Rebecca Brown
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The Goose Mug

2/26/2023

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Shop Canada Geese Design
I am officially in the very long process of updating my designs on Threadless for mugs. Here is a new one. My daughter had a "duck" mug that I think was actually geese. She loved it and she dropped it. So this is my attempt to replace the mug. I think she'll love it. For a while when you go to my threadless shop it will look like I don't have very many designs for sale. Gradually, that will change as I add more back in. 
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Diamine Inkvent 2022

2/19/2023

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Karl and Norma are back to help me with the voiceover for the 2022 Diamine Inkvent Calendar. I finally got all of the footage compiled from playing with these inks in December. I drew a lot of cats and posted up reels every day. It really was great practice using the Sketch program on my mac! Some of my favorites were Ghost (shifty purple gray), Serendipity (deep teal) , Cosy Up (bright coral pink), Alpine (sparkly pine green) and Spiced Apple (deep red with gold shimmer). The kids seemed to like One More Sleep (happy periwinkle). I'm not sure which of these fountain pen inks I'll be buying full bottles of. They typically get released in March or April. Virtually all of my fountain pen related purchases are made at gouletpens.com (love those guys). Check out the Goulet Pencast on YouTube if you haven't yet. Goulet doesn't usually stock all 25 full size ink bottles from each calendar. You'll have to order directly through diamineinks.co.uk to have the full selection... and it takes a bit longer for things to get to the US from Europe.
Serendipity
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Coming Out of the Fog

1/14/2023

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The park next to my house isn't pretty. The sidewalks are cracked. The bathrooms are closed. The storm drains get clogged.

But the fog hangs like a veil concealing blemishes and deficits. When the world is covered in a haze, it is easier to take in what you can see. Somehow the "less" is even richer. Trees that normally blend into the landscape emerge prominently, declaring their existence. A row of rocks calmly fades into the distance.

Do our brains work the same way, when there is too much to take in, too much to deal with? Should we curse the fog that rolls in or should we embrace it? Sometimes our brains work the way they should. They override systems and keep us from doing too much... seeing too much at once. Unfortunately sometimes brains don't work like they should. What was once a valuable self preservation tool, is now a crippling wall preventing the cognitive thought necessary to live.
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Whenever I think...
"Why don't they just take their meds?"
"Why don't they just get a job?"
"Why don't they just stay away from drugs?
"Why don't they just..."
... I will try to remember that they are stuck in the fog. They can't see the door that's 6 feet in front of them because there is a white wall.
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2024 Calendar Plans

1/13/2023

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2024 is off to a start and the first two weeks haven't allowed much time for art. It is hard to explain and I'm aware that there will be many times that family will be take priority over my creative work. However, I'm becoming painfully aware that if I don't prioritize my creative work, I probably won't be able to function. 

So on that note, let's talk about plans for my 2024 calendars. There will be two calendar versions in two formats this year. The two formats will be the same: large format and small self-print. The first version will be simply the same as 2023. I'll just re-date it for 2024. The second will be a completely new set of art.  I am most excited about an art style that reminds me of linocut, but is done with black ink. Here's an example of one I did a year ago from a picture I took in Arizona 16 years ago. However, I want to dig into my local area and so all of the scenes will be on the Kitsap Peninsula.
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A Winter Walk

12/31/2022

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Despite the threatening look the clouds were giving me, I left the house. It actually didn't matter much what the weather was doing. I was alone in the house and that meant that I didn't need to bring anyone with me. I did bring my quiet companion, my camera. So here's a few pictures from the short but happy outing we took.
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Just Two Goals For Next Year?

12/31/2022

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I do love a good re-cap and goal setting video. Plus I share a bit about what I did with my Inkvent Calendar.
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Merry Winter

12/26/2022

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I'm working on getting familiar with my new camera... a Lumix G95. I took it on a family trip to Idaho and I tried channeling my inner James Popsys. If you don't know James... you should check him out. He is an absolute delight.
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Inkvent Advent Prep

11/21/2022

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Last year I thoroughly enjoyed playing with my Diamine Inkvent Calendar during Advent. Each day I sat down and laboriously peeled the plastic wrap off the tiny bottle and sampled the color within. I did a writing sample, filled a paper star that I added to my garland, and then used it in a spread in my sketchbook. You can find the YouTube video here. I loved taking the time to accomplish something meaningful during such a busy time of year. 

Fall 2022 rolled around and I didn't hesitate to jump on the opportunity again. I've been scheming about the nature of my project for a while. I want it to help me build illustration skills. I want it to be fun. I don't want it to be "too much".

So I am going to create a cozy Christmas scene. Each day I'll open my bottle of ink, smear a sample of it in my sketchbook, and use it to color in a cat. I'll add the cat to my scene and by the time Christmas comes, my room will be filled with 25 crazy, lovable, and curious cats. I can't wait to see what kinds of trouble they get into!
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I'm still adding things to my room, but I thought it would be fun to look back and see what it looks like 9 days before December.
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End of Summer

10/3/2022

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I successfully wrapped up my summer with this Vlog style YouTube video. I hope you can tell how much fun I have making these. Such a fun process for me and I loved sharing all the things I accomplished. The largest of all the projects was my Alaska Wall calendar that you can purchase here on Etsy. It is beautiful. I'm not biased.
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Night Lapses!

10/2/2022

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Every morning in August I woke up energized and eager to see what footage the GoPro had captured over night. I had snippets of the time lapses up on Instagram the whole month of August. It was a blast and I finally got compiled into a YouTube video. So fun to see them back to back in landscape format. 
Such a great project to do with kids to learn through observation!
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Sunset Long Exposure

8/19/2022

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This is a follow up to my previous post: Daylight Long Exposure that has details about how I use the ND filter. Obviously, at sunset you can do a long exposure without using a Neutral Density Filter. However, by using the ND1000 filter I was able to do very long exposures. I enjoyed the smoothing effect much more this time.

Without Filter F4.5 1/40s

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With Filter F4.5 25S

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Without Filter F5.6 1/60s

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With FIlter F6.3 15s

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Daylight Long Exposure

8/14/2022

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I picked up a ND 1000 filter that I could use on our Canon Rebel XS DSLR a couple weeks ago. You can use it to flatten out water or blur parts of your image that are moving because it allows you to take daylight long exposure. Part of the reason for the delay in trying it out was because I would need to use the Manual setting on the camera. This would require my brain. I'm going to detail the steps here so that I can reference it in a couple years when I have forgotten.
  1. Use a tripod and a 2 second delay.
  2. Take a picture using the No Flash Mode.
  3. Take note of the shutter speed and aperture that the camera used.
  4. Switch to Manual Exposure Mode and dial in the same aperture that was used for the first picture.
  5. Multiply the shutter speed from the first picture by 1000 because this is a Neutral Density 1000 filter. The result is your new shutter speed. I made a chart for handy reference in the field.
  6. Switch to Manual Focus and focus the camera.
  7. Put the ND filter on being very careful not to screw up all that focusing you just did.
  8. Take the picture.
No Filter Shutter Speed
ND 1000 Filter Shutter Speed
1/400
2.5
1/320
3.125
1/250
4
1/200
5
1/160
6.25
1/125
8
1/100
10
1/80
12.5
1/60
16.67
1/50
20
1/40
25
1/30
33.33
1/25
My camera's longest shutter speed is 30 seconds.

Without the ND 1000 Filter

4521BA61-85B6-4CCA-999C-8AE4608D7A54

With the ND 1000 Filter

27AE39F1-FE04-411D-932A-955B596124C1
Just to recap... I am not sure I prefer the photograph with the filter. I'll have to try out some different subjects and report back later. Click here to see that post.

Here's a time lapse that I did on the GoPro Hero 8 Black.
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Becky Day

8/4/2022

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I've recently placed myself in the category of Highly Sensitive People (HSP). 15-20% of people can claim this as well. As I was reading Divergent Mind and learning the many ways that I am different from neurotypical people, there were many "ah-ha" and "ohh.." moments. It all completely explains why this was a great way for me to spend my day. Please share in the comments how you would spend a "me" day. I'd love to hear! 

The first 6 minutes I used exclusively audio that I took today. I only added in music at the end. Also, have I mentioned before that I love public transit?

This was also my first day shooting with a Go Pro. It worked out pretty well for this style video so I'll probably use it again when out and about. I noticed a "Night Lapse" function on the Go Pro... so of course I started a project for the month of August taking a time lapse every night. Check my instagram for daily updates and I'm going to put it all together for a YouTube video when it is all over. 

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Oh, JULY

7/29/2022

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As I write this, we are in the midst of a heat wave. I usually have this extra spurt of creativity between 8pm and 10pm, but I'm not accustomed to being completely useless between 5pm and 7pm. Everything is thrown off. 

For a minute there I thought that I hadn't done anything interesting all month. Thankfully, I keep a planner. This month has actually been full of so many uncommon things:
  • We celebrated a family birthday by camping. This involved making my mom carry a three tiered cake with beautiful flowers on her lap on a long and bumpy car ride. She refuses to do it ever again.
  • I've been working on my 2023 calendar. I have a couple months finished, but I feel like I'm more than 1/6th done with it. 
  • Out of town friends came to visit and we met their new baby. Such a blessing to see them after several years.
  • Summer school started for my son and with that came many changes in routine. Thankfully, nothing too bad came out of it.
  • A ton of family came from out of town converging on my mother's house to sew a quilt top for a cousin's wedding coming up. They endured me filming the whole event and I did put together a video that won't be public until after the wedding.
  • Last weekend I took the kids to a nearby beach and put together a great video demonstrating some knots.
  • I've been reading/listening to a bunch of books lately. My recent choices seem to all connect to a new title I've claimed for myself recently: Highly Sensitive Person (HSP).
    • The book I read that directly relates to this is Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You by Jenara Nerenberg.
    • Indirectly I've been reading a number of STEM based rom-coms by Ali Hazelwood. HSPs gravitate to STEM academia and workforce and she does a great job of writing women that are neurodivergent.
    • Lastly, I listened to Cinder. It's a futuristic twist on Cinderella set in New Beijing grappling with a pandemic. I find myself relating to the cyborg main character as she learns new things about how she is uniquely troubled/gifted.
Tomorrow I actually have a "Becky Day". Most would probably call it a "Me Day". You see for each day my husband gets to himself, I get a day to do as I'd like. His days are always spent with the trains in the park, "Train Days". I've got about 15 different ideas for how I should use my time tomorrow... we'll just have to see.
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First Steps

7/1/2022

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I decided last December that I wanted to create a calendar to be ready for the year 2023. My calculations estimate that I need to have it completed by the end of the summer in order to get everything else set up for others to be able to order it in time. I had a lot of different ideas about what calendar to put together. It needed to have a cohesive theme and a consistent style. Should I do urban sketches? What about cartoons or comics? What about using some of my cursive work? Well I think I've settled on doing a combination of collage, cursive copywork, and watercolor. The cow pictured is just an exploration and won't actually be included in the calendar.
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I pulled out this old book written by Sheldon Jackson. I'd purchased it several years ago for no other reason than that I went to Sheldon Jackson College. I know at least one month of the calendar will feature words from this book, but I may do it all! We'll have to see how this all evolves. It is always exciting to move past the brainstorming phase of a project! ​
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Resting Bird Face

6/17/2022

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After getting several dirty looks (something I don't appreciate), I came home and decided to make something good come out of it. First I did a little research and learned that it may even be genetic. I liked the "it's not me, it's you" scenerio. Anyways... owls usually have a serious and menacing look and I knew they would be a great bouncing off point. I especially love this on the mug!
Shop Resting Bird Face
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Prevent Burnout with this simple plan

6/10/2022

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I’m new to being a part-time content creator and I’ve been struggling to come up with realistic goals and timelines for my new vocation. Then, after I fall short of my self defined expectations, what do I do? This video shares with you my new plan inspired by a rotation diet commonly prescribed by allergists for food sensitivities. I like to think that it would also work for others who are driven and committed to their goals. So come along with me on my camping trip. Enjoy a little ASMR and some primitive animation. Learn how to make cotang (a camping inspired lukewarm beverage). Please let me know if you enjoyed this video by “liking” and “subscribing”! Please comment if you try out my strategy or if you’ve tried something similar. I’d love to hear about it!
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Couch Pickle

5/31/2022

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New design! AND IT IS ON SALE!
What is the deal with the Couch Pickle? Watch Goulet Pencast Ep.44 Time Stamp 1:35:00 to catch the reference. These guys crack me up all the time. Drew Brown (same name as my husband) has a son around the same age as ours. He was gifted/allowed to bring an inflatable pickle home from a friend's house... where it now lives on his couch. LMAO when I was watching and I knew I needed to put it on a mug!
Shop the Couch Pickle
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Ocean Wind: That's Science

5/27/2022

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Photo Credit: Chelsea Walsh
So much fun at the ocean last weekend testing out a new microphone complete with a "dead cat" to filter out wind noises. It helped quite a bit, but the winds are strong out there at Pacific Beach. My sister was along on this trip and we took the opportunity to record footage explaining how wind follows predictable patterns at the beach.  Watch and enjoy!
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Beach Bunny

5/24/2022

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We went out to Pacific Beach, WA this last weekend and it inspired me to make the Beach Bunny design happen this week. This little bunny looks ready for some fun in the sun! It wasn't quite swim suit weather on the coast yet, but there were kites! I've got more beach towels in the works too, including one that gives you dragon wings!
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shop the beach bunny
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May Flowers Tic Tac Toe

5/20/2022

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Back with another variation on the classic game of Tic Tac Toe. My kids helped me with the voiceover and the demonstration again. I used the wet on wet watercolor technique to paint simple flowers using fountain pen ink. The Diamine 2021 Inkvent Calendar had so many great colors and it was fun to play with four of them. I love that I've found a simple and non-permanent use for the pretty little things I like to paint. I've been having way too much fun filming B-Roll, so I hope you enjoy those clips!
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Raccoon Besties

5/17/2022

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Shop Besties Design
I just love these raccoons! They make me so happy and crack me up! I created them for a fun caption activity in April and I love the idea of getting a pair: one for you and one for your bestie!

Personally I don't connect with the classic image of besties: a cat and a dog curled up together. But, raccoons eating out of cans while they have a casual conversation: ABSOLUTELY!
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Birthday Ink Samples

5/13/2022

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Shout out to gouletpens.com for being such a fantastic retailer of fountain pens, etc. They have an amazing focus on education and their YouTube channel is all kinds of entertaining! If you want to learn more about fountain pens, absolutely check them out. I signed up for their email newsletter and logged into my account to add my birthday. Now, on my birthday I get an email with a coupon code for 8 free random ink samples. Obviously, you still have to pay shipping, but I am usually just adding this to my order.
I am in no way compensated for my love and support of Goulet Pens... really I just pay them money.
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Bunny

5/10/2022

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It was about time for me to get a bunny on a shirt. Plus I loaded up the design on some new things... like a skateboard, a journal, and a beach towel. This all got me thinking about making a design specifically for a shower curtain... or a beach towel... we'll have to see what I put up for T-Shirt Tuesday next. It might not even be a shirt?

This bunny is the stamp that I carved a few weeks ago and you can watch the process here.
Shop the bunny design
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Hiking Essentials (Plus Some)

5/6/2022

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A slightly informative mostly humorous video about hiking essentials that includes slugs and ends with relaxing creek sounds. Enjoy! New YouTube Videos every Friday!
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