Secret Colored Pencil Art Exchange

In the colored pencil forum of Wetcanvas there is a thread for a Secret Colored Pencil Art Exchange. Each person will be paired with another person for doing one piece of colored pencil art 5x7. It will be a secret and the recipient won't know who got their name until the art arrives in their mailbox. Quite a few people have signed up. Should be great fun. And only one to do. And a month to do it. http://wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=509390

Friday, the dog

I found a good buy on some sketchbooks at Michaels craft store. There was a long Strathmore Sketchbook 5.5 x 12" and two small Strathmore Bristol Smooth books with pages 6"x6". I have been using the Bristol. Handy size.

I worked on two colored pencil pieces yesterday. One was for the Spring Fling exchange so I can't show that on here yet. The other was of my dog Friday.

The day is fast passing but I want to do some more postcards. I have a photo I found by Yorky in the Watercolor forum of Italy I want to use for one of my Holiday exchange cards. He gave me permission. We still can't upload to the RIL at WC and those he had uploaded and they disappeared when WC made the move.

Virtual Sketch Date for July 26

Today is the due date for the Virtual Sketch Date. I hadn't even started it until about 11 pm Friday. I worked straight thru until I was finished. I let the week get away from me. Nothing like doing it the last minute.

I took a little artistic license with the photo. I changed around parts of it and left out some.

Down Time

My phone and internet was interrupted yesterday afternoon. I spent most of the time trying to figure out if the problem was on my end. I was told to unplug everything connected to the phone line, wait 10 minutes and then plug in a phone that is not wireless. Like everyone still has one of those. Well nothing worked. No phone, no internet.

About noon today two service trucks arrived. One was called by me, another by my neighbor (3 houses were without service.) After about an hour and a half, and a lot of talking between themselves, we had service again.

My neighbor did tell me the day before a man was up on the phone pole working. After that, we had nothing. But he disappeared before we found out.

Later this afternoon, there was another man on the pole. After I watched him and heard him repeating numbers to a man on the ground, I asked if he worked for the phone company (as opposed to the cable company). He was a phone company employee. I asked if he was going to mess up the line again not knowing he was the original pole sitter. He apologized and said he was repairing the mess he made the day before. I told him I wasn't concerned with the phone (I had my cell phone), but didn't like being without my internet.

So after a quiet night with no connection, I have been online today trying to catch up.

Scavenger Hunt #94f

I spent a couple hours tonight making quick sketches with my Lamy pen for Scavenger Hunt #94.

July 10, 2008

July 10, 2008 was my parents' 60th anniversary. Last night we had a dinner for them. It was nice to have my family all in one place minus one or two who couldn't make it. Fun was had by all, and everyone got "full as a tick" as my Aunt Minnie would have said.

Aunt Minnie was at the 50th but she didn't live long enough to make the 60th. We all made it to her 60th tho. And if God is willing, maybe hubby and I will make it to ours. We are almost to our 40th so maybe it's possible.

My nephew had a cake made with an old photo of my parents. The best time frame I can come up with is probably in the 50s. I think the original photo was taken at the zoo in Fort Worth, Texas. I believe my two brothers and I were with them. The youngest was born in 1953. We were in Texas visiting my mother's sister and her family.

Back to the dinner. The food was great but best of all was the visiting we all did. It's so nice to go over past dinners and events and remember things that we only think of at these special times. There were photos of family members along the way, and some the grandkids had not seen. And we had one great grandchild there. 4 Generations.

I'm not too sure they will make their 70th. That would take a miracle. Both my parents are showing their age. They are more feeble in the last couple of years. And when a 70th is mentioned, my mom just looked at us like we were crazy. Anyway we got many photos from last night and will have them ready if and when the 70th gets here.

Here is a photo of the cake. You can click on the photo to see it larger.

Saturday and a party

It's Saturday afternoon. I just finished making an Ambrosia Fruit Salad. It has lots of cut up fruit, sweetened, shredded coconut, marshmallows, and sour cream. Very yummy. It was my contribution to a dinner tonight that we are giving my parents for their 60th wedding anniversary.

We had their 50th here at our house, and this time my brother, his family, my nephew, and his mom are doing all the work. Slide show of family photos, decorations, and the works. There will be a barbecue of tri-tip beef and chicken, beans, potato salad, green salad, and who knows what else. It will be delicious and I will return home so full and bloated. What a shame. It will be wonderful and miserable at the same time.

And don't forget the cake. My nephew got them one of those photo cakes. It will have a photo of mom and dad on the cake.

My hubby and I went in with my nephew and got them a new slim line tv. The 50th we also combined money and got them a smaller tv. This one is a lot better. They spend most of their spare time watching tv so it's a perfect gift.

I am not sitting in front of the computer and a fan trying to get dried off. I had my shower earlier but because of the heat, I feel like I just had another. I'm sure my hair will be just a beauty after the fan finishes with it.

Since no art today, I will see if mom and dad will let me post a photo of them tomorrow. If not, a photo of the decorations.

Plein air Wednesday

Tomorrow is plein air day. We will visit a local park which has a small lake, many kinds of birds, ducks, geese, trees, mountains, and the river. Very shady which is the reason we go there often in the summer.

We meet by the closed snack bar that faces the lake. It is so nice to sit there and just watch the ducks. The place we usually park is the favorite spot for 3 ducks that I have been smitten with. The 3 are always together. Each time I have been there, they have been in the same spot and all together. I look forward to seeing them once again. I will have to remember some bread this time. Last time I had to share my cookies.

I look forward to the outing as I missed last week. And next week we are at a member's home.

Commission Finished

My friend Peggy wanted a graphite picture of 4 dogs for her son. They are/were his pets. Two are living and two are gone. The greyhound recently had to be put down, and Peggy asked if I could do a picture of them. I had been putting it off as the reference shots weren't too clear.

I had done two other pictures for her. Her living pets and all her pets living and non living. Some of the photos were really hard to use for reference. One was a black dog that looked like a golden retriever. I had to find one online. But I got them done. And now this one is done.

Here is a copy of the finished picture and the references.

Robby's Nursery Again

Here are some more of the photos from my trip to Robby's Nursery with my plein air group. You can click on the photos to see larger versions.

Hot, hot, hot

It was very hot here today. I shopped for groceries between 9:30 and 10:30 but by the time I got home and put everything away, I was drained and wet. But it was easier at that time of day than in the afternoon. It must have been a unified decision as the store was full of people. All after the same thing.

We had leftover chicken tonight and some macaroni and potato salad I got at the market. I am not going to cook in this weather. I cooked the chicken yesterday in the crockpot. There is enough left for tomorrow. I bought strawberries and blueberries and mixed with whip cream and sour cream for dessert. But I forgot the main thing. The angel food cake. Oh well, we will have that tomorrow night.

I received two of my Disney trade cards today. One was the two siamese cats in the dalmation movie. That one came from Sue in Australia. She is doing the villains. The second one was a picture of Cinderella. Both were very pretty. Two of mine reached their destinations too.

I have sent two for my Vacation project. One to Thailand and one to Florida. I can't wait for them to arrive. I still have several to do for the Spring Fling and Everyday Items projects. I stopped to do the Disney ones. Those were fun and quick as they were ATC size. After those were finished, I mailed them all last week.

Today is my parent's 60th anniversary. We will be having a dinner at my nephew and his wife's house on the 19th. I just called and wished them well and sent a card yesterday. Wow 60 years. My hubby and I are working on our 38th and that seems an eternity. Can't imagine 60.

Triple Digit Hot

We are having a week of triple digit hot weather. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 110 degrees F. Today is hot enough. We don't usually have a lot of humidity, but when it is this hot, we feel it. We don't have A/C so are making do with what is called a swamp cooler. It blows water cooled air. It is ok until we hit the triple digits. Then it feels like hot air blowing. I am moving really slow and sitting a lot.

Even when doing art, my arms stick to the paper. So I haven't even been doing any art. I did a card last night for the Everyday Items but can't post it until it has been received. I am sitting in front of a fan and the dogs are all sprawled on the floor. If they were smart, they would be in the hall under the downdraft of the cooler. Instead they won't get out of sight of me. They are afraid I will sneak out of the house or eat something before they can get a bite.

Slow Day

Because of the weekend, and especially the 3-day holiday in the US, the scavenger hunt has gotten a slow start. But I am hopeful that everyone will get back on track and start producing the rest of this week.

I was going thru photos. Walking down memory lane. I went looking for something to inspire me for my Dream Vacation Trade cards, but instead I kept finding too many other photos that kept me busy. Oh well there is always tomorrow.

I went to church this morning. It was nice to make it two weeks in a row. Then this afternoon, I went to a "Princess" birthday party for two little sister. 4 and 6 yrs old. They were dressed in princess clothes with tiaras on their heads and sparkly shoes on their feet. They were really into the princess mode and had a wonderful time.

I did a few scavenger hunt items on Friday at a BBQ. Here is what I produced.

Scavenger Hunt #92

Starting tomorrow I am hosting the new Scavenger Hunt. It is #92. I am also signed to do the 100th one. What a milestone.

I have my list ready and thought I should get something done for #91. I posted those tonight. Here is what I posted.

Penny in graphite finished

At my hair appt a month after I started it, I finished my graphite picture of Penny. I will have to take something each time I go. I can't real the magazines without my glasses but apparantly I can draw without them. I am happy with the way this one turned out.