Lots of Art Time

 Everyone hanging in there? This whole lock down thing is getting old... but, we have to keep going. If it's a nice day I'm outside, but if not my time is spent watching you tube videos and playing in my art room A LOT. Not that I always get much done. Sometimes I'm just gessoing blank pages in my journals when the inspiration doesn't strike. My time is spent also doing the usual household chores, cooking, baking, and reading too. And on weekend evenings hubby and I look for a few  movies to watch. How do you fill all your time?

 Here is the full journal page of  the snippet above. It's meant for Art Journal Journey (theme is Geometric Shapes), the Simon Says Monday Challenge (theme is-Not A Card), and Paint Party Friday:

 The background was painted with watered down acrylics, then stencilled with 2 Tim Holtz stencils- Linen, and Numbers. The shapes were cut from Dina Wakley's Collage Collective, stitched, and/or edged with black ink. The sentiment is collage tissue words -also Dina Wakley.

 A tag meant for Tag Tuesday (anything goes):

 Yes, more Dina Wakley-lol! Collage Collective, Faces Collage Tissue and Words Collage Tissue. Red heart was sitting on my desk and just happened to fit perfectly in the leaf. I also used a black Fude pen, blue Posca pen, a few dry chalks, and Archival Jet Black ink.

 Time for a break, so let's join Bleubeard and Elizabeth and the gang at T Stands For Tuesday. Bring along your favorite beverage related photo and join us!

 Sunday I made homemade pancakes and topped them with the cinnamon/apple/cranberry topping I shared in this post. You can also find it under the "Recipes" tab below my header. I doubled the recipe(minus the quinoa) so I could use it for pancakes and other things too. Yum!

I have a few more junk journal pages to share also:

 For the pages in my two junk journals I am sticking to using found items in my ephemera bins mostly- just to use things up.I'm also trying to work more quickly in these books too. The madonna is an old stamp - part of a cube (anyone remember cube stamps??) .This had been stamped and edged in gold and in my bin all ready to be used finally:) The feather is a tissue paper piece that I embellished with a black and whit gel pen. Sentiment is a Tim Holtz sticker. I also added a bit of recycled dryer sheet below the stamped piece.

 Another page in the same junk journal. Collage fodder and transparency bit along with a vintage button, paper flower with a tiny button, and Tim Holtz word stickers.

And that's it for me for this post. I hope the weather is cooperating for you wherever you are, and that you are keeping well, and managing well too. Virtual hugs!

" Life is not what it's supposed to be. It's what it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference."       Virginia Satir

This and That

 

  It's  a special week because we are not only celebrating Earth Day on Wednesday, but it also happens to be  Elizabeth's (Altered Book Lover) bEARTHday! I am so sorry that I was remiss in sending out a card so please accept a virtual one here. The butterflies on the papers are all covered with glitter and I wish you could see how much prettier these are in person. Happy birthday dear Elizabeth!!  And in honor of Earth day I changed my blog header to a mixed media page I did a few years ago in honor of the day.

 We had some quite nice, and also some very chilly weather with a few snow flurries beginning on Friday. Thank goodness it came and went turning into just a bit of rain. Saturday morning I was able to sit out back at the picnic table with my coffee and a book for a bit. I had on a heavy sweatshirt and sat in the sun which kept me warm enough. 

 Dreaming of my favorite places again... and I know someone who is doing the same. Right Chris? ;)

Grab a beverage related post and join us for T Stands For Tuesday and please wish our dear hostess a happy bEARTHday too!

 Recently I was inspired by abstract, doodled bookmarks that Kim Dellow shared on Instagram so I made a set of index cards:

 This is how I began them. I chose several of my favorite vibrant acrylic paints and painted some random  shapes.

 More colors and shapes were added:

and then even more:

 And these are the completed cards with the doodling using Posca pens:

 There is a new theme for Tag Tuesday which is "Anything Goes" so as I had paints and Dina Wakley things at my fingertips I made this tag:

 Lastly for this post I have a journal page which I will link to Art Journal Journey (theme is Geometric Shapes), Try It On Tuesday (Fun With Stencils), and Paint Party Friday:

 I've been watching Dina Wakley's daily demos videos ( on her blog or on You Tube) and thoroughly enjoying the art and the chats! One day she talked about using black gesso which I really don't use often enough so that was my inspiration for this page. I smeared the black gesso onto a kraft page in the Dina Wakley Media Journal then used some of her bright paints and stencils over it. Added spattering with the blue and pink watered down paints and then some large white drops using white ink. The circle was one I had previously made and thought it went well on the page.

 Have a great week and always remember to care for and respect our earth. I hope we are now slowly turning the corner in ridding the planet of Covid 19. Stay well everyone.

   "The Earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use by future generations.”

                                                            —John Paul II

You Got This

 What a roller coaster ride of emotions this last week! How about you? How are you doing? I had a very disconcerting experience at the grocery store the end of last week which prompted the first journal page I'll share. Joining Art Journal Journey for the theme of Geometric Shapes, and I'll also join in at Try It On Tuesday (have fun with stencils):

 I had done the background painting and chose this image from the Dina Wakley Collage Collective to use and then left it on the table to finish after I came back from a grocery run. This canvas page turned into something I had to spill out after coming home - not what I had intended for this page. So, upon arriving at the store I got out of the car to see a longish line of people standing on large dots on the sidewalk 6 ft. apart. There were Wegman's employees monitoring and allowing us only one by one to go into the store- and only when someone else was leaving from the opposite entrance. It was an eerie experience  and I felt like I was plopped into a science fiction movie. It was so very quiet in the store-very little talking. The lights flickered out two different times, and each time a gasp could be heard from the people. Almost every person had on a mask and gloves(myself included). It took quite awhile to check out, and then only one by one could we be escorted out- at an entrance opposite the door we came into. It kinda shook me up even though I know they were just being very cautious and safe. It kinda had me in a funk for two days. But then, the cloud over me lifted as we had a gorgeous weekend and hubby and I spent much of our time outdoors:)

 Here he is relaxing with a glass of Bordeaux and a book after a full day of yard work. Cheers to the T Stands For Tuesday gang!

 I painted these grungy flowers in my mixed media journal a little while ago but forgot to post it:

 I coated a page with black gesso. The painting was done using acrylics and my fingers- except for the splattering;)

 And I have two more pages finished in one of my little junk journals:

 The pages are about 3 1/2" x 5 1/2".

 That's it for me today. Also joining Paint Party Friday:)

 Hoping we don't lose power as we have been having high gusty damage producing winds and rain storms throughout the day!  Wishing you all well.

" Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe."  Voltaire

T Stands For Texture!

 How is everyone doing? Hopefully you are having good weather because that is a big help right now.  In my area we are still allowed to go for walks, runs, or a bike ride so long as we practice distance. And we are allowed to go to our jobs, or the store for necessities. If you get stopped for just joy riding in the car without  having a specific purpose you will get ticketed, and that's a good thing!
I have noticed many more people wearing masks and thinking it could become mandatory I spent time over the weekend making one for myself:

There are MANY You Tube how to's and other places with instructions for making any kind of mask- sewn or not, with elastic or not. I challenged myself to sew one with a few pleats in the front. I already had the materials. First time I used my old Kenmore machine for something other than sewing papers for my mixed media art and thankfully this came out OK:):)
Edited In: Elizabeth asked what tutorial i used. I had looked at about 7 different ones on You Tube but this one helped me the most : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FB--BOyTiU&t=8s

 It has been gorgeous out the last few days so hubby and I spent lots of time in our yard. I even had breakfast out on the picnic table for the first time this season:

 I made this Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Quinoa for the first time and hubby and I both loved it!! I also love oatmeal but hubby hates the texture of it so this quinoa with the sweet, nutty flavor and crunch was perfect. Recipe at bottom of this post! Cheers to the T Stands For Tuesday gang!

 In my last post I mentioned winning a gift card from Altenew- and my products arrived just a few hours ago:

 I added a small gift card from my birthday as well because I really wanted the dies along with this beautiful Antique Roses stamp set;) Can't wait to play with these stamps and stencils!

 Oh, and I also recently won a stamp set and stencil of my choice from an IG challenge by Darkroom Door!! I won for the tags I made for their last challenge. You can see them in this post.

Remember in my last post I shared a grungy page I had begun on my art table? Well , this is the finished page which was inspired by Shawn Petite:

 The bicycle with flower basket and words stencils are from Art Minds. Acrylic paints and gesso. I will join Try It On Tuesday with the theme of "The Beauty of Nature".

 The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme is to "Add Some Texture" so I have this journal page:

 I began by gluing down two strips of gauze using gel medium. Then I watered down some Dina Wakley paints and painted and spattered over it. The circle art is another piece from a Circle Challenge I participated in  on IG  last year.

 I will also join in at Art Journal Journey for this month's theme of Geometric Shapes, and Paint Party Friday.

 For those of you celebrating Easter this Sunday I wish you a happy Easter. It sure will be different , and it's the first year in many that I won't be hosting a small family dinner for anyone other than myself and hubby. Grateful though to be able to stay in touch with other, safer ways right now.

 Stay well, stay safe, keep healthy dear ones!

" I find hope in the darkest of days and focus in the brightness. I do not judge the universe."
                                  Dalai Lama



                    Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Quinoa (recipe from SuccessRice.com) serves 2

1 bag Success Tri-Color Quinoa         1 c. apple juice
2 Tbsp. butter                                      1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 lg. apple, cored, peeled and sliced   1 Tbsp. maple syrup
1/4 c. dried cranberries                       1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 c. chopped walnuts                     

   Prepare quinoa according to package directions, adding the apple juice to the water. Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add brown sugar, apple, maple syrup, dried cranberries, and cinnamon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until apples are just tender 5 - 8 min. Stir in nuts. Serve quinoa topped with the apple mixture.
Note- I made the apple mixture ahead but omitted the walnuts and refrigerated it for the next morning. I just reheated the apple mixture then added the nuts before topping the quinoa.