Aqua and a new winner of the Pencil Sharpener

there is a new winner of the:

 Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener

Congratulations Bella!

I would love this chair in my wee cabin.

The seat is large enough that one could sit cross legged in it too.

small watercolors

4x5 inches

~

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Freckles

little gal

with 

freckles

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looks like i am leaning towards peachy oranges with these two

~

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DC: Pollinators aka: Gold Dusters

butterfly fae

spreads pollen where ever she may

my friend and i built a bee nesting house this week

our native Mason Bees do not drill holes

they look for ones made by other critters

so hopefully they will lay their eggs in these holes

line them with pollen and seal them with mud and leaves

and next year new bees will emerge and begin anew

you can learn more about bee houses:

here, here and here

~

with Spring doing the tango with winters end

i find myself thinking of the beings that pollinate our flowers

enabling our foods to flourish and then feed us

 ~

an interesting National Geographic article: Gold Dusters

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visit the lovely people below this weekend 
to enjoy what they have shared:

Veronica

Renee

Nadine

Sabine

Barbara bee

Tanïa

Viola

Melodye

Patrice

Ariane

Carole

Sharmon

Beth

Fische Frauen

Lissa

Renilde

Eric

mano

Roberto
Kelly
Lara
Amanda
Rebecca

~
if i left anyone off the list, let me know

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Roads of Montana

Taking Daniel Donaldson's class:

Storybooks and Studious Girls

 

I am watching her lessons on perspective and these two pieces came to life,

they remind me of my home state Montana so much! 

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Next Weekends DC: Pollinators

tears of honey
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With Spring here on this side of the earth

it is a great time to consider: 'Pollinators

Droege said “Almost all the fruits and nuts, and a lot of the vegetable varieties, that we eat require some insect—usually bees—for pollination,”  

here are some of our pollinators: bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, bats, ants, beetles, tiny rodents and more. So BIG Vast possibilities this week!

I saw my first butterflies of the year today! Two kinds, Mourning Cloak and an Compton Tortoiseshell:

also i found a tick on me, just walking around, did not bite me

I would say that Spring has begun!

let me know in the comments if you will post and share with us
March 28-29th

(if your link does not go straight to the blog you are posting on, then leave the link as well, pretty please)

also, even though we call it Drawing Challenge
it can be expressed anyway you imagine:
drawing, painting, writing, photos, food.....

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Red Bun on Toes

She is a dancer of life
embracing highs and lows (mountain tops and valleys)
She prefers being on her toes
and offering grace to the world

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which brings back a memory:

when i was younger and i felt like i wasn't being heard

i would stand on things

i did not know why, it was not a conscious choice

maybe i thought if I was taller or higher I had a better chance of being heard 

makes me smile now
~
for sale here: Beauty Flows

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I was hiking yesterday
hoping to find an antler
and look:

 thrilled!
 

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Winner of Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener is......

this cute and sassy little witch 

wants to tell you that 

Veronica 

has won the pencil sharpener!

Veronica, please visit Classroom Friendly Supplies

decide on your color

green, blue, red, black or pink

email me with the address to send it to!

Congratulations!

~
Little Witch for sale here: Beauty Flows

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GIve Away & DC: Spring Break

Veronica is our lovely host for DC

tis spring break for many people
I think of bears daily now
wondering when they will awaken 
walk through my woods
so i am still painting bear landscapes in honor of them
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 Classroom Friendly Supplies

has given me the opportunity to review their pencil sharpener:

It comes in 5 colors, I chose hot pink

 

above is the first step in sharpening a pencil

below is the second

 

Then you simply turn the handle to sharpen your pencil until it stops.

I of course chose a variety of art pencils to test. Prismacolor, pastel and charcoal pencils have been challenging with most sharpeners. Art pencils can be pricey, so having a lead break is not desirable. 

These are the pencils i chose to sharpen:

here are the results:

Look at those amazing points, great for detail work!

If you don't want such a fine point simply don't sharpen till it stops.

I actually found that sharpening the pencil until the sharpener stops takes away TOO much pencil. 

I began stopping half way and that gave me the points above, which I am thrilled with.

To see videos on how to use this sharpener, or how to take it apart for a broken lead:

Pencil Videos 

~

I am super happy with this sharpener.

I get to give one away, wahoo!

I am sorry to say it is for USA addresses only, 

darn for all my oversea friends. 

So in the comments let me know if you would like a chance to win a sharpener.

Winner will be announced on my blog

March 18th

~

Spring break means bears to me

Visit Veronica's to enjoy everyone's Spring Break

 thank you for keeping the prompts going Veronica!

~

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Lesson Learned, use good paper

seems the 29 faces has me in a rhythm of creating faces

this one began as a pencil sketch

then watercolors on top:

ink sketch for meditative fun

the shading makes her look like she could use a shave

might have to rethink that technique ;-)

this last piece is a lesson learned

the paper is nice for sketching, ink and light washes

i tend to layer my watercolors 

this paper warped and would not take layers in a blending way

i could not get effects that i wished for

and 

abandoned attempting to take it somewhere that pleased me

lesson: use good paper that will take water and paint 

i thought i had learned that lesson ;-)

~

also, i saw my first robin of the season today!

~

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