Folly Beach Doodles

My husband and I are just back from our yearly beach trip with all of the family. The past two years we went to Ocacroke, an island off the coast of North Carolina, just below the Outer Banks. My husband and I both love it there!... beautiful wide open beaches, a walkable small town feel with quaint shops and a neighborhood grocery store that stocks just about everything, lots of local history (Blackbeard the pirate slept here!), a long ferry ride there to help you decompress, plenty of golfcarts and bikes and hardly any cars... what's not to like?!!

But last year, we had almost a whole week of rain... and our "Big Kids" (aka our grown children!) were bored and needed something more exciting to do.

So this year, we compromised and went to a beach we'd never visited before... Folly Beach in South Carolina... just a 20 minute ride to Charleston. 

Honestly, as I packed for the trip, I was wishing we were going back to Ocacroke. But once we got there, Folly Beach kinda grew on me! We rented a gorgeous house with room for all of us to spread out. It was within a short walk to the beach, which was wide and sometimes had little pools at low tide where our granddaughter could splash around and make sand castles... Perfect! On our first night there it rained, and we were serenaded by what sounded like a million frogs!... I guess there's a first time for everything!

My husband is an early riser... and so is our 4 year old granddaughter... so they had quite a few breakfast dates at the Lost Dog Cafe. I even got to go along one morning. Lots of local color and "pampakes" for our granddaughter that were shaped like a bunny! Breakfast "dates" with Opa have become a vacation tradition that my husband really looks forward to!

We did have a few rainy and windy days that made beach-going less than ideal... so on those days we headed to Charleston, where we went to the South Carolina Aquarium (they rehabilitate injured sea turtles), ate a yummy lunch out, did a little shopping, and took a fun boat ride over to check out Fort Sumter.  

Folly Beach has a brand new pier, where we enjoyed a great family dinner at Koko's On The Pier, a tiki bar with lots of seating under colorful umbrellas. We had fun watching all the fishermen and surfers on our after dinner pier walk, and visited a cute gift shop where I found a paper mache seagull to take home with me! 

I got a little time to sketch while we were there, so I had fun drawing the Folly Beach doodles above in my sketchbook... Kinda a fun way to remember this year's family beach vacation! 

Most of all, I just enjoyed being with our family!... hanging out on the screened porch in the morning drinking coffee, sitting under the beach umbrella watching everyone play and build sandcastles, walking on the beach together looking for seashells and watching the pelicans, watching funny movies together in the evening... all the simple things that help to bring us closer together. I'm very very grateful for this time of family togetherness!... and I'm already looking forward to next year!

 

Experimenting With Tempera Paint Sticks

 

A while back, I decided to buy some new-to-me art materials to try out in my art journal. I'd been watching some YouTube videos about tempera paint sticks and, even though they're intended for children, I thought they looked like fun! I liked the idea of having some supplies that didn't require a lot of clean up after I'd used them. But since I tend to draw things that are on the small side, I knew that the larger tempera paint sticks I was seeing wouldn't work very well for me.

So, I hunted around on the internet until I found the M&G Washable Tempera Paint Sticks. This collection of 48 thin paint sticks comes in a wonderful range of colors... and they come in a sturdy plastic carrying case that make them super easy to store or take along while traveling. Just what I was looking for!

 

Drawing with these paint sticks has really helped me loosen up, since it's hard to be very precise with them. I like that they dry fast, and that you can layer different colors on top of each other (though the white was not as bright as I might like it to be). I found that they seem to work best on paper that has a smooth surface. The second picture of the fish is the one that I like the best, where I outlined the fish bodies with micron pen. Overall, I'd say they're a fun change of pace for me that I think I'll enjoy using in the future!... and bonus that I can have fun using them to play with my 4 year old granddaughter too!

Have you ever tried tempera paint sticks?... I'd love to hear what you think of them!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lately I've been creating some mixed media Valentine's Day cards to send off to Cards For Kindness. Here are a few of my latest designs... I think they came out pretty cute!

All my cards are A2 size (4.25"x5.50") because that's what Cards For Kindness prefers. I usually start out with a white cardstock base and add another cardstock layer (3.75"x5.0") on top of that one using double-sided tape to prevent my cards from warping. This gives me a nice white border around my design. From there, anything goes! 

I like to use my own original illustrations on my cards. I draw the designs on heavy white cardstock and ink them with Micron pens. Then I paint them with acrylic paints and add details to my illustrations with colored pencils (I like Prismacolor pencils the best!). Next I "fussy cut" each design and adhere them to the card base using a UHU glue stick. Sometimes I add Modge Podge Sparkle to my lettering or other small parts of the design, which gives the card a nice glittery finish. I've even been experimenting with sewing on my cards with my sewing machine!

 

Cards For Kindness prefers that all the cards they receive are left blank on the inside... but sometimes I just can't help myself, so I like to add a cute border and a tiny handpainted embellishment on the inside of the card, just for fun! I also add a tiny colorful punched paper heart of the back of the card. So far I haven't been signing my cards... but I think it's OK to initial them on the back if you'd like.

My hope is that my silly designs will bring a smile to someone's day! Cards For Kindness sends cards to all kinds of different organizations... from hospitals to Ronald McDonald House charities to nursing homes, and everything in between! If you'd like to see a list of Cards For Kindness' partner organizations, you can find it HERE.

Wishing you a very Happy Valentine's Day wherever you are! 

XOXO

 

Snowbound in North Carolina

 

I live in the Piedmont of North Carolina where the winters are usually very mild. Rarely do we get any measurable snow... and when it does snow, it doesn't hang around very long. To be honest, I'm really OK with that! I prefer to enjoy our occasional brief snowfalls from inside my warm house while sipping a cup of hot tea!

But this past week we had a winter storm that brought two inches of sleet and ice, along with several days of  arctic air which made it impossible for the ice to melt. To make it even more challenging, a second snowstorm added between 6 and 8 inches of fresh snow on top of the ice. Here in the South, we're just not equipped to handle the winter weather... so in the end, most of North Carolina came to an abrupt standstill.

 So, what did I do during our unexpected snow days?...

• I listened to music that was brand new to me and so uplifting! (Praise by Genevieve Linkowski)
• I tried a new casserole recipe (Kidney-Friendly Dump Meal - it was a winner!)
• I made silly Valentines for Cards For Kindness
• I read the fourth book in a mystery series (Mailbox Mysteries by Melanie Lageschulte - Who done it?!)
• I enjoyed watching the birds at our bird feeders (mostly blue birds, gold finches, snowbirds, cardinals and a huge flock of robins)
• I spent time drawing just for the fun of it!
• And I gave thanks to God for my loving husband who worked so hard shoveling snow, for power in the snowstorm, for plenty of food to eat, and for the warm, safe home we share together.