Ash Trees Are Dying

The Ash trees in Ohio are dying,

thanks to the Emerald Ash Borer.

It is an invasive species from Asia

which I believe has been 

dispersing from Canada.

I helped my parents clean up and pile

firewood from an Ash tree in their yard.

I like to be outside and get some 

exercise, I enjoy that. But it is sad

to see the results of this insect

decimate our Ash trees.  They

have spread to all counties in

Ohio except one. ( and that may

  be outdated information?)

The drawing is from a photo on

the internet. Did I mention that I

am not fond of creepy crawlies?

According to The Ohio Dept. of Ag.,

there are insecticide treatments. 

The time required, costs and mixed

effectiveness make fighting the insect

a difficult decision for the land

 owner. Often the tree doesn't

exhibit signs of a problem until the

insect has done significant damage.

So many of the trees are becoming

firewood for the winter.  Sad...

Another journal page...

As the late summer days have been

cool here in Ohio (though I hear the

80's will be back again next week)

I need to get out and enjoy the 

weather while it's still nice!

So I'm off for a walk as soon

as I hit the Publish button.

By the way, linking up with

Art Journal Every Day,

over at Balzer Designs. Julie has a

gorgeous post up about art journal

pages without any writing.

What have you been up to?

Why Do I Need 'Labels?'

Do you take the time to add 'Labels' or 'Categories' in your post settings?  

Labeled: T Tuesday, watercolor, Art Journal Pages

For quite a while, I didn't. Because I didn't really understand what they are for.  After a bit of research online, I am starting to 'get it.'  I think.

Categories (or Labels) that are added to each of your blog posts, help your readers search for more posts on a particular topic.  

In the right margin (Side Bar) of my blog is a 'Search This Blog' Feature. Type in a word, hit the Search button, and all posts labeled with that word/topic will come up in a list.  There are more Labels on my posts than are shown in the Categories list.  If you don't see what you're looking for in the Categories list, use the Search box.

The list of Categories includes the main topics (or descriptions) of post content that I've created.  Click on any Category and all posts with that theme/description will be listed.  Then you can click on and read any in the list that interest you. I've reduced the number of topics to 15 or so, just so it doesn't get ridiculous!

There are quite a few in the 'Collage', 'Art Journal Pages', and 'Watercolor' categories!

I've labeled my 'T Tuesday' posts too. 51 of them!

It's a simple tool to help your readers focus on a topic, and a good way to make your blog a bit more organized.  Different blog hosting sites may be organized differently. Since I use Blogger, my Labels are shown on the right as I create each new post.  (I chose to use the word Categories in the Side Bar on my actual Blog Page) If you forget to add Labels (like I often do) you can always go back and Edit to add them.

If you understand Labels differently, or have more information to add, please leave a comment.  I am always interested in your opinions, and getting feedback about Blogging helps keep me learning. That's a good thing!

Linking up with Bleubeard and Elizabeth for T Tuesday.
Join us for a beverage, or just to see what we are up to!

♥ ♥ ♥

How Do I Look?

Art Journal Collage featuring a 

photocopy of a vintage fashion drawing 

done by my Mom, circa early 1950's.

I used to draw these types of girls

when I was in high school too...

could it be genetic?

Some days I feel like drawing,

but other days I want to paint

or collage. Not to mention quilting,

cross-stitch, photography or scrapbooking.

 So many options,so little time!

More vintage illustrations combined

with my own doodles and painting.

I enjoy using every type of pen, 

even fluorescent highlighters.

 I dug out some of the stamps

I've carved from erasers, and added 

stamping to my pages. It creates

borders, interesting divisions of the space

on the page, and makes repeating

a design easy.

Do you ever think about how we

perceive beauty, and how much 

we 'buy into' the stereotypes of 

our society?  People have an unfortunate

tendency to judge others by their

appearance.  I try to resist that tendency,

but I'm not always successful.  This

page reminds me to see the

Beauty in everyone and everything.

 Well OK, maybe not creepy crawlies.

I am not a fan of bugs or snakes...

I will admire their natural

beauty from a distance!

I like fashion magazines, (especially Vogue)

simply for their artistic flair. I don't 

consider them realistic in any way 

for a Midwestern woman of

 my age (ahem!) as a model

for what I should wear or how I should 

look. I just want to be healthy and happy,

and make some art.  Can I love drawing

fashion models without caving in to 

society's expectations?

Linking up with Art Journal Every Day

over at Balzer Designs.

What creative pursuit have

you been enjoying?

Draw in Your Agenda

I specifically purchased an agenda

that had an extra page for notes

each week, just so I could have

space to draw or collage!

After our son's family had returned home

from their summer visit, I had a little fun

remembering one day's 'serve yourself

whatever's in the fridge' breakfast.

(Drawings in a Mead calendar/agenda.)

Yes, macaroni and cheese, pie, or biscuits

 and bacon for  breakfast.  At about 8:30 a.m.

my granddaughter said, "Gram, can we make

cookies? The kind you roll out & use cookie

cutters?"  ah...ok.  I knew they were 

leaving after lunch to go to their other

grandparents house, but we squeezed it in!

Since I am the only one in the house

who drinks coffee, my coffee maker

is a small one~it only makes 4 cups.

My son was not impressed...

Sometimes you just have to record

a scrap of the day so you won't forget

it...like summer visits from your grandchildren, or

quotes from a book you're reading.

Linking up with Bleubeard and Elizabeth

for T Tuesday.  Stop by for a visit, and

join in with anything 'beverage related.'

I am sharing the beautiful card and

ATC I received from Carol in Elizabeth's

T Tuesday 2nd Anniversary Swap...

The ATC is a wintry scene to

cool me off in the summer heat,

and the tag she also sent is delightful.

The stenciled envelope is gorgeous!

Thank you Carol!

Did you have anything unusual for

breakfast today?

We Make Things. It is Fun.

Week 28 of the Documented Life Project 2015:

Time keeps on ticking...

I made some color copies of a journal page

I had painted of vintage bottles, cut them out

and glued onto this new page. In this

newer incarnation, I included

a Jim Croce song lyric.

Other painted papers, graph paper, and

 origami papers are also part of the collage.

For the second half of the Week 28 spread I used

some vintage illustrations from an old health textbook.

I love that this elementary school

 textbook presented arts and crafts 

as part of a balanced,

 healthy development - 

along with brushing your teeth! 

Watercolor and assorted papers 

and pen drawing complete the collage.

Week 39, "At this Moment..."

another collage with my own drawing of

a flower and clouds, painted papers, and stamping.

The bird image is a commercial rubber stamp,

and the leaf image is a stamp that I carved.

Enjoy Summer Fun...an Artist Trading Card

that I made earlier in the summer, just seemed

to fit here in this collage. It is taped hinge-style

on one side. Beneath the atc reads

"enjoy the now."

And I hope you are enjoying 

the now! Whether it's quiet moments

with friends and family, or exciting

new adventures!

Linking up with 

Art Journal Every Day

over at Balzer Designs, and

Art Journal Journey.

What Do You Put in Your Art Journal?

Artist Trading Card for T-Tuesday swap,
 sent to Julia Dunnit.

"What types of things do you put in your art journal?"  The question came from a non-artsy person in a business environment.  The question was unexpected, and I wasn't very articulate in my answer.  I am one of those folks who seems to think of what I should have said--days later!

I stumbled over my words and didn't express myself very well...I suppose I was trying to relate my answer to the business discussion at hand.  But the real answer is that I:

• Draw
• Paint
• Doodle
• Collage
• Take notes
• Jot down quotes
• Paste stuff in
• Whatever makes me Happy!

Art makes me happy, so I try to do a little every day. It's a stress-reliever.  It's therapeutic.  And it can be made from just about anything, in just about any way that you can think of!

There are many on-line resources for art journal prompts. I am in the second year of The Documented Life Project. (The Journal~2015) The two pages with the theme 'roads' (above) are from my DLP 2015 journal. But you don't have to use prompts...

If you aren't confident in your drawing skills, then what?

First, I think you can become more proficient if you practice! But you can also use lots of items to create collages that make you happy.  I especially like quirky, but whatever you like will make it uniquely yours.  Make use of YouTube and the many blogs that have great tutorials.

Some of my favorite materials to use in collage: assorted papers, fabric, brown paper bag, stamping, diagrams from old books, security envelope designs, stitching, vintage illustrations and ads.

Not everyone understands the concept of making art 'just for fun.'  So if you aren't comfortable about sharing your art with those friends and family members who 'don't get it,'  well, you don't have to.  Fortunately, there are many supportive artists and bloggers who do 'get it,' and are willing to share their work, process, insights and encouragement!

So if you're looking for some fun with art, some time for yourself, and some inspiration...grab a beverage and join Elizabeth and Bleubeard for T~Tuesday!  If you want to join the blog hop, include something beverage-related in your post.  There's always time for tea...and Art!

Journaling and Scrapbook Prep

A little collage, a little watercolor,

not very many words added to

my journals this week...

above, a collage made from scraps

of my painted and doodled papers.

It's mostly just about the

happy color.

I changed the look of my blog this 

week.  It has had a black background

with white lettering since I started

blogging in 2008.  The beige 

background is a big change. 

I really loved the contrast

of my work against black, but I'm 

told it's not a great background for

visibility.  I hope this works out,

because I don't think I know how

to change it back!

Above, a watercolor and

Sharpie pen. The idea was to

create decorations for a wedding

album, but I think this may be too

large.  ( It's about 7 in. x 7 in.)

The heavy black outline

is to give myself a bit of

"wiggle room" when I cut this out

for the scrapbook page. If the

scrapbook owner likes it, there

will be more to come. Or maybe

I will make a color copy and

 reduce it in size...

Linking to Art Journal Every Day over

at Balzer Designs. It's always fun

to see what others are putting 

in their journals!

Art Journal Pages: Drawing my Food

Everyone draws their food when they go 

to a restaurant, don't they?!  One of the

waitresses came over to see what I was 

working on, but I had barely started drawing

my red water glass.  I think she remembered

me from when I drew the turtle planter in 

their restaurant...

The table top presented difficulties.  It was

a carved surface with glass over it.  Glass is

always a challenge, with shadows, reflections,

and whatever is sitting on it...hopefully you

get the idea.  I really could have eaten that

whole basket of chips by myself!

Drawing in Sharpie pen, with watercolor

pencil and water applied after I returned home.

More pages in the 

"On Again~Off Again Journal...

I take along my art bag when we are taking

a road trip.  Hubby drives, and I happily 

paste scraps of paper and doodles into

whatever journal happens to fit into the

stuffed bag.  My watercolor pencils, water brush,

and Sharpie pen are necessities,

and a few highlighter markers wouldn't

go amiss either. They can brighten up

a page considerably!

Above, the atc I sent to Elizabeth,

made from some of my doodle-painted

paper, and a little tea cup that I drew

and glued onto the background.

It felt good to make some mini~art!

You may have noticed that I added a 

new page to this blog for Tutorials.

  To go to the Tutorials page, 

click on the tea cup at the top

of the side bar on the right.

There are only a few tutorials so far, but I 

hope to add more. Stay tuned!

Linking up for the T Tuesday

blog hop over at 

Bleubeard and Elizabeth's.

There's always time for tea!