Love Letters

Derwent Watercolors

I have been using Derwent Watercolor pencils to do my watercolor experiments, and ended up buying two different types... the Derwent Inktense pencils and the Derwent Watercolor pencils... and because I really couldn't tell all that much difference between the two, I made a little chart, which looks like this:

 
And so, from this, I really can see how the Inktense colors are more intense, hence, I guess, the name "Inktense"!  (My shining brilliance baffles me more often than I can begin to tell you!!!) :D

These pencils are really fun to use and are very portable... just don't forget to take a brush and some water with you!  For that, I recommend using a Koi Waterbrush, which is an empty barrel container with a brush on top. (See image below). This eliminates the need to carry around a container of water and a separate brush if you are traveling with your watercolors.  

You can purchase these brushes from Paper & Ink Arts, one of my favorite art suppliers, especially for calligraphy supplies.  And if you're looking for inspiration, this book,
written by a friend of mine, Janet Takahashi, is a wonderful source for information about watercolor, drawing, and journaling with watercolors.    

Birthday card for a friend

In an effort to send out special cards for special friends, here is a birthday card I made for my gal pal Yvonne, recently... The card is made from paste paper with various collage elements placed on top of the paste paper, including a postage stamp from the Netherlands and a little orange bird from a paper sample from French Paper Company of Niles, Michigan, in addition to some calligraphy scraps of mine...

and the envelope addressed with a brush pen.

 
I'm not terribly proficient with the brush pen, but I'm working at it, and will continue to work at it until I am comfortable with it!  The envelope was made out of tyvek which I painted with gesso mixed with acrylic paint.  The gesso dries to a nice matte finish which can be writen on and has a really nice flat finish.  The kitty on the stamp resembles the kitty at Yvonne's, so it was appropriate.  I don't know about you, but I love postage stamps, and I wish there was a bigger variety to pick from sometimes.  

So, if there's someone in your life you've been thinking about and meaning to write to, or call, take a minute and write them a letter... it's much more personal and will last a lot longer than a phone call or text message!  

Corey's flowers

First things, first. I am not a watercolorist, let's make that perfectly clear. BUT I am trying to teach myself some of the skills of working with watercolors and I have been enjoying the process.  Actually, I just really like playing around and seeing how the colors dry and where there are neat little puddles of color!  So in the effort to push myself to learn new skills and work outside my usual comfort zone, here is the watercolor I made of my daughter Corey's Sweetest Day flowers (which are now black and brittle in the same vase out on our back porch... she won't throw them away!). 

I like this little close up better...

or this, even better!

Just having some Saturday morning fun.. it's really nice to be able to do this as a change, after working two twelve-hour shifts back-to-back in the Emergency Room these past two days!  

I must say, I meet the nicest people there... I took care of someone yesterday who made me realize how ridiculous all of my tiny little complaints are, and they really are... this man had endured more suffering than I can imagine and yet he never, ever, uttered a single complaint while he was in my care.  And his wife couldn't understand why people had been so kind and accomodating towards her after her husband's initial injuries.  I was just blown away by these two... he became my hero and she became my example of humility.  People were kind and accomodating towards her because she was kind and accomodating herself!  I really believe we attract the kind of treatment we receive by the kind of behavior we exhibit.  It was truly a privilege to take care of that couple.  I needed to be reminded just how fortunate I am. 

 

Anita's Kitchen in Ferndale, MI

We just got home from Anita's Kitchen in Ferndale where I had one of the best salads I've ever eaten... ever!

I had "Anita's Chopped Salad" which doesn't sound like all that much, (it certainly doesn't scream "Middle Eastern cuisine"), but it was SO good... imagine a large salad of the freshest romaine lettuce leaves topped with diced chicken grilled to perfection, applewood bacon crumbles, hard boiled egg, the softest, the freshest, yummiest feta cheese possible, and perfectly diced beautiful red tomatoes, all of which was arranged atop the lettuce in long strips across the plate and served with delicious creamy feta dressing... may I just sayfeta is not easy to draw OR color with watercolor!  The plate is drawn on the page, it's just next to impossible to see in the scan.  

 

I wish I'd thought to take a photograph with my camera, though food pictures are typically really unapealling, at least IMHO! 

The wait staff is warm and friendly, and have learned the fine art of attending to patrons without hovering or making people feel rushed to finish up.  If you're in the area, do be sure to visit... you'll be so glad you did!  

Great class!

 
 

 

Hi there!!!

Recently I attended a workshop given by Jacqueline Sullivan, I have to tell you what an outstanding experience this was... 

Jacqueline is a VERY accomplished artist and instructor and I'd been trying to take her paste paper class for years without success... until just recently!  Jacqueline is extremely generous with materials and supplies, VERY knowledgable, and is extremely patient, so to tell you it was a good class is kind of an understatement!

 Most of us worked on Arches Text Wove paper and Jacqueline recommends using                                               acrylics.  They are the top choice for acrylics to use... the pigment load is superb which makes for really rich, beautiful paste papers!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More people attended than had been expected (including me, since I signed up really, really late), but Jacqueline accomodated everyone beautifully; and I think I can safely speak for the group and say we really had a good time, and learned how to make beautiful paste papers, too !

                                        
    There are some incredibly talented artists in this group... there was inspiration to be found everywhere! 

                                        

 So if your guild is looking for a terrific teacher and a fun, useful, educational experience, be sure to      check out Jacqueline's gorgeous website and bring her in to teach for you!    

                                        

 

Another journal entry...

This is a simple little impromptu collage I added to the bottom of the journal page, above it is the saying I wrote out with a brush on a post a few entries back... I love that quote... I need to look at it every day and really remind myself of that... I'm afraid I'm going to get to the end of my life and feel like I never really did live it on my terms... so I'm working on that.  Anyhow... I really don't like it when my writing goes uphill or is crooked, so why am I so reluctant to pencil in a little guideline here and there?!?  All I can say is I am either really lazy or really spontaneous... I like how the latter sounds better!

       Now, GO MAKE SOMETHING!  

Drawing skills...

Lately, I've been pushing myself to draw at least one small thing every day... ok, every other day... the impetus was I remembered that calligraphy is really drawing letters... it has absolutely nothing to do with handwriting, though a calligrapher will usually have pretty good handwriting (I think it's just a side effect of studying letters for years, and we usually love letters, so we like them to look good, just MHO)... I digress...

so here's a recent journal entry of mine, with a little drawn ditty, I mean kitty, Moo... (do any of you give your pets three or four ridiculous names?!?)

and here is another journal entry, 

 

And one last journal entry, just for fun:

Paper Salad everywhere!!!

Today's newest and brightest idea of mine is to present you with my very own, unique "Paper Salad"... I'm offering a smattering of my paper scraps and pieces of calligraphy practice, all things I'd use myself, and do use, all the time! Lots of the paper is painted tyvek and it's beautiful... too beautiful to ever throw out!  When I teach classes I always bring my tyvek leftovers for my students to go through, to take as a sort of "give away" gift.  It makes me feel good that they appreciate how pretty these papers really are...

   There used to be an awesome paper store in Royal Oak, named Sheets... they carried incredible handmade paper, imported precious papers, and unusual cardstock, etc.  They did the same thing with their leftovers, and called it something like "Scrap Salad".  I LOVED it, because that way I could have small pieces of very expensive papers to use in my collage.  I couldn't have begun to afford an entire sheet of those specialty papers, nor would I have wanted to rip it up to use in collage!  

It's kind of difficult to really appreciate some of the papers... the metallic paints don't necessarily photograph all that well. But there is a nice variety of painted tyvek, calligraphy snippets, beautiful german written in an 1893 journal (see in photo below, on the left side of center), punched leaves and hearts from my painted papers, a few old tickets or cards or old book pages... and yes, scraps of some of beautiful handmade papers I've purchased over the years.

So here's my question... would anyone be interested in a side of "Paper Salad"?  I'd like to charge $10.00 per container, and will ship for free for the entire month of April (continental US only!).  I will happily put together custom orders, by color or colors... or you can just order a random "Paper Salad", and be surprised!  I didn't take the time to count how many pieces of paper is in the container, but I promise you'll love it.  If you don't, you know how to reach me.  

I don't have a Paypal account, and don't want one (long story, but I didn't do anything wrong... really!). If you'd like to order a salad, email me for my address, send me a check or money order, and I'll get your salad out asap, so that it arrives just as fresh as possible! 

And if you think this is a nutty idea, I'd like to hear from you, too... I know how much I like things like this, but I'm only one person.  I'd love to hear your thoughts! I will be giving away one Paper Salad to a random commenter, so talk to me!

So, please order something healthy for your studio, & now, go make something!

New Banner

This is my new banner, made using images of Moo cards I had made. Have you ever seen a Moo card?  It's the same width of a typical business card, but half as tall (that depends on how you're looking at it... in other words, just as long on the long side, half as wide on the short side). The texture is really lovely - nice, thick cardstock with a wonderful, smooth coating. 

100 cards cost roughly $20, plus shipping, and you can have all 100 cards printed with the same image, or you can upload multiple images to use, for the same price.  Once you upload the images from your files, you can move the image around under their template, & enlarge the image somewhat, until you get it just like you want it. 

I love my Moo cards!  And it's fun to present a few of the cards to people, so they can pick their favorite... some people have even asked me for multiples.  I'm always flattered. I'd like to think if nothing else, they make a nice little bookmark!  (If you'd like one of my Moo cards, I'd be delighted to send you one... just leave a comment requesting one, and I'll email you back to ask for your snail mail address).  

And if you decide to order your own Moo cards, let me know if you post an image... I'd love to see your version of a Moo card!  

Now, go make something!

xoxo,

K.

Brutally Honest or Brutal Honesty...

Good morning!  Wow... yesterday's post really hit home for some of you... thank you SO much for all of your kind words of encouragement and support.  I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate it!  

I was just looking at an email sent to me from Lululemon, the workout clothing company, and I was lamenting why they only make workout clothing for women size 2 - 10, occasionally size 2 - 12!  WOW!  I'm not sure I'll EVER fit into their clothes, which is really a shame, because 

  a. I love their clothing and

  b. I have a little bit of discretionary income I could give them in exchange for workout clothes... 

if only they made something besides gloves that fit me... me and the other half of all the women out there! The average size in the US is size 14... okay, that's not ideal, but still... are they nuts or do they only see and know women who are size 2 ?!?  I don't think I'm all that unusual... I'm fat and I'm an athlete (hidden in there somewhere, but it's true!!!)... and I'd like to wear cool, comfortable, well made workout clothing!

Anyhow, they have cool upbeat messages on their bags and on their website, so I made my own version of one of the things I found just now:

At first, I thought "Love your failures?!?" ... are they kidding?!?  

But maybe they are on to something... it's my failures that are going to push me harder to succeed... it's my failures that are going to motivate me to make lasting changes in my life... we don't feel all that motivated to change anything if we are happy and content, right?!?  

So, for today, I'm going to embrace my failures as a way to keep me focused on what I need to do to get healthier...  please feel free to join me on this journey... I promise I'll keep you updated on the good, the bad, and the ugly... 

Brutally honest or Brutal honesty... 

either way, I need to talk out loud about my struggle... 

I cannot do this alone.  

Thank you for listening... xoxo,