Saturday, October 5, 2013

September is Over, but I Might Be Losing Some Steam

It’s so crazy that we have started October of 2013.  Thankfully, it hasn’t been 100 degrees so far this month, but it still doesn’t yet feel like fall.  The Santa Anas picked up this weekend.  The winds have been very strong, so strong in fact they are moving the patio furniture and even the stainless steel grill around the backyard.  Rigby isn’t so sure she likes going outside when those things chase her around.  At least the winds are usually the first sign of fall.

As mentioned last month, I’m starting to resent this calendar a little bit each month.  There are only so many ways to make date squares interesting and I’m having trouble scrounging up the energy to spend a lot of time on the creation of it for some reason. 

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A few pages in my art journal.

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A few pages in my Moleskine sketchbook.

stuff 393 stuff 394 The Moleskine is now out of paper.  I really like the their watercolor book, but the paper has a bit of a texture to it that I don’t always care for.  I debated getting another one or just making my own with some left over Fabriano hot press paper that I have and LOVE.  I decided to make my own for the time being. 

I found an outdated desk calendar in my stash, doodled on the back of it, and then wrapped it around a couple pieces of medium weight cardboard.  Since the  watercolor paper was left over ends of a larger sheet it was a bit smaller than I would have liked so I decided to do a Coptic stitch binding.  The book opens flat and I don’t lose any of the width. stuff 395

It is a bit smaller than I’m used to with the Moleskine, but I’ve enjoyed playing around in it, especially with that amazing paper.

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Happy October!  Happy Fall! 

16 comments:

  1. There is no quicker way to lose your art mojo than doing something that's hit it's natural end, or pause. You can really lead yourself up a blind alley that can be notoriously difficult to see back to the place you came in. It's far better to stop or redirect into something else.

    I'm watching Friends with Benefits. There is a shot from the Hollywood sign over LA. And OH MY but your city is actually beautiful.

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    1. Have you thought about cookie cutters. They have them in all sorts of designs here. Things like a deer that looks like a cow and odd other shapes.

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    2. Yes, I think it might be time to put the calendars away for awhile, but my type A makes me want to stick it out until the end of the year...I gotta finish the year, right?!?! :)
      Cookie cutters? For patterns?
      Yes, it can be a pretty city.
      I haven't seen the movie...was it any good?

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    3. Of course not. It was a chick flick, but I was watching the twitter stream too. We had two referenda on friday and I was watching the results at the same time so something light was needed.

      Type A is it, :-) you should try the Celtic knotwork, that'll ease whatever is ailing you. It's like unraveling a ball of twine without actually unrolling it, tiz designed precisely for you. As to finishing the year out. Do, but only if not finishing will make you worse. Art in meant to be absorbing. Sometimes it's tedious. But the tedium should be about aspects of the process not the entire result. You might try sitting in a different place in the room, even -shock- at the kitchen table. Doing a Dead Poets Society standing on the desk.

      Yep, for the patterns. They have infinite rotation.

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    4. Oh that knot work is beautiful. Don't you have to be specially trained to do that?
      I've not started this month's calendar yet, so who knows. Maybe tomorrow...maybe not. :)

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    5. Never heard you needed specialist training in the way say of an engraver to do the knots, but I expect it would help. Allzes I remember is doing them free-hand at school. You'd wonder why they put them on the covers of the copybooks. :-)

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    6. Ah, well then I may have to try it. They're like the ultimate doodle! :)

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  2. Boy do I hear you on the calendar creating! I was hoping by now Kate would have created the months for us and I would be able to buy her layout and just fill in the blocks. Luckily for me I have finished creating Nov and Dec. But I love the project and the idea of documenting bits of a day daily. I have figured out a new direction for continuing this project next year where I will not have to make monthly pages. haha...love your WORK EAT SLEEP days in September! I will have to steal that idea on a day I have no clue what to write. lol

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  3. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the 1st page of your art journal :)

    I also like the "work, eat, sleep" on your calendar....that is what Sept. is about when you are a teacher.

    Happy Monday!

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    1. Thank you!
      Maybe that's my issue right now...I have nothing exciting to fill in. It's not so fun to complete a calendar when the only thing I've done all week is work. :)
      It was last year at this time that the caffeine addiction took hold and it's getting close to happening again if I'm not careful.

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  4. I love the umbrella's and kitchen utensils.. I didn't know you kept a art journal!

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    1. Thank you. I liked doing the umbrellas...wishful thinking I think. :)
      Yah, I post it about once a month along with the calendar challenge.

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  5. Kimberly, it is still quite warm and summer-like in Kansas, too. Even the trees are still green and the leaves are not dropping. I keep saying it looks more like July than October.

    For about the first six months I created my calendar pages, I made little squares, hearts, shamrocks, balloons, etc. Then I lost my calendar when I took a trip to California. I was devastated and nearly didn't start over. When I did, I took the easy way out and cut up an already existing calendar. Like you, I got tired of trying to make them beautiful. The idea for me was to create a small slice of daily life that I could wrote in 10 words or less. And that's saying a lot for someone as verbal as I.

    Sorry I'm so late visiting. Life got in the way of visiting anyone this month until just now.

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  6. You are so artistic. I love people like you.

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