Goodbye, 2011

Cheers!

Sticks & Stones & Mollusk Bones

More flotsam from my beach combing collections.

Seedlings

Pentel Hybrid Technica on my trustee cheap paper.

This one reminds me of wee seedlings.

Wanda's Wonders

I wish you could smell this one too: bay and pine. 

These fragrant scraps are courtesy of Rainbow Farms.

Check them out: http://rainbowlilies.com/

Simple, but effective

Pigma Graphic size 1 on more cheap white paper.

Parcheesi

This is my dad's Parcheesi board, circa 1960.

I love the pieces: they are made of wood, stained the four

colors, and shellacked.  One of the dice went missing so we

had to substitute the boorishly large plastic-y one, more's the

pity.

Pen Nibs

These are my pen nibs.  I took the photo at an angle

for a change.

Merry Christmas

Today I received an amazing Christmas gift from my

best friend. She sent me a groovy mandala kit, which has a wheel 

with all kinds of stencils on it. The wheel fits in a case holding

paper. You move the wheel around using arrow guides and 

stencil your way into bliss.

Thank you, Beams. I love it.

I hope everyone is having a magical holiday.

Radishes

This one goes out to all the Radishes out there.

happy happy, joy joy

Hearts

Lots of love

Permanent marker and Neocolor II crayons

Stitchery.

Vintage beads and sequins on felt

Pentel Hybrid Technica pen on cheap white paper.

The kids and I made gingerbread houses today, so I

swiped some sweets for this mandala.

If you live in or around Richmond, you probably

know about For the Love of Chocolate, an amazing candy

shop in Carytown.  Go there. Get yourself a treat.

Sometimes scribbling is the only way to go.

Gel pen, colored pencil, cheap white paper.

This is another one made using a kaleidoscope program.

I used a picture of the Sugar Plum Fairy's costume from

The Nutcracker.  We went to see it tonight and it was fabulous.

This one reminds me of a screensaver I had

a million years ago.  It was called Hopalong.

Bead stitchery

Cairns.

This one has captured my attention.  It isn't

exactly symmetrical, which usually bothers me. However,

it is balanced-the very nature of cairns.  After I drew it, I returned

to it several times, examining the 'rocks' to see if they really

would balance.  

Fascinating.

Today's mandala is brought to you by the  Easy Bake Oven.

Yes, really.

Copic pen and that lovely cheap white paper. 

I wanted to add more to this, but it wanted to be as it is.

Playing with blocks.

I sense a theme growing.

I love pipecleaners.

I wish you all could smell this mandala-that piece in the 

middle is a slice off the bottom of our Christmas tree.

Maybe it is a little wintry here, after all.

Leaves, river rock, acrylic paint and chalk 

It still feels like autumn here in Central Virginia.

This colorful mandala was done with a kaleidoscope program with Om Mani Padme Hum done in wordart on top.  I'm telling myself that making one digitally is not cheating...

Making the lines, then coloring them in.

This little guy is made of wire, a washer and itty bitty beads.  It's about 1.5 inches across. 

IdentiPen on Cheap paper

Fly away home

In the wild.

Stabilo finepoint markers on cheap white paper

And now for something completely different.  The mandala is in the lower right corner, drawn with chalk on the Free Speech Monument in Charlottesville.  Check it out: http://www.tjcenter.org/monument/

Now I know my ABCs. 

Trusty Copic pen on slightly less cheap paper.

Credit for this brilliant idea goes to my son, Elliot.

Ah, the smell of crayons!

Copic sketch pen on cheap paper. I can't tell if this reminds me of eyes or peacock feathers.

Stitching on suede.

Zig Calligraphy pen on cheap paper.

Embroidery on felt. The hoop is about 4"across.  This is my first stitchery mandala. I really enjoyed making it.

Copic pen on cheap white paper.

Why yes, that is toilet paper!

Pen and paper

Colored pencils #1

Supplies

Sometimes I really like how one comes out. This one made me really happy.

Beachcombing #1

Here's another one drawn with my lovely Copic pen. This mandala is actually quite small, only about 1.5 square inches.  I do so like tiny things.

Favorite Pen

I drew this mandala with a Copic Multiliner SP in nib size 0.7.  I love this pen. It has a nice weight and a smooth motion on the paper.  The ink is nice and black and the pen is refillable.

Happy Birthday to me

Greetings from the land of birthday candles and cupcakes.  Today is my birthday and I am celebrating by beginning this project.  I will be posting a mandala each day for a year.  Stay tuned....