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.

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!

Peddlers in the Park

Looks like the weather on Saturday should be

GORGEOUS...

so I am planning to set up a little table at 

Mt. Gilead State Park for

Peddlers in the Park, 

7am ~ 4pm.

Click on the page above for

more details.

I am going to have some hand made cards

and art work for sale...

some crafts...

Honey Bee Watercolor: 5"x7"

and miscellaneous items.

If you will be in the area,

stop by and see me. 

Have breakfast (for a donation)

hike around the lake, and take some photos.

Volunteers will also be serving lunch. 

I haven't been to this event before,

 but it should be a 

fun day, and the park is lovely!

For sure, I will bring my sketch book,

and maybe my Documented Life Project planner.

Always need to have a pen, some

paper, and watercolors at the ready!

Documenting June on T Tuesday

Week 26 of the Documented Life Project:

Add a scripture or quote from another book

to your page.  I added another flap to my

tip-in page, in the shape of a woman's

profile.  The scripture is Romans 12:2.

The profile is taped with decorative (Washi) tape on the right

and is watercolored in black on the back side, with border

designs collaged onto the profile shape.  

On the left, collage "challenge yourself."

When all the flaps are opened, this is the spread

beneath.  Media included are gessoe, acrylic, watercolor,

painted deli paper, Sharpie pen, painted papers,

scrapbook paper, and a scrapbook flower sticker.

The flower on the lower left is a very pale colored

scrapbook embellishment sticker, which I outlined in

black Sharpie marker for stronger contrast with 

the background. The yellow flower is my own drawing.

Week 26 means the year is half over, and I am still

'in the game!'  Time does go by quickly...

Above, Keep Calm and Have Lunch with Art Friends!

A Smash Book collage page...

I had lunch with some fellow artists, and we had 

'show and tell'.  Isn't it funny how a term we used 

in kindergarten is still so appropriate?  I suppose 

there are more 'mature' terms for it, but we do

enjoy seeing what each person has been creating

and catching up on the lives of dear friends.

I hope you enjoyed some  tea (or coffee)

on T Tuesday, and make a visit to Elizabeth at

Altered Book Lover to see what

others are getting up to for T Tuesday. 

Perhaps you would like to join the party!  

The guidelines to link up

are very flexible:  share a photo or art work about

something tea (or beverage-related) or 

something related to tea, or even the Letter 'T'.

And just because it's going to be a 

sweltering week where I live...I'm including

a fun page I did a while ago...just to cool

things down and hopefully make you smile.

I suspect some of the beverages featured this

 week in the link party may be cold!

Art Journal Pages: Road Trip

Palm trees in Florida~

don't know the exact type but they

are lovely... just came back from

a vacation in Panama City Beach.  

A beautiful beach,

and certainly a lot warmer 

than Ohio!

Above, a freeway barrier that we passed in the beginning

of our trip. I've seen it many times, but suddenly

realized it might make a good journal page...

Playing music on the CD player makes

the hours driving more enjoyable...and

prevents having to surf the radio stations

for something we like.

This page gave me opportunity

to doodle and try out lettering styles.

I don't recommend the 'yetti' voice for the

Garmen GPS...completely unable to understand

what is being said. Good for a laugh I suppose, if

you think grunts are funny and

you already have a good idea where you're going,

but then what's the point?  We stuck with

'Dr. Nightmare.'  

Still life of my finds on the

first walk on the beach of 2014.

The shells are tiny, or broken pieces

but I still always end up picking up a few...

A small feather from a seagull too,

that I couldn't resist.

The sun is shining and the snow

is melting. Maybe there really is

hope for Spring...

Tab Tutorial on T Tuesday

I decided to make some tabs for pages

in a journal that I am working in.  It's a

calendar and art journal in one book, called

The Documented Life Project.  Above, the

watercolor pages that I used to cut the tabs from.

The page with the light wash was used to

 write labels for the months of the year.  The page

with the doodles is what I cut the tabs from.

I painted the doodles on 90 lb. watercolor paper,

and added details with the Sharpie pen.

In order for you be able to see the shapes, 
I traced around the template on the back of the paper,
and then cut them out with scissors.
You can either trace the shape with the tops together
(as on the left) and then fold and glue, or
 trace two separate tabs and glue to the page
right sides facing out.

The cut tab shapes, above.  The months of the year
were written on the plain paper to be more legible,
trimmed closely to the text, and glued to the tab.

I like the abstract feeling of the doodle background.

Another idea is to just use a circle punch to cut out
circles, and use them for tabs.

I reinforced the page by gluing scraps of 
decorative paper to the edge before
gluing the tab down. I used Tacky glue.

Example of the round tab, above.

Showing the first three tabs applied to the pages.

A watercolor of my back door.  Yes,
I have ice skates as a door decoration
instead of a wreath.  Maybe if I remove
them it would warm up outside?  The arctic
blast is back today...

Linking up with Bluebeard and Elizabeth
for T Tuesday...
I hope you'll visit her blog at 
Altered Book Lover to see more
T Tuesday posts.

To find out more about 
The Documented Life Project
click on Art to the 5th
in my side bar.

Enjoy a hot cup of tea or coffee today,

and to those in the way of the winter storm ~

stay warm!

♥

TECHNIQUES for Art Journaling 2- T Tuesday

More ideas for Art Journaling techniques:

• Seasonal Themes- Whatever the weather or season, it can be a topic for a journal page.  These pages (above) are done in an altered book of 'Seasons', and seemed appropriate, since we are celebrating Thanksgiving this week in the U.S.  The art work is done on brown craft paper that was crumpled up and then smoothed out.  I painted the images in craft acrylic paint, and the green leaf border at the top was created from hand-carved stamps. The text reads: "give thanks...for all that we are and all that we can become...for moments of Beauty, for truth, and for joy..."  

• Collage Scraps- Whatever scraps of delicious papers or images you haven't been able to throw away, those are great elements for collage!  Above, are some bits of watercolor paintings, pen doodles, and even a photocopy of a drawing that I had previously drawn. I also love to use bits of scrapbook papers, greeting cards, food packaging, junk mail, envelopes, fabric scraps, and the occasional magazine image. 

• Combine your own art work with collage- Above, one of those tiny paper collages from scraps, combined with fabric and watercolors.  The green leaves in the foreground were drawn on a separate paper, then cut out and glued to the page...and the only text on the page is my signature and the date.  Below, the collage creates a border around the text.

• Use a Quote: Above, a quote from Maya Angelou. TV and radio quotes and also song lyrics are favorite sources for text on the journal page.
• Use "Challenge" art work- If I participate in a challenge or a swap on-line, I sometimes have an 'extra' copy of art work left over...sometimes a person drops out of a swap or I purposely made extra, "just in case."  Those extras can be adhered to a journal page. I often use a decorative tape to create a hinge-fastening the art work into the journal, so that both sides can be viewed. If you don't have decorative tape, you can easily just use glue and a strip of paper or fabric.

Top, the Linen and Lace 4x4 collaged with fabric and stitching. Below it, a detail of the Anniversary swap page flipped open to reveal text and designs beneath it in the journal.

• Sketches of Future Projects- Art Journal pages don't have to be 'finished' works of art. Sketches of ideas for paintings, or drawings of things you want to make are always good to record.  Ideas have a way of disappearing from our minds if not recorded! The above necklace was an idea to make from fabric and beading, inspired by an on-line image of a metal necklace from Africa.

Linking up with Bluebeard and Elizabeth for T Tuesday at Altered Book Lover.  Please visit to see what else is happening this Tuesday! 

♥ ♥ ♥