Back to School

Sharpen those pencils, grab some paper, get ready to read, write, and study. School started yesterday where I work. My online college class started today and my on-campus class starts on Monday. Callie begins her sophomore year of high school on Monday also.

Even the weather testifies that it's time to go back to school. The hot and humid days I so loved morphed into crisper air and dew drenched mornings. It's a good thing I love school and learning and reading and writing and oh yes, my computer. I'll be spending many hours at the keyboard as the days shorten. And I was having such fun with my journal and assorted markers in those three weeks between terms.

I didn't get a vacation this year. No time. I went on a "Sisters" outing though. Sue, Kate, and I went up north to visit our parents. Our sister Patti couldn't join us as she had to work and it just wasn't the same without her. We agreed that we need to do more "sister" things together.

Enjoy the journal pages I posted. I did the sketch of Cheryl and Caleb three summers ago when he was an infant. Within the next month I expect to be doing pencil sketches of her new baby --my first granddaughter. Stay tuned for pictures.......

More Lettering Practice

Here are some practice sheets in my journal using different pens and lettering styles. I like the addition of glitter pens or markers for accents. I softened the word pretty with a blender pen.

Journal Pages

I finally scanned some journal pages to share. I promised my friends in an online group that I would post some examples of my lettering practice. Here is the first sample with gel markers on black paper. I blended the marker using a waterbrush.

Back to the Blog

I'm back and with a whole new look. Whew!!! That was one long break. I promise not to go so long without posting again. I got caught up in life. School, family, work....you know the story. I'm sharing the cover from one of my favorite journals. I don't often take the time to decorate the covers so this is special.

I just started journal Volume 60. I put lots of photos in my daily entries. I'm trying to sketch more and I'm working on my lettering. I joined Nicolette's two lettering classes http://nickieblog.blogspot.com/ and I'm using several books on calligraphy and lettering. I'm having fun experimenting and hope to share some samples soon. I've already told my three children that these journals highlight events in their lives as well as mine and should be treasured after I'm gone.

March Madness

It's March already? Where did the time go? This weather is madness. Last week we had snow storms severe enough to close school for two days. Yesterday it warmed up and was almost like Spring. The snow melted away. Today the temperatures dipped again and the puddles of water are now ice ponds. The temperature isn't supposed to get above the teens all week. And I'm on spring break from college. Go figure!

Caleb age 2 

Elijah age 1

Resolutions

What happened to time? I think I got stuck in a procrastination time warp. I thought about my blog regularly and every once in a while I would peek in on it like a sleeping child. I meant to update it but then life happened.

I resolve to do a better job at keeping my blog updated. There, now that the first entry of the new year and the resolution are out of the way maybe I can proceed.

So what really happened? TV. All the new shows came on. Have you seen 24 hours yet? That show captivated me. Then again anything that keeps me from doing the walking DVD's that I asked for at Christmas is a welcome diversion. Walking can be hard work. I swear my arms hurt after just one session. I was so proud that I did the first segment of it. Then I found out that it wasn't the end of the segment but a switch to the strength building exercizes. I decided to perform those visually and mentally. Somehow that's just not quite as effective on the cellulite.

On a more encouraging note my weight loss is continuing at a steady pace and I survived the holidays and lost weight in tandem. Not bad. I'm back to keeping daily entries in my journal. I've been keeping a daily journal for years now and I disappoint myself when I skip days or even a week at a time. I did some sketching over the holidays. I was thrilled that I still knew how.

I'm adding the two sketches I did as Christmas gifts for my kids. The portraits are graphite drawings of my two grandsons. Their parents loved them.