Going Into July

 How is everyone? I just cannot believe June is about over already and that means new calendar spreads for July.

Here are the full spreads:

 July is typically a very hot month so I wanted to convey that with my choice of colors and theme. Here are the individual art pages:

 For this page I painted bright acrylic paints all over the page then brayered some white gesso over it to soften it . painted the sun and added white gesso and charcoal pencil to the rays for more depth. "Sun kissed" is a clear stamp from studio g. I used this page for my new banner by stretching and cropping it to fit. My son thinks it looks a bit odd but I don't care;)
 Joining Art Journal Journey one last time this month for the theme of "circles". Looking forward to the new theme in July.

 here I used a deli paper gel plate print for the background. The three stencils I used are from Hobby Lobby. I LOVE using stencils on the Gel Plate along with deli paper! The photo is one I took in Cape May. The image is from a collage sheet by ARTchix Studio. The sentiment was written with paint pens.This particular page is for the Simon Monday Challenge ( stencil it).

 The theme this past week for the Simon Wednesday Challenge is to "use patterned paper".  I could work with this theme indefinitely and still not go through my paper stash!

 This is the card, and envie:

 For the card I used this pretty patterned vellum (Hobby Lobby) over a white note card. The Love die set is from Simon Says Stamp. I tried to match the envie by stamping with the Floral Shadow stamp set by Altenew, three dots from Magenta and frame from Stampa Rosa along with these inks: Onyx Black Versafine; Archival- Buttercup, Pink Peony, Leaf Green and Sky Blue; and Clearsnap Fluid Chalk ink in Warm Red.


 I also have another coffee postcard:

  Products: heavy card stock; text page; Coffee time stamp set (Darkroom Door); numbers stamp (Dylusions); postage stamp; Distress ink in Vintage Photo; Versafine Onyx Black ink; Archival Leaf Green, Turquoise inks; white gesso. Linking to T  Stands For Tuesday and Try It On Tuesday (theme is numbers and/or letters).

 Of course I'll also be joining Paint Party Friday this week!

  Looking forward to watching the Tour De France cycling race which begins Saturday, July 1st and ends in Paris, France on July 21st. It's starting this year in Dusseldorf, Germany, going into Belgium, then Luxembourg before going into France. So excited to be watching the countrysides! What  are your plans for July?

 "The winds of grace are blowing all the time, but it is you that must raise your sails."  Tagore

This Summer Breeze

 Summer Solstice is on Wednesday and I am celebrating it all week! Breakfast outdoors with the birds singing is just the best way to begin the days:

 This morning began with an egg sandwich... and coffee of course. Bring your own cuppa along and join in with me at Elizabeth's T Stands For Tuesday to see what everyone's been up to lately-always a treat!

 Before I go into my art projects I want to share this You Tube video of a song I recently found after hearing a snippet of of it in Kristin's video post. I am in LOVE with the song and lyrics to This Summer Breeze by Martin Carlberg featuring Michael Jaffe:

 I do hope this works and you'll give it a listen as you go thru the rest of my post:)

 For Moo Mania and More (theme is "under water" I made these two ATCS:

 Products: watercolor paper; Peerless watercolors; vintage collage sheet images (ARTchix Studio); Bubbles stamp(Magenta); Versafine Onyx Black ink; white, black gel pens.

 A tag:

 I started with a manila tag and applied coarse texture gel thru the Tim Holtz Woodgrain stencil (forgot to take a pic of that first step-very cool looking). Once dry, the tag was spritzed with Distress spray stains in Fossilized Amber and Twisted Citron. Other products to complete the tag:
embossed patterned paper scraps; dies- Spellbinders Foliage set, Sizzix Thinlits 660220;  bird punch -  Stampin Up; Versafine Onyx Black ink to edge the tag; Tim Holtz mini stapler; Tim Holtz Small Talk Occasions stickers; lg. black brad; black fiber.

 Playing along with Creative Artiste Mixed Media (anything goes); the Simon Wednesday Challenge (Emboss It); and Tag Tuesday (Texture).

 This card is for the Simon Monday Challenge     (theme is "Let's Take a Vacation" ) :

 Products: lg white notecard; white, lime green cardstock; Caran d'Ache watersoluble crayons; Staz-On inks-Jet Black, Mustard; patterned paper scraps; stamps- fountain pen (Limited Edition), postcard (Rubber Tree Stamps), ocean image (Acey Deucy)

 Lastly, an art journal page which began like this:

           a coat of gesso then some randomly placed reinforcement stickers.

 Then comes the color:

           Acrylic paints brayered and stencilled over the page.

 The completed page:

 In addition to acrylics I used a black Stabilo All pencil, and a sticker by Jane Davenport. Joining in at Art Journal Journey (theme is "circles"), and Paint Party Friday.

 Thanks to all the amazing blog/challenge hostesses-mwah!

 I'll be around to visit- in between my summer celebrations:)

" Fostering creativity within yourself and others revitalizes the ability to feel, express, and act constructively-crucial competencies for our world."    Natalie Rogers

We're Havin a Heat Wave...

 ...and no complaints here although I do have the luxury of getting respite indoors with AC when I need to. These temps do not factor in the humidity/heat levels of over 100 F. As you can see it will cool off a bit later in the week. Been spending time outdoors(not in the sun though) and reading:

 Got these from the library and yes I am reading all three at once:)
                                       What are you reading?
                   Do you like to read more than one book at a time? I imagine that if there's  a story line to follow it would be difficult to read more than one at a time.

 Oh my-looking at the titles it just dawned on me-together they are found poetry!:
                                         Designing your life
                                        One soufflé at a time.
                                             Divine dance.

 Still playing with my Coffeetime stamp set:

 Linking to T Stands For Tuesday and the Simon Wednesday Challenge (theme is "masculine").

Products: white, kraft cardstock; patterned cardstock-DCWV; Coffeetime Stamp set (Darkroom Door); inks- Sunflower, Jet Black (Archival), Tea Dye (Distress); heart shaped paper clip.

Mixed Media art journal page:

 This wasn't quite what I had in my mind but as I began working with and randomly pulling colors and just painting I started to see land, buildings, sea and sky-the world. There is some darkness, white for light, red for strength, blue for calm. I added a bit of gold rub on on one of the gears and a bit around the page.

 It began with a wash of white gesso. Made some marks with graphite then a coat of matte medium. The die cut gears and corrugated cardboard were lightly painted with gesso and glued to the page along with book text. I used acrylic paints, black gesso, watercolor crayons, stencil and gold rub-on to complete the page.

 A few detail pics:

  We CAN come out of the darkness cast upon our world today. "Hope for the world" is what was running through my mind as I completed this page.

 Linking to Art Journal Journey (theme is "circles"); Creative Artiste Mixed Media (anything goes); Paint Party Friday; the Simon Monday Challenge (theme is "touchy/feely") and Try It On Tuesday (theme is "steampunk/mechanical").

 Thanks so much for popping in, for leaving a comment and for sharing your thoughts. If you ever have any ? about a products or technique, etc. feel free to contact me. A bientôt!

"The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of  destination and the energy to get started."  Norman Cousins

Life's Ups and Downs

   Well, it's been a week of good and bad, happy and sad, and thus my pensive mood. Let's start on the good shall we?

             my next door neighbors first poppy has bloomed!!

 And speaking of blooming I made this card using a newer Altenew stamp and die set:

 I adore this camelia build a flower stamp and die set! Other products: white card stock; brick patterned paper (Recollections); inks- Versafine Onyx Black; Archival- pink peony, leaf green; Distress inks- worn lipstick, mowed lawn; Staz-On- St. Valentine; Simon Says Stamp-assorted Moonshine Sequins.  Sharing this with the Simon Wednesday Challenge (anything goes).

 On a few sad notes... first off my heart goes out to those in England-again-innocent victims of yet another terror attack. Love and prayers.  Recently our local small zoo acquired two giraffes- a father and son. They were transported here from the Kansas City zoo. Three days later and poor Ernie the son was found dead. Of course there is an investigation going on and people are heartbroken. Personally I feel a bit sick about it and just don't feel good about zoos...

 And just one day after I posted last week- I found this:

 An empty nest.There were 4 babies only a day or so old and the morning I went to check on them they were gone. I looked all over but found nothing. And there was not one sign of any disturbance to the flowers, foliage or dirt in the basket. I'm not ashamed to say I shed a few tears for these innocent ones who didn't have a chance. I really thought they were safe. We do have young blackbirds, a pair of blue jays, cow birds and cat birds which are all predatory and can be a bit aggressive and perhaps one of them took them. Does anyone know- should I leave the nest - I mean, would another bird lay eggs in it-or should I  take it out?

 On another good note LuAnn and I went to McCarthy's again - to have some of that fabulous Caramel tea we had the other week and it was just as good!

   Sharing our pot of tea with Elizabeth and friends at T Stands For Tuesday.

 At Tag Tuesday the theme is "animals" so I made this tag:

 The bunny and flowers is a napkin. I added a sentiment-an old Hero Arts stamp, a little bird die cut, and a few of those SSS Moonshine Sequins I so love!

 Lastly I have a journal page to share. I created it in my 5 1/2" x 8" watercolor journal. It began like this:

 a first layer using my Peerless watercolors. Then came some stamping:

 using black archival ink and the Bokeh stamp set from Ellen Hutson LLC. After that I sponged on some white gesso to tone it down and begin drawing my image:

 And this is my finished page:

 I kept it quite simple and painted her with acrylics, then loosely outlined with a fine black pen. The dress is a deli paper gelli print. Pensive. And the Eleanor Roosevelt quote is just how I was feeling at the time. It's from a collage sheet by ARTchix Studio. Linking to Art Journal Journey for the theme this month of "circles", Moo Mania and More for the theme of "hair", a new to me challenge- Creative Artiste Mixed Media (anything goes) thanks to Valerie's post, and of course to Paint Party Friday!

 Have a great week and be well my friends.

          " Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light."    Theodore Roethke