Summer in America

 

Today you will find me at Art Journal Journey, where I'm joining my friend Erika, who many of you know as BioArtGal.  Erika's theme at AJJ is In the good old summertime.  This will be my final entry in August.  However, there is still ample time to join with your entry.

This is my interpretation of Summer in America.  Detail images are below.

 

I began by adhering a napkin with stars from my stash to 5 X 8 in (12.7 X 20.32 cm) 110 lb cardstock using a glue stick.  Then I adhered another napkin from my stash over the first one, also using a glue stick.  Next I added an image from my stash, but my color laser printer isn't working at the moment, so I had to use my black only laser printer to print the three women smoking meat over a barbecue.  Finally, I attempted to adhere two cut fireworks images to the page. 

Thanks ever so much for dropping by today.  It means the world to Bleubeard and me.  We hope to see you and your interpretation of In the good old summertime at Art Journal Journey.  

And before I end this post, I want to thank Erika who ALWAYS goes over and above when she hosts AJJ.  Please be sure to tell her what a great job she's doing this month.  I'm certainly proud of her and proud to call her not just a great co-administrator, but a good friend.

 

Summer at the beach

 

Today you'll find me at Art Journal Journey joining my friend, the talented Halle of Halle's Hobbies.  By now you probably know her theme for the month of July is Fabric, lace, and trims…oh my!  Below is my possibly/probably penultimate entry.

And because I have multiple media, I'm also joining Creative Artiste's 128th challenge, where the theme is always Anything Goes.

It's obvious I named this Summer at the beach.  It is a mixed media entry.  Details are below.

 

I began by adhering a napkin from my stash to 5 X 8 in (12.7 X 20.32 cm) 110 lb cardstock using a glue stick.  I then sewed a piece of fabric torn from a fat quarter to the background using blue variegated thread.  Next I sewed the gifted ribbon in place, after which I sewed the computer generated words to the assembly.  Finally, I adhered the star button found in my stash using E6000.  

 

Thanks ever so much for dropping by today.  It means the world to me. I hope to see you and your interpretation of Fabric, lace, and trims…oh my! inspired art at Art Journal Journey and Creative Artiste's Anything Goes. There's still ample time to join in both challenges. 

  

 

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. 

 

Flutter Lover

 

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

This has been a disaster from the very beginning.  I love to tear my fabric, but this gifted bit of fabric was cut on the bias, so I had no way to tear it.  Detail images are below.

 

I began by sewing the fabric to 5 X 8 in (12.7 X  20.32 cm) 110 lb cardstock using blue variegated thread.  I dyed cheesecloth using a Staz-on reinker.  When dry, I sewed it to the right side of the assembly.  I then sewed the lace to the top of the assembly.  Next, I adhered the computer generated words I colored with a watercolor pencil.  Finally, I sewed the rick rack to the bottom of the assembly.  I personally don't believe I need a sentiment in my art, but I know Halle does. Therefore the lame name of the art assembly.

 

Thanks ever so much for dropping by today.  It means the world to me. I hope to see you and your interpretation of Fabric, lace, and trims…oh my! inspired art at Art Journal Journey. 

 

 

House of Cards

 

This will be my final entry this month at Art Journal Journey.  I'm joining Matilde from Craftowanie whose theme is Houses and Buildings.  

 

My final entry this month is a play on words.  I call it House of Cards.  Details are below.

 

 

I got the idea for this final house while mowing my yard.  I had to mow, or the city would fine me if the grass is over 5 inches tall.  They can't do anything as long as it's raining, but once there's a rain free day, it must be mowed.  I heard a lot of other lawn mowers going as I was mowing, too.

 

I used a bunch of gift and member cards, as well as freebies I received in the mail to create the house and roof.  The "door" was a food shopping card which allows discounts to certain items if you have the card.  

 

Recently while at the bank, the teller gave me several different denomination money bands, one of which I used to differentiate the house from the roof.  The ransom letter words were from two magazines in my stash.

 

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.  We are extremely pleased you stopped by.

  

  

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.

  

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.   

 

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. 

 

 

 

 

Can you hear me now?

 

I was hoping Blogger would be kind to me today, but that doesn't seem to be the case.  I will leave you a comment when Blogger sees fit. Until then, I still get "Failed to Publish."  Please understand, this is NOT my doing.

Thank you for visiting today.  This is a special day, as it is for the Earth.  It's also a culmination, where for 22 days beginning April 1, I attempted to show how to rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle, re-invent, recover, restore, or repurpose something in order to save it from the trash. It all led up to Earth Day, or "bEARTHday" in my world.  Of course, I believe EVERY day should be Earth Day, because we must find a way to save our planet. 

 

As an aside, there is more to think about than just trash.  There are endangered species to consider.  Do any of you remember when the California condor was on the extreme endangered list?  It became extinct in the wild in 1987.  In 1982, only 23 condors survived world-wide. By 1987, all remaining wild condors were placed into a captive breeding program in an effort to save the species from extinction.  According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:

Since 1992, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) began reintroducing captive-bred condors to the wild, the USFWS and its public and private partners have grown the total free-flying and captive population to more than 500 condors In 2004, the Recovery program reached an important milestone with the first successful chick hatched in the wild. In 2008, more California condors were flying free in the wild than in captivity for the first time since the program began.   

Now it's time to help endangered porpoises. With fewer than 10 individuals believed to remain in the wild, the vaquita is one of the most critically endangered marine animals.  It is also known as the Gulf of California harbor porpoise, or cochito.  According to NOAA Fisheries:

Vaquitas have the smallest range of any whale, dolphin, or porpoise.  They only live in the northern part of the Gulf of California, an area that is rich in fish and shrimp.  Fishing is thus a major source of income for the people there, who almost exclusively use gillnets, but vaquitas can also become accidentally wrapped in the nets and drown.  Scientists agree that for vaquitas to survive in the wild, "gillnet" fishing, also known as Fishing Net Entanglements, must end within the vaquita habitat.

Perhaps we need legislation that actually works to save these endangered porpoises. 

As those of you who have been here all 22 days know, I have brought back a favorite post from the past from April 2015, 2016, and 2017.  Today is no different.  I am sharing part of a favorite post from April, 2017.  As you read from the title of today's post it is called  

Can you hear me now? 

 

For today's recycling entry

I started with a book cover given me by my friend Sally.

I added some gold infused tissue paper

I saved from a gift.

I used white PVA glue to adhere the tissue paper to the book cover.

While the glue was drying, I decided to create a new universal hole locator.  I began with a pad of post-it-notes and a steel ruler.

I measured down 2 mm from the top of the pad on two sides and drew lines.

I used those two lines as guides to create a single line across the width of the page.

I measured 2.5 mm from the left and right sides

and drew two perpendicular lines to meet the horizontal line.


I drew a small circle at the intersections of each line,

then wrote the words "left" and "right."  That was for your benefit, not mine.

The idea is, no matter what width

you are measuring, the hole locater will work perfectly by lining it up with either the left or right side of the piece.

Here is my completed assemblage with holes punched, but minus wires.

I'm really happy about the completed assemblage.

I'm including a few random shots for your enjoyment.

I need to adhere the "Hear Hear" a bit better, I see.  As an aside, it is left over from the deli paper I used a couple of days ago.

For this assemblage, I started with a book cover and some used tissue paper.  I deconstructed an old cordless phone and used the "motherboard" as the main assembly.  I added the speaker from the same phone, along with some beads and baubles I either assembled, or used to add interest to this assemblage.   For the hanger, I used a colorful deconstructed telephone wire.  I used a stencil to write all the words on the scrap deli paper.  Everything except the PVA glue has been recycled or repurposed today.

Thank you beyond belief for your continued support of my recycling efforts through the past 22 days.   And please have a glorious Earth Day everyone.  BTW, I won't be eating cake today.   Instead, I'm having a glazed doughnut.