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.
 

 

Marilyn

Sometimes we are inspired by a person, and other times we are inspired by the various materials we find to work with.  Today I'm once again joining Gill at Gibby Froggett Craftations, this month's host at Art Journal Journey with her Inspired by theme. 

In my stash, I found these playing cards of Marilyn Monroe, which inspired me to create this spread I have now added to my large art journal. 

I considered using Bernie Taupin's lyrics that began with "Goodbye Norma Jean" (Candles in the Wind, 1973)

then decided I liked her quote even better.

I can't exactly say I'm inspired by Marilyn,

because she was a tortured soul, often used by others,

became a sex symbol, used and confused sex for love, and often felt uncared for, even by those who gave her unquestioning love.

If only Marilyn had actually lived by her words!

I found these playing cards in my stash, so decided it was time to use them.  I painted the used file folder with two colors, then added the cards and sentiment.  Next, I added the stenciling, which took forever because the stencil was so small.  As a final element, I found a metal wire I formed in the shape of a number 6.

Thank you for dropping by and spending time with me today.  Please don't forget to meet me at Art Journal Journey today, too!

I also have some really, really good news, too. 

As I was preparing to mow this evening,

look what I found in my "flower bed."  The severe cutting of the rose bush seems to have worked wonders!

Every Summer and Africa

Every summer there is one day that we vividly remember.  It's one we will talk about until winter sets in.

It's what we call a perfect summer day.

It might be one filled with fun and laughter, shared with friends and family,

or it might be one we chose to spend in solitude and reflection.

It might be one where ocean waves slapped against the shore,

or we stumbled on a starfish (sea star) drug up from the ocean bottom by the waves.

This perfect summer day

practically writes its own story.

It needs very little embellishing.

It is perfect just the way we remember it.

Materials for this page began with a used file folder I colored using pale pink acrylic paint.  While still wet, I laid a page from an old telephone book on top, then ripped it away, leaving bits and pieces of the thin page behind.  I backed the computer generated sentiment with more of the phone book page that picked up the same color.  The focal image came from a magazine.  I added white stickles to emphasize the waves, and a dimensional starfish.  Because I felt it needed something more, I used my hand made chevron stamp at the bottom of the page.

 

Thanks for joining Bleubeard and me today at Art Journal Journey as we share a perfect summer day that is loaded with summertime love.  It may even be a perfect summertime day for you, too.

Because time is quickly running out on Moo-Mania and More's Africa theme,

I created this entry that should meet the requirements.

I had printed this quote by the Dalai Lama for another (very different) AJJ entry, but I thought it would go well with an African spread.  I used a watercolor crayon to knock down the bright red paper I printed it on, but when I did, I got the orange crayon on the image of Africa.   I probably should have printed it on different paper, but I already had it glued to the page before I realized what a mess I had made.

I found this giraffe charm in my stash,

along with an iron-on patch in the shape of a giraffe. 

The word "Africa" in the second photo above was on the package of twisted wires that I used as embellishments.  The wires were made by African women who support themselves and their families by creating these embellishments and selling them under a licensed contract.  Since I am in favor of helping women from ANY country, this project appealed to me.

The above African inspired metal piece began as an earring.  Since I don't wear earrings, and would never wear anything that large anyway, this was a perfect embellishment.

I found this piece of handmade paper I had printed the words "Out of Africa" on for another project (specifically my 7-Continent altered book).  Even though the colors weren't especially right for this spread, I used it anyway.

The image of Africa came from a geography text book copyrighted 1965.  After I scanned the image, I lightened it in PhotoShop until it looked like a watermark.  I didn't want it to out shine the other elements on the page.

The materials I used for this spread include a used file folder I swiped with three colors of acrylic paint, two wire embellishments made in Africa, an earring, a charm, and an iron-on patch from my stash, two strips of wallpaper, handmade paper, a scanned image from a geography text book, watercolor crayon, and computer generated text.

Thanks for sticking around to see this summertime Africa spread I created for Moo-Mania and More.  Both Bleubeard and I appreciate it and your continued support of my art.