Moon Doodles

This week's Doodle United theme was "moon." I had lots of ideas, but only a few of them worked well in execution. Here are the best two which I submitted to the group:

An explanation of the waning moon (assuming it really is made of cheese)  ; )  

Sketched and then colored with the trusty old crayons:

This one is a take on the nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle." 

Got the idea after I sketched the cow jumping over the moon. Done in Illustrator:

Under the Apple Tree

New sketch: pencil drawing scanned, colored in Painter, edge effects added in Photoshop.

One Little Word

I started participating in this thing last year called One Little Word. Basically, you pick a word at the beginning of the year and then carry that word with you, invite it into your life, etc. for that year. This year my word is "GO." I'm hoping it will motivate me to make some big changes in my life (which will require me to be my word from last year - courageous). I'm also excited because I signed up for an online scrapbooking class at Big Picture Classes specifically for OLW. There is prompt every month to do with your word, as well as a gallery and forums where you can share your journey with your word with everyone else in the class. I've already been pleasantly surprised at the positive comments I've received on my images so far. Can't wait to see what the rest of the class and the rest of the year holds! Here's some of my progress so far:

My necklace charm. Not a requirement for the class, but I made one last year and it's a good reminder of my word on a daily basis.

This is my title page. I hand-drew the background in Painter, added Ali's border/title in Photoshop, then stuck the foam stickers on for my word.

One of the first prompts was to take a self portrait photo.

This is my page for January. The prompts were all about defining/introducing your word.

So, what's your One Little Word?

Catching Up

Well, it's safe to say I've been slacking on the blog updating. Not that I haven't been creating stuff, just too busy to remember to post! I'll spare you the details of my crazy life, but here's a bunch of images of what I've been up to in the past few months:

Mom & I redid my room & put new flooring down (it use to be purple).

Inspired by something my pastor's wife does, I created my own 'Blessing Ring' - a place to keep cards and notes of encouragement.

Helped with my church's Trunk or Treat. My trunk was "The Book of Kells." And yes, I free-handed those posters you see (I'll try and post detail shots later.)

Made a bead-weaved amulet pouch to hold my candle (battery powered) for Emmaus candlelight services - so my hands are free to hug and do sign language.

Had fun capturing the local squirrels feasting on the pumpkins we left on our steps.

Made a Santa basket in basket-making class.

Lots of time playing with our new Havanese puppy, Ginny. She likes to walk on my back if I'm laying on the floor.

Caroling Cows! Made for a Facebook group I joined called 'Doodle United.' The theme was Christmas.

This is (part of) my title page for my new scrapbook project for the year, One Little Word. My word, by the way, is "go." More on that later.

Mary & Martha

I thought I'd start with my most recent illustration. I've been on a bit of kick doing children's Biblical illustrations - this one is of Mary and Martha.

This a little different technique than I normally do. I scanned my original sketch, used digital images for the background, then scanned in a pastel coloring of my sketch to use for the characters (mainly because Photoshop wouldn't let me blend like I wanted to, and Painter wasn't handling my large image fast enough).

Here's some in progress photos:

the original sketch:

Pastel scan and digital backgrounds:

the finished result:

". . . but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." ~Luke 10:41