September Desktop Calendar & Printable Calendar

Yowser...it's almost September!  You know what that means...?!  October is only a month away.

October, glorious, glowing month of the year.  Fall in full flush, knitting high season and my absolute favorite month of the year!
Oh, whoops...not quite here yet.   Here's September's calendars....

Click here to download the September Desktop Calendar

Click here to download the September Desktop background (with no calendar)

Click here to download the September iPhone/iPad Background

Click here to download the September Printable Calendar

August Desktop & Printable Calendars

August is definitely the month of sunshine in the south.  I always associate August with the colors yellow and orange...I'm not sure why.  But it all fits into my color assignments of different things, seasons and even months, as I mentioned here.

Click on the links below to download the calendar of your choice (choose the size you need for the desktop & iPad/iPhone versions):

August Desktop Calendar

August Desktop (without Calendar)

August iPhone/iPad Background

August Printable Calendar

Please note:
All images and elements are copyright Robin Sample.  You may not reproduce, recreate, or sell in any way.  But please feel free to download for your own personal use.  If  you share (I'd love that!) please direct your readers to this post to download the file.  Thank you!

Doodling

Here are a few pages from my sketchbook....

Since we got back from our trip, I haven't had much time to sit down and really draw or paint.  So, I grab 5 minutes here and there to just doodle and sketch.  

Simplify

A never ending process.  

More New England Sketches

These are from the Hand Book sketchbook I got just for the trip.  I'm really enoying this sketchbook....I know I'll be buying more of them.  The paper takes watercolor just great and it's a perfect size.

I'm still working on sketches in this book, but here are a few :

more to come...!

Sketching New England

I had the same experience as this talented lady when it came to sketching on location during our vacation.  I only completed one sketch on site!  Even though it wasn't a "sketching" vacation, i.e. I knew we would be doing a lot (sketching in between), still I thought I'd get a few sketches done on the trip.

But, I have lots (!) of pictures in my head I'm working to get down on sketchbook pages.  It's slow going, though.

I worked on a little journal for a several weeks before we left.  Kind of a planner and sketchbook combo to record all our stops and plans, as well as a few pages just for sketches.

The first pages had our packing lists, itinerary and hotels/inns/camping reservations :

I did a page that showed what our planned route would be.  That ended up getting changed a little bit, but we did see all the stops we had planned on seeing.

I also bought my first Hand Book sketchbook for the trip, and did a cover page before we left.  I'll have a few of those pages next week.

Just Be You

I see a lot of these kinds of quotes on Pinterest:

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."
"Be yourself, everyone else is taken."
"Be yourself.  An original is always worth more than a copy."

I'm kinda known to be a woman of few words, so I say :  Just be YOU!

The Desire to Draw

IF : Liquid

My favorite liquid...Tea!

Sketchbook 05.18.2013

A peek into my sketchbook :

I seem to have food on the brain!

IF : Future

The theme for Illustration Friday this week is "Future."  My immediate future includes a vacation!

Just like it says : a road trip to New England (!!!).  This is the cover of a little handmade journal I'm doing about the trip.  It'll have all of our necessary info in it (itinerary, confirmation numbers, packing list, etc.) as well as a few pages to sketch during the trip.

I tend to spend more time thinking about what to pack for my arts & crafts than I do for my clothing when it comes to vacations.  Which sketchbooks (and how many), which palette, how many pens and pencils, water containers, et al consume many hours of thought.  And then there's what knitting to take, how much reading material, etc.  In comparison, clothes are simple :)

Timeless Moments

"A sketchbook can transform a moment in time into a timeless moment." - Nick Meglin

I love this quote from the author of Drawing From Within, one of my favorite books about drawing.  In fact, I'll be doing a little review of this book in a couple of weeks, so check back for that!

I love to look back through my sketchbooks and see what I was doing / thinking about / focusing on during a particular time.  When I look at a page in my sketchbook, I can always remember what I was thinking, or feeling when I was drawing.

I love how drawing slows you down, makes you notice what you're doing.  I kind of feel bad for people who don't keep a sketchbook, because they don't have that :)

Do you keep a sketchbook?

Sketchbook 04.27.2013

Here's a peek into my sketchbook from the last couple of weeks :

There's a lot of flowers and spring greens these days!

Sewing and Handwork

I have enjoyed doing a bit of handwork lately (It seems to have taken the place of knitting for the moment).  I'm still on the hexagon kick.  I just keep making them, and then stitching them into flowers, and sewing the flowers together :

I figure if I just keep going, I'll have a tablecloth before too long!  In the photo above you can see the little hexagon bag I made a few weeks ago.  I use it to keep my hexagon making supplies in - paper patterns, fabric, thread and scissors.  That way I can take it with me wherever I go.  And of course, I can draw it...

Sketchbook 03.25.2013

A few things from my sketchbook this week :

My desk is one of my favorite places to be!

Our front yard is always a beautiful sight in spring when the forsythia and daffodils are in bloom.  

My little see-through travel pouch for making hexagons and yo-yo's (which are very addictive!).  

The eyeglasses were for Illustration Friday last week, but I didn't get them posted in time.

APR : What do you overlook?

This week's theme for the Artist's Play Room was "What do you overlook?"  A counterpoint to the theme a couple of weeks ago "What do you treasure?"

I had to think a bit....but, it's the ironing.

This is my iron, and I like it. It's old and has a good weight to it, so it presses well.  But I gotta say I like painting it way more than I like using it :)

What's sad is that my iron stays set up in my studio for quilting and sewing.  All I have to do is set up the ironing board and get it done.  But I'm always behind, or forgetting, to do the ironing.

Sketchbook 03.16.2013

A few things from my sketchbook this week :

IF : Yesterday

This was my favorite fragrance when I was a teenager.  I remember clearly the scent, and just the mood it created.  Even now, I would love it if they would make this scent again!

Sketchbook 03.09.2013

Trying some different things in my sketchbook this past week.

I'm reading through this book, and the first "assignment" was to sketch a person (not a photograph) in 3 mediums : pencil, ink, and brush.  I do the first two often, but I hardly ever just start with my watercolor brush. Not without putting down a pencil sketch or ink first!  But I was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out.  I might even try it again:)

Doodles :

APR : Treasure

This week's theme for Artist's Play Room is "What do you treasure?"

Well, that's a weighty question.  My first response is to think of  this quote from Matthew 6:19-21  - Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

So, my life's goal is to have my treasure in heaven, not on earth.  One of my treasures in heaven will be the relationships I formed  here on earth.  Especially my most important earthly relationship, my husband.  So in celebration of that, I did this little sketch of our wedding day decorations:

Paper lanterns, twinkle lights, candles hanging from a tree, hydrangeas, delphiniums, and gingham ribbons.  A treasured day!