Santorini on our magic carpet

I'm joining Hazel of Hazels' Creative Moments again because she is this month's host at Art Journal Journey.  Hazel wants us to join her on a magical mystery tour.  It can be anywhere, past, present, or imagined.

But first, I want to share the wonderful gifts I received from art friends for my birthday.    Ironically, I'm sharing these in the reverse order they were received.

These came from my friend Patty.   It's hard to see, but those die cuts at the bottom are actually maps of the United States.  I can use them when I start on my North America  portion of 7 Continents.  Patty told me the bees were ones she printed out from her laser printer.  They are fabulous.  The bird is a cake topper (very appropriate) and the stamps

are older and tell us Earth Day is every day!

The card is beautiful, and Patty told me she left it blank so I could pass it on to someone else, or keep it for myself.


Linda gave me a fabulous tag that honors tea and coffee.  I really LOVE it, too.  And that marbled paper will be used very soon, I am sure.

Such attention to detail, this tag is lovely from its background to pretty flowers.

Next came Krisha's gift.  Or perhaps I should say gifts.  Look at all those incredible die cuts.  Those will be put to great use very soon, too.  She also included a birthday napkin and two sheets of colored tissue.

And look at this beautiful card she made.  I can only imagine how long it took her to color the flowers and sentiment.  It's fabulous.

Last, but not least, is the package that came from my friend Chris in the UK.  She stamped and fussy cut a few images for me, which I was truly grateful for.  She also knows I love stencils, and sent me these, which appear to be about ATC size.  Then there are the bunny napkins, some stamped and colored images, two tiny doilies, and washi tape.  LOTS of washi tape.

Love the tiny tapes.  They are SO cute.  Then there are the various words I can use for my 7 Continents AB.

Did I mention washi tape?  Between Chris and Cindy, who sent an equal number at Christmas, I now have more washi tape than I know what to do with it.

And then there's the lovely card showing it was for my BEARTHday.  Clever.

Finally, a table full of thoughtful gifts

from two views.

 But now let's jump on that magic carpet and head back to Santorini.

We are once again flying on that magic carpet to Santorini, specifically Oia again.

These blue domes sit atop a church in Oia.  Famous for their blue domes, many visitors take photos of these three domes together.

This is St. Nicholas with its curved roofs and stone arches.  There are three arches.  The middle one has the door and the two outside ones have windows.  The blue gate is gorgeous against the white walls.

I added the herbs because this is an ideal region for them to grow, mostly in pots, I would suspect, although they don't mind growing in rough or rocky soil, as I learned in the herb workshop I took.  They also like the sun and heat from this region.

My substrate was a piece of cardboard, and the various craft acrylics were applied with a faux credit card.  Now that my recycling days are over, I have to admit that I probably could have included this as recycled, because it was a piece of cardboard, but I used acrylic paint I paid for, and I'm not sure I really recycled anything other than the cardboard and the images.

Thanks for joining me today.  Your comments mean everything to me.  I am grateful you stayed with me through this recycle time, as well as viewing my wonderful birthday gifts.  Now let's jump on our magic carpet and head to Art Journal Journey where Susi and Hazel are waiting for us.