Reconnected-Properly-YAY!

 Hello lovelies! What a week it was. It began with internet troubles big time. The plumber (also a friend) came to replace some pipes in the main bathroom as hubby is renovating and redoing the flooring. OLD house= OLD pipes= more work than anticipated. OK. Let's get this done right. (Hubby at work below)

 Next day had someone come in for annual furnace maintenance - to find out  we CANNOT run the furnace  because of cracks leaking carbon monoxide! Yup, need a new gas furnace ASAP. It IS over 30 years old so it's not too big a surprise, but...cha ching $$! We are expecting our first frost and still need to schedule installation now that we've chosen the furnace. I'm cold already.
 So, we can use the shower in our main bath even though everything else is torn apart. And we can use the toilet and sink in the half bath. Until I went to flush the toilet and heard leaking in the tank-WHAT??? I am NOT about to resort to using a bucket to go in. Thankfully hubby knew what it was and repaired a seal in the tank making it good again. He's definitely a keeper:)
 Finally got through to Verizon and within one day we were sent a new router at no charge. Set it up and all is well now with internet connection:) Other minor issues came up the remainder of last week so hubby and I said out loud "OK, we surrender." Just wondering what the universe was trying to tell us.... Enough of all that though, let's have some fun here!

 A few more Cape May photos:

 First stop after settling in we went for lunch at this very well known establishment - a place where most everyone goes to experience. All the years we have been going to CM and we never ate there thinking it was a typical tourist trap. We LOVED it!! Yes a bit pricey but we had so much GOOD food and we got two meals out of it. Definitely worth it all around.

 One of the more unusual things we did was visit an alpaca farm-which we just stumbled upon on a drive:

 we visited the shop before wandering over to the alpacas. Glad I did because the owner was very knowledgeable and even gave me carrots to feed them:) Some of the wares :

Meet the alpacas:

These were all females. This particular one was very pushy. And after I gave her a carrot -she spit at me-hmph!! Hubby was hysterical because it's the first time any animal didn't love me as I love them. And yes I was a bit shocked! The others were all SO very sweet though:

Photos courtesy of hubby. I could have stayed all day! As it is I ran out of carrots before visiting the males.

 Now for some art, and if you're still with me thank you!!

      Got out my stash of Halloween supplies again and made some ATCS.
If anyone wants one let me know-but just USA addresses this time. Let me know if you have a preference -first come first served.

 Along with an autumn inspired journal page:

  Background is a napkin. I splattered it with an olive green ink and white ink. Image is from Paper Whimsy which was trimmed with a round punch and glued to a paper doily.

Joining the following places with this post. Please do stop in and would love to see you link something up too!  Art Journal Journey ( theme is Indian Summer/Golden October/Autumn); Moo Mania (theme is drips and splatters); Paint Party Friday; Simon Wednesday Challenge (Halloween Inspiration Board); Try It On Tuesday (theme is scary and spooky); and T Stands For Tuesday.

" Be loyal to what you love, be true to the earth, fight your enemies with passion and laughter."
                                                    Edward Abbey

Attempting To Stay Connected

 If I haven't been visiting, or posting, or answering emails it is because we are now having MAJOR problems with internet. I may or may not get to complete this post and publish it. And I may not be able to link up anywhere but I'm giving it a go. I do hope to have it resolved in the next few days.

 Now that it's October and autumn weather has officially arrived I thought I'd start on some Halloween cards. My first card was inspired by this sketch

 Gotta love the Tim Holtz bird stamps, dies and accessories! Tag, stickers and twine from Recollections. Joining Freshly Made Sketches along with the Simon Wednesday Challenge (anything goes).

 For T Stands For Tuesday I have a few funny things to share I found in a shop during our recent trip to Cape May:

       I thought the masks (made from bamboo roots) were pretty cool!

 And here are a few fun kitchen towels I photographed:

 I found this coffee mug there too (no I didn't buy any of these items I'm showing-I was good:)

 The movie Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children is now showing. Anyone see it? Please tell me what you thought. I belonged to the Paper Whimsy forum back in the day and Gale Blair (owner of the forum and shoppe) had many clever swaps. Yes, one of them was reading this very book and creating 4" x 4" pages for a swap. This was back in 2011-2012! Each week we 'talked' about a chapter. There were 18 participants and the art was incredible but I can only share mine as I didn't get anyone's permission:

 And after revisiting the art and reading the book again I was inspired to make a journal page using my digital/paper collage piece:

Joining Paint Party Friday later this week! Missed everyone and hope to be able to visit this week. Wish me luck with internet.
Edit:  as of tonight-Fri. Oct 7 I set up new router sent by Verizon and connection seems to be improved. Time will tell if I need to upgrade speed service too...

" When you've exhausted all possibilities remember this- you haven't."   Thomas Edison

Finally Some Much Needed Rain!

 Summer like weather continues but it has been SO dry with no rain for too long. I sat outside the other morning just before the rain finally came...

you can see the dry patches in the yard at the top of the photo. Enjoying a piece of Gateau Yaourt ( yogurt cake) with my morning coffee.  This is a very easy light cake my family in France made all the time. The recipe is at the end of this post. Joining my friends at T Stands For Tuesday.

 Just had to share this with you as we all thought it quite funny! It wasn't even raining hard and one would think the birds would welcome the water but instead they treated the covered patio like a huge bird house-even hanging all over the lounge chair after I removed the cushion:)

I had more fun playing with the latest sketch challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches ( you can see the sketch along with my first two cards using it  here or on the FMS blog). This time around I made two holiday themed cards:

 For each of them I used patterned papers, images and ephemera from my stash in my holiday themed pocket folders.  These holidays will be here before you know it! Also linking to the Simon Wednesday Challenge "clean and simple".

 And for the Back to School theme over at Art Journal Journey hosted this month by Elizabeth of Altered Book Lover I have this journal page:

 The page began with a strip of alphabet paper on the left in addition to some text paper and washi tape. The page was then painted with layers of color washes in olive green, yellow, white and burnt sienna. The same colors were used with stencils. Black spatters were added. Vintage image is framed with washi tape. Love this Nelson Mandela quote. Also linking to Moo Mania and More for the alphabet theme.

 Since I am not ready to part with summer yet I'll be spending 4 days at the beach again -this time in the beautiful  Victorian town of Cape May , New Jersey! Of course I'll have photos to share when I'm back next week:) Until then, have a great week ahead, and enjoy the recipe below!

                            " Creativity is contagious. Pass it on."    Albert Einstein

                                                    Gateau Yaourt

1 1/2 c. flour        pinch of salt       1 c. sugar ( I only used 3/4 cup)         1/2  c. oil

1 tsp baking powder     1 tsp baking soda        3 eggs           zest of 1 lemon

1 c. plain whole fat yogurt

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 10 inch cake pan. In medium bowl whisk sugar, oil, yogurt and lemon zest. Add eggs one at a time.  Sift together flour, salt, soda and powder then whisk into the sugar mix. bake 40 min. Let cool on rack then unmold. Serve as is or with powdered sugar and or fruit, whipped cream.

Working The Challenges

 Hey there peeps! I'm going to begin with a few questions for you and then it's on to the main reason I'm here blogging - ART! When you are facing a creative challenge do you procrastinate and set it aside before continuing? Do you face it head on? Or do you forget it and move on to something else? 
 I really had to ponder it all myself as I came upon yet another challenging lesson in the Radiant Faces online class. I knew I wouldn't give it up completely but it took quite a few days for me to get to my art table and just begin. I'm talking about the lesson taught by Tamara Laporte on "the inner child". I LOVE her style but it's also very different for me. Plus she uses the Caran D'ache water soluble crayons to "paint" her face and I don't . But guess what, it was all OK and ....I finished my portrait!

 Here are a few wips and the completed page:

 I am working with acrylics-my medium of choice but to give me time for blending I added drops of Liquitex Slow-Dri blending medium to my paints.

The finished page:

 My page is filled with things that have special significance to me- the red dress (I had a favorite dress similar to this when I was a child and red has been my favorite color since I can remember), the books, the dog, the music paper , French text and heart in the background.. And this is the affirmation I wrote:

 The best compliment I could have gotten came from hubby and son who both immediately said my painting was a self portrait:) Joining the multi talented artists over at Paint Party Friday!

Side Note: because of how good it felt completing this I signed up for Life Book 2015 Tam's Classes online so I can continue to not only make pretty faces but to have that deep connection with my feelings and art that Tamara teaches so well. Oooh, and I get to learn how to paint a masculine face too:)

 I have these cards for a few challenges I love playing in: Freshly Made Sketches, The Simon Wednesday Challenge, and Try It On Tuesday...

  Great sketch to work with, and perfect for the Simon Wednesday CAS challenge, and the coffee and cream challenge at TIOT. Unfortunately I wasn't able to capture the glitter I added to the peacock. Hoping to make more of these cards this weekend:)

 Products:clear stamps (Papertrey Ink); Staz-On ink-Spiced Chai (Tsukineko); The Natural Matstack (DCWV); Vogue Paper Pack (Craftwork Cards); cream card stock; Spellbinders die cut machine along with the stitched die and floral doily motif die ; flowers (Prima); rhinestones; Stickles glitter glue (Ranger).

 Will be around to see what creative goodness you've done this week! If this post appears a bit wonky as far as spacing or font I tried to fix it and spent  A LOT of time trying  but internet was acting up terribly. My apologies.

" The journey between what you once were and who you are now becoming is where the dance of life really takes place."           Barbara DeAngelis

Art Journal Journey and More

  Happy Monday! Hope the new week is starting on a good note for everyone. Here in PA we are experiencing THE most delightful weather. Despite being a bit sad that many leaves are already falling, the daylight hours are decreasing, and the hummingbirds leaving, I am taking advantage by spending afternoons basking in the sun -need that vitamin D you know:)

 Of course there has also been time for art:

 This is a journal page using some vintage clip art and washi tape for the challenges at Art Journal Journey-theme is  "back to school " this month and hosted by the wonderful Elizabeth; along with Moo Mania and More (theme is "alphabet") and Try It On Tuesday (theme is "children"). Looks like I have a vintage theme going too:)

 Speaking of Elizabeth-this is my entry for T Stands For Tuesday which she hosts beautifully every Tuesday. Please do check it out-love to have you join in on the fun!

 I have been addicted to Starbucks coffee for some years now and when I went grocery shopping for my ground bags of regular and decafe ( I mix them so as not to have too much caffeine and yet I'm just not ready to give it up entirely), they were out of what I needed-GASP! Now what? Sorry but I cannot drink the Folgers hubby sticks to-I need robust flavor. I remember someone from T Stands For Tuesday mentioning Peets brand (can't remember who it was though...) so I went for it. And I like it even better than Starbucks!

 This past Saturday hubby and I went to see Celtic Thunder again here in town! We had purchased tickets quite awhile ago thru PBS to help support our local station. But since having the tickets several key changes were made within the group :( . No more Keith ( my blonde surfer boy), no more Colm, and no more Laura (the cello player-she and Colm got married and he's back at university in Scotland). Needless to say I was apprehensive about how good the show would be with new members. WELL,  they were FABULOUS!!!! No pics were allowed during the show but we got to talk with them all and get pics-after the show because a small gathering stayed around awhile out by the tour buses :) Meet the lads...

this is Michael O'Dwyer, the newest member. An amazing tenor,  he was a clown as you can see and so much fun to chat with!

  meet Emmet Cahill (sorry for the bad pic-hubby was taking photos with both his and my friend's cameras at the same time). Emmet was with Celtic Thunder a few years ago but left to pursue solo ventures. He kindly came back for this tour and we were so glad-his voice is phenomenal!

 my friend Carol and I with Damian. What a cutie! He was an original member of Celtic Thunder at the tender age of 13. He left to pursue other avenues and even was a guest on several episodes of the show 'Glee'. Damian McGinty is now 22 and such a sweet young man.

 Carol with Neil Byrne. Neil is a fantastic guitarist and began as a musician and backup singer before becoming a key singer with the band.

 and this is Ryan Kelly, another original member. He doesn't only have a wonderful voice and personality, but he is the kindest and most humble guy. He also writes songs and tours with Neil Byrne and we have had the pleasure of seeing them several times in between CT tours. Ryan remembered us immediately and even talked of going running with hubby next time he's in town.

 Sorry if I bored you but I just couldn't curb my enthusiasm over these guys. I only wish more people in their field would be so open and genuine and take time to meet some of the fans.

 Have a great rest of the week! Will be back soon with a post on another Radiant Faces lesson I completed.

 " The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don't tell you what to see." 
                                                                                    Alexandra Trenfor