Planner Mash Up

It's a bit of a 'mash-up' today, of Planner

Pages that I've been decorating.  Above, is

the evidence of a more traditional style

planner that is dedicated to Harry Potter

style decorations.  I know, I know. You'd be

surprised how many adults out there are

obsessed. Anyway, I've had the bright

idea to have a 'Harry Potter feast' for our

grandkids this year, and fear I've bitten off

more than I can chew, as the saying goes!

A 'Hufflepuff' themed spread for the week of

Dec. 3-9. Hufflepuff is one of the Wizarding

Houses in the Harry Potter series of books.

Students in the imaginary wizarding school are

divided into Houses for living and educational

purposes. (There are some similarities to

 college fraternities or sororities, but the Houses

are co-ed with separate sleeping quarters.)

Sharing a few highlights today, since I've 

been so remiss in posting.

A few of the October drawings are

some of my favorites...

As we near the end of the year, it gets 

more difficult to write in my Hobonichi, as 

it has gotten quite chunky, and more difficult

to scan or photograph!  It's grown to 

about 2 1/4 inches in thickness.  Maybe

a few too many added layers of

collage?!

The December monthly pages in this mini

Happy Planner depict the impending Christmas

feast.  I even bought Christmas crackers this

year, which is a first.  Hope they have a nice

pop!  Click on the image, to see details of

the gold gnome in a tutu!

I don't make Christmas Cake myself, but my

son makes fruitcake, so we will have that for

Christmas Eve dinner. I also wanted to make

Treacle Tart, but the granddaughter wants

pecan pie, so we will see if it all gets done.

I made a treacle tart at Thanksgiving, (I just

used Karo syrup and the suggested lemon 

juice) as a kind of practice run, and

 thought that the cookie-like crust 

was a bit tough. Did I knead it too much?

Add too much flour?  Leave me your advise

please! 

Linking up for T Tuesday over at 

Altered Book Lover's blog, where we share

our beverage-related posts on Tuesdays.

Stop by to join in, or just visit!  My 

beverage drawings are hidden on some

of these pages. I think I counted six coffee

cups...did I miss any?

Thanks for stopping by...leave me a 

comment and give me your advice on 

making a more tender tart crust!

Wizard Finale

I rather hated to see the end of July arrive,

as I've enjoyed drawing Harry Potter characters

and creatures so much!  Top left, the Hippogriff: 

a magical creature with the head and wings

 of an eagle, and the body of a horse.

Top right, Hermione's familiar: this cat could recognize

untrustworthy people and creatures. (the model

was a Persian cat image online)

Hubby is doing much better after his fall off of

the ladder last week.  He still has some sore spots,

 but at least the muscle spasms have mostly

 subsided. He even went to the State Fair with my 

daughter and I. He is a good sport, and puts

up with my sketching adventures...

and, our son drove all the way from Tennessee

to Ohio to help finish the dreaded "Gutter Project."

It was good to see him, and we are very 

grateful for his help!

To fill in some information for those who haven't

read the Harry Potter books, the owls carried

wizard's messages, just like our mail, only way

more entertaining!  The Niffler is a magical

 creature that is very fast and cunning,

but so cute. A Niffler will steal any shiny object,

especially jewelry, and is very difficult to

apprehend if allowed to escape. 

The Pygmy Puff was a magical creature that was

sold in the Weasley twins' joke shop. (It looks 

suspiciously like the Tribble from Star Trek) I

don't remember if it had a function other than 

being cute.  The baby dragon, which the Wizarding

School's gamekeeper hatched from an egg, was

pretty fierce even as a baby.  It kept setting

things on fire...

The popularity of Harry Potter's wizarding world

seems unabated, and you can even take a quiz

online to see which 'House' that you would be

in at Hogwarts School of Wizardry.  According

to the  Pottermore site (which has the approval

 of the author, J.K. Rowling) it turns out

I would be in Hufflepuff.  Probably because I 

value Trust and Loyalty very highly. (Plus I don't

see myself as highly brave, for Gryffindor!)

It's all in good fun, and hypothetical, of course.

The Patronus is an ethereal being conjured with 

a very difficult, but powerful spell.  The Patronus

cast by each witch or wizard reflected the strengths

and personality of that wizard.  I think the description

compares with the Spirit Animals with 

which each Native American identified. 

 I was surprised to be a black bear!

And on the last day of the month, the prompt

was to explain what wizarding career you would 

have.  No fighting monsters or Dark Magic for me...

just let me make cool stuff!

I am a bit sad to see the end of July,

as it means...

I didn't find any drawing challenges that struck

my fancy, so I guess I will just make collages.

It will bulk up my journal and make it 

chunky for sure!  Joining

Bleubeard and Elizabeth for T Tuesday,

for which I've drawn many coffee cups!

What are you drinking today?

Tribute to Wizards

The month of July is

"Harry Potter Month" in my

Hobonichi A6.

I especially love the 'young' Harry Potter

characters from the first couple of movies.

And of course I've read the books several times

too.  Never mind that they are supposed to be

books for kids.  They are great fun!

After a month of drawing toys in June,

I stumbled upon #thelicklekiwi challenge of

#31daysofharry on Instagram...perfect!

Then realized after a couple of days that many

of the participants are professional illustrators

interpreting the characters in their own

cartoon style. OK then. 

I will still do my own thing...

portrait sketches from photos.

Well, the Weasley twins are kind of

'cartooney' on this page. Didn't have time

 that day for realism, I guess.  

Enjoying doing these, though I admit

I tend to get behind a couple of days

and then catch up, especially when

the family was visiting over the 

4th of July holiday!

"You look in excellent health to me, Potter, so you will

excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I

assure you that if you do DIE, you need not turn it in."

~Professor Mcgonagall

Some suspicious characters...

and some that we

love to hate!

My Instagram is

dbcarey_2000

Linking up with Bleubeard and Elizabeth's

T Tuesday with my Tribute to Wizards,

where we post something beverage-related.

How many beverages did you spot

on my pages?

Hope your day is filled with sunshine!

Thanks for stopping by...