Thursday, August 27, 2009

Moleskine Trip, Photos by Linda...

I thought I'd share a few photos that my mother took during her time here with the Moleskiners. I hope you enjoy them. The group (minus my mother behind the camera of course) at the Union Street Pub.
Looking down the sidewalk on King Street in Olde Towne Alexandria.

The Capitol by night.

Where's Barb you ask? Well she's in the dark behind us finishing up her sketch in her moleskine. The camera waits for no man!

Getting ready to wander around the Antique Village.

Proof that yes I do sketch in my Moleskine even if I never actually finish a whole sketchbook!

This picture pretty much sums up the sense of happiness one gets when they find a bag's worth of treasures!
Gotta LOVE the quality of the pictures from my mother's DSLR and also her out of this world great sense of composition. Wonderful photos mom! Keep that shutter a flutter!

Moleskine Trip Day3...

Sunday was our day for exploring the town of Kensington where there are over 80 antique shops all in within strolling distance of each other. We were very excited to see what treasures we'd uncover. We arrived at 11am only to discover that NONE of the shops opened till Noon. Well we are a group that is not deterred in the least by a little thing like an hour wait. That just means more time to sit, grab an iced tea, contemplate, sketch, take photos and plan our attack on the as yet unsuspecting shops!
Time enough to notice nice patterns in the shadows.

Think this group would have gotten their fill of books the day before at The Book Thing? Oh, think again my dear readers, think again!

How cute are some of these shops? Just adorable I tell you. Good enough to sit for a moment and sketch.

I fell head over heals in love with these tiles. If only I had an actual house instead of an apartment where I could display some of these next to my house number on the wrap around porch of my oh so cute little home. Can you tell I'm sooo ready for house hunting?

After an afternoon of treasure hunting I drove the group to Silver Spring where our company's office is located and showed them around a bit. Apparently the town was preparing for some kind of summer concert. They closed the street, a stage was being put up and there was just a general feeling of celebrating the end of summer. Children playing in the water, people laughing and having a wonderful time.

Sadly the next morning the Moleskiners had to pack up and head back home to Ohio. I couldn't resist snapping this shot of Barb as she photographed her coffee at Le Madelaine. Look familiar to anyone? I seem to be collecting photos like this as well!
I had a wonderfully fabulous time with these wonderful people despite throwing my back out during their visit. I wasn't going to let a little thing like stabbing back pain ruin a great creative trip like this one!
Thank you Moleskiners for coming all this way to hang with me. I really needed this visit. You guys are one in a million.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Pink Coffee Beans and a Late Night Draw Break...

If you missed my earlier post about what a Draw Break is then you might want to go check it out here.

This is the essence of a Draw Break. Sabrina of Pink Coffee Beans fame tasked me this evening with a "Draw Break". And so without further ado, here it is. Sitting on the couch when I recieved my Draw Break I looked around and discovered that Beanie had left her favorite stuffed animal within my arms reach, so I grabbed it, set it on the arm of the couch and away we go.
Here is the almost finished sketch. I started it in pencil but finished it off in ink. If you click on the picture you'll be able to read my notes and discover the history behind this much loved stuffed puppy.

And here is the owner in action. She sucks on it and kneads it with her paws like a little baby. God help us the day this precious stuffed "security blankey" goes missing. We do have a backup but it would never be the same.
When was the last time you took a Draw Break?


Moleskine Trip Day2...

On day 2 of the Moleskine Trip we spent the day in Baltimore. The first stop was a place called The Book Thing. It's a non profit where you can bring books to donate if you'd like or you can just take books, FOR FREE! Here's the front. The garage door is where you can drop off books that you want to donate. Or you can walk in the entrance and wander around to find some treasures.
Inside there is a curtain that seperates the area closed to the public where they sort the books. This sign says it all. Everyone has their limit!

The books are shelved according to topic, but the shelves are disorganized. They have so much turn over that I'm sure that job would be impossible.

Here's a member of the Moleskine Club, Bruce. He's deep in thought trying to figure out which one of these hundreds of books he's going to choose to come home with him.

After we had gathered our free bags of literary goodies we loaded ourself back into the car and headed to one of The Bear's favorite places, The Lexington Market. He was introduced to this magical place some years ago by some co workers. Here is where he gets the best fish sandwich and oh so fresh oysters!

We parked the car in the garage and walked in. When we walked through the doors we were greated by murals on the walls! Down the Rabbit Hole anyone?

At the Lexington Market you can find just about anything you could want. From beautiful fresh fish.

To fresh produce.

They have crabs, racoon meat, rabbit, on and on. If you want to eat it or cook it then it's here baby!

Then of course you must eat the fish sandwich. My mother has been hearing about this place for years from The Bear. It's a simple fish fillet on white bread. And of course you can't eat at our favorite food stand and NOT eat some oysters! Mmmm, yummy to the tummy.

On our way back to the car lookie what we found! Look familiar anyone?

After the market we headed to The American Visionary Art Museum! What a blast this place is. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures while there. 1 I was feeling a lot of pain and 2 you aren't allowed to take photos inside the museum. If you are ever in the area of the Baltimore Inner Harbor please go and check it out.
After the museum we went out to dinner and had a great meal. I even pulled out the old Moleskine and sketched the peppermill. What a wonderful end to a wonderful day!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Moleskine Trip...

The Moleskiners are here, the Moleskiners are here. The Ohio Chapter decided to take a trip to visit me the Virginia Chapter (previously the Nevada chapter, previously the Maryland chapter)! How cool is that, huh? After a long drive to get here and a little flit down King Street we stopped into the Union Street Pub for a few drinks and some Oysters perhaps?
Of course we can't stop somewhere without whipping out the Moleskine to document the event!
Oh yeah, I got yet another Oyster Virgin to try them! Whoo Hoo! I guess I'm starting to collect pics of first time Oyster eaters!
Not too bad eh? Perhaps another addict in the making?

Giggles galore! Documenting Barb documenting!

In Olde Towne you never know what you are going to find, see, hear or experience. This man was a magician with the water glasses.

I love people who are into their art so much that they have to share it with the world!

After our big day, we settled in for a fun and oh so messy crab dinner. NO, this is NOT May's Crab Shack for all of you back in Ohio that have heard the storys about "That one time we went to eat crabs in Frederick, MD"

I just LOVE the blue crab painting on the menu.

Yep, you gotta do the Moleskine!

If the meal's good and you do it right then this is what you're table should look like. Mmmm, crabs, shrimp and of course hushpuppies! Mmmm, hushpuppies.

The Bear is such a wonderful tour guide. He said "You can't have people come all the way here and NOT show them DC"! So after we cleaned up from our messy crab fest we tooled around DC in the dark.

"Can we get out and sketch?" asks Barb. What a great idea.

Not to be out done, my mother whipped out here Moleskine as well!

I was busy running around snapping photos with my camera and my mother's DSLR!

What a perfect ending to a wonderful day. More photos from the rest of the trip to come!
Gotta keep you coming back for more you know!

Draw Break...

Okay, I'm going to confess something here to you, my lovely and deeply devoted blog followers, that my dearly beloved husband aka The Bear recently brought to light to my fellow Moleskine members. The question was posed "How many finished sketchbooks do you have"? Innocent enough of a question, you'd think. Well the group went around and rattled off various numbers and when it was my turn to answer I meekly, with eyes averted replied "None". Yes that's right, you heard correctly, none, zip, zero, nada. The Bear just smirked and nodded his head, proud of himself for bringing to light my dirtly little secret. You see, my mother was one of the members of this group and he knew that this would get her all riled up and on my creative case. Thanks a lot you tattle tail. Didn't your mother ever tell you that wasn't nice? ;)

Now, I must give a little bit of background so that just maybe you'll understand this little blip in my character. I have a problem, a sketchbook, paper, pen and creative process problem. I have TONS of sketchbooks. All shapes, sizes, colors and types of paper. One for every mood I have had or will have. It's the same with pens but that is a whole nother story for another day!

I start working in a new sketchbook and all is going along just fine and dandy. I get some sketches in it and they look fabulous, I feel proud and then BAM, I get intimidated by my own work and think that I can't possibly continue to do such a good job. What if the next pages are a bust and just don't look good. What if people see what I've been doing and think, man this girl sucks. I know, I know, sketchbooks are for sketching, they are for all those little thoughts, notes and scraps of ideas to be chewed on till they spring to life later when they've fully formed. No one has to see my sketchbook unless I want them to, but that's not what my inner critic is constantly trying to shout in my ear. I have a hard time letting a piece of art that's not quite perfect, live long in this world.

Well I have decided to turn over a new leaf now that my secret is out. Thank you Bear for blabbing and setting me free! It's very liberating to know that I no longer have to hide my shame. Phew, this feels so good! I'm going to fill this current Moleskine till I hit the last page! Yep, that's right, no ripping out of pages (which I NEVER do), no starting over with a new one just because one page doesn't go as planned. Loosen up, and just do it! I'm posting this in hopes that you my loyal blog readers will help to keep me honest and on track.

What's with the title of this post anyways, you are asking? What is a Draw Break? Well, among my fellow Moleskiners we give eachother what we refer to as a "Draw Break". That is where you either send a note, email or phone call randomly and out of the blue to say "Draw Break". The rules of Draw Break are simple. Once someone has tasked you with one, at the soonest possible moment you must reach for your moleskine and draw something, anything, where ever you are, of what ever you see, then you date it and write who tasked you with that Draw Break. So with that said, the Fabulous Barb called me last week and at the end of the phone call just before she hung up she said "Oh yeah, and Rachel? Draw Break". And here it is in progress. I started it after our phone call and finished it while in the car waiting for a friend to arrive for a lunch date. It had been some time since I had actually sketched so this was just what I needed to give me that kick in the pencil case so to speak!

Also it was a great reminder that even 5 minutes in the car is a perfect time for getting in some sketch time.

Do you have a sketchbook? When do you sketch? What was the last thing that you drew? How does working in your sketcbook make you feel? I'd love to hear about the kind of relationship you have with your sketchbook.

Now, dear reader, "DRAW BREAK"!!!!!!!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Creative Contest GiveAway Winner...

After very careful review of all the wonderful entries, we here at Rachel In Full Color have chosen a winner!
NATHAN!
We felt that his answer was not only gut bustingly hilarious but also a prime example of a mail deprived soul in desperite need of the experience of opening the mailbox to find a personally addressed piece of mail just for HIM!
CONGRATS NATHAN!
You are a perfect example of the younger generation (I can say this because I know how old you are :P) that has missed out on the magical world of snail mail.
I specifically designed this contest with a greater goal in mind. I not only wanted to get my readers involved in my blog in a personal way but felt the need to show that EVERYONE, and I do mean EVERYONE, LOVES getting personal letters/notes in their mailbox. With todays emails, tweets, facebook updates and e-cards we have forgotten the happiness that even a simple postcard can bring someone.
So PLEASE, post a note to someone even if the only thing you write is
"Hi"
Love,
------
The runners up in this contest will be notified by mail. Please use your winnings (a blank card complete with stamp and ready to mail) to bring a smile to someone else.
Any one who wishes to express a complaint about our choice for the winner of this contest are urged to contact our "Complaint Dept".
She does not gaurantee to fix the problem but she does promise that you will feel 100% better after speaking with her!
Thank you everyone who participated.
We here at
Rachel In Full Color
love you deeply and couldn't continue to operate without you.
(Look for next month's contest, we are thinking of giving away
a painting!)

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

It's GiveAway Time!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay! I am sooo excited to announce that Rachel In Full Color has gone interactive! Yuppers that's right folks. Here's what's going on and how it works. I have made a fun piece of mail and you my friend have a chance to WIN it! You heard right! The contest is open to EVERYONE! I'm going to pose a question and you just post a comment here on the blog answering that question. I'll pick one and then send you your prize!!!!! Here's the front of the card. The Bn in the upper left stands for "Bean", my nickname.
When you open it up there's a little creative calendar for September!

When you pull out the card there are some dates circled and on the left are suggestions for something new or fun to do on those days to help keep you creative and enjoying life!

And of course here's the back.

I got so excited about creating something for this GiveAway that I made a couple extra items! BONUS! How exciting is that eh?

You thought they were envelopes did you? Well they are and they aren't. They are notes that fold up and become their own envelope! Aren't they the cutest?

I have decided that these will be sent out to the runners up. Hopefully the lucky winners will use them to send to a loved one to inturn brighten their day!

Okay, are you ready for your question?
WHAT DOES GETTING A "just because" OR "thinking of you" LETTER IN THE MAIL MEAN TO YOU?
Good Luck. I look forward to reading your answers be they heartfelt, a memory, unique or just plain funny.
This contest will close at Midnight this Wednesday August 19 and the winner will be announced Thursday!