Card-U R So Invited!

Good morning,

The card for today is: U R So Invited! I still have a lot of MY favorite black and white, but with a burst of color mixed in.

Reading tidbit for today:
As we get older, we tend to get arthritis in our joints. I know this to be true personally.

70% of us can supposedly get relief, just by eating 20 gin-soaked GOLDEN raisins every day for one month; and then just 9 every day after that! Wow! Sounds yummy to me! And fairly easy. Just remember to prepare your raisins ahead of time and store them an air-tight container in the fridge.

Pour gin to just cover raisins. Let soak till the gin evaporates (several weeks), and store.

You can find this tip in Woman's World, 9/12/11, page 16: NATURAL HEALTH-No more aches and pains! Read it ... to learn more!

Have a great day!

Cj ... http://www.EasyAsPieDailyGraphics.com (I hope to begin posting again today; starting with Sept. 1st!) Enjoy!

Time Stands Still ... in lots of areas for me right now

Good morning,

I am off this week, and I am playing with a different creation angle. This design above is for a future birthday card front. It takes a little more time, play, and thought, but I like it.



This is a closeup of the next card front. I don't have a specific use for it yet, but I love how it feels. While I DO love color, I've always been very drawn to black and white and shades in between, and this one just fits the bill for me. I just love it!

And last ... the completed design for this card front. Don't know how I'm using it yet ... but I will use it! How would you show it off?

My drivers for my sound card are gone on my computer! Darn. I had tried to post a video (for family) on my website yesterday, only to find I had no sound. I thought it was my program, but alas, while doing some research today on my drawing endeavors, I tried to view a video; only to find that again! There was no sound. A quick peek from my husband revealed the problem. And, I lost a monitor two days ago, and my husband replaced it with another one he had stored.

I use dual screens at home and at work. It is so much easier to research while working.

Most of this week's weather has been totally blah! Cloudy, rain off and on, and just plain ugh!!! Makes me NOT want to go out.

I'd love some feedback on my new designs! What do you think?

Have a terrific day!!!

Cj

http://www.easyaspiedailygraphics.com/

currently ... on hold

August and September Graphics

Good afternoon,

One more post featuring a few items I've done in the last month and a half. This one is from September and was done yesterday, I believe.

It's a card front.


I still enoy creating my own fantasty cartoons, and here is Frederick; mild mannered Frederick. Good for another card.

This is a Cosmic Blob character named Libby. I've shown you some abbreviated steps in creating her. And then again, Frederick, with bigger feet and a different face. His left hand could be holding a spear.

This final creation is from August, and it's a story creation. This actually happened to me one night on the way home from work. Before I totally forgot about it, I decided to capture the memory in a journal block.

Enjoying the process ... as always.

Cj

http://www.easyaspiedailygraphics.com

currently on hold

New things-New Perspective: Direction changing!

Good afternoon,

It's been awhile ... I know. I have not kept up with my website, and don't even know at this point whether I will continue with it.

Between work, and all the things I enjoy doing, it gets all kind of over-whelming, and I don't even know how many people really even look at it or use it.

Today's blog is featuring some new things I'm doing. The above frame is very pretty, I think. To see just a few of the items that went into this creation, see the next picture.

This pictures features just a few of the 36 items I created as individual items that I then put together to complete a finished creation, such as the first picture.

Since I've started zentangling, I'm looking at my artwork in a totally new way. I like the road I'm traveling right now. It's a totally new perspective on my idea of creating ... and I'm loving it.

I used another version of this creation in a framework for a 50th wedding anniversary picture I just did for a family member. It's basically the first picture, but a little MORE ... and one done with a black background, and another with a white background.

There's been nothing new posted in over a month at Easy As Pie Daily Graphics. Still thinking about the direction I am going.

Until I know more ... I'll be posting here at the blog, and sharing some of my journey. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Enjoy!

Cj

http://www.EasyAsPieDailyGraphics.com

currently on hold

Cj's Zen Poppers--Inspirationals from Zentangles

Good morning,

I don't know if I've written about this yet; maybe I have. I recently came across a link for www.zentangles.com, and starting reading it. I joined their newsletter.

The term zentangle is coined/owned by Rick and Maria, but it is an artform that has been around a long time.

Reading other sites/forums, I've found that people have been doing this doodle thing but there never was a tradename for it before Maria and Rick. I suggest you check out their site.

Being as I love doodles, and I'm sure you've know, if you read very many of my posts, I like scribble drawing. But this whole concept of all the patterns in a layout has really revved up my creations. I just love it.

The first one featured here was done on 7/22/11. It is recommended that you do one each day, as it's very relaxing.

You can buy a starter kit at zentange.com, but I just use index cards, the smaller size, and a regular ballpoint pen. I use my lighted magnifying light to help me see it really close up. I start my outline just however I feel, and after it is done, I go back and fill it in.

These are hand-drawn, and although my hands are shaky, I am finding that practicing this art form has actually helped me get more control over my tremors.

I have also done these digitally. Since I love doing my own graphics, patterns, etc., I use my own elements that I've created to fill them in. I will post a few of the digital zen poppers next.

If you are looking for patterns to use to fill in with, there is a zentangle pattern site too! There is an alphabetical list of all the pattern names, as well as pictures with them. They show you how to do them, step by step. It is fantastic.

I carry my cards in a ziplock baggie, and take them wherever I go. When I have a free minute, I grab a pen and start coloring one of the pattern outlines in. It's hard to stop once you get started.


This zen popper was done on 7/21/11. I often place another blank index card over the part of the drawing where my hand touches to make sure I don't smear it. I bought a very thin-lined sharpie for detail work, but left the top off, and it dried out. Too expensive to keep replacing those. I'll stick to the standard ball point pen.

This fish was done on 7/13/11. I think you can see the progression of how much my layouts have changed each day.

I have always seen shapes and graphics in clouds, woodwork, floor tiles, and in almost anything, anywhere! And darn! It's really bad now (but in a good way). I am seeing them everywhere. It's good to carry a stack of index cards, so when I see one, I can jot it down for future use.

I hope you've enjoyed these ... and do checkout zentangle.com and zentangle patterns. Excellent resources. Even if you can't draw ... you can zentangle!

Enjoy!

Cj

http://www.easyaspiedailygraphics.com

7/24/11: Glancing back at last week's graphics

Good morning,

I've put many of the graphics I made throughtout the week into this one picture above. These are just some of the graphics that you can pick up over at Easy As Pie Daily Graphics.

It was a busy week.

On Friday, I kept batting at a nat that kept flying off my right eye. As I walked with a friend, I finally asked her to look at my right eye and see if it looked okay. She did, and she said, "Yes. It looks fine. Why?"

I told her about the nat. She laughed and said, "Oh! You've got a floater!"

"A what???", I asked. "What is that?"

She explained that it's some dirt that get into the eye fluid and causes you to see floating dot/s. I had never heard of such a thing.

Luckily, it doesn't bother me much indoors because there's so many colors. But go outside into the sunshine, and there's that nat buzzing around my right eye. Ugh! I hate it.

My husband has said that he has had them, and he said that they go away. I need to do a little research, because everyone else said, "Nope. There's nothing you can do for them. They aren't noticeable over time; you get used to them."

I've really been into black and white graphics lately as well as black and white pendants and earrings. Black and white just are so grabbing. Many people really notice the black and white jewelry.

We had rain this morning. Thunder, lightning, and a pretty hard rain. It's been several days, so it was a good thing. My garden loves it, and I don't have to water it or the flowers when we have rain.

I hope you'll take a look at the graphics and see if there's any you wish you use. They are free.

Have a great week!

Cj
http://www.easyaspiedailygraphics.com

Happy Birthday to a Very Special Woman and A Very Special Surprise For Me

Happy Birthday to you --- Kathy!

I hope it will be a wonderful, terrific day for you to celebrate in.

This is the sculpey pendant and earring set I made for Kathy's birthday. I just love black and white, and it goes with almost anything. I hope you get many hours of fun out of wearing my gift.


And here is the quick little card I did for Kathy using Poor Baby 11-0716-12b. In the previous post, he was only in black and white outlines. I like to leave many of my graphics like that so you can print them and color them with colors you prefer.

Happy Birthday again, Kathy!

And to the rest of you ... have a great Sunday, also.

Cj
http://www.easyaspiedailygraphics.com

P.S. Yesterday, I had a blast from my past. Hi, Joann! I was cleaning out my spam box in my email and ran across an old friend's email sent to me back in January of this year. I was so tickled to read it ... and quickly responded. Being as it had been so long since she sent it, I wasn't sure how quick a reply I would get. I included my cell phone number ... and she called me. I had a wonderful chat with her for about 20-30 minutes. She is currently away, but when she returns, we will have a lunch together!

Thanks, Joann! It was so wonderful hearing from you!