Saturday, July 23, 2016

Humming along


I've finally found a few minutes to create an entry for Art Journal Journey. The incredibly efficient host this month is Yvonne, who we know from her blog Meggy's Way.  Her theme is "In my garden there is" and she's given us lots of great examples.  And because Moo-Mania and More's theme this fortnight is "Anything Goes," I thought this qualified.

In my garden there is a hummingbird.

My hummingbird flits and flutters around finding flowers to pollinate.

My hummingbird is so tiny he almost got hit by a falling leaf.

I began with a piece of textured wall covering, over which I added the hummingbird and flower I fussy cut.  I had previously dried the leaf, but wanted to make it pliable, so covered it on both sides with white PVA glue.  I added the word using a Sharpie pen.  The spread was created in my Coll-AH-ge Two altered book.

I have wanted to join Yvonne and AJJ, as well as MM&M for days, but I've had no time to create art until today.

I've been busy organizing.  I found all these rubber stamps in my basement, and couldn't believe I've had these forever, and never used them.

I bought them years and years ago before I knew how to stamp and before I had any sense of style.  You can see I paid very little for these, but the fact I took them to the basement studio and forgot about them shows how little they meant to me.  None had ever been used or stamped.

I decided it was time to go through them and cull out the ones I would never ever use.  I have a neighbor whose daughter is a Stampin' Up dealer and a scout leader.  I asked her to help me find a good home for the stamps, and she was actually thrilled to take some of them off my hands.  But first, I had to sort them to see if there were any I could use.

One of the first things I did was decide if any of the UM rubber was worth saving.  If so, I turned the rubber over and gave it a good swipe of Wacky Tac, a repositionable glue that is no longer sold.

The "Dots" definitely had to go, but

you can see I've decided there are lots that I will be able to use.  All I have to do is replace all those ink pads I gave my friend Kathy when I was sure I would never be good at stamping anything.  DUH!

Now it's time to put these away and join all the creative artists at Art Journal Journey and Moo-Mania and More.  I'm sure they'll welcome you as much as they have me.

17 thoughtful remarks:

froebelsternchen said...

A wonderful page Elizabeth!
Great that you found time to join AJJ and MMM again even you are so busy.
It's the same to me just now.. I haven't time for art or inet..time flies by ... incredible!
Happy weekend!
oxo Susi

Meggymay said...

Thats a wonderful page with the humming bird, they always look so fragile to me..
You remind me I have a box of hoarded stamps on wood from years ago, I must get them our again soon. In the absence of ink pads I would be trying paints on the rubber stamps, different effects but fun.
Off to do a bit of splodging now[splodge is a good northern word here mainly used as kids when we played in the water] glad you had a smile..
Yvonne xx

Valerie-Jael said...

Wonderful journal page Elizabeth, and love all those stamps you found, have fun using those you like and will keep. Thanks for joining us again at AJJ and MM&M, hugs, Valerie

Cappuccinoandartjournal.blogspot.com said...

Nice page! And good find on the stamps. I like the little hummer and the big leaf.

Sandra Cox said...

What a great journal piece! I love hummingbirds.
And look at all those rubber stamps! What fun for you and for the recipients of the stamps.
Enjoy your weekend.
Hugs

peggy gatto said...

A very lovely page, nice mix of texture and images!

Linda Kunsman said...

LOVE your hummingbird page! I have been trying desperately to get some photos of our visiting birds but without luck-yet.I just love watching them and hearing their tiny chirping voices. Stamps? Ha!!! I have a DOTS set very similar to yours along with some others and I REALLY should be cleansing out my huge stash too. I think I'll save that for the cold wintertime:)

Pen Sunshinepen said...

Love your hummingbird beautiful. Know 2hat you mean about having stuff that you do not use.... X

Rita said...

I have so rarely seen hummingbirds. Just haven't been around people who have the feeders, I guess, because they are up here in the summer.

Funny that you found that stash you had never used. I know I have some things tucked away for when I have time to learn to use them--LOL! ;)

My name is Erika. said...

Love the hummingbird page. It is, as the saying goes, simplicity being the heart of elegance. And what a great find. Something good out of a minor disaster. I expect to see some fun stamping in the future, yes? Hope you're having a great weekend. Hugs-erika

Carol said...

Your hummingbird page is beautiful . I have a Rose of Sharon Bush outside of my art run window and I set and watch those little jewels dart from flower to flower . Such a beautiful sight. ♥

Divers and Sundry said...

It's certainly the time for hummingbirds! We have a feeder they come to, but they also like my zinnias and pentas. So much fun to watch :)

Let's Art Journal said...

Fantastic page, I love hummingbirds and your page has bought back memories of when we visited New Mexico :-). A hummingbird took a liking to my hubby's bright coloured t-shirt and it was lovely to see the little bird up so close! How brilliant to have found all those stamps, can't wait to see what you create with them - have fun! Wishing you a happy week ahead! J :-)

pearshapedcrafting said...

I love your humming bird page! They really are such beautiful birds - I envy those folk who have them in their gardens! So….we are going to see a lot more stamping from now on…looking forward to that! It looks like quite a variety! Isn't it great when you find something 'new'? Hugs, Chrisx

Darla said...

I like what is in your garden a lot. Didn't know about the leaf technique so learned something new. Funny how we find old forgotten craft stuff when we get around to cleaning up.

Becky said...

A fab page love the bird. It is always nice to sort out old stamps I put mine on e-bay to get money for new craft stuff. x

Jeanie said...

I love your hummingbird page. That's a beautiful graphic and it all fits together so well. And good for you organizing your stuff. Since I've been away, I've not done a thing at home to pull the art room together. Not good.

Speaking of being away, I wanted to thank you for so many wonderful visits to the Gypsy, even though I've been MIA (and trying to catch up now!) So, let me catch up on your wonderful comments! I love "Endeavour" too (and adored Inspector Morse and Inspector Lewis --always happy with my Brit boy detectives! I think I've missed too many episodes of "The Tunnel" to have it make sense. I'll have to catch it elsewhere! Always love talking with another BBC-show fan!

And thanks, too, for the kind words about Minisa and the art and all the other comments. I'm headed back into the Land of Limited Internet for a week and hopefully will be able to get some time to check in!