Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Happy Holidays






While we were 'Iced In' for a couple
of days, I did some last minute baking...
coffee cake with maraschino cherry
and dried apricot filling. I froze this
yummy bread, and will warm it on
Christmas morning, adding a drizzle
 of vanilla icing before serving.


With my hubby in the hospital 18 days 
out of the last 30, it's been a
memorable month.




He is recovering from surgery and feeling
much better, but it was necessary
to be away from my blog.









Wishing you all a wonderful holiday
season and a very happy new year!





Have a hot beverage and a
cozy read beneath a blanket...
and visit T Tuesday over at 
Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog.


Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Techo Tuesday: Fantastic Beasts



Hobonichi Techo drawings~
the newest movie in the Harry Potter universe
is Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
We enjoyed the movie very much! 
I taped in a ticket stub and...






also added a sketch beneath the ticket
of one of the fantastic beasts.
I didn't catch the names of most of the
creatures, but they were amazing and
the special effects were very well done.




It 'only' took me two days to decorate 
the Christmas tree. I wish getting out
the decorations didn't mean total
chaos throughout the house...




Sharing my coffee and toast with
the T Tuesday gang, over at 
Bleubeard and Elizabeth's
Altered Book Lover blog.



Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Techo Tuesday



A quick post to say hello to my
T Tuesday friends, and share
a cup of coffee and some doodles...

These pages follow my hubby's
week-long stay in the hospital.
He's doing fine now, but had a
very uncomfortable several 
days stay. So glad to go home
and get back to a 'semblance'
of normal! More doctor's 
appointments and tests will be in
our future, but expect him to
fully recover. Now off to a
doctor's appointment this a.m.
so  I will be back to visit the
 T Tuesday gang a bit later.





Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Random Tuesday Views


I've been enjoying the views of our
Fall foliage in Ohio... 

Linking this post to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's
T Tuesday blog hop,
where we share a beverage and a
variety of interests and activities.




This is a lunch in Panama City Beach,
Florida, where I enjoyed a beef pasty, 
back in February. The restaurant was called
Eat My Pasty. The food was tasty,
but there were exactly two pieces of
meat in my pasty, along with the 
potatoes and carrots. Not exactly plentiful.
I thought the flavor was very good, but the price
for what you received was high.  I 
suppose we were paying for the novelty
of authentic (?) British food. It IS a tourist
kind of town, especially in March when the
college students arrive for Spring Break.
We were looking for something fun and
different...you don't know until you try it, right?
I think my beverage in this photo was water.
Maybe not exciting, but trying to be healthy.




Our food tray was lined with deli paper
printed to resemble a London newspaper.




I got a kick out of some of the decor in the
tiny restaurant. This Dr. Who quote is classic:

"People assume that Time is a strict progression
of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear,
non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball
of wibbly wobbly timey wimey...stuff."




The "No Muggles Beyond This Point"
was a sign over the door to the kitchen.
Fun!...I wondered how many of the 
retired 'crowd' that are in residence during
the month of February
had any idea what these posters referred to...
the Harry Potter series of course!




Not sure if I showed the cover of my
Hobonichi Techo, that I finally finished.
It's painted fabric just wrapped around
the planner, secured with a bit of elastic.
It does the job just fine, without a
big price tag.





Here's a page in my Planner...yes, I drink
coffee from my Santa mug year-round!
I've been doing a challenge this month,
which gives a list of items to draw or 
write about each day. #7 was Butternut
squash.  The 72 seasons of Japan is an
interesting app that I downloaded to my
Smart phone. Every week or so, a new
season from the ancient calendar of Japan
is explained. I am enjoying the illustrations
included with the articles, and reading
about the flowers, vegetables, and
seasonal fish each season. 
Japan is blessed with weather that allows
Camellias to be blooming in November!



The U.S. election is today,
and I will do my duty and go vote.  I am
 ready for the country to move on. 
I hope you have a wonderful week,
and success in your creative endeavors!




Sunday, October 30, 2016

Hobonichi Techo Pages


Drawing daily in my Hobonichi Techo


with Sharpie pen or Smash pen


and adding watercolor with my
Prismacolor watercolor pencils and
water brush.



Click on any image for an
enlargement...









Someone once asked if I journal the" bad things"
 too. Well, yes - sometimes. I am conscious of 
whether or not I will be posting it online. You
don't need TOO much information...
And I'd rather focus on the positive.




These pages aren't completely in order by date...
the computer saved them alphabetically by
the title I gave them!




Happy Halloween to those who 
enjoy celebrating it ...and Happy Autumn!












Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Garden Therapy



Tuesday Therapy...
a garden retreat is 
food for the soul, as well as
tomatoes for your tummy! 




Belatedly showing swap pages sent
to Chris of PearShapedChris*
whose book theme was 'anything
in a garden.'  Above, a peony that I
painted in watercolor, then cut out and
created a large pocket for tags.










Flowers embroidered on fabric, with
a bit of running stitch, lazy daisy, and 
French knots. Mounted on watercolor
paper. Couldn't resist adding the
cross-stitched bee.




Folk art flowers in watercolor
with a quote...




and more watercolor ~ with 
flowers adhered from napkins, as well
as watercolor painted flowers.




Since Chris had specified 'anything
in a garden - except frogs' I decided
to draw a little mouse just for fun!




The arrival of these pages took way
longer than it should, due to my inexperience
with shipping internationally. Thanks Chris
for being so patient! I hope everything 
arrived in good condition.

Linking up with Bleubeard and Elizabeth
for T Tuesday...yes, I have still been
journaling in my Hobonichi Techo!




Above, tiny sketch of biscuits and coffee,
to qualify as my T Tuesday
 photo reference!




Yes, we were crazy enough to go
tent camping at our age!

Stop by to visit the other 
T Tuesday bloggers to
see assorted shenanigans...



Saturday, October 22, 2016

Long Overdue Swap Art



Finally showing some swap art that
I made for Annette. (Scrap Happens Here)
The theme for her book was
'Proverbs.'  The page above says
"Don't put all your eggs in one basket."
(click on any image for enlargement)




"The early bird catches the worm,"
with fabric, lace, silk greenery, buttons,
and my watercolor of an American Robin.



Small pamphlet-stitch book to go in
the pocket of




"You can't judge a book by its cover."




"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,"
created with scraps of cardboard,
paint and paper. The charm unfortunately
caused the scan to blur the details
of the image.




"One woman's trash is
another woman't treasure." 
I used a discarded 
music library card, brown paper
bag, scrapbook paper, and the gentleman
in the bathing costume is from a carton
of hard cider I believe.  Multiple
layers of paint were applied to the collage,
along with the spiral clip, beads
 and a vintage charm.




"A smooth sea never made
a skilled sailor."  This is made from
some pretty scrapbook paper that
has an ocean/fishy theme.




Tags in the "sailor page" pocket.

Many thanks to Annette for being so patient 
and understanding about the late arrival
of her package. Hopefully, it is a case of
"good things come to those who wait!"