Quote - Friends

"The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart."
Elisabeth Foley

Journal Pages - Healing Love

Another prompt finished. This prompt was healing love. We were to think of someone in our life that needed healing love. Send them healing thoughts. This was easy for me. I knew immediately who needed some healing. One of my closest friends and I have been through a rocky road in our friendship. We have always been like sisters and like sisters we can have bad times, too.

I needed to send some healing love out to both of us. Remembering to keep each other in our hearts. Hoping that she will respect my new boundaries and be open to new things and new ideas. If things are always the same, life becomes stagnant. As people, the events in our life tend to change us. Be open to change.....sending healing thoughts.

I used a piece of patterned cardstock for this page. I put a thin layer of gesso over it then added a wash of acrylic. I used some new images from Paper Whimsey, blown up and then divided. I glued them down and then gessoed over the. I waited about thirty second with the first then wiped some areas clear. I did the same with the second but waited about fifteen seconds before I wiped it. I wanted the second image - me to be clearer. The puzzle looking pieces are a stencil I made with a punch. I took one of the pieces and from making the stencil and put it in the girl's hand. I used Marvy markers and a black pen to do the lettering.

Vintage Holiday Postcards

These are vintage postcards designed by my favorite woman designer of this time [cards made between 1905 to 1917] Ellen H. Clapsaddle. Ms. Clapsaddle was the most prolific postcard and greeting card artist of her time. She hailed from New York. She was an only child whose parents encouraged her to draw and paint. She never married and spent her time drawing, sketching and painting the local people. She got a job illustrating cards with the International Art Company. They sent her to Europe to study art. She then went to work for the Wolf Company a subsidiary of International Art. She became their sole illustrator and artist. They became very successful together.

Ms. Clapsaddle invested her money along with the Wolf brothers in the factories in Germany that produced the cards. When the first World War broke out the factories were bombed and work ceased. A lot of them were completely damaged. Ms. Clapsaddle was in Germany when this was going on. She was found by one of the Wolf brothers six months after the war was over roaming the streets in Germany poor, hungry and sick. He brought her back to New York but she was never the same. At fifty five, she had lost her health, her ability to reason, and her mind. She never was able to work again. She died alone, sick and mentally ill. I am thinking she experienced the bombings in a very up close and personal way. Watching people die is not something anyone is ever prepared for. Then with no work or papers to leave Germany, or any way to get in touch with any one from the States she must have been very scared. It must have been horrific for her.

I look at her cards and they are so cheerful and full of hope. I think she does such a sweet job with the children's faces. The children look like children. So many of the children during this time were made to look like little Lolita's. Her children always seem so innocent and like someone I know. I hope you can use these in your Christmas art. I think she would have loved the idea.

Paper Bag Art

After living many years on a farm where we were responsible for carting our garbage to the dump I learned to recycle before it became vogue. I looked at the packaging of the things I bought, tried to use my own cloth bags, I had a compost pile, sold my cans, and generally tried to live a fairly clean life. I am still on that path, although I do not have a compost pile and live a coastal life now. I am still recycling. Brown bags are my thing right now. I am trying to use them in my art either as art or as workspace covers. When they become so saturated with paint and ink it starts to show up on my art I remove the paper bags and make a collage out of them. These are two such collages.

I cut a piece of chipboard the size of my journal pages and covered both sides with the painted and inked paper bag. I then used a few images that I had discarded because of ink issues with my printer, inked and painted a little more. Sewed around the images to give them a frame and stamped with some stamps I had not used in ages. The pages are bold and somber all at the same time. Sort of like how I was feeling.

Quote

"Its a question of discipline," the little prince told me later on. "When you have finished washing and dressing each morning, you must tend your planet."






Antoine de Saint-Exurpery, The Little Prince

What I am Reading

It is always interesting to see what people are reading. I try to have several things going at once in several places in the house and car. Art wise I am reading Exhibition 36 - Mixed Media Demonstrations + Explorations by Susan Tuttle. A very cool concept of having 36 artists do a project and give pretty complete explanation of how to do it. The artist are varied and the projects are great.

When I get a book like this I usually go through it by first looking through the pictures. Then I read the front couple of pages and the back of the book. I can generally tell by then if it is something I might enjoy. I ordered this sight unseen from Amazon.com. Just because. I love it. The artist's personalities come out in the explanation's and the projects themselves are really creative. I am giving myself the present of reading several artist a day and then picking something I have read that is new to try out. It has been a lot of fun. I recommend this book.


The second thing I have been reading is a Zine. This is a Zine about Journaling. It is called Page by Page and I am reading issue 3 - inspiration for visual journals. You can find it on line here - http:www.pagebypagezine.org/. It is published by an artist and writer - Samantha Kira Harding. It is very well done, fresh, and bigger than a magazine in size. This issue has a great profile article of Roben-Marie Smith.

Now that I am doing some serious art journaling I decided I should look into what other people have been doing. This has lots of ideas, trends, and some pertinent question about the type of journaler you are. Very informative. There is also eye candy. Lots of color pictures of journals in progress and journal pages. I liked it so much I have read it three times. For me that is a lot. So, thanks for the inspiration Kira!

Corn Casserole

This weekend cook up a big old pot of chili and this delicious corn casserole and a nice crisp, cold salad. Yum. Finish putting up your holiday decorations, sit back and admire your work. My girlfriend in Michigan gave me this recipe. I added the cheese because to me everything tastes better with cheese.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
I used an 8" by 11" greased pan

ingredients...

1 can regular corn
1 can creamed corn
1 box of Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 stick of butter
1 egg
1 to 1/2 cup of sour cream
1 to 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Make sure everything is well blended. Pour into greased pan. Cook in oven for 45 minutes to an hour. Serve and enjoy.

Day Light

New Tip In Pages

These are tip in pages I am doing for a swap with some super ladies. Each one of use has a theme and particular size for our book. Some of us are doing back to back and others spread's. These are for a back to back tip in. The theme is vintage children.
In looking through my folder's of images I kept coming to this school house stuff. So here are alot of vintage kids, an old school house - an Indian school in Oklahoma, and a sweet student from Paper Imagery Designs. The background papers are the list of kids names from various sources. So...Barb here are your 6" by 6" tip in pages. I hope you like them. I promise the girl is really not that purple. My scanner has decided not to pick up the color correctly today. It's always something isn't is?

Freebies #12 - Alphabets

Here are some free alphabet images. I got these along time ago. There is a book with maybe sixty alphabets. It is a French calligraphy book. Very interesting. Here is a sampling.

In my journal group we have been chatting about the lettering we do, our handwriting and sharing fonts. These sheets are good for practicing. Get a tablet of tracing paper and trace over the letters. This really gives you a feel on how to write these letters. Some of them are so beautiful. I hope you can use them.

More Journal Pages - Give Yourself Permission

first page

back of first page

second page with envelope with permission slips

These are from the next set of journal prompts. Give Yourself Permission. A very freeing an empowering prompt. Again, I chose watercolor paper that I used a gesso resist and then used various washes of acrylic and stamping over that. I also used a piece of copy paper to stamp and paint on. That became my envelope on the second page to hold my permission slips. The child image is so haunting. She is from Paper Whimsey. The batik material is a scrap.

I chose to let my permission slips pretty much say it all. Sometime less is more. I felt like it sort of expressed what I am trying to do with my life. Less is more. Simplify. Remove the clutter from my life. I give myself permission to do that.....

Graffiti

The riverfront trash cans have a new coat of paint!

29 Day Giveaway

Art by Chrysti - a North Carolina artist - is having a huge giveaway this month. As you know from reading past posts I am gearing up for one myself. I have been trying to research and read and look at other's giveaways. So boy was I surprised when Chrysti emailed me about hers. It should be awesome. Please check out her work and blog. She is so talented. Who knows you might win something!

Orange Quiltie Square

Here is last month's quilt square for the swap I am in. Since I broke my foot I have been late getting these out. I discovered it is very hard to iron on one foot and using a rotary cutter is almost impossible. This square made me feel back on track. I dyed some of the fabric my self. [The orange background and a couple of the yo yo flowers.] So Cheryl if you are reading this your square is on the way... only one more month to go.

Journal Pages - Instant Gratification

These are my first two journal pages for my new journal - see earlier post. I am in a yahoo group called Soul Journal. I just joined and am sort of catching up on the prompts. This is the first prompt - Instant Gratification.
You are to grab a magazine image that catches your fancy. Something that portrays a verb. Then glue that down and start writing. This is just a warm up exercise. I am doing my journal format a little different because I am using a three ring binder. I decided to do two separate pages rather than a spread. [ More that one image jumped out at me.] I am using watercolor paper with acrylic washed and gesso as background for my pages right now.
More tomorrow.

Winter is Here

Quote

"Weather is a great metaphor for life. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and there's nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella."
Pepper Giardina

Tag - Your It....

I spent some time today catching up on emails and posting. Guess who had been tagged over the weekend. Me. Dianne from Art Beneath the Cottonwoods had tagged me. Don't you just love the name of that blog? It really conjures up some images. Dianne is a very talented multi media artist. I love her drawings. I think stamps have made many of us lazy in the sketching department. Not so with Dianne. Please go have a visit.

The rules of tagging are as follows:
Link your blog to the person who tagged you.
Mention the rules.
Tell six quirky yet not boring, unspectacular details about yourself.
Tag five other bloggers by linking your blog to them.
Go to each person's blog and leave a comment for them telling them they have been tagged.

So here are six quirky??!! things that aren't spectacular about moi...
1. One of the art forms I collect and admire most is pottery. Probably because I can not throw a pot for the life of me.
2. I sleep with five sometimes six pillows. They are all different sizes and thicknesses. They are a total luxury.
3. I am a super organized person. Everything has its place. That gives me more time to do the things that I enjoy.
4. I like the late night - early morning the best. The time when dark fades into light. It is a whole different world then.
5. When I am alone, I like my music loud and I like to sing along with it.
6. Since I broke my foot one of the things I miss the most is walking on the beach. I can't take my boot air cast in the sand. So, the other day I went to the channel and the beach patrol stopped and asked me about me foot and did I need help. I said no I just missed the beach so they let me ride in their truck up and down the beach with my head out the window. I felt like a golden retriever.

Now to tag five other bloggers. Ummm.

Proximidade Award

This weekend I received an award from an online friend - Marva. She has a very clever blog by the name of Purple Paint's Muse. I am quite honored to receive this award. I take these awards seriously. I really appreciate that you have taken the time out of your day to come and visit me. So, Thank You Marva. I will try to make my blog the best it can be. Each of the awards has rules so I am posting the rules to this award as follows - this one is easy because it is one long statement.

"This blog invests and believes the proximity - nearness in space, time, and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of the prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers, who must choose eight more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their award."

So here are my eight:
1. Brenda Wampler her blog - Memories and Treasures - is just that, a treasure. Wonderful art work as you will see when you visit. Mixed media artist from that big state of Texas.

2. Tricia McKellar - a North Carolina artist - her blog Note 99 - is full of wonderful photographs and collages. She has definitely found her niche.

3. Lisa from Simple Journeys. Her blog has a lot of very cool altered books in it. Which in retrospect makes a lot of since as she is a Librarian from Texas. Seriously her work is great.

4. Martha Brown -M-is-for-Martha - I love her art work. She is just so fresh and has such a dry wit. maybe it is the Northern neighbor in her - she is from Toronto Canada.

5. Jeane from - Art it - has some very cool things o her blog. She is getting ready for a big show and it is fun to follow along with her. I love the aged look of her work. Some things look like relics.

6. grrl & dog - This is a fantastic fiber blog out of Australia. So much talent. The color is bold. I love her knits, her pictures of knits. It is brilliant.

7. Debbi Baker - another fiber blog, but more felt and incredible fiber postcards. Truly inspiring.

8. Linda and Rosie from across the pond. These girls have three blogs. So you are getting three in one with this one. Each is unique and wonderful. Linda's Blue Eyed Girl makes me sing when I visit. Rosie's ATC Exchange is so much fun. Then the finale is their Big Art Adventure. I am warning you now plan to spend some time here.

Grab a cup of coffee or a drink and settle down for a lovely adventure. Enjoy.

Gingerbread Cookies

One of the best things about December is baking. All of those treats that you deny yourself throughout the year are all allowed in December. That's a rule right? I love gingerbread cookies. They are probably my favorite. I like the German kind that are thicker and more cake like. The ones you can make the Gingerbread men and women out of. I also like the thin as a dime Moravian ones that melt in your mouth. The ones that you have eaten half of them with out realizing it. My bad. I thought I would share a simple gingerbread recipe with you.

Gingerbread Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg yolk
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Stir in the molasses and egg yolk. Combine in another bowl the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. Slowly belnd the dry ingredients into the molasses mixture until smooth. Cover, and chill for at least an hour in the refrigerator.

While that is chilling I get my surface ready to roll the dough on ready. Also any cookie cutters you may have. If you are making gingerbread men I use toothpicks to marks the eyes and nose, buttons etc. After the hour is up.....

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F [or 175 degrees C]. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/4" thickness. Cut into desired shapes with your cookie cutters. Place the cookies about two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or until firm. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks. I use frosting to adhere my decorations after cooled. Have fun decorating.

Freebies #11 - Antique Children's Book

This weekend my oldest son and I went through some of my book collection. He loves books just like his mom. I ran across a lot of the antique books I bought when I was pregnant with my first couple of boys. [I have five boys] I thought I would share some of them with you.

The beautifully illustrated covers just make me want to open them and see what they have to say. All of these are copyright free and date from 1883 to 1925. I hope they will be a reminder of one of the best gifts you can give someone. The gift of a book. The gift of knowledge.

With the holidays just around the corner if you are not giving something handmade you might want to consider a book. A book is a good excuse to sit down and cuddle with someone you love. A book can take you any where. It can open the doors to far away places, help you learn a new art, fix your sink, or grow a garden. The possibilities are endless.