Brooklyn's Best Baking Company

 I drove up to St James on Saturday for a craft fair...it wasn't great. Luckily I happened to see a post the other day about a new bakery/coffee shop that recently opened up there so I took the address with me to check it out and see if it had sketching potential. Brooklyn's Best Baking Company at 420 Lake Ave, St. James was a delight! The display cases included bite-sized portions of cheesecakes in about 6 different varieties, cookies, scones, carrot cake, brownies, cupcakes, etc. It was so hard to choose! I had a coffee and a piece of carrot cake which was the first thing I sketched on my page (after I had a bite because I couldn't wait). They have a small area with tables for seating. My thanks to the friendly staff that didn't question why I was there for so long. I couldn't leave before buying something else to have after dinner tonight. FYI they do make larger sizes if you are interested. I think it is a good thing that they aren't closer to where I live.

I'm trying to do some of the USk December 2025 Prompts and this fit the list as a "coffee Shop."

My Library

 I started off the month with good intentions of following the USk sketch prompts, but have been sidetracked by other things and haven't done the sketch for each day. I did the library prompt. This is the exterior view of the Sachem Public Library here in Holbrook, my town library. The actual entrance is around the back, but I thought this view was interesting and I was able to sit in my mobile studio across the street in the parking lot of the school...much too convenient to pass up. Hopefully I will get to a few more of the items on the list.

Here are the December prompts just in case you are interested.

Sketches for Creative Spark

 These sketches were all done for a recent Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt.

Bottles

Footware

A cartoon character

Procreate Sketches While Waiting

 I've had my new car for almost a year now. It needed to be inspected in December and also needed an oil change. I figured if I waited for the first week of December I could take care of both at the same time. I made an appointment at Sunrise Toyota in Oakdale. I joined quite a few people that were waiting for their cars in the service area. Planning ahead was a good idea since I got to do a few sketches on my iPad while I waited.

The bottom two sketches were done as continuous line sketches. 

Decorated for the Holidays

 This shop is on Bellport Lane in Bellport. I think it is a pet store, but I'm not sure. I couldn't find a name. I do know that in the summer they usually have a bowl of water out for the dogs in town. 

Blueberry Cheesecake

My husband has a thing for desserts with blueberries...pie, cheesecake...you name it. 

Cathedral of Saint John the Divine - Part 3

 A musical rehearsal was scheduled for 2:00 so I headed back into the main part of the cathedral. There were a number of people setting up and doing sound and lighting checks, but no performers ready to rehearse. That was disappointing because hearing music in there is heavenly. I sketched until our meeting time for show and tell at 3:00 focusing on the piano and the area around the main altar. Due to limited time I didn't finish all of the color on site. I made sure to do the ink lines and was able to do a little of the color, but the rest was completed at home.