Do you have supplies left over from your scrapbooking days now that you've moved on to sketching? Wondering what to do with them?

Tomorrow, down at Keeton's in Bradenton, I'll be doing a live class and we're going to be working on a mixed-media page using scrapbooking paper as the main design with watercolor, stencils and colored markers to make a fun and festive page.

Come and join me if you can! More info here. Hope to see you there!

After coming home from a trip, I always have grand plans for all the pages I'm going to do based on the great photos and wonderful memories I have. Sound familiar?

And then life, work and daily living gets in the way. Sound even more familiar?

Those pages still exist, but they're only in my imagination and they fade with each passing day.

Each trip, I do a little better by getting more done in my sketchbook while on location. However, there will always be more pages to be done when I return. Both our Acadia trip from last fall and the Winter Interrupted workshop from this winter await the finishing touches.

Luckily for me, I had a little help from one of the gals that helped me Interrupt Winter, Claire McFeely. Actually, it was more than a little help—she's been a powerhouse of inspiration because she recently finished all 48 pages of her trip and she's been sharing them on a private trip blog we have.

The other "help" I have is that my brand new Apple computer, the Big Mac Daddy, is back at the big house for yet more diagnostics and repairs. I am so over this situation and I knew I need some serious distracting from the situation, so I pulled out all my saved materials and photos and went to work. BTW, distraction is a marvelous tool to get going on a stalled project!

Final Day and a Page of Thanks Stillman & Birn Zeta Sketchbook Watercolor and Ink

On the NOLA trip, we lost a stool on the very last night. On the last evening of Winter Interrupted, one of the ladies' hats decided to separate from its brim in a rather dramatic fashion. After a wonderful walk on the beach, we had dinner at a little grill where we sat outside to enjoy the wonderful breeze and listened to the waves crashing into shore.

That single-serving bottle of bubbly Moscato wine was ridiculously expensive, but just too cute to pass up and the wine was good. The ink on this page reads as black but is actually a grayed blue. It worked well with the restaurant's logo colors.

Happy reminders of a wonderful trip Stillman & Birn Watercolor and Ink

During our adventure to John's Pass, the bag above was spotted. Since it had eight flip-flops on it and there were eight "Beach Sisters," the Sisters decided to gift the bag to me as a happy reminder of the trip and to show their appreciation. After they gave it to me, I had each of them sign their names to a flip-flop…I still need one more signature that I'm determined to get one of these days, soon!

Commemorating A Wild and Wacky Mother's Day

Ever go to Gatorland on Mother's Day?

Ever been to Gatorland...at all?!

Well, we have! We went this past Sunday with family and friends and it would not do but some of them just had to go zip-lining over the gator ponds!

The Zippers

And they all had a blast. So much so, that I've already heard discussion about a return trip though we'll probably wait for cooler temperatures—it was HOT! (And yes, I know this is Florida, the land of there perpetual summer!).

The park had plenty of alligators and crocodiles along with lots of other critters—panthers, bobcats, tortoise, parrots, budgies, snakes, spiders, herons, egrets, flamingos, ducks, wood storks, anhingas, a rookery,  and without a doubt, the most buzzards I have ever seen at one time! There were hundreds of them!

It was interesting to watch the shows. Most of them were quite comical and at the same time, they were sliding in a lot of education about the critters, their habitats, what kind of environment and food they needed as well as a good bit of common sense about how to avoid being lunch.

My sketch above was just a fun parody on the goofiness of the day! The folks that ran the zip line were great sports and did everything they could to scare the pants off all the "zippers." (At no point was anyone in any danger.)

My goofball having a great time. If you enlarge the photo, you'll see me as a pink blob doing some videoing on the right

The Great Blue Heron was the only thing I actually managed to sketch on location. Everything else was done from photos once we got home. I was too busy running around attempting to video those flying through the air with the greatest of ease.

The silver token has the saying, "See you later, alligator" on one side and the Gatorland logo on the other.

If you're after a slower pace and a glimpse of old Florida attractions, this is a fun place to visit. Unless you go zip-lining, it won't take you a full day to visit, but I think you'll be glad you did!