...working on faces....

If I can get some pin dolls ready and shipped away on time...I can play in a pin doll swap..... this is as far as I am....they must be in Alaska by Sept 17......... ackkkkkk!

Everybody's doing it....

Baking scones.....

Okay...well, not everybody .... but, now I know why a lot of people have never tried them. They seem to think the word scone is synonymous with "dry". Wrong! They even used the word tasteless. Huh?? People... puhleez..... !!

Look at these Lemony Saskatoon Scones I am munching as I type... oymph.... ooops...crumbs on the keyboard....










So.... just in case you are one of the above mentioned doubters....and if you have a bit of an adventurous side.... perhaps you will give my scones a try some day. They are light, fluffy, and very tasty! How can they not be?... butter, milk, sugar.... all the tasty ingredients...... and ..berries .. or whatever you like.... I have even used them instead of a regular cookie recipe and added my chocolate chips to this lovely soft "cookie".

Don't try this at home....

This is too funny not to share. Found it via Mighty Mom.....

Button Babe face

Been working a bit on a new face... one of the larger 2.5 inch buttons again...I really like that size because there is more area to work on the eye colouring... you can see how I start....lots of doodling and trying to get an eye I like...then cover the button with a nice colour fabric...and begin to draw the features on there. Then... colouring and now...choosing some hair or fabric for a fancy hat or,,,,,, something.....










...leaning towards something like this to go with the vintage look of the face.... I'm pretending she is a famous movie star.....

dry and hot...no rain for many a week.... ..

Nary a cloud and no relief in sight; the lawns are getting very crispy now. For the second day in a row, the mercury is climbing to +32C....which for you gals in the U.S. is 90F .....

see ??....we don't get to build these all year 'round.... although it sure would be nice today.... I'd be rolling in the snow too....













and yes we do have our AC blasting full tilt ....










The cactus flowers are doing very well.... ... actually it is portulaca (pretty much the same thing as far as I can see) .. these are the colours that I love best. Soft lemony custard yellow and candy floss pinks....










Love this geranium too. It is doing really well, even in the backyard pots...which get the blistering sun all afternoon...it is too hot today to stand out there for more than a few minutes...to take a pic.... felt like the sun was burning my skin right through my shirt ... brother....can hardly wait til Monday...more of the same it says...and I booked a golf lesson! Ohhhh...silly me. Maybe the practice range will have some shade... hahahh ... yeh.. as if....










...the leaves on the geranium are a very rubbery fleshy type so maybe they hold more moisture to aid the plant?... it is low and almost a ground cover type of thing it seems... never had one before...but if I find them again next summer, I'll buy several.













and look.... my first coneflower! It looks like there will be just one this year. Maybe next year it will have more.










Way too hot to do this.... or this......ick, just thinking about getting into riding gear makes me gag...










but, it sure would be fun to do this.....










Cancun, 2000........
Unfortunately, the nearest water to us would be the city reservoir .... and I don't think they want me paddling around in there.... sigh...... lucky those who live near a lake or an ocean..... reeeeeelly big sigh................................................ maybe I'll go out and run through the sprinkler like we used to do when we were kids. Haven't done that for at least a year or so..

a new "inchy"

The latest inchy challenge is to have some circles in it.... See the challenge here at Inchybyinch and also have a look at the others creating them.

That great old gal Mother Nature was my inspiration and also my actual circles... ...

First, I painted the water colour paper with the palest of pinks... then added some of my dried flowers and tiny weed bits... some of the teensiest weed tendrils can be very lovely...

The pink flower is a tiny potentilla ... I was actually quite surprised at the roundness of each petal when I looked closely at one.... also the center of it is nice and round....... if you click on the picture... you will be able to zoom in to see the miniscule reddish circles on the centre stamens of the other little flower... (not sure what type it is, but it was cute enough to be pressed! ) and hey...a half circle formed by the white with the green backing (which could be a miniature baby's breath bloom) and also the circular curlicues formed by the tendril at top right....

On the edges I used my gold leafing pen.

I think I need some type of big magnifying glass to work under for these little guys! I'm cross eyed@! don't forget... an inchy is one inch by one inch.... come on...give one a try.

an "Olympik" Challenge...

Bob T. Bear
has issued a challenge to do with his favourite sport... Synchronized Sitting.
Actually it is a favourite sport around here too... just that some folks get more into it you know??...... and somehow, then, it becomes almost syncro lying about. The babies are like security "blankies" ... for comfort when his team does something stupid... every so often he has to listen to the lullaby played by the pink one.. to soothe rattled nerves or ruffled feathers...













These two have been sitting around on their little enchanted chair for so long...I forget where they are sometimes.... hiding in a quiet corner of the curio cabinet....























This group finally agreed to sit for a portrait...although they wanted to get back to their own shelf right afterwards... it was a mad scramble actually...

then I went back to sitting here to tell about sitting ...hahahha... .... there is a lot of sitting about over here...that's for darn sure. I'm with Bob...what a great sport.....

beautiful fresh blueberries.....

This picture is snagged from Wik...just because it is so beautiful...I love all the colours that they are in their various stages of ripeness.....










Today I iz squoosin' lemons and usin' blueberries.










Who has one of these? A lovely old glass one I found years ago. The perfect way to sqeeze.. after zesting the lemon as you probably saw... the little uprights catch the seeds...if they are not too tiny.... then just pour the juice from there straight into the mixture.










lovely and lemony.... blueberry muffins...... mmm... my mouth is watering just saying it.... ..










Oh ... some left? ... how about with Breyers Vanilla Frozen Yogurt... it even has little vanilla seeds in it for heaven's sake!

Cabinet capers....

Although the washer and dryer have been in operation for several weeks now... we are still working on cabinetry. We did start the day with a lovely latte ... not going to be all work and no play around here! Mr. BumbleVee is perfecting his skills as a barista as well as a renovator.
I finally have learned to run the washer (it was a simple thing I was doing incorrectly and somehow activating a child safety lock feature.... talk about feeling a bit stoopid....duh... ) .. but, now, I absolutely love it. Both the washer and dryer have some unusual and novel features. Like... if you don't take things out immediately after the cycles are complete... the drum rotates every so often just to keep the clothes from getting excess wrinkles. Washer and dryer.... one time the drum rotates in one direction...and the next ..in the other. Cute... and effective too....

Maybe this is not all that interesting to the gals if they are not into renovating and building as I am... ...so perhaps consider this one to show the hubbies.... we bought a special jig (one made in Canada) at Lee Valley; don't you love that store? They have so many neat things...not just for building...but for gardening.. so I am there each time anybody says he is going in that direcition. And, ohhhh... you should see the selection of door hardware.... I'd like to put about 20 handles and knobs on every door....... or have some with easy change snap ons... so I could use different ones for every day of the week.











Look at this thing! The perfect "jig" to make life easier when making your own cabinets. We used to line up every single drill hole... me making sure the drill is straight from one angle...him trying to check from the other...but this...hahahha...what a lark! Once you get it set on the side pieces... locked into position (it even has a measuring device that helps you do that)...











...then you just move this little metal hole along the rails...stick the drill bit into the metal hole and drill where you want your holes for the shelves ... et voila !... perfect straight holes... perfect distance apart... ... oh, man... the time and effort saved is amazing.










On the edges...of which I have no picture, darn it......we also set it to drill perfectly spaced, perfectly straight holes in which to insert small glued dowel pieces to attach the other sides of the cabinet. They were lots of fun to build this time. Lots of grinning and woohooing happening in the garage... instead of muttering and swearing and wrestling with trying to make sure the brad nailer was shooting in the perfect direction so as not to puncture the sides or edges.
















Told ya it was not all work and no fun....

.....stop for a snack on the patio.... enjoy the sun..... a sip of wine and some cheese and crackers.... and onward to hanging cupboards.















Ohhhh...love 'em.... ........... 21" deep ...and 24" wide. I can go 10 deep with paper towels now when I find them on sale. Perfect for stocking up on sale days.












Two of the largest in position and we now have critical measurements between the two outer panels so we can begin the cabinets for the centre area... which will not be as deep to allow plenty of head room for using the folding/sorting counter that will be under them. Eventually all the electrical and water stuff will be hidden behind the counter and more cabinets ...with opening doors to get to them if need be. All of the cabinetry is screwed into position so that if we have to remove a washer or dryer or do any work... everything is accessible.

"Inchies"

I've heard of "inchies" before... but always in fabric. I found several sites dedicated to those and thought I might like to try one...someday. Then, the other day Bob the Bear Esq. suggested a try at the challenges offered on this site. Inchybyinch

An "inchie" is just that.... one inch by one inch. Here is my first that is almost late for this two week period. Inchies with HATs is the theme.










I've never tried drawing anything on a scale this tiny...but was surprised to find I could actully get plenty of detail. However, I can see I'll have to practice using a steadier hand...hahahha...if you peer at it too intently, you will detect plenty of wobbly lines! Practice makes perfect they say..... there are those darn "they" people again.... "they" are just everywhere these days it seems.

My little lady is on watercolour paper... first did a pencil outline of features..then coloured with watercolour pencils... dry. Just added a bit of moisture on a q-tip to smooth out the blush... brushed the edges and corners on a brown stamp pad.

The "How to" of a Button Babe...

Cabinets for the laundry room are being constructed today... but my hands are not needed for each and every step.. so, while I wait for the "okay... I need you now" call.... I usually do some cleaning, baking or playing.. today I chose play.

Thought I would make another Button Babe ... and I do use buttons for the heads.

This is smaller than the last one I drew and picci'd which was a huge button at 2.5 inches. I prefer the larger ones because there is so much more "eye" to play with on the larger faces. I love playing with a lot of colours to get a pretty eye.










1.5 inch self cover button. Pale shell pink polyster fabric that is satiny on one side and crepe on the other... I'm using the crepe side.










Cut a circle of pretty much any fabric you like for a face colour. However, check with some light strokes of your pigma pen to see if the fabric lets the ink bleed too easily... slightly is not a big problem..you just have to do lighter strokes and wait for it to dry before moving on.










You can use either pencil or some type of disappearing pen to draw the main lines of your face. I prefer pencil... probably because that's what I used to make my first one. Creature of habit, me. Then... when you are happy with the look of the face, go over the pencil lines with a very light stroke, using .005 brown Pigma pen. When it is dry... I use a soft white eraser to remove the pencil. You can even use slightly less detail than I have here...it does make it a bit easier to cover some errors or to help to resize eyes ..things like that. Invariably I get one eye larger than the other...and quite honestly, sometimes my own eye doesn't really pick up on it til I take a pic and look at it on here. It is glaring in a photo where as we don't always notice some of the tiny differences with our own eye . I may go over some of the brown pen strokes, but will wait til later in the colouring to do it... you can do it whenever you like or not bother.










For the colour I'm using Derwent water colour pencils. There are several different brand names available. I colour in the complete iris with my lightest shade of whatever colour I choose... in this case Water Green. I always have to put some lipstick on right away... a girl can't be seen in public without it right? ..but that is just me..you can do it whenever you like. ... Rose Madder Lake, to which I will add some Crimson Lake later in the process.










Another thing I find strange is that in a photo I can clearly see the grain of the fabric... in real life... hardly noticeable at all.










Now I add some Emerald Green to the side of the eye that I am going to pretend is the furthest away from my light source. If the sun or a light were shining on her right side, the left would appear to be a bit more shadowy... or slightly darker. Put the darker colour on the top portion of the iris and down to where the pupil will be... and along the left edge of the iris ... I almost cover the left half of my iris.










I add a bit of the darker green colour or one a shade darker yet...Mineral Green to the outline of my iris... covering or using the brown pigma lines...sometimes they even smudge a bit as I draw over them, which I think looks fine.. I don't mind if the line is not hard and delineated. It is a bit difficult to tell...but I also add a bit of the mid green colour just beneath the pigma line of the upper eyelid where it meets the white portion of the eye. It is like making a slight shadow beneath the lid...it adds a bit and continues with the colour you have chosen. You can see I have also been playing with my white pencil in some areas of my iris. If I decide I want it lighter in some areas..I like to use my white to lighten.. I also now use the white pencil on the whites of the eyes ... this can even help to enlarge some small area ... or make smaller other areas where I may have over coloured or made a bit of a mess. My white hardly shows up when shading... so I end up licking it a bit sometimes when I want something really white.










Use a very sharp Burnt Umber ('specially on tiny eyes) or even a light line with black pigma pen .005 to darken the upper eyelid line. I like to draw in my pupil at this point using a black pigma pen......but most people leave it til much later. I like to work with it there... to play around it with my colours.... but it probably is easier to leave it til the end. I find I can even draw out some very fine lines (with my very sharp coloured pencils ) from the black pigma pen used for the pupils...instead of having to draw them in later.










Outline the lower lid with brown pigma pen .005 , beginning slightly away from the actual corner of the eye. Close to where the iris begins...










Shade down the sides of the nose with a colour that blends nicely with the colour of fabric you have chosen. I began with a colour slightly darker than shell pink... Pink Madder Lake, then reinforced it by going to a darker shade... a light reddish brown called Venetian Red... I also begin to add some shading around the eyes and darken the nostrils with brown pigma pen.










Darken the pupil... add eyelashes (for a light face and lighter eyes I usually use a brown pigma pen...for darker skin and eyes...black eyelashes... and now is when I might put in some fine lines radiating out from the pupil like the spokes of a wheel... again...brown pigma pen for lighter eyes or even darkest iris colour using a very sharp pencil... black pigma pen for darker eyes.

Continue refining and adding a bit more shading ...I like to use pictures of catalogue models to help with the shadows.










.... am still playing with a bit darker green, Mineral Green and a greenish blue called Jade Green as well as some Blue Gray at the tops of the iris...and following the line of the upper eyelid when it meets the whites. This is an opportunity to continue with recontouring to make sure the eyes are the same size.




















Some more shading with pinks and reds for cheeks... add white highlights to the pupils... even a bit more in an area where you may see a bit of shine from a light.... how about an area on the bottom lip to make it look like it glistens....










.... and....here she is! after a bit more playing .... smoothed, made up and ready to go....

I want to give her something pale and pretty for hair or a hat ... similar to this soft gold yarn... or perhaps with some greens and pinks .... hmmmm ... time to pull out some stash containers and have a look what I might have that I've totally forgotten about .. ....