Time to think about the holidays...

I started cleaning up my porch today, preparing it for winter.  I put away my fall things... yes... technically it is not quite Thanksgiving yet... but the cold is arriving... We have even had a touch of snow... and ... it will get too cold to do a lot of outdoor tidying too soon.... PLUS... I was just in the mood!  Haha!  (That is really the main issue... )....

So.... I got my fall tucked away... and my winter... started, but not quite finished...

Actually, that puts me right where I want to be..... It gives me something to enjoy playing with in the upcoming days when I come home from work... something to pitter with...  

I washed down the chalkboard welcome sign and updated it with a new message... I debated and debated what to write on it...
That is the thing about chalkboards... the temporary nature of them.... Most of what I make ends up on paper or wood- in ink or paint... but chalk... when it is wiped clean.... it is just... gone.... so... photos have to remind me what I had.... I cannot put it out from year to year... so... EACH time I change it- I want it to be special for THAT moment.... (or season..... or occasion.... )  

Here are my chalky delights for today...   I hope you enjoy!  

This was a large chalkboard sign hanging in a store.  I was lucky to get it when they no longer wanted it.  

This one is about 12 X 18.  Perfect for a little message on the porch.  

Time to get our holidays started!  
Cheers!
judifer

Retail Therapy!

Hurray for a day off!   I, of course, headed straight to town to "browse around" the craft stores...... hahaha......

It was fabulous!  I felt that.... something.... that excitement..... the prospect of MAKING......

I found a few things that followed me home......   just a few..... dozen.....

Just a few.... wants   NEEDS ! 

I ALWAYS need some lovely pens.... these are the softest, subtle-ist colors imaginable!  I am very fond of ZIG pens.... I have hundreds of them...... (actually, really, not kidding!)   We are good friends!  

Delicious pastel brush tips!  

Flat tip calligraphy markers.... 

I must confess..... I could NOT leave without these calligraphy markers.  Look at these COLORS!   YUM!  

I really do love the Calligraphy tip the best.  It is my old standby.  I was doing calligraphy long before it was a "thing".... Now there is "faux" calligraphy... which means "fake" calligraphy... and for those of us who were around when penmanship was taught in school.... call it CURSIVE..... hahahahaha!!!!  And now, it has been elevated to a NEW level.... that we would have called 

MESSY HANDWRITING....... 

(and I will admit.... I totally do IT too!)   

JUST PERFECT for my purse.... in case I have a hand lettering emergency!!!  It could happen.... 

So it is FUN to be in vogue....

It is more fun.... to just let it FLOW!!!  

Mad for PLAID!!!  

OH, and what trip to the store would be complete without a PILE of PLAIDS!!!  I am sooooo excited to get started on these projects!!! (whatever they turn out to be.... haha! )  Just LOOKING at them fills me with excitement!   

Cheers!  

judifer

Some thoughts

And other thoughts that come to my mind....

I love lettering... here are a few:

just a sketch... 

Have a cup of happy! 

pumpkins on my mind 

Cheers!!!
judifer

A little joy!

Or a LOT of joy!  When we first moved here, having a "fall break" was a new and unique concept.  I thought it was sort of silly- we had just gotten into the swing of things at school and had already some days off due to conferences and such...     but NOW..... as a teacher instead of as a parent..... I rejoice in having a few days off to just catch my breath.  

I STILL got up at crack of dawn.... because my body thinks it is the thing to do.....

but- today- it is because I am sooooo excited to do some of the things that I love to do but never seem to have the time for..... I am getting out paints.... I am going to play the piano.....(badly).... I am going to read..... I am going to ..... (wait for it.... wait for it..................)   CLEAN!!!  

Oh yes!  today will be a great day...... (and then there is tomorrow....... the possibilities are endless!

So.... let the fun begin!

Woo Hoo!

Positive!! Positive! Positive!!  

It is okay to step out of the same old routine.... Do it!  

Yes!  leap!  

Cheers!!!! 

judifer

Time to step out of my comfort zone

Time to move forward... .time to branch out.... time to explore .

I am going to open an Etsy shop.... Next WEEKEND is my plan....

It is HARD to step out of the comfort zone.... Hard to put myself out there.   I love doodle-i-dooing.... but does anyone else love my doodles???  Enough to buy them???  I guess we shall see.....

Haha!

Time to head into new places 

You might fly!  

Cheers!!!
judifer

Branching out...

I love the art of lettering.... I have been lettering for over 30 years.... seriously!  Weddings.... posters...... hand-drawn invitations..... birthday greetings.... thank you notes.... cards of all kinds.... etc.......  I love playing with my PENS best..... I love PAINTING words on signs and notes as well......
I tend to focus a lot on words... what I want to SAY and the art in the letters......

That being said.... I almost compartmentalize my word art..... hyperfocus......

Still...... I am an artist at heart.... I play with color and texture... collage.... fabric.... many, many forms of exciting creativity.......

So.... this week I have been trying to step out of my hyperfocus mode and step into COLOR..... a little dab here and there.... keeps life interesting.  

Hope this October day is lovely!!!  

Cheers!!!
judifer

Breathe in that Magical Crisp Fall Air!  

A dreamy farm fresh day

Wistful Wednesday

I am up early... as usual.... but I love the quiet of the early morning.  I create during the solitude.

The cold, crisp air is refreshing.... to some it might be numbing.... but for me..... happy thoughts.... wistful thoughts....  

I love the soft hint of mystery on this one.  

Today, this is what is on my mind....

This one makes me feel the tingle of excitement.   

  Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Cheers!
judifer

Is it time yet????

I am getting my Halloween groove on.  I am excited to get started on making costumes... in the meantime......  I am having a bit of doodling fun.

Cheers!!!
judifer

Must Be Monday

Up and at 'em .... at 5 a.m.   What !  yes... every day.... but now that school doesn't start until 9:15-  it means I have hours to enjoy... and I do enjoy them.

I love the quiet of the mornings alone.  I love the cool of the October weather.   This is going to be a nice day.

Lovely, lovely!  

Cheers!
judifer
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Glorious October!

It's here!  It is finally here!

So glad it has finally arrived!  

Love me some October!!!

Cheers!

judifer

Saturday

Who gets up at 4:30 on a Saturday morning just because.......

Apparently I do.  

I am an artist.... I have been an artist for over 35 years.... actually, really......

And for the last 15... I have been a teacher as well....  

I went into teaching because I could not stand to be home alone after all my kids headed off to school to grow up......

That empty house panicked me.....  

I took my 7th child with me to the school where I taught.... she kept me company before and after school.... she helped me connect the dots.....  

I threw myself into teaching with a vengeance.  I really did.   I put every bit of creativity into my classroom.  I also put every bit of MONEY into my classroom-  filling it with books and creative supplies for little hands and minds.   I made a total of $24,000 a year before taxes those first years.   HAHAHA!!!! (This was only 14 years ago people!!)   I certainly did NOT go into teaching for the MONEY!!!

I loved it at first.  I really did.  Each year I had a whole room of children that became part of my family... part of my heart.    Each year I also saw the education system become more and more demanding... more and more robbing children of their childhood.... and creating a system that also robbed them of quality learning time.   They took away recess..... they demanded that children have their patooties tested off..... I have been soooo sad to see these changes cause a less than wonderful working environment...... Sooo sad.  

It made me NEED to find that fulfillment in my artwork again.  I still teach..... I still do NOT do it for the money..... I couldn't..... they simply do not pay enough to compensate for what we do in the classroom.... in our lives.... to make it happen.....  

But the kids.... they are still family.... they are still worth it....

So, I teach by day..... trying my best to totally give all I have to create splendid learning experiences for my little people.... AND meet all the mandates that come from the top down......


and I come home, needing desperately to create a wonderful world of my own.... needing to express myself in my artwork.... but.... feeling like there is never time.... never, ever enough time.......

HAHA!!

I am trying to teach myself how to digitize my artwork.  I am pretty comfortable with my pen or paintbrush in my hand..... Online skills are still being learned.... by inches......

So... back to TODAY---  I popped out of bed at 4:30..... worked for the last 3 hours fiddling with watching youtube videos on 'HOW TO'.... and then trying out the skills...... that I ALREADY practiced this summer.... but "do to circumstances beyond my control"..... have lain dormant while I dealt with back to school fun times.......

It was like starting over...... again.........

But.... I WILL NOT give up...... haha!  No, I won't!!  

I will train myself to succeed here as well.   Yes!  

Here are some examples of what I came up with this morning..... YES.... they are digitized versions of my original hand drawn artwork.  

Cheers!!!!
judifer

Thursday musings

Today I realized that I should share my classroom fun times.  I love to doodle on the board when we are exploring a topic.

This year we went straight from the oven (85 degrees in our UN AIR CONDITIONED classrooms) to.... FALL!  So... with it.... I leaped straight from BACK TO SCHOOL thoughts of procedures and expectations.... to.... PUMPKINS!

Yes... I totally hopped, skipped, and JUMPED right over the standard "apples" and "bees" that I usually begin with...

Finally, that fresh cool breeze blew in and made me think it was fall.... at least for the moment.... in a blink... Old Man Winter will blow in and we will be talking about the deep freeze that will blanket our every waking breathing thought...... but for now.... for a moment...  

LET THERE BE PUMPKINS!!!!!

My students are so excited about this... I have been tiptoeing in with a pumpkin a day and we have been reading fiction and non-fiction books about the topic.... and.... as I am prone to do.... I could not even HELP myself ..... I sketched a little on the board.....

Thought I would share....

Breathing happy FALL THOUGHTS!

Cheers!
judifer

Wonderful Wednesday

I love Wednesdays.  I just do.   Some say it is "hump day"- heralding the fact it is the middle of the week.... I think it is HOPE day.... that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.... I can see the TUNNEL...... I have made it this far.... I have.... HOPE... haha!

Just silly thoughts...

I have been jumping out of bed before 5 in the mornings so that I can get to "work" on whatever floats in my mind in that pre-dawn not quite slumber, where my creative thoughts like to flow even though I tell them to BE QUIET and sleep a while longer....   They pay me no heed.... so.... I stop fighting them.... and found it to be more peaceful to just lay there with my eyes closed.... and let my thoughts wander.... until they find a place that catches my attention..... and then ... my heart races a moment and I leap up.... anxious to get them down on paper.... or... on the computer.... or....

yes.... those creative thoughts take me places that make me happy....

Terrific Tuesday

Just a quick thought today.  Hope everyone is warm and cozy.

Cheers!

A Good Day

I had all kinds of errands to do...  and I had a Saturday to do them..... I got up at the crack of 5... Yes, I did- seeing as how the cat jumped on me and purred loudly that she missed me and wanted me to go put food in her dish...
and then I went and crashed on the couch for a little while longer....

I still thought that I would go for a nice jaunt into town and peruse the antique shops for some little something... or another....   AFTER I did a quick lettering project... It was early... only 7... plenty of time.....

I pulled the curtains back to enjoy a bit of winter light.... I sat down and ... began.....  

I love how I go into auto pilot when I just let it flow.   It is almost effortless at these times... I love it...

When I looked up again, it had started snowing... gently at first... and then a bit more ...

I decided to wait until it 'let up' a bit... (hahahahaha!)

At the point I realized that this was a "sip hot cocoa and keep your slippers on" sort of day, I decided to flirt with danger, try a new uncomfortable challenge..... to make a little video of my 'work'.  

GULP!

Well, the first challenge was how to get the camera in a position to film more or less what I was doing... and then how to make it into a video to share after.....

HAHAHA!  It took me a total of 10 minutes to sketch my little bit of art..... and it took me in the realm of 6 hours to convert it into a usable video....

SOOOO not perfect... but I sure did learn a lot!

Please be kind!
cheers!

Early Morning Musings

Here I am, up at 5:30 on a Sunday morning.... Who does that???  Haha!  My body clock does not care what day of the week it is....

I am definitely a morning person.

I went into my 'studio' (also known as a spare bedroom filled with shelves and a desk....) and thought I would tidy it up.  I found hundreds of doodles and drawings that needed to be put somewhere.  Who does this??   What do I do with all these works of art (that apparently I cannot part with)..... so I stuck them all in a plastic bin- mainly so they would not get rumpled or otherwise damaged....
Well... I say  "all"..... and what I really mean is... all the LOOSE ones...  haha!!  I have drawing pads full of drawings as well....   I carry small ones in my purse.... lest I get 'bored'.... haha!
Here is one:

watercolor fun

I decided to try out some new brushes yesterday.  To make it quick and easy, I just grabbed some inexpensive kids' watercolor paints and regular old copy paper..... I was not intending to begin a "project" or thinking that it would be my next work of art.... I just wanted to try out the brushes.... 

I started with practicing strokes... just strokes.... 

I am accomplished at painting.... usually using acrylics.....   (I like the control...... haha!)    I am also very accomplished at lettering.... but usually using a variety of pens.... (I LOVE pens..... )

But not so much with watercolor and not so much with watercolor brushes...... 

That being said...... WOW!!! I could become addicted!   Oh! MY!   I loved them..... 

So.... quickly I changed from just strokes, to see what would happen if I dabbled with some words..... 
again.... regular old paper... so, it is easy to bleed ...... but.... I didn't want to waste the watercolor paper on doodling...... 

grateful grateful

Just a few thoughts.  It is cool and hinting at getting colder.  Seems like fall wants to hang on just a bit longer. 

This is a lovely, lovely week with family and time to spend with them... and peace and quiet after.... 

  Best wishes from my house to yours.   

Whoo likes owls???

Today a student came into my room and asked, "Do you like owls?"..... haha..... yes.... apparently so... 

Another student asked, ever so politely...... 

 

"Excuse me, I just have to ask.... but... did you DRAW that on the board???"  

Haha!  I guess I did......... 

Cute kids. 

What is new?

Everything is new.  How to use a new computer is new..... Where are all my files?  How do I find them?  How do I manipulate things on the screen?  Well, I am learning... but in the meantime... I guess I will need to be patient.  I can do that!  (haha!) 

This is what I have to do!  I have no other choice!  haha! 

just a little doodle to enjoy