Short and Sweet This Week

 

  Preparing for another heat wave this week here with very little rain relief expected. That means out in the AM and then not again until later in the day or early evening. I actually love those times sitting out  watching the birds and reading, don't you?

 My post is short because I actually managed to get three blog challenges in for one piece of art I literally just finished before typing this post 😉

 This tag is meant for the new challenge at Tag Tuesday ( Blue and Orange); the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge(Heat Embossing); and the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge (Summertime Blues):

 

Products: Dina Wakley/Ranger media tag; Versamark ink pad; white embossing powder; Dylusions Basic Backgrounds stamp set; Distress inks- Spiced Marmalade, Salty Ocean; Tim Holtz Small Talk Occasions; sun face, girl images from collage sheets from Paper Whimsy. I began by stamping the alphabet with Versamark ink then heat embossing it using the white embossing powder. I then sponged the inks over top. The mesh -like bit at the bottom with some torn paper attached was a scrap sitting on my table. 

Here's a larger photo:

 For T Stands For Tuesday I have another light summery meal I recently made for dinner:

 Homemade zucchini carrot fritters/cakes (they weren't fried, but sauteed) with a dollop of sour cream and cedar plank grilled salmon. Of course we had to have a glass of wine with it 😁. Cheers!

 And I have a new journal spread for Art Journal Journey (theme is Type):

 I used Dina Wakley stencils on the background including the Mantras stencil for some "type" and the sentiment was done with an old Making Memories alphabet stamp set which I enhanced with a white Signo Uni-Ball pen. Paper Dolls are Tim Holtz.

 Happy to also participate with and visit Paint Party Friday! Happy week to all!

     "When we are centered on joy we attain our wisdom."  Marianne Williamson

Hello August!

 

  Wow- where is my summer going? August began with rain from morning til evening on Sunday and it was actually damp and a bit chilly- just like the last few mornings. I'm not ready for this😕 It IS nice to to have such humidity and heavy air though. It's been a delight sitting out as much as we can and enjoying the show our hummingbirds have been giving us. They are very curious and come quite close as well as chase each other around right under our noses. If only I could capture it for you to see...

 I'll start with my ticket for T Stands For Tuesday where we share a beverage/drink related something- whether it be an actual drink, or art, or movie clip, or drink recipe...you get it- lots of fun!! Would love to see you there!

 Because we knew it would rain all day Sunday hubby spent Saturday from morning til evening doing yard work- trimming trees, hedges, forsythia bushes, etc. then bagging it all to go to recycling. He also layed down a new outdoor carpet for the area of our back patio that's covered under a roof. So besides making a nice dinner, on Sunday morning I made him this 3 egg ham and cheese omelette with toast and coffee. And then he ate a nice piece of zucchini bread too😋. That's his newly purchased mug- he LOVES Mustangs and has owned several cars- his latest is a 2017 French Blue with black stripes down the middle. It's nice but I'm quite happy with my dependable Ford Focus😉

 And now for the last of my index cards for the ICAD Challenge. A card a day for 61 days and I completed it for the 3rd year in a row!

ICAD 58/61

I had 4 more cards to do so I went back to the series I did earlier this month creating a collage and watercolor background (here using Daniel Smith Yellow Green and Ultramarine Turquoise) a word chosen from a collage sheet, and a coordinating tile letter (Tim Holtz) which I built up with bits from my stash.

ICAD 59/61

ICAD 60/61

ICAD 61/61

 And July's cards all together:

 I went off prompt. For the whole month of June I used index cards with backgrounds using a variety of techniques on the Gelli Plate. You can see them all together in this post. For July I did 3 different series of cards:

 

For these I created lots of layers of paint, stenciling, some stamping, and mark making before adding a Tim Holtz Paper Doll and Snarky Small Talk quote. You can see the materials used here.

In this series I started by covering the cards with printed tissue paper that came as the wrapping for supplies I would order from Joggles online. I then added lots of mark making and some stenciling. I finished them with either a stamped focal image or a hand drawn one and then a sentiment from a digi sheet from Paper Whimsy. You can see how they began in this post.

 

 And in this series I began with bits of papers collaged onto the cards, then chose two Daniel Smith  watercolors, then some spattering with black and white. A word was chosen and then a coordinating tile letter built up with paper and/or fabric bits and threads. 

 My favorite of all were these watercolor cards. There was just something about creating them that felt loose, raw, and organic. And I actually loved playing with my watercolors again! I'll definitely be trying this in some of my journals.

There is a new guest host and theme over at Art Journal Journey this month! Neet is hosting, and her theme is "Type". There are so many ways to interpret her wonderful theme, so go see and read about it, and then play along, won't you?

Here is my journal spread:

 

 I have always loved this quote. For the word hope I used Dina Wakley's newest alphabet stamp set. The rest of the quote was computer generated. The faces are Dina Wakley Collage papers. I also used one of her stencils, washi tapes, and paints in her kraft journal.

 Also happily joining in at Paint Party Friday. Happy new week to you!

     " Breathe the sweetness that hovers in August."     Denise  Levertov

The Beauty Of This Life

 

 Hi peeps, how's everything? Hard to believe July is almost over.... A fabulous few days of summer sun- but without the humidity and I love it! I did also manage to spend a bit more time in my art room to work in some blog challenges too. 

 I'll begin with the challenge over at Art Journal Journey with guest host Alison and the theme of "summer countryside" for this month:

 I created this page in the Dina Wakley kraft square journal. I used Dina Wakley paints, a black Stabilo All pencil, black Fude Ball pen, black Marabu Art Spray, a butterfly fussy cut from a collage sheet, and a computer generated quote.

 For the new Simon Says Monday Blog Challenge (wild with washi), and the new Tag Tuesday Challenge (flowers/floral) I made this tag:

 Products: manila tag which I covered with Tim Holtz washi tape set -Postal; Sponged over it with Distress Oxide Bundled Sage ink. Black spatters- black Marabu Art Spray, white spatters Dina Wakley white Gloss Spray. Flowers (Dina Wakley Always Flowers stamp set) stamped on kraft card stock using Versafine Onyx Black ink. bee is from a napkin. Sentiment is from Tim Holtz Clippings stickers. Tag edged with the Versafine Onyx Black ink.

 

 Let's have a break- grab a refreshment and join host Bleubeard and Elizabeth for T Stands For Tuesday. For this week I'm sharing a light yummy dinner I made for hubby and I on Saturday:

 I made a homemade basil vinaigrette  for this albacore tuna/green bean/northern bean salad with romaine lettuce and topped with grated fresh Parmesan. Some fresh Tuscan garlic bread on the side, and a Bordeaux to sip with it... a perfect summer meal! Cheers!

 And now to the index card art (continuing the daily challenge which ends July 31st). I started a new off prompt series! This time using lots of layers on the card backgrounds inspired by a method Courtney Earl - brand ambassador for The Crafters Workshop supplies. She posts the most colorful, amazing art on Instagram (scrappy_girl7867)!!

 Here are the supplies I used for the following cards:

 Not pictured are the Tim Holtz Paper Dolls I'm using or the Tim Holtz Snarky Small Talk stickers.

and for the next cards in this series I changed out some of the paint colors, stencils and such:

 Happy to join Paint Party Friday with my post as well. Have a fun filled week all!

" Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul."    Saint Augustine

Another Week Of Heat!

 

 It's been another week of heat and humidity making the air feel thick like soup most of the days (feeling like up to 100 F)- even I don't like that. The early mornings and later evenings were much nicer, and tolerable. We also had daily storm warnings but somehow our valley was protected from every one that came in our area. And unlike the horrible rains in Germany that sadly caused so much damage and loss of life  we got so little I still had to water all the plants every day- sometimes twice a day. 

 As for a birdie update- the finches in the nest on our front porch have flown the coop:). And the wrens in our back yard planter are still active but there are still NO eggs.

 For T Stands For Tuesday - I'm asking a favor of you Nicole/DVArtist. I had a few requests for links to your Almond Cookie recipe I made and shared in my last post but I was unable to find that post on your blog. Perhaps you could repost it?

 And my ticket for  the link up today is one more meal from our last time in Cape May:

 

Our last dinner before leaving Cape May the next morning was at The Merion Inn. This is the place we most always have dinner to end our stay. We split a Caesar salad which came with fresh warm rolls and mini muffins. Our wine choice was J Lohr Cabernet Sauvignon and I had my usual broiled scallops with veggies du jour and their famous potato cup- yum! It was SO nice to see familiar faces along with the same wonderful service and food.

 And again this week all I have art - wise to share are my index cards for the ICAD Challenge. Only one more week and a half before the challenge ends on July 31. I have been busy watching the Tour de France (which ended on Sunday) and spending more time doing outdoor things and knocking off various doctor appointments one at a time so hopefully there will be no winter time appointments😉

ICAD 43/61

    ICAD 44/61

                                                                        ICAD 45/61

These are the last 3 of 5 in my sub series using Daniel Smith Opera Pink and Cascade Green watercolors. Please see my last post for other details.

 And now is another part of this series- for the next 5 cards I have used all the same techniques but switched out my Daniel Smith watercolors to Pthalo Blue (red shade) and Quinacridone Deep Gold: 

              ICAD 46/61

            ICAD 47/61

              ICAD 48/61

              ICAD 49/61

               ICAD 50/61

 Sorry for some of the wonky/uncentered things in this post. I tried but Blogger wasn't cooperating so well.

 Joining Paint Party Friday with my index card art!

Have a super week everyone 🤗

"People will be most creative when they feel motivated primarily by the interest, enjoyment, satisfaction and challenge of the work itself."
                                                    Teresa Amabile

Creative Play

 

 What a crazy weather week it's been in our parts again! Sudden downpours and thunderstorms in between bouts of hot sun with very high humidity and heat index levels. Luckily we never lost power nor had hail or damaging winds like some areas did. Aah, but we have yet another week of this same weather to deal with. Glad  my nesting birds have stayed safe:) Above is my latest peek at the three house finches in my front porch geranium basket. They now have most all their feathers. As for the Carolina wrens in our back porch basket- there are no eggs yet, just lots of activity.

 I spent much of this past Saturday in the kitchen baking - a French chocolate cake for my Mom's birthday dinner the next day (which I totally forgot to take any photos of), and finally I made the almond cookie recipe that Nicole (DVArtist) shared on her blog quite awhile ago for one of the T Stands For Tuesday gatherings.  I DID stop to take a photo while enjoying one or two with my coffee but it wasn't easy. These cookies are absolutely delicious- and friends and family who had some LOVED them!! So, thank you Nicole:

 and cheers to the T gang!

 For the art this week it's just going to be my latest index card art as I really didn't have time for anything else. 

Starting where I left off in my last post:

 In this off prompt series I started it with 5 landscape format cards, and then switched to vertical format for these next 5- all the backgrounds were done the same way;

 

Starting by gluing patterned tissue papers (from Joggles orders), and then adding lots of mark making with stencils, Posca pens, pencil, water soluble crayons:

before finishing each with a botanical and a sentiment from a collage sheet from Paper Whimsy:

 ICAD 36/61 flower is a Dina Wakley stamp

ICAD 37/61 flower is a stamp from Local King

      

ICAD 38/61 flower pods are hand drawn

ICAD39/61 Leaves is a stamp by Dylusions/Dyan Reavely

ICAD 40/61 Tree stamp is from Magenta

 And I am now on to another series of 10 similar style ICADs- this time using watercolors, collage, letter tiles (Tim Holtz), and a word from a typed collage sheet I've had in my stash for quite some time;) These backgrounds were inspired by You Tube Videos by Shanouki Art:

         ICAD 41/61 (for these first 5 cards in this series I am using my very favorite Daniel Smith Opera Pink, along with Cascade Green)

ICAD 42/61

 I've had these tile letters for so long and either had to find a way to use them or let them go 😁  Joining in at Paint Party Friday later this week. Will try and get back into some of the other blog challenges next week. Until then, have a super week ahead!

" The creative process includes exploring, experimenting, messing around with materials, being playful, entering into the unknown."       Natalie Rogers