Copic Training

Morning Everyone,

Well I'm still working constantly on my copic training. It's going really well. I cannot believe how well my "Swatch" book is going and what a big help it is in doing your coloring. I have to admit when I first looked at others pics, I just didn't really get it. What am I going to ever use this for? Well........now I know. Last night I was coloring a picture of a watering can and flowers and I just flipped to my Metals page and there were the colors I had predetermined were best for metal and that was all she wrote....... Here is a pic of the can finished. Love the book.



Just wish my scanner picked up the vibrancy you
see in the real thing. I know everyone has this
problem when scanning, so that makes me feel better.




I'm also still getting together all my information to start teaching classes. Yes, I'm going for it. Why not? There is no one within 60 miles of me offering classes and I think it will really go over. I live right next to a college and I might even get some interest from the artsy students.
My biggest speed bump right now is finding the right location to hold them. My home is very tiny so not even an option. I have 3 places to check out, so that is my goal for this week.

Teaching some classes sounds like such a simple thing, but it is a little intimidating. And this is what I used to do before I became a WAHW. I used to train all the new hires for a large corporation in St. Louis. But that was 15 years ago. Yikes! I CAN DO IT! Can't I?

Our Day at the Botannical Gardens

Yesterday, my friends Andrea and little Sophia (1 yr) and myself went to the Missouri Botannical Gardens. They claim that this is the oldest Bot Garden in the US. It sure is beautiful there. Here are some of my fave pics from the 220 that I shot.

Can you see the duck peaking at us from the top of the waterfall?

Me and Sophia.

Here we had sat her on the edge of a Japanese fountain and she was apparently thirsty because she started scooping water up and drinking.

I think this is the most hilarious shot of all. What in the world was she thinking at this moment?

Copic Swatch Book

Good Morning, I'm feverishly working on my Copic Swatch Book. I use that term loosely cause it's an 8 1/2 x 11 art book that I'm filling- not little swatches. But it counts cause I'm actually taping my swatches onthe pages. Anyway, it is already a huge help to me. I recommend for everyone to make on of these if they can. As soon as I get it more caught up, I'll post pics.

COPIC CERTIFIED

Hey there Ladies,
Hope everyone is doing good. I attended a Copic Certification course yesterday and have my certificate. I'm excited. If you've been, then you know you don't really learn anything if you already have any knowledge of Copics. And that is because ladies like Sally Lynn MacDonald and Suzanne Dean have done such a nice job of teaching us through their blogs & classes. But, to be able to say you're certified is awesome. I'm working on my ideas for starting some classes here in my local area.

We also had a CK Convention over the weekend and I went on Friday and attended one class (which I was disappointed in) and then we stayed and cropped from 7-11:30. I just helped my friend get her baby album started. We accomplished 18 pages which was a good start. I really don't like those kinds of crops though. We were too crowded, too little table surface and I don't like hauling my stuff around. It never fails that I don't have what I need with me.

Oh well, I did it for her and she is happy. Catch ya later!

Pics of our many little critters

Hello Everybody, I just have to show you what I get to look forward to every summer around here. Our resident Whitetail Female gives us twins every summer. These are from last summer and they are about 3 days old in this pic.

ps. Let me clarify something-this mama deer is our pet. She is not wild. That's the only reason I'm able to play with her babies.








Two summers ago my husband brought home this little surprise from a camping trip.

Yes, he does things like that a lot. Isn't he the most adorable thing.

Well, about 6 months later.......

Yup, not so cute now is he!

He weighed in at 125#'s. Remember, he is a potbellied pig. Wow!

Here's another cutie from Summer 09. This time it was me who brought something home. And I'm sure you can see why. She was the prettiest kitten I had ever seen. We name her SKY because her eyes were sooooo blue. At about 3 months they changed to green. She's still the prettiest cat I've ever seen.

Here she at 10 months.......




















Here's my pride & joy. April. She's a teacup poodle that I had flown to me from NC. She's worth every single penny I paid for her. (lot's and lot's of pennies). She's 2 in this photo.

This is why I love her. She let's me do whatever I want to her. She has a whole wardrobe of clothes and jewels. She is a really good sport about it all. And she is sooo adorable.

This is from last summer. She is now 4 yrs old and weighs in a 4.5#

Springtime in Illinois

Hey there, I've been really busy around the homestead cleaning up dead stuff from the winter and I just mowed for the first time. I love mowing and pruning. There is nothing like sitting in the evening and looking out at a freshly manicured lawn. And I have to say, our view here at home rivals any we see at a resort. We live on a 65 acre piece of land. Our home sits up on a hill and look down on a 2 acre pond. We put a windmill in the pond 3 years ago and built a dock with a dockhouse. It is all so cute. Matter of fact, here are some pics.Our place was just an old modular when we first bought the place 9 years ago. It looks like a little lodge now.





As you walk around the West side we built this arbor extending out from the house to give us shade on the sunny side (which is where our bedroom is). This is when it was pretty new. It's now completely covered with trumpet vines & wisteria.



Then 2 years ago my husband built a little matching Garden Shed and I put in the path going to it.





This is when we were raising the windmill. You can see the dock and wheel house I was talking about.



And this is what I looks like while I'm sitting on my back deck looking out over the pond. Each direction is a totally different view.

Next post, I'll show you the view to our East which is where we raise Whitetail Deer.

So, I'm not doing much cardmaking right now. I'm also taking Suzanne's classes and working on my Copic Techniques.