This Week's Musings

 

 Hi all, thought I'd start with this special card for my Mom's upcoming birthday the beginning of July. The dies are all Simon Says Stamp. I cut them from white cardstock and used alcohol markers to color them in. The tricky part here was getting them arranged along with the tag and twine and gluing down bits here and there to keep it all in place.  We won't be having any big party or anything, just the usual dinner at our place with son and DIL.  And speaking of, I didn't show you this gift they got me for Mother's day:

 A personalized mug from Etsy. I know I mentioned it before - but in case someone visits this post and doesn't know, Kyra and Todd are expecting their first child in October and we are going to be first time grandparents💓😁. MéMé is a French term of endearment for "grandmother". My Mom is called that, as was her mother so it was a given for me. And I WILL be teaching baby K some French along the way😉.  Bill was given a special mug for Father's day but I will share that in another post. Cheers to the T Stands For Tuesday gang!

 On to one last journal page for Art Journal Journey with the theme of "fish" this month:

 This page was done on a watercolor page in the Dina Wakley White 6" x 6" Media Journal. I really love working in this square size. I mixed a few green and blue toned Daniel Smith and Van Gogh watercolors for the painted squares and once dry made some pencil scribbles in them. The fish and sentiments were fussy cut from some old collage sheets from my stash. I finished this simple page by loosely lining the squares using  a black Micron pen.

 And for my next installment of daily ICADs for the 61 day Index Card a Day Challenge! I'm working off prompt but challenging myself to do mini series' of cards . 

Someone asked last week about doing series like this. I am enjoying it very much! It keeps me from getting bored, I'm using up what I have collected over the years- old and new, and if I'm getting certain supplies out for a card why not make more than one before moving on 😁. And anther asked what I do with all my cards. Some are sent out as RAKS or happy mail, some go on a folded notecard to send out, some go on an art journal page. I keep the others in  clear plastic baggies labeled by each year. 

ICAD 21/61

 ICAD 22/61

    ICAD 23/61

 These three were the last in series 3. There is a description in my last post here.

 Now on to my next series (4th so far). This series will all consist of Dina Wakley paints, stencils, Church Doodles Collage papers (tissues), and Typed Ledgers papers (the sentiments/quotes). Also, some wonky stitching, washi tape and a bit of mark making.

 ICAD 24/61

        ICAD 25/61

           ICAD 26/61

       ICAD 27/61

 There will be a few more of this series in my next post. Also happy to join Rain's Thursday Art Date and Friday Face Off with Nicole! Have a fantastic week ahead🤗

         “It’s a smile, it’s a kiss, it’s a sip of wine … It’s summertime!”       Kenny Chesney

This and That

 

 Hi Peeps! Thought I'd get right into the art today. This card is for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Blog Challenge (Add a Sentiment). I've got lots of birthdays and anniversaries coming up so I got into some card making mode over the weekend.

 Products: Ivory, yellow cardstock (Recollections); patterned cardstock (DCWV); sentiment (Papertrey Ink); Versafine Onyx Black ink; Simon Says Stamp Layered Etched Daisy and Stitched Banners dies; Spectrum Noir alcohol markers.

  I also managed to get a mixed media tag made for two blog challenges - Try It On Tuesday (Recycle It), and Tag Tuesday (Use a Diecut):

 I used Tim Holtz Wildflowers dies, and of course the corrugated cardboard is the recycled part 😁.

 For T Stands For Tuesday I'm warning you that this will make you wish you could reach in and grab something! My three best friends since childhood and I got together at an Italian Restaurant  called A Ca Mia. I'd heard really good things about it but just never made it a point to take the nice  1/2 hour drive. It was not busy so again we were able to spend hours at our table chatting away while eating. 

 At the top going clockwise: Roasted Veggie Melt with homemade chips and pickle, Grilled Portabella sandwich with homemade chips and pickle, I ordered that huge Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad, and the last was ( I can't remember the name of this dish- it was a lunch special) fresh tortellinis filled with mushrooms, asparagus, and a light sauce with more mushrooms and topped with cheese. As you can see, we all had lemon water to drink and they started us with warm fresh rolls and garlic olive oil for dipping. We ALL had to take half our plates home with us, however...

 Our sweet waitress wanted to show us the dessert tray and positioned it so I could get a nice photo of it. Oh My!! The desserts change on occasion and no, I cannot remember all that is shown here but there is chocolate layer cake, cheese cakes, Creme Brulée, chocolate flan, carrot cake. My friends decided to get that chocolate layer cake and four forks😁. I only had one bite but it was divine! I also got a take out order for dinner for the next day because my hubby has been wanting to come here too. I ordered the Gnocchi Fantasy- potato gnocchi with roasted red and yellow peppers, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes in a pink white wine cream sauce. It came with a bag of rolls, garlic olive oil, and a nice tossed salad. For $18 this was enough for both hubby (who's a big eater) and I for dinner, plus enough for lunch for 1 the following day. All he could say was OMG this is SOOOO good. I think we'll be making our own trip there for dinner in the near future😉. Cheers!

 Now on to my next set of index cards for the ICAD -Index Card a Day Challenge. It runs from June 1 - July 31 and this is my 4th year participating:

ICAD 14

ICAD 15

ICAD 16

 These were the last three in my second mini series with a common theme. I'm working off prompt and find that by creating (weekly or so) series' it not only helps me use bits and things I have collected over the years but changing themes keeps me from getting bored.

 Now I've begun with a third little series:

ICAD 17

ICAD 18

ICAD19

ICAD 20

 For this series I'm going vintage. Using up papers I have in my fodder stash for the backgrounds. All of them will have a Paper Whimsy collage sheet image, vintage gold German scrap, a Tim Holtz Small Talk sentiment sticker, and stitching at the tops and bottoms.

  And lastly:

 Happy Summer Solstice  on Tuesday- the longest day of the year for us in the Northern Hemisphere! I purposely took my photo of this journal page where the sun from the window was hitting part of it 🌞.

 Will also be joining Rain's Thursday Art Date later this week. Wishing you a wonderful week!

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”       

            F. Scott Fitzgerald

Art Inspirations

 

   How's everyone?  How was your weekend? Here was another mixed bag of partial sun in between showers and heavier rain. We did luck out on Saturday as we went into town on Main Street to just catch the special "Art of The Miniature" exhibit hosted by The Snow Goose Gallery before the last day on Sunday-whew! I would have been so disappointed if I would have missed it as I didn't see it the last two years. I have gone many previous years (this is their 30th year) to take in these amazing miniature works of art from all over the world.

 This may have been the first time hubby went with me though- and he was thoroughly impressed and enjoyed it as much as I do😁. No photos, but here is a link to every one (461!) of the pieces of art all for sale. I highly encourage you to take some time to check some of them out. Below each miniature they tell you what medium was used as well as the artist's name, price, size, and whether or not they were sold. I always try to pick a favorite or two but this time I just couldn't as there were so many I kept going back to. However, I did go to # 354 - "Afternoon in the Country" a few times, and then fell in love with it especially after learning this artist just celebrated her 102nd birthday!! But no, we didn't buy anything. We don't need more art to display, and besides, we have our first grandchild on the way so we'll be spending our money on baby K 😉.

 And now for my art this week. Here is a page I made for Art Journal Journey with the theme of "fish" this month with guest host Mia:

 Next up is an anniversary card I made for a dear friend which I will link to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge (Bright and Cheerful) :

 

 I used one of my newer Simon Says Stamp dies - Cosmos Stem. Other products- white notecard, Neenah Solar White #110 cardstock, Lattice stencil- Dina Wakley, Distress Oxide ink - Bundled Sage, Jet Black ink - Versafine, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers.

For T Stands For Tuesday I have one more meal to share from our trip to Cape May last month:

 We had leftovers from our fabulous dinner at Viggiano's with friends the evening before so we enjoyed it along with champagne in our room for our last evening. The one on the left was my leftover- a fresh pasta with blush sauce, shrimp and salmon. Delicious!! On the right is rigatoni- it was  our friend's leftover and she wanted us to have it because she wasn't going to take it. Hubby loved it. And it was a nice way to relax our last night and not have to get dressed and walk into town. 

 And now for my next batch of ICADS (Index Cards) for a 61 day art challenge that started June 1 and runs through July 31. I've started by doing mini series (weekly) with a common theme. This week I primarily used  a scrap of Dina Wakley Collage Collective, Tim Holtz washi tape and sentiment sticker, and thread. Bits of this and that added for more texture.

ICAD8

ICAD9

         

ICAD10

ICAD11

ICAD12

ICAD13

 The mushrooms are ones I made with watercolors and Posca pens after watching an online set of free lessons from Sketchbook Revival awhile back. The woven turquoise bits are recycled from and old placemat. And since I just found that the new theme over at Try It On Tuesday is "Recycle It" I will link with the two cards using the recycled placemat.

 I'll also link this Thursday to Rain's Thursday Art Date. Please visit her blog- you will be thoroughly delighted by it- there's everything- art, nature, food, recipes, dogs, gardening...

 Happy week to you and yours🤗.

"Spending time in nature both reduces stress and enhances creativity."         Salli Rasberry

A New Art Challenge!

 

  Hi all! Yeah, I didn't post last week again... As these beautiful spring/summer days are here I'm finding it quite difficult to be at my desktop computer. It's such a joy to be outside- morning, noon, and night. We've been watching different species of fledglings and parent birds at our feeders, I saw our first firefly (lightening bug) of the season last night😁, and we have a mother and baby skunk under our shed! Last night as we sat on our patio (a safe distance away) we watched the mother skunk keep trying to coach the baby up our one step to the back gate and open carport. She even picked it up by the scruff of its neck a few different times. It took many attempts but she finally got the baby up the step and following behind her on their way up the alley. It was such a touching thing to be privileged to see 💓. So, no, we will not do anything  but be very careful at night and hope they soon move on.

  

The ICAD challenge has begun again and I am participating for the 4th year, posting a card a day on Instagram. You don't have to be on IG to play - I know that our very own Bleubeard and Elizabeth are playing and don't have an IG account.

 At the top of this post I shared day 1. Here are the next 6 (posting #7 here one day ahead). My only plan is to use lots of the collage sheet images and paper bits I have collected over the years- some old, some newer. And I think I'm going to work in little series' - perhaps changing every week or so. We'll see...

Day 2

 Day3

       Day 4   

Day 5

                          

Day 6

Day 7

  Some of the paper bits are recycled business envelopes, tissue from Simplicity patterns, text books, and painted paper bits. The paints, tissue paper images, and quotes are all Dina Wakley. I did some wonky stitching to finish them off.

 And now for our gathering at Altered Book Lover for T Stands For Tuesday:

 Another favorite restaurant bar we went to in Cape May, NJ last month - Hemingway's. We tend to walk here and sit at the bar our first evening in town. And we have come to deem their Caesar salad the absolute best anywhere else we've been...until this time 😞. Apparently there is a new chef who decided to change things up. What we got was a large flat parmesan crisp with the salad on top. This was NOT a homemade dressing on the salad! The piece of bread was SO hard you couldn't even break it in half, and then there was a smear of olive paste on the side and some black olives with it. It was so disappointing that neither hubby nor I finished our salads. But the J Lohr wine was good😉,  and we got to catch up with some newer friends we had met here two years ago. 

 Although I didn't get to make anything specific for any blog challenges this week I will link to Rain's Thursday Art Date. My day 7 ICAD above will work nicely for her theme:). I did recently do another journal page in my second Dina Wakley square kraft journal:

 

 Have a wonderful week all! Will be around to visit, and I hope to get some blog challenge art done for next post - but that will probably depend on whether or not we get some rainy days so I can play inside in the art room without the guilt of missing a beautiful day outside😁.

" It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside."           Maude Hart Lovelace