Just Me and My Art

A Quickie Face-lift for a Notebook...

2012-01-28T12:22:00.000-08:00

While cleaning up the "office" part of my studio in preparation for the new computer - the office is just a little niche that's supposed to be a closet - I noticed that I have a huge stack of those blank books that I can never resist. I usually use them to jot down ideas or recipes or quotes or books I want to read or any number of things that pop into my mind. I'm sure you do something similar.

Some of them have been gifts over the years, some were ones I acquired in book buys when I had my online book business, and I'm sure some of them came from the thrift stores. At any rate, they usually have something pretty on the cover and I've just left them as they are...until today.

I altered the cover on one of them and now I think I'll do the rest of them. Here's what I did...

Nothing fancy. Just some scraps of paper and an image from a postcard I made last year. I used some leopard print duct tape on the spine (LOVE it!) and here's the back...

I'm happy with how it turned out and I think it might have taken me the whole of 10 minutes to do! Just a fun little project to get the juices flowing. One down and many more to go!

Happy weekend!!

Blue Haired Ladies and Computers...

2012-01-26T13:47:00.000-08:00

This will be a quickie post today. I'm just sharing another spread in my BOD journal. I'm not actually doing the same things that Effy is doing but I'm working in the altered book that I made for this class. As always, doing my own thing!

This is a spread that began with a magazine picture. I made it my own by painting over it and adding the blue hair. I'm not a little blue-haired lady even though I might be old enough...but I wouldn't mind having blue hair if it was bright like this!

I might not be around too much over the next few days. HB and I are having new computers built for us...one for him and one for me. I'll be getting a much larger monitor so I have to re-arrange my desk area to accommodate it. I'm really excited about this because the new computer will be very fast and have a lot of memory. This guy builds computers for gamers. He's going to add in all the things I want plus transfer things from my old computer to the new one. The computer I'm using now (my desktop computer) is one I got for Christmas in 2004!!! I also have a laptop that I got a couple of years ago. I mostly use my desktop computer because I hate the keyboards on the laptops. Lately my old computer has been freezing a lot and I had a blue screen a few days ago so it's on its last leg. I'll have the new one in about a week.

Have a fun week-end!!!

Playing in the Studio...

2012-01-24T13:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had some rain and it was the perfect day to just do nothing...which is pretty much what I did! But I did find a journal spread that I hadn't shared with you. I did this in my Book of Days journal...

It began with a picture from a magazine, then I painted over it and added some UPC labels which I think are great graphic accents.

I also recently painted this face...

I did her on one of my hardback book covers. I layered on some old book pages and then painted her. She's given me a lot of trouble with her face shading. I just can't seem to get it right so I just gave up and called her done!

I also doodled around with these flowers. I wish I had added some brighter colors but for now this is what it is. They sort of remind me of octopus arms!! Maybe they're octopus flowers!

And that's what I've been up to recently. I hope you're all creating lots of fun art, too. Keep playing...

A Little Painting, A Little Stamping...

2012-01-21T11:07:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Did you think I'd forgotten about my blog? Almost! I've been enjoying the freedom of just doing what I want, when I want, and posting something on my blog hasn't entered my mind! Don't get me wrong. I love blogging and I've been visiting lots of blogs over the past week but I haven't really had anything to share with you on mine.

I've been working on some things that I'm doing for a small swap with two blog friends. And I'm also working on something for a mail swap with a new blog friend...so there isn't much I can show you even though I've been making art.

I did start a 12" x 12" canvas recently. Here's the background...

LOVE it!! I used some spray paints, stencils, Adirondack spray washes, and a light wash of cream paint to tone it down a bit.

Then I began adding some shapes and decided to make a vase of flowers...which is not something I usually paint. Here's where I'm at with it...

Very, very preliminary. I think I want to keep the color scheme with just that pop of red and maybe just a couple more small spots of it.

I also did some more painted papers...

And carved a couple of small stamps...

Other than that I can't show you anything else I've been doing. Oh, wait...I can share one thing I've been doing. I've been looking for an exercise program that I'd like and I found one here. I've never been one for a lot of jumping around like in aerobics but this program is perfect because it's more fluid movements. So far I'm enjoying it and I seem to have more energy. There's one video on the website and then I ordered one of the DVDs from ebay where I got a better price.

Okay, that's it from here...I hope you're all having a fun weekend. I'm going to work on my swap projects and my new painting. See you soon...

I Am....

2012-01-14T10:03:00.000-08:00

No art today....at least nothing I want to share yet. But I do want to tell you about an amazing film we just watched last night and one that I think everyone should see.

photo from Google images

I first heard about this movie on Oprah's show and I knew I wanted to see it. We live in an area that has somewhat limited access to films other than the big blockbusters and anything that involves mayhem and madness. So we had to wait for Netflix. It was well worth the wait.

I Am is thought provoking, inspiring, uplifting and gives us hope for the human race. I hope more people see this film and take its message to heart. Here is a link to their website with more information.

Now back to the studio. I'm playing with watercolors today. Stay tuned!

Playin' and Gettin' Dirty!

2012-01-13T14:26:00.000-08:00

Today has been a fun day so far. No expectations....no schedule....no "have to" projects....it was just me and some paint and a few sheets of junk paper. I was running low on painted papers and with a project I have in mind I knew I'd need some new ones. So out came the paints and....

this was one of the end results!

Dirty, messy hands....just the way I like them.

and these are a few of the other results.

These green pages are fairly subtle

but I needed some with all over pattern.

Some of you asked about the book that inspired me the other day and I didn't mention it because it's just a little date/calendar book....in Spanish! It has some interesting artwork in it and the minute I opened it I was hooked. More to come soon....

*********************************************

In other news, I recently received this cute little birdie clip from April Cole ....

It's such a great idea....the little paper birdies are attached to a patterned paper clip. Wouldn't these be fun to use in a journal? Thanks, April!!

Happy Doing Nothing....

2012-01-12T13:50:00.000-08:00

Wow! I must have struck a nerve with my last post because so many of you commented and I also had a lot of private emails from you explaining how you feel the same way I do. That makes me feel better, to know I'm not alone with these thoughts.

After I posted that last entry, I felt a huge relief. I felt like the day was mine to do whatever I wanted. I played, I read, I watched some shows on Netflix and I enjoyed myself....and I worked on some things in the studio. No big project, nothing to really show, but I was having fun doing "nothing"....that is, nothing structured, nothing for a class, nothing that I finished.

One thing I did work on was one of the pages I shared last time. I wasn't happy with it and knew I wanted to change it. This is what I did....

I like this page much better now. I'm also working on the other one with the "floating" head. I'm giving her a body and something to anchor her to the page.

***********************************

Yesterday we were out and we stopped at B&N. I found a small book that completely inspired me and it isn't even an art book. Today I began painting some pages that I'll use in a project I want to do inspired by the book. I hope to have something to show you in a day or two. Until then, keep making art and don't let yourself get sucked in to all the things you "should" be doing. Keep it simple....make yourself happy and the rest will fall into place.

Some Deep Thoughts About Commitments....

2012-01-09T10:34:00.000-08:00

The new year is a week old and I'm already questioning my commitments! One of the things I've always said about myself is that I have great intentions but my follow-through is the pits. I know this is a long post but I hope you read through it to understand where I'm at right now.

Each new year I get caught up in all the things going on around Blogland, everyone seems to be starting some new project that looks like it would be fun. I join this and then I join that and in the wink of an eye I feel overwhelmed. I've watched so many videos in the past week and they all seem to run together after awhile.

Everyone has a different take on what we should be doing to start the new year. Make a journal, make a calendar, make art every day, etc. etc. etc. But then if we commit to all of these things when do we have time to enjoy this new year....to enjoy life....to enjoy art....to stop and smell the roses?

I woke up in the middle of the night last night, struggling with whether or not to continue blogging. It just felt like a huge weight on my shoulders (put there by me) and it isn't always fun anymore because I've let myself get caught up in all the "New Year" stuff. This morning I woke up and while reading through some blogs I came across two other people with much the same thoughts. Julie has some interesting thoughts on this subject, as does Dion Dior. After reading these two blogs I knew what I was going to do!

Each day I'm going to do whatever feels right! If that means I don't get around to visit everyone, I'm sorry. If that means I don't do whatever everyone else is doing, I'm sorry. But all at once making art has become something less fun and more obligation and I don't like that. I enjoy coming into my studio each day and playing. When left on my own I usually make something every day but when I make a "commitment" to do that, then it becomes a chore and my art reflects that. When it becomes something I "have" to do because I've made a commitment or when it's so I have something to share on my blog then it's no fun anymore.

Don't get me wrong....I love sharing what I've done with all of you. And if there's any expectations about having something new each day, it's been put there by me. I've done it to myself. So with all this said, I hope you still come visit me, and I'll continue to post my art when I make it but I'm not going to hold myself to any crazy bunch of commitments that I've put on myself. With that said, here are two more pages that I finished over the weekend....

I started with a magazine picture and painted over it. I've never done a face from this angle before and don't know that I'd try it on my own but working over the magazine helped a lot. I wish I had filled the page with writing but that's always my biggest problem when I journal.

This is an old face painting I did. I think she needs some kind of body added to her but for now this is what I have. I love the background but she seems disconnected from it. And the color is all wrong because in real life these are all greens. Maybe a body and later some journaling will help pull it together....or maybe not. But this is what I did, right now.

I hope I haven't lost all of you, and I hope you don't think I'm a complete idiot! Actually I'm just trying to stay sane! Happy Monday!!

Two More Art Journal Pages

2012-01-07T10:33:00.000-08:00

I'm somewhat caught up on my journal pages. I'm sure that many days I won't be able to complete a page but as long as I begin a page each day I'll be happy. Here are two more finished pages....

This one was simple and easy.

***************************************

And here's the page for January 5, 2012....

This page looks so much better in person. The browns are very rich and the red of her skirt is more like the red of the sunburst stencil in the corner. I'm not sure why it looks so faded in the photo. I tried adjusting it in my editing program but couldn't make it any better. I love that picture of the woman with the guitar!!

I have journaled in this corner

and also a bit in the side blank area.

I may doodle around the edges of this page with a white pen over the dark brown paper. Not sure yet. I've also worked some in my BOD but nothing that I want to show yet. It's very preliminary.

Have a fun weekend!!

Two Down....Only 364 to Go!

2012-01-06T09:23:00.000-08:00

For 2012 I decided to TRY to do a journal page for each day. So far, I'm already behind! But at least I have two finished and three others in progress.

Here is the finished page for 01/01/2012....

I like this page because it seems fresh and light and the words are almost secondary and blend into the background. Here's a close-up of the center area....

Mostly I used colored inks (really old ones I had) and also some Adirondack Color Wash but I applied them with a small brush. I got the idea of doing that from Milliande's latest art journal projects.

Last night I finished the page for 01/02/2012....

Now on to the next pages! I hope to have some of them finished by tomorrow. See you then....

Ramblin' Around the Page....

2012-01-05T14:41:00.000-08:00

Whew! I have so many things going right now that I'm not sure whether I'm actually getting anywhere or not! The problem is I have a couple of things I've done in the past few days that I can't show you yet. They're for small swaps I'm doing and I don't want to spoil it for the recipients.

I do have several journal pages in varying stages of completion but none of them are totally finished. I have one that is probably 90% finished so I'll share that one with you....

I'm working on loose pages of Bristol

that I will bind together at a later time.

The scanner cut off part of the left side but I think you can still see what I'm doing. I have a template of different sized circles and I used it as a stencil a few days ago. There was quite a bit of ink left on it so I just plopped it down on a sheet of Bristol. I loved the colors and the design it made so I decided to use it as my January 1st page.

To begin, I drew around all the circles. Then I mostly doodled all around. I plan to darken some areas and maybe even add a bit more color. This is probably partly influenced by Traci Bautista's free class at Strathmore. But I always like to doodle and just ramble around the page.

This is another partially finished page.

I'm doing this one for Jan. 2nd and The Rose Parade....

It's about halfway done. I'll share both of these pages again when I finish them. Now it's back to the studio....so many pages to complete!

So Many Classes!

2012-01-02T16:30:00.000-08:00

So many classes, so little time! I think that's my motto for now. I've spent most of the day watching videos from different classes online. I love all the free classes and things that are going on right now. I just wish they would spread them out over the year a little more. Usually during the end of summer I need a little boost and a free class would be great then.

I worked on my Book of Days for this class. I'll show you the cover even though it isn't finished yet....

I'm not sure why I thought it would be such a good idea to put my picture on it! And I bet you thought I'd make it purple but I find I don't like working with purple in art.

Tinker sent me an angel snowflake in my Christmas card so I used that on the back cover....

That snowflake is so cute. I have no idea how she did it. I plan to do more on this cover and I may end up covering over my face. But for now this is where I'm at with it.

Another free class I'm doing is part of the Strathmore workshops. It's a doodle art class with Traci Bautista. I started my page but then messed it up so I have to start over.

And every year I see people making calendar pages so I started one this year. I only have it roughly laid out but here is the start....

I'll fill in the rest of the letters, add some images around the edges and fill in each day as I go along. I hope I can do one for each month this year but I know me....I usually fizzle out about half way through so we'll see!

********************************************

I want to share with you a beautiful piece of art I received from Dot. I've always loved her art. She sent me one of her birds!

Isn't it beautiful?!!

And it's purple! I love it, Dot.

Thank you so so much.

Okay, I think that's about all I have for you today. I'm going to continue working on all these projects and will share them with you again when I get finished. So far 2012 is off to a great start!

Old Books and New Art....

2012-01-01T08:31:00.000-08:00

While I had my long break over the holidays I did a lot of cleaning and clearing out in the studio and I dabbled with art every day but I don't have much to show for all that time. I managed to do one new winter girl....

She looks much better in person and not so washed out. I also did a sketch....I might try to turn her into a painting later.

I spent a lot of time going through some hardcover books left over from my old online book business.

There were a lot of them! And after all this I still have tons more. I think I'll have enough to keep me busy for awhile!

Most of them were nothing special so I removed the text blocks and saved the covers to use either as canvases for paintings or for covers for all the new books I'll be making with my new Christmas present....

HB gave me The Cinch binding machine! Now I can make spiral-bound notebooks and journals....when I get the hang of it. There's a bit of a learning curve when you put the spirals in but I'll learn all the tricks as I go along. I set up an area in my garage space to do book binding. I have a big table out there and plenty of space to lay out all the pages. That way I can keep my regular studio for mixed media art. Hopefully I'll have some journals to show you soon. Until then I'll keep doing other art. Let's all make 2012 beautiful!

A Summary of My Year....

2011-12-31T09:30:00.000-08:00

Time is ticking and here we are at the end of another year....and it's been a good one for me even though I didn't follow through with my word for the year which was focus. This year I don't think I'll pick a word or make any resolutions. I'm just going to be open to whatever happens. I want to enjoy each day without putting pressure on myself to think about a certain word or check something off my list.

For me 2011 started with snow!

Yes, even in sunny southern California

some areas do get snow....

February brought "fame" for my little studio....

In March I participated in a postcard swap....
These are the ones I made.

In April I worked in my art journal....

More art journaling in May.
And this spread is still not finished!
It looks just like this after all those months.

Postcards I mailed out in June....

July "Imperfections"

I managed to do three months of index cards....

In September I put my first group of paintings
in the salon where I get my hair cut....

October brought more journaling....

I painted more in November....

And in December I began making winter girls....

I guess overall I accomplished quite a bit....this was just a sampling but it shows how I didn't focus on anything for very long! I like to keep switching things up. Today I might paint, tomorrow I might do some collage, and the next day it might be journaling but I almost always do something each day even if it's just a little doodle. I plan to continue with that in 2012.

A huge thank you to everyone who visits my blog, who leaves me comments, who follows me....I am inspired by all of you to keep making art and sharing it with you. You've changed my life in such a wonderful way. I love you all!!

Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-19T15:20:00.000-08:00

I think I'm going to take the next week or so off. I know I just did a blog break not that long ago but I want to enjoy the holidays with HB, and Blogland seems to be fairly quiet right now anyway. I might pop in now and then and I'll most likely read a few blogs here and there but I won't be posting much. I'll be back soon with more art!

Merry Christmas to all my friends and I hope Santa is good to you this year.

Handmade....Almost

2011-12-16T07:06:00.000-08:00

Lee and I decided to do a Christmas card swap. She got hers mailed to me promptly and on time. This is the gorgeous card she sent to me....

It has layers of collage, sparkly jewels and beautiful colors. The tree trunks are made from bits of lace! I love it. Thank you, Lee, for suggesting a card swap. I always love getting a piece of your art.

My card, however, was late getting mailed and then it took forever to arrive at its destination! My first idea for the card just wouldn't work out and I must have ruined three or four cards. Then I saw something I had gotten as an advertisement with a magazine and the light bulb went on! I saw what I wanted to make and even though I knew it would be late arriving I began. The card finally made it to Lee so now I can share with you what I did. It's made from junk mail!

Here is the card I sent to her....

What do you mean, it doesn't look like a Christmas card!!

That's only how it began life but this is how it ended up....

You can't see it in the photos

but the little square in the center among the stars says "Merry Christmas"

I used some hand painted papers and some scrapbooking papers to cover all that black, and washi tape to cover the edges of everything. All those little emblems and tiny bottles of Chanel that were hanging on the strings got covered with gold stars. And then it was ready to mail. Since it was so large I didn't have an envelope for it so it just went in a priority mail envelope.

You can make cards from just about anything....even junk mail! Lee, I hope you don't mind that your card had another life before it became your Christmas card.

FFTT and A Couple More Girls

2011-12-15T09:25:00.000-08:00

First of all, I've been absent from Food For Thought Thursday for a few weeks but I'm back to share some food with you. Like everyone else, I've been busy making Christmas cookies. My kids are easy to do gifts for at Christmas....all they ever want is a box of Mocha Nut cookies! So this year I've made three batches of these cookies, one for my son, one for my daughter and one for us.

They're fairly simple and easy to make,

which is a good thing since I have to do so many.

This is basically all you need!

Mocha Nut Cookies

1 cup softened butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

Cream these together. Then add:

2 teaspoons instant coffee

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 3/4 cups sifted flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix this together and then add:

2 cups finely chopped pecans

(I use my food processor to get them very finely chopped)

Refrigerate the dough for a couple of hours.
Shape into 1 inch balls, place on cookie sheet and bake at 325º for 15 minutes.
Cool and then roll in powdered sugar.

Note: these cookies are very fragile when you first remove them from the cookie sheet but after they cool a bit they're much less crumbly and easier to handle. I send these through the mail (to Alaska and Delaware) and they arrive safe and sound. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of the finished cookies because they're all gone!

********************************

And now here are two more winter girls I did yesterday....

I don't know how many more of these I'll make. I have so much fun with them but I should be making something else or I'll be overloaded with girls in hats and scarves!

More Winter Girls....

2011-12-13T10:30:00.000-08:00

You know me....I do something and then I can't quit making more of the same! I love making these little winter girls. I had a stack of 5" x 5" canvases all prepped and ready to go so it was easy to continue with this theme.

I gave each girl rosy pink cheeks and you probably can't tell but each one has glitter on the background plus some of the papers I used are glittery, too. This is a great way to use up tiny bits of paper you have been holding onto for a long time.

I also printed out some of my art and made some more blank cards. I tried selling my cards on Etsy but didn't have any luck so now I just make them for myself.

I like using these when I want to write a note to someone or when I send out ATCs. Just another way to share art.

Now I'm off to do more winter girls! It's another cold, damp day and I'm staying inside where it's warm!!

Some Little Bits of Art....

2011-12-12T11:50:00.000-08:00

Today it looks and feels like winter here. We're in for a rainy day and it's gloomy and gray outside. So I've been playing in the studio. I have on a sweater and my warm snuggly slippers and the paint and glue are flying!

Recently I took a little ornament class that was fun....

The one above is done on a small 3" x 3" canvas.

This one is a little different. I started with a recycled box from the kitchen. I don't remember what was in it but it's about 3.5" x 4.25"....I filled it with plastic shopping bags until it was fairly solid. Then I used masking tape to close it, added strips of paper cut from a book, some paint and the little girl. This is one of my favorite kinds of art to do....use what you have.

You can see the box better in this picture. I may put another girl on the back or maybe just a phrase or something like that. She could sit on a shelf or on the desk and remind me to bundle up when it's cold outside. Is it cold where you are?

New ATCs and Some Trades....

2011-12-11T15:59:00.000-08:00

Recently I've traded ATCs with several people and I've been slow posting them. So here they are....

from Andria (above)

from April Cole

from Fran

from Mary

from Teresa

I haven't traded ATCs for quite some time and it was fun doing it again.

*******************************

I made these ATCs a few days ago.

I just blobbed on some watercolor paints in red and green, then filled in the background with black and added some white dots sort of like Alisa Burke does. Fast, easy and fun. Other than that I haven't been spending much time in the studio. No painting, no collage, no anything and I'm getting anxious to get my hands dirty.

Some of This and Some of That and An Early Christmas Present....

2011-12-06T16:21:00.000-08:00

I've been busy today. Somehow I've managed to lose all the audio on my desktop computer! I was cleaning out unused programs and I must have deleted something crucial. So now if I want to listen to anything it has to be on my laptop. Crap!!

*****************************************

I managed to keep myself busy with some art so I wouldn't get too upset about the computer. I finished up a painting I was working on earlier but I'm not happy with it....

My idea was to have really bright colors in the hair and surround them with black so they'd pop but it didn't work out so good. Oh, well, you live and learn!

I also did some more simple ATCs. These were made with one of my collaged paper sheets so they aren't anything unusual....

There's more but I'll just put them on my Flickr page if you want to see them all. I don't want to bore you with too many ATCs all at once!

I used some Christmas paper scraps to make another over-sized postcard. Again, nothing unusual. One side is above and the other is below.

So that's what I've been doing today.

Still no Christmas trees up in our house. But I do have a really great present! I don't know if any of you saw the announcement but Flora Bowley is doing her first ever online class!!!! It's my Christmas present! I'm so thrilled and happy that finally I get to learn from her. She does incredible in-person classes but they're always someplace really far off so when I heard about the online class I was jumping up and down. Now all I have to do is contain myself until February! It's not gonna be easy!

The Last of My Blog Break....

2011-12-05T16:22:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. I've been so caught up in things that I almost forgot to do a post today. And even though November is over and done with I'll still show you more of my AEDM projects that I did while I was on blog break.

One afternoon while I was getting my hair cut, HB hung some of my new art at the salon....

Calypso looks right at home hanging there in the middle! This wasn't part of AEDM but I wanted to show you.

*********************************

I made another one of my over-sized postcards.

It's been mailed and received so I can show it here.

This is one side....

and below is the side where the address goes....

I also worked on some more mandalas....

I drew these from the start....

I didn't use the templates for either one....

I hope you can see the one above.

It reminds me of an old TV test pattern!

And last, I made several sheets of collaged paper to use as ATCs....

This is the only one I remembered to photograph!

So I think that pretty much finishes what I did for AEDM while I was on break. Since then I've just been working on things I can't show. I did a Christmas card swap with Lee but I don't think she's got hers yet. When she does I'll show you what I did for it.

Now I'm off to make some more ATCs. I haven't done them for a long time and I'm having fun with them again.

Having a Best Friend....

2011-12-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

I have more things to show you from my blog break, and I know it's Paint Party Friday but I had to share something else with you today. I'll try to do PPF next week.

As many of you know I have a long-time friend named Gail....we've been friends since we were about nine years old. She always makes the most incredible gifts for me. Recently she sent me a journal that she made and it's fantastic! I wish you could all see it in person because these photos don't do it justice....plus there are many more pages that I didn't photograph.

This is what she did for me....

Click on the photos to make them larger

There are many more beautiful pages in this journal. I plan to use this as a memory journal so when I'm gone my kids will have some of my memories to keep. At first I thought the book was too pretty to use but then I thought about all the love and time and effort that went into making it and I wanted to acknowledge that by actually using the journal.

Having a friend like Gail is truly a gift in itself. I always say that I get much more out of this friendship than she does. My gifts to her are never as creative and personal as the ones she makes for me. I hope each one of you has a "Gail" in your life....a friend like that is precious. Thank you, Gail, for being my BFF and for always creating such beautiful gifts for me. You are one in a million!

Easing Back Into Blogland

2011-12-01T08:03:00.000-08:00

It's me again....remember? I've been gone a long time but it's good to be back. I've missed everyone. Thanks for all the emails asking when I would return. That made me happy to know I was missed, too.

AEDM is officially over but I said I would share with you the things I did while I was gone. For several days, actually over a week, I worked on ATCs. I haven't done any in such a long time but it was fun to get out all my things and create some little cards.

Let me back up a little bit....part of the reason why I took a blog break was because my studio was in shambles! I could barely move in there and I knew it needed some serious attention. For the first three or four days of my break I did nothing but sort papers and magazine images! I threw out a ton of stuff and I still have way too much but at least it was a start.

So with very little time to create, ATCs came to mind. I made big sheets of paper and then cut the ATCs. Some of the papers were painted and some I used small paper scraps and just collaged them onto a base paper and then cut them to the appropriate size. That's why it took me so long to do them.

Here's just some of the ATCs I created for AEDM....

First group....

Second group....

Third group....

Some of these ATCs have backgrounds that I did quite some time ago but most of them are newer. I added stamps and words and other embellishments to finish them off.

One day I played around with ATC envelopes and made a few of those but quickly realized I didn't want to make too many of them....too much work!

So that's a little bit of what I did on my blog break. More to come. And now I'm going to get busy with some Christmas things. It's good to be back!

I Think It's Time....

2011-11-20T13:17:00.000-08:00

With the holiday this week I think it's time to take a little blog break but don't worry, I plan to continue my AEDM projects and show them when I return....which will be in about a week. Don't forget about me while I'm gone!!

BLOG BREAK!!!
See you soon....

It's Time For Paint Party Friday....and a Little Calypso!

2011-11-18T00:02:00.000-08:00

Let's party!! It's Friday so you know what that means....Paint Party Friday! Be sure to visit and see what everyone else has been doing this week.

If you remember, I showed you a couple of prepped canvases way back on the eighth of this month. Here is the link. I had a quirky face which I finished a couple of days ago and you can see it here. The other canvas was larger and I wanted to really challenge myself a bit more.

I began with this....

I couldn't decide where her shoulder should be

so there's that extra line along the left.

Added lots more color....

Gotta have me some dots!!

(that shoulder line on the left is still there!)

And she ended up looking like this....

I've called this one Calypso. I think this is my favorite painting I've done so far. I hope you like it, too.

This is also what I've been working on for the past couple of days for AEDM. I didn't want to share it until today.

Note: I'm also linking up with Show and Tell Saturday over at Artists in Blogland.

AEDM - Day 16 and FFTT and Other Stuff!

2011-11-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I fell behind in posting but I did keep up with my AEDM. Wednesdays are probably my busiest day of the week because HB and I do all our grocery shopping and run any other errands we need to do on that day. I like getting most everything done but it does make for a hectic time. Plus I didn't even have much of the evening because we had a movie from Netflix. Many evenings I can slip away for a bit of studio time but not last night....it was Johnny Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and you know how I love me some Johnny Depp!! Captain Jack Sparrow is one of my favorite characters.

So back to business....I managed to work on some mandala designs yesterday. I'm taking a FREE mandala class at willing.ning. We were given templates with a basic design to work from and these are the ones I did....

Here they are again....

I did my lines with ink in the one above.

The one above here has some inked lines

and some are not inked yet.

I'll add some color, too but I didn't have time yet.

**********************************************

I also prepped another big canvas....

This one is 24" x 30"....

I think that's the biggest one I've worked on yet.

I love the texture of painting over torn book pages.

I sit with an old book and a metal ruler

and just randomly tear pages for later use.

I have such an exciting life!!!

*********************************************

And that's not all for today! It's also Food For Thought Thursday. This week I didn't take any photos until last night and the light was terrible so please excuse the horrible picture....

Since it was such a busy day HB and I had salmon burgers and I made sweet potato fries in the oven. You can tell I'm a very plain Jane when it comes to food. Nothing on my burger and nothing on my fries! That's the way I eat most things. I love embellishments in art but not on my food. I can honestly say I've never had a French fry with ketchup. That's almost un-American!! Oh, and for dessert I had a piece of pumpkin cake with nutmeg flavored cream cheese frosting! YUM!!!

Now I'm off to create something today. I hope to have a finished painting for you tomorrow. I'm putting the finishing touches on that canvas I prepped last week.

This and That and Not Much!

2011-11-15T13:46:00.000-08:00

Today I've been playing in the studio off and on while also making sunflower seed and walnut bread (in the bread machine)....and going through my stash of magazine images.

I tried working on the journal spread from yesterday but nothing was working so I went on to another page and just glued down some papers, added a stamp or two and this is another WIP....

I seem to be stuck on these autumn colors. Not sure how I'll finish this one either but I hope something comes to me soon. I'd like to finish these pages and move on.

Speaking of moving on, I went back to my quirky faced girl and did a little tweaking....

I added a collar and some orange dots here and there plus a few dots in her hair. I've titled this one Someday My Prince Will Come!! She seems to have a wistful/sad/dreamy expression and that phrase just popped into my head as I was looking at her.

******************************************

While we were out the other day I saw this car and I had to smile....

I hope you can see what it says....it's a Smart car and the license has a holder that says Mensa plus there's a Mensa sticker in the back window. Cute, huh!!

Another WIP for Day 14 AEDM

2011-11-14T16:59:00.000-08:00

HB and I had a busy day so I just had enough time this afternoon to began a spread in my art journal. It isn't finished but I have some color on the page, used a mask and some spray wash, and also some washi tape....

I know the photo quality is not very good on this. It's almost 5PM and the light isn't good. The colors remind me of autumn so maybe that will be my theme. I never know what I'm going to do when I start a spread....I just grab colors and start putting them down. I'll try to finish this tonight and have it ready for tomorrow.

Some days there just isn't enough time for everything!!

It's Day 13 of AEDM....

2011-11-13T15:23:00.000-08:00

I'm late! I've been painting all day and I almost forgot to put my AEDM picture up! I finished that quirky face from a few days ago. I didn't like the bright background so I toned it down....

and now I think it might be too light....

And her bow is too bright....

but for now she's done!

She's one of my non-dominant hand drawings

so she's a bit wonky but I like her.

The Big Firewood Day and AEDM - Day 12

2011-11-12T10:29:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago HB and I went to get our load of firewood for the winter. Yes, even in Southern California we do get cold weather sometimes. We live in the high desert so we even get snow occasionally. I love having a fire in the fireplace on a cold, rainy evening. It just makes the whole house feel cozy.

We have bought wood from the same guy ever since moving here. He has a huge area with piles and piles of firewood. ***caution....lots of photos!!

HB wasn't happy with the half cord that was stacked and ready so he and one of the helpers began stacking a new one.

I basically walked around or stood and watched them because they didn't want me to get caught in an avalanche of wood. This is our half cord all ready to be loaded on the truck.

Now it was my turn! HB was in the truck bed and I did all the loading while he stacked it so we could get it all in.

I carried and HB stacked....

And I carried some more....

and some more....

One more piece....

Don't I look serious!

Almost done....the truck bed is getting full.

Just a few more pieces....oh, my aching back!

Then it was time to unload it at home and stack it again. HB stacked and I unloaded. He's very methodical about how he stacks the wood so I'd rather just let him do it.

I used the wheel barrow to bring it around from the truck.

Just another couple of wheelbarrow loads and I'll be finished!

And here's our wood all ready for winter.

Whew! If you need me I'll be on the couch!

*********************************************

For my AEDM I did one of my over-sized postcards. These are quick and easy to do. I just start with one of those huge postcards we get in the mail....they're usually advertising something I don't want. Then I just cover them with scraps of paper and whatever I have to make a pretty postcard....

This is the front side above....

and this is the back where the address would go....

Easy peasy!!

Day 11 - AEDM Plus Paint Party Friday....Work in Progress

2011-11-11T08:38:00.000-08:00

I said I would tell you about my firewood gathering today but I forgot that this is Paint Party Friday so the firewood story will have to wait until tomorrow.

*********************************************

Today all I have to share with you is some work in progress. I showed you the two prepped canvases a few days ago and I've been working on them when I can find time.

The first one is a 12" x 12" canvas and I'm doing a quirky face on it. This began as a non-dominant hand drawing. I am going to change the background drastically (it looks like crap right now!) and she still needs work on her face but so far....

Here's her face....sorry about the photo quality....

I like doing these quirky faces

and using all different colors rather than just skin tones.

I'll be adding more color to her face but for now

this is it!

The second canvas is 16" x 20"

and I've drawn a face with her chin in her hand.

I hate doing hands so I'm sort of forcing myself to try them. I never have a problem drawing a face. It's the painting that does me in. This one is just in the preliminary stages and looks pretty crappy right now.

Be sure to stop by and see what everyone else is painting. You'll see much more interesting art than I have here today!

AEDM - Day 10 and FFTT

2011-11-10T09:36:00.000-08:00

It's Thursday so you know that means Food For Thought Thursday....plus it's also day 10 of AEDM. All I've managed so far today is more work on the flower journal spread.

We went yesterday to get our firewood....I'll share that experience with you tomorrow! So last night I wasn't in a mood to cook plus today will be grocery day (a day late due to the firewood) so there wasn't a lot to choose from for my dinner last night. I usually keep this lentil mixture on hand....

So with a little bit of that and some of this....

Yum....is there anything that smells better than onions and celery cooking in a little olive oil! I added it to the lentil mixture along with some tomatoes and carrots....

and ended up with a very tasty soup. I scrounged up some head lettuce, a piece of cucumber and some grated carrots and had an easy salad with my soup.

I'm a bit crazy when it comes to salad. I like to chop everything very small, even the lettuce. I know you're supposed to tear lettuce but I like mine chopped small.

Be sure to stop by Robin's blog (link above). She has a fun little cookie recipe today....and think about joining us on Food For Thought Thursday. It's fun to see what other people like to eat.

It's Day 9 of AEDM....

2011-11-09T10:24:00.000-08:00

Today I don't have a lot to show you. It's a busy day here at Chez Me and My Art. HB and I are going to get our firewood for the winter. We have a fireplace in the family room and I love having a fire as often as possible when it's cold.

So we'll go load up our truck with firewood, bring it home, unload it and stack it and then I'll just collapse on the couch for the rest of the day!

This morning I managed to add some color

to the sketch I showed you several days ago....

I thought with her "attitude" that red hair might work for her.

I also gave her a necklace and some clothes!

She is done in an old book that I sometimes use as a journal. I like working over text. On another page I decided to try some flower designs.

I haven't gotten very far with this spread but I'll keep working on it and share the progress as it comes along.

The two canvases that I prepped yesterday are both started and I've been working on them most of yesterday afternoon and evening. I just kept switching from one to the other but I don't have anything to show you just yet. Stay tuned!

Now I'm off to load wood.

Day 8 of AEDM....

2011-11-08T12:33:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all your wonderful comments on yesterday's journal spread. I did add a few white dots here and there but nothing too drastic. If I change it anymore I'll show you what I do.

***********************************************

This morning I came straight to the studio

and prepped two canvases....

One is a 12" square

and the other is 16" x 20"

The one on the left is a "crazy" face done with my non-dominant hand, and the one on the right is covered with book text. I plan to work on these later today.

I also had a journal spread that was partially finished

so I did a bit more on it....

It's a bit quirky and very busy....

The large lettering reads across both pages.

It says: Come along on a magic carpet ride

we can fly through the night

to exotic lands

So that's all I have for the eighth day of AEDM....but at least I'm still creating every day. Tomorrow will be a tough day since it's our shopping/errand day and I usually don't have a lot of time in the studio but I'm sure I'll manage something.

See you tomorrow!!

Day 7 of AEDM - Art Journal Spread

2011-11-07T10:00:00.000-08:00

I've made it through one week of AEDM! And it's been fun. Each day I've challenged myself to get up first thing in the morning and create something.

Today it was another spread in my art journal. I'm trying to get back into the habit of working in it daily. The pages I did today may or may not be finished. Somehow they seem to be lacking something plus you know I always have trouble adding words to my pages.

I started off with a few smears of paint. Then I added a stencil....just some plastic canvas stuff, and used a red Adirondack color wash spray.

Then two flowers from a paper napkin....

Some scrapbook paper yielded a few more flowers....

And that's where I left it. I love the background and texture so I did a collage of the photos. You can click on it to see some of the designs in the background.

And here are the final photos of this spread....

I'll probably look at these pages for awhile and decide if I want to write anything on them. If not, then they'll stay just as they are.

AEDM Continues - Day 6

2011-11-06T08:20:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who commented on yesterday's journal spread and the stencil. I don't have anything that exciting for you today.

I had a single page in my art journal leftover from a few days ago. I have mostly been doing two-page spreads recently so doing a single page seemed odd but here it is....

I've had this image of the older woman for quite some time. Yesterday I was cleaning out a lot of my magazine clippings (my first assignment in this class) and I came across her....remembering that I had that single page with green in the background I thought she would fit perfectly.

I plopped her down, added some journaling and a bit of washi tape (LOVE that stuff!) and called it done.

***************************************

It's a rainy, chilly day here today so I will most likely be in the studio most of the day. I'm sure there will be more art done later on.

I hope the sun is shining where you are and that you enjoy your Sunday.

Day 5 - AEDM

2011-11-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

It's day five of AEDM and I'm still in the game! Before I show you what I did for today, I want to show you a stencil. No, it's not a new one but rather one I've used a lot as you will see.

When I took it out to use it I stopped and looked at the patina that has built up on it and I thought it was so pretty I took pictures! Am I crazy or is this beautiful??

LOVE this!! I think this alone could be my art for the day! I placed it on some paper towels so it would show up. I love the colors and build-up that it has. I always put my stencils face down in my journal after I use them but obviously all the paint doesn't come off....and I never wipe them down.

********************************************

Okay, I began this journal spread with my morning pages written over pages where I had scraped leftover paint. After that I used the stencil and gesso to go over it all.

The gesso didn't cover as well as I had hoped.

I didn't want the words to appear so clearly but some of them do.

Then I used a circle stencil and Adirondack sprays

to do some large circles.

Next I added paper circles,

torn paper strips,

and doodling.

I have signed up for a free mandala class here and after watching the videos that are there as a welcome, I was inspired to do this spread. I didn't make a mandala but I used lots of circles as she did, plus I loved her doodles and used some of them here, too.

PS - I just linked up to Just Journals here

Have a fun weekend....

AEDM - Day 4 and Paint Party Friday....

2011-11-04T08:14:00.000-07:00

November is going to be a busy month for me with several challenges and a couple of classes going on. I hope I can keep up with it all!

This is a painting I started yesterday and finished this morning....

She's a mermaid minus the body! I didn't start out to do a mermaid but as I went along she wanted to be in the water with her hair flowing so I decided she must be a mermaid....I mean, who else goes into the water?!!

This is my art for day four of AEDM plus it's for PPF, too. Be sure to stop over at Paint Party Friday to see what everyone else is doing. You won't be sorry....there are many, many really great artists particpating!

AEDM #3 and FFTT....lots of Abbreviations

2011-11-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

Today is busy! It's the third day of AEDM and it's also Food For Thought Thursday. Be sure to stop by and see what everyone else is eating!

This past week I learned about a farmer's market that has been started in the next town over from where we live. We checked it out and found lots of produce, fresh breads, and a few booths with arts/crafts.

Plus I saw something new to me....

They look like little miniature brown apples. I asked about them and the girl told me they are Chinese apples. Here's a photo to show their size....

That's a quarter beside it. They're very small! They have a sweet taste and are light and a bit fluffy inside. Have you ever eaten them? I'd never even heard of them.

I bought some leafy greens, too,

so I could use them in my green smoothies....

I have one almost every day. This one was made with pineapple juice, a banana, a pear, an apple, and a couple of handfuls of greens. YUM!

*************************************************

Now for a tiny bit of art for today....and I do mean tiny! I have some very small ( 3" square) canvases so I just quickly painted a little face on one of them. I may do some more art later today but for now this is it.

I didn't spend much time on this so don't look too closely at her! She looks a little sad and bedraggled! There seem to be some really odd characters lurking in my brain just waiting to come out!

The Second Day of AEDM....

2011-11-02T09:34:00.000-07:00

I've made it to the second day of Art Every Day Month! You may be laughing but I think it's worth noting because so many times I sign up to do an art project and then fizzle out. I like to say my intentions are good....it's just my follow through that sucks!

Once again this piece has gone through several changes but then with me, what else is new! I began this painting thinking "exotic" and I painted her face half and half with shades of blue and gold. Looked okay but just wasn't doin' it for me. So out came the gesso and she disappeared.

She looks a little sad or mad or just plain not happy but that's who she is and that's what I went with. Every face isn't beautiful and everyone isn't always happy.

approx. 7.5" x 11"

I think she's some suburban "community leader" who has a meeting but she's not happy about going, plus she's a bit of a rebel so she's wearing an over-the-top hat just to shake things up a bit. Maybe she'll swing her head around so that long tassel will hit someone in the face....probably that guy who's been trying to take over her job. Don't mess with her! She's a woman on a mission!

(I just noticed her mouth is messed up on the right side of the picture. I'll have to repair her lipstick!)

AEDM is Here Again!

2011-11-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

It's November 1st and you know what that means....Art Every Day Month is here! You can click on the button over there on the right side to learn more about it. I've done this for several years and it always pushes me to be creative every day. Leah doesn't care if you draw, paint, sculpt, photograph, knit, crochet, make jewelry, bake bread, or cook soup because it's all creative.

To kick off my month I once again pulled out my scrap box and made a quickie page in my art journal. I was drawn to blue this morning so that's what I used. I'm not really in a blue mood as in sad but I just liked the color today.

It's just a mish-mash of paper and an image from a magazine that I painted over. A few pieces of washi tape and some dots....gotta have me some dots!....and I called it done.

Nothing fancy, nothing great, just playing and having fun in the studio on the first day of the month.

My First Sunday Sketch....

2011-10-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

Two posts in one day! That's unusual for me but I decided to join in Sunday Sketches....

I did this quick sketch last night while watching TV. I hope it qualifies since I did it yesterday! I may add some watercolor to her at a later time but for now she's just a sketch.

Re-Doing Some Art Journal Pages....

2011-10-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all your comments on my Paint Party Friday painting. I almost gave up on her but I'm glad I didn't.

********************************************

After all that painting I was ready for something a little less stressful so I got out one of my art journals and was leafing through it. I came across this page....

I mostly used this to test some sprays. It wasn't anything I was attached to so I decided to cover it up with something else. I wanted to do something fast and easy so out came all my scraps of paper.

I used some paper tape and also some printed packing tape, a few stickers, and some rub-ons. It took me about 10 minutes to do and I was happy with it. Then I moved on to another page that I hadn't done anything on. It was a single page like the other one so I went to the scraps again....

It was difficult to photograph this one because of the dark violets in the center and the pale lavender along the border. I love this picture and have had it in my stash for quite awhile. I added some striped tape to the corners and Voila!!....I was finished. Plus it's good for Halloween!

Paint Party Friday - From Bad to Good

2011-10-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

If you visited me last week then you know about the awful painting I showed. I talked about how frustrated I was with the whole thing and I was thinking about gessoing over it and just starting over but I loved the background.

I read all your comments and thought about what you said and I kept looking at the painting. I finally realized her hair was the problem! It was just too dark so I gessoed over the black hair and decided to blend her hair into the background a little more....

I like her much better now. Sometimes you just have to keep trying until you get to a place where you're happy with what you've done....she's much better than she was before....not a masterpiece but then I'm not Picasso!

I added a bit of the washi tape on the left side along her hair and it tied in with the tape on the right side. You can see my paint palette along the edge of the photo....

I learned about this in a class I took with Shiloh Sophia . She used a small, flat Huggies container for her palette. You can wipe it out easily or close it up and come back later and your paints will still be usable. Plus if you want to hold it, it isn't heavy and bulky. I really like using it.

Please be sure to stop by at Paint Party Friday to see what everyone else has been painting.

Food For Thought Thursday #2

2011-10-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

Here it is again; time for the second Food For Thought Thursday (FFTT)....Wednesday is not the best day in the week for me to photograph the food I eat since it's usually the day HB and I run our errands and do our grocery shopping....and yesterday was no exception.

I did'nt eat any breakfast yesterday morning so we decided to have lunch at a restaurant owned by a friend of ours. It just happens to be very close to one of the stores where we shop so it was perfect.

The photo above is very close to what I ate. I would say that 99% of the time I eat vegetarian with the occasional meal of turkey or fish. Yesterday I had a turkey, avocado, lettuce and tomato sandwich on a croissant. It came with a small dish of pasta salad that I traded with HB for his slice of watermelon....yum! I ate almost the entire sandwich before I remembered I should have taken a photo of it for today. So I found a photo online that was pretty close....my sandwich did not include bacon and I think it's in the photo.

After all the shopping was finished and I was back home I "grazed" most of the evening. I don't like eating big meals. I had a banana, a couple of rice cakes with peanut butter (my favorite snack), some grapes, and a cup of my faux coffee. Last week several people asked me about the coffee drink.

I buy Roma Kaffree at my local health food store. It's just like instant coffee but it's made with several roasted grains including chicory. I drink it both hot and cold like an iced coffee.

So that's my food for thought for today. I hope you'll pop over to Robin's blog and check out what everyone else had to eat and maybe join in with us. Not only is it fun but it's a good way to keep track of what you're eating.

Paint Party Friday - An Awful Painting!!

2011-10-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

Sometimes no matter what I do nothing seems to work. And I KNOW when that happens that I should just walk away and leave it alone....but this time I didn't. I tried to "force" it and when I do that it never looks good.

Today's painting is a prime example of that! You may remember this disaster of a painting. Later I showed you the same painting after I gessoed over the face.

A couple of days ago I decided to drag her out again and see what would happen. It just went from being very bad to just plain AWFUL!

One of the problems is that I'm "attached" to the background. I know it but I still can't seem to do anything about it.

This is the only part that I really like! The face is horrendous! For some reason she just doesn't want to be here on this canvas. So this painting is going to get gessoed over completely and I'll try something else.

Some days I really question my abilities! I seem to be either "hot" or "cold" when it comes to adding color to faces. I can draw a face, no problem (although you wouldn't know it to look at this one!)....but when it comes to color and shading I'm just not there. I know all the "rules"....I have watched a ton of videos on the subject....but none of it is sinking in to this thick skull of mine.

I'm linking to Paint Party Friday because I think it's important to show when things go really bad. Maybe someone else will benefit from my mistakes. So go take a look at some good paintings over at Paint Party Friday. I'll continue to frustrate myself!

Me and My Food....

2011-10-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

There are so many daily blog hops going on around Blogland. There's something for every day of the week. I usually forget to participate on the correct day but this time I managed to do it.

Robin over at Robin Panzer Art Studio 33 is starting Food for Thought Thursday and since I like food I thought I'd join in. We were supposed to take photos on Wednesday and then post today. So here goes.

My day always starts with a glass of ice water! Yes, even in winter when it's cold I like my ice water. Here it is in my favorite insulated glass, sitting on my work table where I keep it all day long....I just keep refilling it.

A couple of hours later I had some toast made

from my homemade (bread machine) cracked wheat bread.

I had some of my homemade spiced caramel pear jam on my toast....

along with a cup of "fake" coffee....another of my favorite things. I have this same thing every day unless I have oatmeal.

Since it was Wednesday HB and I did grocery shopping and ran errands all afternoon so I didn't have lunch. I had a banana when we got home and for dinner I had a big salad and stir-fried veggies with a few udon noodles. Later a small dish of rainbow sherbet....Yes, I was bad! And that was my food on Wednesday. Not very exciting but I'm not a gourmet chef!

**************************************

I bought all those new clothes last week and yesterday I wore one of my new tops. Here I am ready for the day....

It looks like I only have one arm the way the sleeve is hanging but I actually have two! One is just behind my back.

***********************************

I hope next week I remember to take photos of my food again. Be sure to visit Robin's blog and see what everyone is eating!

Dreaming and Remembering Art Journal Spread....

2011-10-19T09:57:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've worked in my art journal. I wish I could be one of those people who religiously work in their journal every single day but sadly I'm not. I go in spurts and streaks. It isn't that I don't think about it; it's more that I just don't do it! Yesterday I did....

This spread began as morning pages.

I simply emptied out my mind onto the pages

and then covered over the writing with gesso and paint.

I used a stencil and added some dots.

I almost always have to have dots.

An image, a few swirls and a stamp with white paint and I was finished. She seemed to be dreaming and remembering the past so I added the words on the other page and called it done.

*****************************************

Now I have a technical question for you. When I go to blogger, choose "edit posts" and click on one of my posts to view it, there are usually a bunch of "links to this post." You have to scroll down through the comments and then at the bottom of the page are the "links to this post" section. What does this mean? I've clicked through to several of the ones listed and none of them have mentioned anything about my post. And they seem to be the same ones over and over on different posts. Can anyone explain to me what is happening with this?

Doodles and TV....

2011-10-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

Not much has been happening here at Chez Art....I play every day in the studio but that's mostly what it is....just playing. I have several projects either in my head or partially started but each day I continue to play and not get serious about doing them. I guess we all need some play time now and then.

****************************************

HB and I are on a Mad Men kick. We had never watched the show before but decided to give it a try on Netflix. We're into the second season and love it. I know....I'm way behind everyone else. I've heard about this show for a long time but just never thought it would capture my interest. Since it takes place in the early 60's, a time when I was just graduating from high school and starting into my adult life, it has made me stop and think about the way things were back then....especially the way men treated women. I guess while I was living it, I didn't always notice things but in hindsight it was terrible!

**************************************

While I'm watching TV I usually like to doodle. This time I doodled in my 5" x 8" moleskine journal....it may or may not be finished. I never know with a doodle. I might keep adding to it sometime later.

And that's all the art I have to show you today! I hope you have a fun day....

Paint Party Friday....

2011-10-14T06:49:00.000-07:00

Here it is Friday already....but I finally finished the painting of the girl. If you remember last time I showed her, she only had one eye as I had gessoed over the other one. She now has two eyes and I think she's finished although I'm not completely thrilled with the painting as a whole.

I used napkins to do the flowers. I just couldn't seem to come up with anything for her to be gazing at....no words came to mind, no image. I was just not feeling it. HB suggested maybe some wisteria hanging down from the side but I knew I wouldn't be able to paint that! When I went through my napkin stash I found these flowers and decided to try them.

This painting is done on a 14" x 18" canvas. I don't know what possessed me to draw her but when I picked up the blank canvas and began drawing this is the face that appeared so I went with it.

Please be sure to check out all the fabulous art at Paint Party Friday.

I Won!!!

2011-10-11T09:52:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've all been seeing things about the Life Book class that Tam is offering for 2012.

It's a year-long class with several teachers....something new each month. I've been drooling over it but at approximately $100 I had to think about it. Well, I don't have to think anymore! I won a space in the class over at Mystele's blog! I couldn't believe it but it's true. I've been dancing all around the house ever since I learned I won.

***************************************

I have nothing artsy to share with you today because that painting of the girl is still sitting with only one eye. I hope today I can finish her.

Have a terrific Tuesday.

Shopping and Playing....

2011-10-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday!! Did you all have a great weekend? Mine was sort of fun....I went clothes shopping. If you know me at all, then you know I hate shopping but everything in the closet was beginning to look a little tired and thread-bare so I bit the bullet and with credit card in hand I hit the shops. Surprisingly, I found several items I actually liked and best of all they fit! So the wardrobe has been spruced up and all I need now is a new pair of boots.

Not much art got done although I did play with Nevr-Dull. In the past I've had mixed results using CitraSolv and Nevr-Dull but this time I was pleased with the results. Here are a few examples....

These are all pages from old National Geographic magazines....

mostly from the 60's and 70's.

The one above showed hands holding blueberries.

This one was a porcupine!

This one I tried to keep most of the faces because

they look as if they're looking through an icy, frosty window.

To get the designs I placed the magazine pages over textured paper. I only had a few pieces but I found they worked better than anything else I had. While I was out shopping I popped into Joann's and bought some texture plates made by Fiskars. I haven't tried them yet but I hope they work for this.

**********************************************

And then back to that painting I showed last week or so. I'm just not happy with her one eye so I gessoed it out again and am starting over. I gave her a good base coat and will begin to add the shading all over again.

She just didn't look right and it was bugging me. I gessoed over her eye once before but I didn't get it right that time. Wish me luck on this one. Third time is the charm!

The Mail Gods Are Smiling on Me....

2011-10-06T08:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday HB brought in the mail and I was shocked and surprised. Several days ago, Carmen asked if I'd like a couple of old magazines for collage and I said sure, thinking that she would send me one or two magazines from the 70's or 80's. What arrived at my house was beyond amazing! Magazines from the 50's and one that's actually from 1906! But that's not all....

She sent all this beautiful ephemera....

So much I had to take two photos to show it all!

And then there was this....

To say this journal is beautiful is an understatement! It's a gorgeous black silky fabric encrusted with beads and gems, and the paper inside feels handmade....not to mention the journal is almost an inch thick! And I almost forgot....she even sent me tea so I can enjoy a cup while I journal.

I was in tears as I opened each package inside the box. I'm not sure what I did to deserve such a beautiful gift, Carmen, but thank you so very much. I love each and every item you sent and will use them in my art.

If you don't know Carmen be sure to visit her blog. She writes from her heart and it's beautiful. And her journal pages are wonderful....filled with layers and layers of yumminess.

Me as Cleopatra....

2011-10-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

I haven't worked in my art journals for quite some time so this morning I got one of them out and decided to finish a spread that I had started a couple of months ago.

If you've read my blog for a long time then you know I have lots of clothing from my childhood, as well as things that belonged to my mother and grandmother. I'm a "keeper"....I can't throw away things that have been saved for a long time.

Recently while going through some boxes I found a little red and white checked sunsuit that was mine as a child....

It's a little faded and tattered but you must remember it's probably about 66 years old! I like this little piece because I have a picture of me wearing it....

I think I'm about two or three years old in the picture. We were living in housing on the naval base near Bremerton, WA....my dad served in the navy during WWII. This is one of those photos that always makes me smile so I decided to create a journal page about it....

As the story was told to me by my mom, we had a neighbor couple who didn't have any children. The guy thought I was just great and he called me Cleopatra because I stole his heart.

One day as I played outside, he plopped a hat on me and took this picture. My mom didn't much like the photo because she thought I looked messy. I love the photo because it's one of only a small handful of photos of me as a child where I'm not "perfect"....

This was a fun journal spread to do....even though the writing part was a challenge. Nothing would show up very good on the background but at least I know what it says.

It's a rainy day here and I'm making soup. It's the first really chilly day and I always like to do soup when the weather is like this. I hope you're having a good day wherever you are....

A Walk in the Park....

2011-10-04T10:46:00.000-07:00

No art today. Just a walk in the park. This morning I woke up early and went for my walk. As I came around the back part of the park I noticed how incredible the clouds looked so when I finished the loop I walked home, got my camera and walked back so I could get some shots. The clouds were rolling up over the mountains and draping down....not sure if you can see that in the pics but click on them and maybe it will show up. I like seeing the clouds when they drape over the mountains. This is weather coming up from the LA area. We might get a few raindrops today or tomorrow!

We're having our first day that feels a bit like autumn. Yesterday it was near 90º and today it will only reach about 70º and the next few days even cooler. This is my kind of weather! As I was walking this morning, the air was crisp and cool and everyone seemed to have more energy. If it could stay like this all the time I'd be happy.

********************************************

Yesterday HB had to go up on the roof to make a repair to one of the vent pipes. It was a bit scary watching him climb all the way up to the top of the house....

I zoomed in on him....

He's wearing his crazy hat with the wild hair sticking out the top. I want one of those hats, too....you know, for bad hair days! The repair was made and he came back down safely....and I could breath again!

I hope I have some art for tomorrow. Things have been frustrating in the studio. I've been trying some new things and they aren't working....but I'll keep trying.

Snail Mail is Great!!

2011-10-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love snail mail? I do! And recently I've had some pretty amazing things in my mailbox.

Lee sent me this gorgeous WOOD postcard....

It came through the mail just as it is....no envelope or anything and it's perfect. I wish you could see this in real life because the photo doesn't do it justice. It's collaged with lots of wonderful papers and ephemera and has a time-worn aged look. It's beautiful! Thank you, Lee....I love it.

Also recently I won a giveaway over on Eden's blog. She gave away one of her complete Doodle Directories! How lucky am I?

It was difficult to get a picture of it. I placed each card into a 4" x 6" photo album so they would be protected. These are so fun and colorful and I love all Eden's doodles. Plus she's a fantastic artist. Her pencil drawings are great. Thanks, Eden!!

********************************************

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice about my blog. I finally got some basic things done but I'm still not thrilled with how it looks. I'll keep poking around with it and maybe I can get the look I want.

What Can I Do???

2011-10-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

Grrr!! What is the secret to having an interesting background on this blog? I see so many other blogs change their backgrounds all the time and they look great. I go to the same websites, get a background and it looks like crap and barely shows around the edges.

A few days ago Blogger said they had some new formats to try and I did....bad decision! Apparently in the process I lost the way my blog used to look and I didn't like the new format. Well, that's not entirely true. I did like some things about the new look but I got numerous emails telling me there was something wrong with my blog. So I tried to switch back to the way it was and that didn't happen.

Now my header has gotten smaller and I haven't even touched it! Why can't I figure this out?? Blogger says they have made it simple, the websites all say it's simple and yet my blog looks terrible. I need help!!!

NOTE: I just changed my header....found some info online and it helped a little but I'm still not happy with the way things look.

Making Some Progress....

2011-09-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

I'm still working on that one painting!

So far this is where I am with her....

She still needs work but I'm liking her better

even though I don't think her eyes are good.

I've also been playing with some other pieces.

I work on these in the evening while we're watching TV....

Here are some close-ups....

They started out with water soluble crayons, then I added some black lines and now I'm using colored pencils and maybe some markers. I'll probably add some more layers of doodles on these. They're still a work in progress as are so many of my things!

Have a fun weekend!!

Unfinished Projects....

2011-09-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is several days since my last post and you would probably expect to see a finished painting from the sketch I showed you last time....but you would be wrong! I have painted on that piece but now I've gessoed over parts of it because I didn't like how it was turning out.

I have also gessoed over that one face that I didn't like from a week or so ago....

In the picture behind you can see where I added a bit of gesso to the corner of the eye where it wasn't looking right. She is nowhere near finished but I have some things blocked in. I'll see if I like these pieces better after I work on them some more.

And here is just one small stack of more unfinished projects....

My so called "clean" table looks like this at the moment....

So you can see I've got my hands full of things to do!

Lots of projects to finish and more new ideas

coming along each day!!

************************************

On another subject, as many of you know, I do NOT belong to Facebook. I joined quite some time ago but soon felt uncomfortable on the site and decided to quit. Getting my account completely deleted took some time and effort....they don't make it easy for you to do this which makes me wonder even more about the safety and integrity of the site.

Yesterday Geri had this link on her blog and I decided to put it on here, too. You might have second thoughts about Facebook after reading this article about how they've been tracking you even when you're logged out!! Just thought I'd pass it on in case you're interested.

Now I'm off to work on some unfinished projects!!

A Future Painting....

2011-09-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

First off, I want to say a public thank you to everyone who sent me emails, e-cards, snail mail cards and otherwise wished me happy birthday. I had a wonderful day and don't feel any older!

*************************************

There are several classes and challenges going on around Blogland and as usual I'm trying to do too much at once. When that happens I always get overwhelmed and then somewhat paralyzed which results in no art. I'm in that mode right now! My brain is whirling with ideas but the rest of me isn't participating.

My inner critic is working overtime, too. There's so much beautiful art being shown on the blogs and when I spend time looking at it I begin to doubt my own abilities and go into that "why bother" thing. I know it doesn't do any good to fall into that trap but it happens occasionally. I'm not telling you this to get advice but rather to just let you know it's happening. I KNOW what to do to get out of this but sometimes I just don't listen to my own advice!

But this morning I managed to sketch out a woman to paint. You may not be able to see this very clearly but here she is....

I'm not sure where she's going from here or when I'll finish her but when I sat down with the pencil and the canvas this is who appeared.

************************************

Around the country many of you are enjoying cool autumn weather but not here. We're still in the 90's just about every day. Today I think we're expecting high 80's so it's a cool down! Right now the birds outside my studio are singing and chirping and talking about their day....it's one of my most favorite sounds. And since I have nothing else to show you or to talk about I think I'll go sit on the patio and listen to them.

Have a wonderful day....

Day 264 of this year....

2011-09-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

You're probably wondering what this all means. What are all these numbers, and why road signs? Am I going on a trip....no. But 68 years ago in Illinois I landed on this planet! And now 68 years later I live in California. Yep, it's my birthday and I'm 68 years young.

If you're too young to remember 1943 (and most of you are!) then you can read about it here ....mostly it's all about WWII 'cause we were right in the midst of it when I was born. In fact, my dad was serving in the navy at the time and was not around for the big event. We didn't meet until I was about 2 years old.

This is not my cake. I found this image on Google and it's perfect....except maybe for the color. I would prefer the flowers and lettering be in shades of purple!

Okay, now I'm off to celebrate in the best way possible. I'm going to make some art!

PS - Happy Birthday, Eden!!!!

Finding Art....

2011-09-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

Today I don't have much to show you except a little sketch I did using a paint blob from Carla Sonheim's blog. I used this blob....

and I turned it and saw this little scene....

HB said it looked like a little hobbit house.

Apparently something scared all the

birds because they're flying away from the tree.

What do you see in the paint blob??

A Little Clarification....

2011-09-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Did you have a fun weekend? Mine was quiet with a little bit of art but with laundry and other chores thrown in there, too.

*********************************************

After so many comments, I thought I should clarify something about my non-dominant hand drawings. I don't do the entire picture like that. I only draw the shape of the face and the beginnings of the features with my other hand. The rest of it is done with my usual hand. I didn't want you to get the idea that I was painting and doing everything with my non-dominant hand. I'd be really impressed if I could do that!!

Here's a bunch of the ones I've done. They're just waiting for me to finish them! There are probably at least 25 pages all with the outline of a face....

Some of these are too plain. I like the quirkier ones so some of these probably won't ever be used.

***********************************************

There are some fun things going on around Blogland right now. There's a FREE stencil class here at Balzer Designs and Carla Soneheim is doing a challenge with sidewalk cracks and painting blobs! You'll have to check it out to see what I mean.

Okay, it's back to the studio for me and maybe some new art to show tomorrow. Those phone book pages are calling to me. I hope your Monday is fantastic!!!

She's Having a Bad Hair Day!

2011-09-17T08:27:00.000-07:00

When it was first suggested to try drawing with my non-dominant hand, I thought "how will that be interesting?" But thankfully, I gave it a try and I LOVE doing it now. In fact, I can't stop! I now have a little stack of weird faces to play with.

Here's my latest one. I'm calling it She's Having a Bad Hair Day

Her pear-shaped face is what I like most. I'm not finished with her yet but so far I'm happy. This one was transferred to some watercolor paper and some of the phone book page stuck before I could get it off so there's more of it showing on the one side....but I kinda like it that way. Just a little more texture.

Seems she's having the same problem I have some days....that one piece of hair that won't co-operate!

Have a fun weekend and I'll see you on Monday....

What Do You Think???

2011-09-16T09:41:00.000-07:00

Did I mess her up?

I decided to add some detail on the forehead of this painting....

I like it but HB was less than lukewarm about it.

I'm always one who likes lots of embellishments and added texture but too often I stop before I get there. So this time I just decided to add something else and see what happened. I like her and I think she looks exotic....but she may not be for everyone. What do you think?

NOTE: at the suggestion of Giggles I'm linking this with Paint Party Friday.

Getting Into It....

2011-09-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

This will be a quickie! I'm up to my elbows in art right now and I don't want to lose the flow. I just wanted to share a couple of things I've been doing.

Both of these pictures were started from drawings done with my non-dominant hand....in my case left-handed. I like how they look almost child-like in the way they're drawn....

The one above still needs some work. She was the first one I tried.

This one is my favorite. She will get a few more things done to her but for now I like the way she's turning out.

Okay, I'm off to continue working. If I owe you an email please be patient. I'll get to it but right now I'm on a roll.

The Start of a New Week....

2011-09-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

Where did last week go? I turned around and it's already the start of a new week. Did you watch any of the 9/11 programs yesterday? We watched a couple of them. It's still difficult to watch and sometimes feels more like a movie rather than real life. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be in NYC on that day. I hope no one has to go through anything like that ever again.

****************************************

As for art, last week was somewhat of a bust for me. I did manage to make one piece that I hate.

No matter what I did to her I don't like it....so I'm sure she will be gessoed over and started again. Any suggestions??

******************************************

I also started a background on this canvas....

I have some idea of what I'm going to try on this one but haven't got it started yet.

Also while I was on blog break I did one of those grid drawings that everyone seems to be doing right now....

It isn't finished but so far I like the concept. I'm using colored pencils to add some color.

Okay, I think that's about it for me. What have you been doing?

As Promised....Finally!

2011-09-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

I got up early, took my morning walk and then headed over to the hair salon to take a photo. So finally here is what I put up in the salon....

A little bit of everything. Sorry about the color. It was difficult to get the right color under the lights. I tried to fix it a bit in my photo program. The walls are actually a soft golden beige.

And this is just one corner of Angel's studio. You can see the artwork reflected in the mirror.

Angel is great! I don't know if anyone reads my blog from this area where I live but if you do here is Angel's website with information about her. I know she's also on Facebook and she posted some other photos of my art on there but I don't have her FB page address.

*****************************************

And just in case you think all I do is make art, here is what I made over the long holiday weekend. I forgot to show you earlier....

This is spiced caramel pear jam! Doesn't that sound delicious! I haven't opened one yet to try it but I hope it's as good as the name sounds.

I have been buying Bartlett pears at five pounds for ninety-nine cents!! I had to think of something to do with some of them and this sounded like just the thing.

Okay I'm off to play in the studio today. It's supposed to be hot so I'm staying inside for the rest of the day.

Salon Art....

2011-09-06T14:22:00.000-07:00

After all my promises, we hung my art in the salon today....and I forgot to take any pictures of it! I'm going back tomorrow to take some so be patient with me. I can't believe I forgot. But Angel had a customer so I think part of it was, I was trying to get everything done and get out of her way. HB did a good job getting everything up on the wall.

Using those Command hanging strips is good except there are a lot of things to consider. First off, they have to be attached to something solid so the back of the art can't be paper or canvas. Many of my smaller pieces had the canvas wrapped all around the back side so we had to cut away little portions in order to use the strips. It was a learning experience for me. Now I know what to look for and what not to use when I create art that will be hanging in the salon.

Here's a piece I did recently....HB named her Josephine.

This canvas is about 4" x 12". For some reason I like those long, narrow canvases. I did her hair with paper circles....some I stamped on to give them more interest. I cut her face from a map and it shows through very lightly.

I added some Washi tape around the outer edge since it's so deep. I like how she turned out. She is hanging at the salon. I hope everyone likes my art and hopefully I will sell some things. Etsy sure hasn't been my best place to sell art. I've thought about just offering my art right here on the blog. Do you think that's too commercial? I would love to be able to sell some things so I can pay for art supplies and classes. Being retired isn't all that profitable!

The Long Weekend....

2011-09-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

HB and I went to do the final hanging of my art in the hair salon only to find someone had locked the door to Angel's studio. So now I have to wait until she returns from her vacation on Tuesday to see when we can get back in to finish. But never fear....I will post pictures when I get it all finished.

In the meantime here is another one of the 12" x 12" canvases I did over my break....

I like the colors in this one and it was a bit easier to get a photograph of it. Also while I was on my break I did some sketching. Here's one of the crazier ones I did....

Later I may turn this into a painting....maybe with a little bit less headdress ornamentation though!

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable weekend and for those of us in the US it's a long one because of Labor Day.

I Finished the ICAD Challenge!

2011-09-01T11:18:00.000-07:00

When I began the ICAD challenge I wasn't sure if I could do it or not because I have a nasty habit of jumping into a challenge and then life gets in the way and I don't finish. But this time I not only finished, I did a card every single day....no days off for me.

True, some of the cards are not masterpieces but I don't think that was the idea anyway. I think it was more of a challenge to get us to do some little bit of art each day....to keep at it. And that's what I did. Some days were better than others and the cards reflect that.

Here are the rest of my ICADs....

There are enough cards in my spiral book to continue through September 8th and I plan to do that but I won't bore you with them.

************************************************
HB and I have been working to get my art up in the salon....BIG job. I promise to show pictures of it when we finish. In the meantime here is another piece I did on my break....

No matter what I did, I just couldn't get the colors right on this piece. It has a lot of greenish-gold and some blues and browns. The quote says "The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies" - by Gertrude Jekyll. It's done on a 12" x 12" wrapped canvas.

Now that the ICAD challenge is over, I plan to do more of my own art. No more challenges for me right now!

What I Did on My Blog Break....

2011-08-30T15:01:00.000-07:00

Today I'll show you a few of the things I made while I was on my break. I didn't do art every single day but I tried to keep involved with it. A few days I spent just throwing paint on a huge piece of red rosin paper. It didn't end up going anywhere so I cut it up and used it for some smaller projects....

The three pieces above are about 4" x 6" and I layered them onto scrapbook paper that is 5" x 7"....they really are centered even though the scans look like they aren't. I put them in dark frames and I think they look good. The scans don't really do them justice but when I tried to photograph them that was even worse. Why is art so difficult to photograph?

You can see them on the right side of the mantel in the photo above along with some of my other art. I just had them sitting there so I could see what they look like from a distance. They aren't all going to stay there! In fact none of them will. Most of these pieces are going to the hair salon.

I'll show you more tomorrow but for now that's it.

Hello! Remember me???

2011-08-29T10:05:00.000-07:00

Did you forget me? Did you think I was never coming back? There were times when I thought the same thing! It was so freeing to just get up each day and not think about the computer or my blog. I simply did whatever I felt like doing....and many days that ended up being a whole lot of nothing!

HB was gone for part of the time. He flew back to PA for a family reunion. I was a complete slob while he was away!! I painted in the kitchen, wore my jammies all day, stayed up later than usual (my normal bedtime is about midnight) and generally just had some quiet time for me.

But now I'm ready to jump back into things. As I said when I went on break, I was going to keep up with the index cards but I didn't think I'd be doing any more faces....that held true.

These are my index cards from Aug 10th thru Aug 18th. As you can tell, I'm struggling to keep my interest on these. Some days I just slammed down anything to say I made a card....not the way you should participate in a challenge!

I also worked in one of my art journals....

There were a couple of pages where I had scraped on some left-over brown paint. I added a layer of cream to tone it down, then used a stencil and some Color Wash in Stream to add another layer.

I like the way it looked at that point so I began adding some circles cut from scraps of paper, and a border of diamond shapes....

Sorry about the clips along the side....the page wanted to curl up all the time.

This is the left page above....

and the right page....
I'm not crazy about the quote but I used it anyway!
******************************************

Since I'm going to be displaying my art in the hair salon, I began making more small canvases. I have several new ones to show you but that will be for another day. For now, I'm back and will try to slowly ease into the blogging world again. I've missed all of you. Thanks for all the emails checking up on me.

I Need to Re-charge....

2011-08-12T14:09:00.000-07:00

Image from Google images

Every so often I have to recharge my creative batteries and that time is now. I've been feeling a little stressed out lately and haven't been producing anything I really like so I'm taking a two week blog break. I'll return sometime around the 26th of this month.

During that time I probably won't be around Blogland very much but who knows....I might just pop up here and there when you least expect it. And I'll always answer emails.

I plan to immerse myself in some classes I've taken and haven't done anything with. Then I think I'll read and relax and just do whatever I want to do. But I'll be back! And I'll keep up with my index cards and my daily faces so there will be lots to show you when I return. I hope you don't forget about me!!

Image from Google images

I Did It!!

2011-08-09T14:59:00.000-07:00

I finally got the Spiced Nectarine Butter made today. HB helped me and it turned out really good. It made two pints....I didn't have any small jelly jars, which would have been better. There was just a little bit left over in the pan and I scooped it into a dish and we were both tasting it. I'd give it a 10!

From this....

to this....

Here they are cooling on the counter.

I'm sure this will get eaten very quickly!

********************************************

I've been keeping up with both my challenges, too. Here are the sketches I did for the last two days....

The one on the left is going to have one of those small hats, a Fascinator....and I want to do a face with spike-y hair sort of like mine only wilder. Please remember, these are just quickie sketches, not finished pieces. I'm just getting my ideas down on paper and when I get some time (whenever that might be!) I'll develop them into either journal pages or small paintings.

********************************************

And here are my most recent index cards....

I'm really getting down to using just about anything to make these! I'd say none of these are really all that good but I'm doing one a day. Maybe from all this I'm learning something about joining long challenges!

I'm Still Doing Them....

2011-08-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

I'm doing a little catch-up here on the blog. I haven't had much computer time the past few days....sorry I haven't been around to visit much. I'll be doing some of that later today.

*******************************************

Last night HB and I walked down to the park for another summer concert. It was a tribute band doing Bruce Springsteen. If you ever have a chance to see a band called The Rising....DON'T!! It was terrible. The sound mix was beyond bad and the band itself wasn't much better. Maybe they were having an off night but HB and I both felt, even at $5 a piece for tickets, that we were robbed!

*******************************************

I'm so proud of myself for still keeping up with the index cards. I did another little grouping to catch you up through yesterday. I haven't done one yet for today. I usually do my cards in the evening.

And I've also been doing my daily faces although I must admit that I haven't had a lot of time so I've just been doing quick pencil sketches in my moleskine....things I hope to later turn into paintings.

The girl on the left was inspired by a painting I saw on Laila's blog. I like exotic, ethnic looking women and want to try one. Then the next day I drew a woman with a flower in her hair.

The drawing on the left will eventually be a mermaid, and the girl on the right is just a face....maybe a "girl-next-door" type. When I get time I'll try to develop these into some paintings but for now this is what I had time to do....at least I'm sticking to the daily face challenge although I may not be following the rules exactly!

****************************************

Yesterday HB and I harvested almonds and nectarines. Usually our nectarines aren't all that good but I'm going to try making some Spiced Nectarine Butter. We have a fairly good crop this year and I would like to be able to use them for something.The almonds always get used. It's nice having the almond trees even though they're in the front yard. Who plants nut trees in the front yard!!! Obviously someone did here. And one of them is fairly close to the sidewalk so anyone can walk by and grab an almond.

Okay, I'm off to the office supply store for paper and ink cartridges. I hope you're having a good weekend....

Day 3 of Portrait a Day....

2011-08-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

Several months ago I took a small workshop at Art Trader Magazine. I think it was called Colorful Funky Ladies or something like that. It was a fun workshop that taught exaggerated faces, necks, and bodies. I have mostly just played around with the techniques on a small scale but yesterday I decided to try it on the face for the day.

Here's what I came up with....

The lines in the upper left corner were already on this paper and I was going to erase them but HB thought they looked industrial and said they should stay. I'm still not convinced but they're just pencil so I can always get rid of them later.

I did this face with colored pencils and a bit of watercolor pencil. I'm not completely happy with her but I learned some things so it was worth it.Her jewelry is done with a metallic silver colored pencil. It doesn't show up in the picture.

I'm still trying to get some things done around here so I might be scarce around Blogland for a day or so. I hope you have a great day....

My Second Portrait....

2011-08-03T09:50:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a quickie post today. I've got tons of things to do and not much time to do them!

Yesterday I did the second painting for the portrait a day challenge. I didn't completely read Violette's post about the challenge and missed the part where it was supposed to be a "self-portrait"....I asked her if I could just do faces and not my own. She replied that every picture we paint has a little bit of ourselves in it so I could paint other faces. Whew! That's good news. I didn't want to have to paint saggy skin and wrinkles! So here's the one I did yesterday....

Her hair is done with a circle punch from Martha Stewart (Happy Birthday, Martha! Today is her birthday. ) because you know how I hate to paint hair. I randomly tore the words out of a book.

This painting is done on a nice piece of wood that I got at the $.99 Store. It had some other picture on it but I just sanded it off and gessoed over the whole thing. So for $.99 I got a great substrate to work on.

I'll post my index cards later in the week. Now I have to get busy and get all my chores done....

PS - take a quick peek at part of our grape harvest over on my photo blog.

A Portrait a Day For August....

2011-08-02T13:24:00.000-07:00

You know me....I can't resist a challenge! Even though I'm doing the index cards for the month of August, I also decided to join in on Violette's portrait a day challenge. It seemed rather serendipitous since I had painted a face yesterday on August 1st. So here is my first portrait/face....

I painted her on an old map. I'm not completely happy with her but she's one more day of practice for me. I haven't started the face for today but I have some ideas.

I spent the morning at the salon where I get my hair cut. Angel has asked me to display some of my art so I took some things over to get her approval. She just moved into a new studio style shop and has some blank walls to fill up. When I get everything up and ready I'll take some photos and show you how it looks.

Okay, I'm off to create some new art! I hope your day is creative and fun....

Goin' Hollywood!

2011-07-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

Last night HB and I went to a meet and greet followed by a screening for a project he's been involved with for the past few months. I took lots of photos along the way so I thought I'd take you along with me as we drive through Hollywood.

We drove right past The Hollywood Bowl. When I lived down in the L.A. area I loved going to The Bowl on a summer evening. You can take food and drinks and have a picnic on the beautiful lawns that surround it....and you can bring your food and drinks right into The Bowl and enjoy it along with the music.

Rows of palm trees are always beautiful to me.

LOTS of billboards are everywhere....

and even Paris Hilton!

You can see that there was quite a bit

of traffic but it wasn't too bad.

The Rolling Stone Restaurant

More billboards....

Some lovely old architecture....

and some bizarre stuff, too!

The famous Hollywood Blvd although we weren't

at Hollywood and Vine.

The meet and greet was outside under this beautiful pergola. The weather was perfect and by evening the breeze was even a bit chilly. Everyone stood around and chatted while enjoying some wonderful Indian finger food and tea that was grown on the host's family's tea plantation in India.

This area was just past the long pergola....

looks like a peaceful place to relax.

And this fountain was even further back past the outdoor tables.

Then it was time to head back home....

These are the lights of our little town as we whizzed along on the freeway. Just as I snapped it we hit a bump in the road so it's all crazy but I like it anyway.

I hope you enjoyed this little peek at Hollywood....at least a tiny piece of it.

**********************************************

And because I haven't posted for a few days here is a montage of my latest ICADs....I haven't done one for today but so far I've completed a card for each day since we began. I'm determined to finish this challenge!

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday....

It's the Lifestyle Magazine Article!!

2011-07-28T11:29:00.000-07:00

Today is my BIG day! The Lifestyle magazine article by Rich Breault is published. A couple of people already called me to say they saw it even before I did. HB went out and bought several copies so I can send them to my kids. Here is the article (I hope you can read it):

(click on the pictures to enlarge)

The picture above was also on the front of the magazine

....along the bottom as a teaser

The only discrepancy I can see is that I've never painted on toilet paper! I have used it to create a molded dress to make a piece of art but I can't imagine how difficult it would be to try to paint on toilet paper. Overall, I think the article is very nice and I like the pictures Rich chose to show. I don't know if this will help me connect with area artists or not but I hope so. I did try to contact one etsy artist that Rich told me about but she never answered any of my emails. I would love to meet other artists and get to know them.

I've been keeping up with my index cards and will be back tomorrow to show you the latest ones. And maybe even some other art as well. See you then....

I Scored This Weekend!

2011-07-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

I hope you're all enjoying your Sunday and that it isn't too hot where you are. I know many of you are dealing with extreme heat and humidity. Try to stay cool.

Yesterday was a busy day for me. I was going through stacks of my art and discovered so many things in that partial completion stage. Imagine that! Me not finishing a project! Who would have guessed!!

I got myself in gear and gessoed more of the paint brochures, then I finished a small face that was almost done but needed something. I'm still not 100% happy with her but she's better than when I found her....

I tried to fix her eyes

but nothing worked.

So she's as finished as I can make her.

Here are my latest index cards....

********************************************

Yesterday HB went out in the late morning. When he came back he told me there was a yard sale across the street that I might be interested in. I looked out the window and spotted an easel! I immediately went over and was thrilled when I saw it up close. It's really sturdy, has all the pieces, including extra table space and storage bins....and the best part was the price! The sign said $25!! I bought it on the spot and brought it home. HB helped me set it up on the back patio and then I moved it out into the shade to get a picture of it.

Isn't it great???

I had to put a canvas on it just to see how it looks. I may have to move things around a lot to use it in the studio but it was too good to pass up.

Keeping It Going....

2011-07-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

Even though I'm losing interest in the index cards I'm still doing them. I usually get to this point in a challenge and just quit but this time I'm determined to see it through.

Here are the latest cards....

That's all I have for you today. I bought a 24" x 30" canvas yesterday and I want to start painting it. The smaller one I had started is just too small to work with. It's only 12" x 12". I plan to paint over it and do something else on it. The larger canvas may become the picture I was working on. And then again it might become something else altogether different. You just never know about me.

Have a great weekend....

Hot and Cold, Off and On....

2011-07-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

As the song says "sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug"....that's how my art has been going recently. I'm struggling to keep going with it. There are some days when it just flows and I end up with something I like. But there are many more days when it isn't like that. There are days when things I think are going to work, don't and I end up with a disaster. I'm running hot and cold and I wish I could get to at least warm and stay there!

That is exactly what happened

on my latest journal spread.

I started with a background I really like....

Then I saw an eye and began painting a face....

That was when it all went wrong!

I wasn't happy with the face and decided to

try something....and it didn't work!

She ended up looking terrible!

But you know I show my bad stuff anyway....

I'm not even posting a close up of the face side....

So I guess today I'm the bug!

I'll post my latest index cards in a few days. So far I'm keeping up with the challenge even though I think I've officially lost interest in it. I've started on my second spiral book of cards. There are enough to finish the challenge and even continue until September 8th. I plan to finish all of them and then start on my Rolodex cards. Maybe if I keep going my enthusiasm for them will return. At least I'm using up a lot of little scraps.

Doing Some Catch-up....

2011-07-19T10:05:00.000-07:00

Things have been very topsy turvy around Chez Art. I haven't been able to focus (my word for this year!) on anything recently but I hope that in the next few days things will be back to normal.

I haven't posted any of my index cards for quite some time so instead of boring you with individual photos of each one I just made a montage of them....

As you can probably tell, I'm getting bored with these cards. I'm not sure if it's because I've been distracted lately or if I'm just tired of making them. But I have to say these are not very interesting!

I've also blocked out a painting I'm working on now....

She's only in the very early stage but I wanted to get the idea down on canvas while it was fresh in my mind.

And just a little weird weather note....by this time of year we're usually baking here in the high desert. Last Saturday evening HB and I walked down to the park to see America. We both wore long sleeved tee shirts but we still had to leave before the concert was over because we were COLD!!! I know the middle of the country is just frying in heat. What is going on??

I'm Still Here and I'm Learning!!

2011-07-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

I'm still here! I know I haven't posted anything in almost a week but HB and I have been super busy with some personal/business stuff.

There's so much going on right now and I have been doing my index cards. I'll post them tomorrow and get you caught up but today I want to share a painting I just finished.

You may remember quite some time back I showed this painting I had started. It's been sitting in the studio staring at me ever since. Today I finished it! I tried some new techniques I just learned.

She went in a completely different direction from what I had originally planned but I love her. And she looks even better in person. That's metallic gold on her neck piece but it doesn't show on here. She's about 8" x 24" and I painted the outside edge in dark brown. I'm thinking about putting her up for sale.

I'll be back tomorrow with some index cards. Enjoy your Sunday evening....

Summer of Color - Brown....and Lots of It!!

2011-07-11T08:47:00.000-07:00

When I saw that brown was the color for this week I didn't think I'd be able to come up with something. Brown is not one of my favorite colors but it was surprisingly easy to work with. I just thought of sepia photographs and how much I like them and that's all it took.

I used a photo of my mom when she was very young

she was probably about 16 or 17 years old....

Then I thought about her life

and what she did for me and for my dad....

The rest was easy.

The background was done with distress ink pads straight to the journal pages, then a paper doily used as a stencil with some spray ink. The border is an eraser stamp I carved, and the collage pieces are from my new Tim Holtz paper.

*****************************************

I even kept the brown theme going for my index cards!

Here is the one for yesterday:

I couldn't resist that bit of text.

Can't remember where I found it

but it's great!

and below is the one I did today:

I used sepia Faber-Castell markers

but they look black in the photo.

I think brown turned out to be a fun color to work with and I'm sure I'll be using it again. Thanks, Kristin, for giving me the chance to explore brown. And be sure to click on the button on the side of my blog to learn more about the Summer of Color and to visit other participating blogs.

Music in the Park....

2011-07-10T14:47:00.000-07:00

Last night HB and I were party animals! We went to a concert! No, we didn't see any big name group but we had a lot of fun and heard some good music....and all we had to do was walk down to the park that's only about a block from our house.

Every summer we have the Starlight Concert series at the local amphitheater.

(This photo is from the internet and shows another group playing.)

We take our lawn chairs, walk down, pay $5 each and we have an evening of entertainment. HB and I usually like to sit on a small hill just outside the area shown above. Over the years we've lived here, we've seen some pretty good groups. The concerts used to be free but since they built the new amphitheater they charge $5. It's still a bargain. Last night we saw Evolution. They're a Journey tribute band and they were really good. Next weekend America will be performing on their 40th anniversary tour.

******************************************

I have some art ready to share with you but I'm waiting until tomorrow to post it. It's for the Summer of Color and this week's color is brown. At first I thought it would be a difficult color to work with but it ended up being easy for me. I never did do anything for last week's color of yellow. I just couldn't get inspired. So see you tomorrow and I'll have a journal spread and my index cards.

Some Loot and My ICADs

2011-07-09T10:48:00.000-07:00

We finally got a break from the humidity and it's back to our normal hot.Yesterday I was out to get my hair cut so I just made it an afternoon and went to B&N and Michael's. Did you know Michael's is now selling Copic markers?!! I just happened to stumble upon them and couldn't believe my eyes. The clerk told me they're getting in the air brush system, too. Now I'm really in BIG trouble!! Here's the loot I brought home with me:

I wasn't going to buy any more magazines but then I couldn't resist the article on Teesha Moore and the other one on Michelle Ward. And the Tim Holtz paper just screamed at me so I had to get it. The Copic markers I got are a flesh tone and a light pink. I want to try them on some faces.

These are the tapes I got. I already have the number tape in black but I love the red, and the other tapes were on the clearance rack so they jumped into my basket, too. I had a fun afternoon.

********************************************

And here are my latest index cards.

A real quickie! Wallpaper, scrapbook paper,

and an illustration from a book.

I added a little marker and called it done!

This one has a copy of a weird woman
I did quite awhile ago.

Some scraps of paper, the image, and Voila!

Since her eyes are so odd I used words

to call attention to them.

I'm working on some journal pages and some other things but nothing is finished yet. Stay tuned! As long as the humidity stays away I'll be productive. I may be tweaking my blog over the next few days so if you see something strange it might just be me experimenting. Have a fun weekend....

Some Exciting News....

2011-07-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

It's been a few days since I've posted. A few very hot and unusually humid days! So you know what that means....not much art gone done. Actually not much of anything has been done. I lose my energy in hot weather.

Thanks to everyone who commented on my "imperfect" gal. I think we all need to embrace our own imperfections and be happy with them.

*************************************

I had an exciting day on Tuesday. I was interviewed for our local Lifestyle magazine! Rich Breault of the Valley Press came to the house and took lots of photos of my art and a couple of me, too. He was very easy to talk with and HB and I enjoyed meeting him. I'm looking forward to the article, and hope that it might generate some interest and get me in touch with some local artists and creative people.

**************************************

My index cards got a little behind but I caught up today.

Here are the latest ones:

July 5th - some paper scraps

and a picture of a seashell from an old book

July 6th - more scraps of paper

and a picture from an old calendar

July 7th - paper scraps and a flower image from a paper kit.

Now I'm off to find a cool spot to curl up with a book. I might make a fruit smoothie for my lunch and that's about all I can plan on doing today. HB has a dental appointment so the afternoon is mine.

Holidays and Imperfections....

2011-07-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

I hope you're all enjoying the 4th of July holiday here in the US. HB and I will drag our lawn chairs out to the front yard and watch fireworks all around our area. We never have to drive anywhere to see them....they're all around us.

*************************************

Lately I haven't been painting much and that makes me sad. I love to paint. But there are times when it just isn't happening no matter what I do. So that's when I work in my art journal, make collages, and do other creative things.

I came across an unfinished painting recently....believe me, that isn't hard to do! And I decided to work on it even though it had a lot of problems.

No matter what I did this painting just wasn't going to work out so I decided to go with all the imperfections. Her chin is too small, her mouth is crooked, her nose is too long, she looks sad, etc, etc. But I still liked her! So I finished tweeking a few things, added the words and called her finished!

******************************************

I've been making my index cards every day.

Here are the latest ones....

Some paper scraps

and a magazine image

The one above and the one below

are collages of some of my previous art.

the one above is a quickie

done with gel pens

it doesn't show up too good....

That catches me up for now. I'm still going to try to paint something new today. If I keep showing up with my paintbrush in hand something is bound to happen sooner or later.

Finishing the First Month of ICAD....

2011-06-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

So what have I been doing the past few days, you ask. My answer would be, not much! At least nothing exciting to show you. I'm trying to sand and gesso all those paint brochures I pilfered from the paint departments! The stack seems to keep getting bigger as I go along....and honest, I haven't been to the paint stores again.

I found an old painting that was unfinished (how rare!!) so I set it aside to work on. I've managed to put another half hour into it but it's still not ready to go on the "done" pile. Just not feelin' it right now.

The index cards are still being done though. I'm keeping up with this challenge so far, and I haven't even taken off the one day a week allowed. As of today I've done 30 index cards.

06/27/2011 - this one is a little piece of scrapbook paper, a backing from some stamps I bought, and an image I think came from one of the free image groups on flickr.

06/28/2011 - this image came from an advertising book I got at a thrift store several years ago. I added a little scrapbook paper and some black from a magazine.

06/29/2011 - splopped some paint onto this index card using a palette knife, then drew some flowers and a doodle and called it done.

06/30/2011 - used a paint dauber to make the blue flowers, added stems and leaves with markers and paint. More summer flowers. I think I have flowers on my mind because the agapanthus is just beginning to open up this year and I have a few gladiolas blossoming in the yard. There are some pics of them over on my photo blog....the link is on the right side.

Now I think I'll try to finish that one painting today. And work on some more paint brochures. I don't have a huge area where I can work on several at one time so this is slow going. Wish me luck....

It's Going To Be a Pink Day!!!

2011-06-27T10:14:00.000-07:00

It's time for some PINK! That's the color this week at the Summer of Color. There's a button over there on the side of my blog that will link you to what this is all about.
Pink was my mom's favorite color and it makes me think of her. At first I thought about doing a spread based on that but when I got started it went in a different direction so I just went with it.

First I covered my pages with scraps of pinkish papers.

I love starting my pages this way.

Then I used a brayer and added some pale pink paint.

I just kept adding layers of stencils, paper doilies, paint and whatever I could think of! I had a hard time deciding the focus of this spread because I did that one big no-no and let myself get attached to the background.

Each idea I had was met with

"I don't want to cover that part up"

Does that happen to you??

I finally decided on a quote I found online. It didn't have an author so I can't give credit to the person who wrote it....but it seemed to fit with my pages...."everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it." I like how the left side, above, is clear and easy to read....

But the right side is more difficult to read....

Below is a close-up of one corner.

On some of the pictures you can't see the white accents.

So that was my adventure into Pinkland. I hope you enjoyed it.

*********************************************

This is my index card for yesterday. I haven't made one yet today but there's still time. This one did not take my usual five minutes....the concept was quick, and marking the stencil pattern was quick but then coloring it in took a little longer.

Now I'm off to work on some journals I'm trying to make. Have a fun day....

Sweet Sixteen....

2011-06-25T09:09:00.000-07:00

I was pretty much absent from Blogland yesterday....it was my 16th wedding anniversary, and 21 years to the day since I met HB. We had a fun day and then last night we went out for dinner. As we were waiting for our meal, HB saw a guy he knew and he came over to our table to say hello. During the brief conversation the guy mentioned that he and his wife were there celebrating their anniversary! June 24th must be a good day for a wedding.

********************************************

My index card for yesterday reflected my special day....

Here's my card for today....

I used scraps from the project below.

I've had this face for quite awhile.

It's from a Cirque Du Soleil ad.

I printed it and reversed it so I would have mirror images.

Sorry, the pages are trying to curl up on the corners

so it was difficult to get a good shot.

I may add a few little doodles here and there, not sure. I have to look at it for a few days and decide. For now I'm calling it done. Today I plan to work on my pink project for the Summer of Color. I already have my background finished so it shouldn't take too long. Have a great weekend....

Success!!!

2011-06-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

I had success yesterday on my quest for free journal supplies. When I went to our two big box hardware stores they weren't very busy. I wondered if they would notice the crazy woman in the paint department stuffing paint brochures in her purse! I made sure to take my biggest purse so I'd have a place to stash them.

At the first store I skulked around the paint department, acting as if I was looking for certain colors of paint, then I browsed the brochures, taking some, putting some back....just to confuse anyone who might be watching me. When my purse was full, I headed for the doors expecting to be stopped at any moment....but I breezed through the doors out into the sunshine and made a bee-line for the car. FREE goodies!!

Then it was on to the next store but this time I just walked in grabbed the brochures and left. No one batted an eye. And here's some of what I got....

Aren't they gorgeous??

I stacked them up so you can see the different sizes....

I can't wait to get started on these.

********************************************

Then it was off to the office supply to find a Rolodex.

Again, success!!

I want to start right in on these, too but I think I'll wait a little bit. I have plenty of things to keep me busy for awhile! But the Rolodex is sitting on my secondary work table just waiting for me....calling to me.

*******************************************

Here's my index card for today....

All in all I had a fun day yesterday. Today is grocery shopping day....wonder how much fun I'll have with that?

I Need More Time!!!....

2011-06-22T10:22:00.000-07:00

Why can't we have an extra 10 or 15 hours in each day? I need that much just to keep up with all the fun things going on around Blogland. Today I'm going to the big box hardware stores to pick up some FREE art supplies! Yes, free journal making stuff! If you're curious check out this blog post and see what I'm talking about.

Then I'm off to one of the office supply stores to get more art supplies....I'm looking for a Rolodex! You may be too young to know what that is but if you check out Patty Van Dorin's blog you'll see what she does with these little cards. Take a scroll through her blog and be amazed at how a lowly little card can be transformed into beautiful works of art.

No wonder my brain is always spinning! There's so much to see and do and not enough time for all of it. YIKES!!!!

********************************************

Here is my index card for today....

Another five minute collage.

I used a bit of painted paper,

some other scraps from my paper box

and words cut from a magazine. Voila!!

And I made three more tags....

These aren't really pretty....just functional.

My brain was tired when I made these!

I haven't added any fibers to the tags yet but I will. I have to locate all my little snippets of ribbon and yarn and see what I have. The past couple of days all I've wanted to do is simple little projects like these. My scrap paper box is overflowing and I need to either use it or get rid of it.

I'm off to run some errands and get my Rolodex. I hope I don't melt! It's hot again today.

Summer of Color - Green

2011-06-21T10:18:00.000-07:00

The heat is on! We're headed for 104º today! Our only saving grace is we don't have much humidity which I'm extremely thankful for. I plan to stay inside and make art.

******************************************

I finished my green project for the Summer of Color. I'm not thrilled with it because I rushed myself too much. I started the background the first day that the color was chosen but then I left it and didn't do anything with it until last evening. So this isn't very good....

Left side....I messed up one of the hands.

Right side....very plain and uninteresting.

Green is not my favorite color

so I don't think I was inspired enough.

*******************************************

Here is my ICAD for yesterday....

and this is the one I did for today....

*******************************************

Yesterday I also made a few little tags just for fun. Several of them are made with hang tags from clothes and other items. The larger ones are from a booklet of tags that I have. The designs weren't interesting so I just collaged over them. This is one side of the tags....

and this is the other side....

My favorite is the one at the bottom left with red and black. It actually has a light beige patterned background but it doesn't show up in the photo. These were all made using scraps from magazines, calendars and scrapbook papers. I love doing silly little things like this.

That's all I have today.Now I'm off to try and stay cool in the studio. Have a great day!!!

A Little Peek at Some Art....

2011-06-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

Here it is Monday and we're supposed to be posting our green art for the Summer of Color....and mine isn't finished! I've been doing too many other things and my journal spread is only partially ready. I hope to have it by tomorrow.

I worked a little on the tall skinny canvas I showed awhile back. I am doing a partial face on it. Here's a peek at part of what I've done so far....

I work on her a little at a time so it isn't going fast. This will be a half-face with just one eye showing. I like doing half-faces. For some reason they're intriguing to me.

Here's my index card for yesterday....

I haven't finished the one for today. I'm moving a little slower today because I think our nice weather is over. We're expecting 97º today and 103º tomorrow! HB and I spent a lot of time in the yard over the weekend since it was almost perfect weather. He put up a new trellis for one of our jasmine plants. The other two will also get new trellises sometime this week.

If you look closely (click on the photo) you can see a piece of the green gardening tape in his mouth! He is always meticulous when he does things like this. He carefully attached each branch to the trellis in several places. He worked on it all afternoon on Saturday....then he sat on the patio on Father's Day and admired his handiwork!

Okay, I'm going to go work in my art journal now....and try to stay cool. Don't forget to have some fun today and smile at someone!

Saturday Morning Catch-up....

2011-06-18T11:58:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I hope your weekend is going along good. I'm doing some blog reading catch-up in between watching some videos, and doing a little art.

Yesterday I didn't get much art done because I spent most of the day in the kitchen. I know....me in the kitchen! That usually doesn't happen unless I'm baking. But with all the wonderful summer produce available I decided to make a few things for later. So I made a batch of refrigerator pickles....

The color makes them look a little weird but believe me, they're delicious. They taste a bit like bread and butter pickles.

Then I decided to make a couple batches of freezer jam. I made strawberry and blackberry because I had both those fruits on hand and they needed to be used.

I like freezer jam because it's fast, easy to make, and it tastes just like fresh fruit. I had some this morning on a piece of toast using homemade bread (bread machine!) and it was so yummy.

The only art that I've done over the past couple of days has been my index cards. Here is the one from yesterday....

And this one is the one I did this morning. It seemed appropriate for a Saturday morning....

There are some new classes that are interesting. Mary Ann Moss has a new class called Full Tilt Boogie. It's a book making class and looks like a lot of fun. Her classes are always good. They're some of my favorites. And Mystele has a series of classes beginning in about a week. They're also about making books. The first one is called Junquey Signatures. Mystele is also one of my favorites for classes. Her Gut Art class is fantastic!!

With that I'm off to continue my day. Have some fun....