Robot Invasion!

So after getting some positive response to my first robot painting, I decided to paint him some friends. Playing with the angle made a huge difference I think. And if I don't say so myself, they've got quite a bit of personality.

Playing with Modeling Paste

This stuff is FUN.

Use it with a stencil, or in this case a doily, and smear it on with a piece of cardboard. Lift off the stencil and VIOLA- a raised surface that hardens up quite nicely.

I tried it out on a tag I recently did and am looking forward to using it on some other valentine projects. It adds such a neat texture. You could use it to make your own faux raised wallpaper remnants that seem to be so popular these days.

Another little tip: the seam binding on this tag is originally off white. I watered down the acrylic I used to paint the tag and sponged it on the binding to make a custom colored ribbon.

Furlough-palooza

My day job as a government employee afforded me some extended time off over the holidays which I've affectionately dubbed furlough-palooza. In between day trips to local fun spots I did get in a little studio time. I thought I'd share a bit of both.

Nevada City-

Had a great time visiting with my dad and doing some shopping downtown. They have an awesome fairy shop but I was disappointed that the one store I really wanted to see was closed. I should really check these things out first... Oh well, good excuse to go back right? In the meantime, drool over the goodies at My Favorite Things web site with me.

Snow day! On another day we headed up the hill to play in the snow. This resulted in a somewhat depressed looking snowman and a very goofy little boy.

It really was a beautiful day.

Finally, a few stray ornaments I whipped up

and our family gingerbread house for good measure!

Bleep bloop bong bing...

Decided to go in a different direction today and make something for my youngest son's room. I was inspired by some kids art I saw in downtown Walnut Creek (great shopping!) and thought, hey I can do that! It's not exactly how I'd wanted it to turn out but hey, Jake loved it so that's all that matters. It's fun to get out of my comfort zone now and then and it seems like a good way to start off a new decade, don't cha think?

Christmas in the Park, San Jose

Going to Christmas in the Park in downtown San Jose is always a holiday high point for me.

This year Jake was certainly more into it and especially loved it when one of the police officers let him sit in the patrol car and test out the lights and sirens. Scared the bejeezus out of some poor guy trying to cross the street!

I'm not sure about that elf though. He's creepin' me out! One of the neat things they do is a tree decorating contest between community groups. This UP! tree was pretty spectacular, although I'm not quite sure where the tree went...

Oh jeez, this guy again mom?

Pictures with Santa are always an adventure. He did eventually give up a Christmas card worthy grin but secretly, this one is my favorite. :)

Working on a piece to use for my Christmas cards. This may be the winner.

I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week. Suddenly I feel the crush of the Holidays is upon us. It gets so overwhelming from here on out until the end of the year. I'm vowing not to get too caught up in the whirlwind and try to live a little more in the moment with the kids. But we'll see, you know?