Happy Monday: Time racing by…
March 6, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Craft Corner: Exploring New Mediums
March 3, 2017 by 4 Comments
Hello, friends! Today I wanted to share my latest adventure – watercolor pencils. As you know, I enjoy using my Copic markers to create art. But lately I have been craving new techniques and craft mediums to combine with my Copic creations.
I went to Michael’s and picked up a Strathmore watercolor pad and a few new watercolor brushes to use with my watercolor pencils. First, I played around with blending two colors and discovering the different effects from the amount of pressure I apply when laying down my color with the pencils.
The watercolor pads were on sale but if you know me, I try not to waste anything. So out of two sheets, I was able to cut out the following:
I cut pieces sized for use in cardmaking and being an avid reader, I was pretty sure that I saw potential bookmark sizes with a small strip to test colors on so no waste.
Next, I picked out a pretty stamp and used my trusted MISTI for proper placement of my stamp. The MISTI is another one of the best investments I have made over the years. I do need to re-order another magnet because somehow I mysteriously lost one.
After I stamped them all up, I let them sit a bit to ensure they were dry while I selected color combos and tested them on the little excess strip.
It was fun to watch the colors as they moved across the paper. It is such a different experience then when I use my Copics. I have a lot to learn but I think the watercolor pencils are a nice entry into the watercolor medium.
I can’t wait to place these on some cards and I am definitely keeping at least one bookmark for myself.
I like both color combinations. I have so much to learn but I will continue to keep playing around with this medium to see what I can create. Thanks for taking a peek into my Craft Corner.
Happy crafting!
Belinda
Happy Monday: School vacation has come to an end.
February 27, 2017 by 2 Comments
Good morning, everyone! Right this moment while typing this post, I’m sipping one of my favorite Tea Guys tea and it’s called peppermint chocolate vanilla, a yummy Rooibos blend. The store that I normally buy it from had been out of it for a while so I was really surprised to see it there today so I snatched it up so I could have a cup today. The aroma alone makes me happy.
It’s been a while since I’ve been in blog land. We had our February vacation last week and I took the entire week off from work to hang out with my family. As many of you may know, I work out of my home office. One of the many challenges is to not blur the line between work and play so I really made an effort this time to avoid my office and my laptop computer so that I could really be present for my family. It worked and I feel very refreshed and ready to get back to my work routine. That’s not to say that I’m happy vacation has ended because I really had a good time.
We had a staycation which included watching movies together at home and having friends come over for hanging out. We visited a new comic book store and even slept over my in-laws’ home for a few nights where we played games and of course ate her delicious food. One day, we took a drive and spent the day hanging out at Dave and Busters playing games and eating yummy burgers and fries. We took the boys and my in-laws to go to the movie theater to see the movie Hidden Figures which was a great activity for celebrating BHM with the kids. They learned quite a bit from the movie. You know me so I also had to make time to sit and have reading time with the boys. and we all read our books and comics. We took a ride to go and visit the new Apple store that opened near us.
I was so thrilled yesterday when both of my boys told me they had a great week. This is very important to me because my goal was a relaxing week sprinkled with fun activities and I think we were successful. The weather was so amazing for much of the vacation and on three of the days it was warm enough to be without a coat and our neighbor’s kids came over and played outside with the boys while Leao and I caught up on the local happenings with our neighbors.
I also managed to do a bit of reading and tried to wrap up some of the books and the things that I wanted to read during Black History Month. I didn’t finish them all so I will just read the remaining books throughout the year as normal. I do have a few book reviews from last month that I haven’t had the chance to post. So you should be on the lookout for those reviews.
Spring is in the air, and with that, my mind just begins filling with ideas of home-improvement projects and garden planning. Stay tuned for more on that.
This week, I’ll get back onto a regular posting schedule, as well as, my regular work schedule first. I hope you were all well this past week and look forward to meeting up with you again here this week. Have a blessed day!
Belinda
Happy Monday – Trying to Keep the Ship Afloat!
February 13, 2017 by 2 Comments
Hello, everyone! How are you all doing? I apologize for my absence but this past week was a whirlwind. Last Sunday, my team won the Superbowl and I was so excited and ready to celebrate. I had so many deadlines and things to do last week and bam – a major snow storm hit simultaneously with my oldest son, getting sick and then it’s been downhill since then. The photo above was taken during our first storm and we have had a lot of snow since. We have had three snow days (including today) which I secretly love. But then Leao got sick on Friday and now I am pretty sure my hands will fall off because of all the washing I have been doing to avoid going down with the ship. You know moms can’t get sick so I am doing my best to stay ahead of this stuff.
Despite the sickness, we have been having fun. We read African American poetry, watched a great movie called “The Watson’s Go to Birmingham” which is based on a best-selling book of the same name that touched on race relations in this country and we watched the NAACP image awards on television together. So despite the occasional cabin fever, we have been able to celebrate Black History Month together.
I will cut this short because I have to get to work but I wanted to connect and wish you a blessed day!
Belinda
