Cakes again

 Just a couple more cakes today. I kind of feel like all the cakes I make look the same. It's rare that I get a request for anything that asks for something out of the ordinary.\

First is a 1/4 sheet cake. 

Then my least favorite is a full sheet cake.

Last t-ball game

 T-ball season went by really fast. It seems like I just started going to Presley's games and then it was the last one. I didn't make it to all of them but I did go to one a week. It sure was fun to watch her and her team mates as they learned the game.

At the end of the game the coach had them all line up and he did a trophy presentation for each one of them.

Here's Presley posing with hers for me. 

I'm hoping that she plays again next year too.

Another new hobby

 In addition to the drawing every day, I've added something new. I decided I wanted to learn how to do fancy lettering. I'm still learning and these are pretty rough but it's another enjoyable way to spend an evening. I purchased a book called Hand Lettering for Relaxation. It has blank pages in it for practicing all the lessons. I didn't want to write in the book though and I have quite a few sketch books. I decided I would do the lessons in one of those.

I've since learned to use a ruler instead of relying on my ability to write in a straight line. I don't know if I'm getting any better or not but I've enjoyed doing this.

Week 5 drawings.

 Here's another weeks worth of drawings. I did an extra one during this week. Enlarge to see pictures better.

For this one I had no idea what I wanted to draw. I think I may have googled drawing a blank and it came up with a picture of a pencil drawing a line.

These are actually in the opposite order of when I drew them. Just when I think I've got it figured out how blogger is going to upload pictures, it changes on me.

Early Fall purchases

 The last time I went to Hobby Lobby they had all their fall items 40% off. It seems rather crazy that it wasn't even July 4th yet and they were already reducing their fall items. Crazy or not, I decided to take advantage of the lower price before everything was all picked over. 

I purchased three items and all were rather inexpensive.

The gnome is definitely fall but I figured the squirrels are good for all seasons and can be a nice addition to all the other things I have in the Ann cave

Things you've already seen

 Today is all things I've already posted about but thought I would do a little update.

First is the window clings I made. They are now decorating my kitchen window. Thankfully you can't tell in the picture how dirty my window is.

Next up is the planters that have been placed down the main street in town. These were made by the high school. While I was covering a break the one day I took another picture because now the lilies have bloomed.

I couldn't help taking yet another picture of my hydrangea. They are just so impressive this year. The one day I saw the guy across the street walking down the sidewalk with his little ones. He stopped to point out the flowers on my hydrangea.

And finally, the lilac bush that Amanda gave me is still alive. 

Work doodles

 Here are two more work doodles. I just can't stop.

Book bind explosion card.

 I'll just let the video do all the explanation today.

Out back

I have a spot in the back corner of my yard where the shed used to sit. It's not the most attractive but it's the spot where I end up dumping all yard clippings. Weeds, branches from the forsythia, all get dumped here. The guys who mow avoid that spot I'm guessing because they have no idea what's actually there. I took the push mower out the other day and worked on cutting down some of the overgrown weeds that are growing there. 

But first...

...I took some pictures.

Slipping

 Having a dog in the house, and me not always being very diligent about making sure he has clean paws, can make for a mess on the furniture. My couch in the cave didn't look that bad but I found some slip covers that were very inexpensive and they even had one that would fit the lounge cushion. I didn't bother getting slip covers for the back cushions. Mostly because I didn't want the added expense but also because they are actually attached to the sofa and I didn't know how well the covers would fit on them.

I was happy with how these looked and I think even Gibbs approved. The color is a perfect match to the actual couch.

The best part is that if he gets these too dirty I can pull them off and throw them in the wash. Now I don't need to put the blanket on the end of the one cushion anymore either. I don't know why I ever bothered, because he rarely confined his muddy paws to that part of the couch any way.

Red white and blue

 I had a cake order to do on the 4th of July. What other colors can you put on a 4th of July cake besides red, white and blue.

In other news:

Yesterday Grace left the following comment: I love the bird one - it has a 'style' to it - like your trolls and the ladies. And I'm admiring your technique - is that all instinct or have you been taking lessons, so to be speak, like instructional videos - I was particularly struck by the eyes on the zebra and the shading on the the ice pops...

No, I haven't been taking any lessons or watching videos. I go through Pinterest and find pictures that I like and try and copy them. Some are almost identical to the picture I'm working from and some I just go with the concept or take parts and work from there. I have a board on Pinterest with the label "Artsy Fun" When I find something I think I might want to try and draw I pin it to that board. 

Week 4 drawings

 Here is another weeks worth of drawings.

This next one starts by tracing around your hand.

It is ok to not be perfect. Sometimes you copy another picture and yours isn't perfect because the word perfect was supposed to be spelled wrong. However when i was copying, I couldn't manage to spell it wrong. Therefor, even though the word is spelled right, I got it wrong. The original picture had perfect spelled "perfeckt". 

It must be a sign

 While I was out one day, I happened to see this on a shelf.

Something told me I should take a picture of it. 

Then I got home and was scrolling through Facebook and I came across this.

So I'm taking this as a sign that I am to continue to be my weird little self.

Work doodles.

It's been a while since I've posted my Work doodles. I'm still doing them every week though.

A day out.

The holiday week for the 4th, I had two days off in a row. I had my usual Monday and I also had Tuesday off. I had to work on the holiday but it was time and a half and it wasn't a full day so it was no big deal. Plus I didn't have any plans any way.

Any way, since I had two days off in a row, I decided that I would go out and do something on one of them. I headed to the Millcreek mall since that's always good for a walk. Besides, on a Monday it wouldn't be very busy. It looks empty in this picture but there were plenty of people walking around and shopping.

I even saw a llama. The picture is horrible because I tried to get it real quick while I was walking by. He had a sign on him that said "do not hug me"

I stopped to admire all the wind spinners that were in this window.

I also stopped at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. I didn't buy much of anything. It was more a day just to get out of the house and do some walking.

Window clings.

 I recently got an email from Jennifer Maker. It was a tutorial for making window clings with a free cut file. I already had window cling material so I thought I would give it a try.

Here they are on the backing paper

And here they are on the window with my amazing hydrangeas behind them.

For the birds.

 There must be a bird nest in the tree in my front yard. I hear the birds chirping away all the time. Recently it was raining pretty hard. I happened to look out the window and saw a robin sitting on a branch like it was waiting for the rain to let up before it flew off. I had to zoom in so the picture is horrible but it has a rather artsy look to it.