creative play | customizing a sketchbook
I’ve been spending a lot of time with my Kitchin sketchbooks, reading them, doing pencil studies of the sketches, and scanning each page. Handling them has made me think about my own sketchbooks and how I approach keeping a record of how I see the world. Beyond admiring the artistry, I love how the sketchbooks […]
lessons from queen victoria’s sketchbooks
A few weeks ago, I was searching around for something short and inspiring to watch. Maybe a documentary on an artist? Or a short art lesson? My curiosity was piqued when I spotted The Royal Paintbox on my Masterpiece Subscription. I mean, anything about paintboxes these days is interesting to me! So, I started the […]
French chair from Dreamy Whites
Disclosure: This post is a part of an ongoing collaboration with my friend and business owner, Maria of Dreamy Whites. Over the years, I have promoted Dreamy Whites as a paying customer in addition to promotions in exchange for products. All opinions, as always, are honest and my own. Any time I’m scooting furniture around […]
furniture makeover | painting an old stool
We had an uncommonly warm weekend, so I decided to finally work on painting this stool that’s been hanging out in my garage, waiting for some attention, for almost a year! I picked it up on one of my first antique outings when the stay-at-home orders were lifted. I had no idea what I was […]
Cleaning Calendars – An Opinion Piece
First, I have to start this post with a confession. I had the best of intentions when it came to setting “deep cleaning” as the theme for April. I envisioned taking everything off of the kitchen counters, dismantling the stove, and giving everything a thorough scrub before playing with the accessories. I imagined finally cleaning […]
Creative play | making a cyanometer
Have you ever heard of a cyanometer? I hadn’t either until I was doing a random search for vintage color wheels and came across one. It’s a device that measures the blueness of the sky! How perfect is that for someone like me who 1.) loves blue, 2.) loves studying color, and 3.) loves painting […]
front porch refresh with walmart
Disclosure: This porch refresh is sponsored by . As always, all words and opinions are honest and my own. Do you remember all of the work we did in our yard and our back patio last year? We got porch paint, patio furniture, a power washer, and even plants and mulch from their to spruce […]
the antique sketchbooks of George Herbert Kitchin
This story starts several months ago when I was doing one of my regular check-ins on The Creative Exponent Community Facebook page. I was scrolling through the recent posts and stopped immediately when I spotted a grouping of photos of the most wonderful sketches. They were pencil sketches and watercolors of English cottages with thatched […]