February Blog

February 15, 2005 - Altered Book Class
A few weeks ago I attended an altered book class at Stamping Details. The instructor had us make a reference book for altered book techniques. My favorite was the glass slide with a metal looking tape.

Windows with hanging beads. A tile look using masking tape.	A round window using a special punch and torn pages glued together.	A "slide" using one piece of glass and metal tape.
Mulberry paper edges frayed after moistening.	A wheel attached with a brad. Good for little pictures.	Envelopes for a surprise. Lemon juice is applied to paper edge then heated with a hair dryer to create a burnt effect.

February 9, 2005 - Mission San Luis Rey
I went to a paint out at the San Luis Rey Mission. The sun was bright the mission was white. Great cast shadows but a little too much detail for me. I kept seeing something in the corner of my eye, moving about the ground. I couldn't tell what it was until I saw this gopher gathering food. You can see a little circle around his hole where he cleared away some munchies.

February 8, 2005 - San Diego Natural History Museum
There is usually an abundance of children on Free Tuesdays at Balboa Park so I have avoided the trip for many years. I imagined noisy crowded rooms filled with children running from room to room. The Natural History Museum was not like this at all. There were many old people and a group of quiet young adults. I sat on a bench at the side of the room and drew what I could see from my spot. I tried to be discreet with my travel watercolors and got away with drawing and painting from my bench.

San Diego County boasts the biggest bird list of any county or any area of equal size in the United States.- 488 species. Top two: Osprey and Nuttall's Woodpecker. Bottom: 2 Northern Harriers

Extinct Fossil Walrus (Valenictus Chulavistensis)

February 5 , 2005 - Watercolor birthday cards.
Every year I intend to send my family birthday cards. I fizzle out after the first one or two. This year I decided to make most of my cards. Here are the first 3. My niece likes pandas, my nephew is a vampire at an amusement park every year and the flowers are sort of generic. They were done on watercolor board.