Back After Another Beach Vacation

 

 Hi Peeps! Again it's been awhile as I had a long, full week in Cape May towards the end of September where we celebrated our 38th anniversary. And we couldn't have asked for a more perfect, sunny and very warm summery week! We only had some rain one day and it was actually a really nice very relaxed day spent mostly in our room to rest a bit ( we tend to take full advantage of our time from morning til night everyday!), read, and watch a movie.

 I'll share a few photos along with more in future posts so this doesn't get exceedingly long as of course there is new art to share too😉

 Most of the days we walked the full length of the promenade which stretches almost 2 miles and at the end you can see the lighthouse in the distance.

 We arrived our first day just in time for lunch so before even checking in we went to the Ocean View Restaurant where we usually go for breakfast. Their lunch and dinner menu is extensive and very reasonable as well as delicious. (You can click the link to see the lunch menu.)

And this is my ticket to T Stands For Tuesday:

 I chose the Mediterranean Salad wrap and hubby had the Club Deluxe which both came with fries, coleslaw and a pickle and we both had coffee. 

 Each year people owning special micro cars come in to Cape May, have breakfast at the Ocean View and allow the public to admire their cars and ask questions. They visit elderly care facilities and schools to talk and show the cars as well. We were fortunate to be there on the day they came:

 The lot with the tent up is part of the Ocean View restaurant. We should have taken more photos cuz these are such fun and unique cars! I would drive one in a heartbeat. But they are very compact and honestly we got a kick out of seeing how some of the large owners managed to get inside:) Some even had their dogs along for the rides!

 And now let's get to some art!  I'll start with another lesson from the Ocean Alchemy online class I'm working through. This was from the Stone Inspiration lesson:

and some detail pics:

 I am thoroughly enjoying using my watercolors again! The lessons may be on the back burner for a bit as I am now working through some of the free Lifebook 2022 Taster Sessions . You can still sign up but once all the lessons have been  presented they will go away. There are LOTS of lessons and I won't get to them all but am picking and choosing the ones that appeal to me the most.

 This journal page is from the first lesson by Tamara Laporte called "Rainbow of Joy":

 She presented her lesson using watercolors. I instead chose to use Dina Wakley Gloss Sprays as my medium and made mine a bit differently. Anyone else doing any of the lessons? 

 There are some new blog challenges and it's been awhile so I made an effort to create for those challenges as well. First up is a journal spread again in the Dina Wakley Kraft Journal:

I used  some brand new Dina Wakley stencils, stamps and Gloss Sprays along with some older ones. I also her washi tape, Mineral Paint, and Words tissue paper. Posca pens for spattering and doodling. To me this deep green Fir, along with Sage Gloss sprays, and Mineral bluish grey paint remind me of autumn. Hence I am linking to Try It On Tuesday (theme is Autumn Blessings) and Art Journal Journey for the theme of  "My Favorite Colour Is October" with guest host Tracey this month. I'm sure my next entry will be much more colorful😉

 There is a new theme at Tag Tuesday which is  Purple and Orange and a new theme at the Simon Says Monday Challenge (Not a Card) so I made this tag:

As soon as I read the tag challenge colors I knew I had to do something Halloween themed! I covered a manila tag with patterned paper from my stash then spattered it with both an Orange Posca pen and Dina Wakley Tangelo Gloss Spray. Word tag, brad, pumpkin, witch's hat, and bats are all Michael's. Paper Doll is Tim Holtz.

 Whew, and that's more than enough for one post! Thank you if you stuck around to the end- much appreciated!  I will also again join Paint Party Friday, and am looking forward to catching up with everyone again. Keep well 🤗

   "Nature always wears the color of the spirit."       Ralph Waldo Emerson

Creative Inspirations

 

 Happy new week all! Hope everyone had a great week and weekend. Our weather although a bit warm and humid again has been delightful with some nice breezes and cooling in the early morning and nights. I'm only saddened that the sun is setting so much earlier, the leaves are falling, and autumn is now at our doorstep...but thoughts of the beach are never far from me and I will be getting in more time by the ocean real soon again😁

 In the meantime I have begun my lessons from the Ocean Alchemy online art course with Alisa Burke! Last week I shared my color swatch page and here are the prepped pages for the first two lessons I did (I am not doing the lessons in order- just going by what subject inspires me at the time I want to watch and create):

 

Watercolor washes. I have decided to use washi tape to make borders on my pages for a nice presentation.

 The first lesson was driftwood inspiration. Alisa gives several examples in the video and for each lesson offers photos. The idea is to capture the essence of the subject but in a loose and even abstract way and that's what I love about this class. Here is my driftwood inspired page:

 I used various sized permanent black markers over the color wash.

  The next lesson I chose to do was Sand Inspired. This is one of the photos of hers I used for my inspiration page:

and here is my page:

 Before I get to more art I'll take a break to join Bleubeard and Elizabeth and the gang for T Stands For Tuesday. 

 This is from our beach week in Fenwick Island, DE with friends:

 The large back deck overlooks the ocean and we were so happy that many of those days the mosquitos and black flies stayed away just long enough for us to enjoy our dinners!

 Yes, hubby is smiling but you know under his breath he's saying "hurry up I'm hungry"!😂 It was one of the other couples' turns as chefs du jour and they made this incredibly delicious meal with Creamy Lemon Parmesan Shrimp over angel hair pasta as the main course. Of course hubby made very sure I got the recipe so I can make it at home😉

 And another ticket for T Stands For Tuesday:

After we got back from the beach we celebrated our daughter in love's 30th birthday. Her meal request was a steak and rice stir fry which we had along with fresh cheese bread and a salad. And of course, the dessert request was a deep, dark chocolate cake:

 Our son took her to the beach for a few days earlier (yes, she loves the beach as much as I do!) and then surprised her once they were back home with an intimate birthday dinner out with close friends. You did good son💓

 More pages from the Dina Wakley Kraft Journal:

 This is the right side of the spread- I shared the left side last post. I decided to make it similar and then added a sentiment across the two pages to join them:

 Both botanicals were loosely drawn using the stem of Night Gloss Spray then colored in with Scribble Sticks. They were done on lightly gessoed book pages and as the theme at Try It On Tuesday is to use book pages I will link one more time with the right page.

 This page came together quickly as the tag was a leftover from mopped up excess paint. I added the stamped leaf, stamped quote, and a scrap of Collage Collective paper along with some paint spatters.

 Here is the whole spread (again I had shared the other page in an earlier post):

 I think for all the work I've done so far in this journal I've been coordinating both pages to make a spread.

 And for the vintage theme at Art Journal Journey I have a page I did in a handmade junk journal:

 

Also happy to join in at Paint Party Friday! Always fun seeing what everyone's up to in blogland. Happy week to you!

"Fostering creativity within yourself and others revitalizes the ability to feel, express, and act constructively – crucial competencies for our world."
       Natalie Rogers 

This and That

 

 

 First of all I want to thank you all for the thoughtful and kind comments regarding my last post about a blog and Instagram friend who passed away. You warmed my heart.

 Let's begin now first with the reason for my absence the other week or so:

 After two years we finally were able to gather with our friends (as we have done for many years now) at one of the couple's beach house!! It was a beautiful week weather-wise thankfully due to the ocean breezes and beach umbrellas because there was a heat wave up and down the East coast with 3 digit heat indexes! 

There were beautiful skies over the bay side at sunset each evening:

 

 and it was a special joy for hubby and I to get our doggy fix with another couple's sweet dog Lucy💓. It was to our benefit that they were unable to secure their usual dog sitter and they were invited to bring her along. She was SO good! I'll share more pics from our vacation in the next weeks.

 And for T Stands For Tuesday I will share the main part of our first dinner all together:

 Of course we had to begin our stay with fresh lobsters! We also had corn on the cob, and what else could we drink but champagne😉Cheers! 

And BTW, the lobsters only went up in price by $1.50 per pound after two years 😁

 And now for the art part. First up I will share this journal page with Try It On Tuesday (theme is "use book pages"):

 I applied a thin coat of gesso to the book paper before drawing the botanical using the stem from Night Gloss Spray. Dina Wakley products  used: stencil, Collage Collective papers, Scribble Sticks. Sentiment is a Tim Holtz Clippings Sticker.

 

 I have another page in the kraft journal and this one is meant for Art Journal Journey with the theme of "vintage" with guest host Wendy this month:

  The left page:

 and the journal spread:

 

 

So excited to share this wonderful giveaway offer I recently won from an artist who links up at Paint Party Friday:

 Such a generous giveaway!! I received a handmade watercolour journal (and let me say that I have never seen such a meticulous and perfectly well made journal such as this one that Soma herself makes🌟). I also received a tin with 6 Van Gogh watercolour pans and a water brush perfect for taking anywhere you go! I made a swatch of the colors for the tin and then just played a bit mixing on a scrap watercolour paper. Please do have a look at Soma's Blog where besides sharing her amazing watercolour art, she also shares her gorgeous photography skills, and has links to her other social media sites and shop. Thank you SO much Soma!!! 

 This couldn't have been a more perfect win since I am playing with my watercolours again for an online course I have finally begun called Ocean Alchemy with Alisa Burke. There are 30 lessons with sub lessons as well and all with an ocean theme! How perfect is that for me- and it only cost me $15 on sale!! She uses both watercolours and acrylics but I'm starting with watercolurs. The lesson begins with swatching colors you want to use inspired by ocean themed photos and here is my page:

 I chose paints and mixes from both my Daniel Smith colors and the new Van Gogh ones from Soma. I'm using a spiral bound 5" x 8" Strathmore watercolour journal for my lessons. Can't wait to get more lessons completed; it is such a fun course! 

 Joining Paint Party Friday as well with my post. A great group of artists sharing a vast variety of styles of art! All are welcome!

 Happy September, and happy new week everyone. 🤗

        " Respond to every call that excites your spirit."         Rumi

A Dedication Post

    In loving memory of:

 It is with great sadness that while on vacation at the beach I learned of the passing of  Tracey Fletcher King after a long and courageous battle with metastatic breast cancer. I "met" Tracey through Paint Party Friday link ups when I began blogging in 2012. She immediately captured my attention with her fun (and yes, snarky at times!!) sense of humor, and her incredible watercolor ink and pen art. I mean, Tracey painted clothing with such movement you swore it was a photo, and OMG- her crystal glasses were stunning!!!

 I went back to some of my older blog posts to share the following:

 Back in 2013 Tracey participated in the ICAD Challenge and chose to add a challenge of her own with it. If anyone wished to send her a photo or two of a mug or a teacup she would draw and paint them on a daily index card. I was thrilled that this Vera Bradley tea cup I sent:

 was painted by her:

 In October of this same year Tracey shared on her blog that she was going through a rough patch with her chemo treatments. I painted and dedicated this journal page to her and for breast cancer awareness month:

 And in December  the wonderful hosts Eva and Kristin of Paint Party Friday organized a Surprise! Virtual Tea Party for Tracey to support her with virtual love, hugs, encouragement, and prayers. Here is the mug:

 and this is my pitiful rendering of it:

     

 😬Yikes! But I did it for Trace.

 The following year Tracey had a really lovely giveaway. She had done an illustration for the Tea Spot company and they offered her  one of their tea mug sets and some teas to giveaway. And I won!!! You can view the mug along with much better photos and descriptions of everything in this post. But here are a few pics from my printed blog book:

 The package of cards she sent me- the tea cup is a sticker of the design she had created for the company. And inside the package was this amazing assortment of her postcard art!!! (Sorry for the bad photo- it looks SO much better and clearer in the actual blog post).

 Her art, her strength, her humor so touched my heart. My deepest sympathies to Tracey's family Phantom and Sinus (as she nicknamed them) her children, her husband, and the numerous other family and friends. Her legacy, her art will live on. 

 I will leave you with this photo and words from Tracey's blog:

 

"...walking with fabulous, generous, supportive friends as the sun comes up

who shamelessly laugh while I trip for the twentieth time and you know secretly they are hoping you'll go down in a pile of limbs... you know... true friends

plus I seriously can't believe we live somewhere so beautiful sometimes..." 💝

 Joining T Stands For Tuesday, and Paint Party Friday.

 Quick edit: as I went to grab PPF's link I just saw that Eva and Kristin dedicated last week's link up to Tracey so if you want to see more of her awesome art along with links to her sites please go there. Thank you! 

  "Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower; We will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind; In the primal sympathy which having been must ever be; In the soothing thoughts that spring out of human suffering; In the faith that looks through death, in years that bring the philosophic mind."
               William Wordsworth

Summer Relaxation

 

 Wow, another month seems to be going by so quickly! And so before this August ends I'm going to enjoy seeing some friends I haven't seen in over a year and a half (thanks to the pandemic), relax, and enjoy each others company once again. I'll be around this week but then will take a blog break for a little while.

 Here's a quick page I had done a little while ago but forgot to post:

 A very easy way to get some quick color over a page is to use a large ( I used a 1 3/4") chip brush. Wet the brush then dip into acrylic paint and simply make two large swipes across the page. This will give you a nice base on which to build AND allow you to have white space as well. Here I used Dina Wakley Night paint for the brush strokes.  The stencil, leaf stamp, collage paper words, washi tape heart,  and Collage Collective faces are all Dina Wakley 😁

 For T Stands For Tuesday:

 

We have had some of the steamiest heat of the summer this past week with feel like temps in the triple digits so I was really craving something carbonated - Perrier to be exact! I haven't had it in quite a long time and wanted some so bad I went to the store and picked up a pack of these small bottles as a special treat. I have always loved this and unflavored seltzer water. (I've always been told I crave the weirdest things- like mushrooms, and beets, and cauliflower, though once in a while I will crave something normal to most - like pizza. But I have never craved anything sweet😜). 

 How about you - what kind of cravings do you have?  I couldn't wait for a bottle of Perrier to get cold enough to finally enjoy and quench my thirst- with a lemon wedge, and a bowl of cherries! Cheers!

 This is a page I did in the Dina Wakley Kraft Journal inspired by a free video tutorial on FB on her page called "The Art of Dina Wakley". It was about it being similar to a cartoon block (with a mixed media twist) using the same image 4 ways.  I enjoyed this one so much I already have a few ideas written for another page or two! Lots of DW supplies here- paints, stamp, Gloss sprays, Scribble sticks, Just Words Collage Tissue, stencil, Collage Collective paper bits.

 I will join Art Journal Journey (theme is Type), and Paint Party Friday. Will be around to visit this week, and then my break begins😁. Be safe, and be well everyone!

"Rest and laughter are the most spiritual and subversive acts of all. Laugh, rest, slow down."

                                                                               Anne Lamott