T Stands For Tags!

 Somehow tags have become a focus for me lately so today's post is mostly tag art. I'm going to start with this tag meant for the Simon Says Monday Challenge theme of "All Loved Up":

 It's been difficult getting good photos as the sun has not been around (but for a fleeting moment or two) for days now.

 Products: Tim Holtz Botanical tissue paper; gesso; pink acrylic paints; Golden Shading Grey High Flow paint; Tim Holtz Small Talk Occasions Stickers; foam heart sticker (AC Moore-sadly closing their doors); threads, ribbons, lace, vintage buttons from my stash.

 For Tag Tuesday with the theme of Black,White, Red:

This is actually a tag card so I can write a note inside:)

 For T Stands For Tuesday I have this yummy small plate to share from - again- our last visit to Cape May. Speaking of, we made our first reservations to go back in the Spring - one of several trips we hope to make again this year:):)

 Another visit to Hemingways where we stopped for happy hour appetizers and a drink. Hummus with veggies and pita are a fave of mine, along with a nice glass of J Lohr Cabernet Sauvignon. Cheers!

 Back to tags.

 I used the above supplies  along with some Dylusions Spray Inks on manila tags for a technique I was introduced to thru IG:

 The technique is to coat your surface of choice with black acrylic paint ( I also tried a deep brown- on the brick stencil one). Let dry. Spritz with Dylusions spray inks. Let dry. Dab white acrylic paint thru a stencil over top. That's it! As the white paint dries the Dylusions inks will somewhat seep through the white bringing back some color. Pretty cool! You do need to use water soluble sprays- NOT permanent color sprays.

 And lastly I will share this journal page for Art Journal Journey (theme is "something new") and Try It On Tuesday (white space or colourful grunge):

 New are the two bottles of pink acrylic paint in Dragon Fruit (Americana), and Neon Pink (Craft Smart). This is in my Dina Wakley Media Journal. I also used her collage tissue words, Collage Collective image, stencil and Lapis and Penny paints.

 Joining Paint Party Friday also. Looking forward to visiting and seeing what you've been up to. Have a super week!

" The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do."    Kobe Bryant

Celebrations and Snow

Well, we finally got our first day of snow, sleet, freezing rain, and then rain on Saturday! Thankfully it was only about 2 inches and once it all changed to rain it melted away:) But it is now very cold again-brrrr.

 This journal page is in my Dina Wakley Media Journal and meant for Art Journal Journey with the theme of "Something New". Here I have used more of my new Tim Holtz Botanical Tissue Paper in the background. The vintage image is from ARTchix Studio.There is a new challenge theme over at Try It On Tuesday which is "White Space" or "Colourful Grunge" and so i will join in there also.

 I am keeping warm with hot morning coffee and then herbal tea in the afternoon. This pic I took last Tuesday at my desktop computer in the morning while visiting the gang at T  Stands For Tuesday:

My usual coffee in a Vera Bradley cup with matching lid:) 

On Sunday I had my Mom, son and  fiancée Kyra over for dinner to celebrate hubby's 61st birthday which was on the 17th:

 I think he looks darned good for his age! I made lasagne roll ups, salad, rolls and chocolate cake. And we had water and Cabernet Sauvignon wine with dinner but I forgot about taking pics until the cake came out.

 This card is meant for the Simon Wednesday Challenge (Use A Stencil):

 Products: Altenew stamp sets- Label Love, Painted Flowers; Altenew Evening Gray ink; Tim Holtz Plaid Stencil; Archival inks- Pink Peony, Rose Madder, Jet Black, Leaf Green, Vivid Chartreuse. Distress ink- Worn Lipstick; Neenah #110 Solar White cardstock, Moonshine Sequins- Simon Says Stamp.

 And I have another journal page to celebrate today's (Monday) US National Holiday- Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Christian minister who became leader of the Civil Rights Movement, and promoted it with peace until his assassination in 1968.

 Lots of Tim Holtz products on this page- stamps, inks, washi tapes, Paper Dolls, Small Talk Stickers. This was done on a kraft page in the Dina Wakley Media Journal.

 Joining in at Paint Party Friday as usual also.

 That's it for me this week. Time to get going on some Valentine cards:) Happy week to you!

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."            Martin Luther King Jr.

Winter Greetings?

 Hello peeps! How's the weather in your parts? Although last week we had a cold day with a bit of snow, this weekend was absolutely glorious!! Saturday we had a record high of 66 F, and Sunday got to 65. I even went out to clean some windows on the outside and cleaned up in the back yard a bit:) It was a joy to grill for dinner and not be bundled up to do it! However, it IS January after all and expected to get pretty cold by the end of the week.

 Thinking about what else but the beach and hoping to make some scheduled dates and reservations for Cape May real soon. Until then I'll enjoy reminiscing the wonderful times last year. And today I will remember all the great food we enjoyed, such as this:

 One of several places we frequent while there is Hemingways. I had (again) the veggie burger along with a glass of Chardonnay while hubby had the crab cake sandwich and a beer. Yum! Cheers to the T Stands For Tuesday gang!
Oh, and on an aside as I know some of the T Gang talk about movies.... hubby and I recently saw Rocket Man about Elton John, and Judy - about Judy Garland starring Renee Zellweger. We deemed them both excellent - 5 stars out of 5!!! The acting was just fantastic! After Rocket Man all I wanted to do was to be able to give Elton John a big hug. And I admit I cried after watching Judy- just such a tragic, short life she lived. Have any of you seen either of these movies, and what did you think?

 Here is the full journal page from which the detail photo at the opening of this post was taken:

 and here is how it started:

 with new and old Tim Holtz Collage Tissue papers. Other products: Dina Wakley stencil (heart); Dina Wakley paints- Ruby, Tangerine , Lemon. Various brands of blue, black, white, and red paint; Dylusions Basic Backgrounds stamp set; recycled postage stamp. Joining Art Journal Journey (theme is something new), and Try It On Tuesday (what a cutie or make someone smile).

For the Simon Wednesday Challenge (theme is Fun With Florals):

 Why not a green flower?  Stamps and dies on card, and stencil are from Altenew . Stamps on the envie are Magenta. Moonshine sequins from Simon Says Stamp.

 For the new theme at the Simon Monday Challenge (Rust It Up), and Tag Tuesday (Winter Scenes):

 Distress tag, Vintage Photo and Tea Dye inks (Ranger); Tim Holtz Paper Dolls, ChitChat Seasonal Stickers; Rust Tapestry embossing powder, ribbons, yarn, tiny buttons, patterned paper scrap from my stash; background is a Gelli Plate deli paper print.

 And lastly I will share this postcard I recently made using a beautiful fox napkin I received from my friend Patty over the holidays ( I shared the goodies I received in my last post):

I just adore this sweet fox image.

Joining over at Paint Party Friday also with this week's projects. Thanks so much for your visits!

"You can have everything you want. You just have to quit waiting for someone to tell you that you deserve it."      From the film, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Welcome a New Year, A New Decade!

 Happy New Year everyone!! Hope you're still with me after my holiday blogging break;) It's taken me a bit of time to get back into the creative flow after hardly doing any art. Spending time enjoying the holidays with friends and family was my priority. I hope you all enjoyed as well, and speaking of, I will begin by sharing the wonderful handmade cards I received from (mostly) blogging friends (my challenge art projects will follow in this long post):

 My first Christmas art came from none other than  Bleubeard, Elizabeth, and Squiggles of Altered Book Lover.  A lovely tip in page with an equally sweet note on the back as well as a typed message. Thank you, thank you dear Elizabeth!! Sorry my photo doesn't do this the justice it deserves.

 From Eileen at The Artful Crafter who is a regular at T Stands For Tuesday. Don't you just love this tree? Thank you Eileen!!

 So many fun stamps on the envelope, and the art print is by Lenna's great uncle who was a prominent artist. Lenna certainly got his genes:) You can find her here at creativelenna. Thank you Lenna!!

and how amazing is this mail? My dear friend patty knows me so well. Oh, those beautiful napkins! And her card at the top just glistens with sweet touches of gold. Although Patty has not been blogging she and her beautiful art can be found on both Instagram and Facebook. Thank you Patty!!

     and these are handmade cards from various other friends near and far.Thank you!! And thanks for the snail mail cards and ecards too.You all are the best-mwah!

Now, on to some art challenges:)

 Do any of you choose a word of the year to focus on? I've been doing it for 5 years now. This word chose ME after I had been asking for guidance to show me my word, and when I was still a bit hesitant it appeared in a big way!

 A fairly simple page in my mixed media journal. The mandala - like stencil has flecks of sparkle in the paint as I added embossing powder to the mix but it doesn't show here.

 I also made a vision/dream board page which faces the above one:

 Just cut and paste from magazine clippings that spoke to me.

 And to seal the deal on my word, as I was going through a pile of books I had read some time ago, this one appeared in the mix:

                  Of course I am now rereading it!:)

 I will join in at Art Journal Journey for the new theme this month of "Something New" chosen by Jo. New art, new word for 2020.

 This next project is meant for the Simon Monday Challenge (something new) and Tag Tuesday (celebrations), and this will also be my ticket for T Stands for Tuesday:)...

 New to me is the Distress Resist Spray I used on the white media tag (Ranger) before blending Festive Berries, Worn Lipstick, and Tea Dye inks over it. Other products: Distress Vintage Photo, Black Soot inks; coffee cups and sentiment from the Coffee Time stamp set by darkroom door; clip art images, buttons, ribbon from my stash; washi tape (Recollections). Also sharing this tag with the Darkroom Door January IG Challenge.

 One more journal page:

 Also new here is the Dina Wakley Collage Papers-love these!! This was a warm up page -one I needed to do fairly quickly to help me get started back into art journaling. Fluid acrylic paints were used for the background, watercolor was used to tint the lips and eye, and Marabu black acrylic ink was used to spatter.

 I will also join in again at Paint Party Friday!

 Let's all please keep in our hearts and prayers the people and animals who are suffering terrible losses in the devastating fires in Australia.

     "Another Sunrise, Another New Beginning."     Jonathan Lockwood Huie