STRESSED?!?#? NOT ME...

image found here

HAVE YOU JOINED THE "COLORING CRAZE"

It's a real stress-buster... well... ONCE, you get over the idea that you are "wasting time" that would be better spent doing laundry, vacuuming the car (mine needs it), cleaning the garage (urrghhh! I promise to get to this JPE) or running errands.

Allie & Brian gave me some art supplies as a retirement gift, and I've been "sneaking" some time to just COLOR. I say JUST because I'm guilty of multi-tasking... watching HGTV & reading blogs with a pile of folded laundry beside me & another in the dryer. I've found that if I COLOR at my workspace, I get in the zone! I don't have the other distractions calling to me... this feeling continues to be problematic, I still feel like I'm "wasting time"... urgghhh.

So, my question is: how do you get over the idea that you are "wasting time"? please share.

I mentioned minimal supplies are needed. I've used felt tip pens & COLORED pencils... a child could use crayons (I like fine points, so I'll leave crayons to other projects). Just experiment with what you have on hand.

I have several adult COLORING books, but, a search on GOOGLE brought up several websites that allow you to print them from your own printer.

Easy Peasy & Fun http://www.easypeasyandfun.com - check out their holiday COLORING pages (under Printables)

Trail of Color http://trailofcolors.com/ - offers a variety of COLORING sheets for adults and children.

The design I'm COLORING I downloaded from Jenean Morrison (http://jeneanmorrison.net/) - an artist with many COLORING books on the market, including four that were recently published in France. Click on this link to see several unique ways to COLOR in the spaces (scroll to the bottom of the post).  

Reminder... if you DO download COLORING sheets, please remember these generally have a copyright & are for public use only.

I was searching for COLORBOOKS on Amazon, and found TWO COLORING books with drawings that were created by Mary Engelbreit. They appeared on the cover but were credited to the person who is selling the book as their own work. SO, I wrote Mary (I still have all her magazines - being the magazine hoarder I am) to alert her to what I found! I received a PERSONAL message from Mary (& one from her marketing representative) thanking me for having "eagle eyes".... BTW, Mary has her own COLORBOOK which can be found HERE!

Ah, such is the life of a creative, huh?!!

LIGHTING THE DARK...

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

A question I've wondered about?

Do amateur photographers (such as myself) take black & white photos INTENTIONALLY? I'm one of those photographers who doesn't manipulate the camera setting to capture ONLY black & white pics. In most cases, I take photos in color & WHEN the color is fuzzy, or the object is blurry, I change the photo to B&W. I would imagine my photos would be crisper or might have more depth to them if I were INTENTIONAL about shooting in B&W. I'm going to give that a try!

Governor's Palace ~ Colonial Williamsburg

Intricate scrollwork. Incredibly detailed statue.
Entrance to the bricked compound.
(which we didn't get a reservation to tour)

The palace housed 7 royal governors, as well as

the first two elected governors in Virginia.

In addition to housing leaders of that time, it was built to project British wealth & the authority that money brought.

transported back in time

It's late September, 1781!

The general addressed the colonial townspeople, explaining a revolution is on the horizon.

The colonists have gathered around the troops to cheer them on

as they prepare for battle.

A canon is fired signifying they are ready for battle in Yorktown.

relief map of Colonial Williamsburg

I'm a MAP-LOVER! paper, digital & relief...

My traveling companions (Mom & JPE) discussing Colonial Williamsburg layout.  

sharing this post at

Black & White Wednesdays

& Wednesdays Around the World

Photographers!

what is your response to my QUESTION?

BRICKS GALORE!!!

Fredericksburg, VA

"Architecture starts when you carefully put two BRICKS together. There it begins."

~ Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Fredericksburg, VA

black iron fence, old BRICK & new BRICK 

Williamsburg, VA

BRICK path on the town center greenbelt

Williamsburg, VA

a canon-ball holds open the gate to an

original historic BRICK building

Jamestown, VA

the BRICK church that served the early settlers

Richmond, VA
Tredegar Ironworks, housed in a
historic BRICK building, was the munitions & canon supplier
during the Civil War

Richmond, VA
 BRICK furnace at Tredegar Ironworks

Arlington, VA
view from our AirBnB location - overlooking the BRICK condos & walkway to Virginia Square Metro

Washington DC
BRICK row houses along the street
leading to the White House
{if you walk straight ahead,
you'd be looking at the front lawn of the White House}

:: BRICKS ::
have played an important part in my life!

my dad was a skilled BRICK mason...

GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. V44

 ::  GOOD  ::

Oh yeah!

five of us shared a piece of "Peanut Butter Madness"

after dinner at Bonnie Blue Bakery & Market, Winchester, VA.

this was beyond GOOD... I'm sure Steph, Mazen, JPE & Mom will salivate remembering the creamy-ness of this treat!

::  RANDOM  ::

totally RANDOM!

A bit of fluffy whiteness standing T.A.L.L. &
holding S.T.R.O.N.G. in the COLOR competition on Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia.

::  FUN  ::

Mazen to Steph: "Is this too big for our dining room table?"

Sebastian, "guide-dog extraordinaire" has no opinion!

The five of us took a FUN drive out to

Marker-Miller Orchards & Farm, outside Winchester, VA.

In addition to pumpkins, we purchased apples, 

jams, & apple cider donuts. 

posting with Tamar @ Random-osity

THANKFUL FOR....

Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Skyline Drive ~ October 24, 2015

I've been sifting through 900+ photos JPE & I

captured on our trip to Virginia & Washington DC!

Words can't describe the beauty.

The trees were a RIOT of COLOR!

GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. V41

You've probably noticed (or maybe you haven't) that I had taken

a BREAK from blogging. It's NOT terribly unusual for bloggers to step away from posting... it can be exhausting, plus it takes TIME to create posts. When two of my favorite Swedish bloggers, Benita from Chez Larsson, & TinaJo who posted At Home, disappeared, I was disappointed initially... only to learn they had continued to post on Instagram. Gardening, her rascals (two sons) and a new dog are keeping TinaJo busy, but occasional posts can be seen @tinajo73. And Benita's beautiful, simple living style can be found @BenitaLarsson. 

During my blog break, JPE & I traveled, visited family and spruced-up our patio. As you may have read, I've retired from a career in education. Since May 20th (my official retirement date), I've created a bridal bouquet (seen HERE) for my youngest daughter's wedding, read 11 books, purchased enough craft supplies to start a business (kidding, sort of), and slept (or puttered around, A LOT).

Since February, I've visited blogs, but have not felt like writing.

A couple of days ago, I realized I've missed blogging!!!!

So, here I am... hopefully posting on a regular basis, and journaling this new chapter of my life, RETIREMENT.

The best way to get back into blogging is to participate in a photo challenge.

Tamar @ Randomosity continues to host her Monday challenge, GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. So, I'm BACK!!!

We're (JPE, my mom & I) headed to Washington DC, to visit SLE & MB. Hoping to take a short trip to some of the Civil War sites and see the FALL COLORS. 

Due to the California drought, we've replaced most of our flowers with beautiful succulents... don't you LOVE the fuzz growing on this vibrant green plant. 

I mentioned my obsession with craft supplies. Well, I've also added several new books to my library... Valerie McKeehan authored The Complete Book of Chalk Lettering. It's amazing how lettering skills return with a bit of practice... 

So, come back again, SOON!