Under Where?

Today, while I was loading the kiln with my advanced art class, I started thinking about the trinkets I have made.
They are all sad and lonely.
Sitting in a drawer in my craft room.
Wishing someone loved them :(
 I have made necklaces out of my favorites. Charm bracelets for my niece.
But the rest of them just sit.
My thought is that maybe I could add a few to my Etsy.
Maybe someone would love them, and then they wouldn't sit there. All sad and lonely. Here are some pendants that I just love:


There are others. Acorns. Cameras. Snowmen.

I will have to see what is there, and then photograph them. Be watching. I'll be adding them soon.

And, tomorrow, I get to work on cards. We get a "mini" break from school for the County Fair and Labor Day. One last taste of summer!!

Happy Wednesday (a.k.a. My Friday!)

Rhoda

And We're Back

Here we go.
Another school year.
My day starts with 7th grade English, is filled with 7-12 Art, and ends with Yearbook.
Should be good.

I'm ready! I think...


Hoping to have some time to post pics of my latest cards, later this week. Last night, we had a major thunderstorm and the colors were crazy because of it.

I did have a chance to make a few new items for the shop.

Here are few:

Spellbound (and there are matching frames to go with!)

Autumn Splendor (there are clip art and digital stamps to go with this one!).

There is another kit, called Rustic Quarry. You'll have to peek on the side of my blog or visit the shop to see it, and the matching frames :)

Happy Monday and Back to School,

Rhoda

What Color?

It's Thursday. Almost time for the weekend! Here's hoping I can distinguish between what I want to do, and what I need to do, and keep my weekend mostly mine. No school. No school. No school. Yeah. Right :)

I woke up a little early this morning, and had a few minutes to color. This is what I am working on:

I have the other 3 birds almost finished, and then I will start cutting. Probably on the drive to get the kids from the grandparents. Good down time :)

I also snapped a few shots of my studio in progress. My husband has been working on one of my corner shelves. I get to paint it soon, but I can't decide on a color. Thoughts? Suggestions?

This is the wall on the other side of the shelf. I will have another shelf built into the wall right next to this wall lamp, so I figured I would show it too. And for a different idea on the colors in the room.

This is the shelf. It looks short, but really, I can just barely reach the T.V. to put a DVD in. And I don't think I can reach that brown ledge without a stool.

And the clock (on the floor) because it gave a better representation of the actual green of the walls. There you have it. The start of my little slice of heaven. It's papaya green, melon orange, and chocolate brown. And I didn't show you the window trim, because I didn't want to shock your monitor. It went a little brighter green that I planned and it looks like a day glow site for a shot gun. Scary. :)

Rhoda

Is It Tues or Wed?

I sat down to reflect on the week, and the activities that have filled my day, and realized that it is actually Wednesday, not Tuesday.

Oops. I lost one in there somewhere.

Two days of teacher training down. Now we have two days of meetings, some work time in our rooms, and a community open house. Busy.

I left my coloring (that I started over on) placed on the china hutch. It's still there. Calling to me. These sweet birds. Some are colorful and others are dull black and white. I feel so sorry for them, but there is nothing I can do. I have to go to school. They will sit uncolored until I get home and find some free time.

And ideas for new graphics. Swirling around in the edges of my brain. Just waiting, but not very patiently :) Might have to take some paper and sketch today during the "business" portion of the morning. Shh. Don't tell.

How about another cute set of birds? I had a hard time choosing between these and the penguins, so I might as well share them both, right?

These adorable little tweeters are in black and white line drawing form too, if you want to do your own coloring.

Happy Wednesday!

Rhoda

Back to School

Yep. I'm back in school. Back to teaching.

And wishing I was home coloring and making cards.

Yesterday, I colored while the kids were swimming. Kyla came out of the water to get a drink. While she was standing by me, a beetle flew in her hair. She started squawking, and shaking her hair.

Water....flew....everywhere!

And all over my coloring.

Not a big deal with the Copics, but the ink from the print out smeared. It worked for practice. I just played with mixing markers and then came home to start over.

Lesson learned. No wet kids by your art work!

Some fun things in the shop:

Colorful Penguins

These are what I was working on coloring. I printed them out in line art. I am going to make cards with them, I think :)

Happy Monday and back to employment,

Rhoda

I Vant to Tell You...

I have been playing with Copic markers. Oh my! I feel another addiction coming on. Or maybe, I just finally found the medium that will mix with my digital art as well. The best of both worlds!

This is what I started with:

Halloween Kids - Black and White Line Drawings

I printed out the witch, owl, and vampire onto Bristol paper. I colored them using a Copic set of 12.

I watched a few videos on YouTube. Asked some questions on the Copic marker Yahoo group (great group of very helpful people!) And then I played. And played some more :)

After I finished coloring them, I cut them out (the ink bled a little with the paper I used, so it helped to trim them up, and I like to cut. Those Cutter Bee scissors are my favorite tool.)

Lastly, I took those little cuties and I made cards with them. The owl is my favorite. I might have to make a whole set of just owls :)

I listed them in my shop.

I have a million more ideas to color...and I need to buy some more markers. Hmmm. Road trip to the big city, maybe :)

Happy Friday,

Rhoda

Give it Some Love:

This treasury is just fantastic. Take a minute to visit, "favorite" it, and then start clicking around.



I want to ride mine too :)

Who's Cute?

Jaime has created some fun things using all of the "Splash" papers that I created earlier this summer.

You can visit here blog her: Cupcake Chronicles

And she also made this adorable flower border, just for you. Download it and use it on your next super cute layout ;)

If you are interested in creating things using Rhoda Design Studio products, contact me.

Before I go for the day...here are some fun new things that I have added to the shop:

Halloween Owls

Halloween Monsters

Fall is coming!

Rhoda

A Long Day

It was a long day. But in a good way. One of those that seems to last forever, and you think it should be later because of all the things you have done. All the thoughts that you have thunk.

Then you look at the clock.

It's two hours earlier than you thought.

So you keep on going :) And after being around the house for a few days, and then this extra long day...
We are thinking it is time to squeeze in another adventure. The start of school is fast approaching. I want out of the house while we can still get out for more than a day or two. And I'm feeling antsy.

A hot springs maybe? A new town with some time to explore (this ones funny...since I keep saying that I really want to explore the ones closer to home...and then I drive somewhere completely different).

I'm wondering where the gypsy in me came from.

We didn't travel that much when I was little. Maybe it was because I loved, loved, loved it when we finally did travel. It was extra exciting and special because it was so rare.

Yep. Adventure here we come!

Two Things Tuesday

I have two things on this fine Tuesday.

Okay. Really, I have more than that, but I'm going to limit it to just two since it sounds better than "three things tuesday" or "five things tuesday". See what I mean?

Thing #1

Tell your friends about Rhoda Design Studio and have them become a fan on Facebook. After you share with your friends, head over to the fan page and leave me a note. I'll enter you into a drawing. Lucky winner gets to choose their favorite item from the shop. The drawing will be on Wed. the 24th.

Thing #2

Kyla was creative yesterday. I told her I would share it all with you, since she is just so dang excited. She used my graphics to create these:

Baby Girl Cupcake Toppers

Chocolate Mint Owl Cupcake Toppers

You can visit her shop here: KylaBugsCreations

She spent hours working yesterday, and has plans for other things to add soon :)

Okay.
That's it. Two Things Tuesday.

Have a great day,
Rhoda

Almost Labor Day...

Only a few weeks left. Yikes. Summer is drawing to a close way to fast!!

I did manage to make it to my favorite swimming hole on Saturday. It wasn't quite a full day there. Kyla stepped out of the water, right onto a bee. She's been stung before, and I was pretty sure she wasn't allergic. We kept an eye on it, and about 10 minutes later her toe was purple. It was about 15 minutes to town, and I didn't want her to have a reaction that far out. While we were walking to the car her leg went all purple and spotty. Not good.
Drove to Salmon (keeping it mostly under the speed limit) and bought some Benadryl. The pharmacist said that as long as she wasn't having problems breathing, it was okay. We hung around my dad's until the antihistamine kicked in and made her all drowsy. Then drove back to the swimming hole (she napped in the car).
The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. Thank goodness. Just a calm, lazy day, by the river. Ahhh.

Sunday. Chores. Blah.

The hubby and I re-stained the back deck. He did the front one on his own while I was off playing. And our lovely kids, they mowed the lawn, raked, AND cleaned the house. They just might be keepers :)

Here are my newest creations:

You can get them in color...

Or you can get them in black and white so you can create your own colors.

I can't wait to make some prints using these!!

Don't forget to check out the post about becoming part of my creative team. You get free graphics in exchange for posting your creations and linking back to me. It's a win, win.

Happy Monday,

Rhoda

Nostalgic...

Summer is drawing to close. Wishing we had gotten some more summer evenings out in the pines.


Guess I will gaze on this and just dream :)

Rhoda

River Time

Salmon was great.

We did go fishing (twice) and didn't catch anything. Still had fun though.

The owl is still doing okay. He is attempting to stand up on his own. Hopefully, the swelling on his brain will go down and he'll make a full recovery. Fingers crossed that there isn't any neurological damage.

The kids and I attempted to go swimming at the public pool. The first night, there were to many thunderstorms. The next night, the pool was closed. Go figure.

We enjoyed natures pool instead and played in the river:

A little chilly. But still fun. Poor Hayden. He has no body fat, and gets cold so fast. He's not in the photo, because he is laying in the sand behind me :) Problem is, when it's time to go, you have to rinse off again. Brrr!

I think another trip to the river is in the works. My favorite swimming hole has the best sandbar this year. I played there yesterday. Heaven.

The shop is filling up. I've tried some new things. You can now find Illustrations and Phone Wallpapers.

They look great on an iPhone, and should look just as great on an Android. What do you think?

Rhoda

P.S. Don't forget to check out the post and join my creative team. The opportunity ends on August 17th.

This is A Close Up?

Oh how I wish my tone came through when you were reading my words some days. Or maybe it's better that it doesn't.

We quote movies and cartoons. A lot. And they pop in my head while I'm writing. Sounds funny to me. Just regular words for you. Oh well. A draw back, but not a major one :)

**the title is a comment Daffy made to Bugs in a Looney Tunes episode**

Okay. Back on topic :)

We decided to be spontaneous and drive over the mountain to the grandparents. We only have a couple of weeks of summer left. Time to get a few more adventures in.

While we were eating dinner, Papa presented our first one. He had a surprise in a box downstairs.

Here it is:

Papa used to be involved in raptor rehab. He was the one the Fish and Game brought all injured or sick raptors to (eagles, hawks, owls, kestrels). He retired from it about 9 years ago, but now and then, they still bring him one.

This poor guy was hit by a car. He's improving. Gaining mobility in his legs again. Eyes are dilating better. He makes a popping sound with his beak to warn us away when we start to open the box. And while Papa holds him, he gazes at us all intently.

The kids get to help feed him this morning. We are all hoping his injuries are temporary and he'll be better in no time.

Fascinating to see them in real life (I've had the opportunity a few times now). It fuels the inspiration to keep drawing them.

We are heading out later to go fishing. Who knows what adventures await us?

Have a great day!!

Rhoda

Did You See?

Happy Monday!

Did you see all the fun things I did over the weekend?

Bikes, Halloween Kids, new Illustrations, blinkies and more!

Here's a recap of whats been going on:

I added new things to the shop. Art illustration prints.

I added some Halloween Kids and Bicycles to the inventory.

And, I made a blinkie! Just for you. I'm hoping to add more in the next week or so. It was my first time making one. Who knew you could do that with Photoshop! Fun, I tell you...FUN! :)

You can grab the code to use in message board forums, if you want. Over on the right...

Don't forget that I am searching for a few good creatives. You can view the details in this post.

Okay. That's all for now. You know I'll be back with something. I just can't help it. Suggestions, comments, etc. are more than welcome!

Aww Poop!

I don't think that will be worn out any time soon. Makes me giggle each time I say it (and see it written with a fuzzy monster!).

Time for something different. A quick how to with two of my newest sets, and some cardstock. A mini tutorial for you.


Supply list:

• Cardstock
• Pattern papers (theme of your choice...Halloween, Bright, Birthday, etc.)
• Glue Stick
• Scissors
• Favorite Black Ink Pen
• 3D adhesive dots
• ink pad (optional)

Start by printing out the Monsters and Halloween Eyes. I resized mine to between 1-2 inches. The eyeballs are about an inch wide. I printed one of each so I could cut out extra pieces to "pop" with the 3D dots. Your choice.

After you print them and cut them out, ink around the edges if you want. Pop dot extra pieces if you decided to cut them out as well. Here are mine:

A close up:

Next. Cut your cardstock to the card size you want to create. I cut mine 6 in. by 9 in. When folded, they are 6 in. wide by 4.5 in. tall. Decorate with pattern papers, brads, eyeballs, and monsters.

See!! It sticks with you doesn't it. Makes you giggle, and want to repeat it :)

And the others:

So? Are those creative juices flowing now? Ready to go create something? Well get going then!

Be sure and come back here to post images of your fun creations.

Don't feel like making them yourself? Prefer premade...you can get these here.

Have a great weekend!!

Rhoda

Are You Creative?

I'm looking for a few good artists. Someone who likes the products I make, can be creative and unique with them, and is willing to invest some time and creativity to help promote Rhoda Design Studio

Does this sounds like you? Can you can meet the following criteria:


then leave me a comment or email me (rhodadesignstudio {at} gmail {dot} com), with a link to your blog, one of your most recently updated galleries, and current teams you are on. Please don't over extend yourself. If you are already on a handful of teams, please pass this post on to someone else who's work you admire that might have more time to invest.

Looking forward to all the creativity!

Rhoda

Work with Play

Thursday already? I'm afraid that August is going to fly by and before you know it, we will be back within the walls of school. It's the cycle.

I'm working on some fun new sets. I'll keep you posted. Would you like to see my office yesterday?

Yep. Those are my tootsies, in the creek. I took one of those plastic deck chairs down to the creek with me and put it in the water so I could sit and work while the kids went exploring.

Cool. Refreshing. Fun. Out of the house! It's the best of both worlds :) Nature and Limited Technology.



And for the evening?
A mountain bike ride up to the Como Falls. It's a little rockier than I like, but we all made it. We had the lake to ourselves other than 2 boats and 2 hikers (who were leaving when we were heading in.)
Our dinner was on a flat rock, looking out over the lake and mountains. The kids playing in the water in between bites. Perfect. Sorry no pics. I was to "in the moment".

Have a great Thursday!
Rhoda

Thank Goodness for Coffee

This treasury was just posted. It says exactly how I feel in the morning. Terrible. I know, but I even start anticipating that first cup of brew before I go to bed!



Be sure and click around. Add some favorites :)

Find an Adventure...

Good Morning :)

Montana has cooled down a bit (thank goodness). Thunderstorms at night. Rain. It's just to bad that it waits till we are sleeping. I'd like to be awake to see the awesome power of mother nature!

It's about time to find another adventure. We've been home and not as active for over a week now. The kids are getting a little stir crazy. Not sure what we should do though. I'm even feeling itchy to do something, and that takes a bit!

My plants out front are begging for some attention. A pic of my chamomile container:

so, before I head off to take care of them and then search for adventure with the kids, I figured I would leave you with a fun idea sketch:
Happy Tuesday,

Rhoda

August and Everything After...

(I couldn't resist the Counting Crows reference...it's one of my favorite albums!)

It's August 1st.
Something kept tickling at the back of my mind.

There was something I was supposed to remember today.

Oh Yeah. Voting opens on the Paper Wings Contest. And I entered.
Please vote for me here: Paper Wings Contest.
There are floating "social tools" on the left of the picture. Click the Facebook "like" button to vote for my entry :)

Thanks!!

Rhoda