Back online and a tag

 

Yes, it happened again.  I have been offline since early Tuesday morning in my world.  My sincere apologies, but being offline was not something I could control.  This time I not only lost internet and phone service, I also lost electricity and heat.

I had planned to create this post as soon as I was online.  However, I quickly learned my batteries for my keyboard were dead.  Dead as the proverbial dormouse. I'm not quite sure how much more stress I can take.  However, instead of whining, here is the art as promised.

 Valerie is hosting Tag Tuesday this fortnight.  Her theme is New Year, New Beginnings.   I simply turned the page from December, 2022 to 2023.  

I first stamped leaves in orange on a bright pink tag I cut from a sheet of cardstock.  I colored the hole reinforcer orange, but I moved it before the ink was dry, so it didn't turn out as good as I had hoped.  I computer generated the sentiment and paired it with a part of an old calendar.  2023 was composed of stickers I colored pink in the centers using my new Posca pen.

After I link to Tag Tuesday, I will go directly to my T Tuesday and AJJ links and try to catch up there.  Thank you for having patience with me and this really stressful and extremely cold time I'm having.  Now if my fingers will just warm a bit.

 

Lightening

 

My good friend Chris of Pearshapedcrafting is our host this month at Art Journal Journey.   All Kinds of Weather is her theme, which I suspect you know by now.

Here is another quick post today.  This one is about lightening.  According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration):

Lightning is a giant spark of electricity in the atmosphere between clouds, the air, or the ground.

Lightning causes an average of 80 deaths and 300 injuries every year.

Contrary to the common expression, lightning can and often does strike the same place twice.  Therefore I call this "Lightening sometimes strikes twice." 

 

Lightning may hit the same place or person several times. According to Weather.gov: 

Ray Sullivan, a retired National Park Ranger was hit 7 times! He has been knocked down, picked up and thrown into the air, lost his shoes and a toenail, and can’t hear as well, but he’s alive!

The best shelter from lightning, according to Weather.gov, is inside a large enclosed structure, such as your home or school. No place outside is safe during a thunderstorm. Once inside, the site recommends to stay away from any windows and doorways, electrical appliances, lighting, electric sockets, and plumbing, such as toilets and showers. 

Taking showers and using a corded phone are the leading causes of indoor lightning injuries.  Cordless phones and cell phones are considered safe.

There are various forms of lightening, including Cloud to Cloud, Cloud to Ground, and Cloud to Air. 

 

For this journal entry, I started with a page from my meteorology book that I sewed to a sheet of 110 lb cardstock using variegated thread.  I computer generated the words and outlined them using two colors of gel pens.  I hope you learned something about lightening and can appreciate how deadly it is.

 

While you are here, I created a tag for Valerie's theme Anything Goes at Tag Tuesday.  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the United States.  It is my favorite holiday because it's all about the food, sharing time with family and friends, a bit of American football (NOT soccer), and did I mention food?  No gift giving, no pressure to have the best decorated house on the block.  Just good times and food.

 

Thank you ever so much for visiting today.  Bleubeard and I are so happy you dropped by and hope you will join us at Tag Tuesday where Anything Goes, and at  Art Journal Journey with your own journal entry featuring All Kinds of Weather.

 

 For Day 24 of AEDM, which the talented Leah hosts, I created a journal page for Art Journal Journey and a Thanksgiving tag for Tag Tuesday.

 

 

Two-fer

 

 I have two offerings for you this Monday morning.

First is a tag for Sandie's theme Book Pages at Tag Tuesday. 

I've always preferred "autumn" to "fall,"

so I created this tag to

honor autumn.  It's written on the book pages.

I started by cutting a piece of cardboard from a cardboard box destined for the recycle bin and turned it into a tag.  I laid down all the book pages and began laying down the letters from two different fonts.  It was at that time I decided to color the tag with autumn colors.  I had planned to add the leaves using E-6000, but found I only had enough for about two leaves.  Instead, I used a new glue that dried shiny and I couldn't rub off the excess, like I can with dried E-6000.  The leaves also danced around on the tag before they finally dried in place (like real autumn leaves do in the wind).

This is another journal page for Wendy, our host this month at Art Journal Journey.

 

Since Wendy's theme is Vintage, I thought this steampunk inspired stencil worked well with her theme.

 

I kept it monochromatic.

 

I looked through my saved images, found one I thought would work, 

 

and secured it using washi tape, after which I sewed the image in place using variegated thread.

Thanks for dropping by today.  Bleubeard and I appreciate your visit and hope to see you at both Tag Tuesday and Art Journal Journey. 

I love it when a challenge comes together

 

I want to start today with a tag I created for the latest theme at Tag Tuesday, which my friend Valerie is hosting this fortnight. She wants us to Reuse and Recycle, something near and dear to my heart.  I don't really have a lot of hoarded items for this tag, but I love to recycle.

Let's start with the tag's substrate, which is cardboard I cut from a box that held canned peas.  Not corrugated, but sturdy, none-the-less.

I cut the cardboard box down to 5.5 X 10 inches (13.97 X 25.4 centimeters).  There was some confusion when I converted feet to meters in a previous post.  I have always used what I thought was the standard metric way to show the measurement, or 13,97 X 25,4 cm.  Sorry if I confused some by not using the period in place of the comma.  This time I chose to use the period so my American friends would "get it."

Now the conversion is cleared up, it's time to cut the corners.

I planned to keep the cardboard side plain.  At least that was the original plan.

I covered the tag with lots of book pages left over from a previous project.  This qualifies for Try it on Tuesday's latest theme, which is Use Book Pages.  I also used a bit of gold fluid acrylic and edged the tag with dye ink. 

The stamped keyhole is from Stampin' Up that is from a set dated 1999.  It was stamped on a piece of leftover painted cardstock from another project. I cut painted recycled cardstock using my deckle edged scissors.

 

A small piece of washi tape I found on the floor was colored with dye ink in an attempt to age it.

 

Left over strips cut from my hole reinforcements, one of which the TH paper doll and his dog stood on, were used to ground them.  But that was when I decided to add more.

I did something I don't normally do, and that is I scanned this journal page.  By using several colors of brown watercolors, I am joining More Mixed Media where their theme this month is always Anything Goes, but this month with an option of brown.

These vintage dogs were sent to me by my dear friend Jeanie who said she bought a scrapbook from the 1800s that had this image in it.  Therefore, it qualifies for Wendy's Vintage theme at Art Journal Journey.

I loved that I found a TH dog that was approximately the same size as the dog on the tag.

I first stamped the key, also from the same Stampin' Up set, then positioned the dog firmly on the key.

What originally started as a music theme, quickly turned morphed into a key and dog theme.  Please don't tell Bleubeard, though.

For this page, I began with the tag I mentioned previously, then added the watercolored 110 lb cardstock.  The Creative Artiste Challenge Blog with their Anything Mixed Media Goes theme requires a minimum of three mediums must be used on their projects. I have more than that with the recycled tag's substrate, the various book pages (including sheet music which provided the title of the page), the leftover hole reinforcement strips, the two paper dolls, two rubber stamps, the use of deckle scissors to cut leftover painted cardstock, washi tape, dye ink, gold paint, several brown watercolors, and an image from an 1800s scrapbook. 

 

Thank you for joining me today at all these challenge blogs: Tag Tuesday, Try it on Tuesday, More Mixed Media, Art Journal Journey, and Creative Artiste.  Bleubeard and I are so delighted you stopped by for a visit, too. 

It's Friday!

 

It's Friday and I had nothing ready to share, either art wise or photos from my garden.  I also didn't have any funny signs from the Colorado based Community Center I love to share.  What to do?

I decided it was time to join my friend Valerie, who is the administrator at Tag Tuesday.  This fortnight the theme is Orange and Blue, chosen by Michelle.

All of the bowls, with the exception of one, were white, so I used orange watercolor and a dark blue felt tip pen to color the bowls.  I also wrote the word "Bold" on the table leg.

My camera seems to be having trouble taking close-up shots, so I scanned this.  Note the orange from the bowls that I mistakenly colored outside the lines, is practically negligible in the scan.

Thanks for joining me for a rare tag I created for Tag Tuesday.

Finally! A tag!

 

Had I realized how much of this tag would be recycled, I would have created it sooner.

I've never been a big fan of tags.  I don't know how to store them, or what to do with them after I create them.

However, I felt I owed my dear friend Valerie, the administrator of Tag Tuesday, the courtesy of joining her theme this fortnight, which is Anything Goes.  I also wanted to thank many people properly, too.

Thank you one and all.

Thanks again.

A million thanks aren't enough.

This tag is at least 80% recycled. Valerie has always said a tag could be any shape, so I'm taking her word for it.  Let's start with the only part that isn't recycled.  The top layer began as a piece of new cardstock that I colored with watercolors after I stamped the gifted (by Erika) Thank You words on it.  

The next layer was corrugated cardboard that I removed from a box that had been lingering in my recycle bin for far too long.  It took awhile to separate the two sides, but it was worth it.  

The bottom layer was a gift from my neighbor across the street.  When her daughter was planning to get married, my neighbor got samples of wedding invitations and announcements from several companies.  Upon her decision, she asked if I wanted the samples.  Never one to refuse collage fodder, but not knowing how I would use the announcement in my art, I gave a resounding yes I would gladly take the samples.  I began by deconstructing the outer layer of the card face.  I had to find a way to hide the sample announcement and the corrugated cardboard was the perfect size to hide everything.  Everything was sewn together using variegated thread.

The final thing to be recycled was a tiny bit of fabric I tore from a piece I originally dyed using turmeric.  

So who am I thanking, you ask? Why YOU, of course.  If you visited even once during my 22 days of recycling, this tag is for you.  I made it in your honor to show how grateful I am that you dropped by to follow my recycling projects.  I can't possibly show how grateful I am, but maybe I can share it in my recycled art! Thanks again dear friends, readers, followers, and lurkers.  Now it's time to visit Tag Tuesday.

 

Finally,  I have an update on a previous post. 

Recently I showed this piece I created using toilet paper and paper towel holders.  When I lamented I messed up trying to remove a pencil circle I created, one of my new internet friends, Annie at Annie's Musings, commented, and I quote: "I have found only one eraser to be my best friend in art and everything else. A Pentel Clic Eraser. It very rarely fails me."  I decided I would look for one the next time I went out.

 

My old keyboard sat on top of a drawer on the keyboard tray.  It was the only place I could get it to work properly, and only if I didn't move it (it being the old keyboard).  When I placed my new keyboard in the tray where it belonged, the drawer was exposed.  Once I looked inside, imagine my surprise and happiness at what I found.

 

My Pentel Clic Eraser of course.  Annie was right.  I was able to remove the pencil marks in no time at all.  That pencil circle is definitely gone.  Thank you, Annie.

 

Not exactly days of wine and roses

 

Because we still have a few more days in November, I'm once again joining Wendy, our host this month at Art Journal Journey, with her theme entitled Birds. 

I wanted to create something that would have a very feminine feel to it.

I did a play on words when I created the sentiment. 

 

I auditioned several pieces of lace for the focal image

 

which included a rose.

For this page, I began with a lovely and colorful image I had in my stash.  Not sure where I got it, but I've definitely had it a LONG time.  I printed it and the sentiment using my laser printer, which has only black ink.  I auditioned many different pieces of lace until I was happy with each one.  Because everything, including the black cardstock background was black and white, I used black and white variegated thread to sew the laces to the page and the images.

While you're here,

I thought you might like to see the tag I created for Valerie's theme at Tag Tuesday which is Pets.  Goaded by both Valerie and Bleubeard, I finally finished this today.

I went a little overboard on the photos.  You might be able to see where I tried to punch a hole that included the incredibly thick plastic substrate I used as backing.  You can also see the heart I created from handmade textured paper.

I love this photo of Bleubeard's close-up.

For this tag, I started with a sheet of very thick plastic (1/8 inch), then covered it with vintage sheet music.  Next, I layered washi paper, two tickets, a clear rectangle cut glass, a button, and a feather found in my yard.  Bleubeard swears he had nothing to do with the feather and I believe him. I finished it off by adding the textured heart and outlining the tag with purple ink.

Thanks so very much for visiting Bleubeard and me today.  We sincerely hope to see you at Art Journal Journey with your own take on Birds, and at Tag Tuesday with your take on Pets.  

I'm also joining AEDM.  Today is Day 28 and I created a journal page for Art Journal Journey and a tag for Tag Tuesday.