Pepper Mill

I am enjoying making these sketches. I like the place my mind goes to when I'm drawing. But I'm finding it difficult to find things I want to draw.

I think I might just be too picky. I thought this pepper mill would be boring to draw, but I really like how it turned out. So maybe there are more things than I think that would good make subjects for future sketches.

Now I need to work on getting the photo right so that when I adjust the levels, the background totally drops out.

Close Value

As I begin laying the background down under my hand, I am feeling that the colors are too close in value. Does this stop me? No.

There are many things I can do to fix this: I can rip out the background and use different valued colors, which I do not own, so that isn't really an option.

I could use a bleach pen and draw lines on the background pieces, thus reducing their value. I haven't ruled this out, altho it's risky: I've never tried this before.

Or I could try to lighten the background with the color thread I use to quilt it. I would have to quilt a lot to make the background seem lighter. That's ok with me; it seems like I'm into a lot of quilting these days.


But as I add more pieces to the background, I'm feeling like the best course is to just wait and see what happens. I may wind up with a different solution altogether.

Isn't being creative fun?

Trip to Ikea

Monday was Go To Ikea Day. Since this takes over an hour on the bus, we don't make the trip frivolously. Nor spontaneously. My main objective was a new laundry drying rack, as you will see, but I also got a trash can for my living room, a tree for my daughter to hang her necklaces on, some trivets which will be covered in fabric and mounted to the wall in my daughter's room so she can use pushpins to put up stuff, and some light bulbs. We also met with Dad to have lunch together.



This is my old drying rack. It's sufficient, but it wont fit on my little balcony. So, we have to look at drying clothes in my dining room, which can be uncomfortable for my daughter's 14 year old friend-who-is-a-boy. Also, it's a little cramped in there!



Here is the new one. Taadaa! It is about 2 feet square and 5 feet tall, and is adjustable as far as the shelves go. It holds tons of laundry, and best of all - it can sit outside and be out of the way.


Here are the before and after shots of the cork trivets turned into a decorative item for a teenage girl's room.









This is the tree I mentioned for displaying necklaces. It's not necessarily sold for that purpose, but what do we care? It works.



We had to hire a 7-seater taxi to get us home since the drying rack was so big. But it only cost us half of what having Ikea deliver it would have cost, plus we didn't have to wait.

Isn't Ikea the best?