My set-up and latest product

These two pics represent my latest watercolor painting of my cat Salvador and my new workspace. I got the lamp and accessory extention from my dear husband for Christmas and birthday. I love them!

Salvador has been a challenge for me to paint for years because he is purely black and white and it's hard to depict white using other colors. But I am happy with the results. He just looks a little sad!!

Starting resolution early

This is a sketch I did of "The Happy Elephant"! It's watercolor, micron pen, pencil and white out.

More to come...at least I hope!!

Tis the season

The holidays are always a crazy time for me. Always have to travel whether to NC or NJ; birthday is 2 days following Christmas, and New Years. I have a good time so far, but discovering quality time with loved ones is the most valuable gift!! I have decided that one of my New Year's Resolutions will be to create more art, and I may even post it every once in a while on my blog. I think that will push me to blog more and explore my art in a way I haven't in awhile. I got some fun art supplies for Christmas so I can't wait to use them.

I am sorry I missed the Top Ten blog list last Friday but we were out of town. I like that concept where everyone posts a similar idea but different content. Maybe we can try that again sometime!?

Here is one of my drawings I made while watching Jeopardy with Templeton. We keep score while watching, but my nervousness leads to sketching while competing against him! The other picture is us travelling to NJ with our cat Salvador. He was Templeton's sidekick while driving and I thought it was really cute.

Christmas 2006 with the Elliott's

Templeton and I traditionally make ornaments for our Christmas tree each year. These are some examples. See my flickr page for more!!

Duvet Dilemma

So I thought everyone would like to see responses to my Myspace dilemma:

We are struggling with our duvet. Is there a trick to getting the stuffing to stay in it's proper place while in the cover? Ours always shifts down to the bottom, or crunches up, and it's very frustrating.

Sincerely,
Frustrated Duvet Owner

Responses:
From Brendan: man, it sucks. it just is that way i guess? let me know..
hehehe. haha h a .
i just put my hand between the covers (of the duvet) and pull the foamyness, part towards me.

From Carol Ann: I'd try either getting a bigger comforter for inside or just use safety pins. Good luck!!

From Heidi:
If your efforts to maneuver your duvet inside its cover are more reminiscent of a wrestling match than a simple bed-making, you may be pleased to learn about an easier way to get the job done.

First, turn the duvet cover inside out. Usually the cover comes off this way when it's removed for laundering, so you can put it straight into the washer and have it ready for use after drying. Lay the duvet down on the cover, reach in and grasp the top two corners of the cover along with the corresponding corners of the duvet, and flip the cover right-side out. Shake the duvet into place, close the buttons, and the job is complete.

From Leslie: If you get any hits on this let me know, my duvet always becomes wop-sided when I try to make up my bed - revealing it's plain white center. The only thing I've found helpful is cursing at it.

Tax Credit for phone bills

Taxpayers are eligible to claim a reund of the long-distance tax billed for any phone service (cell, fax, computer or lan line) in the 41 month period from Feb. 28, 2003 through July 31, 2006. See full article here:
http://www.snopes.com/business/taxes/excise.asp