Thankful and Overwhelmed

One month plus since my hip replacement. Thirty eight days since I fell and shattered my hip. I am home. Still learning the new skills I need to walk, sit, and get on with life. I am walking with the aid of a walker. Rehab was an incredible experience. All of the nurses, aides, therapists, even the sweet woman who cleaned my room were wonderful. They were all full of encouragement, answered my endless questions, and dealt with my fears an uncertainties.

Rehab is a scary place. So many hurt people each with their own story. Many of the people were there because of hip, knee, or shoulder replacements. Some were there recovering from strokes, heart failure, or head injuries. This is a place to make you thankful for all that life has given you. A place I definitely do not want to be a patient in again.

When finally able to use a computer - I was overwhelmed by all of your emails, get well wishes, and words of friendship, love, and encouragement. I sat in the rehab library with tears running down my face. My nurse thought I had over done and was in pain. When I explained I was reading your emails she was as amazed as I was by your kindness and thoughtfulness. It will take me awhile to answer them all, but I will try.

I can not even begin to say how important to my recovery were the words of encouragement I received from all of you, the phone calls from family and friends, the visits, flowers, etc. I want to publicly thank two of my friends who stepped up to the plate and took care of me - Miranda and Catherine. You two have been wonderful, so generous of your time. Thank you for your friendship. I also want to thank my Dad for the phone calls every day. They mean so much.

Now that I am home I can't wait to get back to my blog, catch up with all of you, and get into my studio. It might be awhile getting into my studio as I am still trying to conquer the stairs. I am seeing it happening in the near future though. I hope all of you are well and have been having a great summer with your families and those you love. Thank you again for all of your thoughts, prayers, an encouragement. Words can't do justice for the thanks I feel for having you all enrich my life .

August Magazine Cover Freebies - Finally

Thought I would start out with my favorite for this month. Ah, where did this month go? I love the whimsy of this one. I think summer and vacations should be full of wonder.

Look closely at this one. She has this long sleeve coat? dress? [I am sure the judges from Project Runway would have something to say about this... ] in the middle of August and she is renting a swimsuit. Ugh! Go buy your own, get out of that outfit and enjoy a good read at the beach! Summer is almost over.

This looks like August in California to me. Unfortunately, it also means the start of the wildfire season. I love the simplicity of this one.

I can not imagine going to the beach so covered up. Here at the beach I do see many people I wish would cover up more... but the long dress and the long sleeves seem so uncomfortable. I would have heat stroke in no time.


I thought I would post these as my first freebies since getting out of the hospital and rehab. It feels so good to be home! I still am not able to go up the stairs to my studio, sewing room, and computer. However, a friend moved my external hard drive with some of my images on it downstairs for me this weekend. I now have a laptop downstairs so that I can catch up on my email, groups, and can finally post on my blog. I miss you all! and I hope you enjoy these freebies.

Been Lost in Pain and Shock.....

I can hardly believe this but sadly it is true. I slipped a week ago Thursday evening in the garage and busted my hip. Shattered it to pieces. I can not express how much it truly hurt. Early Friday off in an ambulance to the hospital. Of course we had a blown water main for two counties and they could not use the operating rooms. I had to wait two days to be operated on. I have been in a definite pain and drug enduced haze.

The past few days things are starting to get back to normal. I am up putting full weight on everything. Physical therapy is hard but I am already seeing the benefits. The pain is being managed. Right now I just want to go home and pretend it didn't happen, but that is not feasible. So I hope all of you are doing well, making lots of art, enjoying the summer, Hopefully I will be able to go home "with help" soon. I miss you all, and my studio.

ATC's with the Citra Solv Backgrounds...

This background reminded me so much of the swirling motion of the ocean. The girl is from Paper Whimsy.

The background here is rather dark and mysterious, sort of like the guy. I used some decorative tape and the labels are from Art Chix.

The background here reminds me of the painting Starry Night by Van Gogh.

The girl is from Paper Whimsy. I used my Derwent Inktense pencils over the background to add some color. I lightly used my water brush to blend.


Thought I would share some finished pieces using the Citra Solv backgrounds. I used them solely as backgrounds. I am still playing and experimenting with them. I will share more results as I go along ...

I Am Playing With These This Week....Freebies

Love the pensive look and headband on this sweetie.

She is so beautiful. Reminds me of a little gypsy.

She is one of my favorite postcard girls. I am thinking she is gathering flowers to decorate the table with.

A little sailor. Wishing she was back at sea.

She looks like a true Southern gardener with that hat.

The caption says it all - simplicity.

Friends, Thelma and Louise when they were young?


I have been pretty lax the past few weeks with my freebies. Sorry about that. Last chick has had me pretty busy running around and staying up to all hours getting him ready to leave the nest. This week I decided to give myself 7 images. Then make at least something with each one. One a day should not be too hard. I thought you might like the images also. Have fun!

Four Letter Words - Rain

With One Palette...

My original photograph.[number stamp by Robin Marie Smith]

The past week or so I ran across a pad of very old 120 lb. watercolor paper. Hmmm. What to do? what to do? I decided to pick two colors of paint, a glaze and give myself black and white for highlights. I picked Golden's Titan Buff, Raw Sienna, and Golden's Aquamarine Glaze. These are colors I rarely use.

I tore out all the sheets and began applying paint randomly. I grabbed a plastic bag and blotted paint with that to give it shading and depth. Before the paint dried I applied glaze with the plastic bag. Then, I added another layer with dictionary pages torn randomly and applied to the paper. More paint was added to cover the dictionary pages, pounced again with the plastic bag, added glaze, then I let all the pages dry. Then I picked some random stamps and stamped in black along areas I felt would benefit.

After everything had dried I went back and added circles, more paint, and more glaze. I then grabbed my handy studio toothbrush and splattered some of the pages with black paint. When all of this had dried I cut down the sheets from 9" by 12" to 8.5"by 11" so that they would fit through my printer.

The images to select was a much harder process. I was not sure how well the ink would sit on the painted paper or if I would get the "look" I saw in my head. I selected images from my own photographs, a couple of digital collages I had made, and some Library of Congress images that speak to me.

Once the images were printed and I was satisfied with them. I took my Derwent Inktense pencils and added some highlights to certain areas. You have to be careful when you use your water brush, as you do not want to disturb the ink from your printed image. If you are going to highlight a lot of areas then do this before you print your image. After all had dried I went back and added some stitches in a blue thread with my sewing machine, again sticking to the palette I had chosen.

This was so much fun and a real learning process for me. It has inspired and given me several other ideas as I went through the process. I love the way the paint highlights and sets the mood for the images. So, this is what I did on part of my summer vacation...

Examples of One Palette...

This image is from the Library of Congress. I turned this into a journal page.

This is from one of my digital collages.

I used one of my photographs on this page. I do love doors.

Here I used one of my favorite Library of Congress images. Don't you know this was a hard life. The fragment stamp is one of Robin Marie Smith's.

This image is one of my own photographs. I turned it to basic black and white through my photoshop/elements program.


Here are just a few examples from my one palette experiment. I really learned a lot from doing this. Hope you enjoy!

From One Palette - A Blank Page for You....

A unfinished page for you from the One Palette series.

Happy Fourth Of July!

Lady Freedom, hope today is special for all of you.

I love this one. That Ellen Hattie Clapsaddle could really capture a moment.

What a wonderful way to celebrate. A whole weekend of flags, parades, and fireworks!

The flag. What a wonderful symbol of this country. The streets in my neighbor are lined with them this weekend. Almost every house is decked out in holiday decorations. I am so proud to be an American.

Children and the Fourth sort of go hand in hand. Here at the beach we are overrun with tourists this weekend. Last night, our neighborhood did fireworks. The ooh's and ahh's and looks on the kids faces were priceless.


Thought I would quickly post a few Fourth of July images and wish everyone here in the United States a wonderful Fourth of July. I hope you see some glorious fireworks, a parade, spend some time with family and friends, and eat some fantastic food.

In all of this take a moment and reflect on how lucky we are to have the freedoms that we have. The sacrifices made to give us this wonderful freedom we have and the sacrifices still being made to keep these freedoms. To any and all who have a veteran or current military in the family I salute and thank you. I cherish the freedom you have given me and those I love.

Pretty Little Houses...ATC's

These are some ATC's I did this week. I gathered up a bunch of scrap paper from my work table that had all that miscellaneous paint and over stamping on it and decided to make some house ATC's. I wanted to play with my new Derwent inktense pencils. I have had so much fun playing with them. They are definitely my new favorite art medium. I think they would be very easy to travel with. All you would need is one of those brushes you fill with water and them and maybe a small pencil sharpener. They don't melt, dry quickly, and are very stable. They can shade like watercolors. Also, they come in a nice thin tin that doesn't take up any room. Perfect for journaling and sketching. I am sold.

July Magazine Covers

Here are some Magazine cover's for your journal or art work. I can not believe it is July already. Where have the days gone?


This is one of my favorite covers for this month. How very clever to use firecrackers to spell out the letters. Harper's is one of my favorites. They always have such good graphics.

What is the Fourth without a few fireworks. When the boys were younger we planned our beach week around the Fourth just so I could take them to see all the firework shows. A nice dinner and fireworks will always bring back fond memories.

I had to include this one. I think they are after a little lizard in that bush. At least my kitties find the lizards in my plants outside. We always have a few tail less lizards running around. Again great graphics on this one.

I am hoping we get more rain in July than we did in June. Happily we had the nicest rain yesterday afternoon on into the morning. Everything feels so fresh and clean.

Isn't she a beauty? I have seen more people walking around with the coolest umbrella's to keep the sun's rays off of them this summer than ever before.

Last but not least this cute one. I am supposing that this little boy frightened her with a fire cracker. It is rather unsettling to have one land by you. One Fourth at Myrtle Beach a group of kids were throwing them out a window onto the passing crowd. One landed right by me - scared me to death. I hope everyone has a safe and fun Fourth of July Weekend!!

A Snapshot or Two....

The flower from a Mimosa tree. When the Mimosa is in bloom it looks like it is covered in cotton candy. The leaves are rather fern like. Except when it is in bloom the Mimosa is rather unremarkable, but in bloom it is stunning.

Here this little bumblebee is holding on for dear life. They like the rotten blooms which give off a distinct odor. Because the leaves and flowers are so delicate they look like they are dancing in the wind.

A few nights ago we had our first thunderstorm in weeks. On my morning walk by the Inter Coastal Waterway I found this Robin's nest that had been blown out of a tree. Only one egg made it with out breaking. The Robin had abandoned her nest she had worked so hard to build. In the front you can see a Swan feather, to the left several old cigarette butts she had used to stabilize the sides.

This is wild Sumac. I love the little blossoms. Such a wonderful plant. The leaves and roots are used for teas and poultice, the Indians used the flower heads to make flour, and in the fall the leaves turn a rich red. A many purpose plant.

A lovely Lily that graces my yard with blooms for several weeks. I can never get over the bright colors and color combination's of this plant.

The regal Magnolia. I can't talk Southern flowers without including this. I love the saucer size flowers with their rich creaminess. There fragrance and grace bless us. What wonderful blessings from nature grace your surroundings?

The Wonder of Motors and Engines....

Have I shared with you how hot it is here? Well the last two week it has been in the high nineties with a heat index in the 100's. Not a drop of rain - till last night - thank you very much. It has been so hot you could fry an egg on my car at ten o'clock in the morning and probably at night if you wanted to. That hot, humid heat that sucks the air out of your lungs when you walk outside. Makes you gasp.

So, of course my downstairs air conditioner decided to go on the fritz late last week. And...of course every repair man is booked through the end of the month. I shuttered and closed every blind in the house, turned on all the fans, the windows without coverings were covered, and the kitchen was closed for cooking anything that couldn't be microwaved. It helped keep the temperature down to livable and you won't find us dead. Thank goodness for warranties. We only had to suffer till today.

Fortunately, the repair person the warranty company found was able to come out, unfreeze my system and give me a shot of freon. An hour later we were cool and calm again. Mercy, what did we ever do here in the south with out air conditioning? We are so spoiled. Over the weekend I thought a lot about how dependent we are on all of the motors and engines. We use them for everything that makes life easier - washing machines and dryers, refrigerators, our cars, even the garage door openers. Everything...

I am including a couple of engines in this post for you to use in your art. They are so cool. They would be good in some steampunk art. I bet they really helped to lighten the load for the people who used them. Hope you are having a cool Monday!

This Week's Journal Pages

Embrace your wild side, your inner child. Enjoy life!

Some very wise words I wish I had heard more when my boys were younger!

I just loved this picture of these stair step kids. She looks pretty young to have all of these kids.

A woman at the Doctor's office quoted this to me as she was waiting for her daughter. I wondered what kind of trauma they were going through, but was afraid to ask. Isn't it funny how someone can say just one thing and it will stick with you for so long...

With all the heat the past week we have had, it seems like at night I just need to lose it for awhile in a book.


My quote journal is almost finished. I only have four or five pages left. It is getting large and harder to work in. I had to do surgery on it so that I could work with out the pages falling out. I will say it has been a fun journal to work in. I am looking forward to starting a new journal though. Different themes and ideas have started to dance in my head. How do you start your journal? Do you do everything in just one, or do you have several going at once?