Steeped in Spring

  Finally Spring is truly here with warm days AND nights. My Mom and I went to our favorite place to pick up our annuals which are grown in Amish country not far from us. I got everything planted and not an hour afterwards our first female hummingbird was not just sipping the nectar I put out but also checking out my newly hanging baskets-what a joy to see!! Now if only she'd let me get a pic of her :)

 Since May now is half over I thought it time to share my calendar spread for the month. Again, this was inspired by a prompt from my online class with Joanne Sharpe-DYAY. (See sidebar link). I need to link this to Kathryn Crane's calendar challenge-of which I am in it for my third year now).

  This is the spread once I figured out the layout and went over it all with a Pitt pen:

 And this is May painted in with Peerless water colors:

  Freshly Made Sketches has a new sketch challenge for this week:

 I combined this challenge with the Simon Wed. blog challenge - "die crazy" to come up with this card:

  Products; yellow, white card stock (Bazill); patterned card stock (Stampington and Co.); clear stamp (Mega Mixed Messages set - Papertrey Ink); Versafine Onyx Black ink (Tsukineko); washi tapes (Recollections); brad, tissue paper, green felt (JoAnnes); Grand Calibur die cut machine and  dies- Big Scalloped Circles Lg., Floral Doily  Motifs, Standard Circles Lg. (Spellbinders).

 And  lastly , a mixed media piece I did in my watercolor journal which I am linking to Art Journal Every Day, Creative Every Day, Mix It Monthly (theme is "coffee"), Paint Party Friday, and the Simon Monday Challenge "M" ( my entry is mixed media).

                         It started with this page of mopped off stencils from another project.

 I then added a mix of Micaceous Iron Oxide and matte medium (Golden). Once dry I added layers of acrylic paints and reinker glazes. After many more layers of  paints, pencil, glazes and pastels this is how I finished it:

                                                           Steeped in Strength  (5" x 8")

  Besides being inspired by the coffee theme it also came about thru an exercise on scraping and incising in Serena Barton's book Wabi Sabi Art Workshop. LOVE this book which has taught me so much and continues to move me "outside" my box yet "into" the heart and spirit I wish to convey in my work!

 Thank you for your visits and comments. I so appreciate it.  Wishing you a wonderful weekend whatever you'll be doing (which I hope includes some art time:) !

      " Whether you've found your calling, or if you're still searching, passion should be the fire that drives your  life's work."                    Michael Dell