Christmas Fun

Well, after most of the gifts were exchanged and the wonderful meals cooked and eaten, my dad, sister and I decided to sit at the table and do some sketching! Mom and Dad gave me a new sketch pen and sketch book, so I used the pen. The sketch book is the perfect size for my purse! I used larger ones for these sketches, however.

I had the newest scavenger hunt list from Wetcanvas, and we drew some items from the list. My favorite things were the tools that my dad brought out for us to draw. They were his father's clamps and a London Screwdriver, and they are over 100 years old. You can click on the pictures to see larger versions with more detail.

The larger clamp is about 24 inches on the longest side, and the screwdriver is maybe 14 inches long- very hefty. I've never seen another screwdriver like it.




I don't have scans of anyone's drawings but mine, but my dad and sister did a great job on theirs! My new pen contained non-permanent ink, so I used a waterbrush to blend the lines and add shading, and added a touch of watercolor as well. I had so much fun!

One more item from the list is below- a sweet potato. There are several more, but I hate to bore you with posting them all! It's the most I've been able to participate in one of the scavenger hunts in ages, and I really enjoyed it.



I hope you all had a very pleasant Christmas, and are looking forward to a blessed new year!

Bur Oak, otherwise known as Mossy Cup Oak...

Thanks to all who emailed us with the answer to our question of what type of acorns Jon found! We also googled it and found the same thing- these acorns are from the Bur Oak, and are the largest and sweetest of all acorns. They are also sometimes called Mossycup oaks, and the moss-like fringe certainly shows they are aptly named!

With our Christmas preparations this week I've only now had time to do a small sketch of one. I plan to do more, however! This one was fun, but the painting doesn't show the mossyness nearly as much as it should. I'll work on that in the next one.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!

hairy acorns

The other day, Jon came home from work with the most interesting looking acorns we've ever seen!! We'd love to know what kind of oak tree they are from if anyone knows. I'm posting two pictures- one that shows the top of my favorite one pretty clearly, and one including a nickle so you can see the size of these things! Do let me know if you can identify them. If you click on the image you'll get a larger version.

They immediately beg to have faces drawn on them- they look like little Russian fur hats!!

We've had a couple of good school weeks and I have decided it's now officially Christmas break. We went light on the decorations this year, and we've let David decorate the tree with mostly home made ornaments. I think he enjoyed it!

We've shopped some and wrapped some, and I think we're about ready. How about you? I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!! Travel safely if you're on the road.

Holiday Art Sale

Well, I've been busy this week doing school with David and getting ready for a local art sale this Friday. I've decided to have another set of note cards printed and hope to do well with all three sets and some prints at the sale. I'll also be bringing my original paintings and some things to work on while there. The sale is from noon to 9 pm, so I need to have something to do!

I am planning to paint another floral to replace the butterfly one in this group, but until I get that done I am going ahead with it this way.

This Sunday night we'll be playing our Christmas music at church, which should be good. It's one of my favorite services of the year. I love this music and the joyous occasion it commemorates!