Calm Before the Storm

-Little treasures found on today's walk with Turbo.

-Hand carved rubber stamps inspired by old seaweed pressings that I made today.

This is the calm before the storm...
We will be moving into our new house next weekend!
This might be the last creative project I'll be able to squeeze in until we're all settled.
I'll be taking a long break from my web life (blog, facebook, flickr, etsy...)
but I will be back mid August with lots of new photos to share with you!
I will be checking my email occasionally from a nice café.
Can't believe we're packing again...Au revoir...for a little while :)

Kids Draw & Cook

My son Daniel's entry called "Five a Day for Better Health"
for Nate Padavick's awesome new blog Kids Draw and Cook,
a companion to the super cool They Draw and Cook blog.
Daniel (age 12) made these cool little guys with watercolor & ink on paper.

Etsy Treasury!

Made my very first treasury at Etsy, you can check it out by clicking here.


And this bird themed Treasury is my second! Playing "curator" is so much fun!

The Sketchbook Project: 2011

Last month my lovely reader Lisa from Australia sent me the link to this wonderful project thinking I might like to participate...and I did! Thanks Lisa!
Read more about the project here and think about joining too!

The blank Moleskine arrived at my door this week!
I had some time yesterday to personalize the cover before I break it in.

I glued these pretty marbleized end papers and a butterfly bookplate
that my friend Sofia sent me from New Zealand.

I chose "In Flight" from a long list of available themes to work with...obviously ;)
I have to send back my completed sketchbook by January 2011
and I'll be sharing the process with you. I hope you decide to participate too!

The completeted sketchbook will be living at the Brooklyn Art Gallery where it will be barcoded & available for the public to view. So if you live in NY you be able to check out my Sketchbook and take it home to view for a few days :)
And the cool thing is that I'll be able to know who checks out the sketchbook!
Fun, fun, fun!

*Molly Amanda: So funny you mentioned it this morning!
I was writing this post when I read your blog comment.

Drawing Lab Book Giveaway Winners

Carla was so impressed with the unbelievably great turnout that she offered to giveaway
two more books! So we have three winners today! Mr. Random.org chose:
Ludid, Elvia and Indy! Congratulations!
Thank you so much for all the encouraging comments.
You guys are THE best!

Painted Bird Tee

My lovely blog reader Ann from Russia sent this beautiful photo of the t-shirt she painted using my free bird embroidery design and white fabric paint.

Isn't it great? She did a fantastic job! Thank you for sharing it with us Ann :)
Don't forget to participate in the "Drawing Lab" book giveaway.
Hope you have a beautiful Monday!

Drawing Lab book giveaway

I'm featured in a really cool book written by Carla Sonheim.

"Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists" Published by Quarry Books.
The book was launched this month. You can learn more about it here.

My friend Gustavo Aimar is also featured in the book.

Carla has generously offered to giveaway a signed copy
& some "drawing" goodies from her studio to one of you guys!

Please leave a comment in this post with your contact info and

I will choose a random winner next Wednesday morning!
Good luck!

In Ma Bag

Bag: Original 1955 British Army First Aid bag from an Etsy shop called SevenBC.
Contents:
-Moo cards
-Tiny note pad
-Cardboard pen that I decorated with markers
-Favorite lip balm I've been using for years: Hawaiian Tropic Aloe Vera. I love it because it smells like the beach :)
-Keys: When not in use the keys go into this pretty pouch my sister gave me that also serves as a key chain.
-Gotta have my tiny Swiss Army knife at all times...
you never know when you're going to need it.
-Camera: I keep my point & shoot in a pretty wallet by Bookhou.
-1st Generation iPod Touch in another wallet by Bookhou.
-Nokia phone to speak with Manolo when I'm out and about.
It has a little NICI kitty charm.
-My beloved prescription sunglasses in a zippered pouch by Bookhou.
-Old Timberland fabric wallet.
What's in your bag?

Wall Color

After hours of friendly debate Manolo & I agreed on a beautiful steel blue for the exterior walls of the new house. It complements the bare concrete really well and makes all the woodwork stand out. Can't wait to show you more photos.
Even the name of the color is beautiful: Everlasting Gray (or Grace as I like to call it)
We're moving in in two weeks from tomorrow!

Birdie's Approval

Maren from Flying Fox Studio sent me this photo of Burgess, her pet bird, checking out my blog and I thought it was way too cute not to share :)

For Karyn

Well, I finally finished it! It took me longer than usual because the paper
was really difficult to work with. It was too absorbent and it needed a LOT
of paint & patience, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.

I hope my little sister Kiki likes it, because I made it for her :)

She lived in Mexico for many, many years and I think she'll love the fact
that the beautiful paper was handmade here. She lives in the Canary Islands now.
♥ Te quiero hermanita, ojalá te guste mucho en persona.

Dogwood progress II

Just two more birdies to go...whew!

Bits of Flora

Little set of stamps I carved this morning.
With the usual: Staedtler MasterCarve rubber stamp carving block,
Speedball linoleum cutter and my favorite ink pads.

Dogwood progress

Tomorrow I'll tackle the stems and the birds...I'll show you when I'm finished.

Dogwood drawing

I finished it yesterday and I've been painting some blooms today. So far so good.

Dogwood

I'm working on a 16' x 24' watercolor on a sheet of beautiful handmade paper
I fell in love with at the new art supply store in town.

The biggest size I usually work with is 10' x 14' so this is huge in comparison.
Lets see how it turns out...

Iron-On

When I bought the iron-on transfer paper to make the fabric bird banner I also bought a package of iron-on transfer paper for dark fabrics and tried it out this week with my flowery elephant on a dark green tee. The pretty triangle pattern linen bag is from Bookhou and the dark teal gossamer scarf is from Uniform Natural.

Print Update

@ my Etsy shop!

Dark & Lovely

Found these photos while rearranging some of the picture folders in my iMac.
I took the second photo at the Butterfly Center of the
Houston Museum of Natural Science a few years ago. Oh, how I love that place!
They look really nice together, don't they?

Drawing with Daniel

More marker fun!
The beautiful yellow billed kingfisher was made by my 12 yr.old son Daniel.

McDoodle

Something I doodled this morning with the new markers & white ink.
A future quilt perhaps? That would be cool...although I broke my sewing machine a couple of weeks ago and Manolo hasn't been able to put it back together again :P

Passiflora incarnata

Daniel & I recently bought ourselves a set of Chartpak Ad markers.

The last time I used these was in college while studying graphic design
and I had forgotten how great they were.

I know Daniel's going to love using them. I painted the white details with a thin round brush and my beloved white FW acrylic ink

Happy 4th of July!

Image from The New York Public Library archives.

This is what usually happens when I take a pen to the local diner
and they take a little too long to bring out my breakfast :)
My chilaquiles verdes were perfect though, so it was well worth the wait.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Agapanthus pages

From my botanical journal.
This time I reproduced my agapanthus pressed flowers
as a faux sun print painted with white acrylic ink
on a piece of very cyan handmade Amate paper.

Knotless Netting

The first time I saw a stone covered in knotless netting
was at Nancy Bauch's beautiful White Forest Pottery shop a cuple of years ago.
I was very intrigued about that weaving technique.
A couple of days ago I 'googled' the term and found
a couple of good how to's and a great video.
After a bit of practice I was able to cover my first stone!
I loved the fact that all I needed was the rock, some waxed linen and
my hands...no other tools necessary.
It is resting on my red screen printed linen tote by
the very talented Arounna of Bookhou

Botanical Observations

A new sketchbook/journal project I'm starting
where I'll be drawing my pressed plant specimens.
I bought the handmade recycled paper journal at the grocery store where I buy organic produce & goodies here in Queretaro. It's made in Mexico.

Happy Canada Day to all my lovely Canadian friends!!! :)