How to Make a Travel Watercolor Kit out of an Altoids Tin

Back in August I made a tiny watercolor sketchbook out of a sketchbook I had lying around. I wasn't fond of the size of the book. It was larger than I like to work with. I was contemplating buying a new one when I decided that buying a new one would be a bit wasteful as I still had this one I never used. I planned to take the smaller one out to do field sketches and wanted it small enough to fit in my purse. 

Well I finally got around to making the tiny field watercolor kit to go with it.

 

There is a whole art of tiny paint boxes. There are some people who make them out of Altoids containers and people who make them out of the tiny, Altoids mini containers. But the extremists make them out of all sorts of tiny containers like this make-up compact or this vintage pill box. I have to admit I'm probably going to be hooked on making watercolor kits from decorative tins after seeing such cute examples.

Most people use some sort of clay to make the pans for the paint, another good idea I have seen is using old soda bottle lids. I opted to be very resourceful (lazy) and use empty gum containers. The whole process is very easy. You just pour tube watercolor out, mix it with a drop or two of glycerine or honey, stir with a tooth pick and let it dry. 

I'm still on the fence of what I want to use for paintbrushes. A lot of people just chop the ends off of their brushes so that they fit in the tin. I'm not sure I want to go that route as I like being able to use the whole brush. I've also been seeing more and more "waterbrushes" which are brushes filled with water that slowly seeps out while you paint, eliminating the need for a separate water container. 

I'm anxious to try it out but today's temperatures of 3 degrees that feels like -18 means that I probably won't be doing any field panting any time soon. Hope everyone is keeping warm and fighting winter boredom.

Secret Life of Bloggers Blog Party: Week 1

I can't wait to get started this year! The Secret Life of Bloggers Blog Party is back! I can't wait to see how everyone's new year's unfolds.This is definitely a new year for me with a lot of big changes. 

The new year gives everyone a chance for a fresh start. We can analyze what didn't go as planned in the previous year and set goals and make plans to reach those goals in the coming year. I'm a big believer in creating goals to achieve, no matter how small. One of my small goals is to take a photo every day. So without further ado, this week's blog party photos:  

12-29-13

 
 Watercolor painted with Jeff. We were both trying a new painting style unfamiliar to us both.

12-30 -13

I bake a lot of muffins at work. Many more muffins than people should bake.

12-31-13

People work where they work for many reasons. I promise my reasons have nothing to do with this industrial sized dough hook...or the ultra convenient automatic bread slicer.

1-1-14

Andy and I had a discussion about his instrument hobby (read infestation.) We weren't sure whether this counted as a 4th fiddle or not as it's not yet assembled. 


1-2-14

Finally got through painting all of my thank you notes from Christmas.

Thanks for reading and I can't wait to see everyone's photos. If you are new to the blog party, add your link in the comments section. Wishing everyone the best year yet!

Goodbye 2013

Another year. I'm always amazed at how fast a year goes and how much happens during one. One of my personal reasons for keeping a blog is to track what has happened in my life. It's great fun to see what I was doing or what I was interested at a given time.

I want to sincerely thank my readers. You guys are the best and have been with me through thick and thin. You keep me going and I have met so many great friends through blogging. I frequently get such awesome emails from readers and love hearing about who they are as individuals.

Some key events this year:

- Joined the crew of Barkentine Gazela.
- I've started taking my photography hobby a bit more seriously. (Probably a joke as those of you who know me personally know I am pretty serious and that a camera is pretty much permanently attached to my hand.)
-My father was in the hospital, which I did not write about.
- I attended a few reenactments that I've never been to before such as Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. 

I found it a bit difficult to adjust to life without school for the first time in over 19 years. It's strange to not have a force making you learn something whether you want to or not.

Plans for 2014:

-I hope to completely redesign this blog to make things easier to find.
- I'm thinking of turning the Secret Life of Bloggers Blog Party into a 365 project. I had a lot of fun with it and it helped me take some time out of my day to find the extraordinary in the ordinary. Anyone who wants to take part this time around, just leave a comment.  
-Much much more!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year! I'd love to hear everyone's plans for this year and new year's resolutions.

December Sketchbook Challenge

This was my least favorite Sketchbook Challenge to date. Not because it was a bad challenge or I didn't like what I sketched but because the topic, "Holiday Colors" pretty much dictated that the challenge had to be in a pigmented medium.  I wanted to sketch in pencil, so this month, my holiday color is white.

I liked the sketch. I'm in the process of making a customized sketchbook and made this little sketchbook out of the scraps.

Overall I enjoyed drawing in it. I just hope next month's challenge is pencil sketcher friendly. If you are looking to get into or back into drawing, the Sketchbook Challenge has been very fun. People interested can post their photos in their flickr group.  

Holiday Butter Cookie Recipe

This recipe is new to me. I was really in the mood to try and make butter cookies. My mom used to make them when I was younger.She used to make them with a press in the shape of camels and stars. They were an adorable Christmas treat. The press died years ago and with it the little cookies.

Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

- 3 Cups Flour
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1 Cup Butter, softened
- 2 Tablespoons Orange Juice
- 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

Instructions:

Cream the butter, sugar, juice, and vanilla extract together until smooth. Add the flour and baking powder.  Form dough into 1 inch thick rolls and refrigerate until still. Slice the dough in 3/4 inch slices and place on a baking sheet 2 inches apart. Bake in a preheated oven a 400 degrees for 7 minutes.

If you want sprinkles on top, dip the dough into the sprinkles before placing on baking sheet.If you plan to use a press, subtract 1/2 cup of flour.

I'm pleased with how they turned out for a first time recipe. It's a delicious recipe for winter, especially with hot chocolate.