It’s Tuesday and I’m back!
I’m back for week 2 of my goal of reaching out to you each week and catching you up on all of the things going on here in our little slice of paradise. How has your week been? Any big news? I’d love to hear about it!
I had a couple of exciting things happen this week. I registered for the annual Adobe Max Conference – a conference for graphic artists, designers, social media managers, and more. Essentially anyone who works in the online space in some capacity. With over 350 classes, workshops, and presentations, it was hard to narrow down my favorites and create a schedule, whew! But I’m thrilled with the line up of courses I’ve chosen. I found a handful of classes that will enrich my personal art growth – using Illustrator, Fresco, and Draw on my iPad with my Apple Pencil – as well as some classes that will further my social media manager skills (for my day job). As you might remember from last week’s update, I’ve been drawing every day and loving it. I’m especially excited to learn more about the Fresco app as it has a lot of fun tools that I haven’t tried out yet. I’ve mostly been using Draw (the app) since I started drawing again.
The other happy news I received last week is that my dad is coming to visit. He’ll be here tomorrow! Wahoo! And it’s his birthday this weekend, so it will be nice to get to celebrate his bday *with* him for once since we live so far apart. I can’t wait to have a special meal, whip up a birthday treat and spend some time on the lake with him while he’s here. I’ll let you know all about it in next week’s email – and hopefully share some photos if we don’t get too wrapped up in visiting.
In addition to my fun and happy news, we’ve been having absolutely gorgeous weather here on the lake. The mornings and evenings have cooled off and Fall is definitely in the air but the days have been unusually warm, with just a light breeze, and so very pretty. I love Fall here on the lake, with the foggy mornings that burn off into sunshine-filled days. It certainly is a delightful time of year.
With the days getting shorter and shorter, I’m reminded of winter approaching and with the way that this year is going, I’m guessing it will arrive quicker and also slower than usual. Does anyone else feel like time has slowed and also sped up all at the same time this year? While I don’t love the shorter days with less sunlight, I do always try to find a silver lining each year before winter arrives. This way, I can begin to prepare myself for the shorter days and also have something to look forward to because of them. Last year’s shorter days had me looking forward to long, lazy evenings. I had a busy year last year with more on my plate than I would like. I couldn’t wait for those long evenings, filled with slow dinners, book reading, and longer sleeps. I’ve spent this year, cutting back on some obligations and truly working towards a more “slow living” lifestyle (a big part of my desire to move into the wilderness on a lake). This winter, I’m looking forward to lots of extra drawing hours after the sun sets. I’m eagerly anticipating those delicious hours of darkness to draw to my heart’s content!
Speaking of drawing… this week, I finished a new project for the Freebie course on Make Art That Sells website. The assignment was to draw a day in your life and of course, I had to make mine a stack! As you can see below I’ve added my yellow desk (where all of the magic happens), one of my succulents (drawn from one of my plants in my garden), my kitty Rocky (he’s always in the mix), a bit of the lake and the forest that surround me every day “grow” out of that lovable fur baby.
I’m also working on a series of flower drawings from the #30daysofflowers challenge. Below is flower number 18 – Cornflowers! Of course, my flowers have all gone into stacks too. Eventually, I’d love to turn them into patterns for fabric also!
I take time to draw every morning. It’s become a zen time for me in the mornings when the whole house is quiet. My hubby is off in his man shed having coffee and I put on a podcast to listen to while I draw as the kitties all nap around me on the bed. My favorite podcast this year has got to be Dolly Parton’s America. It’s filled with incredible interviews with Dolly and tons of people who know her and have interacted with her over the years. The producers put together a beautiful story of her life and her ability to bring everyone together no matter their class, religion, or color. I also really loved hearing about the gorgeous Appalachian mountains. I can still picture Dolly’s mamma sittin’ on the porch and little Dolly runnin’ around playin’. They did a great job of painting a picture of her childhood, her fans, and even Dollywood (where I hope to visit some day).
**A drawing of Dolly that I did for The Beatles inspired "unstack" that I drew inspired by the song, Don't Let Me Down.
At night I’ve been using the Netflix-and-chill approach to my down time in the evenings – I’m sure many can relate. With all of the stress of the ‘Rona out there, racial injustices, and the upcoming election, I love to watch something fun or silly to tune out the world for an hour before bed. Lately I’ve been watching AJ & the Queen with Rupal and oh my goodness, is it delightful! The first episode or two felt a little forced but once Rupal, and his little co-star who plays AJ, got comfortable with their roles and I learned more about their characters, I quickly fell in love with them both. The story will make you laugh and cry and it even has some incredibly suspenseful moments! I highly recommend it if you haven’t watched it already. I imagine it’s one that I’ll watch through again at some point. It was that heartwarming story we’re all in need of right now.
That’s it for me for this week. I didn’t get the opportunity to make anything brand new in my boutique so I’ll leave you with a couple of favorites below that I created in the last couple of months. And if you want to keep up with me day by day be sure to check out my Instagram or my TikTok – @blumebauer – (did I mention I’m having so much fun over there?!)
I’d love to hear about any big news you have this Fall or which shows you’re loving on Netflix or podcasts you’re listening to. All you have to do is hit reply and your message will come straight to me!
Love you all!
*hugs and kisses*
~Blume
WHAT'S NEW IN MY BOUTIQUE!
A few of my favorite things that I've created over the past couple of months. I'm always working on something new, stay tuned for some fun Fall and holiday designs soon!
**You can find all of these in my shop at: theyellowdesk.com - or click on the individual item and it will take you to the page in my shop where it resides!
From top to bottom: Dreaming in Flowers Gift Wrap, and part of my series of "Cat Rap" Camp Mugs - adorable kitty illustrations by me placed on super cute camp mugs. There are 12 in the set. Get your favorites or collect them all!
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