Remember

 Today in the US it is Memorial Day. A holiday weekend that for many means a first trip to the shore for the season, picnics, and grilling. Yes, it's good to enjoy those things but I hope everyone has a place in their heart to say a special prayer of thanks and remember the most important reason for this day- to honor those who so selflessly gave their lives so that we may live in the land of the free.

 I made this tag for the Simon Monday Challenge (frame it); the Simon Wednesday Challenge (bright colors inspiration moodboard); and Tag Tuesday (gardening):

 Products: manila tag; various Distress inks; Tim Holtz/Sizzix Wildflowers dies; Tim Holtz Clippings stickers; wood frame (Studio Calico); fabric scrap; dark green cardstock; vintage image( ARTchix Studio collage sheet); Stickles glitter glue(Ranger).

 For T stands for Tuesday I guess I'll make most of you hungry again:)

 Once again, another breakfast in Cape May, NJ on our last visit. Of course, at the Oceanview Restaurant. And I must have this scrambled egg/ veggie wrap for one breakfast every time we're in town. SO yummy- and I get two meals out of it too:):)

 Journal page:

 a page from the Dylusions Creative Dyary journal. I kept it clean and simple using an old PSX bee stamp, a new Dina Wakley flower stamp, and a few Dina Wakley paints. Sharing my page with Art Journal Journey hosted this month by Erika with the theme of  "in the sky/in the air".

 And just for fun I'll share a few more of my circle art pieces from an Instagram challenge last month:

 Joining Paint Party Friday later this week too. Happy week to everyone!

" Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing."        Zhuangzi

Finding The Rhythm Again

 Hello Peeps! Back from a short vacation in Cape May, NJ with lots to share and catch up on- so, fair warning:)

 We mainly went because hubby wanted to run a special 5K race there for his 60th birthday. Friday was windy and cold, Sunday and Monday were cold, windy and almost all rain (UGH) but everyone lucked out on Saturday, the morning of the race.  It was gorgeous!

 There were close to 500 runners- a record! And Bill completed it- not to win, but just to say he could still do it at 60:)

 For T Stands For Tuesday:

 On Friday we arrived in time for a late lunch and went to a favorite spot  mostly for breakfast- the Ocean View. My chicken caesar wrap was excellent, and Bill enjoyed every bite of his turkey club, of course in addition to having my coleslaw and half my fries;)

 Not long after we got home from Cape May, the next morning we began dog sitting duties for our friends. Riley was having his vacation with us:

                                           he is such a love!

 Now to the art! First up- a card meant to celebrate Try It On Tuesday's 10th birthday. Happy birthday and thanks so much to all the hosts and guests for many years of artful inspirations!

 I have another card- this one for the Simon Wednesday Challenge (Stitches):

 Products: small white notecard; pink, white, blue card stock; patterned paper, image, die Simon Says Card Kit of Aug. 2018; Jet Black archival ink; rubber stamp sentiment (Just For Fun); dot scallop border die, wonky rectangles die (Simon Says Stamp); alcohol markers; Stickles glitter glue.

 Moo Mania and More's theme is "doors" so I'm joining in with this page from my Creative Dyary calendar journal:

Another journal page; this one meant for Art Journal Journey for the theme of "In the Sky/ In the Air" hosted by Erika this month:

 Assorted washi tapes; Dina Wakley Collage Collective (bird image); Circle Collage stamp (Stamper's Anonymous); Versafine Onyx Black ink; black Fude Ball pen; Posca pens; Tim Holtz Small Talk Occasions stickers.

 For the Simon Monday Challenge ( Use Stencils):

 Dina Wakley Media Journal, Collage Collective, mini favorites stencil; Tim Holtz Snarky Small talk sticker, honeycomb stencil, mini stapler. Various acrylic paints, torn tissue paper, black embroidery floss, brass brad.

 Whew! Almost didn't make it here  as our internet was down all day until now as I type because of heavy storms during the night last night. Looking forward to catching up again!

Also sharing my post with Paint Party Friday.

 See you soon:)

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures." 
                                                     Thornton Wilder

Celebrations

 How is everyone? Here we are feeling a bit water logged. Although it has warmed up nicely we are having so much rain- even had some minor flooding again yesterday. Today is nice but, yup, more rain tomorrow. The exciting news is that yesterday at dusk our first hummingbird of the season appeared!!! I'm hoping I'll be able to get a few pics or video but they are so difficult to capture.

 The circle above was painted with Twinkling H2Os. I used a Pitt pen to draw the leaves and petals, and the sentiment is a stamp.

 Anyone see the Kentucky Derby? or celebrate Cinco de Mayo? We did neither of those. Missed the Derby because we had made plans quite awhile ago to spend time with friends we don't get to see often enough. They surprised us by treating us to dinner at a wonderful place called Amici Pizzeria & Restaurant not far from them and just across the bridge from PA to NJ. Excellent service and food!!! It's a BYOB so we brought an Italian wine and a French wine:

 I didn't get pics of the appetizers and salads but I did get the main course- 3 of us had the scallops special and they were melt in your mouth delicious! And with so much food, and fresh bread and garlic olive oil hubby still had room for this:

 Hello T Stands for Tuesday gang! He couldn't decide so he got two desserts- mint chocolate chip gelato, and a slice of tiramisu cake-and he ate every bit! No worries for him though, he is a runner and biker:) Then our lovely friends picked up the tab as a birthday gift. We are blessed with beautiful, fun, kind friends.

 Here is a card I made for another birthday celebration- this one is for Simon Says Stamp who is celebrating 10 years!!! Joining the Simon Wednesday Challenge (birthday/anything goes) and the Simon Monday Challenge (add something metallic):

 Products: from Simon Says Stamp- Simon Says Stamp dies- Bixby Border, Mod leaf Oval; Simon Says Stamp Moonshine sequins; Neenah Classic solar white #110 card stock; Darice adhesive strips; Hero Arts acetate sheets; Versafine Onyx Black ink. Other products- sentiment- Papertrey Ink, assorted metallic sequins-Nicole crafts- AC Moore.

 Two more circle art pieces:

 The background is gift wrap that came with an order from Joggles. Sentiment is Tim Holtz stickers. Bird is a stencil. Linking this one to Try It On Tuesday (things with wings).

 and I will link this one to Moo Mania and More (theme is Just One Word). Background paper,chipboard flower and word are Tim Holtz. The bee is from a napkin. I used a scrap of recycled dryer sheet behind the flower.

 That's it for this week. I will be taking a short blogging break next week. Wishing everyone a very Happy Mother's Day on Sunday! (yes, if you have a pet of any kind you count as a mother;)

                   " We are born of love. Love is our mother.    Rumi

It's A Colorful World

 Everything is blossoming here and it makes me so happy to see so much color! Of course, it still goes from warm to cold and back again so the heavy coverlet and socks are still out, but it won't be for much longer;)

 Let's start off with  some delicious food and drink for T Stands For Tuesday hosted by Bleubeard and Elizabeth:

 Our son recently treated hubby and I to a special dinner for our 60th birthdays and we chose Apollo Grille in town. The food is SO good here! It truly is a treat as it is a bit pricey .We did start with a Caesar salad but I forgot about taking a pic. My dinner in the first pic - a special catch- Rockfish, and it was prepared as was the delicious rice, with lemon, coconut, mango.Yum! A Cabernet and water to drink. Hubby had the shrimp stuffed with crab meat and deemed it mouth watering. His drink was Blue Moon beer. No pics of Todd's or Kyra's meals but they also enjoyed theirs very much.

 I've been having so much fun with Dina Wakley supplies lately so here is a small variety of projects:

 I made this tag by painting the background using DW paints and stencil along with a Stabilo All pencil. The image is from her Collage Collective Book and the words are from one of her Collage Tissue Words packs. I scribbled along the right side with a Fude Ball pen.  And then for fun I added it on one of the pages in the DW Collage Collective book:

 it fits quite well on this page doesn't it?  Joining  Tag Tuesday (Faces); the Simon Monday Challenge (Tag It); and Art Journal Journey (Having Fun).

 Here are a few more circle art pieces I did for Birgit Koopsen's Instagram challenge  of "Everything Circles". It ends as of the 30th and I have kept up every single day-longest challenge I ever participated in (go me!).The only requirement was to have the circle shape somewhere on your art. It was I who chose to literally make circle art and add another piece to the challenge:) I did also do two journal pages just for a change.

 This one came quite quickly cuz that was just how I was feeling that day. I stenciled over a gelli plate print, added the DW Collage Collective face and stitched over a few of the scribble lines already in place, added the computer printed words, then sponged the edges with black ink.

 Another DW Collage Collective face, collage tissue background and sentiment. Butterfly and star stickers from my stash.

 And this one I'll join Moo Mania and More (Spring Fever); and Try it On Tuesday(Springtime) with:

 Tim Holtz Collage Tissue Paper (Symphony), Tim Holtz Botanicals chipboard pieces.

 Joining in at Paint Party Friday too! Enjoy your week, and thanks so much for taking the time to leave me a comment-much appreciated. <3

   " Mere color can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways."  

                                                               Oscar Wilde

Going In Circles and Having Fun!

 It's been such fun making circle art each day for a 30 day Instagram challenge and I love when I can  link to blog challenges too. So here are a few more. This one and my next one are dedicated to Earth Day (today, Monday,  the day of this post). Of course every day should be considered Earth day, right?  I just want to mention here that the bit stuff that looks like filament behind the words is from a recycled dryer sheet. I use them quite often but have not considered dyeing them which is what Elizabeth of Altered Book Lover brilliantly shared here. Sadly her original blog is locked so she has had to recreate a temporary new blog. Please do visit  her special recycling posts, and wish her a very happy bEARTHday too!      Happy birthday dear Elizabeth!!

  This is my Earth Day #2 circle:

 My next circles have a Spring theme going so I will be joining Moo Mania and More (Spring Fever); The Simon Wednesday Challenge (Spring Mood board); Try It On Tuesday (Springtime); and the Simon Monday Challenge (Going Around in Circles):

 The chipboard violets and girl are Tim Holtz as is the sentiment sticker. Moonshine sequins are Simon Says Stamp. The background for this circle and the previous one were made by applying reinker colors to the backs of Dina Wakley white printed collage tissues then gluing to watercolor paper once dry.

Tim Holtz chipboard, circles die (behind the flower basket) is Simon Says Stamp.

 The following card is meant for a challenge I am entering for the first time and is inspired by this card created by Lorraine of Lorraine's Loft. I guess you can say I "cased" her card but mine is much simpler looking and not near as beautifully detailed as hers. And her coloring of the House-Mouse stamps is fabulous!

The dragonfly wings really aren't that blue but I was unable to get  the right angle for the glitter glue no matter how I tried. Funny thing about this stamp:

 I had almost forgotten this was originally a stamp made many years ago and that I still had it!! This series of adorable designs are now owned and made as cling stamps by Stampendous. The sentiment is an old stamp made by Stampendous. Other products: large notecard (Recollections); Neenah #110 Smooth Solar White card stock(Simon Says Stamp); Jet Black Archival ink; patterned paper(?); Wonky Rectangles dies (Simon Says Stamp); colored pencils; Stickles glitter glue (Ranger).

 Joining in at House-Mouse and Friends Monday Challenge (theme is Anything Goes + the option of Spring). Check out the fab DT inspirations and if you have any of the House-Mouse stamps do join in- there are great prizes to be had!

 Break time, so I will share my meal and drink from a recent revisit to our favorite hibachi restaurant Komé:

 Of course we had a blast and the food-SO good! My salmon dinner gave me a big meal for the next day as well. Water and warm sake were my drink choices. Joining Bleubeard and Elizabeth and peeps for T Stands For Tuesday.

 One more bit of art, a journal page meant for Art Journal Journey (theme is Having Fun):

 This page is in my Creative Dyary Journal inspired by the Dina Wakley Collage Collective Book as well as her collage tissue papers.

 Joining Paint Party Friday as well. Happy week everyone!

    " Nature never did betray the heart that loved her."     William Wordsworth