mlaiuppa

Oh BOY! I’ve been wanting to try a black watercolor paper but couldn’t find one that was 140lb. The best I could do was a mixed medium and didn’t like it. So I bought a jar of Daniel Smith watercolor ground in black and painted my paper. I wasn’t pleased with the results but it was better than what I had been using.

Now I have a real…[Read more]

Modern sugar is molasses added to sugar in anywhere from 4% to 6% to control it. But traditional brown sugar was the product you get when you first refine sugar cane. It’s the first step after the juice is heated and impurities removed. When you heat it and boil it down again, you remove the molasses and you eventually end up with white sugar.…[Read more]

Well, my eyes are nothing special. My driver’s license says blue but they are probably more hazel and they do change color depending on what I am wearing. But they are hardly striking.

When he was young my Dad looked like Tony Curtis. Now he looks more like Ernest Borgnine.

When I was young I was told I looked a bit like Shirley McLaine.…[Read more]

Well, you’ve had such a wonderful “29th” birthday you can look forward to next year when you’ll be…..29.

What a touching story. You were so patient with Luke. Another child would not have had the perseverance to work with Luke for years but you did. While maybe all you wanted was to be able to pet him, what you did for him was far more important, reduce his fear, give him confidence, open his circle and trust another person. You might not have…[Read more]

You’re too late.

I thought I’d never do a self portrait, or paint any portraits for that matter, but for last year’s July 2018 WWM one of the prompts was childhood memories. I had a B&W photo from Knott’s Berry Farm of myself about age 5 sitting on a stuffed bucking mule. It doesn’t really look like me but I know my parents will recognize it…[Read more]

My very first, independent trip to Europe I bought a small travel diary and attempted to journal my trip. I had tried and failed at a daily diary several times in my life so I worked hard to try to write something every day. I did take lots of photos (slides which I must digitize one of these days.) Since then I have started a private blog diary…[Read more]

Just as well she can’t talk to me. I don’t think I can handle the demands for treats and can we walk now? can we walk now? Is it time to walk yet?

Looking at your sketch I now see what you mean about using color for a black dog. I may make an attempt to paint her.

Wow. I just bought a few of these to see how Iike them but after this review I can’t wait to try them. I actually bought them for plein air and I think they’ll be fine. After reading this I might even try a masking pen. I’ve only used a bottle and brush but being able to take a pen out would be awesome, especially if the zig zag behaves as you review.

I don’t owe any taxes. The weather has been cold (for So. Cal), wet (for So. Cal) and I wasn’t feeling particularly cheerful or grateful today. I wasted a trip to my Doctor as they were out of the vaccine I had the appointment for and no one told me. It was pretty much another day.

Then I read your post. You are my dancing guy on the…[Read more]

I had no idea I was violating copyright until I joined our local watercolor society and it was part of their rules for entries. I was already retired and taking local community college classes in the emeritus program and the teacher never mentioned it. in fact, she would bring in clippings from magazines as examples for us to paint. I had spent…[Read more]

What a great memory. I actually own a purple teddy. It’s a Steiff. I hadn’t thought of using my teddies as models but I could certain do so. I even have one dressed as Santa somewhere.

Glad to hear I am recovered from the SPAM filter.

Second and third verses (which hardly anyone knows or sings)

A day or two ago I thought I’d take a ride
And soon Miss Fannie Bright was seated by my side.
The horse was lean and lank, misfortune seemed his lot.
We got into a drifted bank and we? We got upsot.

Now the ground is white go it while you’re young,
Take the girls tonight and…[Read more]

I’ve seen one horse open sleighs. They are darlingly cute. These were Victorian era antiques in museums in Germany. They look like extremely large Christmas table decorations. The sort of sleigh centerpiece you would fill with pinecones and nuts or fruits to decorate a huge table. They’re about the size of a refrigerator only lying down on it’s…[Read more]

Sewing on a machine is as easy as driving a car. You don’t even have to drive a stick! It just takes a little practice.

Hand sewing is much more difficult. It takes fine motor skills, even finer than crocheting or knitting.

Why are women better? Because as girls we were buttoning little doll clothes whereas our brothers were tinkering with…[Read more]

I don’t think dogs process wearing a costume as anything akin to embarrassment. They don’t do humiliation. But they do react to attention and if they associate something with positive attentiona. I had a friend with a pug and she swore he loved to dress up in hats. I was skeptical. So she left the room and when she returned with a bag he sta…[Read more]

If you’re worried about a stray tricker or treater being disappointed, keep a roll of quarters handy. Probably cheaper than candy. Also fewer calories and no cavities.

I love me some cute bats. A much maligned mammal. The fruit eaters are great pollinators and the carnivores can eat their weight in bad bugs (like mosquitoes) each night. Bats do a lot of natural pest control to help farmers.

For more cute bats, I encourage the childrens picture books: Stellaluna by Janelle Cannon and the series by Brian Lies:…[Read more]

Well, since it’s carved so early you won’t be able to eat that pie pumpkin.

Pumpkin pie made from scratch from a pie pumpkin (Cinderella or Pam or whatever variety they have this year) is the best and not hard at all. But you can’t use a pumpkin you carved five days before.

If you want to try, get a pie pumpkin. Remove the stem and slice…[Read more]