A muffin kind of day

If you give a mom a muffin,
She’ll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
So she’ll pour herself some.
The coffee will get spilled by her three year old.
She’ll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor, she will find some dirty socks.
She’ll remember she has to do some laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She’ll trip over some snow boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan supper for tonight.

She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She’ll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With a Pound of
Hamburger.)
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill which is due tomorrow.
She will look for the checkbook.

The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two year old.
She’ll smell something funny.
She’ll change the two year old.
While she is changing the two year old the phone will ring. (Of course!)
Her five year old will answer it and hang up.

She remembers that she wants to phone a friend to come over for coffee on
Friday.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
She will pour herself some.
And chances are,
If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

Written by Kathy Fictorie
Based on If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

And that is where my posts have gone. Into the muffin sphere. But when I look for the checkbook I will find the sketchbook since my kids can take care of their own smells, and I will draw in it. Just the scanning or picture taking part does not happen. But soon, because I have plenty of new sketches.

While the muffin story describes my day pretty well, so does this
the mom song
which is what I sound like after dinner trying to get the kids to bed.

An ordinary day

IMG_4940
Originally uploaded by jjs_37

Cats sleeping. making soup (and drawing the vegetables first) and home made bread. The bread was done late and we ate dinner late. Oh well. The irony in the fact that it was late because I was working in my sketchbook is not lost on me.
We are cat sitting but we all love having animals around so I see a pet in our future.

Filling the sketchbook

IMG_4944
Originally uploaded by jjs_37

The paper

IMG_4943
Originally uploaded by jjs_37

Folded and cut and ready to fold up and insert. A good tutorial of how I did this is at http://ninajohansson.blogspot.com/2008/01/fold-simple-sketchbook.html
Then I slipped the first and last page into the tyvek envelopes that are glued to a hard cover. Once I fill this set I can take it out, flip it over and use the other side. Then I can use a new sheet as needed.

A refillable sketchbook

IMG_4945
Originally uploaded by jjs_37

With a whole sheet of Arches cold press inside of it.

The inside cover of the sketchbook

IMG_4947
Originally uploaded by jjs_37

decorated with spray inks

Sketchbook in reserve

IMG_4946
Originally uploaded by jjs_37

I am almost done with my Brenda book so I had to have another exquisite sketchbook lined up. I am still hoping for a new Brenda book for Mother's day but in the meantime I need something so that I don't grind to a complete halt. So I made my own with watercolor paper in it and everything. I collaged a cover piece of paper and then reinforced by ironing it to a piece of fabric. Then I sewed folios of hot press and cold press watercolor paper inside of it. I created a velcro closure to make it fit. I feel very pleased by it and I can't wait to use it.