Making a Messy Art Journal

This journal is made from an old book, just the

back and the spine.  No front cover, and the

 pages are not stitched into the cover. 

This makes it easy to remove the 

pamphlet-stitched book to work 

on the pages.  I added a little decorated 

clip to secure the pages.

Fun painted paper scraps and

bits of vintage stitching...

Made in a workshop offered on-line

by @raspberrybluesky, Michelle

Schratz, @Robenmariesmith,

Sara Strandquist @seesarastitch,

and Leaca Young @leacayoungart.

This is one of four journals taught

in the class. Enjoyed it very much, and

 unique approaches to creating

art journals are presented.

It's not like I really need more art journals,

but they're so fun to make!

Painted and doodled papers

are easily found around here...

I had to include some of my Mom's

drawings (these are copies)

from the early 1950's.

This journal style encouraged loose

and messy stitching, which is not

what I'm used to as a stitcher, but

the artist in me rather enjoys 

dangling threads and not worrying

about perfection.

I'm still journaling daily in my

little Hobonichi A6. Doodling and

documenting my every-day activities.

These days it's a trip to the store or

to our parents' to help out. Not a 

lot of excitement around here.

But so glad to see Spring arrive here

in Ohio! 

I'm so rusty at blogging, and really

find the Blogger process unwieldy after 

using Instagram. But thought I should

check-in and share some colorful

pages!  Hope you enjoy some sunshine

and art today!

Please visit me on Instagram at 

www.instagram.com/dbcarey_2000

 

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

Creating Randomly

Do you consider baking a form of art?

I've decided that trying to mix purple from

red and blue food coloring is futile.  Turned

out ugly in my opinion, but the best I could do.

On my second try of mixing up this King Cake,

it turned out pretty well, and the family seemed

to enjoy it!

Here are a few random creations that I've

been making during my long absence from

the blog...  Happy Year of the Rat!

Unicorn photo props for my daughter the Music

Teacher. They do a Daddy/Daughter dance as a

fundraiser for the Drama Club, and this year the

theme was Unicorns. The "I Poop Rainbows"

was my favorite... Oh my glittering 

rainbow-unicorn-cupcake-stars!

Just a joyful celebration of seeing the rare

experience of sunshine during a gray

 Ohio winter.

Yes, I'm still doodling tiny things and cutting

them out for my Planner/Art Journal.

The Hobonichi Challenge in my 4 x 6 inch Techo

for the month of February is 

Love for Australia.  I did not know that the 

Pavlova dessert had been invented in Australia!

My (more frequent) posts are on Instagram:

dbcarey_2000

Linking up with Tea Tuesday over at the

Altered Book Lover blog.  My 'qualifying' T Tuesday

images are the red coffee mug and the Pavlova 

illustration. Sounds like a winning 

combination to me!

T is for Tiger and Toucan

For the month of August I'm doing the 

Hobonichi Challenge art prompts: 

"It's a Zoo Out There!"

What fun to draw animals, some that

I have never seen. Thank you Internet

for reference photos for art!

I think I may have used this same photo 

before to draw a sea otter.  I think he's so

adorable floating on his back, looking so

relaxed!

Sun Bear and Red Panda. Cute little

face on the red panda...

Yes, I work in more than one planner...

and multiple sketchbooks too. After all, 

it's not hoarding if it's sketchbooks! ha ha

The top planner (red) is the Hobonichi A6,

in which these little watercolors are 

created. 

Had to add a fun photo of one of my daughter's

flower beds.  It's beside their basement steps, 

hence the reason for the fence. I said her flowers

looked so much better than mine! She admitted

she's been putting on fertilizer every week. 

Maybe I need to take a page from her book!

The summer has flown by so quickly! Just 

thought I should add some pretty blooms

to the blog before they're gone. 

Linking up with Bleubeard and Elizabeth

for T Tuesday. Stop by for a beverage and

a chat. Can you find the coffee cups that

I doodle on my pages nearly every day? 

 Gotta have coffee before I do all the things.

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.

Beach Adventures

When we left for our Florida vacation

on the last day of January, our driveway

looked like this, and it was four below zero.

When we arrived in Panama City Beach, it

was about 65 degrees, and the sun was shining.

Your really get spoiled when it's 

almost 70 degrees...

The time goes by all too quickly!

But alas, we had to return home to 

cold and gray Ohio.

When hubby picked up our mail at the Post Office,

I was thrilled to discover a wonderful envelope 

from dear Elizabeth!  Just look

at that fabric, scrumptious handmade papers,

and lovely tip-in pages!  So sweet

of you.  Thanks so much 

dear friend! 

Happy Mardi Gras to those who are 

celebrating... is it Spring yet?  In shock here

since it's currently 18 degrees and snowing.

 I got spoiled by the warm Florida

weather. 

Linking up for T Tuesday over at 

Bleubeard and Elizabeth's, where we share

a beverage and a chat. Have you noticed I

pretty much automatically draw my coffee

cup every morning in my Hobonichi?

Instagram: Dbcarey_2000