Mellow Yellow

The recent sunny days must have had an influence on me. Just look at my mellow yellow journal spread! Found words and images saved from long ago come together and work as if they were made for one another.

TGIF!

It's been an artful day and a well deserved one after the stressful week I had. I truly understand the meaning of TGIF! And to me the meaning is even sweeter because this is the start of a short but sweet vacation! One week of staying up late and sleeping in. What more can a girl ask for. Sweet bliss.

I had great fun tonight and it was good to see my friends and make some new ones at Stampin' From the Heart. Jeri, Ellie, Gail, Kate, Charmaine, Roxy, Sherry, Gina, and Michelle - it was great to see you again. And to my new friends Marilyn, Jocelyn, Margorie and Ms Boss, it was big fun playing with you tonight and I hope to see you all again. Marilyn, I sincerely hope that was your name because my mind is starting to fizz, your journal ROCKS big time! Everyone loved the idea of you painting in it rather than on the tags and a few of you asked me to consider doing a workshop where you can paint spreads in your personal journals and add the altered art doll as well. This sounds very doable and I'll keep you posted as to when we can do this.

As I mentioned earlier, I had a stressful week at work. Lots of deadlines to meet and "others" that it felt wonderful to wake up to a brand new day and have it end with like-minded people. Thanks for the great kick-off to my vacation! I smell big fun ahead and see many magical days ahead!

Something new

As I passed through the garden I had to stop and smell the geraniums! I love the vibrant magenta of this ivy geranium simply named "Linda." It keeps coming back year after year and this is the first bloom of the season. Actually, it blooms off and on throughout the year but this is the first flower of "spring" which makes it special.

This is the title page of my journal. When you think about it, journals don't really have a title page do they? But this one is special because it's "fake" as in a not-for-real journal and it's for that reason that I had to give it a title. Click on it to see what it says. This is a clue as to what's inside the daily pages.

Roz from rozwoundup suggested a thin journal because it's only going to hold a month's worth of writings, sketches, etc. All my journals are fat and so I had to work fast to put a thin one together. I had an empty box from taco shells and chose it for the covers. I exposed the words "mission" because I look at this journey as that - a mission. I think it worked out nicely and the book easily lays flat to write in and for scanning. I'll share some of those pages soon.

Artventurous Happenings

I'm on a mission and it's called "International Fake Journal Month." Yes, there really is such a thing and it began April 1st, no kidding. It's all about taking on a new persona or being the same only in an alternate universe. Those are Roz's words and you can read more on it at http://rozwoundup.typepad.com . Just scroll down until you find the post about the fake journal project. She has another blog specifically for this but I can't remember it but she'll have the link for it.

This is one of the collagey tags we'll be making this Friday night at the Make-it-Take-it. It's all about the acrylic painted backgrounds, collaged stamping and the embellished art girl.

I've been working on some ATCs and they're ready to be sent out. Can you tell I've been having fun? Why is it that putting art supplies back where they belong is not as much fun as when you bring them out?

Here's another collaged tag sample. I love the way those giant tags give you lots of room to play on.

Here's the other side of my "Fake Journal." I've actually written on two pages. I'm a little behind on my entries but I'll try to catch up soon. Did I tell you I'm a "shop owner" with NO budget? Feels great not to have to worry about money.

When it rains it pours which is what happened recently. I haven't been online because I didn't have a computer to get online with. It crashed last week. At first it was difficult. How odd it felt to not sit in that familiar chair and click the "ON" button. As the days went by the guilt started to set in on not keeping my blog current. And then there was the Make-it-Take-it that's coming this Friday. How could I get a visual up on time for that?! Well, I found that there are actually ways to keep occupied while not consumed by a monitor and keyboard. It's called art.

Do You Believe in "CANDLE MAGIC?"

As a child and even to this day, my mother would light candles in front of religious figures for the special intentions of others. Whether it was someone gravely ill or someone moving into a new home, she'd light her candles in hopes of that person being able to face their challenge with the strength provided by the saintly figure.

When I was growing up, we had a picture of the Virgin Mary above our mantle at home. My mother purchased it from, of all people, the Fuller Brush Man! LOL! Imagine that. "I'll take the dust mop and oh yes, that picture of the Virgin Mary." What I found amazing about this picture was that when you walked slightly it would change to Sacred Heart of Jesus. So it went from Mary to Jesus. Two for the price of one, if you think about it. A bargain! LOL! Whenever someone was ill or needed something special, my mom would light a small votive candle in front of our magical picture, say a prayer and let the candle stay lit until it burned out. At our home, a lit candle was a symbol of hope for a special intention.

The picture of Mary and Jesus has long been removed from that wall above the mantle. But there's a statue of Mary standing in a brick grotto in my parent's backyard where the tradition of the lit candle lives on at her feet. That statue is the image I used in my art piece at the top of this post. Do you believe in Candle Magic?

TGIF Artventures

Do you know where you're from? I mean, do you really know where you're from?


This journal topic got me thinking about both my grandmas. I was so fortunate to know each one and to have spent time with them. I spent weeks at their homes during my summer vacations even though we all lived in Los Angeles. LOL! It was so much fun to be at their homes. I baked, made sherbet and shopped with one and played in the cellar or backyard with the rag dolls my other grandma made.

My mother's mom passed away from Lupus when I was 11 and she was 62. During that time there were no meds and you just dealt with it and took precautions. There's still no cure for this deadly disease but more is known about it. It's kinda sad that my grandmother hemorrhaged from a nose bleed. I'm glad that any questions I've ever had about her have been answered by my mother. It's even better that I was able to talk to my other grandmother about her youth and views on life. She was so funny and smart and my children where able to know her until she passed away almost 5 years ago.

I get my creative gene from both grandmothers and my recycling gene from my mother. LOL! The page below is a "before" picture from my journal and on it are catalog library cards that I saved from the dumpster. I doodled on the back of some and then painted the other ones with Caran D' Ache water-soluble crayons. I LOVE those crayons! I should use them more often cause they really give a punch of color. I also used them on my .99 store background tissue page.

I got these from my blog friend Aimee! Aren't these fun? It's a great way to utilize some of those scraps of paper or small images you have hoarding in a drawer. You can click on her blog to the right of this post. She's a great doodle-er and her use of color is mind boggling!

If this was 30 something years ago, I'd be getting ready for that night out. But now it's a whole other story. As soon as Friday rolls around, I know I can do an all nighter with my papers, paints, journal, stamps, etc..! LOL! I KNOW I'm not the only one! You're paints will never stand you up. You're sure to have a great time with your stamps! Your paper and journal don't size you up or notice that you've put on a couple, alright FEW, pounds. LOL! And your glue will stick with you in good times and bad. HAHAHA! Hmmm. I guess that would make my husband an art supply. A Jimmy. LOL!!!

Blooming Color

It's off to the garden on this sunny Thursday afternoon. Don't let the spiderwebs scare you!

Mother Goose and I were trying to remember the name of this rose. I even turned to a couple of my trusty rose books. I'm sure it began with the letter "M" and like the letter "M" it's a mystery to me. LOL! Oh well, the roses are full and smell great.

Last season this rose bush was almost pulled out because it looked dead. You'd never know it by the looks of it now. I think it's a Queen Elizabeth. She was found 20 something years ago at a close out sale without a tag.

Meet Mirandy whose name should be Red Velvet because that's how she feels. Is there a rose called Red Velvet? Somebody start grafting!

This is my Gold Medal. Yes, I really have one and I got it back in 1987!

This is Tiny giving the Bottle Brush Tree a good scratch. Tiny was the runt of the litter 4 years ago and she's the soul survivor of the group. Goes to show that size really doesn't matter. well. LOL!!

Look at what the child found. A fossil! She wants to put a barrier around it just like the paleontologists!

The sun called me out this afternoon cause it was shining on spots of color. "YAY, MORE BLOOMS!" my mind cried. So off I went with the camera to capture bits of nature. If this is what winter's been looking like, I can hardly wait for spring. Oh wow, that's in a couple days!