A Few White

One of the things I like to make from my paint skins is jewelry. I've used pendant and bracelet trays so far to create unique one of a kind necklaces and bracelets.  These are a few of those blank pendant trays.

Before we had an entertainment center in our living room, our television sat on a small xorner cabinet stand. We still use that stand as a sort of side table. I keep it covered by a folded up white lace table cloth  that was handed down to me. This is part of the lace

Short Post

Today is my son's 17th birthday. My baby is almost grown up.

Photo a day #1 for today was a landscape taken in September.

Photo a day #2 for today was Livvy feeling annoyed by her sister sitting on her.

A Throw Back and a Drink

This week I've had a little trouble keeping up with my challenges.  I have managed to do them but I've been scrambling to get them done. Tonight was no different.

I actually decided to go with an old picture for one of them. My son will be 17 tomorrow so, it has been a few years since I caught this picture of him and one of our Scottie girls asleep under the Christmas tree.  But, it illustrates friendship perfectly and it's one of my favorite pictures.

I have been using the squirtable flavorings in my water lately.  I found one I just love. It's peach bellini. It's actually good enough to deserve to be in a wine glass.

It's hard to find a place in our house where the background isn't cluttered.  A couple white tea towels helped. But, it still didn't really turn out the way I wanted.  It's not the worst, but far from great.

Trying to Grow

I am trying to grow as an artist. Honestly, I have th

is feeling of guilt calling myself that. I have no formal training and at this point it is a hobby for me.  So, a big part of me feels I have no right to call myself an artist.

In my attempt to grow, tonight I tried some different techniques.  I have these picture easels I bought at the dollar store and decided to use them to prop up one of my canvases as I poured paint on it. I first painted the canvas black. I poured my paint while the black paint was still wet.

I used a color shift green, a bright orange and a yellow. I poured the yellow and let it run. Next, I poured the green and then the orange.  I alternated those colors until the canvas was covered. I did tilt the canvas some to help the coverage.

I did two other green/yellow/orange pours tonight. One I flipped three cups of individual colors on a canvas I'd painted black first. The other I did a dirty pour.

 

The other color combination I worked with was pink/blue/sparkly gold. I did two canvases using this color combination.  The first one I did a straight clean pour and the other one I did a flipped cup dirty pour. 

I am really happy so far wit the results. I am thinking of adding semicolon butterflies to them.

Now, for my photo a day challenges. One of them was dark.  I chose to feature one of my favorite local shops that is located in our historical district as "I went here."

For dark, I edited a photo of my daughter sitting on the couch drinking wine. I used a filter that enhanced the shadows in the photo and darkened the colors. 

Something Red in St. Charles

I can be a bit compulsive when I find something that interests me. Like with the photo a day thing, it would not be out of character for me to try and do a dozen of them. But, I have been pretty good about sticking to two. But, I found another challenge I've decided to try to participate in as of this week.

This one is weekly, though. It is supposed to focus on your city. Since I love my hometown and the surrounding area I figured that was a good enough reason to add it.

This week's theme was "something red." At first I really was a bit worried I would not be able to actualy start this week because I had no idea what to do for this. Then, it hit me. So, here is something red in St. Charles.

Our historic district still has a red brick road.  While it is kind of a pain to drive down, I wouldn't have it any other way.

A space was the topic for one of my other lists for today. One of my favorite spaces is my painting space.

I really had trouble with the last one. It was "nice!" I actually went to see what other people had chosen to do with this.

I came up with the nice smell my wax burner has when it's turned on. I got it as a Christmas gift and I really like it. As a matter of fact I've been quite compulsive about buying wax for it. I have about twenty different packages of wax cubes already. At present cinnamon pecan is in it.

A Drip and Dinner

Today was not my favorite in the world of photo a day challenges. Both prompts were blah.

I'm not a fan of prompts that have to be taken at a certain time. I think I have already discussed that. But, I am also not that fond of taking pictures of food. But, I am committed to doing this. Dinner tonight was sloppy joes and steamed vegetables. The one nice thing was Caleb's girlfriend Emma was here with us for supper.

Photographing drips can be fun if you have the opportunity to be out in the rain or when ice cycles are melting. Otherwise it's hard not to get stuck with turning the faucet on to cause a drip.

We were at the swim meet again today.  I tried to get water dripping off my son after warm ups and just ended up with a spot on the heat sheet.

I thought about trying to get paint dripping by doing another pour today, but what I did yesterday is not completely dry yet and I really didn't want to add another set to the drying area yet. I ended up with my tea dripping from my straw after being at Mod Pizza. It's not a great picture, but it met the criteria.

A January Saturday

I got to do two things I really enjoy today, watch one of my kids swim and paint. January has always been a busy month for swim meets and this one is no different. This weekend it's a home meet at the Rec Plex.

Then, this afternoon I got my painting supplies back out.  They had been put away since right before Thanksgiving to make room for holiday happenings.  I like to do fluid art.  Today I did a couple different color palettes. 

My first color palette was two shades of turquoise with an orange.  I poured on two canvases.  The first canvas I did a clean pour.  The second canvas I did a stacked flipped cup dirty pour.

The second color palette I did was two shades of blue with a glittery eggshell off white paint.  These were both layered tipped cup pours.

I did remember my photo a day challenges, too. One of them was "on the counter. " I included my Scottie Dog cookie jar and our Budweiser stein that holds cooking utensils.  I did it in black and white with shadows.

The other photo a day was fence. I ran outside very quickly because it is very cold and windy today to take a picture of our chairs link fence.  I edited the saturation on this one.

Turquoise and Time

I really wanted to actually have some paint ready to go and pour a canvas for this prompt but I haven't got moving on my painting yet. But, I have been playing around with ideas for color palettes.  I'm thinking orange with the turquoise and maybe some white or ivory or silver. I'm just not sure yet.

I really wasn't thrilled with the other prompt today. I dislike time stamp prompts .It's just really hard to have a camera ready at a specific time especially during a work day. Even when I'm not busy I just don't remember.  So, this one is a bit of a cop out, but I think being busy with students is a good cop out.

Corner and Difficult

So, I decided a couple days ago to pick up on a second photo a day challenge.  I'd done about four days worth of both challenges only to realize I was doing the prompts from January 2014. Alrighty then.... so today I am on track with the correct year and month for both challenges.

Let's start with the one that I've been doing correctly all a long. Today was corner. I had a fee ideas for this but ended up opting for the corner of a coaster my mom made for me for Christmas 2017. She decoupaged pictures of my doggies on six blocks of wood to make these for me. It is one of my favorite gifts I've gotten in recent years.

The other prompt for today, now that I am working from the list for 2019 and not five years ago, was difficult.  I went back in my gallery to find something for this because I was at work for over twelve hours today so I really didn't even think about taking a picture for this prompt. 

I found a picture taken a couple days ago of our little girl giving me the stink eye because I wanted to take a picture of her and she wanted no part of it. It is difficult to get a picture of her when she isn't in the mood to be bothered. 

Glasses and a Bundle of Energy

I was born cross eyed.  I have never had good eyesight.  They tried patching my eyes when I was little in hopes of strengthening the lazy one. I had surgery on my left eye when I was three to cosmetically fix the lazy eye but it also messed up my depth perception.

So, I've also been clumsy my whole life.  I actually started wearing glasses when I was two. I was able to wear contacts for many years but about the time I got to the age where I needed bifocal I've not been able to get contacts to work for me.

Now, I have a collection of glasses that I've worn for the past 12 years. My current pair is in the front of the picture with the rest going in order from most recent to the oldest pair since.

One of my favorite things to see is my dogs. They both have such different personalities.  Our Izzy Bean still acts like a puppy.

She is floppy and clumsy and supe sweet. She will hug you when you pick her up.  She loves everyone and is an attention hound. She still loves to play and can be a bundle of energy.

PAD Jan. 15: Paint and Shiny

I was really excited when I saw that paint was one of the prompts for this month
 I love to paint. I started out painting rocks about 18 months ago. But, in learning about painting rocks, I learned about fluid art (poured painting).

I love this technique.  I have done small canvases, a wooden cross and a wooden owl. I have a lot of other things I want to paint this way and a lot of ways I want to alter the way I paint using this technique.

Another thing I do with this is let the run off paint pool onto freezer paper. Once that dries its called paint skins. I use those paint skins to make jewelry.

So I had all these different ideas about how I was going to photograph paint. But as I was getting out my painting supplies I realized  I wanted to take a picture of some of my paint skins.

For my shiny photo I was actually at a loss. The as I was sitting on my couch I realized my ceramic Scottish Terriers were shiny. But, I didn't want to just photograph them on their shelves and I use our carpet as a backpack a lot. So, I decided to take them outside and set them in the snow so the background would just be completely white.

PAD Jan. 14: A Handful

I am trying really hard to watch what I eat. Trying to keep in mind that I have to strictly limit my carbs. This means my snacks need to be as healthy as possible. 

I love tomatoes and usually this time of year it's near impossible to find decent tomatoes but I managed to find some really good grape tomatoes this past weekend.  A handful of them are a great snack.

My other photo prompt today was supposed to be something I do daily.  Since I really didn't think it would be appropriate or a pretty sight to take a picture while showering I figured a picture representing brushing my teeth would be better.  After all, I do that twice a day instead of just once. So, every day I brush my teeth.

I have been told the toothpaste blob looks like a dolphin.  It wasn't done on porpoise (see what I did there) but it adds a little something extra to the photo.

PAD Jan. 13: Lunch and A Building

So I found another photo a day challenge I liked the look of so now I'm playing around with two PADs.

Today I had lunch with my friend Tina. We hung out for a few hours. We always have a good time and always find lots to talk about.  We ate at St. Louis Bread Company (Panera to the rest of the world). I had Cheddar Broccoli soup and grilled cheese.  I forgot about my photo prompt until after I had already finished eating.

I had planned on raking a picture of part of the strip mall once we got outside but then I was too busy enjoying hanging out with my friend that I forgot that too. So, I decided to get one of my daughter's Nano Block buildings and take a picture of that.

PAD Jan. 12: Begins With T

It started snowing yesterday afternoon and has been snowing ever since.  We've gotten close to a foot of snow so far. We haven't had a snow like this in about 8 years. Last year we had a decent snow in March, but it still wasn't like this.

The PAD topic for today was "begins with t." So, I took a picture of our picnic table in our back yard with snow piled up on it.

My 50th

Today was my 50th birthday. That is so hard for me to believe.  I still have just as many insecurities as I did 30 years ago. I still have so many things that confuse me about life. I still feel like a teenager.  How in the world can I be a half a century old already? Shouldn't I have more things figured out by now?

It was a snowy birthday, which  isn't too surprising or unusual since it is January.  We dismissed from school early due to the weather today.  But, it was already nasty on the roads.  It took me 20 minutes to drive from work to the highway which usually takes no more than 5 minutes.  The highway was already snow packed but I managed to make it home safely and it only took about 25 minutes longer than usual.

We went out to eat at Texas Roadhouse tonight.  I had a filet mignon, ceaser salad and steamed vegetables.  It was yummy. I always order medium well. So, I took a picture of it after I cut into it so I could use it for today's PAD which is pink.

It continues to snow.  It is supposed to snow all night and all day tomorrow.  This is probably going to delay Michaela going back to school.

We haven't had snow like this on my birthday for about eight years. The kids and I were all off school for a snow day on my birthday that year and I took them sledding.  This year Caleb and I both had early dismissal. Michaela was working with Michael. So, we went out to eat after they got home from work. 

I got money from my in laws that I am putting with the money they gave me for Christmas to buy a Samsung watch. Hopefully I will be able to do that this weekend.

PAD Jan. 10: Play

I have always loved Scottish Terriers.  My dad brought home the Scottie I grew up with when I was three. My husband and I got our first Scottie two years before our daughter was born.  Fourteen years later we got two more.

I love their attitude.  I love their short little legs. I love their big noses and pointy ears. I love their expressive faces. I love their loyalty.  I love they way they lay on their tummies with their back legs out behind them. We call it frogging. And, I love hown hard they play.

This is our Izzy. She is the older of the two that we have now, but she's the more playful one and she loves her pig.

PAD Jan. 9: This or That

We were allowed to wear jeans to work today so I was also able to wear a shirt that doesn't really go with dress pants.  I had two that I was trying to choose from.

One has sparklies and a tie dyed type look. I haven't been able to wear it in a while but have recently lost a significant amount of weight so now I can wear it. The other is purple (my favorite color) and says "Made in 1969." My 50th birthday is on Friday so I chose the purple one.

PAD Jan. 8: Quirky

I really had a hard time coming up with an idea for this one. So, I just decided to use one of my Snapchat selfies.

I used to hate selfies and any pictures taken of me. I have lost around 60 pounds and am not as self conscious about having my picture taken.  It still isn't my favorite thing, but I can deal with it enough to do something like this .

PAD Jan. 7: Look Up!

I took a little bit different approach to today's photo a day topic. Instead of looking up with my camera I am sharing a picture of my son looking up.

This was taken at his swim meet this weekend. He swam four events on Saturday and four events on Sunday. It was a great meet for him as he dropped time in all but one event and that one event he swam his seed time.

I love taking pictures at swim meets. I always try to get some of him behind the blocks waiting for his heat as well as him actually swimming. Quite often I get some really good shots of him before he is in the water. I think watching your kids do what they love is one of the best parts  of being a parent.

PAD Jan. 6: Breakfast

My daughter started swimming when she was in 6th grade. Three years later my son started swimming. So, we have been a swim family for 9 years.

Anyone who doesn't have kids who swim year round for a club team really has no idea what this entails. Dance parents and gymnastics parents understand because those are very much like being a swim parent.

It means daily and some times more practices. It means the pool becomes your second home. It means traveling and staying in hotels several weekends a year. It means spending four to five hours sitting in bleachers or crash areas to see your child swim a total of about 5 minutes or to watch them swim a mile after an already long weekend. It means getting up long before the sun just to make sure your kid can be in the pool for a 6:30 am warm up time. It means eating concession stand food for breakfast while inhaling chlorine fumes.

PAD Jan. 5: A Fave Thing

I am very blessed to have had the privilege of teaching hundreds of great kids. I really love my job and love the path my career has taken me.

I currently teach computers, yearbook and leadership to middle schoolers.  Something I never thought I would like.  But, I love my middle schoolers.  They are so much fun to be around.

Right before Christmas break 2017 one of my 7th graders brought me this amazing gift. It's an Artic cup wrapped in red with a Warrior head on it. If you don't know the glory of an Artic (or Yeti) cup you are missing out. Your drink stays cold all day and there is actually still ice in the cup after 18 hours. My Artic cup has become one of my fave things.

PAD Jan. 4: Yellow

I love to paint using the poured paint or fluid painting method. I use acrylic paint for this. I even make jewelry from the skins of the dried puddles of paint.

This means I also love shopping for paint and picking out different colors and different shades. Seeing all these shades of yellow together made me happy.