TSP 2013 - Work Day Starts

Work Day Starts
Pen and Ink with Watercolour

This image is in the wrong order. There are several other household and computer tasks I do before 9:00am, when my work day starts, but I was so excited about drawing the app logos yesterday that I drew this logo today (spoiler alert: I'll draw more logos tomorrow).

I work from home answering phones for TicketWindow.ca. TicketWindow sells tickets for different events and performances throughout Canada (Mostly in New Brunswick, Ontario, and Alberta). Right now, being that it is summer, the phones are not very busy. We do have times when the phones are ringing off the hook, but we are in our slow season. I can and do other work between calls, both on and off the computer. I am tethered to the computer because I use VOIP for TW through my desktop computer, but I have a long cord on my headset.

During the day I get caught up on email, webdesign, social networking, logo design and other client work, blog posting, working on my book(s), working on various projects of my own, research, read, and online education. I also do a bit of housework to force me to stretch my legs (nothing that keeps me off the phone for extended periods of time).  And, of course, I do sketching and artwork...which I can be completed from my computer chair.

You may also view my uploads on my Art House Co-op profile for The Sketchbook Project 2013.

TSP2013 - Eat Breakfast and Make To-Do List

Eat Breakfast and Organize Day's Schedule
Pen and Ink with watercolour

I have my breakfast in front of the computer, more often than not. Usually, it is a bowl of cereal, however, I sometimes will have toast or raisin bread.

While I eat breakfast I organize my day. I used NowDoThis.com to set up a bunch of tasks that need to be done. I grab the information from the different apps and calendars to organize my work day, my housework, and my drawing time.  I find I am most productive when I set up my To-Do list / schedule this way.

NowDoThis is a simple website in which you add the tasks that you want to do in the order you want to do them in. I have tweaked my list several times to find what works for me and I keep a copy of the list in Evernote that I can copy and past it into the NowDoThis window. I tweak it some more for a particular day, then go for it.

Click on the Edit List link and this window comes up.

Write your To-Do list in the box in the order you want to do it in. You can copy and paste it from another program such as a Word file or an Evernote file. You can edit the list throughout the day if you find that you need to change the order or add/remove tasks. Click Ready button when your list is complete and you want to start.

If you add a time to your list, as above, NowDoThis will give you a simple count-down timer. Click Start when you are ready and it will start to count down. 

View of the count-down timer.

When your time is up, you will hear a "ding". You can then click the Done button.

The next item in your list will pop up. I did not add a time limit to this item so no count-down timer showed up.  I will click  the Done button when I finish this and the next item on the list pops up. I usually alternate between a computer task and a non-computer task to force me to get up often throughout the day. You can have several timed items in a row if you want to control your computer time. For example, 30 minutes - read email; 30 minutes - facebook; 70 minutes working on book project; etc. 

When you complete everything on your list you get this very satisfying All Done! message. I try to organize my day so that I get a certain amount of housework completed before 9:00am, which is when my work day starts. I then include a few housework items that take only a few minutes here and there in order to get off the computer and stretch my legs. I have all my regular task, computer and otherwise, completed early in the day so that I have the rest of the day to do creative work with no time limits. 

You may also view my uploads on my Art House Co-op profile for The Sketchbook Project 2013.

TSP2013 - Make Coffee

Coffee being Made in the Morning
Pen and Ink with Watercolour

I enjoy a good cup of coffee first thing in the morning. More often than not, I only have one cup a day. It is a rare day that I make myself a second cup.  The Tassimo Coffee Maker is really good for making individual cups of coffee. It can also be used to make tea, lattes, cappuccinos, espressos, and hot chocolate. We usually have all of those on hand in the event someone feels like having something other than regular coffee.

My lovely black coffee starts my day for me. If I don't have that coffee I feel out of sync.

Coffee is more than just a beverage for me. It is also a chance to socialize with my dear friends.  Now and again one will call me or I'll call one and we go out for a coffee and a visit. Sometimes I'll have them in for a coffee and a visit. "Let's go for a coffee" is my way of saying "I miss you and want to visit." It does not have to be coffee, it could be tea, or any other beverage.

You may also view my uploads on my Art House Co-op profile for The Sketchbook Project 2013.

TSP2013 - Make Bed / Take Meds

Make Bed / Take Meds
Watercolour with Pen and Ink

Making the bed only takes a minute or so to do and it makes the room instantly look better. It is so nice to crawl into a made bed at night.

I take my morning medications and am now nearly ready for my day to start. I changed the colours of my pills to make them prettier and to mask their identities. I will tell you there is a multi-vitamin and a vitamin D in that mix.


When I was painting this image I inadvertently splotched some yellow-orange paint in the upper part of the circle. It seeped into the paper and bled through two sheets of paper/pages. I grabbed a paper towel, a little too late, and tried to sop up the mess on the other side of the page.

I have included images taken with my iPhone of the pages and the mess it made.

At first I thought I would cut out a piece of art paper and glue it to the back of this page and draw on that. Then, I thought, I may try to incorporate the mess into the next drawings. I was not sure what I would do.  I actually have the whole book already planned out, and although I could possibly do both of the above, neither option really spoke to me.

I posted these photos on Facebook and Betsy Jones suggested I used some white opaque gesso on the page and work over that. I happen to have white acrylic gesso so have painted over the back of the page (and the next three pages) and will see how that works. If I don't like the results, I can still paste a piece of art paper over the page and draw/paint on that.

You'll know which method I chose with the next post.

You may also view my uploads on my Art House Co-op profile for The Sketchbook Project 2013.

TSP2013 - Swish and Swipe

Swish and Swipe - Bathroom Cleaning
Pen and Ink with Watercolour

Here you see me using my lovely purple cleaning cloth. I have several of these and they work like magic. You don't need any chemicals to make them work, just a little water. You can use them with Windex or soap if you wish. I mostly just use them with water.

The purple cleaning cloths are amazing. I have cut back, significantly, on paper towels since I got these. I have two cloths in each bathroom, plus two in the kitchen. I carry one in my purse, and I have one in the car.

It takes me less than 3 minutes to Swish and Swipe my bathroom. I do a quick swipe of the toilet with a toilet brush in the bowl and a disinfecting wipe on the rest of it. Then, the sink and counter get a quick wipe down with my purple cloth. I usually give the mirror a quick wipe too. I make sure the sink and counter are dried each time, with the purple cloth, after use. This keeps the bathroom looking sparkly clean all the time and it takes hardly any time at all to maintain. Once a week I wipe down the bottles and knickknacks kept in the bathroom, as well as clean the shower/bathtub. However, these are also wiped down after each use so it really is a very quick job.

Honestly, it takes more time to write about it than it does to do it.

You may also view my uploads on my Art House Co-op profile for The Sketchbook Project 2013.