PLAYING WITH COLOR

Hello Everyone!

Old Set Up 

It's Sketchbook Tuesday!  Time to see what's going on in sketchbook land. This past week I received my online order of Koi Watercolors. I was looking for some lush, tropical colors and these fit the bill!   The colors are much brighter than my usual palettes of Winsor-Newton and Davinci watercolors.  I like BRIGHT colors because I live in the tropics where there is an abundance of tropical colors and Koi Watercolor Pocket Field Sketch Box doesn't disappoint.  Love the compact size, even the 24 color size is small enough to fit my pared down art bag.  

Yes! Did you just hear me say paired down?  It is true! I've paired down my art supplies but stepped up the water color palette size.  Yeah, yeah, it is  possible to leave home without all the colors, but I don't have to with my new amazing Sakura Koi Watercolor Pocket Field Sketch Box! 

New Palette

It is just a tad bigger than my compact but it has 24 colors and comes with a water-brush too!!! Whoo hoo! Love it!! Throw in a few Micron waterproof pens and a pencil and I'm ready to go. 

So what has me so geeked up?  I'm getting ready to go on another adventure with my sketch buddy, Bonnie (see Sketchy Girlz blog). We're going to Michigan to visit my daughter and her family!  We've lot of exciting things to do while we are there....including celebrating my DD birthday (Happy Birthday!!) and baby Jackson's SIX month birthday! 

 Oh yeah, there will be ice cream and cake!  


All that AND an opportunity to visit a state I've never been to, with my BFF and traveling around with our sketchbooks too!! 

Should be lots of fun and adventure....we'll keep you posted.  Stay tuned!



Happy Sketching!
Suzy

SKETCHBOOK TUESDAY-Word Prompts

Hi Everyone! 

Happy Sketch Book Tuesday!  About a year ago I was participating in a Lil' Journal Project that had to do with daily word prompts.  You may remember this page if you were following along at the time.  

Each day I looked forward to getting up to check what words I'd be using and making a list of word associations for each. Then I would sketch and watercolor my ideas. This was a new way for me to work and I found it extremely enjoyable.

Yes, the sketches are a bit amateurish and stick figure like, but maybe that is because the memories associated with the words brought back the days of my youth. Maybe you will think of some fun times you had when you do a word association sketch, go ahead, and check the prompts out here! Then pull out your pen and sketch pad and get busy! I'd love to see what you come up with!

Go Sketch Something!!
Suzy

SKETCH BOOK TUESDAY-NEW BLOG

Hi Everyone! 

Welcome to Sketch Book Tuesday!  I'm so pleased to announce my best friend and I have created a new blog together!  It is called Sketchy Girlz and will feature lots of sketches, paintings, drawings and whatever we come up with each week to share with you.  We'll post on Monday and Thursday so come on by and check us out.  This is our logo created by Bonnie, you can click on the side bar logo and it will take you directly to SG. 

There will be stories (may a photo or two)  from our 40 years of friendship that will make you laugh and if that doesn't do it, there is art work that is pretty fun...at least mine is.  Bonnie is a decent artist but me, well I just have a go at it and sometimes it turns out okay and other times, not so much.  I'm putting it out there anyway, if anything it might encourage someone to start sketching or drawing or painting.  We all have to start somewhere.  I hope that you will start today. Pick up your pencil and get going.....I'd like to hear what you are doing and who knows, maybe you will be featured on Sketchy Girlz (when we figure out how to do that). 

Till then......Happy Sketching!

Suzy

INSIDE THE STUDIO: STORAGE SOLUTIONS

Hello Everyone! 

Here we are back in the studio again.  I apologize for falling off the blog-o-sphere last week with the studio post, just one of those weeks.

Well I’m back and ready to take you on another studio adventure …..this time we are venturing into the CLOSETS where there are semi-organizational skills at play. 

  That’s right, it might LOOK chaotic but believe me, there are LABELS!  Oh my, thanks to a Dymo labelmaker that is the coolest thing going….keeps me on track and able to FIND my stuff! 

A few years ago I took it upon myself to build shelves in the closets, note ladies: minimal skills required here thanks to the guys in Lowe’s that will make the big cuts of wood for you at a minimal price. Basically I measured the closet height and width and determined how many shelves I could get if I started with the large rubber tubs in the bottom of the closet. You can't see them but they are down below the canvas boxes. They contain large pieces of fabric and one is filled with fabric strips.  Crazy huh?  Also stored in the bottom of the closet are two sewing machines! 

 Taking into consideration the amount of projects to store, I found these cute canvasboxes and totes/baskets at Lowe’s.Love the canvas totes, they are so handy to pull out and put back! The heavy duty snaps allow a peek inside too! 

 The canvas boxes are great with lids to keep things neatly corralled and dust free. 

  I found these lovely graduated sizes of cardboard boxes at Tuesday Mornings to hold sewing projects.  The black and white checker pattern is really cute, right?

One of the best tips I know is to store sewing thread in a plastic Matchbox Car box! They are double-sided and clear enough to see the colored threads. Store your boxes on their sides to save space! You can find them HERE, they are now called Creative Options Thread Organizers.  

A variety of plastic shoe boxes also works well for storing threads and can be found at the Dollar Store. 

OK, let's venture over to the other side of the closet where the BEADS live! 

This is Bead-world. Don't ask. Another hobby.  The two gray storage units are actual found in the hardware section, used for nuts and bolts and whatnots in the realm of Hubby.  Mine are used for storing beads, all sorted by color and sizes. 

Recently I found these boxes at Hobby Lobby, called CraftMates Lockables, they stack and lock so beads can't escape. 

 And I found plastic bead storage with stacking jars at Joann's, they work great for smaller seed beads.

Trust me, there are beads in other places too, but for now, most of them live here.  The closet also has a filing cabinet which houses patterns.  There are bolts of fabric in here, and a collection of magazines and bags of stuffing and batting on the top shelf.  Yes, it is a mishmash of supplies just waiting their turn to come out and play! 

Please come back and join me as we continue to look around the studio, there's more to see....

Bee Creative

Suzy

SKETCHBOOK TUESDAY-DOWNTOWN

Hey Everyone!

It is SKETCHBOOK Tuesday! 

There was a threat of rain in the overcast sky, my dear friend Rhoda and I sat outside under the umbrella along with an older man and woman sitting at a table nearby having coffee watching as people wandered in and out of the bagel shop. 

 The first thing that comes to mind is what a picture-perfect little place it is to sketch with a beautiful bubbling tiered fountain and quaint herringbone brick pattern patio, café tables and market umbrellas, surrounded by lush green flowering bushes and trees.

 Arrrgh! Why didn’t I bring my sketchbook?!?! I was not prepared on Sunday after church for the spur of the moment plan to have a bagel with my friend, oh well, next time, right? I did have a camera phone handy, so  I shot a few photos to help recreate the scene in my sketchbook later. 

Being super shy about sketching in public so honestly speaking, even if the sketchbook were in my purse, I probably would not whip it out anyway.

Really, I keep telling myself that I MUST get over my fear of sketching in public. Anyone else out there that feels this way? Any suggestions would be welcomed. 

Grab some paper and pencil and go SKETCH! 

Have a wonderful day!

Suzy

Somewhere to Sketch-Vacaville, CA

Hi Everyone!

I've recently joined a group of artists at blog called Some Where to Sketch hosted by Lynn Cohen and Ann Hyde.  Each month via Google Earth we are invited to sketch in a location chosen by Lynn or Ann.  During the month of August we have been sketching in Lynn's hometown of Vacaville, CA.


  I sketched and painted 418 Main Street. Of course I took artist license to the original street location.

418 Main Street Vacaville, CA 

Please come and join us!  If you aren't familiar with Google Earth, it is a wonderful FREE program that let's you type in a location and gives a great overview and street level view of any city in the world! It's pretty fab! This is a great way to explore other cities and sketch without leaving home!

Grab your pad and pencil and come out and play sketch us! Join in before the end of the month to sketch in Vacaville!

Happy Sketching! 
Suzy

Linked to: Somewhere to Sketch

WOYWW #220

Hi Everyone! 

It's What's On Your WorkDesk, Wednesday!  Last week I snuck in at the last minute to join this fabulous group of ladies in their week posts!  What is WOYWW?  It is a weekly link up hosted by Julia Dunnit over at Stamping Ground  that links up with photos of artist work spaces and projects.  It is so much fun to have a look-see at others crafting areas and what they are up to on a weekly basis! 

I've been painting patterns in my sketchbook, using different color combinations and using watered down acrylics.  What will I do with these papers?  Eventually they will end up cut up and reassembled into collage or perhaps in a journal. 

I don't know yet but that is part of the fun of making patterned paper, isn't it? 

Come join us!


Suzy


Linking to: WOYWW#220