Hobonichi Techo Collage

Click on any image to enlarge

Hobonichi:  A Japanese company specializing in

planners and accessories, which encourages their

customers to "Make it your Life Book."

Techo:  Japanese for 'planner'.

Collage: A composition or design made by arranging

 and gluing materials to a background surface. 

My Techo is the A6 size English planner, so it's

roughly 4 inches by 6 inches, and the quotes on

each two-day spread are translated into

English. They are not necessarily 'motivational

quotes' but rather quotations from books, and

are often quirky or amusing.

I challenged myself for the month of August

to create a collage each day.

Scrapbook paper, envelope liners, doodles,

painted papers, scraps sent from blogging

buddies...they're all resources!

Our daughter asked us to volunteer at a Nascar

event, to benefit the Music Boosters at her school.

Hubby thought it sounded fun. Above, my pass for

the day. Our job was to help attendees on and off

of the Trams that went from the camping area to

the racetrack. We met lots of happy people from

many different places, including Canada, England,

Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio.

Since I dressed for sun protection and comfort,

my appearance that day was very odd, especially

with the addition of the red vest we were required

to wear!  (as my 'selfie' cartoon clearly shows)

The open-air Trams had chains or ropes

as 'guardrails' at the end of each row of seats,

fastened with caribiners.  I found that when you are

trying to be efficient and quick, that is when you

become the most clumsy at unfastening a

caribiner! (I don't think I will ever be a rock climber)

I had taken a backpack with drawing supplies,

but we were kept busy all day, so no chance

to sketch!

When someone comes up and stands beside you and blocks
your view, you might end up with 'half' a person. Can you
spot her?

Always interesting times when we visit the daughter

and son-in-law.  Daughter plays in a praise band

at her church, and they also are 4-H advisers.

So we went to a small-town parade and a barbecue

fund-raiser on Saturday, and got details about

the planning for the 4-H booth at the Fulton

county fair.  I expect we will go to the tractor pull,

and I will try to do some sketching of the 

animals again. Stay tuned...

I recently exchanged some Happy Mail with someone

in Washington state, and received a lovely package

stuffed with vintage ephemera from 

#forgottengems (on Instagram) The above collage

includes some of the goodies she sent. 

Linking up for T Tuesday, where we share a 

beverage related post with our hosts

Bleubeard and Elizabeth.  Last week there

were 10 coffee cups in my post (if you count the

one that was repeated a second time) but you

could actually have counted the magic potion 

as a beverage too, making 11! 

How many cups do you see this week?

Wizard Finale

I rather hated to see the end of July arrive,

as I've enjoyed drawing Harry Potter characters

and creatures so much!  Top left, the Hippogriff: 

a magical creature with the head and wings

 of an eagle, and the body of a horse.

Top right, Hermione's familiar: this cat could recognize

untrustworthy people and creatures. (the model

was a Persian cat image online)

Hubby is doing much better after his fall off of

the ladder last week.  He still has some sore spots,

 but at least the muscle spasms have mostly

 subsided. He even went to the State Fair with my 

daughter and I. He is a good sport, and puts

up with my sketching adventures...

and, our son drove all the way from Tennessee

to Ohio to help finish the dreaded "Gutter Project."

It was good to see him, and we are very 

grateful for his help!

To fill in some information for those who haven't

read the Harry Potter books, the owls carried

wizard's messages, just like our mail, only way

more entertaining!  The Niffler is a magical

 creature that is very fast and cunning,

but so cute. A Niffler will steal any shiny object,

especially jewelry, and is very difficult to

apprehend if allowed to escape. 

The Pygmy Puff was a magical creature that was

sold in the Weasley twins' joke shop. (It looks 

suspiciously like the Tribble from Star Trek) I

don't remember if it had a function other than 

being cute.  The baby dragon, which the Wizarding

School's gamekeeper hatched from an egg, was

pretty fierce even as a baby.  It kept setting

things on fire...

The popularity of Harry Potter's wizarding world

seems unabated, and you can even take a quiz

online to see which 'House' that you would be

in at Hogwarts School of Wizardry.  According

to the  Pottermore site (which has the approval

 of the author, J.K. Rowling) it turns out

I would be in Hufflepuff.  Probably because I 

value Trust and Loyalty very highly. (Plus I don't

see myself as highly brave, for Gryffindor!)

It's all in good fun, and hypothetical, of course.

The Patronus is an ethereal being conjured with 

a very difficult, but powerful spell.  The Patronus

cast by each witch or wizard reflected the strengths

and personality of that wizard.  I think the description

compares with the Spirit Animals with 

which each Native American identified. 

 I was surprised to be a black bear!

And on the last day of the month, the prompt

was to explain what wizarding career you would 

have.  No fighting monsters or Dark Magic for me...

just let me make cool stuff!

I am a bit sad to see the end of July,

as it means...

I didn't find any drawing challenges that struck

my fancy, so I guess I will just make collages.

It will bulk up my journal and make it 

chunky for sure!  Joining

Bleubeard and Elizabeth for T Tuesday,

for which I've drawn many coffee cups!

What are you drinking today?

Mexican Serpents

Art Journal Page: Mexican Serpents, 8" x 4 3/4".
Collage, watercolor, and marker on paper.

What had originally intended to be an

abstract collage, somehow became a

collage with Mexican serpents.  And using

orange and blue, which is my least 

favorite color combination!  For

some reason it just happened.

Interesting how what is within arm's reach

can cause the results to be quite different

than you anticipated. That orange Sharpie

was just innocently there in my pen holder...

(on my monitor the Sharpie color looks red,

but the pen is actually orange.)

The Mexican serpent motifs were suggested

from designs in a book titled "Design Motifs of

Ancient Mexico" by Jorge Enciso.  I bought it

used, so I don't know if it's still in print.  It's a

Dover publication, so limited use for artworks

is permitted.

Many motifs used today are quite reminiscent

 of these ancient designs.  We artists are

 still quite fond of repeated lines, circles, 

triangles, dots and curlicues. The geometry

of the world -- from ancient times, through

the Renaissance, into Impressionism and

beyond.  Linking up with Art Journal Journey,

where the theme for the month is 

'art for art's sake.'  

Wizards Volume II

A month of Harry Potter continues...it has

been 20 years since the first book was published!

Above, Tom Riddle and Draco Malfoy,

two villains we 'love to hate.'

The Dursleys, and a Dementor...

It seems like I've been writing about fascias,

soffits, and downspouts all summer as we

tried to make the necessary replacements

ourselves. And then it happened.

Hubby fell off the ladder. He's ok, just

really sore. (CT scan at hospital to make

sure!) Hind sight is 20/20...we should have

hired someone to do it!

Harry Potter's 'muggle' family,

the Dursleys.

In case you were wondering, there 

were nine coffee cups in my post

last week. Not nearly so many this week.

Linking up for T Tuesday over at

Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog.

Hippogriff: a mythical creature with the body of
a horse; wings, head and front claws of a raptor.

I hope your week has been 

uneventful, or at least events 

were pleasant!

Tribute to Wizards

The month of July is

"Harry Potter Month" in my

Hobonichi A6.

I especially love the 'young' Harry Potter

characters from the first couple of movies.

And of course I've read the books several times

too.  Never mind that they are supposed to be

books for kids.  They are great fun!

After a month of drawing toys in June,

I stumbled upon #thelicklekiwi challenge of

#31daysofharry on Instagram...perfect!

Then realized after a couple of days that many

of the participants are professional illustrators

interpreting the characters in their own

cartoon style. OK then. 

I will still do my own thing...

portrait sketches from photos.

Well, the Weasley twins are kind of

'cartooney' on this page. Didn't have time

 that day for realism, I guess.  

Enjoying doing these, though I admit

I tend to get behind a couple of days

and then catch up, especially when

the family was visiting over the 

4th of July holiday!

"You look in excellent health to me, Potter, so you will

excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I

assure you that if you do DIE, you need not turn it in."

~Professor Mcgonagall

Some suspicious characters...

and some that we

love to hate!

My Instagram is

dbcarey_2000

Linking up with Bleubeard and Elizabeth's

T Tuesday with my Tribute to Wizards,

where we post something beverage-related.

How many beverages did you spot

on my pages?

Hope your day is filled with sunshine!

Thanks for stopping by...

T is for Traveler's Notebook

A few more pages in my

Traveler's Notebook of quotes.

Where would you rate

your 'level' of weirdness?

Wise words of Jack London...

and quote from a fictional character in

the show "Eureka."  Loved that show.

 It struck a chord regarding the things

our government spends money on...

maybe with good reason, but

maybe not.

Joining the T Tuesday blog hop

for a beverage and a chat.

Stop by to see our

latest adventures!