Not a lot for WOYWW

I just seem to be going around in circles

and getting nothing done,

must be getting close 

to Christmas!!

Here in Australia that means

summer holidays are

getting close,

in fact little miss only has

one more week of school

(boo hoo).

Which means not much art for me

for the next 6 weeks :(

It also means racing to get ready for 

Christmas.

So, to my desk

 Yup, looks like last week

accept I have more cards started.

I decided to have a real go at

actually getting cards done for

Christmas and post them before Easter!!

As you can see I didn't get very far.

In my defence, I am still waiting for the

green and red card paper to arrive

so I can't put them together yet.

I know there is some card in the photo

but it is really wobbly and thin.

Speaking of wobbly, I had a bit of

wobble myself.

 I have a nice little veggie patch which

is fenced to keep the chickens out.

Unfortunately it also keeps me out

and I have to jump and squeeze to get in.

I had my hands full of lettuce leaves the other day 

and when I jumped I missed the step

and someone took the ground away.

I used the arm that wasn't holding the lettuce

to try grab the metal frame but

missed that too and ended up

in a very unlady like position

with my bum squashing some poor lettuce plants.

Hubby thought it was hilarious.

Needless to say

we now have a new fence with a real gate.

That will teach him not to laugh.

Here is my birdie painting

as of today,

 

 The orange glaze is actually

much more brightly orangey

than the photo, in fact it kind of glows.

Shame I'm such a bad photographer,

I'm sure you would have liked it.

There's still a long way to go

but so far so good.

I'm off to rest my bruises from

the veggie incident,

so why don't you go over to 

Julia's Stamping Ground

and check out the other desks 

around the world

this Wednesday.

P.S. I have been having trouble leaving comments

on people who have Google+.

I apologise if I don't manage to leave a comment

as sometimes I just can't seem to find a way to do it

and I often would like to reply to people who leave me

a comment but can't if they 

have the Google+ and are no reply bloggers.

 

WOYWW The birds have come home to roost

My birdies came home with me today

and here they are ...

I'm really pleased with how they came out

and even better, my friend bought the painting

so I can visit them as often as I like.

My desk this week is covered in

naughty things and I blame

the bad influence of the lovely

stamping ladies for my 

indiscretion.

 

 Yes, that's right,

all I went to the shop for was

some green and red card

and this is what I came back with.

Now don't get excited,

it's not for me.

I made the mistake of

taking little Miss with me

and she "needed" all of this

and what else is mum's credit card for!!

 These stamps are so cute

luckily I won't be touching them

or goodness knows how they would come out!!

There are also bits of my Christmas cards

that I'm still trying to paint and make

and some Doctor Who things,

it's the 50th anniversary this weekend.

The scary thing is I've been watching 

for nearly that long!

Lastly, here is my new canvas,

now I know you all saw the bird on there last week

but here it is now

 You knew it was there all the time

didn't you.

That's my desk for this week,

now why don't you hop over to

Julia's Stamping Ground

and see the other desks around the world 

this WOYWWednesday

but be warned, it's contagious.

Christmas card fun with a dash of pain.

Every year I have a mad panic

right at Christmas time

as I haven't made any cards

and usually I beg Little Miss to make

cards for me.

She is really clever with stamps 

and design and she is only 12.

This year I was determined to make 

at least a few cards myself.

Now you can forget stamping

as I couldn't stamp the side of a barn,

so I decided to do some

quick

 (yeah right)

water colour cards.

I started with some thin

(that was my first mistake)

smooth

(that was my second mistake)

water colour paper and cut

it to size for cards.

 Then drew some baubles

and used the gloopy stuff

to create quick patterns on them.

 

I wet the paper and had fun

blobbing dots of colour into

the background.

My teacher has taught me that

although I love bright colour,

I need to have some muddy

colour in there to make the colour pop.

Hence the darker background.

I painted the baubles

and she was right

the dull colour made the baubles pop.

This is before the gloop was rubbed off and

   

this was after rubbing it off.

I still need to paint in the 

little rings but getting there.

The paper started to curl 

not long after this shot and that

was the trouble, then this

 

 the paint had gone under and

all over the other side.

Plus it won't stand up 

as the paper is too thin.

So, cards take two.

I got out my good paper 

and drew up lots of just the fronts.

I will paint them up

and then cut and stick them

to proper cards.

This paper is much thicker and

has a rougher texture.

The only trouble is that this

surface doesn't keep the crisp

clean colours.

 

 They aren't too bad here

but they have dulled off a lot now.

 

I'll keep playing and hope they 

will turn out okay.

If not it's back to 

Little Miss! 

 

Birdie fun for WOYWW

Here is my desk

 

I have started on Christmas ideas

for cards and I'm reading a book

(well trying anyway)

on colours with paint.

 I'm toying with the idea of Egbert

with a Christmas pud

and if I get some time I'll paint some cards

and send them.

I noticed something on my desk today and 

it made me laugh.

My friend sent me a calendar from England

and I noticed the November page

was a couple skating in the snow.

Somehow it looks a little odd next to my window.

 It's hot and we haven't had any rain to speak of

for ages. The fountain is empty, so is my water tank

and the grass is all but dead.  Then there's 

a picture of these two all dressed up in their winter

woolies!!

I was a silly moo today,

yeah I know, what's new,

but today my silliness was fortuitous.

You see, I forgot my reading glasses

when I went to my painting class

this morning.  I had my distance glasses

but they are so distant that anything

within a few feet is a blur.

Luckily I can plop my distance glasses up on my head

and see something really close with just my eyes

but only for a short time.

I use my reading glasses for anything

that is a few feet or closer.

This can be quite a pain when you need

to move in and out as I have to keep swapping eyes.

I did try the hanging them on a cord around the neck trick

but I almost strangled myself too many times

and even the optometrist said don't bother 

trying to use the graduated glasses

(she knows me well).

Sorry, I digress,

I had to finish my Lorikeet painting today

and it was sweeping colour glaze.

It seems I'm better at this when I can't see a thing

than when I can see.

I remembered to take photos this time,

they are on my phone so apologies

for the bad shots.

 The glaze is still wet and there is a lot of shine

in the photo but the colours

are bright and wonderful in real life.

I've already started on my next one

There's only one lorikeet in this one

but you can see that can't you ;)

That's my desk for this week,

when I get the painting home

I might do a post with photos

of all the stages

if anyone is interested.

No why don't you hop on over to

Julia's Stamping Ground

and see all the other desks

around the world

this hot and dry

Wednesday.

 

 

Buntingly beautiful desk for WOYWW

Normally I would show

you a picture of my painting

right here in this spot

but yes, there is just a blank bit

because stupid here

forgot to take a photo 

of the painting and it's

still at class drying (doh)!!

Today I have something far better

 than a silly old painting,

I have BUNTING.

Not just any old ordinary bunting

but 

Lunch Lady Jan bunting,

 now that's special.

 Isn't it gorgeous!

I love the little Christmas puddings.

It came all wrapped up in the gold paper

with the Christmas ribbon

and a beautiful card.

How lucky am I???

 

I still have all the usual junk on my desk,

assorted brushes, paints and

of course my favourite

dalek pencils.

You can even see the bird I started painting

probably months ago,

I'll finish it eventually (cough, cough).

For art class last week

we were supposed to spend 15 minutes 

a day drawing our hand

in different positions

and life is too busy around here

so I only got to do one drawing.

It's not great but very handy

(sorry, I couldn't help myself).

 

Just so you don't think I'm special,

I'm a leftie, that's how I can draw a right 

hand and yes my nails are that ratty,

must file them when I get some time.

Just to finish off, here's the other

side of my room

 

I have tried hard to keep it tidy

but the mess up fairies keep

coming in the night.

That's my desk for the week,

now why don't you hop over to

Julia's desk at Stamping Ground

and see heaps of other desks

around the world

this glorious WOYWW.

Thanks again Lunch Lady Jan.