Space Age

 

Today I'm back at Art Journal Journey, where I'm joining my friend Erika, AKA BioArtGal.  Erika's theme at AJJ this month is In the good old summertime. 

Erika tells us we can create a page using something old, something summery, or both.  What is more summer than eating salads.  They are cool, refreshing, and don't heat the kitchen.  

The same can be said for the microwave oven.  Touch outside the oven and it is the same as the ambient temperature of the kitchen.  

The microwave was invented in the early 1920s.  Items were cooked using radio waves made possible by vacuum tube radio transmitters.  According to Wikipedia:

At the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, Westinghouse demonstrated the cooking of foods between two metal plates attached to a 10 kW, 60 MHz shortwave transmitter. The Westinghouse team, led by I. F. Mouromtseff, found that foods like steaks and potatoes could be cooked in minutes.

Even though meals tend to be lighter in summer, there were times on the weekend people wanted a hearty breakfast.  They also wanted sit down dinners.  That was when the microwave shined.  Therefore I give you the following tribute to the microwave.

This is the space age star of the kitchen.  Detail images are below.

 

I began with black 9 X 12 in (22.86 X  30.48 cm) 140 lb. watercolor paper I cut down to 8.5 X 11 in (21.59 X 27.94 cm).  I then found images of microwave ovens from the 1970s and printed them using my black only toner printer.  

 

I found these two wonderful images in a local magazine (The Union Central Advocate) from 1970 in my stash.  Normally when I print images I have to lighten them or they are too dark.  This time was different.  I may have lightened both images a bit too much.  The top image shows a weekend breakfast for four.  It included baked apples, baked eggs with sausage, graham cracker breakfast bread, jams and jellies, and coffee for four.

 

The bottom image shows a sit down dinner that included crab stuffed artichokes, salmon steaks with sour cream cucumber sauce, new potatoes, walnut buttered Brussels sprouts, and cherry pie for six.

 

The words were computer generated and printed using my black toner printer.  Microwave ovens today often include air fryers and convection ovens. 

 

Thanks ever so much for dropping by today.  It means the world to me. I hope you enjoyed this rather different look at my interpretation of In the good old summertime at  Art Journal Journey.  

 

Priorities

 

I'm once again at Art Journal Journey joining my friend, Halle of Halle's Hobbies.  Her theme for the month of July is Fabric, lace, and trims…oh my!  Below is my next entry for her theme. 

Unlike yesterday's sentiment, I actually chose this based on the elements I used.  Details are below.

 

I began by sewing the very stretchy background fabric to 5 X 8 in (12.7 X  20.32 cm) 110 lb cardstock using blue variegated thread.  Then I created both sub assemblies.  The one on the right started with a sample of Sunbrella fabric to which I sewed the last of some gifted lace ribbon and a small piece of shimmery fabric.  I then added that assembly to the striped fabric that I bought years ago as a fat quarter.  It was the first time I used it.  I then sewed these pieces to the background fabric and the other piece of shimmery fabric I found in my stash.  Finally, I added the sentiment I colored with a watercolor pencil.

 

Thanks beyond belief for dropping by today.  It means everything to me. I also hope to see you and your interpretation of Fabric, lace, and trims…oh my! inspired art at Art Journal Journey. 

 

The Security House

 

I'm once again joining Matilde from Craftowanie.  She is our host this month at Art Journal Journey.  Her theme is Houses and Buildings.  

I give you the Security House.  Can you tell why I call it that?  Details are below.

Every part of this house, right down to the door knob, was created using security envelopes.  It's no secret I save security envelopes and love to use them in my art.  There are some great patterns and they are free for the taking (after you've removed and dealt with the item inside, of course).

I used watercolor pencils to create the sky, grass, flowers, and sidewalk.

I hope you will join Bleubeard and me at Art Journal Journey and share your own take on Houses and Buildings.  Thank you so very much for visiting today.

  

The Bird House

 

Today I am joining Matilde from Craftowanie.  She is our host this month at Art Journal Journey.  Her theme is Houses and Buildings. 

It's obvious I've named this the Bird House.  Detail images are below.

 

When I found this postage stamp, I thought it looked like a bird in the hole of the house.

 

I was surprised when I saw the two different colors of the same 1cent bird.  I was happy when I was able to use the lower case letters from these stickers.  BTW, this is just a tiny portion of all the various bird postage stamps I have.  I've collected them for years and years.

 

I hope you have enjoyed my Bird House.  And I hope you will join Bleubeard and me at Art Journal Journey.  Thank you for visiting today.

  

 

A bird collage

 

Today I am joining my dear friend and host this month at Art Journal Journey, Mia from Craftartista. Mia's theme for May is Birds.  And because I have multiple media, I am also joining Creative Artiste's #126th Challenge where the theme is always Anything Mixed Media Goes.

I have created a bird collage.  Details are below.

 

This started out as the inside of a Christmas card.  The outside only showed the male cardinal, so I opted for the interior.

 

I have two different types of birds on a wire washi tapes, so I was glad the color scheme wasn't offensive.

 

 

For once I used a gifted purchased tag, not one I made myself.  I colored the large tag blue and green using water soluble crayons.  Once dry, I adhered the bird which was a see-through sticker.

 

Perhaps the most difficult thing I did was wind the small tag through the large tag's hole and loop it in place.  You can see I wrote the word "bird" on the small tag using a black Micron pen.

 

Finally, I added three bird postage stamps from my stash.

 

For this entry, I used one side of a large card (6 X 9 in; 15.24 X 22.86 cm), two washi tapes, two tags, two water soluble crayons, one micron pen, one sticker, and three U.S. postage stamps.

 

Bleubeard and I would be thrilled if you would join us today at both Art Journal Journey and Creative Artiste.   

 

Honoring International Collage Day

 

I had planned to make something original for Collage Day, but I am still not well and have been trying to get my herbs either outside or planted when I'm not chilling in bed.  Instead, here are a few I've created in the past.

  Maybe you thought I would choose Food Fodder, a recent collage, as a collage of choice.

  Or this one called Tools. 

Instead, I'm going back to my early collages that are SO different from the ones I make today.  I created the following collages and many more (I filled an entire book, in fact) between March and December, 2008.

  Locked:  Pigment ink,  scrapbook paper, paper scraps, embellishments, magazine image.  

  Designed by Architects: scrapbook paper, hand painted paper, magazine images, mica powder added to silverware handles.

    Cry Baby: images from various magazines, computer generated text, and matching background design.  

  The Universe: textured handmade, hand painted background paper, cardboard mats spray painted green and gold, trimmed in gold ink, words and central image from a science book.

  Word: textured background paper, hand painted and stamped (by me) frame, focal image was part of a swap exchange, words are from a magazine. 

  Christmas Kitsch: adorable images fussy cut from a magazine, hearts cut from painted book pages, three tickets, shaving cream paper background. 

  The Ringmaster: fussy cut magazine image, fussy cut botanical book image, ticket. 

  Behind the Eight Ball: Images taken from four different magazines.  Rowboat and eight ball were fussy cut.  Possibly my favorite collage of all.

And finally I give you
The Collage Artist's Tool Box:  Scrapbook paper turned into a collage box, various supplies one would need to create a collage.  Just add glue and scissors.

Thank you for visiting today.  I am delighted you dropped by and spent a bit of time seeing these old collages. 

 

 

Ode to a tree

 

It has been a harrowing two days in my world.  First there was the golf ball sized hail that managed to do a lot of damage to the exterior and roof of my home.  There was also the torrential rain that didn't seem to stop.  Thankfully my basement didn't flood.  Then the tornado sirens went off.  Yes, a tornado was close by, but thankfully to the south of me.  Bleubeard headed to the basement, but Squiggles and I decided to watch the weather on my favorite local TV station instead.  While I was doing that, a streak of lightening hit very close to my house and knocked out the electricity.  I (and my neighbors) sat without any electricity for nearly two days until it could be restored.  Welcome to spring in Kansas!  At least you know why I haven't been around to visit.

Today I'm joining Gillena, whose blog is Lunch Break.  Her theme is Trees are Awesome, Aren't They?    

I call this Ode to a tree.  This is a mixed media entry with details below.

From left to right, I started with leftover vintage sheet music.  Next was a lovely lavender page that I messed up trying to stamp bunnies on it.  To hide my mistake, I added a piece of security envelope.  Then I stamped the tree on a piece of old book page.  I used another book page to stamp the leaf.  On the far right, I spent a lot of time dripping my handmade spray mists onto a sheet of cardstock, then messed up when I tried to stamp an image onto the piece.  When I added them all together, the failures were far less noticeable.

 

Thank you for joining Bleubeard and me for this final Art Journal Journey entry in April. 

 

 

 

 

Hurt

 

I continue to be unable to leave comments, even on my own blog.  I plan to reinstall Firefox in a few days, although  I'm reluctant to do so because I lose everything, including all my saved cookies.   

For several years, I played along at a British website called Craft Barn.  Although they are no longer in business, they originally sold various mixed media and wood products.  They also had annual twice monthly challenges, and in 2014, it was Quotes and Lyrics.

The following post is one of those challenges which was from April, 2014. 

 Craft Barn's Eighth Challenge: Knowledge and Hurt

The eighth Craft Barn lyrics or quotes challenge came out today.  I checked before I went to sleep, and decided the word I would use would be HURT, mainly because all the DT examples were Knowledge.  Of course, those of you who know me, or follow along on my blog, know that I'm a positive person, with no room for pain or emotional baggage.  So finding a good quote was priority # 1, and finding one I could use recycled materials with was priority # 2.

Once again, I started with one of my used file folders cut in half lengthwise.  To that, I glued a background of Tootsie Roll Pop wrappers, things most people would throw in the trash after consuming the candy.

For the detail shots, I cut hearts from red Tootsie Roll Pop labels that I outlined using a Sharpie marker.

To set the CB 8 apart, I used a shiny wrapper I found in my stash.

I added a chocolate image to this heart.

I continued with the red raspberry  wrappers I turned into hearts until I came to the 

word "hurt."  In case you can't read it, here is what it says:

All you need is love.  But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.

~Charles M. Schulz

Although he died in early 2000, I’m sure most of us remember this cartoonist who gave us such Peanuts characters as Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, and my all-time favorite: Lucy, who, like me, thinks everything should cost 5 cents.

This is Day 6 of 22 leading to bEARTHday.  For this prompt and subsequent artwork, I recycled 10 candy wrappers and half a file folder.  I also used two magazine images.  I hope you had a super Easter for those who observe it.
 

As an aside, I was really impressed with how many different children I found on the covers of the Tootsie Roll Pops.