Category Archives: Art

Judy’s Photo Challenge – The Numbers Game

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…today’s number is 230

Thanks to Judy Dykstra-Brown for hosting The Numbers Game https://judydykstrabrown.com/2026/01/19/the-numbers-game-108-please-play-along/

Today’s number pulled up photos from my past as a little girl, my granddaughters, flowers, views from High Park, art, my husband after a bike mishap and my son’s balcony garden in London.

Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge – Journal

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…thanks to Sue W and Gerry C for hostting Weekly Prompts https://weeklyprompts.com/2026/01/17/weekly-prompts-weekend-challenge-journal/

Before Christmas I treated myself to a brand new journal. I purchased it at the Holiday Market from a lovely woman who makes these journals by hand. Each one was different, using a variety of papers and fabric. My husband gifted me a beautiful Lamy fountain pen so I’ve been experimenting with it in this book. To be honest with you I’m very bad at keeping journals going for more than a month but because of its small size I can see carrying it around with me and taking it with me when I travel. My goal is not to tackle it every day but to at least open it once a week or when I’m inspired to add something to it.

Play Along With Judy

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…thanks to Judy Dykstra-Brown for hosting the Numbers Game https://judydykstrabrown.com/2026/01/12/https-judydykstrabrown-com-2026-01-05-the-numbers-game-107-please-play-along-jan-12-2026/

Today’s number is 229. Just type it into your photo search box and see what comes up. Here is what I found.

Happy New Year

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…no New Year’s resolutions

Just making the best of every day. In the past I’ve tried making resolutions that were too ambitious. For example, I used to set a goal of making art every day. As soon as I missed two or three days in a row I felt like I had failed and instead of getting joy out of making art it became a chore. So this year I’m hoping to do one thing a day that brings me joy.

Yesterday I read my first book of the year. It’s a children’s book but I highly recommend it to anyone from 8 to 88.

Charlie Mackesy is both author and illustrator. The book is full of inspirational quotes and I know that I will be going back throughout the year to lift up my mood and stir my creative juices. I like Mackesy’s loose style of drawing so I picked up my fountain pen and opened my new journal. I wrote down my first quote and copied one of the illustrations.

Other things that bring me joy are walking, taking photos, baking, crafting, spending time with friends and family, travelling, going to the cottage and making art.

My one goal this year is to share my joy with you!

Judy’s Numbers Challenge

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…this week’s number is 227

This week’s number brings back memories of a visit to the High Park Zoo, an art exhibit at the ROM, a day at the opera with my good friend, LInda, several of my art projects from years ago, friends and family, photos from my retirement party and pictures from the cottage.

The Cute and Christmasy Factor

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…the reason why my husband’s cards outsold mine

Kevin is very talented and had a lot of fun creating our annual Christmas cards but he also made numerous other images that had a winter or Christmas theme. Here are some of the images that I had printed and made into greeting cards.

A Busy Time of Year

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…from writing cards to making soup for the unhoused

This year I sent out over 75 Christmas cards. For the last three years my husband, Kevin designed our Cards and had them printed through a printing company. Last year we went through a postal strike so most of our cards didn’t arrive to their destinations till well after Christmas.

This season both Kevin and I donated our time, energy and money to support our communities and individuals who aren’t as fortunate as we are. A good friend of mine has given three Ukrainian families an opportunity to work in her home. It’s an arrangement that has been beneficial at both ends, especially after C suffered from a stroke last year. These amazing women helped her with cleaning the house, doing her cooking and preparing meals.

A couple of other friends have also used these women to clean their homes. They left Ukraine when the war broke out while their husbands stayed behind to fight. This Christmas, C and her husband put out the call for new items so that these women and their children could have a Christmas. I spent a day shopping for presents and two more days sorting and wrapping gifts.

Kevin has always wanted to make soup for the unhoused. Another friend, B has been working with the unhoused for a number of years now and told me about a project where people can come every Friday and pick up food and clothing. Right now tables are set up on the street and people line up to pick up a hot meal, some groceries and warm articles of clothing.

This past week Kevin made a huge pot of soup that made about 30 servings. I helped him take the soup to the drop off and I stayed to serve it up. Another woman had also made soup so there was plenty for everyone and there were lots of trays of other hot foods like tortellini and other pastas. It was bitter cold but I didn’t really feel it until the soup ran out.

Today, after shopping for ingredients, I finally got around to making bags of Party Mix and dozens of chocolate cookies for my Christmas plates that I hand out to my neighbours. I’m hoping to make more cookies tomorrow.