A Mix of This And That

 

 How's it going? Ready or not Christmas is next week! I am learning  more each year to be more relaxed about it all. Nothing gets accomplished when stressed, right? I'm taking a very light online class "December Pause" in which I get an email each day this month with various inspirations via links to poems, songs, art, etc. Liz Lamoreux's class is about taking some time each day to pause, to breathe, and to make a list each day in a journal. The list prompts vary and do give you time to reflect, and to focus . I love this. What are you doing to keep any stress levels down?

 First up, and for T Stands For Tuesday is this new salad recipe I made. I find such relaxation in cooking and baking!

 This farro salad is from chef JoAnne Weir . As soon as I saw it on IG I knew I had to make it. Both hubby and I absolutely loved this hearty, vegetarian salad!! Nutty, crunchy, sweet, and savory- what's not to love😋 The simple vinaigrette was made with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and sherry vinegar.

I chose to pair it with Kendall Jackson chardonnay. This pretty glass dish was my great grandmother's. Cheers!

 On to the art:

  Inspiration for this page came from a Nicole Watson 30 Minute Exercise You Tube video. I love her fun, messy art journal pages!

 And here's a page in the Dina Wakley kraft journal that was quick and easy :

 Dina Wakley paints, stencils, collage tissue sentiment.

 And now for a tag:

 I used an old decorative paper from my stash and cut a tag shape from it. I stamped the snowflake (old PSX rubber stamp) using white acrylic paint. The vintage photo was glued down and I added white spatters before finishing with masking tape bits, washi tape and large brad (Recollections), and Tim Holtz Chit Chat stickers. 

 This tag fits several blog challenges this week: the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge (Cold as Ice theme); Try  It On Tuesday Challenge (Snowflakes); and Tag Tuesday (Anything Christmas).Okay, for Tag Tuesday I may have pushed the envelope a bit but hey, what child doesn't want snow and a new sled for Christmas😉

Also happy to be back to Paint Party Friday this week! Have a wonderful week everyone. 🙋

 

   "Imagine that life is working in your favor even when it appears to be working against you."    Alan Cohen

Sharing, Caring, and Fa La La La La!

 

  Well, it certainly has become winter in our parts-brrrr! Thankfully no snow though. For those of you that celebrated- how was your Thanksgiving?  

 We had a really wonderful day/dinner with lots of conversation and chatter, and all shared in the best news- that our son and DIL finally won a bid on a home!!! It's been quite frustrating as the housing market is not only so overpriced, but the competition is really unbelievable😫. When they showed us the place they were hoping for we had a feeling it would be theirs because it is so them and their style. Yes, they did have to make some amends to get the owners to agree to sell to them and not any of the others in queue for it, but it was within what they were willing to do. And they will only be about 15 min. or so from us 💓. Move in won't be until early summer though because the current owners are in the process of having a new home built, and Todd and Kyra are perfectly fine with that.

 I didn't take any photos over our Thanksgiving dinner, nor of the after Thanksgiving dinner we went to on Saturday hosted by Kyra's grandmother. So instead, for T Stands For Tuesday I will share this art journal page:

 This page was for Day 5 of the November Creative 6 Day Challenge on Instagram with the word prompt of "Grateful". Tim Holtz collage paper background, Alpha Tiles. The cup is a stamp from Darkroom Door Coffeetime Set. 

 This page is from Day 4 - word prompt "Chrysanthemum":

 I used two different napkins for this page. The flowers and part of the leaves were fussy cut before adhering to the page ( yes it was a bit tricky 😜).

 And this page was for day 6 "Share":

  This one went quite quickly for me and I love how these collage clusters came out! I started with mini playing cards for the bases and just grabbed bits of papers, fabric, threads, etc. from my ephemera containers. The words are computer generated. I'll definitely make more clusters like this to use on tags and journal pages- a great way to use up those smaller bits floating around 😉.

 And I made this tag for Try It On Tuesday (winter wonderland), and the new theme at Tag Tuesday ( use the first letter of your name):

 

 For my "L" I chose "letters". I had just pulled out a Christmas bin of craft things as I was hoping to get my idea and prototype made for the Christmas cards I want to make for this year (YAY! It came together nicely and I've got a good start on them already!). I've been mostly making my own cards since about 1990!  Anyway, these old letter stickers that caught my eye are just what I needed to get my tag going. 

 And that's a wrap! I will also be sharing with Paint Party Friday. Stay warm, and be well🤗

       "The miracle of gratitude is that it shifts your perception to such an extent that it changes the world you see".                  Robert Holden

Journal Pages For Challenges

 

 Hi peeps, how are things? For those of us celebrating Thanksgiving Day this Thursday will you be busy cooking and baking? I know I will but just for a small gathering including my Mom, our son and daughter in law, and her grandmother. Of course hubby's a given but he'll be helping me by staying out of the kitchen the next few days😄. Fortunately there is no lockdown around us and we are able to enjoy the day with some family. Wishing you all a happy Turkey Day🦃!

 For T Stands For Tuesday I have one last beverage related photo from our last visit to Cape May to share:

 

 Our favorite place for breakfast- The Ocean View Restaurant! On this day hubby got the French toast and I just HAD to have the breakfast veggie wrap-so good. No way could I eat all those home fried potatoes they always give you so I mostly picked out and ate the crunchy pieces- the best of the batch in my opinion😋. Happy T day everyone!

Now on to the journal pages. 

 This is for Tag Tuesday (anything goes). I used all Dina Wakley products for this tag page. The words, circles, and leaf are collage tissue prints, face is a stamp.

 And I created this abstract page for Art Journal Journey (theme is All Kinds Of Weather), (edited in> along with the new theme at Try It On Tuesday (which I just saw is the theme of "winter wonderland"):

 I started by gluing a few torn pieces of colored tissue paper to the page then random scribbling with a Stabilo All pencil. Lastly I painted with a burgundy, dark blue and turquoise and then dry brushed some white over it before spattering and adding the words.

The next 3 pages are also in the kraft journal. There is another Creative Six Day Challenge happening on Instagram and I again wanted to join in. Here are the word prompts:

 

Each day has a different guest artist sharing a video project around the word prompt.

      Day 1 - Community

Day 2 -  Harvest

Day 3 - Abundance

  I'll share the last three in my next post after I complete them. 

Joining in with Paint Party Friday later in the week. Have a super week everyone!

"When you cultivate love from the inside out, the universe will deliver it from the outside in."  

                                                 Alan Cohen 

T Stands For Tea Art

 

 Recently I came across a tea art print that a sadly departed fellow artist had sent me. Above is a detail photo and here is the whole print:

 This gorgeous art is by Tracey Fletcher King and you can read/see more in this post. I am fortunate to have lots of art in a variety of sizes, mediums and formats from artist friends, most of whom I never met in person. But my space isn't large enough to keep it all out all of the time so I rotate the art pieces throughout the year in order to display each of them at one time or another. Sharing this special piece of art with the T Stands For Tuesday gang. I raise my cup to you all ⛾!

 Here is a new journal page for this month's theme (All Kinds Of Weather) over at Art Journal Journey:

 I kept a lot of white space to capture the essence of cool and crisp and chose this Dina Wakley leaf stencil sprayed with Dina Wakley Gloss Sprays in fall colors then fussy cut it. The brick stencil is by Wendy Vecchi and I used modeling paste through it for texture.

One more journal spread- this one in the Dina Wakley Kraft Journal:

Here are a few close ups:

Dina Wakley stamp sets, Collage Collective papers, printed tissue paper sets. Posca pens for doodling. The face image was about to be tossed because I had accidently put a piece of paper with something wet on it over top of my image. When  I tried pulling it off it tore and left black marks on the face. Then something made me want to use it as my thoughts went to "perfectly imperfect". Aren't we all...

 Joining in with Paint Party Friday later this week. Have a wonderful, safe, warm, and creative week everyone!

“There is something in the nature of tea that leads us into a  world of quiet contemplation of life."
              Lin Yutang

This Week's Musings

 

  Happy new week everyone! This week I have a mix of things to share, but then, don't I usually😉?

 First, I want to address some questions and comments in my last post about the Van Gogh watercolors. Though I have loved Daniel Smith watercolors the best for the quality and heavy pigment, since trying the Van Goghs I have found them to be just as lush and pigmented. You couldn't go wrong with either brand!

 Today I'll begin with the last two art projects I did for the October 6 Day Creative Challenge on Instagram. You can see the first of them in my last post. I did  get behind but really wanted to complete them after seeing the inspiration videos by guest artists.

 Day 3's prompt was "silhouette" with guest artist Denis Lush. She did a wonderful tag project but I went my own way on a kraft journal page using Dina Wakley and Tim Holtz stencils. The words just popped in my head as I was finishing the page.

 On day 6 the prompt was "jack o lantern" with a video by Sonya Bitz. I loved how she loosely painted so I did the same. I began my background in my own way by giving it a wood like look:

 I simply added a dollop of brown, blue/gray, and a bit of white acrylic paint across the top of this wide brush then went down the page from left to right adding more paint to the brush as needed.

 Only two brushes were used to loosely paint the pumpkin and leaves- a Bright brush, and a small round brush. I do love how this turned out!

 On to Tag Tuesday. The theme is "Windows, Doors, and Arches":

 The cottage door image is from a digital collage sheet by Paper Whimsy. It was glued to the tag then I sponged the edges with Distress Mowed Lawn ink and some Onyx Black Versafine ink.  Tim Holtz Paper Doll and Clippings Sticker. Ribbon and brass bit from my stash.

 For T Stands For Tuesday I'm going back to Cape May to share our anniversary dinner at  the Merion Inn:

 

 Hubby had the stuffed flounder and I chose the crab cakes which came with a wonderful sauce! We both chose a vegetable medley and the potato cup topped with some cheddar cheese which is special to the Merion Inn. They gave us assorted breads/ mini muffins with olive oil, butter and apple butter as well. The food has always been top notch here! Cheers to the T gang 🥂!

 And lastly, for Art Journal Journey (theme is "all kinds of weather" and hosted by Chris this month) and Paint Party Friday:

 I had some messy fun with this one:) The kraft page was sprayed with Night Gloss Spray. I then stenciled with white paint. the vintage image is from ARTchix Studio. On two of the corners I added a scrap of recycled dryer sheet. the sentiment is Tim Holtz. I sure hope not to see any real snow for a long time!

 Looking forward to your creative adventures as I visit this week. Stay well everyone.

"You have to find what sparks a light in you so that you in your own way can illuminate the world."      Oprah Winfrey