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!!