Monday Mix

 As I sit and type this post on Memorial Day evening my thoughts continue to be with remembering the many fallen soldiers during the wars, along with those who continue to fight for our protection and freedom.
 Usually this is a day of picnics and the gathering of family and friends. We don't have picnics anymore but did spend a nice afternoon at our neighbors celebrating Buzz's 75th birthday.

 The weather has been hot and pretty humid as you can see above but today the rain held off and the humidity came down so it was a perfect day for celebrating outdoors. This is a quick card I made for him:

 I had been sending Buzz funny cards the last several days but yesterday he lamented not getting a handmade card from me . So today I got this together and wrote a poem about bears for the inside since I nicknamed him "the bear" some time ago:)

 For Elizabeth and friends for T Stands For Tuesday I am sharing my poppy mug of coffee along with an authentic Irish currant scone from McCarthy's Red Stag Pub. If I had eaten it there it would have come with some clotted cream and jam. Elizabeth was lamenting last week about not being able to find a true scone. I am only sorry that I can't send you one of these Elizabeth because I know you would LOVE it.

 And one last entry for the theme of  "Journeys" hosted this month by Erika for Art Journal Journey:

 This is how I created the page:

 A stencil (Paris cathedral from Artist Cellar) was used with stencil paste at the corner (you can see bits of color here and there-remnants left on the stencil previously as I rarely clean paint from them-however it is important to always clean off any other mediums you may use!). I then used Post-It papers to make masks for the sun rays. Pan pastels were used for the coloring along with a white uni-ball Signo pen for the dots. One of the yellow pastels I used has a lovely shimmer but unfortunately I couldn't capture it in the photo.
 Thanks Erika for a great theme and for being a wonderful hostess at AJJ!

 Wishing everyone a great week ahead, and thanks for popping in!

         " Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future."    Robert Schuller

Colorful Days

 Thought I'd start off with something pretty. More on this piece to follow.

 First I want to apologize for not getting around to all those I wished to at Paint Party Friday last week, along with those who had new posts up recently. Our phone line and internet was down on Thursday. Called Verizon and thankfully got someone (despite that they are on strike-yeah- what great timing huh?) and managed to get it all back in working order via phone. And then it all went out again Friday eve. Called Saturday AM and was told the first time anyone could come out would be Wednesday. What????
 Sunday in the middle of dinner prep the doorbell rang and it was a Verizon manager. OK then. I explained the current and all previous issues they had to come out for over the years and it was ALWAYS the line running to the box at the telephone pole. After assessing things he told us he needed to come back with a technical person. Monday early AM he was here with a northeast area technical supervisor , another tech and two trucks. After several hours they resolved the immediate issue along with the promise to replace the archaic line and give us an interface box outside the house (which we should have had all along). No cost to us :) Enough of that now.
About the opening art page...

 It's a coloring book page!! My friend LuAnn had bought it for me for my birthday and although I didn't think it was my thing I decided to give it a go one eve just using my markers. And guess what happened....

 I couldn't stop! Mostly coloring while watching TV and then adding some dots and doodles with black and white pens.

 Here's a shot from yesterday AM out at the picnic table on a gloriously warm, sunny day:

 
 Such fun! So, my question for you is-have you tried any of the adult coloring books out there lately??  And if not, do give it a try-very meditative AND addicting:)
  That wonderful  Citrus Cold Brew tea was perfect for this day. I know it came from one of the "T" gals -Deb I think? (sorry it's been awhile that I have this). Linking to T Stands for Tuesday with Elizabeth and friends.

 Another page in my large art journal:

 It began like this:

 A patterned paper background. Several colors of acrylic paint were brayered over top. Image was penciled in then filled with acrylic paint , lined with Stabilo All pencil. Dress painted with glazes. Butterfly stickers. Alphabet stamps and permanent black ink.

 Also joining again at  Art Journal Journey hosted by Erika this month with the theme of "Journeys", along with Art It Friday- Show Your Face, and Paint Party Friday.  A bientôt!

" Trust in what you love, continue to do it, and it will take you  where you need to go."
                                                              Natalie Goldberg

Journeys In Art

 Well, how is everyone? I survived an unseasonable cold spell but it has returned to warmer weather again thankfully!
  It wasn't a great day last Saturday before Mother's Day but hubby and I walked into town anyway to see the annual (15 years now) Mother's Day Sidewalk Art Show and had a great time! For my Mother's Day gift I got some art (I'll share my art for today at the end:):

 First booth we stopped in was just the one I was looking for:

 the African art by Grace Mugala and her husband. She wanted to show some attitude in this pic:) These paintings were all done by her husband so please click on her name to see just one painting of the stunning fine art painting she creates!!

 Hubby tried to get a shot with the piece of art I got but the cellophane covering got in the way so here is a pic of it:

                                              "Wise Ladies Dance"
 Grace was a joy to chat with and granted me permission to share here. I have admired these works for some time but never bought cuz hubby said it just didn't fit with our home/style. True. But I always regretted not getting something small. So when I saw this booth here again this year that was it! Once our son moves out  it will have a place right in front of me at my art desk in my once again art room:) It was hard to choose but this one kept coming back to me as it reminds me so of my very best girlfriends since childhood and the fun we have anytime we're together! I just know I'll be looking for another next year-or perhaps sooner. To contact her by phone: 484-767-5143.

 Some booths did not allow any photos at all, and some weren't so friendly. But here's another fun booth I had been dying to see:

 I bought a tile with the colorful bird in this last photo on the right. The artist is Linda Shay Gardner, wife of Neville Gardner who owns Donegal Square and McCarthy's Red Stag pub (which we go to quite often!) We know Neville well but I had never met his wife Linda until this day. Linda is an attorney by day and artist by night (and whenever else she can squeeze it in). This is the first time she set up a booth to sell her wares-gorgeous vibrant tiles , mosaic embedded glass bowls and such, and Celtic inspired framed glass pieces that look amazing with a light behind them!! It was so much fun talking with her and hearing about her special equipment and processes.

 It was a great day and I was ever so happy to have art instead of flowers or anything else!

 And now for my bit of art:

  A journal page first layered with texture paste then painted. Collaged with magazine clippings then spattered a bit.

Here's a detail pic:

 Linking to Art Journal Journey (hosted this month by Erika with the theme of "journeys"), Try It On Tuesday (theme is spots, splashes and dots), and Paint Party Friday! Til next time...

"You will recognize your own path when you come upon it, because you will suddenly have all the energy and imagination you will ever need."   Jerry Gillies

Flowers And More

 

   LuAnn is celebrating her birthday this week by spending time alone in the beautiful Adirondacks in New York so I sent her this card early. Remember the other week when she and I  got together and stamped and die cut like mad? Well, these birds and accessories were some of what we did so I knew I had to make her a card using them.
 Here's a more detailed shot so you can see the dimension:

 On Mother's day I received three beautiful bunches of flowers:

                                 from my son Todd's girl friend Kyra

     potted hydrangeas from my Mom who knew I was looking for a plant to replace the one that didn't make it thru last winter after many years

 and these gorgeous red sunflowers from Todd who knows my favorite color:) I feel like I should try to sketch and paint them in the future.

 Speaking of lovely, thoughtful gifts I received a packet in the mail last week and this is what was in it:

  stamps, papers and a beautiful card from Erika! Thank you so much for thinking of me-you're purging is my gain:) I'm thinking though that I should treat my art supplies as I do clothing: if I buy something I must also get rid of something. Ha! we'll see.

 I don't know about where you live but spring played a nasty trick and disappeared over the weekend. It got COLD and windy along with some rain and the threat of frost, so tender plants had to get covered:(  and it is still unseasonably cold, SO, out came a nice big cup of vanilla chai tea (decafe of course) to keep me warm while preparing backgrounds in my journal:

 I'm joining Elizabeth and friends for T Stands For Tuesday. Bring a cuppa and join in on the fun won't you?

 "If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change."
                                                                                                Buddha

Watercolor Art

  I was inspired to play with watercolors again and the piece above was just that. I recently purchased Golden Acrylic Ground For Pastels and wanted to see how it would work with regular cardstock and watercolors. As you can see it worked beautifully and the colors stayed vibrant! I added a wash of colors to the paper once the layer of ground had dried and I saw flowers so I doodled them in with a white gel pen and black Pitt pen. The ground is super for using my Pan Pastels too.

 This is a journal page which had been coated with a thin layer of the ground also. I had seen an advertisement in a magazine of a loosely painted face and had to give it a try. For this page I used only two brushes and a wet on wet technique for this effect:

 Speaking of watercolor art:

Those of you from Paint Party Friday will recognize these darling watercolor projects painted by the talented Emma Kaufmann of StudioKaufmann.

 Emma recently began painting a series of watercolor paintings featuring the traveling guinea pig (above left in Venice and above right in Paris). She is selling her products thru Redbubble.
I bought cards and they are so vibrant and of excellent quality! I already have one in a frame :) Do have a look at Emma's other gorgeous offerings too. I love when I can support a fellow artist. PS Emma, I 'd love to see that guinea pig travel to Ireland, Scotland and India just to name a few other places:):)

 I also received another gorgeous watercolor card in the mail recently:

This is from another Paint Party Friday artist- SusanAriel whose beautiful watercolor art was featured on last week's PPF page! It is such a delicate painting and I just love it! Thank you so much dear Susan for thinking of me. Another piece to be framed:)

 Linking my art projects this week to Art It Friday- Show Your Face and Paint Party Friday of course!

For T Stands for Tuesday I have this:

                  a fish wrap, fries, red wine and lemon water-my choice,

        and a crab patty sandwich, fries and an Irish stout for Bill. YUM!

 We had to take a road trip about an hour away and on the way back we went to McCoole's Red Lion Inn again for a late lunch. The food is always excellent and we had the same waitress we had some months ago who immediately recognized us:). Needless to say I didn't have to make anything for any dinner that evening-too full for anything else!

 In my next post I will share the artists whose art I purchased (Mother's Day gift) at our local Mother's Day Sidewalk Art Show in town over the weekend.
 Until then, happy creating and thank you for sharing your beautiful art!

" The flow of water and paint can be uncomfortable and crazy, but it is also freedom, an escape, therapy, joy, and oh yes, sensuous!"    Angela Lynch

 

More Holidays Fast Approaching!

 It's a late post for my T gang today as I only realized the other day that this coming Sunday is Mother's Day! Yikes, where is the time going?? Still have to figure out what to do for my mom and make some kind of plans but I did get a card done at least (see down further). I know some people will be celebrating  on Thursday, May 5 (Cinco de Mayo) too. Not me. How about you?

 Last week LuAnn and I got together for a day of stamping and mostly die cutting so here are a few picks:

 LuAnn has the Big Shot machine (at the end of the table) and was dying for me to try it out along with the dies and stamps she purchased to go with the Tim Holtz Bird Crazy stamp set. Tons of matching stamp and die accessories for those birds:)

 and we're off! My water for the T Stands for Tuesday gals :)

                            Can you tell I was seriously into it?

 This is only a snippet of the die cutting we did! Needless to say I was exhausted that evening, and sadly have yet a chance to share some finished cards...but we had a great time as always! Thank you for everything Ms LuAnn!

 Here is the Mother's Day card I just made for my Mom:

  and lastly, there is a new theme over at Art Journal Journey this month - "journeys" and it is being hosted by my friend Erika (BioArtGal). This is my first entry for this wonderful theme:

 I was thinking about what I wanted to create when these words popped in my head. So I quickly wrote them down and created the page around them. I am also linking this to Try It On Tuesday for the theme of  "vintage photo", and later this week to Paint Party Friday.

 Have a glorious week and weekend and a happy, happy Mother's Day to all who will be celebrating!

" Peace is the journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time."  
                                                    Lyndon B. Johnson