Turkey Tuesday

 

It is again time to prepare for a 

new year of journaling. 

My 2024 Hobonichi has arrived!

It is always a surprise how 

small my A6 Hobonichi English Planner

starts out in the new year...

no wrinkled pages from

watercolor and pen, no

added thickness from tipped-in

pages or collages. You'd think

I would be used to it by now, 

after eight years using this Planner!

Pictured above, just a month and

a half left to go in the 2023 journal.

The 2024 journal, beneath it, has

"new" Tomoe River paper in it.

From what I can piece together from

on-line articles, a new company has

taken over the TR paper, using

new machinery, and a slightly different

method/recipe. Apparently the old

machinery was just worn out.  I'm 

hoping for a similar result with the 

new paper, but we shall see. Paper

quality does affect the ease/results

of art work quite a bit!

Drawing mushrooms this month for

the Hobonichi Challenge (Instagram)

My Instagram is: 

www.instagram.com/dbcarey_2000

Even if you are not on Instagram, I believe you

can still view my posts on your computer

at this address, as my profile is Public.

Just click on the link above, and hopefully

my posts will come up.  (Tech challenged

senior here, trying to keep up!)

Also checking in with some old friends today

for T Tuesday,

 ( https://alteredbooklover.blogspot.com/2023/11/t-stands-for-surprise-and-happy-mail.html?m=1

featuring my mocha coffee in

the photo above. I love this Debbie Mumm

 snowman cup...I use it year-round!

It's a rainy Tuesday here in Ohio today, so

a warm beverage is a plus.

Wishing everyone who celebrates

Thanksgiving this week, a warm

and wonderful day with family

and friends! 

Pandemic Pages and Projects

The Hobonichi Challenge for April is

an Alice in Wonderland theme. Above,

white roses painted red, and the White Rabbit.

Some mail art postcards

and a bunny for Easter on an envelope.

A very three dimensional Easter card, hand

delivered to the In-Laws.  Haven't been to visit 

my own parents yet as they are isolating.  Hoping

the weather will warm up soon so we can go

over and sit in lawn chairs in the yard to

visit with them!

There are so many cute memes on the 

internet, and I just have to steal one

sometimes. 'Steal like an artist' as they say.

Sketched daffodils from my yard for a

card to send.

I really adore the original illustrations for Alice 

in Wonderland done by Sir John Tenniel.  But 

of course Disney's versions are pretty amazing too!

Did you spot the coffee cups that I include on my

pages?  They are my contribution to 'T for Tuesday'

over at Altered Book Lover's blog. It's always 

nice to share tea, coffee, and some conversation

with good friends!

Above, a few text pages that I've watercolored and

drawn on.  I will probably tear them up and

use for collage.  What creative projects 

have you been working on?

Follow me on IG:

dbcarey_2000

Paper and Paint

This is the result (above) of a doctor's visit.

You know the little gowns they give you to put on

for a 'physical?'  This one was like paper towel.

In my defense, when left unsupervised, I can

usually entertain myself with a pen and paper.

yes, I drew on the hem of the paper gown.

But this paper was more like paper towel, so I

had to be careful not to punch the pen right 

through it.  The time spent waiting on the exam

table went much faster, and i was able to ignore

the chill of the room while I waited. No unusual 

problems (except the relative eccentricities of an artist)

just having to do a regular 'check-in'.  The Physician's

Assistant asked if she could have it. Wonder if it

will end up on the Break Room bulletin board?

In other news, our son and daughter-in-law 

purchased their first house, and we went to help

them paint rooms before they moved in. I don't

usually show photos of myself, but I was rather

proud of  managing the above space. This

is me painting in the niche above the fireplace.

I believe a television goes there. It was just deep

enough that I couldn't reach it from a ladder...

Since I have a fairly steady hand, I "got to" paint

around most of the trim!

On the way home, this is our first traffic jam encounter.

There were several traffic jams that day, but at

 least in this instance we got to see

 the reason that traffic was backed up.  It appears

that a refrigerated semi caught fire. You can see the

charred front end of the trailer, and the burned

musk melons being scooped up. The smell of

burned musk melons was quite unique and

pretty nasty.  Won't soon forget it!

I've been to a couple of different Planner Events

over the summer.  Picture a room full of people

(in this case 200) who all love journaling and working

in Planners.  Most don't draw, but they do love

 stickers and stamping and ink and washi tape. 

My kind of people.

Since the theme of the event was flamingos, I

did a page of black and white doodles and had

copies made. Then I painted the copies and

cut them out.  Fun to give to attendees that

I met.  So much swag was given out, and I met

wonderful, fun people!

It's been a busy summer, with lots of ups and

downs.  Mower repair, chauffeuring parents to 

appointments, road trips with traffic jams. 

And journaling...always.

Hope all my blogging friends are

keeping well and enjoying life. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Summer Groovin'

Hi there...

been gone awhile. Enjoying the

summer that has finally arrived.

Above, is a photo of the bumper crop of

milkweed that my In-laws have saved

for the Monarchs. Can you spot the butterfly?

Yes, I'm still journaling in my Hobonichi.

I confess, I've been wooed away from

my blog by Instagram.

It is super easy to post there.

I had to break down and buy a new 

printer/scanner, and I don't have a clue

how to edit my scans with the new

device. *sigh*

I will have to call in reinforcements. Hopefully, 

my daughter can figure it out and show me!

Fortunately I managed a work-around with

phone photos that I emailed to myself,

saved to my computer, and then

posted!  

I've discovered some fun drawing

challenges on Instagram, and for the month

of July I'm celebrating hippie doodles with 

#ohsocutedoodles ,

and the 50th anniversary of Woodstock.

At 15 years old in rural Ohio, I was completely clueless 

about free rock concerts in upstate New York.

But I remember the great art, design,

music and advertising of the late 60's

and early 70's.  Groovy man!

  

IG: dbcarey_2000

Happy Dance

Snoopy was my favorite cartoon

character in High School. I loved

Charles Schultz's Peanuts gang.

Happy Dance for Spring!

Comparison of watercolor flowers, with

and without ink pen.  On Instagram, most

people preferred with the ink outline.

What do you think?

I felt like I had been a bit lazy in my

Hobonichi of late, so decided to add

some fun cartoon characters.

Above right, that tiny coffee cup is my

beverage reference to join the T Party,

which is currently celebrating over

at Altered Books and Mixed Media.

Happy bEARTHday to my friend

Elizabeth!

Happy Spring, and

Happy Earth Day!

Planner Mash Up

It's a bit of a 'mash-up' today, of Planner

Pages that I've been decorating.  Above, is

the evidence of a more traditional style

planner that is dedicated to Harry Potter

style decorations.  I know, I know. You'd be

surprised how many adults out there are

obsessed. Anyway, I've had the bright

idea to have a 'Harry Potter feast' for our

grandkids this year, and fear I've bitten off

more than I can chew, as the saying goes!

A 'Hufflepuff' themed spread for the week of

Dec. 3-9. Hufflepuff is one of the Wizarding

Houses in the Harry Potter series of books.

Students in the imaginary wizarding school are

divided into Houses for living and educational

purposes. (There are some similarities to

 college fraternities or sororities, but the Houses

are co-ed with separate sleeping quarters.)

Sharing a few highlights today, since I've 

been so remiss in posting.

A few of the October drawings are

some of my favorites...

As we near the end of the year, it gets 

more difficult to write in my Hobonichi, as 

it has gotten quite chunky, and more difficult

to scan or photograph!  It's grown to 

about 2 1/4 inches in thickness.  Maybe

a few too many added layers of

collage?!

The December monthly pages in this mini

Happy Planner depict the impending Christmas

feast.  I even bought Christmas crackers this

year, which is a first.  Hope they have a nice

pop!  Click on the image, to see details of

the gold gnome in a tutu!

I don't make Christmas Cake myself, but my

son makes fruitcake, so we will have that for

Christmas Eve dinner. I also wanted to make

Treacle Tart, but the granddaughter wants

pecan pie, so we will see if it all gets done.

I made a treacle tart at Thanksgiving, (I just

used Karo syrup and the suggested lemon 

juice) as a kind of practice run, and

 thought that the cookie-like crust 

was a bit tough. Did I knead it too much?

Add too much flour?  Leave me your advise

please! 

Linking up for T Tuesday over at 

Altered Book Lover's blog, where we share

our beverage-related posts on Tuesdays.

Stop by to join in, or just visit!  My 

beverage drawings are hidden on some

of these pages. I think I counted six coffee

cups...did I miss any?

Thanks for stopping by...leave me a 

comment and give me your advice on 

making a more tender tart crust!

A Fantastic Month

Celebrating Fantastic Beasts for the

month of November

since the movie 'Crimes of Grindelwald'

is out this month.

Having fun drawing lots of 

magical beasts...

a photo-heavy post, because it's

been so long since I last updated this blog.

You've been warned...

One of my favorite characters,

Dobby, the House Elf.

The Hobonichi is getting more difficult to

write in, (and to scan) since the thickness of

the journal is causing a serious curve near

the spine. The binding holds up wonderfully

despite the bulk, but I am now being careful

to not write or draw in that area.  Some folks get

 so excited to begin working in their

 new planners, but I feel a little

 sad to leave this "old friend" behind. It

will go on the bookshelf for looking at from

time to time.

Some might maintain that all felines

can detect suspicious or untrustworthy

people...

I have many favorites from the 

Fantastic Beasts movies, but the Niffler

is so fun! I'm attracted to shiny things too...

just sayin'...

The twiggy little Bowtruckle is

so adorable. He looks fragile, but I 

have a feeling he's tougher than

he looks!

Wouldn't we all love to be able to 

become invisible when the need arose?!

Wishing you all a wonderful and 

blessed Thanksgiving!