250!!!

So this is BIG for me, 250 posts since I started this little blog.  It has turned out to be more than I thought I could handle but then more than I ever though it could be.  I want to thank you so much for sticking it out with me even in my lean posting times.  I am enjoying a little bit of time with my youngest Grandson and my oldest Daughter the next few days but be looking for a celebration post coming in the middle of the week.   

Such a wonderful day today.  Summer has finally reached Spokane and even with the wind it has been delightful.  Started my day with a little bit of quiet time with my son and then later in the morning I was able to go in for a massage. It is amazing how a massage makes you feel.  I haven't felt this good in weeks since I pulled a muscle in my neck.  I ended up going to my doctor late last week because I was really worried about the tingling in my arm and lip.  She said it will take time to heal.  I've also been having some pains in my calfs.....it turns out I need to figure out a way to stand to do my scrapbooking and art.  I wrap my legs around my chair and cross my legs to much.  Any ideas on how I can change my work area? 

How did I do that.....

I was asked yesterday how I created this look on my journal page.  Pretty simple, really.

Start with a white paper doily and spray randomly with Adirondack Color Wash in Sailboat Blue and Lettuce.  I put into a large narrow box so the over spray would be contained.  Be sure you note these are dyes, if you don't want it on your hands wear gloves.  If the wind is blowing you WILL get back spray...just saying.....so don't where your nice clothes.  After spraying, the paper gets very delicate to handle, so leave it in the box until it is completely dry....over night is best.  If you work with it to soon it will disintegrate.  The GREAT thing about the Adirondack Color Washes is once they are dry they are permanent, so you won't bleed into other colors.   

                               

The next day I started with spraying my journal pages with the same color washes, again letting them dry.  I then cut my doily apart and put down Mod Podge on my pages, placing the pieces in the bottom left and the top right of those pages.  Put Mod Podge on top of the doily and start working it with your fingers to get it to lay flat.  The trick here is to work VERY slowly because once the doily gets wet it goes back to being delicate so just go sloooowwww.  You will end up having parts of it that will dry sticking up but I didn't worry to much about that because I liked the look.  Then I just continued to layer, layer and layer.

First day of Summer vacation, with us not having very many warm days it is pretty strange to say Summer.  I just have to remember that Summer isn't actually offical until tomorrow.  I am ready for a few more non gloomy days.

This week in The Summer of Color class we are highlighting GREEN.  It is one of my most favorite colors.  There aren't many places in my house that don't have some type of green except maybe for my son's room....hhhmmmm....that gets me to thinking......lol.....wonder what he would do if a bit of lime green showed up in his room this week? 

I had this page done right away because I was so excited......

I'm also adding pages in my journal for the Three Hearts class that I took with Christy Tomlinson trying out differant backgrounds and loads of layering.  Things I need to remember.  Fun stuff!!

This week for me is all about getting ready for my oldest Daughter and youngest Grandson's visit, they will be here for 10 days.  I'm looking forward to loving on them which I don't get to do very often.

This is a special She Art I did for a friend of mine.  She has been through so much this past 18 months and I wanted her to always remember to find her joy in the midst of pain.  I think the piece speaks for itself.  I found the word JOY, it was someone's special give away for Christmas and I didn't save the link.  Sorry!  I started by painting the background a solid color, then started layering.  The doily was white and I painted it before laying it down.

Plenty of writing, doodles, stamping and outlining.

A few special things here....a paint on pearls, a cluster of cherries at the waist, the word love that just happened to be on the pages I used for her body.

 Layering here with paint and some stamped images.

Flowers are punched out and layered to look like a full daisy.  Leaves are left overs from the flowers I made for prom and Mother's Day.

ALWAYS let your layers dry before starting another!!  Mod Podge can be your friend!!!

What is art to you?

Art to me is life.  It isn't about just finding the time to do it but it is making the time to do it.  It breaths life into me, lifts my mood when I am down, calms me when I having a time of anxiety.  I get lost in it really, before I know it family is asking what we are going to have for dinner.  So I have to be very careful in balancing my time with the things I have to do.  I like to break it up into little bits over the day, keeping myself focused.  It helps me to feel less overwhelmed with my daily chores. 

Something I believe in, is all artists and the right to keep their art their own.  Meaning if they make it and make the choice to sell it they should be paid.  Let's be honest, the Internet as wonderful as it is can be a horrible place too.  In some cases worse if you are an artist!  You will see a new link to the left for the LinkWithLove, we really need to help each other to accept, respect and protect all forms of artwork.  This project was birthed from what happened here and here.  It is wrong for someone to use artwork that doesn't belong to them for personal gain.  Being a scrapbooker, card maker and crafter I have many copies of photos from sketches and color combos I want to try.  I haven't been good about linking back to who created the sketch or even where I have received my inspiration.  From now on, I will do my best to give credit where credit is do, in doing so hopefully we can help people to be honest about where they get images.

What a wonderful few days I have had!!  June 9th, was my 27th Wedding Anniversary and we are going into 30 years of being together!  What the time we have had in those years, certainly a lot of bumps along the way but I wouldn't change a thing.  I love this man more today then I did the day I married him.  He is my constant companion, he misses me when he has to be away from home, he is my best friend and puts up with everything I do.  I LOVE you Darlin, always and forever.

Thanks, to two of children's friends coming over Saturday for a few hours, we were able to get our yard work caught up.  Now it is just about maintaining everything.  We pulled out some evergreens, then went to the nursery yesterday and bought some plants to fill it back in.  It is a challenging space because it is all shade.  I haven't had a shade garden since we moved from our very first house over 15 years ago.  I'm looking forward  to seeing everything grow and come to life.

I'm really loving the Summer of Color class.  Last fall that I took Nic Howards Color Class at Big Pictures Classes so I decided I wanted to change up my original little layouts to go into my journal for this class.  I love how it turned out, you can see my before here.  Each color will have two pages. 

Since I love Big Pictures classes I want to give you a heads up.......if you missed out on Nic's class in the fall they are offering it again at Big Pictures classes.  I believe it starts at the end of June and runs for 6 weeks.  Totally worth the cost of the class!! 

A little bit of wonderful

Oh my gosh!  Sunday I went with a friend of mine to the Farm Chicks Antique Show.  If you EVER lack inspiration you should go!  I couldn't stop saying how much I just loved it all.  I did come away with a few fun things which I can't wait to put to use!!

An old cosmetic traveling case, which is going to be repurposed for my small stencils I keep loosing.  It will join my Grandmother's case that I use for my special paints. 

2 wonderful table cloths, will be repurposed into, I'm thinking some cute aprons.

Finally this piece, which caught my eye.  It will be a anniversary gift to my lovely husband.

                                  

I did have something special happen to me at the show.  I was able to meet this wonderful lady Jenny Doh.  I have been following her since she started Crescendoh, a beautiful place where artists are highlighted and classes are taught.  It was a complete blessing to be able to tell her how her site has changed my life as an artist.  One of those times in your life that you can't stop from grinning ear to ear, making your face hurt.  I feel as a good shift happened to me when I met her.  Some changes are on the way, it is in the air.   

Image courtesy of Jenny, since I was without my camera.  Thank you Jenny!!  

The Summer of Color Class started yesterday.  I have pulled a few things together that I want to use.  One of them being my purple/pink moleskin journal that I have been holding onto for just the right project.  The tags were from the Nic Howard Color class I took last fall so I'm thinking they will be a nice addition.  Of course things that aren't pictured that will be used are photos, paper and embellishments.       

Soul Restoration 2, started today.  I am going to be honest......I'm nervous.....already today questions are being asked that I haven't thought about in years.  This week we are to concentrate on journaling through some questions and making our life journal.   

Finishing up She Had Three Hearts, which is so full of techniques it is unbelievable!  Keep and eye open for the class on Christy's blog, if she ever offers it again take it!  I personally haven't done any art journaling for the class.  I have my supplies together but my space seems messy.  So I decided to concentrate on watching all the videos and take loads of notes.  I'm glad I will have access to the videos for a few more weeks after class because that will allow me to put together technique cards. 

Woke up to this beautiful sight in my garden this morning!  I purchased two plants at the end of the blooming season last year in hopes at least one of them would make it through the winter.  So happy to report that both plants survived.  

In my very first garden over 22 years ago I had poppy's this color and have missed them so much.  My first garden was beautiful, full of so much color and a true labor of love.  When we moved into our next house I was so burnt out on gardening.  I went from having a shade garden to having full sun.  I honestly didn't want to take the time to learn something new.  However the last two years we lived at our house I started to find my love of gardening again.  I found my joy again.  So when we moved here to Spokane, it was a blessing to see that God has known my heart all along.  I have gardens all around my house and I am in love with it all.  Honestly there are a few things that don't tickle my fancy but they make hubby happy so I am willing to give.

So do you have a garden?  What are your favorite things in it?

Our spring has been anything but stellar, cold and wet.  We have only reached over 70* maybe three times, one of those being yesterday.  Everything is managing slowly to bloom in the garden.  Oh how I've missed the color outside!

My parents were in town this week for my children's end of the year choir and band performances and my Mom fell in love with our Crabapple Tree.  Despite the cooler temperatures it managed to be in full bloom, which turned out to be a good thing because my Dad got a beautiful photo.  After this picture was taken it started to rain again for two days!  It isn't as bright as it was then but it is still beautiful.  Thanks for the picture Dad!

The cooler weather has not stopped the bees from coming out!  I was looking to see how the flowers fared after the heavy rain.  I walked pasted the Crabapple Tree and heard a humming sound.  In taking a closer look I found the largest bees I have seen in quite awhile.  I spent a little time to get a couple of perfect shots, I just was careful to stay out of their way as much as possible.

I mean seriously I don't want to make these guys mad, they might carry me away!!

 

 What a busy couple of days but fun!  The weather here has been anything but normal, upper 40's at night and high 50's to mid 60's durning the day.  It has been raining the last two days and not just a sprinkle but down pours!  The kind of rain that makes you late to the end of the year band concert, sorry kids nothing I can do about traffic.  The Spokane River is the highest it has been in years!  Since my parents are in town my Dad and I took a trip down to the river to see the falls.  Despite being so cold I wish I had brought my gloves, it was fun!  My most favorite shots..........

They are saying in the news that high water will continue through the end of this month.  What is the weather like where you are at?

A little bit of organizing makes me feel so happy!

I four drawers of ribbon plus a mini tote of satin ribbon in my garage.  I think it is safe to say I DON'T NEED any more but sometimes I can't help myself.  So in order to come to a place with my ribbon that I know what I have, it was time to take out the drawers and organize.  It took me close to a week to get them finished.  Now they look so nice.

Another challenge is my little pieces of ribbon.  Ya know the ones that are left over from a roll.  I can't seem to throw them away when they make really cute little knots for projects.  So this past weekend I tackled what I like to call my stuff bag.........the bag I stuff full of those little tiny pieces that I can't throw away.  See the stuff bag migrated to a stuff things anywhere you can, ya it wasn't pretty.  It made me frustrated so then I would just walk away.

Organizing my stuff jars:

My stuff jars after organizing.  The four jars in the left photo had a matching one that was taller but I picked it up and found a nasty crack in it with part of a corner missing.  A disaster waiting to happen so it was time to condence.  One of my yard sale finds this past weekend were the two jars in the right photo, for $1 each.  The fat squatty jar I found a Walmart and bought two for $7.  I still have one empty so there maybe a little more organizing in the future.  I do love how the color shows through, sure makes me happy!   

   

Last year I started on a journey to use what I have and I've been doing better.  Now that my ribbon is organized I can start to look at what I use the most and downsizing.  I'm looking forward to that!  Do you have something you need to organize?  I would be happy to lend you my ideas because I love helping where I can.