Hello All!
I was doing some framing today, and while putting the sawtooth hanger on the Bloggy Giveaway picture, the silly thing slipped a bit and messed up the frame. Not a big mess-up, but I’m funny about my frames.
So, the revised version is here… I didn’t have another frame exactly like the first. Terribly sorry for the mess-up!
Today is officially…
Inspire Your Heart With Art Day!
Please celebrate appropriately.
Can you believe it?! We take January and February “off” at the store. It’s usually a working vacation, and ends up being busier than we expect. We do a lot of work in the shop we can’t do normally… deep cleaning, washing of curtains, organizing, and putting away and pulling out merchandise. (Which is a big deal when it’s a major seasonal switcheroo. We close at the end of summer for a couple of weeks too. Folks think we’re nuts, but it’s a much needed respite!) This time Dad has repainted the entire downstairs in the store… a very soft herby sort of green. In January and February, we also squeeze in all those little trips and activities that are difficult to fit in at other times. And we catch up at home on projects and organizing.And we re-think our lives a bit.
Earlier today I read a post about re-thinking our lives on Lesley’s blog. Actually it was several posts and a link to her “January Tidings.” And now January is gone, and February is knocking at the door, but it’s welcome to come in… but I hope it brings some snow as a hostess gift.
Kate and I were absolutely amazed at the response to the Bloggy Giveaway! What fun! Only a few more days and then we get to pick a winner! Thank you all for your participation and fun responses.
I’m adding a few more mini’s to my Farmgirl Etsy site. It takes me a while to upload things, so I’m adding as I get a few free minutes here and there, so check back because there will be more later today, and perhaps tomorrow. Hubby also pointed out that my link was bad for the Farmgirls on Etsy blog, so there it is in case you’re inclined to visit!
And let’s see… Miss Jane, if you’re out there, please tell Mr. Joe his mirror is nearly finished. It’s in the varnishing stages, and we’re taking extra special care with it! I think it’s going to turn out lovely!
And what else… Oh yes! I caught a mouse this morning. It gave me quite a scare at 5 a.m. the other day. Popped out from nowhere just as I was about to start the coffee. And when I went looking I found evidence of where the little bugger had been exploring. My guess is that the pantry upheaval caused him to look elsewhere for nourishment. He’s been eluding Oreo for several days now, although she’s kept a vigilant watch upon the crack between the fridge and cabinets. However, a hunk of Kate’s bread smeared with peanut butter stuck onto a mouse trap did the trick. Who could resist homemade bread? Now mind you, it’s not that I don’t like mice… I’ve rescued my fair share of them from kitties that I know. However, I do not like them in my kitchen, especially since one took up residence in the insulation of my oven a few years ago. That was not good, and upon discovery of where the stench was coming from, the oven went directly outside and we went directly to Lowe’s to purchase a new one. And right now, we can’t afford a new oven, so it was me or the mouse. And now I’m going to reload my weapon (hubby dear loves that wordage), in case the little creature has any relatives.
And finally… a surprise! The store is going to have a website and blog! There’s not much there at present, but it’s part of our family’s re-thinking process, and is a “next step” for Hudson’s General Store! We’re not actually planning on internet sales, but hoping to use it for information and a way to keep in touch with our customers. It looks a lot like my blog right now… because WordPress only has one or two “old-fashioned looking” templates. One of my next ventures is into the world of CSS so I can figure out how to revise the backgrounds a bit. Stay tuned, though, because we’re about to really get busy over there!
Kim
P.S. February Journaling Activities coming tomorrow! I didn’t forget!:-)
I bumped into the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival ‘08 when I visited dXymiss’s blog this afternoon, and Kate & I decided we needed to join in the fun! Kate posted some cute coffee cup cozies she knitted, and my offering is a mini Scherenschnitte..
PLEASE NOTE… Original frame was damaged slightly while putting on sawtooth hanger… had to re-frame in another grained frame! Sorry for the mess-up!
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It’s a tiny little papercutting, hand-cut & painted, and inscribed with “Me” and “You”… perfect for your Valentine! And, it’s free! Just post a comment telling who you’re planning on sharing it with! Comments are open until midnight Saturday (EST), and I’ll announce the randomly drawn winner on Sunday. The giveaway is open to those in the United States, and to both bloggers and non-bloggers! Have a great night!
And a bit of silliness… which is most welcome on a non-thinking Monday morning!
Brenda from Bright Meadow Farms tagged me with the “Seven Weird or Random Things About Me” game! Here are the rules…Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you. Post the rules on your blog. Post 7 random or weird facts about yourself on your blog. Tag 7 people and link to them. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.
Okay, let’s see if I can think of seven things this early in the morning…
1. I’m addicted to Pop Tarts. And I’ve passed it on to my children.
2. I like “How To” books on old-fashioned living skills.
3. I make money cutting paper into little pieces.
4. I ENJOY cutting paper into little pieces.
5. We homeschooled our girls “all the way through.”
6. Our family can quote, almost word for word, all the Jane Austen movies, Wives & Daughters, and several Dickens series. We’ve watched them, marathon style, THAT many times.
7. I have very little concern about what’s going on in the news or what the weather will be tomorrow. Please let me know if there’s been a major disaster or if a hurricane is about to blow in, because I most likely don’t know about it.
I knever know who to tag, but here goes…
Recently, Kate found a recording of Betty Hutton and Perry Como singing “I Love You, A Bushel and a Peck.” There’s a story behind that song for my family. It was one of Nana Anne’s theme songs. (Other theme songs included “The Only Little Petunia in the Onion Patch” and “We Ain’t Got a Barrel of Money!”) She sang it to me from the time I was a tiny little girl, and when I got older, we’d sing it together, as silly as we could. And I sang it to my girls. I had never heard the original recording, though (I thought Nana made it up!), and it starts out with Betty and Perry asking each other if they could “doodle.” Then they’d sing “doodle-doodle-doodle, doodle-doodle-doodle, doodle-doodle-doo-doo-doo.” As silly as THEY could.
So, with that in mind… can YOU doodle?I don’t think I’ve ever seen doodling actually taught as an official art lesson, but it does help you learn to draw and be free with a pencil and paper. January’s doodle is a snowflake. If you look on the January activity page, I just drew some very simple snowflakes… doodling them can help you gain control of lines, as you control the length of each line, or make the lines fine & light or thick & heavy. You gain control of line when you work at making them intersect just right. And you can be creative by adding little details to your snowflakes (like the one on the journal cover I posted yesterday)… remember that no two snowflakes are alike! So, when you’re on the phone, or watching a movie, grab a pencil and paper and make some snow!
Doodle Doodle Doodle, Doodle Doodle Doodle, Doodle Doodle Doo-Doo-doo
As you can see, this is not museum quality artwork. Just a bunch of doodles. I drew very light guidelines for the lettering using a triangle, and then an oval for the border edge. Tasha Tudor, one of my favorite artists, often draws lush borders around her pictures, so I borrowed that idea for the journal cover. “Around the Seasons” brought thoughts of different activities and celebrations around the year, so I sort of went with a monthly theme around the oval. Now I’m filling in with greenery to make the border look full. If you enlarge the picture (can you do that?) you’ll see that none of the sketches are anything really grand. The greenery (which sort of looks like rosemary or short pine) is really just a bunch of little lines coming off a main branch all in the same direction. Really not hard at all to draw! Plans for the cover are to finish filling in, and then color it, coloring book style with watercolor pencils, and then take a very tiny brush and some water and wet the color to brighten it and make it look like watercolor.
Inside the journal, there are 30 pages. (Actual sheets of paper… it’s a good idea to count the actual sheets, because sometimes they count front and back on the “page count.”) There are 12 months, and that meant each month could have two sheets of paper. I skipped the first page in case I wanted a title page eventually, and then wrote the name of each month on every third sheet. That divvied up the journal into bite size pieces, gave me at least one two-page spread per month, and left me with about 5 pages at the end for notes and stuff. In the back pages, I titled one page “Inspiration and Resources,” dedicated another to choosing a journal and tools of the trade, wrote “Page Layout Ideas” on the top of another, and the inside of the very cover and facing page is saved for doodling. Doodling is tomorrow’s post. It’s very important. At least I think so!
On the homefront, last night Hubby dear moved a light in the under-the-stairs laundry room/cubby with the cute little door so he could eventually divide the spot into two rooms and put up the needed shelves. He was a very good sport about it, because if I (vertically challenged at only 5 foot tall) have a hard time getting into that tiny little space, you can imagine that it is even more difficult for a full-grown fellow. We girls handed him things, and brought him light, and offered to clean up the drywall mess so he didn’t have to. Which is what I’m heading off to do as soon as I hit “Publish.”
Have a great Thursday!
Hello everyone! Before I begin rambling, I thought I’d list a few really good resources for art journaling! Some of these you may be able to find at the library, so you can peruse them to see if they’re something you want to purchase.
The book that really got me started with art Journaling:
The Student’s Guide to Keeping an Art Journal by Barry Stebbing
And another great journaling resource for homeschooling families:
The Gift of Family Writing by Jill Novack
And another favorite… it does have some “spookety” pictures (scary fairies and goblins) on a couple of the pages toward the back, but it’s a great visual resource:
How to Keep a Sketchbook Journal by Claudia Nice
This one has a more loose, sketchy feel to it, but it is a great resource for page layout ideas:
Create Your Own Artist’s Journal by Erin O’Toole
For those who are into nature journaling, there are several really great resources:
Keeping a Nature Journal by Claire Leslie & Charles Roth
Wild Days: Creating Discovery Journals by Karen Skidmore Rackliffe
And for those who wish to journal with a historical bent… this is one of my favorites, and is quite “dog-eared” I must admit! And we know a couple of the folks in the sketches, which adds to the thrill!:
Living History: Drawing on the Past by Cathy Johnson
There are SO MANY resources out there! These are all of the “how to” sort of books, full of methods and ideas for art journaling, what to take with you into the field, how to design a page, etc. You may want to find a good resource for inspiration purposes, but the most important thing to do is…
Just do it!
It doesn’t matter if you think you’re good at drawing or not, or if you have the perfect art journaling plan or not, or if you have all the tools you need or not. Grab a pencil and some paper, and try your hand at sketching something! Allot a few minutes each day to doodle, and don’t get mad at yourself if it doesn’t turn out the way your mind’s eye had imagined. Drawing is a learned skill and improves greatly with practice. Yes, there are a few very talented folks out there that it just comes naturally to, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the world can’t learn to draw well if they devote a little time & effort to learning the basics. You can do it!
(Jumping down off my soapbox.)
Back to real life… Kate & I worked most of the morning yesterday on organizing those cubbies! What joy! The very large cubby under the stairs still needs some shelves, but hubby is going to build them in for the large items like crockpots and griddles. It is the cutest little space, and was ingenious of the men (my dad, my hubby, and hubby’s dad built our house!) to make that space usable! The little door was a great attraction to little people who would come to visit our home… they always asked to peek inside, I guess because it was just their size!
All our canned goods used to be under there, and when I had little people at home, it was the perfect place to keep them… I could send someone smaller than me into the cubby to retrieve needed items or to put away groceries. Then Jo grew to be taller than me. Then Kate caught up to me in height, and since then, nobody really fits into that little cubby without some difficulty. So, if we put things in there that we only use once a week or so, we girls will be happier on a daily basis.
Informal Poll: How do you pronounce “cubby?” In my “I twice taught phonics” mind, it rhymes with “hubby” and thus should have a short “u” sound in the middle. On all the decorating shows, they call them “coobies,” which really confuses me. Just wondering if I’ve been pronouncing it wrong my whole life, or what. (However, I’m not sure it really matters, because “coobie” is just one word I can’t convince myself to say.)
Have a great Tuesday!
Yesterday didn’t afford me much time for sketching. I did a lot of card printing and folding before anyone woke up, and we made a command decision to stay home for the morning, and just spent some much needed family time. Then we took Kate to work and ran errands (see below!) in that area for the three hours she was at the museum. Sundays are usually very relaxed there, and she and a co-worker had actually planned to work together so they could practice irish whistle, but alas… in only three hours, they had 32 visitors! Perhaps museums are the thing to do when it’s seriously bitter outside! I know we surely didn’t want to be outside much, and instead of opting to shop the outlets for new sheets, hubby & I hibernated inside a bookstore for the last 45 minutes of our wait for Kate! We almost made it out without a purchase… I was looking seriously at a new papercutting book but it was $25, and I didn’t quite want to spend that much on a whim. Chris was checking out a $20 book about planning houses, which I told him to get but he didn’t. Then, on the way out, there were two little books by Eric Sloane… an artist and historian we both love, and we got them both for under $10. Not necessary, but “Needful,” and well within the “whim” budget.Mama moment… Kate says she wishes she’s get some comments on her new blog! Any takers? Tell her that her Mom sent you!:-PErrands included going back to Lowe’s to return some racks I bought the other day that weren’t what I was expecting them to be. And I had a whole list of goodies from the organizing area to pick up! Hubby helped, and we came home with some treasures! I had picked up a couple of things on Friday, which he installed right away, and then last night he installed the rest… more to come, too! I’ll have an entire new pantry system by the end of the week! And nothing out of pocket, as we were using gift cards from Christmas. Usually they go to tools or something like that, but this year we’re using them for some organizational and sprucing up projects. And, I’m a very happy woman.
Through the magic of flash photography, I just discovered another place that needs a little cleaning. Please ignore the flluff in the bottom lefthand corner of the cupboard, and just take in the splendor of empty racks waiting to be filled with beautiful, reachable canned goods!:-)We went to dinner at hubby’s parents, and got home after 9… and Chris commenced to installing what we had bought. So, I attempted to do some Sunday Sketching. I didn’t last long, and was snoozing on the couch pretty soon. My eyes were just plain done.Did get a little bit done last night, though, and this morning, when I sat down with my coffee, there was the picture sitting waiting for some final touches. I think I’m going to proclaim it finished.
Not really happy with the background. Did end up adding a bit of ink details… it didn’t seem “finished” without them. But, it is done, and now I can move on to other things!I will be adding more about art journaling soon… perhaps tonight! Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by!Oh! I just found out my bio made it onto the Farmgirl Flair site!
… we’re off to visit a traditional American crafts show & early home show! One of my favorites! Full of really good craftspeople!
But just wanted to share some of the children’s work for the month of January…
