Author: Clare at CatsEatDogs

Weekly Photos 8/52

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Another barmy week of St Louis weather!  Temperatures ranging from the high 70’s at the weekend to a snow day on Wednesday. We have settled in the 50’s and 60’s for the time being, but who can tell! This final week of February has seen the last of the Tinkersketch prompts (I am writing a post this week about this challenge) and the end of my month of drawing houses.  I seem to be jumping onto the monthly challenges this year and March sees the beginning of another sketch a day challenge hosted by Creative Bug and presented by Pam Garrison. Sketchbook at the ready! 1. Ice cream in the warm weather, with the essential hundreds and thousands. 2. We woke up to a snow day on Wednesday. 3. I made some lemon and lime lip balms, they smell so fresh and lovely! 4 and 5. I couldn’t resist buying a fabulous romanesco which we ate dipped in ranch and the rest was added to a stir fry. All after I snapped some photos! I …

I like Friday the Art Journaling book edition

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Books are the best thing aren’t they!  Especially books which teach you stuff.  Especially books which make you go ‘oh yes, I can do this’. Today I pulled some of my favourite creative books out to share with you.  I have recently started to do lots of art journaling and I get so much inspiration from all kinds of art style books.  Journaling with art is a lovely and creative release and it allows me to try all kinds of styles and techniques. I also want to learn specific things like drawing figures and faces as well as lettering and doodling.  I am no natural doodler, so I need some help!  My first book is a wonderful tool to encourage and guide the reluctant doodler like me. Craft-a-Doodle by Jenny Doh The book is by Jenny Doh who brings together various artists with examples of their work as well as a guided finished piece for the reader to create.  I like this book because it is as inspiring as it is instructional.  Neither overwhelms the …

Get Messy Art Journaling – Season of Happy Continues

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Simple pages this week. I am pleased with the black gesso and white paint pen on the first spread, it is so effective. When I began these pages, I had plans to add lots to it and when I stuck down the moon (thank you National Geographic from the 1980’s), I didn’t want to add any more collage or cuttings. I don’t usually make the finished page in one sitting mainly because the layers need to dry before I can add any pen work or extra bits and bobs. The background was painted with my fingers but kept more orderly than normal finger applied paint! It was a fabulous full moon this week too, so that must have influenced me. The second spread may or may not be finished.  It is hard to stop sometimes and sometimes the opposite happens and I don’t know whether to add more and run the risk of ruining the pages.  What I might do is make this page again and continue to add to the new page and see …

Weekly Photos 7/52

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It has been a week of weather and appointments.  The kids were off on Monday for President’s Day, then one had a sick day on Tuesday. I had an ultrasound appointment on Wednesday which is always nerve wracking, but it went fine and all clear.  Then on Thursday the youngest had his yearly check up at the pediatricians. Phew! By Friday we were happy to have the school field trip to the Missouri Botanical Gardens to look forward to.  It was a glorious day, warm and sunny and the gardens were a-buzz with staff working on the flower beds and general maintenance. Of course the outdoor plants are not blooming yet, but we had the privilege of seeing the orchid show which was stunning.  After that, we had a tour with a lovely guide around the indoor climatron.  The kids were great and we had a super time! The weekend was a boiler (for February) as temperatures leapt up to 78 degrees.  T shirts were out! Photos – 1. I worked on my art journal …

‘I Like Friday’ The Get Messy Art Journaling Edition

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  Art Journaling is fast becoming part of my daily routine and I love that it is in my life and on a regular basis. The first and last images are in my ‘regular’ sketchbook and are inspired by prompts and supplies from the Get Messy Art Journaling group.  I may do more on the last spread with the owl and the Brownies, although I like the white space and simplicity of it right now. The middle background spread was inspired by a video from Alisa Burke where she paints a flower background using her fingers.  I decided to give it a go, I like the result and I will definitely be playing with the paints some more to see what else I can do.  This spread is in an old book I am using as an art journal. I might just be addicted to using vintage books as sketchbooks, each page is different just because the paper already has images and words on it and I work over them.  I don’t usually incorporate the …

‘Waiting’ Entertainment.

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What do you take to do when you know that you will have to wait for a while?  Do you check all of your social media?  Read the online newspaper? Read a real newspaper?  Read a book or a magazine?  Draw? Colour in? File your nails? Stare at people? Listen to music or a podcast? This morning I had to catch the Metro train and then a bus to get to an appointment where I would most likely be waiting.  Entertainment would be needed. My phone will do for a few minutes, but my social media life is not that exciting and I am not about to watch a webinar or TV show on the bus.  So, I check my phone then delve back into my bag for a ‘Werthers Original’ and something to read. I like a paperback so that I can read it standing in the bus station as well as sitting on said bus.  I am reading ‘The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend’ by Katarina Bivald at the minute which is a …

Weekly Photos 6/52

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This week I have been arting all over the place!  I am taking a few classes and learning lots which is always a wonderful thing.  I saw lots of feathers on Instagram through the week and discovered the #IFDrawAWeek and joined in with the ‘feather’ week. 1. I passed this historic house as I walked to the doctors this week, I find it strange that it is just there on the side of the road.  It used to have a sign I think, but that has gone now.  There is sits, being old, but still majestic. I love the blue walls. 2. On the way back from the doctors I walked passed the local ‘lake’ which was looking very pretty in the cold and ice.  Remember folks, don’t feed the ducks. 3. I made some stencils this week and had a lovely time messing about with them in my art journal. 4. Ikea was our destination this weekend, where we bought various useful things for the house like shelves and mugs! I liked these clouds …

Get Messy Art Journaling – Stencil and Pink

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This week in my art journal I have been playing with stencils, single line drawing and making a spread using only pinks.  All super fun!  Thanks to the fine folks at Get Messy Art Journaling for the ideas and enthusiasm. This double page was made by applying a thin layer of gesso then I used the stencil I made to create the all over design. All in an old book I have selected to use as a sketchbook.  Watercolor paint created a nice gentle colour which is lighter and darker at random.  You can see the stencil on the right of the photo, so it took a few layers to cover the page.  I am a little bit in love with this effect though and I have fallen hard for stencil making. Making a drawing using a single line and not taking your pencil/pen off the page until you are done sounds rather intimidating, but this was such a great exercise.  I took the pressure off myself and grabbed a teal blue colored pencil and …

Paper tube heart stamps.

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Make your own fabulous Valentine greeting with these easy peasy stamps which you can make with a paper roll from a toilet roll or kitchen paper towel roll.  I used a kitchen towel roll and cut it into three to make three heart stamps. The paint I used is from Target’s Hand Made Modern acrylic paint range. It is inexpensive but with a great range of colours to choose from. To get the heart shape you have to gently squeeze the tube so that the top folds in slightly and the bottom forms a point.  Squeeze the point to make a sharper shape and ease the rounded top into a heart shape. Once you have your heart/hearts grab some paint and brush some around the end of the tube, coating the whole heart in paint.  If you prefer, you can stomp the heart into the paint to load it, like a traditional stamp.  I like to brush the paint to control how much goes on to the stamp. I started with single colours and then …

Weekly Photos 5/52

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I feel like I have done nothing so far this week except walk to the shops and the dentist.  Oh wait, that’s because that is pretty  much what I have done!  Why is there always something you need for dinner which the cupboard does not contain, off to ‘Trader Joes’ I go. I went to the dentist this morning in the whirling snow to get a crown put on, well the temporary, I have another appointment to put the real thing on, yay. It has been swirling snow all day but none of it has stayed on the ground. This first photo is a lovely sunset earlier this week which I snapped while we were out metal detecting.  No treasure this week I am afraid.  Still looking for the chest! Over the weekend the skateboards were pulled out and my youngest was zipping about on his wheels, I spotted this circle of lichen on a tree.  Pretty cool. Shadows at the end of the day in hazy sun are the best. Yesterday’s Tinkersketch was ‘repetition’ …