I just switched to the new version of Blogger. So what's different? I see nothing!

The year's quickly coming to an end. Hard to believe that I didn't have to work this entire year (retirement is wonderful). It's flown by at the speed of sound. I've had such a wonderful time creating my drawings, jewelry, and other creations. I can't imagine ever tiring of creating, so I'll have lots to keep me occupied for the next 40 or 50 years. I'm going to live to be really old. :-)

The big excitement last week was the sale of another vehicle! The 1994 Isuzu Trooper we owned had been sitting in the driveway, mostly undriven, for the past year. One more shot at listing a vehicle on eBay, and what do you know!?!? It sold. Yahoooooo. The buyer was from Texas, so he flew into town to pick up the vehicle, arriving on Christmas Eve. He had a long drive back home, almost 17 hours, but an email confirmed that he made it safely. The bare spot in the driveway still shocks us a bit, but it certainly is nice to have that vehicle out of here.

Reading... Recently finished Stephen King's new book, Lisey's Story. It was pretty good. Like Misery, it made me feel as if he was including autobiographical tidbits within the story. I also just finished reading Scott Smith's The Ruins. He wrote A Simple Plan, which I really enjoyed, so I had to have this one. His books are really page turners.

No new drawings for awhile now. I'll have to get out my pens and paper and start drawing. It's been busy around here: going out to eat, visiting friends and relatives, having friends and relatives visiting us. One more event, later this afternoon, and then things'll be back to normal and I can draw again. I also want to play around with the watercolors more. I'm really frustrated at not being able to capture a good scan or photo of the watercolors I've done already. Maybe I'll try photographiing them outside today -- natural light seems to help sometimes.

The latest creations? Magnets. Glass magnets, to be exact. Some small ones (3/4" diameter) and some larger ones (1-1/4" diameter). They're such fun to make, if a bit stinky. I'd like to find a different adhesive to adhere the images to the glass. Although the E-6000 works really well, it sure smells bad!

I've already sold a few of these on Etsy. The most recent sale was to someone in England, so my little magnets are gaining international attention! :-)

Lunch out yesterday and today with friends from where I used to work. That was fun. Catching up on all the work stuff (since I haven't worked in more than a year) and realizing all over again just how happy I am not to be working there any more! It sounds like nothing's changed -- reorganizations and the end-of-year crises that always occur. One of the friends was recently promoted, though, so that's good news.

I'm still working on those little magnets. They're fun to make, but they sure are messy. I went to the craft store today to try to find an alternative to the adhesive I'm using. The container doesn't have a good nozzle, so I spread the adhesive with a toothpick, and those little adhesive strings get all over everything. It's a bit smelly, too. I bought two new types and have just tried one of them. Sadly, I don't think it's going to work. I'll try the other one tomorrow, after this first sample has a chance to dry.

I've also delved into watercolor!!! I've always been fascinated by the patterns and colors I see in some watercolor paintings, so I decided to try some out for myself. Out came my Canson watercolor paper, brushes, and water. I first had to create a bunch of small drawings (because I didn't want to get carried away and do something large to begin with). So my normal little turtles, cats, and snails adorn the watercolor paper. I painted a few of them, and they're really fun!!! I think I'll probably continue to do these off and on, and I hope my technique improves. I find myself having to wet down sections to try to correct them because I don't like the way the paint flows. It's a very different medium for me, as I'm used to the total control of my pens. I guess it's a good thing to give up control sometimes...

Some of the watercolors are posted here, but the images aren't nearly as nice as the real-life ones. I tried scanning them, but the scan doesn't pick up the detail. So these are photographs. The colors are much better in person. But you'll have to take my word for it. I've listed a couple of them on Etsy just to see how they do.

Blue-Eyed Turtle:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5141735

Skinny Purple Cat:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5141761

My blog is feeling neglected. Don't ask me how I know that. It's not communicating with me in any way. I just had this niggling feeling that it wanted to be talked to. So here I am. Talking to my blog. Or in my blog.

Let's see... What's new since the beginning of December? I can't believe that's the last time I posted anything here. I'm really very chatty and I type fast, so it's just not like me to be this quiet. Maybe I'm just being chatty enough in other places that I don't feel the need to do it here.

I decided a few days ago to venture into the world of making glass magnets. They look so cool, and I ran across some articles on the internet (isn't this a swell place?) about how they're made. It seemed relatively easy, so I decided to try it. Here's one listed on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5129371

Now that I'm here, I can't think of a single interesting thing to insert. I'll just post a picture of my magnet and be done for the day! :-)

Crows have invaded my drawing space. I'm not sure why, but I've just had the urge to draw crows. Maybe it's because I recently saw a bunch of them searching for food in our back yard. Whatever the case, I've created quite a few crows, some with Christmas themes and some just cool dudes.