Monet and Me

 

are trying out a new pen called Curva Pen. It boasts that no matter your grip wrist position you can use this pen. The nib has a hook to it. Literally a hook. The pen can be used by left or right handers and is ergonomically designed especially for those with hand-related conditions.

The pen comes in a set of two. The thickness of the line at .07 mm. I found the pen to be nice and slim and easy to hold. No matter how I held the pen, I was able to get a smooth line. The pen also came with a white foam cushion which is supposed to ease pressure on your hand especially if you are elderly. I tried the cushion, but found it difficult to get on and off the pen. Not very helpful if you already have hand-related conditions.

Ordering was easy off the website and the pen was delivered quickly. Free shipping was also a nice benefit.

I was disappointed that the ink was not waterproof. I had hoped to be able to use this pen in the doodle class I take where I like to add color with watercolors. My bad that I didn't pay attention when I was ordering and received pens with blue ink instead of black ink which I prefer to use.

Sticker

 

Monet and I were playing with the new toy, the Phomemo Mini Thermal Printer (model T02)The printer measures 3 inches x 3 1/4 inches and has a rechargeable battery from a USB port. The printer connects to your mobile phone via Bluetooth using the Phomemo App which was very easy to connect.

We didn't have a lot of time to play, but we managed to print a sticker from a selection of images on the app. The sticker measures 2 inches x 2 1/4 inches and I think it can be colored in. .Here's the sticker coming out of the printer. There were also premium images to choose, but you had to pay a subscription to use them. No thank you.

While poking in the app, I found a section on tutorials. That's playtime for another day. 

Monet and Me

 

As soon as Doodling class is over, Monet and me will figure out how to get the Phomemo thermal, portable printer up and running. 

The printer can be used to print stickers from templates, your own photos and drawings to use in journaling or other crafts.

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. We had a Skype date with the Young One.

2. In a box of art stuff in the basement, I found the Gelli Printing Plate

3.We celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary. We thought about taking a riverboat trip around Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg (Webster Lake). Rain was predicted.  I had to pick up a prescription so on the way home I stopped at the grocery story and picked up an eye roast, sweet potatoes, crescent rolls, and an ice cream cake. We stayed home, avoided the rain, hung out in the sunroom and watched old movies. I made a nice dinner, and we were content.

4.  Some new toys arrived

5. I gave the kitchen a makeover.

How was your week?

Monet and Me

 Something new for the blog. I'm mashing Monday with Whatcha Doin on Wednesday for a new Monday theme called Monet and Me.

The kitchen in the Dollhouse is very small. There is no space for an under the counter dishwasher unless I lose one of the cabinets under the sink and 5 small drawers.

Fifteen or so years ago, we had a portable dishwasher that could be rolled from a spot near the microwave cart and hooked up to the kitchen sink. It didn't take long for it to become a pain in the butt to roll the dishwasher from the sink to its spot it in kitchen. The dishwasher soon lived in front of the sink where I sort of lost the cabinets underneath. To get to them, I had to push the dishwasher away.

Then the day came when a pressure gasket on the coupler for the hose to be attached to the dishwasher gave way, and then we couldn't find another adapter. The dishwasher was moved to the end of the driveway where someone took it for use or scrap.

We went back to handwashing dishes.  This became Himself's job as he can sit down in a chair as he washes the dishes. Then the lazies set in. Dishes, days at a time, piled up in the sink, counter, and stovetop. Chaos. I can live in chaos for a bit of time, but then it begins to bother me.

Before leaving for Ogunquit, I began researching portable, countertop dishwashers. I found this model by Novete. It sits on the countertop and can be connected to the faucet or there's a tank that you fill with warm water. It's perfect for a small kitchen, or for single cat ladies or gentlemen (married ones, too).  It will hold  a table service for four: 4 plates, silverware, and cups/glasses. Pots and pans don't fit and have to be washed by hand. 

I ordered the dishwasher the day I got back from Ogunquit and through the magic of 2 day Prime Delivery it was delivered Monday last week.

It's not as portable as it sounds. It took me some maneuvering to get the box into the house, the unit out of the box, and on the counter. All was going well until I went to slide the dishwasher under the cabinets. It's an inch or so too tall. I don't care, I am not sending this back! It was easy to set up by attaching a drain hose which sits in the sink. Filling the tank works well though I have to stand on a stool as I can't reach the top of the dishwasher. The dishwasher does a great job and is pretty quiet. Me and Monet didn't have any trouble loading up the dishwasher.

I began looking for a heavy-duty, kitchen cart with locking wheels. I found one that I think will work, but I haven't ordered it yet. For now, Novete is living on the counter and I'm in love.

Kitchen Gadgets

 

Elizabeth asked me about kitchen gadgets. She was showcasing a store near her, The Spice Merchant. Besides spices, coffees, and teas, the store carries a wide array of cups and mugs. I had asked Elizabeth if they carried kitchen gadgets, too.

I don't like to cook, but I love kitchen gadgets, especially if they are quirky, little tools. Like my friend, Bjorn. He doubles as a lid holder to release steam and spoon rest. Isn't he cute rowing his longship? I found him online.

What about you? Gadgets, love them or hate them?

Whatcha Doin?

I’m playing with a new (to me), free, drawing app for the iPad called Concepts. It’s also available for Android devices.

I was looking for a program that I could use to create a new logo and for a digital journal especially while traveli ng and this vector drawing app seems to fit the bill. The free version has lots of tools/brushes/pens that you can use. There are other brushes/tools that you can buy selecting which ones you want or you can subscribe monthly or pay a yearly fee and get a whole slew of tools. 

I have used the drawing program, Procreate for the iPad, but I found Concepts so much easier and intuitive to use. A helpful tutorial sent when I downloaded and signed up for the app, got me up and running with suggetions on how to set up the tools. The “paper” to draw on is endless so you’re not restricted to size. Also, it seems layers are done automatically so something you don’t have to think about.

I need to play some more, but I’m happy with what I’ve been able to do “right out of the box.”

Whatcha doin?

T Stands for Robot Waitstaff

The Eldest's contract in Arkansas ended early so she came home for a visit. We went for dinner at the La Cantina Italiana in Framingham where the waitstaff includes

robots. The robots assist the human waitstaff. This robot at the hostess station shows the patrons to their table while listing the daily specials.

The La Cantina Italian restaurant is a comfortable, family style restaurant that has been around forever. In my teens and early twenties, this was a place to go out with friends. A lot has changed since those days.

The robots have animated cat faces and female names. When we asked our waiter why the robots all had female names, he said it was because the company that manufactured the robots used a female voice.

This is Stella. She played a tarantella while she brought me

a white Zinfandel from the bar. The first time I heard the tune, I had to check my phone as the tarantella is the ringtone I use for my Cousin M. 

For appetizers, we had stuffed mushrooms and 

shrimp cocktail. I was so busy eating and enjoying the Eldest's company, I forgot to take pictures of the food before it was devoured.

I had a salad and some delicious Italian bread

and for my entrée, my favorite, Linguini a la Vongola (linguini and clams in a red sauce)

Bella delivered drinks to another table.  An article from the local newspaper, The MetroWest Daily News  explains how the robots free up the human waitstaff to wait on customers, make the dining room more efficient, and add some fun for the customer.

Another robot delivered a birthday cake to another table and played the Happy Birthday song while the human waitstaff sang along.

Once in a while the robots develop a problem

Poor Francesca got confused as to which table to deliver

the slice of Limoncello cake I had for dessert. Apologies for the crumbs as I was too busy eating and talking to the Eldest.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

What Do You Do?

 

What do you do when you're not sure of the direction your artwork is to take? You make (colored) photocopies so you can work things out without working directly on the original.

In the example above, the original is on the left. I made two color copies. On the middle copy, I started drawing leaf and flower shapes. On the right, I drew some flourishes to suggest a heart shape.

You could also scan your artwork into your computer to use in a drawing program like Photoshop or Procreate.

What do you do?

Whatcha Doin?

 

Mr. Spock and The Young One are helping me to try to connect the iPad to a pocket projector so it will mirror what is on the iPad.

I thought I would go 21st. century for teaching students calligraphy instead of writing on a chalkboard where I sometimes make a better door than a window when I'm in front of the chalkboard. Also people at the museum have written on the chalkboard with oil pastels so not always a good surface to use chalk on as chalk was intended.

I can demonstrate letter formation and the ductus (stroke) order using Procreate and a 45 degree angle calligraphy brush and in theory can project what's on the iPad onto the wall.

The Young One has gotten a lot closer in making it so than I did.  The good thing is the chalkboard is still the fallback plan and we have 6 weeks to figure things out.

Whatcha doin? I'm happy dancing because she got things working, and I was able to replicate her instructions.

T Stands for Birthday Celebration

 

When you were a kid did you have the giant 64 box of Crayola crayons with the sharpener in the back? I did. The crayon box was one of my favorite things.

Divers and Sundry told me that Crayola is celebrating the 64th anniversary with a special birthday box of the crayons. Not only the regular crayons, but the "crayons included, you will find all your favorite colors and 8 special effect Confetti Crayons, which have specks of color inside for surprising streaks and a party in every crayon! "

If the big box wasn't enough of an excuse to get a new box of crayons, the confetti crayons are the icing on the cake.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Whatcha Doin?

 

Mr. Spock and I were discussing glue. I know using glue depends on what is being glued. I can't seem to find a glue that is easy to work with except glue stick. Either the glue doesn't come out of the bottle because it's very thick (Crafter's Pick and Aileen's Super Tacky Glue), or it runs out and all over the place because it is very thin (Bearly Art Glue).

Jacqueline Sullivan, the instructor for the Book of Marks class I recently took had us use the Aileen's Super Tacky Glue. She said she prefers the Crafter's Pick because it is a "dry" glue and won't crack when dry. The watercolor paper in the book was good to use with the Tacky glue. She said the Crafter's Pick is getting hard to find.

The Bearly Art Glue boasted it wouldn't clog in its bottle. It lied. However, it hasn't clogged the Sugarbelle Icing Bottle, but it's very runny. Crafter's Pick doesn't come out its own bottle or out of the Sugarbelle bottle.

Glue sticks are wonderful for gluing thin sheets of paper. No fuss, no muss.

Not pictured is the tube of E6000 for heavy duty gluing of metal and stuff like that.

So you mixed media artists that glue papers and heavy duty papers like 140 lb. watercolor paper, small charms, buttons, ribbon. What glue do you use?

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week

1. Himself is hip. He got us fish and chips

2. I'm enjoying working on the pocket fold accordion book

3. Calli came into my room calling Mama mama mama

4. Play day with Teague and plans for Spring Camp Ogunquit

5. Sugarbelle icing bottles arrived. According to Lindsay Ostrom they are perfect for dispensing fine lines of glue and keeping the glue bottle from drying out

T Stands for A Happy Little Time Waster

 

Last Tuesday, I showed some images of the Skylink satellites visible in the night sky. Thanks to my friends, Teague and Andy Fish, telling me about the app, Skyview, I can show you a happy, little, time waster. With this app, you can point it at objects in the sky and be shown constellations, planets, satellites, the International Space Station, etc.

The cool thing about the app is you don't need to be outside to use it. I was in the studio playing with the app. There's a setting for augmented view so you see the objects as if they were in the night sky instead of the background of my untidy studio.

The above image shows the constellation, Aquarius, the water bearer (and my drink reference ticket for T Day) as the constellation appeared at approximately 11:30 AM on 22. February 2023. Look what else is also in or "near" the constellation, Aquarius. From left to right, the blue dot is the planet, Neptune, the white dot that looks like Aquarius' belly button is Sol, the sun, next is the planet Saturn, and the dot just below the  water bearer's elbow is Mercury.

 

For Iris, the constellation, Leo (also my Zodiac sign) With the app, you can focus on an object and the app will tell you what it is. The object in Leo's rump, is Seasat 1. Searching, I found Seasat was an early satellite launched in 1978 from  JPL and was "designed to test various oceanographic sensors and gain a better understanding of Earth's seas."

All the little stick like things in the image are various satellites from the US and other countries, and bits and pieces of rockets. I was surprised how many satellites and space junk are floating around. It's a wonder there aren't tons of collisions with all the junk circling the earth.

Skyview is available for both iOS and Android. There is a paid version (for less than a cup of coffee or tea) and a Lite or free version.

There's a Skyview Lite tour on Youtube so you can see some of the features of the app.

Okay, I'm going to geek out some more and play because traveling in the augmented Universe is way more fun than cleaning or going through storm prep.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Whatcha Doin?

 

Seems Old Man Winter is going to rear his ugly head. My area is under a Winter Storm Advisory of mixed precipitation. Total snow accumulation of 2 inches and ice accumulation of around 1/4 inch.

While the snow is a pain in the ass. The ice accumulation is a worry. At that thickness, tree and power lines could come down.

Fortunately, the solar panels will charge the solar battery backup so in case of power failure. But I have a superstition that if I go through the process of storm preparation (mainly filling some buckets of water so we can flush the toilet. Before the solar battery, no electricity meant no power to the well pump and no way to flush the toilet), then we won't lose electricity or lose it for very long.

Whatcha doin?

Ways to Reuse A Bread Tag or Clip

 

The plastic clip or tab that prevents bread and other baked goods from going stale quickly can be a handy, little tool.

Use it to hold the end of a roll of tape.

Use as a scoring tool

Use as a makeshift bone folder to give your paper a nice crease.

Keep bits of string or ribbon from getting tangled.

Make marks on paste paper, gesso, or texture paste.

Can you think of any other uses?

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. Calli woke me up in the wee hours crying at the bedroom door. (not really the good thing) She brought me one of her toy mice. (awww, sweet)

2. Got my haircut. No wait.

3. Andy made my day  😺

4. The good news is Himself doesn't have pneumonia or Covid. Just another bad cold to deal with

5. Fun trip to Michael's to browse items for a mixed media class.

How was your week?

T Stands for Checking Supply List

 

I signed up to take Jacqueline Sullivan's Book of Marks online class January 26 and February 2. Shortly after registering, I received the materials list.

While I sip a cup of tea, Vincent is helping me check what supplies I'll need for the class.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Thoughts on Blogging

 

I'm steal borrowing a blog topic my friend, Andy Fish, posted on his blog the other day. The discussion involved how maintaining a blog can sometimes be a chore and may take one away from other (creative) endeavors.

I began blogging back in 2006 and started my blog on Yahoo's platform. It was simple to use and there were some fun emoji things to use. The downside was it was only open to those you made contact with on Yahoo. Then a year later, Yahoo decided it wasn't keeping the blogging platform. An author friend told me she had a blog on Blogger so I moved to Blogger.

At about the same time, Andy was teaching a class at WAM on how to blog. Even though I had been blogging for a while, I signed up. I wanted to see if I was doing it right, and if there were any tips/tricks Andy had to offer. Andy's a savvy guy and a bit like my E.F. Hutton. That means when Andy talks, I listen. (Not all the time 😉)

I must have been on the right track. A year or so later, Andy was teaching another class at WAM, and was on his deathbed with a sinus infection when he had to call in sick to cancel the class. He was asked if there was anyone that could sub for him. He gasped out my name before passing out, and I was called to sub his class. It was the first night of class so the students would be setting up their blogs, and we went through the ins and outs of the features (which used to work the way they were supposed to back then.)

Since the class was geared towards artists, Andy pointed out that  Blogger was a free platform to get your work "out there" and a good start before shelling out money for a web page and domain name.

That's how I initially began, too, but I didn't want to limit myself to just showing my work and talking about calligraphy. I thought readers would become bored.

My blog turned into a sort of diary. I didn't worry about pleasing an audience, but focused on what interested me. If people read my blog, I'm happy, and if they leave a comment, I'm thrilled. 

In Andy's class, he stressed if you wanted people to visit, you needed to provide them with fresh content. You didn't have to blog every day of the week, but whatever fit your schedule. If you could only blog once a week, then each week, you had to put something up. 

I started out blogging a few days a week. Then week days and gradually I built up to blogging 7 days a week. Once I started hitting the 30 or 31 day count, I didn't want to spoil my record. Is it a chore? Sometimes, but after all these years evolving the blog and thinking about Andy's post from last week, I realized blogging is a creative outlet for me. 

Everything I do becomes potential blog fodder. I like to write and to find an image (my own or copyright free clipart) to illustrate my post. I find it helpful to have a theme for most days. I have an erasable calendar where I can fill in the calendar with topics I want to write about and since the calendar is erasable, I can easily move topics around. I like to schedule blog posts ahead of time so spend Sundays, break time, or procrastinating preparing a post.

I also like the connections and friendships I've made through blogging. I enjoy having "conversations" with those that stop by to read and comment. I also try to reciprocate and comment on other blogs.

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Iris, a picture of my Hausschuhe when they were new, just for you

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Another wonderful piece of happy mail arrived

2. Heard from the Eldest. Her trip to Philly had to be postponed because of the mega snowstorm hitting the Erie, PA and Buffalo, NY areas. She's safe and sound. She's rescheduled to leave on Monday. Fingers crossed. 

3. In a box of stuff, I found the Black Factis eraser I've been looking for in nearly forever

4. Another snag in the Eldest's travel plans, but third time's a charm. The employment agency she's working for, got her a flight from Erie to Philly via Charlotte! But she arrived and made it to the hotel safe and sound.

5. Thanksgiving Day, nice, quiet, low-key, just the way I like spending my holidays. 

How was your week?