Signs of Summer

Did everyone survive the fair yesterday?  Wasn't it a fun day?  Thank goodness Bleubeard is now rested and once again, he and I are sharing some summertime love at Art Journal Journey.

I was actually quite happy with the way this turned out.  A couple of years ago, I bought a package of summertime scrapbook embellishments.  They were color coordinated, but the perspective of some pieces was all wrong.

I decided to call this Signs of Summer and used one of my spray starch mica powder backgrounds.

Because I'm not really an artist/painter, my skills are better suited to collage and mixed media.

However, I reasoned that the further away something was, the smaller it would appear.

Conversely, elements that were closer to the viewer would appear larger.

So, even though these elements were all packaged together, I had to find a way to have them fit into the same scene.

I realize even though this is not my normal style of art, I'm really happy with the way this turned out.

All images were three-dimensional.

They were all built up using large pop dots

that lifted them firmly away from the background.

Materials started with a page from my spray starch background experiment I performed earlier in the month.  I added five coordinated three-dimensional embellishments over two pieces of sandpaper, one of which I colored using watercolor crayons (the gift from Cindy that has become my new favorite go-to instrument/tool).  The small sentiment came from leftover sandpaper and my white gelly pen.

As an aside, for those of you with a good memory, my Island Cake Topper came from this package of embellishments!  I believe I put it to much better use on that tag.

As this month winds down, Bleubeard and I are thrilled you are joining us today at Art Journal Journey.  Hope you'll join us there, too.  There's still time to share some summertime love.

At the Bleubeard County Fair

This is the time of year when county and state fairs are the rage, at least that's true in the U.S..  In other countries, they are sometimes known as agricultural fairs.  People flock to them from far and wide.  If you aren't sure what the difference is, if you have an exhibit or competition of some kind you wish to enter, the county where you reside is where you compete or have it judged.  If it wins the grand prize in that category, which usually consists of a ribbon only, you are allowed to enter it in that same category at the state fair.

Now I've never made a secret of the fact that Bleubeard was born in a barn.  He was given to me as a Christmas present by my goddaughter.  His mother, a calico, didn't sandbox train him, so it was left to me, his caregiver, to do so.  So far, this is a true story.

This is the point where the story becomes a tall tail or tale, whichever you prefer.  Today we're headed to the Bleubeard County Fair.  Of course, I had NO idea he was so popular in the county in which he was born.

It seems they have named a county for him and he is the guest of honor at the Bleubeard County Fair. 

We didn't need tickets because Bleubeard was the guest of honor.  Since I accompanied him, the first place we visited was the area where they kept his animal friends.   After all, the agricultural portion of these fairs is often more popular than the rides.  However, there was lots to see, so Bleubeard wanted to make the rounds after saying hello to a few of the animal participants.

We entered the midway where we found the amusement rides.  This one looked harmless, so we took our chances.  Bleubeard wanted to go twice.  For me it was a bit scary, because I'm afraid of heights.

We stopped at one of the tents where we met Madame Magnolia.  She told Bleubeard's fortune.  Of course, we all know what it is, don't we?

Further down the midway was the carousel.  Bleubeard indulged me, because I wanted to ride the carousel horse.

Next it was off to the big top, where a virtual 3-ring circus was under way.  Bleubeard was delighted to see there were no performing elephants or caged lions, only people entertaining today. 

When the performers learned Bleubeard had arrived, the ringmaster insisted he join them center ring for a round of applause. 

One more look back and Bleubeard was off to reign king of the county fair.

He judged the car show, the tractors and other farm equipment, some of which I couldn't even pronounce, the quilts, the jams, and the cakes.  He judged the sheep and chickens.  He ate cotton candy, which got in his fur, and he had a waffle cone filled with a frozen ice treat.  He was given a box of taffy and was invited to pull taffy they were making, but he declined, since he was still trying to get cotton candy out of his fur.  By the end of the day, he was one tired, but finally clean, cat.  But he had an absolutely wonderful time at the Bleubeard County Fair.  I hope you did, too!

I created the background using a combination of inks, handmade shimmering mists, and acrylic paints.  I also used a background stamp to fill in some of the empty spots.  For the various children's colorings I found on the internet, I used a new product I found rather by accident in my stash.

I had never used, or even considered using, these watercolor pencils I got from my friend who was throwing things away from his storage shed. 

In fact, I had to sharpen each one because none had ever been used or sharpened before.  I learned a lot when I worked with these.  I needed to use a teeny, tiny brush, rather than the big fat one I'm used to using.  But, since the children's coloring images were so childlike, I decided any messes I created when trying to use water with these only added to the idea this was a cat's tale, not mine.  Madam Magnolia was cut from a gifted Collage Cats sheet.

Because Moo-Mania and More's theme is Cats, Bleubeard would be honored to join the challenge.

And since Bleubeard and I are hosting Art Journal Journey this month, we both want to thank you for joining us at the Bleubeard County Fair.

Of course, we also hope to see you at Art Journal Journey with your favorite post that is loaded with summertime love.  There's still a few days left to play.

Surf's up!

Today we are at the beach with our surf boards.

The photo washed out, but at least you can see the shimmer of the various colors of metallic paint I used.

Here you can see where the colors came together to create a vivid sunset.  Of course, you have to use your imagination when you do.

Three surf boards sit in the sand as the waves beat against the shore.

The surfboard on the right was a 3-D piece I purchased.  The one on the left was created by me.  I cut two surfboards and used pop dots to hold the two pieces together and above the "sand."  I added a kokopelli image from a punch and added a swirl from hot pink pigment ink.

Materials used for this entry include pink and blue metallic paints on a used file folder, computer generated text, sandpaper, two handmade surfboards, and one from a set.

Thanks for joining Bleubeard and me today and don't forget to join us at Art Journal Journey for some summertime fun and maybe a bit of surfing.

T Stands For the Afterparty

Before we begin today, I have heated up the random generator and have now picked the four people who will receive an anniversary ATC from me.  Those people who linked last week were eligible for one of the four ATCs I made.    So if you are a winner, be sure to let me know how to get hold of you so I can get your ATC to you.

I'm not sure why I waited so long to choose the names, but I am simply not a fan of random generators.  I don't find them as random as they say.  I prefer putting all names in a bowl and drawing them, but I didn't have time to write names, cut them into strips, and etc.  So here are the lucky winners and the order in which they were chosen:

17: Dianne; 6: Chris; 5: Deb; 16: Carol
I have Chris and Dianne's addresses, but need Deb's and Carol's.  Please let me know how I can contact you.

This is what the back should look like.  I swear I spent more time on the envelops than I did on the ATCs.  When I took these photos, I had not glued the addresses to the envie.  So why the extra envelope, you ask?

Originally, it was going to be for Valerie, who goaded me into creating an ATC for the swap.  But once I received this beautiful package from Valerie (and all its contents), I knew my wimpy gift wouldn't be good enough.  You'll have to wait till next week to see the ATCs I sent AND the fabulous gifts I received from Valerie.  Thank you beyond belief, Valerie.  You are far, far, far too kind.  BTW, I covered part of the dog because he scared Bleubeard.

Now for the afterparty.  I found this focal image in a food magazine from an issue dated July, 2016. 

I thought it was quite appropriate, although it originally read What AMERICA Drinks.  Since we are an international group, I decided to change the heading. 

Maybe your answers will be different from those surveyed. 

I sewed the survey to the background page (yes, that's Bleubeard's paw print)

after I laid down some sticky tape that stuck to itself (and created a big mess) as I was trying to apply it to the page.

And because these are summertime drinks, I have included this page for Art Journal Journey's Summertime Love Bleubeard and I are hosting this month.

Now it's your turn.  The rules are extremely simple.  Your drink related post may be anything from a photo of a glass, cup, or mug, to an actual drink.  You may choose to share a sketch or a digital, hybrid, or traditional page in your scrapbook, art journal, or altered book.  Maybe you'd prefer to share a tag, or wow us with your photography.  You might choose a postcard or decorated card.  Or perhaps you prefer to review a place you visited, a movie, or book.  It makes no difference as long as it's drink related.  And don't forget that the more unique and outside the box it is, the better we like it.  Please tie it back here, and please link only to your T post, not your entire blog.  When you link, Bleubeard, the T gang, and I will be by to visit.   Bleubeard would also like to remind you that your photos may be taken any time, even months ago, if you choose.

Thanks for joining Bleubeard and me for T this Tuesday, and we also hope to see you at Art Journal Journey with your favorite post that is loaded with summertime love.

ICADs for July 17 through 23

For our penultimate week of Index Cards and Day 47, I found a cute image of a bride and her maids of honor in rain boots.  I thought it was such a cute image, I had to sew it onto one of my Index Cards. 

For Day 48, I paired a piece of fibrous tissue with a stamped image and sewed them together.  I added the name using a Micron pen.

On Day 49, I found this image in a magazine and paired it with a background from a tissue box I cut to Index Card size.  As much as I would have liked to sew the image in place, I felt the heavy material of the tissue box was more than I wanted to subject my sewing machine to, since I'm having a bit of tension problems.  Computer generated text completed the card.

Also for Day 49, using the rest of the tissue box, Bleubeard and I created a birthday card for Squiggles' third birthday.

For Day 50, the washi tape came out and so did a label from a food product.  The other words were computer generated.

Day 51 found me using a couple of maps and a punched circle to show where we were.  Of course, I had to sew the maps to the index card.  Unfortunately,  I cropped a bit too much of the right side of the card in PhotoShop.

I had some metallic balloon handles I wasn't using, so for Day 52, I created a saying that I thought would be appropriate and a good way to use these.

For Day 53, I colored an image I accidentally sized too small and printed.  Nothing goes to waste at my house, so I sewed the image to a colored index card.



Thanks for sharing this time with me.  I am so grateful you have stuck with me through these index cards.  Just one final week to go and this project will be in the books as completed.  However, please remember this is the only place you will find my ICADs, since I'm not on any other social media site that is sharing them.