “Keep the change!” and drives through the toll.

As we are pulling away my mother says to him “You do realize that was a twenty, don’t you?”

My father looks at her in horror, slams on the brakes, throws the car into park, jumps out of the car and runs back to the toll booth to reclaim his change.

It was a 10¢ toll.

“Keep the change!”

Resist

I spent Mother’s Day playing. One of the things I tried was resist.


In doing research about resists for this month’s Sketchbook Challenge theme, I read using Elmer’s white glue was a big no-no (too bad, I have a gallon of it!)
No one said why though….hmmm. Anyway, they suggested Elmer’s blue gel glue.


So here’s my attempt at Elmer’s blue glue resist. (Doesn’t sound quite as classy as saying soy wax resist does it? LOL)

 Kind of time consuming waiting for all the drying times. I’m more of the instant gratification type.

 OMG this is so cool! LOOK at the results!

 The paint fades a little, but not as much as I thought it would.

I used Christine Moon’s tutorial here. Thanks Christine! 

(Plain cotton fabric, freezer paper, Elmer's blue school gel, watered down acrylic paints, hot water and patience!)