 Good afternoon people. It is 3.42 ish, PM Sunday afternoon. We woke, we went to bed late, we woke up late, we had breakfast late again. By the time we finished, we got going today. We ended up going upstairs and we wrapped. I think 90% of all the Christmas gifts that have come in so far, I think the husband might have a few things hiding in his office for me, I don't know if they've come in yet or not, but I think we've wrapped everything else. Yours are, the things that have come in are already wrapped and under the tree. There's some more stuff coming in, but it's not here yet. Anyway, we got the majority of the wrapping done, which was top of my to-do list today. You wanna walk the door? Yeah. Hold on. Here. Anyway, so we got that done and the mess that resulted afterwards cleaned up, we're gonna go on a walk now. So we didn't get one done yesterday, so we're gonna go for a walk. See what we can see? Rocky's eating the bowl. He's eating the, what's over there? Tortillas or corn? Yeah, tortillas, corn and pancakes. Rocky likes pancakes. I think he's eating the, he's eating something. Yeah. Anyway, we're gonna go walking, we'll be back. I would say good morning, but I think it's almost two o'clock already. It is Monday, December 7th, that I know for sure. I'm up here, waiting for my Q and A to finish the YouTube video uploads and scheduling. And I guess Bambi's decided to come have lunch at my bushes. Something scared her away. Poor thing. It is just before lunch, Tuesday, December 8th. Don't get excited. First of all, it's late in the day, but I've already been live on YouTube for an hour and a half. Just finished a few minutes. Little skyscape paintings done. One, of course, I put in the bonus page of my December daily during the live this morning, and I just finished painting the rest of them just now. I think I painted one more during the live. This one. But I did the other six just now, and so they are all cool and ready to go. I use the Hemi gouache, which I am really loving working with a gouache. I am gonna need some more white at some point, because the white is going fast. So that's gonna, I'm gonna have to look that up and see where I can get just the white. But yeah, that's all ready to go. I need to do some cleaning up now and wash out some brushes and wrap a few more Christmas presents. All right, that's it for the minute. I'll be back. Morning, people. How are you today? It is Wednesday, December 9th, I think. 9.37 a.m. Obviously I'm in the car, which hasn't happened a lot this year, but it's happened more than I thought it was going to. Anyway, we are in the car. I need to go check the peel box. I need to go get some groceries. It's easier to do it today than to wait until Bob is off of work this weekend because he has other things going on this weekend that he's doing safely, of course. Hey guys, so I have been contemplating re-imagining my artwork table for a long while, actually. And the only thing that's the same is the tray. See, I don't wanna give it away too soon. This tray right here is the only thing that's the same, which is where all of my, like I have a selection of ephemeral bits and stickers and there's some stitching things and just commonly used tools. But if you're like me and you're creative, you have stock of things away from your work table, but you have a lot of commonly used tools and supplies that live on the table. And it's a challenge to keep them organized. It's a challenge to have a system that you can sort of rotate and effectively to use things that otherwise just get put aside. And I'm always rearranging things. It's like a constant like thing. It's like a churning process. I never really get rid of my favorite organizing pieces because I'm always changing things around. But I had a giant lazy Susan on my table and I was just taking up a lot of table space and I didn't have the main part of the table free when I'm working on projects. So I really wanted to do something like clear acrylic drawers. I found some that fit at TJ Maxx. So you have to get a drawer that's about seven and a half to eight inches to fit pencils and things. And I really wanted to have the colored pencils at the desk, but I wanted them to be organized in a different way. I do still have some stuff on top. So this top piece and this two drawer piece came together at TJ Maxx. And then this piece here was a separate piece that I bought I'm gonna change the camera around. So hang on. So in the top, I have my black pens, my white pens, all the other colors. I've got some commonly used tools, my big scissors, glues, watercolor supplies. And this is a current dried palette of watercolor gouache that I'm using. And then these two drawers have your standard colored pencils, Crayola and these Coy, are these Coynore? Yeah, Coynore. These are the magic pencils and multicolored pencils. I'm showing it to you, but you can't see. And then the top drawer has my water soluble pencils, mechanical pencils and all my other pencils along with my blending chamois thing. And then in the top, like I said, black and white pens, all the other colored pens, watercolor supplies, glues. And this is salt. I use this with watercolor. It doesn't really fit over here, I don't think. No, not really. And plus it kind of holds the glue up. Now I touched it and now, you know, I touched it and now it's all funky. I'll fix it later. Anyway, commonly used tools, water brushes, a ruler, bone folders in the back. This one has small tools in this drawer and a pencil sharpener. Small tools I wanna be able to find, but can never find. And if I put them back there, they get lost. All my other scissors and cutting implements the smaller ones. Small, short pencils, pencil stubs, things I wanna kind of use up. Random mini cutting mat and a random cutting equipment. And then this is watercolor supplies. Slow stitching pattern book. My slow stitching bits, tray, slow stitching containers of marked. What it is, what it says on there. Current project basket for stitching. And this is my little bucket of currently using embroidery floss. This is the tray that I'm using for the December daily. I took the really big, let's walk around this way. Lazy Susan that I had. And I changed it over to be all of my paint brushes and mark making tools, which this is gonna actually work really well. And because there's so much room on it, I was able to take things like my bottle openers and things that were hanging in baskets over here. I had two rows of three baskets and I was able to put them on the Lazy Susan. Now I only have one row of three baskets with trolled weights and clips and things to clamp things down while they dry. I also was able to get the paper towels off the table because I had another one of these little curtain rod bar things that is supposed to go on the Ikea pegboard but I don't need it up there and it fits down here. I did have to put some clips right here so it stays tight and it doesn't slide around and open up and have the paper towels fall down but that's gonna work great for me. So this really big space to work on projects which I didn't have before. I only had about half of that. Was I hoping I would be able to get rid of more stuff on the table? Yes, but am I gonna be able to know because I really need or wanna keep all that stuff. It makes me happy but it is a lot more organized than it was and when I'm working on the December daily, it won't be here. It'll be like over there and current books and magazines I wanna do projects and lessons from are gonna be right there which again is great. They won't be covered up. They won't be hidden. I don't have to dig them out and they're gonna be easy to work on. All my current journals I'm working in besides the December daily live in the tray along with ephemera bits I wanna use, my really big paper cutter, a few stitching supplies. That's the kind of thing that lives over here and I love that. Every few months I do have to clean this out. Will I reorganize this? So some of that lives over there in the back? Maybe, but for right now it's working just great. All right, Fred's headed downstairs because I think we're getting an Amazon delivery. All right, that's it for the minute. I'll be back. Clear acrylic drawers and storage set that I got at TJ Maxx today is by on display. It's called a multi-functional cosmetic organizer to stack. I already took the garbage out and I don't see my UPC code or anything on the label, but it looks like this. So yeah, anyway, TJ Maxx. All right, are we crooked? I think we're crooked. I do wanna give you all a tip here. If you have a cutting mat on your work surface this is a large plastic fabric cutting mat from Joann's. It gets to the point where it starts to look really gross. Some of this is from the table underneath and so it's not all gonna come off. I did put a new table, a new mat on my Christmas wish list because I'd like a table that's a little bit wider. I don't think I'll probably get it, but it's on my wish list for Christmas. Anyway, the way to get a lot of this off is you need a couple of things. You need a paper towel, you need some rubbing alcohol, and you need one of these flat razor blade scraper things from the hardware store. So what I do is spray the table with the rubbing alcohol and it's, you know, it's funny because the edges where I have the stuff, the tools, those are clean. It's just, you can tell where the part of the table that I work on, because that's the part that's disgusting. And before I get in there with the paper towel I go in with the blade and that helps you scrape off some of the chunky bits and if the phone starts shaking, I'm sorry, because you're sitting on the table, so. But anyway, rubbing alcohol will help loosen up the dried up bits that are on the table. The razor blade will help you scrape them off. And the rubbing alcohol will also get some of the ink and stuff off the table. If you're like me and you get ink and all kinds of interesting nasty nests on the table. See? So just work at it with some rubbing alcohol, a scraper thing and a paper towel. You should be able to get most of it off. All right, that's my quick tip of the day. I'll be back. So we're out yet again walking in the dark. We decided though, this time, trying to watch where I'm going, to block the couple of blocks from our house down to Panda Express, which we never do. It's literally only like two and a half blocks from the house or something. It's not that far. Anyway, we usually drive because we're lazy, but it's walkable. So we knew we needed to get steps in. Fred had been working late. Plus we didn't want to cook, mostly me. So I said, well, why don't we kill a couple birds with one stone and let's walk down to Panda, which we did. It was a nice walk. It's foggy. Hold on. It's foggy as fuck outside. Pardon my language. I don't know, can you see that over my? Yeah, there you go. It is so foggy out. It's a good walk. Anyway, I'm gonna log off for the minute because I wanna make sure I don't trip and fall. And I'll see you all tomorrow. Hello, everybody. Happy Thursday. It's Thursday, December 10th. And I don't know what time it is and see. I don't even know how to type. It's 1128 a.m. I filmed seven videos this morning, one last night, all of which are on my camera back there that need to be edited. The question is, am I gonna edit them all today and load them to YouTube or am I gonna film the last five videos for the December day we eat today? And then do a bunch of editing tomorrow and Saturday? I don't know. I may do all the filming today. That is a possibility, we'll see. But first I think I'm gonna break and have lunch. And I think an Etsy order came in from my friend Kathy Whitney. So I need to look at that first and also I should probably put the lid on my glue stick all the way. So it doesn't dry out, don't you think? That's a little booger-y, I know. Anyway, and also probably throw my trash away. What's it do? Good morning people. It is Friday, December 11th. I'm something, 9, 25 a.m. December 11th is not a day I like. 27 years ago today, I have my first miscarriage. So it's not a fun day. It's not as painful as it used to be, but it's not a great day. Anyway, we are waiting for the computer to finish booting up. I've got 13 videos to upload and schedule today. I don't know about you all, but are you starting to notice the side effects of corona fatigue? Because I am, I'm having trouble. My husband and I both are having trouble getting to sleep at a decent hour. And then when I finally do get to sleep, I can't wake up and get started. It seems like before 8 a.m. I just, you know, today's 9, 25. I'm finally showered up here. It's just, it's been, I can't, it's been a couple of weeks. I can't call it, you know, insomnia or menopause or any of the excuses I normally use because I just don't think that's it anymore. So anyway, I'm gonna watch some YouTube while my videos are loading and maybe do a little painting. Anyway, we'll see what else I get up to and the dishes are already done. Our little bubble of people are coming over for pizza tonight. We don't see too many people because hello, corona, but we do see the children. They don't see anybody either except us. So yeah, the only other place any of us go to is the grocery store. The occasional bout of takeout food. So anyway, all right, that's it for the minute. I'm gonna get to it because these videos aren't gonna upload themselves and I will be back. Good morning, everybody. It is Saturday morning, December 12th, 10.55 a.m. Don't get excited. Hello, the computer's on. Anyway, just having a lazy kind of slow start to the day. I think Bob is going to go out this morning and go do some Christmas shopping. I'm not going with him because I think he's shopping for me. Normally I would probably go do my own thing and maybe go do some thrifting or something, but it's COVID and I don't think I'm going to. I'm gonna just stay home. Later tonight, he has a class he's going to with the kids and I'm gonna stay home and watch the dog and yeah, I don't know what I'm gonna get up to. It's not like I don't have plenty of projects to work on because that's just, you know, there's space on my table, but projects in between. But I also have laundry and dishes downstairs, but you know, so I don't know, we'll see. I guess next, just before lunch on Saturday. You know, since COVID started, Saturday has become the errand day, you know, husband's off. So it's the day we go do whatever weekly errands we need to do, grocery shopping or whatever. Not that we do a lot of them because of the low COVID. This is the first Saturday in a long time. I don't have any of those things to do. It's close to Christmas. The husband's off Christmas shopping and we do have some groceries to get for next weekend, next weekend, next weekend, but we're gonna do that tomorrow. I have the day to myself today, again, it's a little weird. So I could of course go thrifting or something I probably shouldn't be doing in light of the pandemic anyway, not to mention I don't really need anything. So I think instead I'm gonna go for a walk. Okay, so I did walk the about one mile from my house to the Cancer Society's Discovery Shop and looked around. I didn't buy anything, I don't really need anything, but it was a nice walk. I'm headed back now and I'm headed a different way. So cross your fingers, I don't get lost and yeah. So I'm right off of a fairly busy street by my house. So yeah, anyway, we'll see how it goes. I'll be back. Say this, in case I didn't say it before and or wasn't clear enough, it's the pandemic, right? And those of us who are creative types have trouble dealing with stress during normal times. That's for some of us, that's why we do art in the first place is to work through that stress of life. In the pandemic, we're still doing that, but sometimes it's not even enough. And for me, when art's not enough for me to get rid of the stress, then walking definitely helps in getting some fresh air and I'm already feeling better and I'm not even halfway home yet. So if art's not enough for you, go for a walk or find something you want me to be in on the vlog vector. If art's not enough for you to work through the stress as it isn't for me sometimes, I love my art still and it does help tremendously, but there are sometimes when it's just not enough and I need to get out and I need to get into fresh air and I need to go out for a walk and go for a safe change of scenery. Safe is the key word. Make sure you bring a mask. So if you can't be socially distant, you can put that on, which I have in my pocket. Make sure you stay socially distant when you get home, wash your hands, all the things for the things, but get out of your space, go to the park, walk around the neighborhood, do something, okay? All right, I'm gonna finish my walk and I'll be back. You know, I almost forgot to close the vlog again. It's 741 or so p.m., Saturday evening, December 12th still. I am puppy sitting. Bob is out with the kids. They're all taking a class together and I am here watching the dog and yeah, it's all good. I'll be, she's like, you're interrupting my nap. Anyway, it's been a good week. I mean, you know, it's interesting this year. That's for dang sure. But we made it through another week. We're all good. On to the next, right? I'm gonna be doing another slow stitch portrait. I think I'm gonna start Monday. It will be over in Patreon, so for the patrons. So if you are interested in seeing the videos for that, you need to be a member of Patreon. So the link for that is in my link, treat list of links along with my Etsy shop and Instagram and Facebook and the Facebook art group, all that stuff is over there. And there's other stuff in the video description. So check out the video description for all the places to find me and all the places to support me. I'd appreciate the support if you can. I'd also appreciate it if you go out and if you can find a favorite creator and see if you can support them, especially the small channels. Everybody's really struggling this year. Whether they have an Etsy shop or a Patreon or something, think about it. It would be really great. Also think about something maybe you can do. You can just do for somebody just because whether you're at a drive-through grabbing a cup of coffee and you pay for the one behind you or, you know, just say please thank you. Things are tough enough right now. Waved to people when you're out walking the neighborhood, you know, that sort of thing. Just, you know, spread some kindness and cheer. We really need it right now. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay creative. Please wear your mask and go out and do something nice for yourself because you do deserve it. I'll see you next week. Bye guys.