Watercoloring

So here are a few things I've been working on this week:

Mostly I just took the images I watercolored last week and turned them into cards.  (I'm not sure why the card above looks crooked--it is straight in real life). 

I used an old Mojo Monday sketch for this one--the images just seemed to lend itself to this layout.  I'm kind of digging the new Raspberry Ripple color--it is a nice saturated rose color--like Rose Red on steroids.  Ha!

For some reason some of the detail on the line images is getting compressed when blogger gets hold of it, so I think if you want to see better, click on it for a closer pic.

The Oreo generation

The media is fond of calling my generation the "oreo" generation, which means we are raising young children with parents who are getting older.  My parents are relatively young, but my dad needs a hip replacement, and yesterday, he got a blood clot in his leg and spent the night in the hospital.  The mortal coil is on my mind today.

My dad with us girls.

I've been watercoloring these last few days. I had stamped a bunch of images for some hospital stay a while back and never got around to coloring them, so I'm doing it now--it is a good semi-mindless sort of thing to do. I made this card for my dad and had Piglet sign his name inside since he can do that now. (Although I did sign it from all of us!) It's going in the mail tomorrow.

In other news, today is the 40th day of Kh. Lilijah's repose, so we held a memorial service for her at the church down the street from us.  It was just our family, and the priest and his wife, but was nice just the same.  

Memory Eternal, Kh. Lilijah!

A horse is a horse, of course, of course

I think I wanted this stamp set just so I could title a blog post after the theme song from Mr. Ed.  (Just kidding).  I received this set as a prize for winning the swap contest at the June Philly Inkers meeting.  I roused myself from my heat-induced torpor this afternoon to ink it up and actually watercolor the sucker!  I know, I know.  Back to my stand-by layout, but it just works so well for so many cards!  Plus I love that new apothecary accent piece for the sentiment.  I watercolored the horse with markers and a blender pen as I was short on time and the blender pen dries faster than an aquapainter.

Supplies: Horse Frontier stamp set (new!); Chocolate Chip, Basic Black, Old Olive, Pool Party, Sahara Sand markers; blender pen, Jet Black Staz-on, Island Indigo ink; Island Indigo, Pool Party, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla cs, Watercolor paper; apothecary accents die (new!), Square Lattice EF

Ta for now; off to grill some fishies.

Workin', workin', workin'

Welcome to my sauna.  The last few days have been pretty insanely hot--like the rest of the U.S. we were at 100 degrees the last few days (higher with the heat index).  It is a bit cooler today, but still plenty hot.  I will say that it seems more bearable to me this summer than last, when I was hugely pregnant, and we couldn't keep the house cooler than 87 degrees on most days.  This year, it seems to be cooling down for at least a few hours at night, so we've been able to keep the house around 80 most of the time.  I've also discovered how to grill just about anything, so I'm not turning on the stove for no lover or money.  I just need to figure out grill-baking and I'm set!

Today is my husband's birthday, so we are celebrating tonight at a sushi place (his choice).  I picked a card out of my stash for his birthday card from me, and then I was stamping a little during nap time this afternoon and made two of a card that I let Piglet sign to give to my husband from him.  

So here's what I've been up to!

CASEd from Kimberly Van Diepen (with a few tweaks) 

 CASEd from Jen Sannes (with a few tweaks)

CASEd from Ann Schach (with a tweak or two) 

My swap for the monthly Inker's meeting (I came up with this one all by myself!) 

Also an original, although I got the general idea from another Philly Inker.

7 Quick Takes: Super Quick

Okay, these will be super fast because Birdie's PT is coming in 10 minutes and I want to get these posted before he shows.  So, ready, set. go!

--1--

Birdie is 10 months!  She is crawling all over, almost pulling up, and enjoys standing while holding on to someone's fingers.  She might surprise us all by walking before her first birthday.  Then again, perhaps not.  If there is one thing I know about this girl, she likes to keep us guessing!

--2--

Boo is still a pain.  That is all.

--3--

Piglet is thoroughly enjoying summer camp, and we are so glad we sent him.  He comes home happy every night, and is developing quite a nice tan and rosy cheeks.  He seems to be getting along well with the other kids, and is even learning a few baking skills.

--4--

I've been a bit soporific this week, and have spent a lot of time watching streaming video on Amazon or reading.  I finished Those Who Save Us this week, and can't recommend it enough.  It is about the burden of memory.  Made me think more about some storylines I have running around in my brain, and I filed away some of them to examine in more detail later.  My next novel is cooking away in there!

--5--

So what did I watch this week, you ask?  (Because I know you are looking for frivolous things to watch).  Bel Ami (watch it twice--it is hard to take it all in the first go-round.  And the performances improve on the second go-round), Step Up (who knew Channing Tatum had such great moves?), and Birdsong (Eddie Redmayne, yes, please!).  All good and interesting.  Birdsong was slightly depressing, but Step Up more than made up for it as a frothy fun dance film.  

--6--

Before you ask, I'm not discussing the SCOTUS decision of yesterday.  My husband far more qualified than me to discuss such matters.  In fact, he is giving phone interviews today.  All I'll say about it is that the Chief Justice crafted an opinion that dealt very narrowly with the issue at hand, while at the same time seeking to limit the (over) reach of government for the future.  A tricky bit, that.

--7--

I saw this pic this morning and decided this woman is my new hero.  

Bonus:

 A card! CASEd from Mary Brown at stampercamper.com

7 Quick Takes: Long Lost Edition

--1--

We spent most of last week visiting my husband's brother and sister-in-law, and their 2.5 year old daughter in S. California.  I've never been to that part of the state, and I kinda get why people like it there.  The weather is fabulous, the produce is fresh and seasonal, and you are never far from the ocean or the mountains.  

--2--

Considering between our two families we had four children four and under, (plus one baking in the oven--not mine!), everything went pretty smoothly.  They are fairly laid back people, and my kids just rolled with the different schedule, time change, etc.

--3--

At least until our red-eye flight home on Saturday night.  The flight itself was fine (unless you count the idiocy of the airlines in seating my four-year-old by himself on the plane, necessitating some quick switching with a kindly older lady in the bulkhead), but we arrived back to the East Coast at 7 a.m. local time, 4:00 a.m. West Coast time.  Needless to say, Father's Day was a bit of a wash.  We came home, went back to bed, and slept all morning, but we've spent this week trying to get back on schedule.

--4--

Piglet started camp on Monday. It is being run by the same group that runs his preschool, so we are thrilled that he is with some of his same teachers, and even some of his classmates. He does classes in the morning and then they have outings in the afternoon. This week has been crazy hot, so a few outings have been switched around to make sure the kids are safe with the heat indexes, but he comes home happy each night, so that is good. Today they are at Sesame Place, so I'm sure he will be tired by the end of today!

--5--

The two littles, on the other hand, are clingy, whiny, and generally tough this week.  Nap times are all kinds of screwed up.  But in other news, Birdie went from being a floppy lump on a log at the beginning of April to rolling-over-sitting-up-crawling-almost-pulling-up in the last few weeks.  Craziness!  I'm not used to her being so mobile.  She also looks to be a high-maintenance chick (pun intended) as she gets incredibly angry when her will is thwarted, or she doesn't get what she wants Right.Now., or is generally frustrated in her quest for absolute mobility.  I think she won't really be happy with herself until she is walking.  It is completely crazy to me that she might end up an early walker after all the drama of these last nine months.

--6--

I mentioned this yesterday in a separate post, but I've reopened the shop!  Since things seem to be settling down now, and Birdie is doing so much better, I'm feeling like I'm ready to handle orders again.  I'm hoping to get some new items made and listed soon, so check back!

--7--

On the other hand, while Birdie is doing much better physically, her nights continue to stymie us.  Last night I sat in the chair with her for more than an hour while she cried, whined, squirmed in my lap, and tried to be comfortable.  She didn't want the bottle, or the paci, or to be held, or put down, or....you get the idea.  At least it was before midnight, but gheesh, I'm tired.  This has.got.to.stop!

Go see Jen for more Quick Takes!

Shop Open

Sorry for the long silence!  We've been busy with summer travels, a tantruming, potty-training toddler, and various other miscellania that go along with having small children.

I just wanted to pop in to say that I've reopened my etsy shop after a five month hiatus to deal with Birdie's health issues.  As she seems to be doing much better, and things are calming down around here, I thought it was time to get things up and running again.  My listings are small for the moment, and I don't have anything new to offer, but I'm hoping to add some new things over the next few months.  Stay tuned!  I'm always happy to take custom requests, so be sure to ask if you have something specific in mind.

(These are two cards I CASEd from Patty Bennett a while back--I include them in this post for visual interest only)