Some Art Stuff Journal Spots Tutorial

I love making art on my computer. Journal spots are a great way to learn about what you can do with Windows Paint. This is a program that comes with every computer with Windows installed. It is usually under accesories. The flood fill tool is the little bucket. Just click on it and choose a color for the left mouse click and one for the right mouse click. The right mouse click will be the color of the negative spaces when you cut things out.

After the flood fill, you can free form cut or use the square to cut out things. Just drag them over to the right like a trash pile. Then you can begin to draw with the pencil or paint brush. There are various widths. Experiment off to the side, you can select and copy to put them into your square. I like to make one cool design and then copy and paste it many times. To get variations, just rotate it from the menu at the top. It is under image. You can flip it or rotate it to make it slightly different. If you think it is too big, just find the little blue dot at the corner and when you see the double pointed arrow on your mouse pointer, drag it to the size you want.

Now the fun begins, select the parts you want with the square select tool and click copy. Then click NEW from the file menu, don't save the one you were working on (like throwing out the trash) and click paste on the new file. There is your square all trimmed and neat. You can continue this process until you have the design you want.

To resize or make this ready for printing just select your saved image and use any photo editing tool, or even the printing wizard from windows. You can use the wallet sized selection to make this into a full page of journal spots.

I made the borders on this one from the above technique. You may use it for free. Enjoy.

Photos of Lotus and her kittens

Stephen has a much better camera than mine and finally got batteries for it. Here are some of the photos he took in the last couple of days. It is hard to get them when they are being still because they are so darn frisky. So most of the photos are sleeping or eating.

A Photo of the Afgan I made for my Mom

I learned to knit in patterns this summer. Armed with a copy of Adventures in Knitting by Barbara Aytes, and a treasure trove of yarn I keep unearthing from the old craft room, I began to knit. I learned what double throws and triple throws were, how to make yarn over patterns and how to knit onto another square. I made borders and finally crocheted a simple shell around the edge. I even made a little embroidered label to go in the back corner.

I just got a lovely thank you note from her telling me how it comforted her in her recent bout with a cold. I told her to consider it a hug every time she uses it.

Fall is here Yay

The days are only in the 90's and the nights require a blanket on the bed. I have actually used the oven. I made a pie crust with olive oil and filled it with hummus and tuna and Trader Joe's Garlic Mashed Potatoes. It was yummy. Had some the next day for lunch.
I am actually looking through my seeds and getting a plan together for the garden. Our best growing season is between September and April. Since the nights are falling into the 50's the seeds will sprout. I can also start to make sprouts for food. Summer time here is low on fresh food, like Winter is in most other parts of the country. The compost pile is cooking away and I have been deciding what to start in pots.
I sent my Mom the knitted throw that I made. It was my first try at actually knitting something with patterns. I used the Barbara Aytes book "Adventures in Knitting" for the patterns. Each square was a different pattern. It was fun learning something new. I made a hand embroidered label for it also. I am now working on a blanket for my great granddaughter Bella. It is going to be a more substantial version of a shetland shawl. I did the center and am starting the borders. I bought my stitch holders for this project from Sevenyaks on Etsy. Great seller.
We have kittens! Lotus had three, white, orange, and grey tiger striped. They are so tiny and perfect. I love to watch them play. Precious little treasures.
As soon as I find my cord for the camera I will post pics to go with these posts. So far the boxes I have unpacked have not yielded any fruit. I will keep looking. It was a great summer and I look forward to the new adventures and surprises that Fall will bring.