Cooler weather, please!

      I really do not like hot weather.  Warm, yes, but not 100 degrees F.  Not my cup of tea.  I prefer non extremes.  Cool, but not cold.  Warm, but not hot.  But I suppose sitting inside on such a hot day gives me plenty of time to draw and color.  Can't complain about that.
      Every Inchie Monday's country this week was South Africa.  I googled South African icons for ideas.  I decided on using the flag since I have included it on all my inchies but one.  I also went with a diamond (my brother's suggestion) for another item on my inchie.  Gave me a chance to add some glitter gel pen.  There were lots of things to chose from. 

      The challenge this week was Joey's 222nd challenge.  Wow!  She also announced she would probably not be continuing it.  Okay.  My heart broke a bit.  I discovered this challenge quite early in my tangling journey and I love it.  I look forward every Monday to her post.  I really am going to miss this.  She wanted us to use Maryhill in the center of this round piece.  I love that tangle.  I am not sure my whole piece is all that super, but I had fun playing around with it.

      Another loss is the challenges of Diva.  She mentioned she  will be making some changes in her routine and possibly dropping all - or at least some - of her challenges.  Argh!  Not another one.  I am retired, have more time to draw and do this sort of thing than ever before and they are all leaving me!  Stop!  Wait!  Give me some more challenges!  Oh well.
      I have been having so much fun playing with a circle maker I purchased.  It is so cool, because it makes dividing the circle into angles so much fun.  And so easy for a non-math person like me.  It the Circle Helix (search on Amazon).  Here are a few of the mandalas I have been playing with.

      I suppose I should go now.  Lakota is demanding I take him out.  Does he not realize how hot it is?!  No, of course he doesn't.  Silly puppy.  Thanks for dropping by and saying hello.  Hugs!!

Challenges Day!

      I love Mondays because it is my challenge day.  Unfortunately the challenges seem to be dwindling away.  Probably due to summer things going on.  But I still have two of my favorites to look forward to - Joey's Creative challenge and Every Inchie Monday.  Perhaps I will locate some others to also get involved in.  Any suggestions?
     My inchie this week is on the country of Japan.  Several years ago - well, really a lot of years - when I was teaching second grade we had more freedom to develop our own curriculum.  State standards were not the issue they are now.  So I decided to take my students on a year long journey around the world.  All of my reading, math, language, etc. was based on that country.  We measured miles for our route.  Ate foods from the country we were studying.  Did art and music activities from there.  Everything.  My kids even had a passport that had to be stamped when we travelled from place to place.  That was the most fun.  I still have grown ups that were in my class as second graders come to see me and say "remember when we went to ____"?  One of our favorite places was Japan.  It was so rich in activities.  This inchie brought back some great memories, origami kimonos and tissue paper cherry blossoms! 

       Joey's challenge was to use the tangle pais.  I got started and then just couldn't stop.  It turned into a monotangle of nothing but pais!  I also started losing my green pen so I had to add a third color.  Guess I may need to order some colored sakuras! 

       Well, that's all for now.  Thanks for dropping by and saying hello!  Hugs!

Good morning!!

     It's thundering outside and we may have some showers.  But will I be dry when I step outside?  Oh yes, I have a new porch roof!!  Hooray me!!  It took a whole week but it looks nice and hopefully will be very dry.  Now that the porch looks better, I have all sorts of plans for how I want to fix up the flower beds and areas around it.  I am not much of a gardener though I am crazy about flowers. 
     The inchie country this week was Ireland.  I could name a "gazillion" things I could have drawn, but chose a simple shamrock, because it looked so pretty done in glitter gel.  I love the country.  It has so many pretty areas and neat lore.

     Joey's challenge was to use a variation of the tangle puf.  It is on my 100 day project page in my journal.  It is number 69 (in the circle at the bottom).  I decided to put in on that page because I already had a circle set up to use. 

     Please take a few minutes and check out my review by hitting on the tab at the top of this page.  I thought it turned out pretty well.  I enjoy doing reviews.  Several years ago I did some reviews for Shoplet.  You may remember them.  I got lots of cool products to look at and use.  Now if I could only review pens, paper and perhaps some Cricut cartridges!  That would be sweet.
     Guess I shall head off and do some drawing or coloring for a bit.  Thank you for dropping by and leaving me a bit of sunshine.  Hugs!

If I had a hammer . . .

  No I am not getting ready to break into a song so you can take the cotton from your ears!  For the last three days we have had our porch being constructed - with one more day to go.  It is going to be so nice.  Our other porch was quite old (like the house) and was anything but rain proof.  This one is sturdy and is going to be nice and dry . . . oh I can't wait.  I am even planning a rock garden over to the side now that it will be pretty.  I will take pics when I finally have it all settled.
      The inchie was the Vatican City.  I chose to do the flag for this area.  Even that had a bit of a challenge on it. 

      The Joey challenge this week used pokeroot to start.  I decided to submerge mine and go for an underwater scene.  A few fengle starfish and some other drawings finished it up.

      A few pieces for my 100 day project.  This challenge has been fun.  I am trying to keep it all in one journal and find myself with the possibility of running out of pages!  We shall see.

      Finished up one coloring sheet this week.  It is from Creative Haven's Fantastical Dragons book.  Did I tell you I am going to review a couple of their books?  Please when I do use the link and let them know the page is being seen - I would love to do this again.  Thanks!

     Guess I will head off to do some drawing - take care and thank you for dropping by!  Hugs!