Sketchbook Project

Maybe I am crazy.  Maybe.  I am going to do this Sketchbook project because it seems really cool.  My artistic roots (and my first love) has always been drawing.  I know how I am and this will most certainly prove challenging for me to get it done. 

BUGS - wip

Here are some bugs I have been working on over the past week. I was inspired by the all the dragonflies.  These are not baked and they still need some legs and antennae and some tweaking.  I am hoping to have them finished this coming weekend. :o)

Rain Barrel Art

Check out this totally cool rain barrel that my sister painted.  The red/orange cat is in honor of her kitty Mesa and the black and white cat was for the ladies that requested the barrel and his/her name is Spaz.  I love, love, love this barrel!

Dragonfly Summer

I don't know about where you live but here in Virginia it has been one amazing Dragonfly Summer!  They are all over the place in a fantastic array of greens, blues, oranges, and browns.  I took some photos of them out in front of my house.  I just love these happy flying bugs.

The cone flowers and Black Eyed Susans are what they seem to be after.

Oh wait! That's not a dragonfly, it's Sydd. We just finished playing in the hose. ha ha

Antithesis to Katy Perry's "California Gurls"

I have to say I adore this song and her voice!  Thank God good music still exists. Lyrics posted below for your reading pleasure.

Lyrics to This Pretty Face by Amy Macdonald

I don't care
Who does her hair or
What clothes she wears
I don't care if it's YSL, I don't care if it's Chanel
What matters to me is a strong belief
All this beauty is skin deep
Don't care about hair, don't care about eyes
It's about what's inside

You'll never know who you'll meet on your way to the top
You'll probably see them again when your fame starts to drop
Down down, I'll meet you on the ground
It's no good with your hair and your shiny blue eyes
It's no good when you finally start to realize
I need something more
This pretty face don't work no more

What happened to achieving
What happened to believing in yourself
Why listen to the musings of someone, somebody else
I'm sorry I don't see and I can't quite believe it anymore
What happened to believing that beauty's in the eye of the beholder

You'll never know who you'll meet on your way to the top
You'll probably see them again when your fame starts to drop
Down down, I'll meet you on the ground
It's no good with your hair and your shiny blue eyes
It's no good when you finally start to realize
I need something more
This pretty face don't work no more

You'll never know who you'll meet on your way to the top
You'll probably see them again when your fame starts to drop
Down down, I'll meet you on the ground
It's no good with your hair and your shiny blue eyes
It's no good when you finally start to realize
I need something more
This pretty face don't work no more

New Jewelry

Well, maybe "kind-of" new jewelry. I made these pieces months ago but became hesitant about putting them out for sale.  Not sure how I would hang the little worm pendants - a ribbon necklace might work for them like I did with some of the others below. The oyster shells are real.  I collected them from my favorite beach and thought it would be fun to give them their pearl back. So what do you think?  Do they need more "umph" or does a satin ribbon fit the bill?  It would be good to hear what you like about them or what you might change about them and why AND I really appreciate your feedback!

Beach Baby

I got to take Sydd to the beach the other day.  He loves the sand!
His Aunt Cady is helping him climb the lifeguard stand.  He's on top of the world now!

Feeling Brilliant

Yep.  Yep I am.  I am feeling a bit brilliant right now because I was actually right about the pretty pink flowers I saw on my walk Sunday.  Um hmmm.  It feels good to be smart. Ha ha ha!  (totally having some fun here).
I present to you a very pretty picture of a Pink Ladies Slipper I found on the web and it looks just like my flower (only with more green stuff happening).   ;-)

You know.., this is really just a diversion for me since I just couldn't bring myself to create that Bird Doll I was espousing about a couple of posts ago... drats!

What flower is this?

I took a long walk (about 5 miles) through the woods and near the water.  It was absolutely stunning the way all the colors sparkled and the sky was so blue.  I was so mesmerized with looking up at the bright green leaves and the blue of the sky and then the sparkles dancing off the water that I nearly missed the beauty of this little flower.  They covered the floor of the woods.  The pink is so soft.  I thought it was a form of Ladies Slipper but I am not sure.  If you know please tell me and thanks!  Forgive the photo - I took it with the camera on my phone.

Brown Pelicans

I needed some inspiration so I went to my usual spot at the beach.  It was nice.  No people.  Wind, sun, sand, surf, and dunes for as far as I could see.  Peaceful heaven.  I started randomly taking pictures and before I knew it, I was capturing the sea gulls in flight.  I am usually quite awful at capturing them but this day I was getting some good shots.  As I was looking through the view finder to see if I could locate any more gulls I noticed a dark shape moving my way in the sky and this shape was moving FAST along the dunes.  I kept my camera targeted at the mass and as it got closer I realized it was a flock of brown pelicans.  When I could see that they had become separate forms I started clicking.  It was really exciting to capture them as they flew right over me and beyond winging their way toward the tourist town miles down the strand.  As I said earlier, peaceful heaven.