Last Post For 2021

 

  Hi Peeps! As this will be my last post for this year I'm going to make it short and festive🎄 In my next post in the New Year I will share some of the lovely handmade cards I received over the holidays. 

 Getting right to T Stands For Tuesday:

 Happy to share these wonderful German spice cookies. A small tin of these were given to the employees in the shop where my hubby works. I'd really prefer NOT to have the sweet glaze on them (although the ones covered in dark chocolate are just fine 😉). But there is a nice balance to the sweetness with the spice and orange in the cookies. Yes, there is something in my mug but barely a few more sips of coffee. I should have gotten my refill before taking the photo 😁

Here is the bottom label of the tin:

 Cheers to the T gang, and many thanks to dear Bleubeard and Elizabeth for another fine year of hosting our gatherings 🍵😻!

 Once again on Instagram Leaca Young is hosting another Creative Six Day Challenge and has free video inspirations with a different guest artist for each prompt. You don't however need to be on IG. If you click on her link there should be a tab somewhere on her site that you can click on to find and sign up for her free challenges and videos. I watch them on my desktop, then post my projects on Instagram. I have chosen to do all my projects in the Dina Wakley Kraft Journal. 

 These are the prompts:

 Here is my page for day 1 "Song":

 The wreath is the Wonderful Leaf Stencil by Altenew. I used one green ink to stencil it on the page. I shifted the stencil a bit and stenciled again using a second color ink. I shifted the stencil one more time adding yet another color ink. I made my Christmas cards using this stencil this year too. Unfortunately I did not get cards out to Europe this year as I ran out of the required postage stamps after sending to my French family. (I'm going to replenish my overseas postage stamp supply after the holidays are over so I have them on hand). Music paper was glued to card stock. I drew and fussy cut the trees, inked the edges with Distress Vintage Photo ink. 

 Day 2 "Gifts":

 For this page I painted a variety of Dina Wakley paints on the page then stenciled over it using her Lattice stencil and Artists Loft Parchment paint. The girl is an image I painted and collaged on another journal page. I rendered it B & W in Photoshop, printed and fussy cut her out to use on this page.

 Day 3 "Grow":

 I loved the tutorial for making a cut pop up tree so I made one for my page:

I used a two sided patterned cardstock for this using one side for the background and the other side for the pop up tree. Here are a few different angles so you get a better idea:

 

 you use the gold thread to pop up the tree, and underneath it I added a gold heart sticker:

 I'll share the last 3 days pages in my next post once this challenge is over. Joining in at Paint Party Friday later this week.

 Thank you all, for all the kind comments and visits throughout this year. They are so appreciated🙏. Wishing you all a blessed holiday season however and whatever you celebrate, may the New Year 2022  bring our world to a better place, may you all be healthy and keep well, and may peace and love fill your hearts. XO, Linda

“This is my wish for you: peace of mind, prosperity through the year, happiness that multiplies, health for you and yours, fun around every corner, energy to chase your dreams, joy to fill your holidays!” 

            D.M. Dellinger

A Mix of This And That

 

 How's it going? Ready or not Christmas is next week! I am learning  more each year to be more relaxed about it all. Nothing gets accomplished when stressed, right? I'm taking a very light online class "December Pause" in which I get an email each day this month with various inspirations via links to poems, songs, art, etc. Liz Lamoreux's class is about taking some time each day to pause, to breathe, and to make a list each day in a journal. The list prompts vary and do give you time to reflect, and to focus . I love this. What are you doing to keep any stress levels down?

 First up, and for T Stands For Tuesday is this new salad recipe I made. I find such relaxation in cooking and baking!

 This farro salad is from chef JoAnne Weir . As soon as I saw it on IG I knew I had to make it. Both hubby and I absolutely loved this hearty, vegetarian salad!! Nutty, crunchy, sweet, and savory- what's not to love😋 The simple vinaigrette was made with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and sherry vinegar.

I chose to pair it with Kendall Jackson chardonnay. This pretty glass dish was my great grandmother's. Cheers!

 On to the art:

  Inspiration for this page came from a Nicole Watson 30 Minute Exercise You Tube video. I love her fun, messy art journal pages!

 And here's a page in the Dina Wakley kraft journal that was quick and easy :

 Dina Wakley paints, stencils, collage tissue sentiment.

 And now for a tag:

 I used an old decorative paper from my stash and cut a tag shape from it. I stamped the snowflake (old PSX rubber stamp) using white acrylic paint. The vintage photo was glued down and I added white spatters before finishing with masking tape bits, washi tape and large brad (Recollections), and Tim Holtz Chit Chat stickers. 

 This tag fits several blog challenges this week: the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge (Cold as Ice theme); Try  It On Tuesday Challenge (Snowflakes); and Tag Tuesday (Anything Christmas).Okay, for Tag Tuesday I may have pushed the envelope a bit but hey, what child doesn't want snow and a new sled for Christmas😉

Also happy to be back to Paint Party Friday this week! Have a wonderful week everyone. 🙋

 

   "Imagine that life is working in your favor even when it appears to be working against you."    Alan Cohen

Sharing, Caring, and Fa La La La La!

 

  Well, it certainly has become winter in our parts-brrrr! Thankfully no snow though. For those of you that celebrated- how was your Thanksgiving?  

 We had a really wonderful day/dinner with lots of conversation and chatter, and all shared in the best news- that our son and DIL finally won a bid on a home!!! It's been quite frustrating as the housing market is not only so overpriced, but the competition is really unbelievable😫. When they showed us the place they were hoping for we had a feeling it would be theirs because it is so them and their style. Yes, they did have to make some amends to get the owners to agree to sell to them and not any of the others in queue for it, but it was within what they were willing to do. And they will only be about 15 min. or so from us 💓. Move in won't be until early summer though because the current owners are in the process of having a new home built, and Todd and Kyra are perfectly fine with that.

 I didn't take any photos over our Thanksgiving dinner, nor of the after Thanksgiving dinner we went to on Saturday hosted by Kyra's grandmother. So instead, for T Stands For Tuesday I will share this art journal page:

 This page was for Day 5 of the November Creative 6 Day Challenge on Instagram with the word prompt of "Grateful". Tim Holtz collage paper background, Alpha Tiles. The cup is a stamp from Darkroom Door Coffeetime Set. 

 This page is from Day 4 - word prompt "Chrysanthemum":

 I used two different napkins for this page. The flowers and part of the leaves were fussy cut before adhering to the page ( yes it was a bit tricky 😜).

 And this page was for day 6 "Share":

  This one went quite quickly for me and I love how these collage clusters came out! I started with mini playing cards for the bases and just grabbed bits of papers, fabric, threads, etc. from my ephemera containers. The words are computer generated. I'll definitely make more clusters like this to use on tags and journal pages- a great way to use up those smaller bits floating around 😉.

 And I made this tag for Try It On Tuesday (winter wonderland), and the new theme at Tag Tuesday ( use the first letter of your name):

 

 For my "L" I chose "letters". I had just pulled out a Christmas bin of craft things as I was hoping to get my idea and prototype made for the Christmas cards I want to make for this year (YAY! It came together nicely and I've got a good start on them already!). I've been mostly making my own cards since about 1990!  Anyway, these old letter stickers that caught my eye are just what I needed to get my tag going. 

 And that's a wrap! I will also be sharing with Paint Party Friday. Stay warm, and be well🤗

       "The miracle of gratitude is that it shifts your perception to such an extent that it changes the world you see".                  Robert Holden

Journal Pages For Challenges

 

 Hi peeps, how are things? For those of us celebrating Thanksgiving Day this Thursday will you be busy cooking and baking? I know I will but just for a small gathering including my Mom, our son and daughter in law, and her grandmother. Of course hubby's a given but he'll be helping me by staying out of the kitchen the next few days😄. Fortunately there is no lockdown around us and we are able to enjoy the day with some family. Wishing you all a happy Turkey Day🦃!

 For T Stands For Tuesday I have one last beverage related photo from our last visit to Cape May to share:

 

 Our favorite place for breakfast- The Ocean View Restaurant! On this day hubby got the French toast and I just HAD to have the breakfast veggie wrap-so good. No way could I eat all those home fried potatoes they always give you so I mostly picked out and ate the crunchy pieces- the best of the batch in my opinion😋. Happy T day everyone!

Now on to the journal pages. 

 This is for Tag Tuesday (anything goes). I used all Dina Wakley products for this tag page. The words, circles, and leaf are collage tissue prints, face is a stamp.

 And I created this abstract page for Art Journal Journey (theme is All Kinds Of Weather), (edited in> along with the new theme at Try It On Tuesday (which I just saw is the theme of "winter wonderland"):

 I started by gluing a few torn pieces of colored tissue paper to the page then random scribbling with a Stabilo All pencil. Lastly I painted with a burgundy, dark blue and turquoise and then dry brushed some white over it before spattering and adding the words.

The next 3 pages are also in the kraft journal. There is another Creative Six Day Challenge happening on Instagram and I again wanted to join in. Here are the word prompts:

 

Each day has a different guest artist sharing a video project around the word prompt.

      Day 1 - Community

Day 2 -  Harvest

Day 3 - Abundance

  I'll share the last three in my next post after I complete them. 

Joining in with Paint Party Friday later in the week. Have a super week everyone!

"When you cultivate love from the inside out, the universe will deliver it from the outside in."  

                                                 Alan Cohen 

T Stands For Tea Art

 

 Recently I came across a tea art print that a sadly departed fellow artist had sent me. Above is a detail photo and here is the whole print:

 This gorgeous art is by Tracey Fletcher King and you can read/see more in this post. I am fortunate to have lots of art in a variety of sizes, mediums and formats from artist friends, most of whom I never met in person. But my space isn't large enough to keep it all out all of the time so I rotate the art pieces throughout the year in order to display each of them at one time or another. Sharing this special piece of art with the T Stands For Tuesday gang. I raise my cup to you all ⛾!

 Here is a new journal page for this month's theme (All Kinds Of Weather) over at Art Journal Journey:

 I kept a lot of white space to capture the essence of cool and crisp and chose this Dina Wakley leaf stencil sprayed with Dina Wakley Gloss Sprays in fall colors then fussy cut it. The brick stencil is by Wendy Vecchi and I used modeling paste through it for texture.

One more journal spread- this one in the Dina Wakley Kraft Journal:

Here are a few close ups:

Dina Wakley stamp sets, Collage Collective papers, printed tissue paper sets. Posca pens for doodling. The face image was about to be tossed because I had accidently put a piece of paper with something wet on it over top of my image. When  I tried pulling it off it tore and left black marks on the face. Then something made me want to use it as my thoughts went to "perfectly imperfect". Aren't we all...

 Joining in with Paint Party Friday later this week. Have a wonderful, safe, warm, and creative week everyone!

“There is something in the nature of tea that leads us into a  world of quiet contemplation of life."
              Lin Yutang

This Week's Musings

 

  Happy new week everyone! This week I have a mix of things to share, but then, don't I usually😉?

 First, I want to address some questions and comments in my last post about the Van Gogh watercolors. Though I have loved Daniel Smith watercolors the best for the quality and heavy pigment, since trying the Van Goghs I have found them to be just as lush and pigmented. You couldn't go wrong with either brand!

 Today I'll begin with the last two art projects I did for the October 6 Day Creative Challenge on Instagram. You can see the first of them in my last post. I did  get behind but really wanted to complete them after seeing the inspiration videos by guest artists.

 Day 3's prompt was "silhouette" with guest artist Denis Lush. She did a wonderful tag project but I went my own way on a kraft journal page using Dina Wakley and Tim Holtz stencils. The words just popped in my head as I was finishing the page.

 On day 6 the prompt was "jack o lantern" with a video by Sonya Bitz. I loved how she loosely painted so I did the same. I began my background in my own way by giving it a wood like look:

 I simply added a dollop of brown, blue/gray, and a bit of white acrylic paint across the top of this wide brush then went down the page from left to right adding more paint to the brush as needed.

 Only two brushes were used to loosely paint the pumpkin and leaves- a Bright brush, and a small round brush. I do love how this turned out!

 On to Tag Tuesday. The theme is "Windows, Doors, and Arches":

 The cottage door image is from a digital collage sheet by Paper Whimsy. It was glued to the tag then I sponged the edges with Distress Mowed Lawn ink and some Onyx Black Versafine ink.  Tim Holtz Paper Doll and Clippings Sticker. Ribbon and brass bit from my stash.

 For T Stands For Tuesday I'm going back to Cape May to share our anniversary dinner at  the Merion Inn:

 

 Hubby had the stuffed flounder and I chose the crab cakes which came with a wonderful sauce! We both chose a vegetable medley and the potato cup topped with some cheddar cheese which is special to the Merion Inn. They gave us assorted breads/ mini muffins with olive oil, butter and apple butter as well. The food has always been top notch here! Cheers to the T gang 🥂!

 And lastly, for Art Journal Journey (theme is "all kinds of weather" and hosted by Chris this month) and Paint Party Friday:

 I had some messy fun with this one:) The kraft page was sprayed with Night Gloss Spray. I then stenciled with white paint. the vintage image is from ARTchix Studio. On two of the corners I added a scrap of recycled dryer sheet. the sentiment is Tim Holtz. I sure hope not to see any real snow for a long time!

 Looking forward to your creative adventures as I visit this week. Stay well everyone.

"You have to find what sparks a light in you so that you in your own way can illuminate the world."      Oprah Winfrey

Happy November!

 

 Halloween is over and now it's on to thoughts about Thanksgiving and yes, Christmas too. I'm just pondering holiday card ideas right now, what about you? 

 Our son Todd and his wife Kyra just celebrated their 1st anniversary on Oct. 30th. Hard to believe it's already been a year since the wedding! Here's a selfie they took on their way to a nice dinner to celebrate:

 Kyra wanted me to see that she chose to wear the earrings I bought her for her wedding day💓

In honor of their anniversary I made this card which I will link to the Wednesday Simon Says Challenge (anything goes): 

 I chose their wedding colors for this card- cream for her dress, navy stamped sentiment (the groomsmen color), burgundy (the bridesmaid dresses) and orange autumn colored leaves (the colors in the flowers and table decor). The sentiment is a Hero Arts rubber stamp. I used Midnight Blue Memories die ink to stamp the image. Silk leaves, ribbon, flower, and cream notecard and envie set -all from Michael's.

 For T Stands For Tuesday it's a ticket to Paris!:

 The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles was recommended by fellow T party goer Lisca. I rarely read fiction but of course both the Paris and library theme really peeked my interest. Also it does blend in some history. It took me a few months to get this book as it was quite popular at our local library- and even with 6 of them in the library, there were holds put on each of them for many weeks! I guess that tells you something 😉. I am more than halfway and enjoying every bit of it so thank you Lisca for your description and recommendation! On this day I was reading with my cup of lemon ginger tea in my Paris mug of course. Cheers!

 There was a 6 Day Creative Challenge on Instagram recently so I decided to join in. I have done these each time the host had them and found them quite fun to use the prompts and follow- or not follow the guest artists video inspirations

 For my first project I combined day 1 and day 4 and made a journal page. A close up of the background:

Tim Holtz Collage paper was glued to areas of a watercolor paper before swirling a mix of Paynes Grey acrylic paint, Dina Wakley Night paint and white acrylic paint. Black and white paint spatters were added as well.

 I used collage papers and hand dyed fabric from my stash as well as another dimensional glitter sticker cat. After the stitching I glued it to my kraft journal. 

 

 For the owl prompt on day 5 I made a coordinating page:

Here I used torn tape to mask the outer edges of the kraft page and painted using the same colors as above. Vintage images are from ARTchix Studio.

 And here is my painting for  Day 2 with the prompt of gourd:

 I loved the inspiration video by Kristin Peterson for her quirky, loose gourd so I pretty much followed her guidance. I painted it on Dina Wakley watercolor paper using acrylic paints. The spatters and light wash around the gourd are Dina Wakley Gloss Sprays. I also used watercolor crayons and a graphite pencil.

 Just finishing up my page for the silhouette prompt so I'll share that next week. Not sure if I'll do the jack o lantern prompt or not...

 and to end this post I have another project from the free Lifebook 2022 Taster Session lessons from some weeks ago (sorry, the lessons are no longer available):

 For this lesson (sorry, I can't remember who to give credit for this lesson) the entire page was covered with scraps of papers, colored tissues etc. Bright colored paints were applied. Then after the heart outline and corner outlines were drawn, black gesso was painted around the shapes. It was all finished by creating lots of doodles with Posca pens.

 Joining in at Paint Party Friday with this post. 

There are some new themes up and coming on the blogs I like to participate with so I hope to get to them next week😄 Until then...

“Fear not November’s challenge bold—

We’ve books and friends, 

and hearths that never can grow cold:

                                       These make amends!”         Alexander Louis Fraser