Celestial Collage

When we visit the local

Catholic Church, I admire the

art. The stained glass windows,

sculptures, and paintings are

wonderful.  On our last visit, I

brought home a copy of the

clip art from the order of 

worship booklet. (it's like the

 Church bulletin I am more 

accustomed to) Since angels

 are a favorite subject for me to

draw, I wanted to use the 

rectangular art that I cut from

the booklet, for some art work. 

The larger cherub below the 

Celestial label is my resulting drawing.

The Celestial Seasonings tea

label seemed appropriate...

Linking up with the T Tuesday

blog hop over at the

Altered Book Lover blog.

Green Tea Tuesday

I've mentioned before that

I tend to have several 

art journals in progress

at one time...

but when I come across

a journal that hasn't had 

an entry for three years,

and still isn't completed...

 I decided it's time to remedy the 

situation.  The first entry in

this journal is from 2006! 

The most recent drawings were 

dated 2012. So I've dubbed this journal 

"The On Again ~Off Again" journal...

there are several stops and

starts with gaps of a year or two

in between.  It is interesting to see

the changes/similarities in my work.

There are only about twelve more

'spreads' left to finish the pages, so

I've decided this little journal is 

'next up' to be completed.

I wonder if perhaps I've had

 too many "irons in the fire" at once?

Linking up with Elizabeth's

T Tuesday blog party, with

another wobbly tea cup drawing,

and a bit of collage. This green tea

with pomegranate, raspberry and

strawberry is quite enjoyable, and

of course colorful packaging is 

also a plus for collage fodder! 

Elizabeth's Tea Tuesday link party

will celebrate its second anniversary

next week, so do join us for

tea...

•  ♦  •

Tea or Coffee?

"This is what we do."

"We have fun."

Life was so much simpler

in elementary school...

...a wonky drawing of a tall-ish

square-ish coffee mug...

and some fun quotes. It's

also an example of what happens

when you watercolor over a pen

drawing that you thought was

permanent, and then discover

that it's 'not quite permanent'

after all. But the fuzziness isn't

too unappealing...

...an observation about one

of my favorite British tv shows,

Midsomer Murders. (click on the

image for a larger view)

Linking up with the

T Tuesday gang over at

Altered Book Lover blog...

"We have fun."

Mad Tea Party

Art Journal Pages:

Sharpie pen and watercolor on

drawing paper in black hardbound

sketchbook, 8 1/2 inches x 11 inches.

It's not designed for water media, but

I use it anyway. A little warping of

the pages doesn't bother me.

Above, one of the pages I drew in March 

during our road trip: random

road signs that made me smile.  The

original Sharpie pen drawing needed

some color...

so a few additions of watercolor

seemed in order.

April is International Fake Journal Month.

If you'd like to see my 2015 Fake Journal, 

and see what my Fake character is doing,

visit Cottonwood Counterfeit Journal.

It's an experiment in trying to create

art in a different way...in ways that I

don't normally work...with a personality

that isn't my own...different characteristics

and ways of working. It's harder than

it sounds!  My own biases and

preferences keep creeping in...

Linking up with Elizabeth and Bleubeard for

their T Tuesday blog party, in which we 

share 'what we're up to,' what beverage we

are drinking (it doesn't have to be tea, but it is

a prominent theme) and general shenanigans.

My morning beverage is usually coffee with

chocolate added. But wouldn't a 

Mad Tea Party be fun!?

Some days I think

"We're all mad here."

And that's just fine...

it's not boring.

What are you up to?

◘  ◘  ◘

Art Journal Kickstarter

I received my complimentary copy of 

Art Journal Kickstarter, and am so pleased

to have my art work included in the book!

This book contains a wide variety of styles 

of art journal pages.  It's a great resource for

 tips, ideas and inspirations for 

 visual journal pages.

The art work that I submitted is on page 38, 

as seen above.  The right side is actually

a combination of drawing, painting, and

painted papers that I collaged onto

the page.  There is some finger paint in

there from a session with my grand kids!

Another tea cup sketch, in honor of

T Tuesday, over at Elizabeth's blog.

Stop by while you enjoy the

beverage of your choice!

Thankful

The Documented Life Project,

Week 48:

"Show how you are thankful

in a creative way."  This is a 

traditional harvest illustration that

I did in extra fine-point Sharpie and

watercolors.  Though the image doesn't

portray it literally, I am most thankful

for my sweet family!

Sharing tea today with the T Tuesday gang

over at Elizabeth's blog...

I loved the illustration on the packaging for this

tea, but have to admit that the illustration is

better than the taste of the tea.  I normally

get herbal decaf flavors, but the only

pumpkin flavored option was caffeinated.

It's almost gone...what should I try next?

Love this vintage post card...

courtesy of Holidays & Celebrations~

Thanksgiving Greetings 

to all who celebrate the day!

♦  ♥  ♦

Little Things on Journal Pages

Art deco motifs and poetry quotes

combine to create this 

art journal page, above.

I had several restaurant meals

this week, and the temptation to eat

too many high calorie foods can

sometimes be avoided by 

drawing my food!

These colorful tea bag wrappers

went onto a journal page.  The

cranberry muffin recipe is a good one!

You may notice that I've substituted

applesauce for the oil in the recipe.

Still tastes great and less calories.

Now is the time of year when I stock

up on bags of fresh cranberries and

put them in the freezer, then I have 

them to use in recipes most of the year.

Sharing my coffee cup and art with

the T Tuesday link party over at

Elizabeth's Altered Book Lover blog.

She's making homemade tea bags...

what are you creating today?

I am looking forward to receiving

 my copy of the book 

Art Journal Kickstarter, in which

I have had one of my art journal pages

published.  You can see the cover

of the book here.  I hope you will

check it out when it hits the store

shelves, which should be soon.

I love art journaling, can you tell?

Art Journal Pages~ Beverage Edition

Some art journal pages for Elizabeth's T party

on Tuesday...visit Altered Book Lover to

see what it's all about!

Above, you may notice a collage (on the right)

 that I previously made for T Tuesday.  

I glued it across the gutter of two pages in 

one of my journals.  I added another 

tea bag wrapper in yellow, and the 

actual tea bag. I was delighted when

the tag was pink!

I also added some sparkly lemonade on the left--

literally sparkly. It is from a Valentine that a dear

friend sent...and also is a lovely pink!

I repeated the design from the security envelope

paper (in the collage) by drawing more of

 the 'hash marks' onto the pages.

 Repeating a design element

helps unify the pages.

Above, a page that sat for months

with only the bird glued to the page.

The kleenex box leaves seemed to work,

and the page came together...

Below, a collage from ephemera--

most of which I did not draw.  I 

added the white cloud and some of

the black flowers. Stickers and 

scraps of printed images make 

quick collage.

Above and below, a sketch of a bluebird from a

photo in Birds and Blooms magazine...

This page also sat for months with just the

bird drawing on it.  For this, I think it 

waited until I had scraps in the 'right' colors

before I was ready to finish it...

The Wrap-Up is posted on

Cottonwood Counterfeit Journal

for my Fake Journal 2014.

Hope you will stop by...

and

hope your day is

EXTRA SWEET!

♦  •  ♦

Travel on T Tuesday

Sharing some vacation photos

from Panama City Beach, Florida

We were there just before the madness

of Spring break. Headed back to Ohio through

rain,

freezing rain,

sleet, and

snow!

(sigh)

Guess I just need a cup of tea to warm up again...

Please visit Altered Book Lover

for T Tuesday...

and have tea (or coffee) with

the group!

♥  ♥  ♥

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!

♥