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| Drawing thumbprint sketches |
When I made my quarterly goal Finish A Long (FAL) list at the beginning of the month, I took a serious look at my projects. Some quarters, I had few finishes. Generally, I rolled the projects I hadn't finished to the following quarter while adding more projects. Many projects would be on the list for years! I decided I needed to either work on those "marinating" projects or move them out of my space.
With 20 projects on the list for this quarter, I also decided I needed to increase my efforts to finish more items. I set a goal for myself to finish four projects this month. I met that goal! I finished a hat, a purse, a bread bag and a skirt. As a result, my gift box is filling. Projects that were gathering dust are now items ready for use. Finished is great!
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| Minkee--one of Martha's fabrics that I used |
I do believe that some projects teach you the lesson you needed before they are finished. I also believe that once I'm at that point, that project gets to leave the studio! It is freeing to create space in this manner! Honestly, most of the time, I do finish my projects. Regarding creating space in the studio, I used three pieces of fabric that I picked up from Martha's supplies that last time I was at her house. (One is the backing fabric for my "New Beginnings" quilt. The other two fabrics are part of a vest that I'm making for my oldest granddaughter.) The beginning of July marked a year since her death.
My goal is to use something of hers each month in a project. Because she was such a "giver," I will gift the majority of these projects. She would be tickled to see her fabrics in finished projects! At the end of the month, JoJo contributed some flannels and some cottons to help me make progress with some of Martha's flannel parts.
On the drawing front, I watched a couple minute video about shading an apple with color pencils. I've played with the technique throughout the month. If you google "Draw Tip Tuesday," you will find other great videos. Most are under 15 minutes. I've enjoyed watching them and I'm amazed at how doable the techniques are!
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| Apple drawing exercise |
I used different brands of color pencils and even different papers. It was interesting to see how different papers and shadow placement affect the look of the finished apple. The exercise was fun. When I shared my drawings with the oldest granddaughter, she said my apple drawings looked real! She also said good job! In my bullet journal, I drew thumb nail sketches of people. I wanted to practice drawing faces. I tried to reflect people of different ages. The youngest granddaughter asked me to draw a zombie girl and a zombie boy. . .I gave it a try!
I taught level one swimming lessons to six kids ranging in age from 4-7. On the first and last day of class the parents view the lesson. This time, all the kids had some kind of first on the last day. For one participant, it was jumping unaided into the water, for another, it was treading water for a few seconds. Their excitement and smile when they accomplished a "first" was so much fun to celebrate!
At the end of the month, I subbed for an instructor for the last week of swim lessons for school aged kids. It was fun to work with the "older" crowd for a change! I even had the opportunity to work with a group of participants that knew the basic strokes so we refined their skills. I haven't taught lessons to "swimmers" in over a decade. Again, there were some "firsts" on the last day. I'll remember the mom taking a video of her son's turn and watching her face when he put his face in the water and moved a couple body lengths on his own. I don't know whose face had the bigger smile! I hope they will enjoy rewatching that video in the weeks to come. I also hope that they continue with the lessons! That week, I taught lessons to 25 participants.
In addition to the 31 swimmers, I trained 32 participants in Basic Life Support CPR and trained 12 Red Cross babysitters. I trained 75 people during July!
I've spent some time developing and refining my August goals so I can continue making progress!
2 comments:
Terry,
I’m so happy for you and your students. Every one of you have accomplished something special!
May God bless your August with awesome moments. Amen
Luann, We sure did have special accomplishments! I I was asked to teach another set of lessons in a couple weeks. I agreed. Let's see if those go at least as well as the last two sets of lessons! Thank you for the prayer!
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