Day 5 - Art Every Day Month

Yes, I missed yesterday of AEDM. Sigh. I got half of a piece done, another drawing in my Moleskine. But time got away from me, I spent much of my time writing an article for FEATURING. I wanted to be diligent like Serena was, she said she stayed up until 3 AM to finish her art. But I was just too tired to finish. So this morning I decided to turn the page both figuratively and literally and start a new piece. I'll get back to the earlier piece in the next day or so.

I've been kind of adding things that I need to make art to my Moleskine, so this newest thing, after my Holbein paints and my travel watercolor kit has to be COFFEE. Hehehe. I'm a coffee addict. Like Tracey and her gallons of tea to help lubricate the artistic muscles, I need my hazelnut coffee. It's a need, not just a want people!

I did have a crisis about a month ago about my beloved hazelnut coffee and I thought I'd have to stop my favorite beverage!! Oh the horror! I found that I'm sensitive to or allergic to Splenda, the sugarless sweetener. I used buckets of it everyday (two tablespoons in every cuppa!) and all of a sudden after years of using it, I had all of these strange symptoms. Headache, illness, water retention etc. Because I'm working so diligently on my diet to get it clean of any wheat products (I have a severe gluten sensitivity), I knew it couldn't be anything else I was eating and that was proved out the moment I stopped all Splenda. I was better within 24 hours. Now what? I certainly couldn't add all those tablespoons of SUGAR into my life. I mean, 5 cups a day X 2 Tbsp sugar per cup = more than half a CUP a day. That's not including having a little in my oatmeal in the morning or what if I had a big coffee day, I'd not only put on five pounds but I'd be on a sugar high by dinner, lol.

Unfortunately, I had tried Stevia before and hated the aftertaste but I didn't really have a choice if I wanted to keep my hazelnut coffee. I know, I know, I can hear you all saying, "why don't you just cut down on the sugar?". Ya, that would be a good goal but I just recently cut the whitener down to a teaspoon so doing that to sugar would just make it undrinkable. Besides, I love sweet things and don't love bitter things. It's just my taste buds, they don't like bitter things. SO, off to the health store for some advice. They said try another brand of Stevia and suggested a vanilla flavored kind. I'll admit it took me a few weeks to get used to it and in that time I gave up for days and just had Earl Grey tea (my goto tea, Trace and I agree it's fab). But finally I'm back to loving my hazelnut coffee. I'm once again an OCD, Obsessive Coffee Drinker. ;o)

So here's my Ode to hazelnut coffee, the liquid gold that imbues my art with that certain je ne sais quoi.

Title: OCD (Obsessive Coffee Drinker)

This is the first time I'm using Twinks, can I say, I'm in LOVE? I have a bunch of Silks that I'm learning to use but now I know I'm gonna have to invest in a bunch of these little wonders. The three I used here, Raspberry Wine, Green Tea and Copper, I got from Dion. She generously sent me three colors so I could try them. Thanks Dion, I'm hooked!

Best,

If you'd like to see my first or second piece for AEDM, or if you need APR, just click on the appropriate button below!!

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