A new month, a new host at Art Journal Journey

Before I reveal our new host at Art Journal Journey, I want to thank Erika for her hosting July's Art Journal Journey.  We are all proud of her and the beautiful entries that gave us lots of ideas and inspiration.  Thanks, Erika.  Now I want to share a get well card I received 

from my dear friend Halle at Halle's Hobbies.  I was so impressed with the composition of this card, I told her I might have to steal (oops, I mean borrow) her design.  Little did she realize I would use it as my introduction to this month's Art Journal Journey host, who is

Alison, AKA Craftytrog who you'll find at Craftytrog's Arty Adventures. Alison's theme this month is Pockets and Tags.

This is my entry, based on Halle's beautiful card.

Of course, I had to put my own spin on it

by sewing all the pieces to the substrate.

For this page, I began by gluing a sheet of paper cut from a World Book to a page in my altered book.  To that, I sewed sheets of cut or torn card stock, colored papers, a strip cut from the same World Book, and a tag to a sheet of black card stock.  Once this assembly was complete, I glued it in place over the sheet of World Book I had already adhered to the altered book.  Once adhere, I stamped the word Courage on the tag.

Thanks beyond belief for visiting today.  Alison, Yvonne, Erika, Bleubeard, and I hope you will join us this month at Art Journal Journey with your own take on Pockets and Tags.  We welcome art journal pages, altered book pages, canvases, loose or stand alone pages, and digital art.

I need to be clear about one thing, though.  Your pockets and tags MUST be part of a journal or larger loose page.  Be sure to check the minimum size of your journal page, too.  Pages that don't meet minimum requirements and tags or pockets that are not attached to a journal page will be deleted.  Thanks so much for understanding and following the dreaded rules at Art Journal Journey.

Friday Smiles 382: ICADs, ICADs, ICADs

It's Friday, so let's join Annie (at A Stitch in Time) along with the wonderful ladies at Friday Smiles.

Today is all about ICADs or my Index Card A Day project that takes place during June and July each year.  This is my eighth year and I look forward to participating every year.

I now pronounce you

Above the fray

Know your place in the world

For your protection

 

It's written in the stars

These birds know for sure.

Fantasy flower

 

What a way to end ICAD 2020!

There is no way to divide 62 images by anything other than two.  Believe me, I've tried.  Here are all my July ICADs. 

In case you missed them, here are my June ICADs.  Once this goes live, I'll share them on my Previous Collaborations page, too.

Thanks for your visit today.  I appreciate it, as does Bleubeard.  Now let's head over to Annie's because she knows how to put a smile on everyone's faces.   

Even though I don't have the opportunity to play along with Tammy, I am grateful to her for hosting this event every year.  This is Tammy's 10th year.

And I am super grateful to all of you who have joined me on this yearly ICAD journey.  Since I'm not on Facebook or Instagram, it's hard for me to see what others have created.  I'm just tickled that so many of you have visited and joined me each Friday when I showed these cards.  Thank you beyond belief.  It means the world to me.
 

Rain's Thursday Art Date: Descent

Today we're meeting at Rain's for her Thursday Art Date.  This week, the theme is Descent.  I don't have a lot of examples, so this will be a very short post.

This is from my 7-Continents altered book and is in Rio de Janeiro.  The image on the left is a postcard and the one on the right is from a travel magazine.  It is part of a larger page.

A rather puny entry in my 7-Continents altered book shows the descent of the water at Skogafoss Waterfalls in Iceland.

Here's a different view from behind the waterfall.

I'm certainly not too good at showing this waterfall located on the Ring Road in Iceland.

Another waterfall descending in Iceland.  Even more iconic are the Icelandic Horses.

Washi tapes in descending order were used to create my Christmas cards in 2019.

I guess you could say the car is descending into the abyss in Bleubeard's bad dream.

I can probably trace my ancestors to some of these kings and queens I created for an altered book I made for a friend.  If you want to see the entire book, page by page, I have it listed on my right sidebar under Kings and Queens: the altered book.

Not sure this could be considered descending, but it would be a scary descent from this angle.

I think that's everything I can find this week.  All art created by me.  The one photo was taken by me.  Bleubeard is as afraid of heights as much as I, so he hid under the sideboard in the dining room while I looked for anything I could use for this prompt.

Thank you ever so much for visiting today.  I am truly grateful to you, my friends, followers, readers, and lurkers for visiting.  Please also join me today at Rain's Thursday Art Date where I'm sure others will have much better examples of descent.

Feel the heat?

Today I'll be joining Erika, who many of you know as Bio Art Gal and is also this month's host at Art Journal Journey. 

Her theme is When It's Hot. This will be my final entry this month at Art Journal Journey. 

Can you feel the heat?

It's getting hot

in this old fashioned kitchen.

I feel so sorry for this poor housewife who is putting up with all this heat. Just the idea of having to wear the long dress and an equally long apron while standing over several pots of steaming food makes me hot. 

Although this is showing the "old way" of cooking, I was enamored by the items that were in the kitchen, including that old clock and the steaming pots sitting on the kitchen table.

Sadly, even the chair is holding a huge bowl, so she couldn't sit down even if she wanted to.

I began with a sheet of my handmade paper I tore when I removed it from the mold.  Thankfully, I was able to remove the part that was torn because this altered book is only 5.5 X 8 inches (13,97 X 20,32 centimeters) and my handmade papers are 8.5 X 11 inches (21,59 X 27,94 centimeters).  I used a glue stick to adhere the handmade paper to the book page.

I also adhered the image I copied from a 1972 book called the Cooks Catalog, along with the computer generated sentiment.  Lots of fun pages and images in this book in addition to telling about all the latest instruments one needed in the 1970s kitchens.  My friend Sally gave the catalog to me and it is HUGE.    Over 850 pages and tons of images.  The size of the book is BIG.  BIGGER than any other book I own.  I'm guessing it's about 9 X 12 inches (22,86 X 27,94 centimeters) and over 2 inches (5,08 centimeters) thick.  Too bad it's not sewn, so I can't alter it. 

This image shows the "discomfort" of an old fashioned wood stove and steamy kitchen and how things changed when modern day ranges (stoves) were introduced.

Bleubeard and I are delighted you joined us today, and we also hope to see you at Art Journal Journey. 

T Stands For The (not so) Big Reveal

I sincerely hope those of you who swapped ATCs have received yours by now.  If not, you must use your discretion as to whether or not you want to share a photo of the ATC you sent your pay-it-forward partner.

I had planned this big reveal.

I made 30 ATCs, one for each and every person who has joined T Tuesday over the years.

I was so proud of these.  Unfortunately, before many of you received yours, the cat was out of the cup and the surprise was no longer a surprise.  The Big Reveal fizzled.

As many of you saw last week, this is basically what I sent to everyone.  I still have a few people to send to because I didn't have their mailing addresses.  And four are on their way as I write this.  Although everyone got ONE vintage postcard, I sent two to Lisca because she collects them.

One thing you didn't see last week and I don't show here, are the nine people to whom I sent a sheet of handmade paper.   I only had nine sheets completed when my blender stopped working.  Since I had to make an executive decision, send to all, send to none, or send to a few, I chose to send to the people who have been most caring, thoughtful, and generous with their gifts over the years.  These are the people who, over the years have sent me gifts that I can never in a million years return their kindness and unimaginable giving nature.  Feel free to share photos of your handmade paper.  It shows what a kind and caring person you have been to me.

Speaking of caring, I received these ATCs last week.

This is from Sharon, aka Foxy Stamping.  Don't you just LOVE the kitty on the postage stamp?  I love it.  So does Bleubeard.  And her card, which has SO much texture, was non-machinable.  It is gorgeous, too.  Of course, I think that looks like Squiggles on the adorable ATC.  Thank you SO much Sharon.  I can always count on you.

This is from the ever caring and thoughtful Linda K at heARTfully inspired.  I've received an ATC from her every year since we've started exchanging them.  Look at this card.  I love the bird and the gossamer ribbon she used, too.  And who wouldn't be inspired by the ATC she sent.  Thank you beyond belief Linda.  You are always so generous and giving.

Now it's your turn to share your T entry this week.  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, decorated card, or magazine image.  You might even draw an image on a used tea bag.  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 or years ago, if you choose.


Before I forget, I need to remind you it's time to dig up your Second on the 2nd post. It can be any post, any genre, any length, as long as it's been published sometime in the past. 
 

Coast to Coast

In my desire to use my scraps, I have another entry in my Scraps Altered Book.

In case you need to translate: "From sea to

shining sea."

These are all famous places in the United States.  At the top is a street in Bar Harbor, Maine.  The middle image is Jackson Square in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the bottom image is Multnomah Falls east of Portland in Oregon.

Bleubeard and I hope you enjoyed this trip across the United States while I use more of my scraps.

Monday Murals: Strength

It's time once again to join Sami at Sami's Colourful World and her Monday Murals.  Even though it's still Sunday in my world, please be aware that Sami's mural link goes live at 11:01 a.m. my time today.

From what I can gather, this mural is called Strength.

It was painted in 2019 by Richard James Cook.  Although I couldn't find the sign, I believe this was supposed to be one of the murals created last summer during Avenue Arts Days, which are all located in downtown Wichita, Kansas (USA).

This shows Wichita, Kansas and many of the iconic buildings, including Exploration Place, the building shaped like a "U" and the bridge over the confluence of the Big and Little Arkansas Rivers.

Above the the image showing strength, and which I cut out of the photo, is the Keeper of the Plains, the famous Native American who sits on the river.  The building with the triangle at the top is supposed to be the tallest building in Kansas.

The building that looks like a turquoise saucer is Century 2, which many want to demolish and build something different near the river where it now sits.  If they do, it will definitely change the landscape of our city.  The tall building to the right of Century 2 is the Garvey Center.

Strength can be found at 1003 E Douglas in Wichita, Kansas (USA).

If you enjoy murals from around the world, please don't forget to visit Monday Murals at Sami's Colourful World.

I will NOT be able to join you next week with a mural, because I am hosting my Second on the 2nd, which is my monthly look back at an entry you wish to reshare.  Any genre, any length is acceptable as long as it has been published sometime in the past.