multicolor flowers

I guess I'm a sucker for seasonal stuff. I've been enjoying haunting garden centers, taking more photos than are strictly necessary, and taking home a few plants that I suspect I might not kill.

Last year we got this same kind of flower, but in a yellow-orange-pink-fuchsia colorway.

I'll break out the macro lens another day.

Sometimes I just need proof that I took home a flower, put it in a pot, and didn't kill it. 

It's only been in my care for two hours, so far.

new watercolor set

There's nothing quite like a new art supply "high."

They're called "confections" and they do have a candy-like appeal for the rabid art supply collector. Hoarder.

Half un wrapped.

It comes with this cute little perfectly-palette-sized cheat sheet for you to fill in, and all the pans are numbered, but...this is not the order of colors I would choose. So I'll be scrambling them later, and probably trying to cram in some extra half pans in the center section. Eventually I'll flip over that perfect little card and fill in the map for the final resting place of each color.

Are they really artist-grade? I don't know. They were inexpensive, and I bet they'll fade with too much light exposure. But they feel nice while I'm working with them....so...probably I'll get the "pastel" color palette when it goes on sale. Ha.

basket case

I thought it would be fun to try basket making.

But, like, without buying a slew of supplies. 

And I've got tons of paper, sooooooo...

Yeah, I'm definitely taking apart the sides and I'll try something else - smaller - probably yarn.

In cat news, I got to hang out with Peter today.

Like all cats across the globe, he knows when his photo is about to be taken, and prepares to lick his nether regions. Cats!

Meanwhile, upstairs, Taco was watching birds, unaware that I was cheating on him with another cat. 

That's enough cat butt for today. 

😉

basil mania

It has begun - the great basil mania. 

I used to be in charge of the basil, but my husband found out I was apathetic at best, when it comes to taking care of plants. My plants need to take care of themselves...like a cactus. Or they only get watered when it rains. 

Basil under my care did okay, but basil under my husband's care does fantastically. So he's in charge of plants, now.

I'm just showing off the cast-offs from his seedlings. 

They all have names, too. 

I told Taco that these plants are his little brothers and sisters, so he should keep an eye on them.

write on in April

I made an honest woman out of myself, and actually purchased a write_on kit from Egg Press and Hello Lucky this year. 

It is pretty fabulous, but I am a sucker for letterpress and designs about postage and designs involving hands. So. I might be biased. ;)

I didn't quite manage to mail 30 letters in the 30 days of April, but I got close (high twenties?), and I've been in a bit of a mail art slump, so even that was impressive, to me.

Here you can judge for yourself the beautiful write_on cards from their kit.

My mail art has been a little lazy lately - I've just been making the addresses big and bold, and then doing some lettering on the back.

I got into this weird-for-me color palette of blush, goldenrod, hint of umber, and lime peel. 

And turquoise goes with everything, right? I use it like a neutral. Since it is basically the color of the sky, and nobody says, "hey, you really clash with the sky today." 

Or maybe they do say that. I've never met anybody that mean. :p

I'm also enjoying pairing postage stamps with envelope colors. Or....maybe I just like yellow. ;)