Week 2

I spent this week knitting... pondering writing... and drawing.

The third part of the drawing class I started in the fall started Tuesday. This time we're using pen and ink (the first week was pencil; the second, charcoal).

I liked the pen and ink a lot. I need to learn some real control, but I like the feel of it.

After the class I called Jim and told him I drew his favorite thing in the world. Without hesitating, he said, "broccoli." Guess the kids, pets, and I know where we stand! lol Jim eats broccoli every single day, so I guess this one's for him!

I finished knitting one fuzzy-cuffed mitten. Now I get to see how good my pattern-writing skills are because I have to duplicate it with the second mitten. Wow, I hope they match!

I also designed a dog sweater for Roxy the puppy. She's small--weighing about 3 pounds right now. We've been getting sweaters at Michael's that are meant for teddy bears. But she hates them all.

She loves this sweater so much she bit me really really hard when I put it on her!

Silly puppy!

Day 5

Don't laugh...this is something I sketched last night. I've been thinking about figures of women...and I love palm trees. Voila, Goddess of the Palms.

I really need to work on drawing faces. Because my faces bite! ugh!

Day 4

I used my sharpies to alter the black and white photos I took the other evening.

Hey, isn't the best part about digital cameras being able to print out your own pictures whenever you need them?! I had printed out a set and Jim took them for work. In a jiffy I had another set printed.

The sharpies were fun to play with. I've had them awhile and am not sure if they are fresh. They seemed to drag a little on the photo paper...in places it turns white on the picture.

But I liked playing and want to use some of these in an altered book or on postcards.

Day 3

I made this CD book for my friend Tina's birthday. The front and back covers are paper covered CDs. The insides are just paper.

I took white card stock and rubbed ink pads all over it. Then I stamped randomly. For the cover, I traced the CD and cut it out. For the insides I used my Fiskars shapecutter to cut the circles. There's organza ribbon running throughout to hold it all together.

One page has a torn pocket, and I need to figure out what to put in it. It would be a great place for a gift card or gift certificate.

This was fun...took more than one day...and I want to make more. I definitely have the CDs to make them!

Day 2

Today I found the black and white function on my digital camera. I took a bunch of pictures of the animals and people while in my bedroom. Here are Jim and Nikki the dog.

I love black and white photos.

Day 1

I take a lot of photos with my digital camera. I decided I need to do something with them other than post into on-line albums or try to scrapbook them. I also have a Wacom tablet and it's time to put it to use.

What better way than to do a tutorial in Photo Shop Elements? How hard can making a computer postcard be?!

A little background here...I worked as a computer graphic designer for about 9 years in the 80s and 90s. I beta tested graphic software when it was still beginning. I could do things in Illustrator...hmmm...

But Photo Shop Elements is kicking my ass. It took me 2 hours to make this measly little card. Seriously. It's so bad that I've signed up for a class on PSE at the Eclectic Academy. Hopefully I will learn something...anything...