New Product

While buying some supplies for The Young One, I saw this eraser. Normally, I use a kneaded eraser, but sometimes the line doesn't erase cleanly. Black Pearl. It looked so exotic. Since, The Young One was getting some stuff, I just had to have a new toy. I liked the oval shape. It feels very smooth like a river stone. I was a little worried, it would leave a mark on the paper like it's sibling Pink Pearl, but it doesn't. Erases cleanly though it leaves large black crumbs to be brushed off. Might be my eraser du jour from now on.

Can you go through an office supply store without dropping a small chunk of change?

Road Trip

You can read about the Road Trip here

Have you ever tried to do a good deed, and then questioned your sanity?

The Friday Five

At last week's Clan Gathering, I learned my niece has Celiac disease. Five things I learned:

1. It's not a food allergy. It's an autoimmune disorder. The lining of the small intestine is damaged by gluten found in grains like wheat, rye, and barley

2. The niece will be a college sophomore. I was surprised to learn onset of this disorder can occur any time. I wondered why the condition hadn't been caught when she was much younger.

3.  It's genetic. I'll have to warn my girlies.

4. There is no cure, but the disease can be controlled by diet. One has to  thoroughly read food labels for hidden gluten, but there are a lot of gluten free products on the market.

5. Chocolate cupcakes were served at the Gathering. If I hadn't been told they were gluten free, I never would have known. They were made from a Betty Crocker mix and were delicious.

You can learn more about the disease at the Mayo Clinic site. Do you know anyone who has this disorder?

Aurora Borealis - Part 2

At 8 pm there was a chance to see the aurora,but it was still too light to be able to see anything. A run outside an hour later showed a clear sky with hundreds of sparkling stars. Perfect. The next possible viewing was 1 am.

I went to bed after the 11 pm news. Took a short nap. And this is what greeted me when I went outside. Murk. Grey murk. Not a single clear patch of sky. Disappointed! Deep sigh.

So seeing the aurora is still on my bucket list.

Do you have a bucket list? Have you been able to check anything off?

Aurora Borealis

One of the things I would like to see is the Aurora Borealis, the northern lights. I've often joked seeing the aurora is one of the items on my bucket list. Every once in a blue moon, this light show is visible from southern latitudes like Boston., and it always seems I miss the opportunity. Most times, the weather is cloudy, or it rains, or the neighbors up and down the street have their outside lights on.

This morning, I caught a tweet from a news agency that said the light show would be visible in the Boston area! A link I followed stated the estimated time the lights would appear would be 1AM Wed, 4. August 2010.  ARGH! Missed it by that much!

Puttering around while sipping my morning tea, I came across another news bite:


"The latest estimates are that the plasma will arrive in four waves, one at 3 a.m. Wednesday, one at 1 p.m. Wednesday, one at 8 p.m. Wednesday, and one at 2 a.m. Thursday, said David Aguilar, a spokesman for the Harvard-Smithsonian center."  Metrodesk

The aurora won't be visible during the day, but I still have two chances! Two!  Check your area to see if the aurora will be visible from your neck of the woods.

Have you ever seen the aurora? Is there something you want to see or do, that you keep missing out on?

Quiet Time

Early morning never used to be my favorite time of day. It was always a hectic time getting the girlies breakfast and off to school. Looking for homework papers and shoes. Now they don't see daylight before mid-morning, if they can help it. So this time has now become mine. Quiet time before the day really begins. Time stretched out before me.  So much ahead and yet no rush.

When is your favorite time of day?

Calligram

This piece evolved from the Bob Marley quote "Light up the darkness." I like the sentiment of the quote, but this quote is not in the public domain. A search online through the King James Bible, yielded: Thou wilt light my candle: For the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness." Psalm 18:28

I did the Bob Marley quote in my sketch book using a black on black technique which looked better in my head than it did on paper. I still wanted a dark background, but switched to Ziller's Winter White acrylic ink for writing the verse. The quote was written out in several different layouts. The one I liked best was a calligram, words written to form a shape, a candle. A gold leafing pen was used to draw the flame before the background paints and plastic wrap was applied. The leafing pen acts as a resist, that is ink or paint won't adhere to it's surface.A wash made from Twinrocker's Sparkle Gold and Super Sparkle, with a drop or two of gum arabic (for a binder) was applied to create the halo of the candle flame. The effect doesn't show up well in the photograph.

Did you know the only Bible that is in the public domain is the King James version?