Let's talk about the birds and the bees

 

I'm finally joining Alison, aka Craftytrog, our host this month at Art Journal Journey, once again with a song for her Play it again, Sam theme.  I feel rather bad I haven't been able to join her sooner.

Let's learn about the birds and the bees.

Let me tell you 'bout

the birds and the bees
and the flowers and the trees
and the moon up above

These are red birds.

There's even one that has landed on the Bee Flower Mix.

Of course, there has to be a tree.  Where else would birds make their nests?

I created this entry in my Stress free altered book.  I started by laying down a partial sheet of vintage sheet music.  I then added the bee mix container that originally held seeds I planted several years ago.  Next I colored used copier/printer paper red and used my bird punch.  I then added the tree using two water soluble crayons to which I added two of the three birds.  Finally, I added the song lyrics I printed on a used file folder.  My laser printer wasn't too happy, even though I used the "cardstock" option.  Although I've often said I can't draw, I was completely happy with the way the tree turned out.

 

For Day 10 of 22, I recycled a portion of vintage sheet music, copier/printer paper I colored red, used file folder used for printing the lyrics, and a used packet of bee flower mix.

Thanks ever so much for joining Bleubeard and me today.   In addition to joining Alison at Art Journal Journey with her Play it again, Sam theme, I'm also joining Creative Artiste's 81st challenge with the above recycled materials, along with water soluble crayons.  I am further joining River of Creativity's 12th challenge with the optional twist of Spring.  I believe my altered book page has spring flowers and birds.

EDIT: My ethernet has been offline for over a day.  That included my internet and phone.  My sincere apologies for my inability to visit.  I am finally back online and will catch up with each of you, my friends and followers, as I can.

Spring is in the air

 

 I'm back joining Valerie at Bastelmania, our host this month at Art Journal Journey.  Her theme is Spring.

Spring is definitely in the air.

Even the sentiment says so.

The little birds are surrounded by foreign (Russian) text.  Because the focal image is square, I'm joining River of Creativity's March Challenge #11, which is Anything Goes with the option of SQUARES.  Further, since the focal image is birds, I'm joining Craftlandia Challenge 10, hosted by Mia, Diana, and Ayla.

 

The birds are then surrounded by a second layer of paper.

 

I started this spread with a page of previously created shaving cream paper.  To that I tore a portion of a coffee dyed page from a Russian book, over which I added the focal image of birds on a tree branch I found in my stash.  I then computer generated the sentiment and colored it using dye ink. 

 

I am also joining Creative Artiste's 80th Challenge, where their theme is always Anything Mixed Media Goes.  To qualify for Creative Artiste, I must have a minimum of three mediums.  I began this spread by combining a sheet of shaving cream paper to a torn piece of Russian text I recently dyed with coffee.  The focal image was from my stash and the text/sentiment was colored using dye ink.

Thank you beyond belief for stopping by today.  Please also join Bleubeard and me at Art Journal Journey, Creative Artiste, Craftlandia Challenge 10, and River of Creativity. 

Ancestors

 

 By now I'm fairly certain you know Bleubeard and I are hosting Art Journal Journey this month.  Our theme is What's Your Style? 

We have named this spread Ancestors.

First a few detail shots.

I started this page washing over a sheet of 110 lb cardstock with yellow and red watercolors.  Some areas turned a brown/orange due to color mixing.  When dry, I tore the focal image, a painting, from an art book.  I then colored around it using a brown dye ink pad I accidentally dropped on the image.   

 

The painting reminded me of one of those where you could dress in old time clothing and pose for a souvenir photo from your museum (or possibly old west) tour.  That encouraged me to add the lace and the tickets on the right side of the page.  I tried to hide the tickets just enough so they would be visible, but not in-your-face.  Finally, I added the word Ancestor because that was the name on the plaque at the bottom of the painting.

In addition to Art Journal Journey, Bleubeard and I would like to enter this at River of Creativity, where their 10th challenge is Anything Goes.  

 

We would also like to enter this at Creative Artiste Mixed Media, where their February challenge is #79 and is always "Anything Mixed Media Goes."  Requirements are to use multiple media.  I used two watercolors for the background, an image from an art book, computer generated text, brown dye ink, lace, and tickets. 

 

Bleubeard and I are delighted you joined us and hope to see you at Art Journal Journey with your own interpretation of What's your style?, mine being mixed media today.  We are also delighted to be joining Creative Artiste Mixed Media and River of Creativity.  We just want to say how grateful we are to have you join us on this month long journey.

For those of you who are interested, Squiggles is marginally better.  I thought for sure he would not live through the night on Thursday.  I was prepared for the worst and cried most of the night.  But a miracle occurred and he is, as I said before, marginally better.  More details tomorrow.

The Dresser

 

Before we begin, I want to give you an update on my situation.  As of the 10 p.m. local news/weather channel I watch, rain that started about an hour ago (that would be 9 p.m. my time) will shortly turn to sleet and ice now that the temperature is dropping below freezing.  Predictions of up to 2 1/2 inches of ice will be followed by up to 7 inches of snow in time for the morning commute.  Power outages expected across Wichita as crews are on standby.  The airport has cancelled most flights, schools have been cancelled, as have many local functions.  In the event you don't hear from me, I may be without power.  Add to that, I have a sick kitty (Squiggles) and my stress level is quite high right now.

As you might know by now, Bleubeard and I are hosting Art Journal Journey the entire month of February.  Our theme is What's Your Style?   We are thrilled you dropped by because we have a new style we are working on today.  Apparently it's quite popular in some collage and mixed media circles.  It's called Paper Piecing and it is exactly how it sounds.

We call this The Dresser.

The idea is to cut various pieces of painted (or decorated) papers and turn them into a collage.

I've never hidden the fact I can't draw, nor do I care to.

However, the mathematician in me knows I can copy shapes like circles, squares, and rectangles if push comes to shove.

With Bleubeard's gentle nudging, I created this dresser with the flowering cactus in a bowl that sits on top of the dresser.

The dresser sits on an area rug.  

I started this by painting several pieces of cardstock with varying shades and tints of green.  I also painted cardstock using burnt umber.  I first laid the "rug" of scrapbook paper to the substrate, a sheet of 110 lb. cardstock.  To make the dresser, I cut a template I folded in half.  I was able to get the leg design right that way.  I attached it to the substrate, then added the brown "drawers."  I colored the drawer handles using a purple felt tipped pen. 

I freehand cut the pot to which I added the green cactus.  I decorated the pot using a roller type stamp.  The leaves were cut  and attached next.  The cactus flowers were punched from cardstock I colored red.  The green tips were colored using a gel pen.  The  final item I added was the rubber stamp on the left side of the page.  It was in lieu of a framed picture.

In addition to Art Journal Journey, Bleubeard and I would like to enter this at River of Creativity, where their 10th challenge is Anything Goes.  

 

We would also like to enter this at Creative Artiste Mixed Media, where their February challenge 79 is "Anything Mixed Media Goes."  Requirements are to use multiple media. I used three colors of paint, a gel pen, scrapbook paper, a purple felt pen, a paper punch, a roller stamp, and a rubber stamp.

Bleubeard and I are delighted you joined us and hope to see you at Art Journal Journey with your own interpretation of What's your style?, mine being paper piecing today.  We are also delighted to be joining Creative Artiste Mixed Media and River of Creativity.  Although I don't say it often enough, I am so grateful for your support of my art this month.

Embrace Chaos

 

Welcome.  Bleubeard and I are excited about today.  This was an experiment to which both of us looked forward.

It fits in nicely with our theme we are hosting at Art Journal Journey which is What's Your Style.

We have named this Embrace chaos.  

 

It's all about drips and splatters with a bit of watercolors and book pages thrown in.

 

I've included a few detail shots.

With Bleubeard's encouragement, I dripped some grey and green ink down both lengths of a sheet of 110 lb. cardstock.  Once the green dripped down one side, I turned the page over and dripped grey down the reverse side.  I filled in around the drips with lavender, light green, and bright green watercolors, along with bits of gold fluid acrylic paint.  I also added lots of splats and splatters with the back of my paintbrush.

 

Looking at both sides, I saw a stem of leaves in my imagination.  Yes, I have a big imagination.  I cut three leaves from a book page, glued them in place, then drew around the leaves using a watercolor pencil.  I also enhanced the stem the leaves were on using the same watercolor pencil.  Finally, I added the words to the page.

I also found a new (to me) challenge blog.  It is called River of Creativity.  They are on challenge 10 (of what they are calling a relaunch).  This month their theme is anything goes and they accept all types of entries.

Bleubeard and I are thrilled you chose to join us today and hope to also see you at Art Journal Journey where we're celebrating What's Your Style.   It's obvious today my style was all about drips and splatters.  I'm also joining River of Creativity, where the challenge is anything goes.