Just Draw It

Though I am knitting, I have been spending more time these days expressing my creativity through drawing. It is certainly not as warm, but it doesn't take as long and mistakes are far easier to correct!

Knitting Penguin

Knitting Penguin, a photo by bibi24rafiki on Flickr.

My mascot for Sock Scrimmage

doodling

IMAG0842, a photo by bibi24rafiki on Flickr.

When I started this piece, I had no intentions for it. It was meant to be totally free form random doodling. I just sort of followed the page and moved along enjoying the colors. The face just sort of revealed itself in this menagerie of shapes. In the end, I noticed something - nearly every bit of the page is entirely covered. And, I realized that this is my life. That face is me peeking out from my abundance of activities. They're all good, they're mostly fun, they're all mostly important - but boy oh boy are there a lot of them!

Art fun

I'm still knitting, but I have been swept up on an obsession to draw better. This has led to intensive research on art projects and a drive to get the kids involved. This is totally self serving. The more they want to draw, the more I will have time to draw. It also gives me an excuse to buy fancy art supplies so we can all "try' them.

My research recently turned up this site: http://www.artfulparent.com/2011/12/simon-says-drawing-plus-12-activities-to-keep-the-kids-busy-over-the-holidays.html#more

With 12 ideas to try over the holidays. I'm going to try several, if not all and will post pictures here to prove it!

Swimming fun

I love summer - no snow! no ice! no need for heavy winter coats! no need for socks! I love being able to run out of the house with just shorts, shirt and flip flops.

These are a couple of my favorite pictures from the summer. They fully capture the feeling of freedom and pure joy in just being.

Monkey Fun

I decided to be my own genie and give myself 20 wishes. One of them is to draw more for no other reason than I like to draw. I got away from it because I didn't think I was very good and I am always pressed for time. But now I don't really care if I'm good or bad - I just feel like I need to do something creative, to put my head in a different place every now and then, to play and have fun. I work a lot - and that's okay, I don't mind, but I want to make sure I have balance. Drawing to me is a way of playing.

The thing that has really surprised me is how much I actually like what's been coming off my pencil. It may not be technically great, but it's not bad.

The monkey's were inspired by an exercise out of Carla Sonheim's book: Drawing Lab I can't say enough great things about this book - fun exercises, delightful artwork, great insights. If you want to try drawing or know someone who does, this is a must.

Try it and I can just about guarantee that you will be surprised and delighted with what comes off your pencil too.

Random Recipe

How to take perfectly healthy snack and turn into a delicious but decidedly not so healthy snack:

Veggie Dip!

1 cup sour cream
1 cut mayo
2 tablespoons (or so) Rice vinegar
2 tablespoons (or so) finely chopped red onion (could probably use green or other onion)
2 teaspoons dill weed (DO NOT use dill seed)

Chill if you have time or just serve.

Ice cream no calories

Perhaps it's not unusual to find ice cream in an ice cream shop... but check out who these are made - they're crocheted! Now that's what I call high art.

A little vistitor

Look who flew off my needles to spend some time with me...
It's a sweet little bird with a whole lot of attitude. The pattern is from one of my favorite designers, a great knitter of all things small and creative: Anna of Mochimochiland. From tiny princesses to tiny toilets, she has got a delightfully off kilter approach to knitting. This little fellow can be knit in the span of a movie -- and the best part is no messy bird droppings!

I am thrilled to report that there will be some sewing going on by the junior set as we have just won a contest by wewilsons for a copy of a new book: Kids Crafternoon Sewing. This is great because my dds have recently begun to get interested in sewing and are looking for projects. I learned to sew as a kid and though I got away from it for awhile, I'm so glad I knew the basics when I wanted to get started again as an adult. The book is on a blog tour so there are more chances to win. The details are on the wewilson's blog and while, you are there make sure to check out her new inchworm!

20 wishes

I've been thinking a lot lately about taking care of "me." It's something that gets lost in the shuffle. There is always so much to do for everyone else and in taking care of them I am taking care of me. It feels selfish to think about taking care of me - as if I run the risk of neglecting everyone else. But I'd be the first one to tell my friends that they should be taking care of themselves (in fact I'd be the first one to take care of them LOL). With this as background, I was intrigued by another blogger's post that I randomly came across about making 20 wishes for herself and herself alone.
She's got some great pictures of the beautiful tags that she made to go with her wishes.

I'm thinking I will do this -but not all at once.

My first wish is to draw better. I've always loved to draw and I think I do okay but I've never quite been satisfied and then I stopped drawing because I have so much else going on.

Come to think of it, a lot of my immediate wishes are about doing things better. While that's good on one hand, it's also my subtle way of putting myself down. So I'm adding one rule - nothing about "getting better."

I wish to fill a sketchbook with fun drawings
I wish to get a sweet camera and lens
I wish to travel to Mexico to see ancient ruins
I wish to travel to Kenya to see where my husband was in the Peace Corp
I wish to take my younger daughters to Paris (and my older ones if they're interested)

There's more, but I want to move a little slowly to think these through thoroughly.

I wish for you that all your wishes could come true.