11/12/24

50 State Quarters: Coloring Pages Using Derwent Inktense Pencils

I've completed four more of the 50 State Quarter coloring pages: Arizona, Illinois, Kentucky, and Louisiana. This time, I colored them with Derwent Inktense Pencils and a blender pen. Affiliate links here and below. 





I'm relatively new to Inktense Pencils and there is definitely a learning curve. I found the Derwent Intense Pencils Beginners Guide by My Colourful Country Life very helpful. Once I learned the basics, it was so much fun to use the Inktense pencils on the different coloring pages. I'm eager to get them out again and practice some more.

This set of four brings me to 30/50 completed coloring pages. These are the other art materials I've used so far:

On to the next set of coloring pages!

11/11/24

A New (Old) State Flag for Maine?

Here in the US, we just had national, state, and local elections. Many of the state and local contests went the way I hoped. As for the national results... well, I don't even want to think about it, let alone talk about it. What I do want to talk about is one of Maine's state referendums. On Election Day, Mainers voted on this question: "Do you favor making the former state flag, replaced as the official flag of the State in 1909 and commonly known as the Pine Tree Flag, the official flag of the State?" 

I was hopeful they would vote yes. The current state flag is one of many state flags that features the state seal on a navy blue background. These flags are hard to differentiate from each other, are not especially attractive or attention-getting, and are difficult for crafting. Maine had the chance to vote in a flag with simple, eye-catching images (a single star and a pine tree). It would have been the only flag in the US with a buff background, making it immediately identifiable. And because it is the former flag of the state, nobody could complain about "erasing history" like you see in ignorant comments left online when other states have adopted new flags. I expected the referendum to pass. It did not

This is the current state flag of Maine:


The is the Pine Tree Flag, that would have replaced the current flag:


How would you have voted? Or how did you vote if you are a resident of Maine? Let me know in the comments. 

11/8/24

Grad Nite

In 1990, I went to Disneyland for Grad Nite with my high school friends. It was so much fun! 34 years later, Trevor went on the bigger and better version of Grad Nite, with 18 hours straight at Disneyland and California Adventure. I used the photos he shared (faces covered with fireworks for privacy) to make this page. 

Grad Nite (affiliate link)

Since most of the photos were taken at night and feature pinks and purples, I did my best to merge those colors with the traditional red, yellow, and black that all Disney-themed scrapbook supplies use. The pop of light blue from the supplies by PhotoPlay help bridge the colors. I'm really happy with how this page turned out. 

11/7/24

The Most Forgotten State Capitals (And Why You Should Remember Them)

I came across a really interesting news article that ranks all 50 state capitals by how many people can remember each one. I can name all 50, both because I taught states/capitals to 5th graders for many years and because I've been to almost all of them (5 to go!). But I recognize that most people don't necessarily know them all. Or they did when they were in fifth grade, but have since forgotten. 

Before I share the link to the article or reveal the most forgotten state capitals, take a minute to make your guesses. If you want, you can take the actual Sporcle US Capital quiz that was the source of the data. 

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Let's start with the capitals that the most people remember. Here are the top 5, in order:

Moving on to the most forgotten. At #5 is Columbia, South Carolina. This is highly unfortunate, because Columbia is an awesome city. It's a college town, adjacent to Congaree National Park, and is full of interesting things to see and do. Don't miss the South Carolina State Museum. 


At #4 is Frankfort, Kentucky. I will admit that Frankfort is not as flashy as Louisville or as well-known as Lexington, but Frankfort is absolutely worth a visit. The capitol grounds are stunning, the bourbon-themed tours are plentiful and interesting (even for non-fans like me), and there are several museums I'm sure you'll enjoy. Eat the burgoo when you visit. 


At #3 is Charleston, West Virginia. Not only is it the capital, but it's the biggest city in the state. We enjoyed the day we spent there. 


At #2 is Concord, New Hampshire. To be perfectly honest, there isn't all that much to do in Concord besides visit the capitol. It's fine, but we enjoyed other places in New Hampshire more. 


The most forgotten state capital is Jefferson City, Missouri. This does not surprise me at all. It's small, only the 16th largest city in the state. There isn't a lot there besides the capitol, while cities like St. Louis and Kansas City are packed with many days' worth of fun stuff to do. It is, however, in the middle of the state geographically, and was founded to be the capital city. Fun fact: it is one of four state capitals named for a president. (Can you name the others?)


Here is the article about the most forgotten state capitals. It's quite interesting. Make sure to read to the end, where they highlight the most common wrong answers. For example, people who don't correctly name Lansing as the state capital of Michigan commonly guess Detroit. A cool city indeed, but not the capital.

11/6/24

Bird Art at the California Raptor Center

Look who I got to see last week!
 

Trevor is thriving at UC Davis as a Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology major. He's currently taking a class called 'Wildlife Ecology and Conservation' and loves it. Most of the lectures are from experts in different areas of conservation. They did a creek habitat field trip, which sounded like great fun, and he just finished a group project about wolverines that he really enjoyed. Trevor is eager to take more wildlife classes and get even deeper into the subject matter. 

In the meantime, he loves the volunteer work he is doing at the California Raptor Center. Last spring, Trevor did a full day working at CRC as part of his Senior Project and was hoping he'd get one of the coveted volunteer positions as a freshman, which he did! He has a 4-hour shift each week. If you visit, you might see Trevor cleaning cages, feeding the Ambassador birds, and possibly even giving a bird some out-of-enclosure time on the glove. Of course, it's just as likely he'd be doing behind-the-scenes work. There are always many, many tasks to be done!

The California Raptor Center is where Trevor completed his Eagle Project in April 2022... and I'm happy to report it looks as good as ever! 


One of the things I love about the raptor center is the growing amount of raptor-themed art. This gorgeous barn owl sculpture now greets visitors as they enter. Read all about how and why it was made in this article


The front of the museum has two raptor portraits on the wall...


... while the entire back of the museum is an absolutely stunning mural called "Bird's Eye View." It is 8 feet tall and 22 feet wide. It features 11 key raptor species from California, as well as 84 insects that are either eaten by those raptors or as their parasites. Trevor and I saw it for the first time at Biodiversity Museum Day. Read more about this impressive work of art in this article



This life-size eagle sculpture has been at the CRC for awhile. I can't find an article about its origins, but I did find an article with a much better photo than mine. 


Many of the enclosures and buildings at CRC are decorated with raptor silhouettes. They add a nice touch. 




I really like this one. 


I love this pair. I imagine a lot of people miss them


There's even art to enjoy in the parking lot! 



If you've never visited the California Raptor Center, I'd encourage you to go check it out. 

11/5/24

50 State Quarters: Coloring Pages Using Himi Gouache

I've finished four more of the 50 State Quarter coloring pages: West Virginia, Iowa, Utah, and New York. For this batch, I used Himi gouache (affiliate link here and below). 





I've only used gouache a handful of times before, so this was all about experimentation. I learned a lot about the way gouache behaves (at least on the paper I used). I enjoyed the vibrancy of the colors and how they blended, but even better was the fact that I could reactivate dried areas. I had a lot of fun playing with gouache! If you've never tried it, you can't go wrong with the kit I used, which is under $20. 

I've now officially completed more than half of the 50 coloring pages. These are the other art materials I've used so far: 

Only (haha!) 24 coloring pages to go!

11/4/24

Introducing Tulip!

There is someone new in the deRosier household! Meet Tulip. 

  

Tulip was very young and pregnant when she was rescued by East Bay Rabbit Rescue. She gave birth to six healthy babies in July and was an outstanding mother. All six babies have now been neutered and adopted, so it's her turn to have a forever home. 

When we adopted Brayden on April 30, we planned to find a companion for him in August after we returned from our Europe trip. Little did we know that I'd be diagnosed with cancer three weeks after adopting Brayden and that August would be about radiation, not bunny adoption. While I'm not "done" with cancer, I'm doing so much better and am able to handle the responsibilities of a second bun. 

We didn't go actively looking for potential bunny friends, but when Tulip's profile showed up in my Facebook feed in mid-October, I felt instantly that she was The One. I showed Steve and he agreed. We both felt Tulip belonged in our home. Of course, Brayden's opinion matters more than ours, so on Saturday we brought him to meet her. 

Brayden has met a fair number of other rabbits and he's largely indifferent to them. That was pretty much the case with Tulip. They ignored each other at first. They each ate a little bit (a very good sign) and each groomed themselves in front of the other (another very good sign) and then Tulip groomed Brayden (the ultimate sign!). They stayed together for 30+ minutes with no issues, so we signed the paperwork and brought her home. And then the real work began. 


Rabbits are territorial, so you can't just add a new rabbit to an existing one's territory without going through a bonding process. To prepare for Tulip, we moved our dining room table and put a fence up to separate it from Brayden's territory. He still has access to the living room, entry way, and stairs (with supervised playtime upstairs). Tulip has a separate enclosure, which is about 8" from the fence. That allows them to get near each other if they want, but not near enough to fight if there's a problem. That's Brayden's existing space on the left and Tulip's on the right. 


Tulip settled into her new space right away, investigating every corner. She used the litterbox immediately (hurray!), sampled the water (she's a loud drinker, just like Trouble was), zipped into the igloo, and poked at each toy. 


  

Brayden watched with interest. 


Throughout the afternoon (when rabbits are usually asleep), they were pretty active. Each took a short nap, but were otherwise up and about. 


Occasionally, they mirrored each other (another good sign). As soon as Brayden heard Tulip munching on her apple leaves, Brayden ran over to his to eat. I loved the chorus of crunching!


During the bonding process, we bring the bunnies together to a neutral location (the family room, where Brayden has never been) to get to know each other. Here, Tulip is asking Brayden to groom her. He is ignoring her request. Whether that's intentional or if he's just oblivious, who knows. (We strongly suspect he was taken from his mother WAY too young and didn't learn basic rabbit behaviors and communication skills from her.)


While it would have been wonderful if Brayden had immediately groomed Tulip, love at first sight is very, very rare. Brayden did lunge at her once during the 15 minute session, but otherwise they seemed perfectly comfortable together. 

In fact, just a few hours after that first bonding session, they were lounging side by side, as close as they could get with the fence in the way. Another good sign. 

  

Unfortunately, the evening bonding session did not go well. Brayden lunged at Tulip again. She lunged back at him and nipped. They avoided each other for a bit, then lunged again. I'm bummed. 

It could take weeks (or longer) to properly bond Brayden and Tulip, but we are hopeful. We're eager to give this sweet girl the home she deserves. Welcome, Tulip!

11/1/24

Binge-Watching

During COVID, Steve, Trevor, and I started binge-watching shows together for the first time. Over the next four years, we completed six entire series from pilot to finale: Frasier, The Brady Bunch, Glee, How I Met Your Mother, Community, and Superstore. I documented our binge-watching with this layout. Aren't the die-cut TV and chair perfect for this page?!

Binge-Watching (affiliate link)

This was the final layout I made for the 2024 BYSS World Series. I scored a home run for the Scrappin' Banshees: one point for using 3+ photos, one point for having a title, one point for using washi tape, and one point for using metallic paper (behind the journaling). Sadly, it was not enough. Twisted Scissors beat us by a mere 12 points, taking Game 3 and thus winning the World Series. Good job, Scissors. It was a fun game.