(335) Value of a Paper Bag

Tonight was Oregon Society of Artists drawing class #2 brought on the subject of paper bags. The medium was paper and pencil (Ebony).

The focus was to creating a dynamic box-like shape and add value to the shape for depth. A neat exercise to try is using a paper and pencil build a scale of dark to light using at least a seven scale in change. Even more challenging, try 10 values in pencil:


Enjoy my bags:

(336) Skye's Baby Shower (the Owl Mobile in Full Action)

Nothing like waiting until the last minute!

Today on the way to the baby showers Greg and I stopped by and got the twine and attached the owls to the mobile.

The results are in from the baby shower...an overwhelming adorable! Here is the happy mommy with mobile:


The shower was set up super cute with baby clothes pinned across the fire place and presents galore.










The ladies played a game with paper bags. Each bag was numbered and had a letter and you had to feel the bag and write your guess on a pad.



The spread at the baby shower was exquisite:


Juice in the bottles was a cute touch:


Baked goat cheese deliciousness:


And my personal favorite was a potatoe skins with a squash nut puree on top:


Skye opened a tower of presents, but here are a few of my favorites:




To top of a sweet day and make it even sweeter Saint Cup Cake (mmm...red velvet):


After the shower Skye, Christine, and I had some nice bonding time constructing furniture and arranging the nursery. I can't wait to be an Aunt (again)!

Unique Jewlery

Today we were in Seattle and decided to venture out to do some more ring shopping.

The whole process of ring design seems very interesting and I am entirely frustrated with the majority of new design rings.

Do people just buy rings without looking at designs or do those who care just design their own?

I am fascinated and would love to design my own ring someday. But what I did find is I appreciate they design of older rings much more than what I was seeing with the newer designs. And so I think I will likely find my ring at a vintage jewelry shop or have to design one from scratch.

(337) Website Site Design

Tonight I researched templates and sites for creating a wedding website.

I checked several sites and could not find a template that, free or otherwise, that had the look and feel I was looking for.

Ideally I wanted something that had an elegant layout, a little flash, and the tools setup for what one would need in tracking a wedding (i.e. RSVP).

Considering the time constraints, that I will have little to no time maintain an independent site, and I don't have the time to integrate tools easily.... I am leaning towards a generic site that I can link to my own URL and add more content.

Thus far I have come across quiet a few sites that I am still trying to slim down:
www.theknot.com
www.eweddings.com
www.weddingtracker.com
www.theweddingchannel.com

I am still working my way through each of the sites, but will provide a review once I finish my research and make a final decision!

(338) Kitchen Design

This weekend we are planning on working on the kitchen some more (thank goodness!)

Kitchen Design is tougher than it looks. Thus far we have decided on the materials for cabinets and decided upon a basic maple.

For the floors we are leaning towards a neutral Marmoleum (very neutral).

Here is roughly the idea for the palette:


Some other neutral tones that might be used with a bit more versatility that we also considered (Sepia and Donkey Island):


And though we have not decided on counter materials quiet yet we are looking at some form of granite. The hardest part yet is the counters and the back splash!


Looking at the two color of the floor and counter being fairly close, I wanted to go with a bold color on the wall to contrast and was thinking a Chocolate Brown, but I have to pick a counter and back splash first to make sure it works.


This project has been running since November and I can't wait to get it done!

(339) Inner and Outer Contour Drawing

This evening was the first OSA drawing class. Our drawing subject the hand. We used a technique called blind contour.

Blind contour is a technique where you focus on letting your mind interpret what the eye sees.

Try it! Grab a piece of paper, pick a subject, and start drawing. The important part - try not to look at the paper, stay focused on the subject. Let your mind do the work on the paper. You will be amazed at how your mind translates the subject onto the paper and produce some really interesting pictures.

The line quality can be very interesting. Play around with different line values (i.e light or dark variations). Perhaps use inner contour where you make the inside lines darker than the outside or outer contour where you have a dark outline of the subject with light inner lines.

Check out this blog - http://www.inkfinger.us/ they have some really interesting pieces.

Here are several I created in the class and though not perfect, it gives an idea of how the technique can produce interesting images from a fairly normal subject:

Blind Inner Contour



Blind Outer Contour

(340) 11:11:11

11:11 make a wish.

Feeling life will soon change,
a calming feeling somewhat strange.
A special time in the day,
that life diverges a different way.
So much difference it can make,
depending on the path you take.

11:11 make a wish.