Monday, February 17, 2020

Gratitude


 Happy new week all! Again, I know some of you had some crazy, stormy weather again obver the weekend so I hope you got through it without incident. We had our first bout of extreme cold (single digits F overnight and only to the 20's during the day!!) but I cannot complain as it hasn't lasted long, AND it's the coldest we've had....since last March! So if this is the extent of our winter I have no complaints. Oh, and a large group of robins appeared in our backyard on Saturday!!

 I mentioned in my last post that we had some fun things to keep us busy. First I'll share a photo and short video of the Il Volo concert we went to . ( Dear Elizabeth, you may share with Sally - or not. She would have LOVED it!!) They got standing ovations for practically every song, and they were on for 2 hours. The little video snippet doesn't even do them justice! Because of the fabulous light show too it was very difficult to get a decent photo. We'll never tire of seeing them or listening to their music!



  We celebrated our son Todd's Valentines Day birthday on Sunday along with his fiancée and my Mom. His dinner of choice - my meatloaf and carrots baked in tomato soup, mashed potatoes, baked rolls, and of course, chocolate cake! He pretty much always asks for the meatloaf, and since he's been living on his own this is the only time I make it as hubby and I very rarely eat meat any longer.


 Here he's opening gifts- these from hubby and I. I tried to get a bit creative because he always says he doesn't need or want anything. I know how much he loves food so I got him some favorite snacks-Goldfish, Pringles, and M&Ms along with a gift certificate to a local family owned hoagie shop where he has been going to for many years now. As a matter of fact, Kyra stopped there and brought him home a hoagie for dinner from there - Carl's Corner,  on Friday:):) There's wine and water on the table here for the T Stands For Tuesday ticket in;)

 Happy Birthday to you, son!


 Yes, I needed my reading glasses on to light the candles-lol. No decorating as both my icing bags broke after many years and I haven't gotten out to replace them yet. And a plastic bag with the corner cut just doesn't do it for me.

 For my art today both of my journal pages are on gratitude. Love of my friends and their kindnesses and my love of birds and nature.

 Grateful for Nature:


 In my Dina Wakley Media Journal. DW paint (Lime), stencil, Collage Collective, washi tape (heart). Dylusions Ink Sprays- Bubblegum Pink, London Blue, Lemon Zest. Fude ball pen, and some machine stitching.
 I am joining in Art Journal Journey's Challenge (theme is Hearts this month) and Dina Wakley's Monthly Gratitude Challenge (on Facebook or Instagram) for the theme this month of "I am grateful for nature".

 I created this journal page for January's DW Year of Gratitude Challenge theme " I am grateful for kindness":


 Dina Wakley Media Journal, tissue papers, paints. Tim Holtz Paper doll, Chit Chat Stickers. Scrap paper bit, recycled cardboard, scrap of gold string. Speedball Gold ink and Black Marabu ink splattered on page.

 I will also join Try It On Tuesday (theme is "share the love") and Paint Party Friday.

I've been playing a lot with my watercolors and practicing flowers . Been sharing on IG but I know many of you here in blogland aren't on it so I will post them here once I get myself better organized with the files:)

 Looking forward to catching up with you!

"Gratitude makes sense of the past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."
                                                     Unknown

33 comments:

  1. Your son looks so much like your husband. Happy birthday to him-even if I am a bit belated. Glad your concert was so good. And I must say, your art is quite inspiring this week. Thanks for joining us at AJJ. It is always much appreciated. Hugs-Erika

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  2. The concert sounds really nice, Happy Birthday to your son-I think food makes good gifts. and I loved your art this week too Happy T hugs Kathy

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  3. Happy Birthday to your son! Looks like you all had a great time together. Beautiful art, too, I especially love the one with birds. Glad you enjoyed your concert. Gratitude is always so important. Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie

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  4. Wow. My Niece once said "Sunshine", when I asked what she wishes as Birthday pressies - I hope she´ll be like this come age 18!
    Clever pressies you got!

    Oh, sorry, you made me laugh with your reading glasses - I can relate and hubby woke early on Sunday. Bad dream: He lost his glasses and no one helped. Oh, my. Getting old!
    Ohhh, I love your work!
    The other day birds were chirping as if it was spring already!
    A happy T-day!

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  5. Gorgeous colourful pages, Linda. Wonderful.
    I'm amazed that you get flocks of robins - over here they are very solitary birds and fiercely territorial, killing off any competition ruthlessly! They're one of my firm favourites, though and VERY photogenic. My brother used to feed one in his hand. Glad we share a love of birds ;-)

    It looks as if your son had a wonderful birthday. They always want 'mum's cooking', don't they? My two love their 'Sunday dinners' when they come here and I so enjoy cooking for them.

    Hope the weather warms up a little...it really hasn't been very cold at all here, apart from the odd few days, but it seems to have rained non-stop for months and months! Spring is on the way...with lots of sunshine, flowers and baby birds - yay!
    Have a great week.
    Cath x

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  6. Oops! Forgot to say thank you for sharing your gorgeous art with Try it on Tuesday.
    Cath x

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  7. Wonderful art and a wonderful son Linda!
    Have a great week!
    Susi ♥♥♥

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  8. Your photos from your son's special day looked lovely, I think he would be happy with his favourite meal you made for him.
    Both the journal pages looked amazing with so much to see and detail.
    Thank you for linking with us at Try it on Tuesdays.
    Yvonne xx

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  9. Happy belated birthday to your son. I like how you chose gifts for him that reflected his wishes and his love of food. That's a wonderful looking cake. No decorations needed when you have chocolate. I've heard other cake decorators who also say they can't use a plastic bag that's been cut in the corner. I'm sure it tasted just as great as if it had been decorated. Thanks for sharing his birthday with us and your wine and water, too for T this Tuesday.

    I love your gratitude journal pages. They are so colorful and smart. I also adore the sewing, too. You have a far better machine than I. I can't sew a circle for the life of me. Thanks for sharing this with us at Art Journal Journey, too.

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  10. Always good to celebrate a family birthday, it’s our sons today but seeing as he lives in San Francisco we don’t get to celebrate with him very often. I’m not very good at cakes, they taste fine but never look very good, mind you they always get eaten!
    Beautiful colourful artwork, they are really good, I love the birds.
    Happy T day, Jan x

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  11. Fun times and enjoying them together. It doesn't get better than that :) Happy T Tuesday!

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  12. Oh the birthday party for your son looks and sounds wonderful ~ And your header creation is awesome ~ the birds are so colorful and creatively done ~ love them ~ ^_^

    Happy Moments to You,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  13. Happy birthday to your son and have a nice party.
    Your journal is beautiful and the day !!!
    happy day Elke

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  14. Lovely artwork, as always.
    Belated happy birthday to Todd. He looks very much like his dad in that photo. Of course I had to look up the word 'hoagie' as I'd never heard of it. This is what the urban dictionary says:
    Philadelphian word for a sub sandwhich. Word likely has its origins from "Hog Island", which was an island intersecting the Delaware and Schuylkyl Rivers. The Irish and Italian people who lived there during the early 20th century where known as "Hog Islanders." In addition, they referred to one another many times as "Hogans" during their lunchbreaks. Eventually, the unique sandwhiches the men ate (they where large loaves of Philadelphian bread filled with meats--a precurser to the modern sub/hoagie) simply became known as "hoggies." Sometime by the end of WWII, the word transformed into its modern pronunciation and spelling: "hoagie."
    Interesting isn't it?
    That concert sounds really good. I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves.
    Happy T-Day,
    Hugs,
    Lisca

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  15. So glad you had a wonderful time celebrating your son's birthday, I smiled when you mentioned having to wear your glasses as I would have had to wear mine too 😁. Those little colourful birds look beautiful and the little ballerina looks so pretty too! Thanks so much for sharing the love at Try it on Tuesday! Happy T Day! Hugs, Jo x

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  16. We also celebrated a birthday on the 14th.....our DIL.
    Your cake still looked good to me, I'm not all that crazy about the decorations anyway LOL!
    LOVE you gratitude journal!!!
    Belated T-day wishes, thanks for stopping by my blog while I was at physical therapy.

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  17. Your artwork is beautiful. Seeing Robins is the first sign of Spring! Sounds like your extreme bout of cold temperatures matched mine, but we've had that a few times this Winter. But so far (fingers crossed) we've been getting mostly rain instead of snow, so I'm hoping we can just cruise into Spring that way. Seeing live theatre shows is always fun. It looks like your son had a nice birthday celebration. Happy Belated T-Day!

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  18. Love the very creative 'sprinkle kindness' mixed media collage ~ wonderful creation!

    Happy Moments to You,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  19. Happy PPF and a wonderful weekend, hugs, Valerie

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  20. The weather here is getting warmer in Dubai, the last 2 months were pretty cold though not as cold as yours and I wasn't able to withstand even this! Loved the concert clipping.
    Happy birthday to you son, Linda! And your journal pages are getting amazing each day! Loved the birdies more <3

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  21. Luv your digitals Linda. Happy you enjoyed the concert

    Happy PPF

    much🎨love

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  22. Both art journal pages are most beautiful, love them a lot. And 'Gratitude'-quote is great.
    Have a happy weekend xx

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  23. Happy Birthday to your son! Beautiful art this week!

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  24. A Very Happy Belated Birthday to your son! The menu sounds amazingly comfortable. Lovely composition and colours on the journal pages, Linda! Love that the theme is gratitude and kindness.

    -Soma

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  25. Thanks for sharing the concert, Linda, it looked like a jolly happy evening.
    I absolutely love your AJJ piece with the colourful birds and splashy watercolours and the little heart.
    I also really like your "Kindness" piece with the patterned circles bobbing about and the dancer dancing on the corrugated cardboard, an ingenious idea.

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  26. Happy Birthday to Todd. It is so nice that you can spend time with him. This is a beautiful journal page too. I love the colors, soft and kind of romantic. Have a great weekend.

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  27. Your creations are always so creative, colorful and joyful ~ love them ~ Happy Weekend to you, Xox

    Happy Moments to You,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  28. love your birds. Very suitable for me today as I just heard the song of spring birds yesterday :) Loved it!

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  29. I love your birds too, I have yet to keep up with a daily art journal but I think it's a fantastic idea. I love that a plastic bag with a cut corner doesn't cut it for you icing wise, me too lol! Oh the big box of Goldfish. My hubby LOVES those things...every few weeks I buy that big box for him and he always runs out before I can get more lol!

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  30. Wonderful post and creative works ~ hope you had a wonderful weekend ~ Xox

    Happy Moments to You,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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Thank you so much for your comments; it's a pleasure to connect with you!