Author: Clare at CatsEatDogs

Weekly photos 22/52

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There has been lots of fog while we have been on vacation in Cape Cod,  but it looks so cool!  One of our favourite places to visit is Monomoy Point Nature Reserve.  The dunes at Provincetown are a wonderful place to visit and get a serious leg workout climbing them! Can you see the chair at the top of this dune? I wanted to sit in it so badly! We spotted this shark on a disused lifeguard station. Looking for shells is always a winning activity.  A quick jaunt in Nickerson State Park. Looking out at one of the ponds at Nickerson State Park. Low tide at the beach nearest to where we are staying. More fog! Sitting on top of Doane Rock. Lookout viewing stations at Chatham Light Beach. A few snaps from our holidays so far. I have picked up a few bargains from the Cape thrift shops which I am hoping to share with you this week.  Happy Tuesday x

Weekly photos 21/52

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1. This week saw the last days of the school year and fifth grade graduation. 2. The kids all got to choose an ice cream from the ice cream truck as part of graduation celebrations. 3. In the rain, lots of these flowers ended up scattered on the grass. 4. I picked some kale from the garden for salad. Home grown is the best! 5. On the plane to holidays in Cape Cod, the essential gin and tonic! 6. At low tide we spotted these sea fairy castles all over the beach. 7. I love to go to the library wherever we are, so I snapped a photo of the local library opening times. 8. Directions to an antique shop in Chatham MA. Have a lovely week. Happy Monday x

‘I Like’ Friday. The Coloring Book Edition.

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My name is in print!  My artwork is also in print! I am so proud to have my coloring page in the new edition of The Coloring Studio by Stampington magazines. This is the second issue of the magazine (more a book actually!) and it is full of coloring sheets as well as tips for coloring and information in techniques as well as insights from the various artists featured. It is a beautiful magazine and I am so pleased to be part of this edition.  I picked up the first issue  because I was impressed with the illustrations to color in as well as the tips ideas which are not usually featured in a coloring book or magazine. So if you enjoy some coloring in, this is a lovely book to have, color and keep to admire. I hope you have a lovely weekend planned, we are heading on vacation to Cape Cod tomorrow, so we are all packing and trying to cram all kinds of goodness into our bags! Happy Friday x

Using an old book as a sketchbook.

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There once was a time when I would not have entertained the idea of using a book, old or new to draw in or cut up for pictures or words or just rip a page out of it to make a print on. Well, now I do all of those things quite happily!  I did a class at the beginning of this year by Lisa Congdon on Creative Bug which required some collage which is something I really hadn’t done before, so I didn’t have any papers to chop up. I decided to pop to the library and see if they had any books in the sale section (25 cents each thank you very much) which were colorful and interesting enough to use.  There were some books which would work,  and with some trepidation I cut the pieces I wanted to use out and stuck them down in a collage-y fashion. Then I joined the Get Messy community and I saw some work being done in old books, not cutting them up, using the actual …

Weekly Photos 20/52

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1.I haven’t spotted as many mushrooms this year as usual, but I was impressed by this little cluster which I managed to snap as the dog was trying to pull me away to carry on with her walk! 2 & 3.Our local library hosts a reading club every summer, kids, teens and adults each have their own and this weekend was time to sign up. They set up a kick off party at the firehouse where we had hotdogs and cake before signing up for a summer of reading and prizes.  I stood on my tippy toes and got a few photos of the fire equipment and I thought these helmets looked ready for action. 4.I haven’t planted as much in the garden this year as I would like, but I am so happy that everything has started to grow. This is a pot of coriander/cilantro. 5. The banana pepper is thriving! 6. I was overjoyed to see my first sweet pea flower. 7. The hydrangea flowers are done for now, so I deadheaded them …

The 100 Day Project 2016 11-30.

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I am very proud of myself.  I have not skipped a day yet or had to play catch-up in this year’s 100 day project.  This is mainly due to the fact that I only have a playing card size piece of art to make.  Sometimes I will cover the card completely and sometimes I work with the image which is already there. As I work my way through the 100 days I am drawing on more and more of my art journaling experience and treating many of the cards as mini journal pages. I like to see the original cards with the altered version.  The only one which I couldn’t tell the original card was number 26 because I layered on so much gesso. I couldn’t see the original card at all, I even tried shining a flashlight through it! Only 70 cards to go!  If you want to follow along with my 100 day progress on Instagram my hashtag is #100daysofalteredcardsbycatseatdogs. Happy Thursday!  

Go Blog Social. St Louis Conference.

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I haven’t been to many blog conferences, in fact prior to the Go Blog Social ‘Content High’ conference last weekend, I had attended Alt Summit in New York City in the summer of 2013 which was frankly a terrifying experience and you can read all about here. You see I am a wallflower, an introvert, I keep myself to myself which is the complete opposite to what I am supposed to be doing at these conferences.  I am supposed to be networking and handing out all of my business cards which for the GBS event were coloring postcards with my details on the back. I did make a good decision before I went this time.  I made myself this (above) little pep graphic which was my screen saver on my phone.  My problem is that when anyone asks what my blog is about, I tend to freeze and then when I find my tongue, out spouts a couple of unclear sentences.  This time I looked over my blog to make sure I knew what I was …

Weekly Photos 19/52

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  1.We spotted this guy as we walked to school through the woods.  I love the pattern on his shell. 2.More gelli plate goodness using grasses from my back garden. I printed on regular paper, old book pages and deli paper. 3&4. I went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens with some friends and we managed to catch the beauty before a massive storm marched through. 5. This weekend my youngest and I went for a paddle in the creek.  The water was very shallow so we managed to get further than we usually walk.  We found some old  shards of pots and a fossil or two. 6. We now have a 15 year old and I made some cupcakes with orange butter cream. 7. And I made some confetti cookies using a wonderful recipe from Smitten Kitchen. It was super easy and they look and taste fabulous!  Perfect for a teen birthday. I had a good week and I hope you did too. I am still processing the Blog Conference I attended over the weekend …

‘I Like’ Friday. Get Messy Season of Lists Week 6.

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I thought I was avoiding the prompts this week and then I realized that I had inadvertently incorporated the ‘write the list outside’ prompt very vaguely in the top page.  The prints are made with leaves, gathered from outside. Ta-dah! The list prompts have made for a challenging Get Messy season for me to be honest.  I don’t often incorporate writing in my pages with much success, but I wanted to give it a go. This week I decided to use the prompts not as a list but as a single sentence or idea, is one item classed as a list?  A single item list?  I think not. I do enjoy writing using a Sumi brush (Home is..) but it often takes a few run ups to get it right.  The thing is when you are working over a prepared background and it goes wrong, it is a ‘start again’ situation.  My first go at this page saw me miscalculating the word ‘paintbrushes’ and I ended up squishing it all up by the time I …

The 100 word day.

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Fog. Run. Breathe. Key. Shoe. Four. Miles. Strong. Balance. Stretch. Smoothie. Banana. Strawberries. Frozen. Coffee. Frothy. Chat. Phone. Jewelry. Questions. Ideas. Opportunities. Thoughts. Walk. Friends. Missouri. Botanical. Gardens. Sunshine. Blue. Skies. Sunscreen. Forgot. Shoulders. Free. Proof. Irises. Colours. Delicate. Peonies. Petals. Pinks. Beautiful. Japanese. Gardens. Koi. Kids. Compliment. Hair. Thanks! Photos. Lots. Focus. Light. Bright. Grasses. Sheep. Concrete. Lunch. Decisions. Bakery. Patisserie. Olio. Old. Gas. Station. Trout. Burned. Bread. Deliberate. Fancy. Storm. Rain. Hail? No. Wind. Warnings. Puddles. Running. Home. School. Clay. Done. Pleased. Beads. Fired. Glaze. Success. Wearing. Kneading. Dough. Pizza. Sticky. Smooth. Art. Show. Tonight. Proud. Mum. Sleep.