Friday, January 12, 2018

January Weather

Happy Friday everyone. This week has gone by fairly quickly, and it's almost the weekend again.
And no big Bomb Cyclone storms this week in my world. :)
For those you who don't live in my general area of the world,  the weather has warmed up from the frigid arctic temperatures and wind we had been having. In fact today it is going to be over 50 degrees (10 degrees C).  But we are suppose to get a lot of rain and it will be feel pretty raw, so even though it will be warmer it is not going to be a beautiful day. But I do hope the rain might wash away some of the snow still on my back deck and in my driveway. 
But then tomorrow the cold will return (but not as cold as last week), so we could get some ice.
This January weather is quite the adventure.
And so that is the inspiration for my page for Art Journal Journey's latest theme, New Year: New Adventures.
First I drew and colored with some crayons my giant raindrops. My background is made from spraying various blue, silver and gold inks. Then I used white paint to stamp some snowflakes, and I added 3 plastic white snowflakes too. The number stickers show some of our recent temperatures, and I used some new pastels I bought to makes the blues squiggly lines. Finally I added some blue sequins, this little phrase I pulled out of a magazine and a small paper backed thermometer I had in my stash.
And I was very pleased with new pastels  I bought.
The other day I stopped at the grocery store which is right next door to Hobby Lobby. Temptation got the better of me. But it was a good stop since I got this set of pastels on their markdown rack. The box was a bit beat up and 1 of the pastels was broken in half, but I got these pastels at 75% off.  They were even cheaper than Amazon had them.
Now I can have some arty weekend adventures with those pastels. :)
Thanks for visiting and happy Friday!



16 comments:

Rike said...

Great idea to paint the weather in January, you made a beautiful page with those raindrops, snowflakes, the quote and the other wonderful details! You had big luck to get the pastels so much cheaper! I am looking forward to your new adventures with these pastels!
Rike x

froebelsternchen said...

I am in awe of this background and the page ... yes Silence -- I just read in a magazine nearly the same - very popular just now. We arstist-crafters know that already since long time,right?!
Mindfulness got also very popular ...we are mindful when we create!
Your page inspired by the weather and coldness turned out superb!
You are a really great inspiration for me and for the gals at Art Journal Journey!
I did say it already - but once again - YOU ROCK Mrs. Nelson!
I can imagine how super those crayons are. I have a very big wooden box (48) of them
since 30 ( in words = thirty) years. I bought them as I felt in love with the colours in the box and they were really expensive at those times for me. And I couldn't use them as I were no drawer or painter and had no experience with pastels.
But I always admired them and never gave them away. More than 10 years later I began stamping and I used them for backgrounds over stamped versamark patterns and was so happy about them.
I use them often nowadays - they are even good when scraped color away with a sharp knife to use like brushos with water! You have to try! And you always can take directly color from them with a waterbrush to use it like watercolors - but unfortunately contrary to Derwent Ink bars they are not permanent after drying.
The brand CRETACOLOR comes from Austria - they are not far aways from where I life and it's really high quality pigmented! Well done - I hope you are always thinking of me now when you use them...lol!
Happy weekend my friend - hope the weather stays now warmer in your area!

oxo Susi

craftytrog said...

Glad to hear it has warmed up a little Erika, I hope the rain doesn't turn to ice though.
I love how you used your new pastels on your page, and that quote is great.
Happy Friday!
Alison xox

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

We are back to subzero temps here. It's been a real rollercoaster ride this January, so your art makes me smile. It's 51 F in my WARM office today (where the boys and I are living again), and the rest of the house is in the 40s.

I love your little thermometer, your snowflakes, and your new pastels. What a fabulous find. You will LOVE these, I'm sure.

I really like this latest entry, and I also like the quote. Thanks so much for sharing this journal page with us again at Art Journal Journey, Erika.

Dortesjs said...

Love it, very beautiful and great colours

Divers and Sundry said...

We had a high of 64 yesterday and snow today. Yes, snow! Congrats on the pastels deal. Wow!

Meggymay said...

It is a great page and the blues of the background look fantastic.
It is a lovely quote you added. The temperatures of your weather are so up and down, I think it must be hard to know what to wear each day to feel comfortable and warm.
You got a bargain with the Pastels, enjoy using them this weekend.
Yvonne xx

CJ Kennedy said...

Love the color of your page and the wild temperature swings. Crazy weather for sure. It's nice to see some grass and a lot of the snow gone. Not looking forward to ice tomorrow. You'll have a good day to try out those new pastels. Great bargain!

Let's Art Journal said...

Wonderful page! It's great how you have captured the raindrops, snowflakes and temperatures - perfect 😁. Glad the weather is warming up compared to last week, stay warm and happy weekend! J 😊

Carola Bartz said...

Your weather doesn't sound nice at all. But how lovely that it inspired you to this pretty journal page.

2amscrapper said...

We're back to winter!!! I love your interpretation on this journal page!

Lisca said...

I love your colourful banner.In the middle of winter I usually crave bright colours, so this is nectar for my soul.
Your page really depicts the weather, snow and ice etc. I'm glad the temperatures have risen a bit for you. We live in southern Spain, which is known for its mild weather. (Like souther California) but because we live on a high plain in the foothills of the mountains, our weather is cooler. It is 6 degree C (43F) now but this afternoon in the sun it will be so warm I canh comfortably sit outside.
I think you will find that your pastels are a good buy. I hope you will use them a lot. The colours are beautiful.
I've had to read a few of your blogs to catch up. But I feel better now and am back in the fold.
Have a great weekend,
Take care,
Lisca

Gibby Frogett said...

What a fabulous page to show your weather.. I had to look twice as I thought you'd added some fibres to the page (as it looks so textured) and then realised it was the pastel marks. I don't know that brand of pastels but they look great.
Gill xx

Anonymous said...

Always good when art supplies are marked way down and still excellent. Enjoy new creative endeavors. xox

Jeanie said...

That's a perfect description of my January weather -- rain, melting, snow, cold, later, rinse, repeat (except for the melting; that seems over for awhile!) Fun page and good interpretation!

SCarol said...

Lovely journal page. Simply love the words and just love how you've put this page together with the colour and texture. Thanks so much for your visit to my blog and see you soon!