Bird On A Tin

I have collected many (TOO MANY) things…

So I decided to have a garage sale.

This has proven to be a very exhausting endeavor. I am looking forward to being done in two weeks!

A side note: Above is a photo of the dolls, Ken and Barbie which I think you are familiar with but do you remember, “Nurse Julia?” She is on the right, from the TV show in 1969? I know I am dating myself here! Lol! (She is retired so she is not wearing her nurse outfit… haha)

All this cleaning has left me with no room in my brain for art at the moment.

So I leave you this bird on a tin from one of my MANY thrift store finds:

Wishing you a happy Wednesday free of clutter!

Cheers! 😃

Art Journal Prompts – Part 2

I wanted to show you the page in my art journal that I completed from Monday’s post:

Below is the photo from Monday of my unfinished page Art Journal Prompts:

I enjoyed a trip down “memory lane” and found this photo of me ice skating with my dad when I was almost 5 years old. (Notice the old cars in the background!)

I encourage you to create your own art journal prompts! I hope you share with me what you do!

Cheers! 🙂

A Treehouse

I’ve been moving scraps of collage papers around on a piece of paper which reminds me of looking for animals in fluffy clouds…

 

It is a simple exercise for generating new ideas and quite satisfying! 😉

Do you see a treehouse?

How about a picnic in the park?

 

And of course, this weird bird showed up!  He is only a day late… so I anchored him down with tape.  I didn’t want him flying off!

If you are ever in a creative rut I suggest you give this idea a try!

I’d love to hear what YOU see in these paper scraps!  Please share!

Cheers! 🙂

P.S. As a child, I created a lot of “forts” which were all on ground level…sigh.

Coloring Eggs

I splashed some watercolor paint around on hot press paper the other day…

It reminded me of coloring eggs as a child.

I cut some egg shapes out of my painted paper and decided to add them to my table for Easter brunch.  They will make good name plates as you can see in the right photo:

My grandma placed a few candies in paper muffin cups at each person’s table setting… it was such a fun idea that I use it too!

I had a few minutes yesterday to make an Easter sign for my table and color a few more eggs!  😉

Coloring eggs with watercolor on paper is so fun!  I encourage you to give it a try!

Cheers! 🙂

Inspired by Place

I started a mixed media class last week with Lendon Noe, hosted by Carla Sonheim.  The online class is called, “Inspired by Place.”

I find it an intriguing subject.

Is place a home, perhaps a memory such as a childhood home?  Is place a feeling, a sense of calm from being with nature?  Or is place from your imagination?  There are many other possibilities!

I was inspired to create this collaged landscape of a place I hold dear to my heart in my art journal:

It is a view of Chimney Rock at Priest Lake, Idaho.

I love this place!  It holds a special memory where I have been spending my summers since childhood.  It brings me a feeling of peace when I see it in person and from photographs such as this one:

And it is a place that I sometimes go in my imagination when I need to relax.

What place inspires you?  I hope you share it with me!

Cheers! 🙂

“When you leave a beautiful place, you carry it with you wherever you go.” – Alexandra Stoddard

Is Your Glue Bottle Half Full?

I’ve been working on my postcard art over the weekend that I told you about in my last post.  (Hint:  There is still time to participate in my free drawing… Just add a comment in my previous post!)

I used both positive and negative shapes in my design for this postcard:

It got me thinking about glue… I use a LOT of glue in collage.

Sometimes I get “stuck” on the negative of life, perhaps this is when my glue bottle is half empty?

Yet, I do try to focus on the positive… even when life is extra “sticky” and the glue makes my fingers stick together.  I’ve heard some people won’t do collage just for this reason alone!  😉

I don’t mind when the glue sticks to my fingers as it reminds me of my childhood when my glue bottle was ALWAYS half full!  And so was my imagination!

How about YOU?

Cheers! 🙂

A Three-Ring Circus Bird

I was experimenting with different collage papers the other day and decided to add watercolor around the glued papers.

Some of the papers I used were from Sharon Mann, when we did our collage paper exchange.  If you missed that post, you can read more about it here:  The Speedball Bird

Other papers were from my own collage experiments that I had sewn on my sewing machine and then printed on the Gelli-Plate.

I made two tags for my art journal and found they had a “circus” feel to them:

That is how today’s weird bird came to be… He is from the “Flying Circus!” 😉

A Three-Ring Circus Bird

I used Sharon Mann’s collage papers for this bird!  Thanks again Sharon! 🙂

I finished my “circus” tags with a few pen doodles:

Do you have happy memories from attending a circus?  I hope you share them with me!

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂

Holiday Traditions

I often find myself thinking about holiday traditions this time of year and remembering times from my childhood…

This drawing of a sweet girl recently appeared in my sketchbook and I was reminded of the faux hand muffs that my sis and I had as young children, anyone else remember them?

I don’t remember wearing them very much as they weren’t the most practical in keeping my hands warm.  😉

One of my holiday traditions that I started several years ago was making this easy and yummy, Caramel Snack mix:

I thought you might enjoy making it apart of your holiday tradition!

Cheers! 🙂

P.S.  Do you have a favorite childhood memory or holiday tradition?  I hope you share it with me.

Matching Outfits

I remember how my grandma made my sis and I matching outfits as kids.  My sister is two years older than me.

Sometimes these memories come to me when I’m making art.  Does this happen to you?

I created this art in my sketchbook last night. I started by glueing a stocking hat and sweater for a dog from one of my Gelli-plate printed papers.

I then drew my girl’s face.  Next, I glued her vest and pants to the paper.  Kind of reminds me of paper dolls… I drew her arms and boots around her collaged “clothes” and the dog around his “sweater” from my imagination…

The proportions are a bit off on my girl but I like the dog! Lol! ☺️  And the poem I wrote reminds me of my childhood and how much fun we used to have playing in the snow.

I have always thought it would be fun to have a little dog to dress up in matching outfits! 

Cheers! 🙂

P.S. The child in me wishes it would snow but the adult says, “Please, only in the mountains!  I don’t want to drive in it!” 😉

A May Day Basket

I remember as a young child making paper baskets and filling them with a simple bouquet of flowers from our yard.

Next, I would hang them on an unexpecting neighbor’s door handle, ring the doorbell and run!  It was so fun to give a gift of kindness…

My watercolor reminded me of those simple times as I worked on it yesterday:

Perhaps the swirls of color could be ribbons on a May Pole?

Happy May Day!

Cheers! 🙂