Under The Red Roof

A FANTASTIC Cold Coffee Drink

This is a homemade Starbucks caramel frappucino with a couple of affogato shots:) Affogato literally means, "to drown." In this case you drown the frappucino in espresso. Seriously yummy.

Brew your espresso however you choose. I use this nifty little pot. Works nicely and lasts forever. I use Starbucks French Roast Extra Bold ground coffee.

In your blender mix the following:
1/2 cup cold coffee
1/2 cup milk
3 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp caramel sauce (for ice cream)
about 2 to 2 1/2 cups of ice

Looks just like Starbucks doesn't it??

Pour your frappucino into a cup, squirt some caramel sauce on top and drown it with your brewed espresso.

Stick a straw in and get ready to be delighted and energetic! If you're not an espresso person just have yourself a frappucino:)

Etsy Shop Update & Journal Pages

I've finally updated my etsy shop. Thanks for your patience:)
I've been coloring away. I tried to get better photos of my Copic color charts, but the photographs are no different than the first set. By my monitor the scans are truer to color. At any rate they are much better than computer generated charts. I can't wait to buy more colors! They are such an expensive supply, but well worth it. Just like Golden paints....the difference is worth the expense.
Here are a couple of pages I colored over the weekend. Another advantage of wanting to color all the time is it forces you to practice drawing and doodling.

Next is a scan of a partially colored page:

I really want to add paints, crayons and pencils to this page. The purity of it is sort of putting me off. I'm just not sure I'm brave enough. I'm going to try and force myself.
I've been enjoying the most delicious coffee drink lately. I've been buying it all summer from Starbucks, but have learned to make a home version and, believe it or not, it's even better than Starbucks! Not kidding. I'll tell you how to make it next time I post.

Copic Color Chart

While trying to figure out which Copic colors to buy online I had the hardest time figuring out what each color actually looked like because, of course, none of the computer generated charts are accurate. I found this chart (click to enlarge) which gave me the most help of anything else I could find. Since her chart helped me so much I thought I would put my own chart out hoping it will help you. Maybe between her colors and my colors you can find some you like. I realize the colors may vary from monitor to monitor, but I know this is way better than the computer generated charts.



Hopefully, if you click on these to enlarge them, you will be able to see them clearly. As I add colors to my collection, I will update the charts:)

Okay.....I just looked at this after I published it on the blog and some of the colors look pretty true and some not so true. For instance, Cadmium Red is a much truer red than it appears here. I think I will go scan the charts and see if those come out any better........okay, here are the scans. I think they might be better.

 

Well poo. When you click on the scans they don't enlarge enough to read them. I'll work on this a bit more and post another set of charts in the next couple of days. I do think the scans are pretty true to the actual colors. Maybe if I take photos outdoors tomorrow they will be better.

Paint Chip Cards & Copic Coloring

This summer I played around with one of my favorite free art supplies....paint chips. There are SO MANY things one can do with paint chips.

This was done with a simple technique called chalk resist. You rubber stamp the paint chip with Versa ink (pads available at Hobby Lobby), let it dry a bit. Then get a cotton ball and ink it up with Color Box Fluid Chalk ink (pads also available at Hobby Lobby) Rub the ink all over the paint chip. After you've achieved the look you want polish it with an old t-shirt or other smooth cotton cloth. You can then assemble them into cards or use them in collage. This technique also works on glossy cardstock.

You can also have a bit of flocked wallpaper or any other pretty paper peaking through the provided window. Soon I will have a flocked set of diminutive papers in my etsy shop. They are very handy for cardmaking. The card on the right above was done by drawing a frame with a Micron pen then coloring with Copic markers. Here are some other samples.

These were fun to make. Remember, if you use Copics on glossy surfaces, color carefully because if you let the Copic touch the Micron line it will smear. It's really not hard to keep that from happening.

Here are a couple of doodle pages that I've colored with Copics. I would have made different color choices, but I'm limited to about 50 markers at this point. Once you start really using these markers you realize you MUST HAVE lots and lots of them! I've just ordered 30 or so from Dick Blick and I'm going this afternoon to a local art supply store to get the markers Blick was out of stock on. The thing is you really (or I really) need 3 markers for every color I want so I can blend light, medium and dark to get a lovely effect:)


The first page has no blending and still looks nice. The Copic colors are so vibrant and lovely they stand alone nicely, however, they are just gorgeous when blended. Most of the flowers on the second page have 2 colors blended together. The coloring gets even better when you blend 3 colors, but my choices are pretty limited at this point. My recent order was done after I figured out exactly what the letters/numbers on the end of the markers actually mean. Knowing that makes all the difference in the world. Wish I'd bothered to figure it out before buying my first 50 markers!
I'm off to meet the teacher then attend high school orientation. For some reason I've got butterflies.

Wreck This Journal

I bought this yesterday because Luke totally loved it and wanted to do it.

Teenage boys love destroying things. We decided we would collaborate and do it together. He did a bunch of pages this morning then passed it to me. It's SO liberating! It really seemed kind of silly when I bought it, but you can't believe how much fun it is. Luke did some destructive things.....

Like burning and flinging coffee.

This done while running around the yard. Wonder if anyone happened to see him doing it?? They'd be sure that Layton kid is on drugs.
For my part I made a pretty page (of course).

The instruction was to fill the page with circles. Even though it didn't involve biting, wadding or slashing it was still fun and carefree. Quick and careless. I promise I'm going to do some of the destructive things as well. In fact, in the morning, I think I'll take a walk with my journal....dragging it behind me on a leash. People will be thinking the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree:)

Here's a sweet little journal not to be wrecked.

 

 

Just love the Rebecca Sower style of it. I think I'll start by doing a page of circles like I did in the Wreck journal. LOVE coloring with the Copics. I'm about to order 30 more. There is just no end to the accumulation of art supplies is there?

I recently watched this documentary about the 1,000 Journals project. I'm sure most of you are familiar with it, but if not by all means check it out here. I have always dreamed that one of those babies would  fall into my hands. If I ever got one I would monitor the crap out of it and make sure it got back to Someguy. I want one so bad!! I'm fascinated by the whole concept of it. It's like a message in a bottle. I'm seriously considering starting an *anything goes* journal at 1001 Journals. I like the idea of doing a journal with strangers, but I'm so afraid it would go missing. That happens a lot. I guess it's just a leap of faith and that's really the point isn't it?? Do any of you have a username set up at 1001 Journals?? Curious.

Well, I guess I better go clean the kitchen and bathe Jackson. I was trying to remember exactly how old Luke was when I quit doing the actual bathing of his body. I just cannot remember. It seems I've been responsible for more than my own personal hygiene for centuries now. So weary of it.

I really want to have a Copic discussion in my next post. I'll gather all my thoughts and try to make that happen. I have lots of questions myself. Need to pick Jeanne's brain.

The kids have been fun but I'm over them now

At some point I decided stressing over blog updates was more than I could handle this summer. I guess I should have bothered to make that announcement on my blog, but it sort of became a Mount Everest climb undertaking in my mind so it never happened. I'm totally ready to get back in the online swing. Thanks to those of you who have checked on me. I have some emails to answer and will get to them soon. Although most of the summer has been devoted to kids and keeping the house somewhat livable, I have managed a little creative time. I guess none of us could live without our creative outlets. I've made little greeting cards for my stash and played with paint chip samples with some fun results, but mostly, I've just done pages in my art journal. It's easy and worry free without the stress of completing anything. The benefit is that my painting has improved so I've been working on some little canvas paintings. Lots of inspiration this summer as come from this wonderful artist as well as Pam, of course. Always inspired by Pam:)
I snapped some shots to show you, but it's just a small drop in the bucket. It was nice to concentrate almost completely on one thing for 2 months.






That middle boy is Luke (my 14-year-old) on his 1st birthday. How cute is he???

These pages were done in my good watercolor paper journal. I also keep a few moleskins going for jotting down ideas and rough sketching. I take a moleskin when I'm mobile and at risk of boredom. I always refer to them when deciding what to draw in my watercolor journal. I try to keep the watercolor journals as visually appealing as possible although I'm always careful not to EVER think about perfection when journaling. I've got enough of that with everything else I do!
I've been REALLY playing with Copic markers this summer. I've found some good advice on youtube, particularly from stampers. Stampers know everything! I've been enjoying using the markers on varying types of paper. I'll share my findings in my next post. One of the best tips found on youtube is a quick way to go right to the brush tip end of a sketch marker. It's the end with the gray line under the cap. Loved knowing that. I've spent a small fortune on them and I'm not finished yet. I've found them to be well worth the investment. Jeanne took a Copic class a while back. I'm hoping that class gets offered in my area at some point. Would love to take it.
I know my etsy shop is a barren wasteland at the moment. I've had little motivation for keeping it updated lately. I've had quite a few inquiries so I promise to move the shop to the top of my priority list.
My back to school prep is pretty much complete. The kids start a week from tomorrow. I love the beginning of summer, but when August rolls around I'm always wishing I could afford boarding school. So sick of constantly hearing, "Mom, can I....", "Mom, would you....", "Mom, where's the....", "Mom, what's to eat....", "Mom, come here....". As cute as they are and as much as I love them I'm still TOTALLY ready for school to start!
Hope all is well in blogland. I've looked at Flickr quite a bit over the last couple of months, but haven't done much blog visiting. Hope to have more time starting next week. Be back soon:) xox.