Monday, March 30, 2020

Sunflowers


I'm once again joining Eileen whose blog is The Artful Crafter.  She is our host this month at Art Journal Journey with her Green (the color) theme. This will be my final Art Journal Journey entry for March.

This spread is all about sunflowers.

Sunflowers are the state flower of Kansas, so they hold a special place in my heart.

In fact, 

"Sunflowers brighten

my

day."




I seem to be in recycle mode, preparing for my 22 days of art I and a few of my friends will be making, beginning on Wednesday.  I invite you to share this journey with me, too, as I recycle, reuse, repurpose, re-design, rethink, re-invent, recover, reclaim, and reduce what goes in our landfills.  Of course, this all leads up to what others call Earth Day, but I call bEARTHday.

I began this spread with a sheet of 110 lb card stock as my substrate.  Over that, I glued a portion of a lovely green and beige paper bag I got when I purchased something large from a store one year.  The words were hand written in metallic gel pen cut from the back of the same paper bag.  The words were outlined in a green felt tip pen.  The sunflowers were part of a larger sheet of wrapping paper from a gift I received last year.  I outlined a few of the leaves to show a bit more green.

I am extremely grateful that you stopped by today. There's still a full day left, so Bleubeard and I hope you will also join us at Art Journal Journey with your own art inspired by the color Green.

And because it will be the only time I can document it, here is my completed March, 2020 calendar pages.

As I've mentioned in the past, my scanner is on its last leg.  This is the left side 

and this is the right.  I feel like I spent more time this month fighting with AT&T, my internet provider, than I have anything else.  Thanks for being so supportive of this calendar.  I have several friends whose calendars put this one to shame.


23 thoughtful remarks:

Valerie-Jael said...

Sunflowers are wonderful flowers, I hope to have some on my balcony later this year. Lovely page, too. Well done on finishing the calendar, too. I don't think there will be much to write into our calendars for April. Have a safe week, Valerie

aussie aNNie said...

Lovely sunflowers and gorgeous post...hey I love your calendar... very impressive.
My blog is the same just made the background to black as some said they couldn't read it properly so white writing, black background is all that's done..xx

Iris Flavia said...

My Dad loved sunflowers. His coffin was covered in mini-sunflowers I never knew even existed.
"bEARTHday" is really clever, I like it!
I wish more people would think like this. Your calendar pages are inspiring! I´m better and will get more active again, too.

Words and Pictures said...

Really lovely image of the sunflowers and they look so good against the gingham style background - the whole page has a lovely rustic country farmhouse feel. Your March calendar pages look so colourful - I love that even some of the days are filled in in different colours!

Thanks for visiting over at mine. As far as products go, the suggestions are deliberately very loose - any tissue paper (doesn't have to have a design on it - you could just use it for texture), any kind of paint, any kind of texture paste (and I know you've got some of that, homemade or not!!). Ephemera could easily be cut from magazines, or old travel tickets, and for stencils you can use the nets that fruit comes in, or a piece of lace would give an interesting result - anything really. I'm sure most people could scrabble together some of that! In fact, now I'm tempted to go again with the same steps using what I can find around the house... watch my space!!
Alison xx

My name is Erika. said...

Love the green gingham fabric. It makes a cool background for your page. And your calendar looks great. Mine is covered in Xs as I had to cross off this and that. I am trying not to contact others as much as possible, so a few appointments have been cancelled and school events cancelled. Makes for a messy calendar. Hope you're not too housebound. Hugs-Erika

Barbara said...

My Dad also loved sunflowers, as Iris commented. It’s a flower of sunshine and joy, in a very big way. Love the page!

magiceye said...

This is so cool.

Nancy said...

A sunflower tribute- nice! Like you, I just love some of the bags used by shops- your check one was a keeper.

DVArtist said...

Wow the sunflowers are fabulous. One of my favorite flowers. Be safe.

Mia said...

I love sunflowers, Elizabeth. I did not know that this is the flower of Kansas. As for your recycled page, it is perfect. Clever idea to use the paper bag, my friend. I think I will try it. And thank you for sharing the steps. Hugs, sweetie, and hope you will not face any more internet problems.

kathyinozarks said...

I have always loved sunflowers too-I should check if I have any seeds left-hadn't thought of growing much here at the lake but I did bring my seeds-I am going to check on lettuce seeds so I can grow for our salads.
great ideas-hugs
I sure hope they can figure out your internet-its your life line and you need it working

craftytrog said...

A great page Elizabeth, sunflowers always make me smile!
Great to see you filled in March calendar too.
I'm looking forward to your recycle art.
Alison xx

Caty said...

Ohh I LOVE your Art journal page Elizabeth!! It' s really gorgeous with those so beautiful sunflowers, I like them very much too, because they are so happy.
Your calendar pages are great, I don' t hace made any calendar, think I may do one.
I wish you a very nice afternoon and I send biig hugs, and stay Safe��������

froebelsternchen said...

A beautiful page! I love sunflowers as well!
And what a colourful March calendar!

Stay safe and fingers crossed for the internetconnection!
Elbow hugs,
Susi xxx

Lowcarb team member said...

Such lovely sunflowers.
I enjoyed your post.
Nice to see your calendar.

I was looking at my diary today, quite different from this time last year … but then so too are present times.

Stay safe, sending my good wishes.

All the best Jan

Anne (cornucopia) said...

Lovely artwork Elizabeth. I always like seeing sunflowers in art, and in person. I like your calendar pages. I'm in awe of anyone making them, because I wish I could make something similar.

Thank you for thinking of me when our "President" threatened to quarantine NY, NJ, and CT on Saturday. It was a very stressful time of uncertainty, however, it inspired the art piece that I just posted. :-)

Meggymay said...

A beautiful page and yes sun flowers are lovely to see in bloom,when they raise their heads to the sun.
Your calendar looked good and you added your super cup and saucer stamp as well, very colourful they look as well.
Stay safe and stay well my friend.
Yvonne xx

Eileen Bergen said...

What's not to love about this page, Elizabeth? Gingham and sunflowers bring lovely chldhood memories. Thank you for your unfailing support of my green theme at AJJ this month, despite all your technical problems. You're one in a million!

Eilen xx

Susan Kane said...

My mom used tea bags to color her crochet threads. Great idea!

Cindy McMath said...

Lovely page with great recycling. I love seeing your calendar pages each month. When I retire I’m going to go back to a paper calendar!

nwilliams6 said...

Love the sunflowers and how you are recycling in your art - that is sooo cool and the page looks fab. Love your calendar pages too. I so need to do more in my calendar! Fun stuff - TFS!

Jeanie said...

That sunflower fabric is just great! And I love your calendar, which is really more of a journal, isn't it? It's beautiful and really a wonderful and lasting historical document in its way.

Divers and Sundry said...

Sunflowers are my favorite flower :)