Artful August

I went ahead and did another challenge for the month of August called Artful August facilitated by @rachelgreig on Instagram.  I decided to continue to work on index cards but in a small format and drew windows on each card for each week's prompts.  

Week 1

Leaves, Dots, Heart, Circles, Face Texture, Tree

Week 2

Bold, Water, Lines, Flower, Squares, Rainbow, Small

Week 3

Food, Torn, Silhouette, Words, Bird, Pattern, Ocean

Week 4

Marks, Butterflies, Triangles, Home, Collage, Animal, Fabric

Week 5

Love, Nature, Layers

I used a Stabilo marker for the windows, General's Watercolor Pencils for the artwork, and an .005 Micron for all the lettering and line work. (Oh, and glitter glue for LOVE.)

This was a fun challenge to do in this smaller format.  Each window took relatively a small amount of time to complete and the prompts were pretty straightforward and easy to come up with ideas.

September starts tomorrow and I have prepared a small square sketchbook for Squareathon which will run for 21 days in September.   

First Time Fisherman

GS1 stayed overnight with us recently and his choice was to come to the condo so we hoped that the weather would be good enough to try some fishing at the dock.  It was beastly hot that day.  We spent some time in the pool before we ventured across the street and hoped that the greenhead flies would leave us alone there.  They were such a nuisance at the pool.

Papa showed GS1 how to put out the bait on the bait station so it would be ready for quick baiting of the hooks.  Someone has to remain pretty near to it there so the gulls don't steal it.

This is how we put the bait on the hook.

And a lesson in how to cast.  This was a challenge for the 5-yr-old but he kept trying.

We weren't having much luck and he still wanted to fish so I was casting for him.  On the last cast I felt the fish going for the bait as soon as it hit the water and was able to set the hook before I handed him the pole.  "Where's the bobber grandma?" he asked.  It was under the water and I told him that meant he had a fish on the line and could start reeling it in.  The snappers give a little bit of a fight, enough to thrill the little guy.  He brought it in and lifted it over the rail and we got a picture just as the greenheads started going after his legs and drawing blood, so we knew it was time to stop and get back inside.  But this was a success for the first time fisherman!

GS1 loves Legos and has the regular sized ones at home that he uses.  We keep the larger Duplos out for now because GS2 is still too young for those when he's around, but GS1 loves to try his skills at what we've got.  

We had his favorite pizza with meatballs for dinner and did a puzzle while watching Raya and the Lost Dragon (or at least part of it - he lost interest and was ready for bed about half-way through).  

Oh, and earlier we had done some watercoloring but I don' have pictures of that - I do have a picture of the note he wanted to write to Papa with the chalk marker on the sliding glass door.....

He told me what he wanted to write and I told him what the letters were.  "Dear Papa I wish you good fishing".  We decided to have him draw a fish for fishing.  I'll leave this up there for the rest of the fishing season.  

HWNSNBP is used to getting up early, but this little guy woke up even earlier at 5:30 and they started their day by checking out the bay beach .....but the greenheads again. He wanted pork roll and eggs for breakfast which we all enjoyed and then prepared to take him home because he and his parents wanted to visit with his little cousin who was here from NC and would be leaving that day to go home.  

He starts Kindergarten in a few days - the summer has gone by so fast.   

Jingle Belles - Cardstock Christmas

Yes, it's true, I made a Christmas card and I'm sneaking it in to the Jingle Belles Challenge for this fortnight of using cardstock and no patterned paper.  I was working on another project and really wanted to get a card done and this poinsettia that I had sitting on the side was screaming "use me, use me"  so I did.  I used a background snowflake die on a mid-value green background and gave that poinsettia a home.  I may decide to add a sentiment in the future, but for now it's done.   

I will have to get back to the Jingle Belles blog to check out the other beauties and leave some love.  You can join me by clicking here.

Did You Know............

...that Black Swallowtail butterflies like parsley?  I did not.  Maybe I had read that before but I didn't remember it.  I noticed that our parsley plant was being devoured and assumed that it was an animal that was getting to it, but nothing else that the deer liked around it was touched.  So I looked closer......

and found three of these caterpillars on what was left of the plant and had to look up what kind they were and learned a little about them.  They are Black Swallowtail caterpillars and they do like parsley, dill, and carrot tops and the related Queen Anne's lace.  They also, when touched, will emit an extremely sweet scent and their bright orange antennae will pop out to warn off predators. 

HWNSNBP helped me to film this with his tape measurer - the caterpillar was not harmed and kept on chomping away.   

Two of them disappeared the next day and if not for their bright coloration I would not have found them.  They crawled about 4 feet from the planter and crawled up the electrical cord for some outdoor lights and went into their chrysallis stage.  One of the chrysallis' was this dark color, the other was more green and closer to the ground and I couldn't get a good picture of it and didn't want to move the cord.  I kept checking them every day, but they disappeared over the weekend while we were away and I didn't get to see the butterflies that emerged.

Needless to say, there is nothing left of that one parsley plant except for the stalks.  Funny thing is that that plant was one that had overwintered in the pot.  We have a topiary lavendar tree in that pot with some other herbs planted around the base and we put it in the garage to keep it from freezing over the winter to try to save it.  The lavendar and parsley made it, the thyme and basil had to be replaced.  

I think I definitely be planting more parsley next summer and monitoring the plants closer and possibly setting up a butterfly hatchery to share with the grands.

Check out the other post from today below - they were supposed to be scheduled at different times but I goofed.  

Baby Shower Card

Rachel asked me to make a card for a baby shower based on the invitation that she received below.

She said they knew that it is a boy so I went with some printed papers in blue and green stripes and plaids for the mountains.  The bear is several layers of a die from a Hampton Arts Christmas set stamped with a sentiment from SU's Cuddles and Kisses.  The "trees" are a Martha Stewart punch.

Here is her "little bear" watching one of his new faves "The Jungle Book" with his snack.

Last of the Bluebird Babies

This is a juvenile bluebird.  Most likely from the first brood from earlier this summer.  They do hang around with the adults and will help, or attempt to help with feeding nestlings.

This is the last nestling.  How do I know that it was the last one?  Well, from the camera on the inside.  We knew that it was about time that the last clutch would be fledging and I had become so accustomed to their chattering that I didn't notice they were leaving the box until I heard that one plaintive cheeping going on and looked over and only saw the one still in the nest.  I watched from the house for a bit thinking that it would fledge at any moment and then thought I should grab the camera and try to get closer to try to capture the moment.  

The parents and a couple of the siblings from an earlier brood were trying to coax this one out.  The juvenile even attempted to feed it.  But this little one was not ready.  I was up on the deck by the pool to get a "bird's eye view" of the nesting box which enabled me to get closer to take some pictures.  This little one just did not want to budge.  I think if it had had another one in the box to push it, it would have taken off no problem.  Instead, I made myself comfortable in one of the deck chairs and whilst I was watching I also deadheaded the portulaca in the 4 large planters (which will be planted with something else next year because this deadheading is a chore on those small flower heads).  I watched for over an hour, periodically taking pictures. 

The parents were back and forth trying to keep track of the three who had already left the box while keeping an eye on this one.  Unfortunately this one lost it's balance and tumbled out to the ground while they were away.  I could hear it calling the parents and they came back to the box but were having a hard time finding it on the ground.  I'm hoping they eventually did.  

So for this summer we had a total of 13 baby bluebirds that survived.  There were 6 eggs in the first brood and one egg mysteriously disappeared the day before the others hatched.  The mother may have accidently broken it - we'll never know.  The second clutch had 5 eggs of which 4 hatched and the unhatched egg was visible in the box for a couple of days and then that one mysteriously disappeared.  The last clutch was the smallest in the amount of eggs laid - 4, but with the summer coming to an end and the hot weather that we were experiencing I'm sure that momma blue was tired out and knew what she could handle.  

The camera is turned off now and in a couple of days HWNSNBP will clean out the box for the season.  We'll keep feeding them the live mealworms until we run out and then switch over to the dried ones.

There is a period of days after the chicks fledge when you don't see hide nor hair of them except the parents and older juveniles at the feeder for worms.  We know their calls and can hear them in the trees but they're teaching the young ones how to stay out of vew while they're still at their most vulnerable.

ICAD Week 9 and Round-UP

Well, July has come and gone and so has ICAD.  These are the last few days and my round-up picture.

Day 57 - Sea Anemone

Watercolor Pencils, Microns

Day 58 - Improvise

I improvised by using one of the pre-made acrylic background cards and gluing on the torn of ends of the strips I've been using to make origami wish stars.  (Future post.)

Day 59 - Pocket

I used pieces from audition cards to make a pocket full of rainbows and added it to one of the last acrylic background cards.  The lyrics are from an Elvis Presley song "Pocketful of Rainbows".

Acrylics, Markers, Gel Markers, Potted Paint

Day 60 - Mixed Tape

I know what a mixed tape is and this is not it, but rather a twist on the words.  I enlarged the pattern from the fabric tape as the background (therefore mixing it).

Potted paint, Gel Sticks, Fabric Tape

Day 61 - Forward

Looking forward to filling our lives with more joy.  Winning the lottery would obviously be a plus.

Gel Stick background and various collage pieces.

And here is the whole collection.  Stacked one on top of the other they approach 1 3/4 inches.  I have been purchasing vinyl zippered pencil cases (the kind you can put into a 3-ring binder) that have minimal decoration on them (only polka dots) to store my cards yearly.  I just stocked up on a bunch of them at the Dollar Tree.  This allows me to keep them sorted as I go along as well as being able to keep extra cards in the pouch if I'm travelling.  It's nice to revisit each collection before ICAD begins each year to remind me of what I have done.  I also go through my previous year's posts.  In either case, it has been helpful to note the materials that I used on the back along with the year, the date, and the prompt.  Next year I will be adding check boxes on the back so I can make physical note if I've posted to 1)my blog, 2)Instagram, and 3)Facebook.  I fell behind on that this year and I'd like to do a better job of that.  Call it my personal improvement plan.  

I can't lie, I kind of ran out of steam for this towards the end.  I'm not exactly sure why, but I'm sure I'll be gung ho with it again next year.  Perhaps it was having done the 100 Day project not so long ago.  I've been hesitant to jump right into another challenge right now.  Christmas card making has been non-existent in July and I must catch up on that soon.  

To anyone out there reading this, I hope you enjoyed seeing this artistic endeavor and again I would like to encourage you to give it a try yourself next year.  I know that you would be surprised as to what you could accomplish on an index card.  They're cheap and very forgiving and you don't need a ton of other art supplies.  You might have noticed that the ingredients for a lot of these cards came from the dollar store.  Yes, I do have good art supplies and I do use them sometimes, but this is proof that you don't have to to get pretty good results.  (Or maybe there are some closet ICADian's out there who have given this a try and just haven't shared yet.  If there are, I applaud you.)

Family Visit (June Throwback)

Getting our family together in one place is too rare.  We did manage to have them all here in late June.

Here we are exploring some new gel sticks.  They liked them so much G1 wanted to take them home, but I convinced him to let them stay with me so G2 could play with them the next day (they were staying overnight).  I had gotten them on Amazon and it was easy enough to have a set sent to him for a surprise.

G2 is very much into cars and G1 into Legos.  We had to put the smaller Legos away while the younger one was here, but G1 didn't seem to mind.  

Our pool temp was not really inviting for the older crowd and G1 was going to give it a go.  Just as his dad got his suit on it began to rain for a bit so we put the pool on hold and didn't manage to get back to it.

This one would have jumped right in.

He wanted the thermometer that was tied to a string and dangling on the bottom so he could throw it in.

Another car set-up.

G1 was the driver and G2 the load.  It didn't last long - he didn't want to sit still and he didn't know how to work the power on the tractor yet.  

Papa tried to give G2 a ride but he was scared until G1 got on and then of course he wanted to go too.

It was better that they both got to sit on the big tractor in the garage together.  

We kept the menu simple and got subs from Jersey Mike's and I made my pretzel salad dessert which was a hit with the little ones once again.  

Like I said, these visits are all to rare for us.  I hope that we can have a lot more of them in the future.