Keeping A Safe Distance

 Hello Peeps, surely the whole world is now in the same boat and practicing  keeping a safe distance. As each day passes there are more and more closings and cancellations going into the next two months and some even further away than that. Sad. But it's so much more important to put and end to the illness and deaths from the Corona virus. I hope you are all doing well, and stay that way.

 I'm just doing my usual at home. It is SO nice that spring is coming!  I really don't mind staying home at all, and for those of you getting a bit antsy I hope you are finding ways to cope. My best way is staying creative so let's get to the art!

 First grab a cuppa and join us for T Stands For Tuesday won't you?

 You can see my green tea on the right of my art table. It's been green tea for me in the afternoons lately. On the table is a journal page I have just started. Perhaps I'll have it finished for my next post. I do tend to flit about from one journal to another quite often:)

 For the Simon Wednesday Blog Challenge(anything goes) I have this card:

 The flower and leaves are covered with Diamond Stickles glitter glue and it looks so pretty in person!
Products: Neena Solar White cardstock; Archival Jet Black ink; alcohol markers; stamp and die set-Floral Frame (Altenew).
Speaking of Altenew, I recently won an Instagram gift card giveaway from them and can't wait for my new stamp/die set and stencils to arrive!


 For the Simon Says Monday Blog Challenge(theme is to use the Spring mood board they have pictured), and Tag Tuesday (theme is bunnies and butterflies):

 Products: manila tag; decorative napkin; Jet Black Archival ink; Stickles Glitter glue; Tim Holtz Wildflowers die, Small talk stickers; clear bunny stamp from Simon Says Stamp Showers and Flowers set; white pompom- Darice; butterfly stickers- Paper House; fabric washi tape- Recollections; alcohol markers. I added the glitter glue to the wildflower die over the pink flower as well as adding the glitter glue to the flower centers on the napkin background.

 And a journal page:

 This page was a mop up to use up the leftover green and aqua paints I had used  for my green themed page in my last post. I opened to this page over the weekend and this is what spilled out. It wasn't what I had in mind, but my thoughts took over and went onto the page. The faces are Dina Wakley Collage Tissue to which I added and extended the black lines a bit with a Micron pen. I also used blank white tissue to computer generate the words to add to my page. For the background painting on both pages (see the other page here)I used a large 2" painters brush, dipped it in water,then into the acrylic paint- the green at one edge of the brush and the aqua at the other. I just repeated to cover the areas I wanted to and also to blend some of the colors a bit.

 I will join in at Art Journal Journey for the theme of green, and also Paint Party Friday!

 Be safe, be well, and stay creative! Til next time...

    " Faith is the bird that sees the light when the dawn is still dark."     Tagore

Getting Things Done

 How is everyone doing?  Getting more done around the house now that most of us are staying put?
Hubby's  company was forced to close its doors temporarily and he is a wood crafter so there's nothing he can do for the company from home. The good news is that he can collect until his workplace reopens. And he's already getting lots done around the house- like cleaning out the large shed, painting inside, and repairing/redoing the wood window trims and such. And I went into full Spring cleaning mode- changing and washing curtains, doing windows, etc., etc.:

and you can see I am keeping myself well hydrated with that very large water bottle that stays with me all day:)  My entry for T Stands For Tuesday with Bleubeard and Elizabeth at Altered Book Lover. Poor Elizabeth has been dealing with awful internet issues but thankfully I see that  she is back on and fingers crossed it stays that way!

 Of course I always have time for art too! This tag is meant for the new theme at Tag Tuesday (Bunnies and Butterflies):

 The dimensional butterfly is one of four that Valerie sent me recently ;)

I was also recently gifted with two blank junk journals to play in. This one comes from my dear friend Patty:

 I decorated the cover with the ATC coin art, postage stamp, and bee napkin that also came from Patty. And here are the first two pages I created:

 I will share this with Try It On Tuesday for the theme of "Home Sweet Home" or "Where You'd Like to Live". I think you all pretty much know that I dream of living by the water!

And this is the facing page:

The ATC coin was also sent to me from Patty.

My mixed media journal page is for Art Journal Journey with the theme of "Green":

  I guess my thoughts were on the world as it is right now. But it has been such a dark, chilly , rainy day that I needed a splash of color to brighten things up! This was done in my Dina Wakley Media Journal. I used her collage faces and collage words tissue papers.

 I will also link to Paint Party Friday.


Sending virtual hugs!!

" Be a full bucket, pulled up the dark way of a well, then lifted out into the light."  
                                         Rumi

Days Of Constant Change

 Hi Peeps, hope everyone is doing well. In addition to it being St. Patrick's Day on Tuesday, and the first day of Spring this Thursday for those of us in the Northern hemisphere, we are ALL feeling the constant changes and effects due to the continuous spreading of the Corona virus.  More than ever though, it is so important to NOT panic and follow the precautionary measures as issued. That said, let's get on with some fun and art!!

 Of course our weekend St. Patrick's Day festivities were cancelled but that didn't prevent me from celebrating at home and in the form of art on paper;

 Products: Americana Green Tea acrylic paint; Premiere Oxide Chromium Green paint; Dina Wakley Lime paint; white and black paints. Stencils- Tim Holtz- Mosaic, Dylusions DYS34018 (circles), mandala circle design (Plaid/FolkArt). Jet Black Archival ink; white cardstock; shamrock stickers (Mrs. Grossman's); deli paper gelli print scrap; watercolors; black Micron pen; girl clear stamp - Long Hair Flair set (Inky Antics); computer generated sentiment; paper flower; rhinestone.

 I am joining Art Journal Journey (theme is "green"), the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge (Use Some Green), and the Simon Says Monday Challenge ( Stencil Fun).

 And keeping with the celebration mode- for T Stands For Tuesday:

  morning coffee, and then my dinner wine and  birthday cake on Sunday:

 So that I wouldn't have to cook hubby got take out pizzas and my Mom picked up this extraordinary chocolate bomb cake which had a layer of chocolate pudding inside, and a layer of chocolate ganache- rich, and decadent, and oh SO good! Cheers!

 Oh, and we finally convinced hubby to use these:

 Metal straws! He always drinks his coffee with a straw and it was the plastic ones. I think Kyra (future DIL) and I guilted him into giving them up by showing some examples of sea life with straws stuck in their noses, throats, etc. These are the best option for him as he did NOT want the paper/bamboo straws. He needs to remember though that he can't chew on these lest he wants to visit the dentist:):):)

At Tag Tuesday the theme is "women/Mother's Day/feminine" and I think these tags are quite feminine:

 I had also made these for an IG moodboard challenge hosted by Darkroom Door Stamps. Stamps used- Darkroom Door: Coffee Time, Fine Flowers Vol. 1 stamp sets; Dina Wakley  Good Idea stamp set.Tim Holtz Clippings Stickers, Distress inks in Shaded  Lilac and Weathered Wood, Distress card stock. Other: PSX Old Rose ink which I can't believe is still juicy after all the years I've had it:):), tiny buttons, washi tape, white gesso.   Happy Spring!

 Speaking of Tag Tuesday, Valerie is the blog admin, and also hosted recently. She offered a random giveaway and my name was chosen. And look at all the goodies I received!!!:

 Tags, die cuts, a cute notepad, a sewing theme stamp set (of all the MANY stamps I own I do not have anything sewing related;), dimensional butterflies along with that darling sheep and bird which will be displayed for Easter  as will her fabulous bunny tag art. What a truly generous gift dear Valerie- thank you SO much!


Lastly, this is another abstract piece I did in my mixed media journal:

These Dina Wakley paints- Ruby, Tangerine and Peacock used together made it quite difficult to photograph as nicely as it looks in person. Why is it that certain colors can give one a hard time...oh well.

 Joining paint Party Friday too as always!

 Stay well everyone. XO

" Spring will come and so will happiness. Hold on. Life will get warmer."   Anita Krizzan

This Week's Musings

 Happy new week everyone! Hope you've been having some nice weather as we have been enjoying at the moment.It reached 73 F today:):) We even got some patio furniture out and the heavy cement planters waiting to be filled. Yes, spring is just around the corner!

 There is one more week to link and join in at Try It On Tuesday with the theme of "new technique". It has been so fun checking the links and seeing what techniques everyone is sharing! I have a few more examples to share from the technique I shared in my previous post:

 In this example I used Birthday Wishes clear stamp set (Inkadinkado) and randomly stamped the images using Jet Black Archival ink on white glossy cardstock. I went over it with Distress inks in Squeezed Lemonade, Mowed Lawn, and Salty Ocean.
 I then decided to cut the patterned stamped panel and made two cards like this:

And a few more examples:

 All on glossy cardstock. Products used starting at the top left going clockwise:
1. Crackle background stamp(unknown maker) stamped with an Adirondak dark purple ink then covered with a lavender dye ink. 2. Cover a Card Boxwood stamped using Ancient Page Sienna ink, then covered with a bit of Vivid! Yellow, then with Vivid! Teal. 3. Judikins Bolio stamped diagonally across the cardstock using Jet Black Archival ink, then covered with Adirondak Red Pepper ink. 4. Cover a Card Reverse damask background stamped with Adirondak Red Pepper ink then covered with Vivid! teal ink which made the red dark.

 A final card:

Background stamp- Judikins, Marvy Prussian Blue, Salvia Blue inks.Classical Ladies (Toybox) stamped using Jet Black Archival ink. Sharing this card with the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge( Something Feminine).

 For T Stands For Tuesday I'm sharing the dinner I made on Saturday:

  Cedar plank salmon on the grill, fries, and kale with garlic and lemon. My Merlot went quite well with everything:) Cheers!

 This journal page is meant for Art Journal Journey (challenge this month is "green") along with the Simon Says Monday Challenge (a bit o' green):

 One of my circle collages from an IG challenge last year was my starting point for creating the background on the page.
 Products: Dina Wakley paints, leafy and circle stencil; Fern Leaf stencil- Darkroom Door; Tim Holtz Linen stencil, Paper Doll, Small Talk stickers; Dylusions Basic Backgrounds stamp; Archival Jet Black ink; Marabu Black acrylic art spray. I'll also share this on IG for the Ranger/Dina Wakley Gratitude Challenge. This month's prompt is "I am grateful for adventure".

 And I'll finish this posting with another bit of watercolor practice/play:

 Ellen Crimi Trent has some really wonderful tutorials on You Tube! Sharing this post with Paint Party Friday later this week.

 So excited for the weekend as I'll be celebrating my birthday on Sunday, and this weekend there is a St. Patrick's Day celebration in town Saturday and Sunday starting with a Shamrock Parade, and then lots of Irish entertainment, food and drink! What will you be doing?

 Thanks for your visits, and have a great week ahead!

    " Find a way to express what moves you."         Mihaly Csikszentmihaly

It's T Stands For Techniques

 Hi peeps! It is my pleasure to be guest designer for Try It On Tuesday for two weeks and the theme is " new techniques". Thank you for having me! I hope you will join in and share a new to you technique with us all! I'm going to begin my post with a tutorial and will share more examples in my next post as this one will be long enough with the addition of other  art for challenge/ blog links:)

 Who doesn't love cards that pack a punch with vibrancy?  So, let's go!

Materials You Will Need:  white glossy cardstock
                                           dye inks (colors of choice plus black)
                                           large/ background stamps

 Step 1:  ink up your stamp with black DYE ink and stamp onto the GLOSSY cardstock. Here I used a large stamp (Magenta C48015 M) and stamped it repeatedly on the panel, inking the stamp each time. Important! - allow to dry completely and thoroughly before going to the next step and do NOT use a heat tool to dry it quickly.Drying times will vary depending on the ink brands you choose.

Step 2: apply several colors of DYE ink over the stamped, dried panel using the Direct To paper method (use the inkpad right onto the panel) covering the complete panel. The colors will not interfere with the black stamped images and will produce vibrant results. Much brighter and crisp than if this was done on regular matte cardstock!

Inks used: Archival Jet Black, Sky Blue, Citrus inks.

Another way to try this is by reversing step 1 and step 2:

Begin  by inking your GLOSSY panel using your choice of light colored DYE inks directly onto the panel. I used Distress Salty Ocean and Shaded Lilac inks. Again, allow to dry thoroughly and completely!  Once dry, I used a large background stamp (Impression Obsession Cover a Card -Fishscales) and stamped over this panel using Archival Jet Black ink. This is the finished card:

 Other products used: large white notecard; white, black cardstocks; heart punch; Love die set - Simon Says Stamp. I will also link this card to the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge (anything goes).

 One more sample to share today:

                                                    step 1

 Completed card:

 Products: white GLOSSY cardstock; large white notecard; white cardstock. Inks: Versafine Onyx Black ink, Staz On Pumpkin ink, Distress Lemon Zest ink. Stamps: Impression Obsession Cover a Card Black Eyed Susan background stamp; Just saying Clear Stamp Set- Inkadinkado. Large circle punch  (Fiskars)

 I just thought this would be another way to use that glossy cardstock in addition to using it for alcohol inks and blending solution;). I hope you give this a try, and if you do, please share what you create! If you have any questions please let me know in the comments.
 One final note: I cannot tell you how EVERY brand of dye ink will work as there are hundreds of brands out there and I am only using what I have. It would be a good idea to try any other brands on some scrap glossy cardstock pieces first. Next week I'll share more examples;)

 Now for T Stands For Tuesday:

 I made a new recipe- for a Vegan Carrot Cake and it is so moist and delicious (no dairy, no eggs!) that I will share it with you at the end of the post. You will also be able to find this and other recipes I've shared under the Recipe tab just below my blog header.

 The theme at Tag Tuesday is one near and dear to my heart - Paris. And so I made this tag which is also for the Simon Says Monday Challenge (Tag It):

 Products: napkin, vintage image, washi tape, ribbon scrap, "Paris" stamp (Oxford Impressions), Staz On Valentine Red ink, Tim Holtz Mini Stapler.

 And this journal page is meant for Paint Party Friday, and the new theme at Art Journal Journey (theme is 'Green') with guest host this month, Eileen of The Artful Crafter:

  This quick and easy page was done on a kraft page in my Dina Wakley Media Journal using three different greens, and a  black acrylic paint and painted using qtips and a #4 round brush. I am so ready for the trees to start blooming and sprouting their green leaves!

 That's it for this week. Looking forward to seeing what you are up to!

      " Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn."

                                 
                                           Vegan Carrot Cake/Muffins

 Dry ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour    scant 3/4 cup of sugar   2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon    1/2 tsp. salt      1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl,. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 400F.

Wet ingredients:

3/4 cup of soy, oat, or unsweetened unflavored almond milk
1/2 cup of canola oil      1 Tbsp. lemon juice    1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of grated carrots    1/2 cup chopped walnuts(optional)

In a medium bowl whisk together the milk, oil, lemon juice, vanilla. Stir in the carrots, walnuts.
Pour the wet carrot mixture into the dry ingredients bowl and stir until just combined. Don't overmix! Some lumps are fine.

Divide the batter into paper lined or greased 12 muffin pan, and divide the batter evenly. Or grease a 7 1/2" x 11" pan and spread the batter in evenly.

Bake 18 - 23 minutes until lightly golden on top and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan.