Spilled milk,Hansel & Gretel, Dry ice

Sometimes what we pour down the drain looks just as interesting as what we make.  Being a watercolorist, I really liked the way this milk experiment cleaned up.

A last minute Trunk or Treat idea had me painting a background in the garage with a neighbor child.  I wish she could have seen how good my car looked when I set it up.  Hansel was caught in a cage near the fire, while Gretel roamed around gathering candy.

We also had some fun with dry ice this Halloween.  My daughter is a huge Steve Spangler fan and encouraged us to to try some different things.  The whole family joined in for smoking water, foaming tubes, boo bubbles, and probably the most impressive - the dry ice crystal ball.  Suspense built as we watched it grow full of mist until it popped and washed over the table.

Oatmeal pancakes

Creativity often happens in the kitchen.  This weekend my kids wanted pancakes but we were out of milk.  Now, I know some people will use orange juice instead but my children won't eat those.  And besides, we were out of orange juice.  (By Saturday I really need to go shopping.)  I suggested oatmeal.  How about oatmeal pancakes?  Half the family was intrigued so I started searching for a recipe.

I did not find exactly what I needed, but I felt pretty confident I could make something they would eat.  Success!


Enjoy my creation.
Yes, it has an oatmeal texture, but if you like 'em fluffy, mix in the blender.

Oatmeal pancakes

Mix together:

1/2 cup oatmeal

3/4 cup vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup water 

Add:

1/2 cup flour

tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

One big shake of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 egg

Mix well

Ladle 1/4 cup at a time onto prepared griddle.

Makes about 8 pancakes.

Together for IF

TOGETHER

I thought it was time to try my hand at a dragon again, and had a lot of fun with this one!
Pen and ink with watercolor pencils in my sketchbook.

Totem for IF

TOTEM

                                                 

HIDDEN for illustration friday

This is my first painting of my new baby birds.  I now have two lineolated parakeets, also known as "linnies".  A green named Zeke and a turquoise named Paolo.  In their natural habitat they climb in the treetops and I can't help but wonder what they would look like up there.  I've seen them hang upside down at home and I thought with their shape and coloring it would be easy for them to blend in with the leaves.

Lush for Illustration Friday

LUSH for illustration friday

Sure, there are parts of the desert that are wide open and full of saguaros, but if you try to cross a wash you might run into some lush vegetation.

Rescue

- Rescue for Illustration Friday.  Trying out a couple of ideas along with the IF theme.

Power for IF

Just a quick little sketch to keep my hands busy while watching TV with my daughter.  I've not posted anything all month and feel a little guilty about it.  Sure, I made a couple of doodles here and there, but nothing I want to share.  Getting a homeschool back into gear, and finding new baby birds has kept me away from my artwork, but Creative Every Day still happens.  Just in different ways.

Travel for Illustration Friday

Another one of those topics where I came up with the rough sketch quickly, but then, distracted by preparations for a camping trip, didn't paint it until a week later.  I am now realizing that "travel" was the thing that pulled my focus from finishing "Travel".  Maybe I should add a picture of a tent in the rain.

Found this photo from the camping trip, after I already made the drawing. Look familiar?  I guess my mind was working on it and didn't even know it.

Pathtag and Letterbox stamp

If you are a geocacher, you might find one of these pathtags in a cache. Pathtags are personal trading items, used most often in geocaching.  They are about the size and weight of a US quarter or a one Euro coin. People create a design, have it made and start trading.

This is the pathtag I created for our family with animals that represent us, using our dog's face again, as I did in creating our stamp for letterboxing.  We haven't yet found an actual letterbox, but this is a picture of the log from a geocache/letterbox hybrid we found in Massachusetts.  Each letterbox has its own stamp image that you collect in your own book.  At the same time you create your own stamp and leave that image at the letterbox book.

Candiazoo pathtag












If you're looking for a new hobby, might I recommend Geocaching.com, Pathtags.com, and letterboxing.org.  Just a few more ways to be creative!