• 6 Comments

•

Today marks nine months that I've been home. There is so much that I miss. But I am thankful to live with family that I enjoy and we have certainly found some new ways to entertain ourselves. I haven't gotten to paint as much as I'd like, but I did get into watercolor during this time.

I started in May with Let's Make Art's watercolor kits. Sarah's tutorials on YouTube are great. I generally watch once through so I know what's coming and then watch and paint along, pausing as needed or stepping away if I have to let a layer dry.

My biggest struggle is finding uninterrupted time to paint. Watercolor is a little unforgiving to interruptions because things dry when you don't want them too. Even without interruptions that's a bit of a trick.

This little beetle is a mashup of my drawing from Art Starts with a Line (affiliate link) and some watercolor.

Starting this week, I'll be working through the book 15 Minute Watercolor Masterpieces (affiliate link) by Anna Koliadych. I've joined a group with Lori from One-Per-Week. It's basically a pacing group to stay motivated and share our work as we work through the same book at the same time. She has a private Facebook group for the community. If you're interested, you can connect with Lori to join the group here. There's no fee beyond the cost of the book and supplies. I don't have the book in my hand yet, but the first assignments are landscapes.

And last night I received A Field Guide to Color: A Watercolor Workbook (affiliate link) by Lisa Solomon. So lots of painting options in my future! (Don't worry, I won't stop quilting.)

Thanks for visiting.

 

• 4 Comments

•

Fat Quarter Shop is currently hosting the Sewcialites quilt along. With 3", 6" and 9" size options, there are 36 blocks being released one week at a time on the Jolly Jabber blog. One block a week on top of my other sewing sounded like a lot, but I dove in on week one and made this 3" block.

I didn't really have a plan other than to make a few blocks, but I haven't made a second one yet. Someone recommended that I use this block as a rug in the dollhouse we are (very slowly) building. I think that's a lovely idea. Or maybe I'll finish it into a bed quilt for the dollhouse. We'll see.

This tiny little block has 45 pieces in it! And these are the tiniest HSTs I've ever sewn at 1/2" finished.

I think there's more fabric in the seam allowance than in the front!

• 4 Comments

•

My family enjoys board games and we've been playing them nearly daily for months while we've been home during the pandemic. My son is 10 and my daughter is 8. My husband and I are in our 40s. ;-) Here are a few of our favorites. (Affiliate links are included in this post.)

 

Our Newest Game

I'd heard Trash Pandas recommended over and over again so it was on my board game wish list. My son ended up picking it out for my daughter as a Hanukkah gift. She opened it up Thursday evening and we played our first game. It's a fast-paced card came that was easy to learn and fun to play. There's a bit of a press-your-luck aspect to the die rolling. And while many of our current favorites are loooong games, this one is about 20 minutes which feels refreshingly fast.

 

The Cutest War Game Ever and My Daughter's Favorite

In early November, I gave my husband Root. I hadn't heard of it and found it on his wish list. We all love it. My daughter likes it because "it is cute and fun." It's been dubbed the cutest war game ever. Each faction of animals (Bird, Cat, Mouse, and Raccoon) has their own unique game play which makes for a myriad of combinations of play for 2, 3, or 4-player games (or even more and up to 6 players with the Riverfolk expansion which we just got but haven't played yet).

 

Favorite Long Game

If you're looking for a great strategy game that'll take a couple (or more?) hours, Terraforming Mars is a great one! It was originally recommended to my by Christa Watson and we loved it from the start. There's so much going on in this great strategic game and we've added the Prelude and Hellas & Elysium expansions for even more fun. It's all about making Mars inhabitable by raising the temperature, increasing the oxygen level, and adding oceans.

 

Most Nostalgic Game

I recently bust out Rummikub which I started playing in high school with my best friend's family. Similar to the card game Rummy, it's all about building melds of tiles as well as manipulating the board to open new places to play your tiles.

 

The One Everyone Loves

Splendor is a game that I was introduced to by friends years ago. I loved it immediately and have in turn introduced many friends to it, many of whom have bought their own copy. It has easy mechanics, making it  but great strategy and plays in about 30 minutes making it short enough for a rematch or two in an evening. The Cities of Splendor expansion adds four twists to the standard game play.

 

Favorite Card Game

Before I met my husband I was introduced to Bohnanza. It's great with a bigger group and I don't really enjoy the two-player version. I have fond memories of playing with my extended family at the holidays. I introduced my kids to it a few months ago since they are old enough to handle the barter aspect of the game now. We have played so many 3-, and 4-player games in the past few months. And my kids will settle for the two-player version so they have played a couple times without me. This bean game has great graphics that make me smile.

 

My Son's Favorite

My son's current favorite is Tiny Epic Quest. He says he actually like all of the Tiny Epic games. I have to agree. There's so much great strategy and interest packed into a small box. In Tiny Epic Quest you are moving around the kingdom to explore temples, fight goblins, and learn spells. Our most recent game took almost 2 hours, so it's a long one.

 

A Great Solitaire Game

Another one that goes back to high school with my best friend's family is the card game Set. It's great as a rambunctious competitive game, but my daughter really enjoys it as a solitaire game. And playing solo is a great way at improving one's skills for a competitive game.

 

Here's a glimpse of the entire collections. The shelves just went up this week. I'm always looking for game recommendations if you'd like to share in the comments and I'm happy to answer any questions about the ones we own.

 

Thanks to my kiddos for helping with this post and for endless gaming hours with me. :-) I'm participating in Cheryl's 31-Day Blog Writing Challenge. Check out my 2018 favorite board games, too.

What's your favorite board game?