The Newest Member of the Family

New baby girl, born 12/14/14.  She is well loved!

Getting My Holiday On

I love shiny Christmas decorations, especially on the tree. 

I also love the handmade ones. 

I inherited a couple of boxes vintage Shiny Brites. One year Target had some that looked very much like the vintage ones. Of course I had to add those to my collection. 

What kinds of Christmas decorations are you drawn to?

Another Sunday Selfie

Yesterday my oldest granddaughter turned 15 (how time flies).  I drove up to visit with them today. 

Before I left I sat down and did a quick selfie this morning.  

Hehe! I look a bit like the saggy baggy elephant. 

Portraits and Self-Portraits

Making art with the grandkids is something I love to do.  I really enjoy seeing them explore and develop their creative muscles. 

Yesterday we drew with pens and painted each other with watercolors. 

Uncle TJ by the 7 year old. 

See me on the bottom? This artist is 12. 

Self-Portrait

I get top billing this time. The artist is 13. 

She wasn't very happy with her chin....

My turn to give it a try. 

We had lots of fun and laughs while trying to paint each other. 

Almost...

Well actually I'm still wearing them.  With the exception of a couple of days of cool weather, it is still in the 80s here.  How about where you are?

Good for What Ails You

The Living Room

.

..from this side and that.....

Gluten Free Carrot Gingerbread Muffins

I developed this recipe by combining a gluten free recipe with my trusty gingerbread recipe. The muffin texture is moist, light and fluffy.  If you didn't know, you might never guess that flour is not one of the ingredients.  The addition of molasses adds the perfect rich sweetness to offset the spicy bite of the ginger and cloves. If you eat gluten free and are a fan of gingerbread, you will like these muffins. Feel free to adjust the ingredients to suit your taste.  I did.

Let me know what you think.

I never claimed to make pretty food folks..,just tasty. 

1 c. grated carrots (about 2 fat carrots)
1 c. almond butter
1/4 c. molasses
1/4 c. honey
2 eggs
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
2 t. ginger
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. cloves

Mix well. Pour batter into 12 lined muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes.

Family

My parents with almost all of their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren..only 4 people were missing. We were celebrating daddy's 83rd birthday, my oldest son's  40th, my niece's 36th,  a granddaughter's 13th and a grandson's 7th.

What a great day!

It's a Selfie

Hmmmm....

Faces

You know I can't stay away from drawing faces for long. Here are a couple I sketched in the car on my lunch break today. 

one happy

and one mad

I have a book, that I used, of people with all sorts of looks on their faces. It is meant to be a reference guide when drawing expressions. 

Hydrangeas

I found the last unfaded Oak Leaf Hydrangea on my backyard bushes today.
Unfortunately, you can see where I erased my pencil marks when I was doing the lettering.  If I hadn't been too lazy to go downstairs to get the "good" eraser it wouldn't have done that.  I guess that is what I get for being lazy, huh? 

Twigs

When I got home from work the other night, I picked up some twigs on the way inside.

Week 3 of the Sketchbookery class in about keeping a Field Journal. I'm a bit outside my comfort zone in this class, which is good for me. My page planning needs improvement. I wound up with too much white space at the bottom, so I added a bird. The bird might have worked if I'd had drawn it smaller. Instead, I've crowded the page.....but it's all about the practice, not perfection

. So I'm good with it.

I'm eager to try this again. Next time I will walk around the backyard and see what i can find to draw.

Practice Does Make Perfect Doesn't It?

Because I need to learn how to draw a straight line apparently. 

Lemons for Lemonade

Happy Fourth!

"O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties, Above the fruited plain..."  

-Katharine Lee Bates. 

Flower Power

I've been drawing a lot of flowers lately in an attempt to improve my skills. My inspiration is coming from this online class: http://www.shopalisaburke.com/collections/online-classes/products/flower-power-online-class 

Sketchbookery, An Online Class by Mary Ann Moss

I've signed up for a class which starts July 1.  If you like sketching and would like some tips on visual journalling, as well as learning to make your own very cool sketchbook in the process, then you should check out this video. https://sketchbookery.com/

Then sign up and join the fun. See you there.

Late Spring in Alabama

...is lovely. 

iHanna Swap Cards

I've received some of the postcards from iHanna's postcard swap and thought you might like to see them. 

From Lena at www.arbovila.blogspot.com

From Christie in Saint Petersburg, FL

From Cathy who lives in Jordan, MN

From Robin who is from Chicago

From Michelle of www.thankyouitstrue.com Seattle, WA

From Jan who lives somewhere in the USA

Thanks everyone!!

Postcard Swap-Part Two

I had a great time tearing paper and making these cards....so much fun that I kept making them after I'd done enough for the swap.  I think I'm going to tack the extras up to the wall in my cubicle to remind me to go home and make something each night. 

iHanna Postcard Swap-Part One

http://www.ihanna.nu/postcard-swap/

I recently signed up for iHanna's Spring postcard swap and I thought you might like to see some of the postcards I've been working on. I used torn paper and stamps.  All ten postcards are ready and waiting to go to their new homes.  

I'll show you the rest of the postcards in Part Two.

Hallelujah! He Is Risen!

His grave is empty. His blood takes away the sin of the world. He sits at the right hand of God.

Believe and be saved.

My Favorite time of the Year is Here

It may be chilly and overcast today, but it is still my favorite time of the year.