Happy new year 2013!

What do you want for 2013?

This is a question I've been pondering lately.   I'm not sure I really believe in New YEAR resolutions.  I've found that in order to make something stick, I really need to resolve at least by the day, sometimes by the hours, often by the minute! 

As part of considering what I want to accomplish during 2013, I have been thinking that maybe it's not so much about what I want to ACCOMPLISH as what I want to focus on.  As I've contemplated, I realized that when I look back, sometimes my periods of greatest growth are during the times when I'm not trying to accomplish something specific but am just open to trying new things and to exploring new ideas.

So, with that in mind, I'm contemplating several concepts or ideas that I want to keep as a focus for 2013.  More on that in the new year....

Hope everyone's gearing up for a fantastic New Year's Eve!

Linking to Sunday Sketches...

 

More magic-- Believe in it!

More thoughts of magic during this magical season!

Posted this a bit early but it is my Saturday, December 29th post.  90 days in a row.  I am on a roll!  Posting everyday has been a challenge for me so I'm rather proud of myself.  I definitely do believe that sometimes it's just a matter of creating a habit for yourself as it has become a little easier over time.  In 2013, I'm going to try to focus on better photos, too.

Linking to Show and Tell Saturdays at Artists in Blogland. 

Magic is what you make it

Linking to Paint Party Friday. 

EDM #46: draw something holiday themed

 

SCARY holiday theme!  This was sketched from a Crate and Barrel ad and then colored with magic markers-- very old school, huh?   These nutcrackers are always a bit scary looking but this one looks particularly evil, doesn't it?   I'm afraid that has more to do with my sketch than the nutcracker itself. 

 

Linking to EDM #46:  Draw something holiday themed. 

 

Reindeer visits

Hope Rudolph and gang made it to everyone---both naughty and nice---this year.  We had a lovely, relaxing Christmas and are now off on a bit of an adventure!  While we won't be flying with reindeer, we hope to have just as much fun!  

Here's to everyone having a festive holiday week! 

Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone's holiday is merry and bright!

Rise of the Guardians

 

Last night, my sweetie and I saw a late night showing of Rise of the Guardians.  I wasn't expecting much and was really pleasantly surprised.  It was funny and it had a lot of heart.  Alec Baldwin as a Russian Santa Claus and Hugh Jackman as an Australian, boomerang-carrying 6'2" Easter Bunny were hysterical.  It reminded me that believing in something counts for a lot and that it's (better than) okay to have a sense of wonder or a sense of fun as your center. 

 

I hope everyone is ready for a magic-filled Christmas, filled with wonder and fun!

Happy holidays!

 

 

 

 

 

O' Christmas Trees

Linking to Sunday Sketches

Christmas tags

One of my favorite things about the holidays is finding the perfect gifts for everyone... but I'm always most excited about shopping for the kids.  I have to admit, we go a little crazy when shopping for the nieces and nephews!  And, when we can't be with them for Christmas, I refuse to let Amazon just ship the gifts off.  I like putting together packages with handmade tags with little notes.   Here are a few of the tags I made for the kids packages:

Christmas ornament

Linking to Paint Party Friday! 

Colorful doodle-pick up sticks

Lately, I have been so busy that I haven't take much time to just doodle and play with color-- one of my favorite stress releasers, which I really need to make more time for, especially at this time of year! 

This doodle was inspired by Helen Williams at a little lime.  I absolutely love all that Helen is able to do with just pen and ink and sometimes a touch of color.  And she is so prolific. I am in awe!  I fell in love with her pick up sticks drawing and attempted to create my own version...  I need to work on straighter lines...  and, of course, I couldn't resist adding lots of color!

EDM#8: Draw your watch

 I limited myself to 5 minutes on this, thinking that would be plenty of time, but it turned out that the links made it trickier than I thought it would be.  I may try a more detailed sketch of this again another day when time permits.  

Linking to EDM #8: Draw your watch.

List It Tuesday: Holiday Faves

I'm excited about actually posting a Tuesday list on a TUESDAY this week!  I have been loving Aimee's from Artsyville's List it Tuesday challenges and will miss them between now and the end of the year. 

This is a list of some of my favorite things during the holiday season. I kept it pretty high level but there are a million and one things tiny little things that I love about this time of year-- for some reason, it seems to be nostalgia season and seeing my nieces and nephews enjoying all the things that I found so magical as a kid is a special treat. 

I remember it wasn't the Christmas season until we went down to the firehouse on Main Street to see Santa Claus ride in on the fire truck.  That poor Santa always had a line all the way down Main Street of squiggling, wriggling, giggling little kids who couldn't wait to tell him what they wanted for Christmas.  And, in those days, we didn't go in jeans and tennis shoes.  We DRESSED to see Santa.  I still can't believe how many red velvet dresses and black patent leather shoes I had as a kid.  Thank goodness, we had that sweet hot chocolate to keep us warm while waiting in line and the oranges we got from Santa were always the sweetest ones we had all year.  Because they were magic, of course!

EDM#215: Draw a thumb

I'm trying to work in some very quick 1 minute and 5 minutes sketches to get better at loosening up.  I'm hoping it will help me to look more closely at things and, ultimately, will help me to capture perspective better and more quickly.

Linking to EDM #215.

Harry Potter

I'm not actually a big fan of Harry Potter (I know, I know, I'm probably the only person on the planet who is not). I was just trying to do a portrait with paint only and wanted to pick someone who had some distinguishing characteristics.  I really struggle with portraits.

Linking to Sunday Sketches.

Lighthouse

I love lighthouses, especially in winter, when they really seem to symbolize safety in the storm and the home fires burning.

Linking to Show and Tell Saturday at Artists in Blogland.

EDM #112: Draw something fresh

 

Linking to Paint Party Friday and EDM #112.

Twinkling H2Os

Just some doodles from my journal today.  I did these with twinkling H2Os but the sparkle didn't really come through in the picture.   They are definitely fun to work with, though.  

EDM#119: Draw some rocks

This tower is made of stone, so I suppose it fits the category here, despite my rather cartoony depiction.

Linking to EDM #119.

List it Tuesday and EDM #310: Junk Drawer

Sometimes it feels like every drawer is a junk drawer.  You never can tell what you might find in any drawer in my house.  This quick sketch shows just a sampling of one of the more random collections!  Don't ask me why I would have a fortune cookie in any drawer! 

Back to back List it Tuesday posts this week because I'm finally getting one posted on a Tuesday! Also linking to EDM #310. 

List it Tuesdays: Small Comforts

This is for List it Tuesday at Aimee's Artsyville.   The topic this week was small comforts.  As usual, I'm eking in just under the wire for the 12/4 list. 

This was a really interesting exercise for me because it made me realize just how many small things throughout the day serve as beacons of comfort in an otherwise harried life.  And, at least one or two are really not small comforts but huge ones!

EDM#290: Draw a teapot

I used ArtRage on my iPad again for this one.  I'm fascinated by teapots and love collecting them, even though half the time I just pull hot water from our gizmo with the water bottle on top that dispenses super hot or super cold water.  Maybe one day, I'll draw that.  Of course, it's not nearly as pretty as most teapots are.

This teapot also reminds me of my wonderful grandmother, who would have been 102 today.  I can't drink a cup of tea without thinking of her.  She always drank plain ol' Lipton black tea from the supermarket.  I'm not sure whether she'd be delighted or appalled by all the flavored variations I drink today.

She always reminded me that I was her first grandchild, her god daughter, her namesake and her favorite.  The first three always made me feel extra special.  The last-- being her favorite-- was something she told all of her grandchildren... and we knew it.  But it didn't make any of us feel any less special.  She passed away just before Christmas several years ago.  She's always on my mind, more so at this time of year.

Linking to Sunday Sketches and EDM #290.

EDM#164: Draw a camera

This is another attempt to paint on my iPad.  I used the ArtRage app to create this wonky camera.  I'm not sure I'd know what it was if I didn't know what it was...  so I'm calling it abstract. :-)

Linking to EDM #164 and Show and Tell Saturday at Artists in Blogland.

Doodly Dotty Daisies

My go to doodle is daisies.  They really are the friendliest flowers.  Especially when they're very colorful with lots of goofy patterns.

I started this with just a page full of round, white stickers.  I randomly added color to the page for a kind of tie-dyed look.  I pulled them off the sticker sheet and used them as the center for my crazy daisies.

Then I doodled in some patterns.  I like the black and white patterns against the touch of color. 

I think I should have left well enough alone, but I have not learned that trick yet.  Of course, being the color junkie that I am... I couldn't resist adding some extra color. 

Linking to Paint Party Friday!

Fall Fearless and Fly: Bubbling over with Laughter

This week's Fall Fearless and Fly challenge is hosted by Marcia Beckett.   I'm a big fan of her vibrant, fun artwork and she provides some great examples of using favorite colors and representing joy at the Artists in Blogland site for this challenge.

The prompts for this challenge are:

Headline Prompt:  Lifelong Fan: What or who have you consistently valued or looked up to in your life?  What lessons have you learned from people you admire?
Color Prompt:  Your favorite color now or from childhood or both!
Quote Prompt:  "Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can:  all of them make me laugh."  W. H. Auden

Obviously, I used the quote-- and it's apt because it is people who can make me laugh (and who laugh easily) that I've consistently admired.  Relatively speaking, we have such a short time here, doesn't it just make sense to find the joy in the big and little things along the way?

Be sure to stop by and check it Marcia's work along with the other linked up artists!

EDM #285: Draw something that loves the sun

For some time now, I've been intrigued with the idea of creating on my iPad.  I love the mobility of it and I've seen some artists create amazing things electronically.  I have struggled with finding the right programs and the right tools.  For my birthday, I asked for and received an aPen A5 stylus that I thought would be good for drawing on the iPad.  Unfortunately, it turns out that it only works with a limited number of apps and is better suited to taking notes than to creating art.

For this one, I just used my finger with the ArtRage application, but I'm still looking for a good stylus or brush tool if anyone has any suggestions!

This is EDM #285: Something that loves the sun.

EDM #185: Draw a cat

I attempted here to do an abstract-ish version of my favorite little kitty. 

Despite my telling him that it was an abstract cat, he decided he needed to edge his way in to do some formal posing! 

You might think that he is just sitting there, normal as can be, and that I tried to convince him to pose, but the real proof of it can be found in the many other photos that show the truth...  practically 24 hours a day, he is finding new places and positions in which to nap.   He magically wakes up just as we're trying to go to bed at night or on the rare mornings when we have an opportunity to sleep in a bit later.  That's when he wants to party like it's catnip night at the Whiskers Dance Club.

And those are the least embarassing of them.  I'm just going to quit now before I really become the crazy cat lady. 

Posting to EDM #185: Draw a cat