Summertime Fun

 Just a detail from a watercolor and collage journal page but you'll have to wait to see the complete page:)

 First some great news!!! Todd and Kyra are finally moved into their apt.! Saw it earlier today and it is lovely. I have my art room back but will spend time reorganizing and purging in between making art. The clean out is way overdue.

 Summer seems to be flying by. I just saw a sign on Google that said "summer should get a speeding ticket" and I couldn't agree more.

 Recently I had a small celebration for my Mom's 75th birthday:

 and of course we toasted with champagne! Once I added the photos here I immediately noticed how her top coordinated with the cake, the dishes, the card and the tablecloth:). The tissue paper was a white paper I stamped all over using the same flower as on the card because I didn't have a regular paper big enough to make an actual envelope. Here  is the card up close and front:

 I apologize for not listing all the products I used as I somehow lost my notes on this:(  But  I can tell you that the flower and leaves is the Camelia Build a Flower stamp and die set by Altenew, the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink, and those Moonshine sequins I so love are from Simon Says Stamp. I am joining the Simon Monday Challenge blog with the theme of "you've got the edge" as i took my leaves off the edge of the card fold.

 As a post has to somehow tie in with a beverage (be it art, an actual beverage, anything that somehow pertains to a beverage) for T Stands For Tuesday I will share our water and champagne with you all.

 I have one more journal page to share with both Art Journal Journey (for the theme of summertime love), and for Paint Party Friday:

 This stencil (Art Minds) was a very recent purchase from Michaels. I thought $4 was a good deal as it is a large stencil, and I always wanted a nice bicycle stamp or stencil. Turns out there were two other sentiment stencils in the pkg. with this:) I just had to play with it immediately and the fastest way for me to do that was to brayer summery colors all over a gessoed page then simply stencil with black paint. Washi tape was used across the bottom.

 As of next week sometime I will be taking a short blogging break and unplugging so I can completely immerse myself in pure summertime joys before it passes me by. 

       'cause a little bit of summer is what the whole year is about... John Mayer

Celebrate Good Times

 How is everyone? I noticed a bit of a slowdown in blogland and I hope it's only because many are on holiday. I do notice your absence and think of you.

 There is a special anniversary celebration happening over at T Stands For Tuesday hosted by Bleubeard and Elizabeth! So I made a few things to help with the celebration:

A journal page to celebrate 4 years of T Stands For Tuesday. Thank you Elizabeth for hosting, and for sharing all your fun adventures in art and life! Won't you grab a cuppa and join us there? Elizabeth is also having an ATC swap for anyone that wants to participate (not mandatory) where you send out an ATC and receive one in return. The rules are on the blog. I brayered acrylics on my journal page then added the flowers with a stencil and titanium white. I guess most of you are familiar with these cups by now:) Yes, the stamp is from a Darkroom Door set I won- Coffeetime :) I stamped the cup 4 times on 4 different patterned papers, fussy cut each one then stacked them on the page. The checkerboard - like mesh stamp is from Magenta and the letters and number are a foam stamp set from Making Memories. The ink I used is Versafine Sepia.

 As I am participating in the ATC exchange I made two ATCs:

 Products: vintage book text; vintage images (Retro Café Art); teacup stamp (and OLD PSX stamp); German scrap ( ARTchix studio); inks- Staz On Azure, Distress Tea Dye; gesso; Stickles Diamond glitter glue.
 In addition to T Stands For Tuesday I am joining in at Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge #28.

For the Simon Wednesday Challenge (theme is plaid) and the new Simon Monday Challenge (Get in Shape) I have this card which I  made the other day for a male friend:

 Products: white, black, brown card stock; patterned papers (DCWV); rubber stamp (Limited Edition); Spellbinders Wonky Rectangles dies; Simon Says Stamp Stitched Banners dies; Archival Jet Black ink; copper dragonfly brad.

 I have another journal page to share:

and again a close up:

This is the second page I've done after watching some You Tube videos using household things such as a toilet tissue roll and and this case q tips to make the lavender flowers. So much fun! And lavender reminds me so of summer and of France and so this is for Art Journal Journey for the theme of  "summertime love" hosted this month by Elizabeth, along with - as always - Paint Party Friday!

 Do you have any fun household items you use in your art? What are they? I use bottle caps and old credit/key cards quite often, along with corrugated cardboard. The tines of a fork make nice marks...

 The moving out for son and gf continues in between stays home yet as there was a glitch in that the elevator has not gotten the final inspection (the inspector never showed up for the appt. and until he signs off  legally no one can live in their apartments yet although they are able to move things in so long as the agent unlocks and locks the apartments. Many people are having to stay in a nearby hotel as they have no where else to go. At least the apartment owners are footing those bills. But geez...

 See you all in between the moving fun as it continues:)

                           " Life is a celebration. Enjoy it well."       Uruj Shahid

...And The Livin Is Easy

 Well, at least according to this fellow:

 This sweet very young catbird thinks my ground birdbath/drinking hole is his own private spa!

 At least a bird or two can sneak a drink albeit very quickly:) He or she has been coming and sitting for up to a half hour several times a day barely moving and I am sitting only about two feet away reading. Love these simple joys of summertime.

 For T Stands For Tuesday I have one last coffee related postcard to share:

  I have given them all away randomly to someone who mentioned how much they liked the postcards and this one went to Canada to Jenn of Just add Water, Silly. Jenn is an amazing watercolor artist who also blogs about book reads and food. Do have a look! Jenn kindly suggested it be a swap and look what she sent me:

 Lucky me!! Fun stickers and magnets, a sampling of QOR high chrome watercolors, two of her illustrated cards, a book mark, along with that gorgeous painted postcard!!!  The postcard is now framed and sitting on a little table by my phone in the sitting room so I can see it everyday. The details are absolutely amazing. Thank so much Jenn-you have spoiled me!

 I have become fond of cooking one meal pots on the grill in my cast iron pan and here is the second one I made:

 A dinner of scallops, baby corn, baby zucchini, hash browns and roasted garlic with some lemon and pesto. SOOOO good!!! This is another recipe from Wegmans, a wonderful large grocery store in our area.

 Of course I have some art to share too:

  The background was made using Distress inks smooshed on a kraft mat, spritzed with water then dipping the tag and moving it over the inks.  Linking with Try It On Tuesday (theme is tags),  the Simon Wednesday Challenge (theme is summer sunshine) and the new challenge at the Simon Monday challenge blog (Distress It)..

 I do love watching You Tube videos for more inspiration and I had come across a few where the artists used a toilet paper roll and q tips to paint and so I gave it a go on this journal page:

 I gessoed the page before painting a sky with acrylics. To make the "wildflowers" I used a toilet paper roll with one end thinly cut into strips to form a brush -like end,  a bundle of q tips, and a liner brush. Although you can't see it in this photo I mixed some pearl medium into the paints to give it a bit of shimmer. The sentiment is an old foam stamp inked with Archival black ink.

 Linking to Art Journal Journey for the theme of Summertime Love hosted this month by Elizabeth, Creative Artiste Mixed Media #28 with an Anything Goes theme all month, and to Paint Party Friday.

 Looks like a busy time ahead helping son and gf move into their new apt. and then reorganizing  for my art room's return. It's all good.  The Tour de France is in full force on TV too! And I'll try and keep up here in between it all:)

      " Let us dance in the sun, wearing wildflowers in our hair."     Susan Polis Schutz

Celebrating in July

 And the celebrating began on July 1st with Canada Day- so, belated happy Canada Day to you! And Tuesday July 4th- Independence Day in the USA along with an extra day (or two if you're really lucky) off. Happy 4th!

 Made these two cards for the red white and blue holiday:

 Products: white, kraft card stock; patterned card stock (DCWV); images (ARTchix Studio); washi tape (Recollections); patterned tags (K & Company); blue star gemstones (Michaels); assorted fibers and ribbon.

 Joining the Simon Wednesday Challenge (Anything Goes), and the Simon Monday Challenge (Red, White and/or Blue).

 For T Stands For Tuesday with Bleubeard and Elizabeth:

 A double size mug of green tea while avidly watching the Tour De France! They were through Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg and are now in France. What beautiful cities and countries. Dusseldorf really took my breath away. I wanna go!!

 Made my first dinner in a cast iron skillet on the grill:

 and it was delicious!! Chicken breasts with tomatoes, garlic, red peppers and pesto. Looking forward to trying another one skillet meal this week. Anyone have any good recipes to share??

 A tag for Tag Tuesday (beach theme), and Try It On Tuesday (tag theme):

And lastly I have a journal page:

  The bicycle image I found online royalty free. I used, paints, spray inks, stencils and washi tapes to coordinate with the photo. Joining Art Journal Journey hosted this month by Elizabeth (yes, the same Elizabeth that hosts T Stands for Tuesday each week) with the wonderful theme of Summertime Love!  Also joining Moo Mania and More (theme is "wheels") and Paint Party Friday later this week.

  And great news!!! Our son and girlfriend found another new apartment (the last one has not come thru although first promised in-get this- March!) , got the OK and are moving in this month. That means I get my art room back completely, and there won't be any challenges using the internet system with so much computer equipment (his) running. Doing the happy dance here-and because they are close by we'll still see them often:)

 What's new with you?  I'll catch up with you somewhere along the way this week and coming weekend. Be well.

    " Painting becomes interesting when it becomes timeless."  Peter Doig