Summer Vibes

 

 Happy official summer to everyone in the Northern hemisphere! Did you celebrate it along with Father's day on Sunday? I did! It was a gorgeous (albeit hot) day to enjoy the longest day of the year outdoors. Our son came over and I grilled burgers and made a veggie pasta salad. No photos of that but for T Stands For Tuesday I have this:

 Late Saturday afternoon we got a rainstorm and it was quite warm so we decided to sit out under the covered patio area and be like the French with aperitif time- a nice bottle of wine and some snacks. And as we enjoyed it the hummingbirds were coming to both feeders and entertaining us along with the smooth jazz music we were playing. A perfect few hours before dinner. Cheers!

 Here's a pic of our shed at the end of our yard:

 at the top of this post is a closeup of one of the flower boxes. I am so thrilled at how beautiful they look this year especially because I do NOT have even  a bit of a green thumb! Even the hummingbirds will fly from the feeders to the end of the yard to inspect the blooms - first time I've seen that:)

Oh, and there is a new finch nest with a few eggs in my hanging flower basket on the front porch - no cowbird egg this time 👍

  I have two more pages from my Dina Wakley kraft journal. I know I shared these on Instagram but didn't post them here.

 I'm not so good with monochromatic so on occasion I like to challenge myself😉 Dina Wakley- stencils, collage paper, stamps. Tim Holtz paper Dolls.

 And this is my latest batch of index cards (ICADS) for the 61 day challenge I follow on Instagram:

     ICAD 15/61

 Vintage trim and image. Handmade paper from Bleubeard and Elizabeth:)

ICAD 16/61

ICAD17/61

  The vintage trim on the above card came from here:

 

 This huge binder is filled with trim samples and prices from the above company. It came with a box of vintage magazines, etc. that I had bid on and won some time ago at an auction. Here is a video I made flipping through some of the pages:

ICAD 18/61

ICAD 19/61

ICAD 20/61 my ode to the summer solstice, my new blog header, and my entry to Try It On Tuesday (theme is -Here Comes Summer)😁

   Always happy to join in at Paint Party Friday as well!

 And that's it for this week. Thanks for stopping in. Have a great week!

"Summertime. It was a song. It was a season. I wondered if that season would ever live inside of me."     Benjamin Alire Saenz

 

This and That

 

 Hi peeps! Are most of you enjoying some summer heat? I'm spending so much time outside that not much is getting done inside lately. I'm just taking in all I can and loving all the bird visitors- especially the hummingbirds 💓

 I'll start with a journal spread I had done a little while ago and will join in again at Art Journal Journey for the theme of butterflies. Above is the left page in my Dina Wakley kraft journal. Here is the right page:

and the pages side by side:

 For the flower I followed a tutorial on Instagram for painting a whimsical flower using gouache. I don't have any gouache (do I really need another product?😜) so I used Dina Wakley acrylic paints along with a white Posca pen and black fine line pen.

 There is a new theme over at Tag Tuesday (Tag on a Tag), and a new theme at the Simon Says Monday Challenge (Beautiful Blooms) and I am joining with this tag:

 Lg. tag (Ranger); small tag - unknown; Tim Holtz paper Dolls, Small talk Stickers, Floral Collage Paper; small text clear stamp (PaperTrey ink); Versafine Onyx Black ink; Recollections- washi tape, tiny brad, paper flower; bee- napkin piece.

And before I get to my latest batch of Index Card art let's have a treat:

 and it was as sublime tasting as it looks!!! It's called a Tuscan Zucchetto cake which four of us shared at Viggiano's in West Cape May one evening . Layers of a sponge cake, cream, and chocolate mousse drizzled with two sauces and crushed toasted nuts. Look hard and you will see my ticket in for T Stands For Tuesday where we share a beverage related post. On the upper left corner is a partial view of an espresso and  a carafe of water, along with two wine bottle corks. Cheers!

 My latest index card art:

                                                                              8/61

             9/61

                                                                            10/61

                                                                          11/61

                                                                         12/61

                                                                        13/61

                                                                         14/61

                                                             

 I'm using index card backgrounds using a host of Gelli Plate printed techniques taught by Birgit Koopsen. Note Elizabeth on the last one I used another piece of the beautiful handmade paper you gifted me with😸

 Also joining Paint Party Friday later this week. Have a good one everyone!

        " A flower blossoms for its own joy."   Oscar Wilde

Playing Catch Up - Again!

 

 

 At this rate I may be posting just randomly. Missed last week  because the Memorial Day holiday and hubby being home threw me off 😜 So how was everyone's weekend? We had no plans and just stayed home thankfully because it was a really crappy weekend- raining - and cold enough to have to put the heat on for two days (after having the AC on the week before)!! We ended up binge watching The Kominsky Method series on Netflix . Anyone see it at all? Funny and great acting by Michael Douglas and a host of guest stars!

 Now we are back in summer heat wave mode again so much of my time is spent outdoors. But I am making time for this:

this is my third year participating on Instagram. I get to see lots of super art- including a mutual friend's of Elizabeth and mine - Cindy. I must go look for your cards on your blog Elizabeth;)

So here are my first week's cards:

 For this month I am going to use index card backgrounds that recently resurfaced 😁. I had done these back in 2019 using a host of techniques taught by Birgit Koopsen using the Gelli Plate. I am also using scraps of gelli plate printed papers and just randomly digging through my stash of ephemera and vintage images for collage and then finishing with Tim Holtz sentiment stickers for the most part.

 Now for T Stands for Tuesday hosted by Bleubeard and Elizabeth! 

 

 Some of you will recognize it because at least once each time we visit Cape May and our favorite spot especially for breakfast I MUST have the breakfast veggie wrap! Half always gets saved for later. And as you can see I have already downed one cup of coffee and am awaiting my second;) Cheers!

 I also have a journal page for the new theme for this month of "butterflies" over at Art Journal Journey with guest host Mia:

 Joining Paint Party Friday this week too. Have a great new week all!

      "We carry inside us the wonders we seek outside".    Rumi

It's Been Awhile!

 

 How is everyone? Haven't posted in awhile because hubby and I finally got to the beach - Cape May, NJ for about a week😁 We stayed at our usual place and this was our view from the third floor. The weather was gorgeous- sunny and warm throughout our stay. We enjoyed daily walks on the beach and I'd sit and relax while hubby would go for a run. We also spent time poolside but only my feet dangled a few minutes in both the pool and ocean water because both were very cold yet!

 Hubby and I took time to drive across town to Cape May Point to see the lighthouse and walk through the lovely state park there:

 

 There were many "birders" along with families enjoying the beautiful grounds. I was happy to see an abundance of white swans in the lakes.

 Back on the beach near our motel we saw two birders with their expensive cameras quite fascinated by something near the water's edge so we went over to have a look ourselves once they moved on and this is what we saw:

We had never seen anything like it! There were two of them- both had their legs tagged, and we found out they are American Oystercatchers. Very cool!

 And for the peeps at T Stands For Tuesday I'll share the dinner we had our first evening in Cape May. We went to a favorite place - Hemingway's:

   We split a Caesar salad (truly one of THE best!) which came with fresh warm bread. Our drink choices were both water and J Lohr cabernet sauvignon. And we both also chose the same entrees:

 

 Perfectly prepared crab cakes (no fillers) with a red pepper sauce, green beans and risotto. Delicious.

Cheers to the T gang-I'm really looking forward to catching up with everyone again!

 In my last post I shared pics of the growing nest of eggs in my geranium hanging plant. Before we left for vacation:

 I was half afraid to look when we got back, but there was nothing to worry about:

 Five baby finches! I don't know whatever happened to the sixth (cowbird egg). And then just the other day this was the last pic I got as they all had flown from the nest just hours later:

 What a joy to see.

Now for the art part! This is the card I made for my Mom for Mother's day and I will share it with the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge (use dies and/or punches);

 White notecard, envie and cardstock (Recollections); Versafine Onyx Black ink; assorted alcohol markers; sentiment (Papertrey Ink); Mandy's Flowers stamp and die sets, enamel heart stickers (Simon Says Stamp shop); Stickles glitter glue (Ranger).

 While away I took a break from social media, my phone, and even art making but I did manage a few journal pages before I went and since I've returned. I will share these pages with Art Journal Journey (language), and Paint Party Friday:

 Aah, the language of flowers... Pages done in the Dina Wakley kraft journal. I used her paints, stencils, Gloss sprays, Collage Collective, chipboard flower, and stamps. Doodling and spatters done with Posca pens. Asemic writing done with a black Fude Ball pen.

And one more spread in the same journal:

 The language of friendship 😂

 Dina Wakley paints, collage words tissue paper; Tim Holtz Paper Dolls, Snarky Small Talk stickers, Chit Chat stickers; Fude Ball pen; Stabilo All pencil, white Posca pen.

Thanks for popping in. Happy to be visiting you all again!

"Stay Alert, and doors will open. You can never know when and where a magic door will open for you,
so pay attention, stay watchful, and never give up hope."    Jonathan Lockwood Huie