Hello Saturday

Hi everyone.  It's been a busy last couple of days. Other than laryngitis, my cold is now on the mend. Thanksgiving was also nice, and now it is the weekend. And the end of November.

Where did November vanish to?

Here's one last piece for Art Everday Month. It's been fun, even if I missed a couple of days, I am still happy with all the work I've created.

So today's art is made with a bunch of bits and pieces, starting with my background which is a leftover page from September. Then I added lots of bits and pieces laying around on my table to finish off he page.

Finally I added a couple of TH folks and a stamped quote, and there you have it. 

And so this page also works for Moo Mania and their latest challenge: Use Your Scraps. It's always good to clean off the work table a bit!

Hope everyone has a super weekend.

And thanks for visiting.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi everyone. 

It is Thanksgiving weekend here in the US.

Just a short post today as I had pie baking to do,  and now I have a head cold to boot.The cold is at the stage where it is slowing me WAY down.  (And causing these hives to return again.)

I am thankful tomorrow I am going to my sister-in-laws and that her husband is a chef and professional baker. Other than the pumpkin pies they requested I make, I can just enjoy the day.

So for those of you have celebrate, I want to wish you a 

And if you don't celebrate, I still wish you a wonderful day!

Thanks so much for visiting.

Humming to the Music

Hi everyone. It is time for a new challenge at Try It On Tuesday. For the next 2 weeks we're asking for art that is Inspired By A Song/Christmas Carol. 

Here's my piece for the latest challenge. I began by using music printed tissue paper to make my background, and then added a bit of snowflake tissue paper to it. A little wintery silver spray helped break up the background. I used a stencil and paint to create the pine branches and cones, and then added some various bits and pieces from my stash to finish off the page. 

Be sure to stop the TIOT site to see all the great inspiration pieces from the other design team member.

And of course, we hope to see your song inspirations.

I am also linking up to Art Everyday Month, day 26.

Thanks for visiting.

Monday, T Day and More

Happy new week everyone. 

I love this week. Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday. I love having the long holiday weekend, all the yummy food, fun family time and then still lots of weekend for fun after the holiday . Plus a little Black Friday shopping, but no, I don't go stand in line or shop on Thanksgiving itself. 

Anyhow, you get the drift, it is usually an enjoyable weekend.

Wishing all you T Gang ladies who celebrate Thanksgiving a very happy holiday since I don't "see" many of you until the next T day.

In today's post I have some art to share as well as an early T day post. 

Let me start with some art.

Yesterday I had lots of afternoon art time, and I created a kitty tag for the Cat challenge at Tag Tuesday.

I had this TH stamped kitty sitting on my work table. I bought this stamp set a long time ago and discovered that I had never used it, so it was time to make something. I also had the fun fish and shrimp paper piece sitting on my work table as it was the backing in a package of stickers I bought a while back. It was way to cool a piece of paper to throw out.

I thought the cat and paper worked together since cats like fish. So I created the tag background and attached the kitty. Then I dressed him up with a die cut hat and bow tie. There was the little round red circle already on the fish paper, so I added a few others as well as a few other details to finish off my tag.

I am also linking up to Art Everyday Month, Day 25.

And this week for T Day I am taking you back to my hockey game weekend. Last Tuesday I shared our pizza dinner before the game, and today I am going to share my Sunday morning breakfast.

This trip we decided to have a sit down breakfast before driving home (rather than getting a bagel or something of the like and eating while driving). We went to a restaurant that we used to occasionally eat at back in our university days. 

 I've always enjoyed this funny statue outside the front door.
It's been there for a long time.

The hardest part eating here is that to enter the restaurant you have to pass through their bakery.

It always makes me even more hungry than I already am.

Yummy!

 On Sunday's they have their breakfast buffet, which isn't too bad. So that's what I had.

I even had a couple of small sweets from their bakery. Yummy!

The buffet was crowded as this is a popular place to eat so I didn't take any photos there, but they had everything from eggs, pancakes, waffles, French toast and other assorted breakfast items.

I am not a coffee drinker, so I went for a breakfast soda but my husband had coffee.

That's my ticket for T this week.

Stop by Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to see what the ladies of the T Gang have been up to. And we'd love to have you join us too.

Wishing you all a great day.

And thanks so much for visiting my blog.

Ready for Winter

Hi everyone. It is a damp grey Sunday morning here. Not as exciting as yesterday's sunshine but a rainy Sunday does make for a nice relaxing day. (And a good excuse to go into the studio too.)

Yesterday the sun was out and I did get outside a bit (hurrah), and I also took some pictures. The birds were happily eating the seeds and suet at the bird feeders, and talking to themselves, and to me also, since I was out there with them. Nice to hear the chickadees and nuthatches and titmice singing away.

 Nature's plant life has certainly prepared itself for winter however. 

 Can you see next spring's buds formed on the tree?

That means there is hope of spring, eventually.

(Hard to get the photos with my phone, it doesn't have great close up focusing.)

 I trimmed back all the roses. I haven't done that before so hopefully I did it correctly.

 This guy was giant and really needed some major pruning.

Hard to believe there was green and flowers here not long ago.  I never did get the tall dead stems cut back. Or at least not yet.

And I did rake not once but twice, but when the last of the oak leaves came down they of course blew back into the gardens.

 And my hydrangea once again gives me a fabulous source of photos. What is it about dead leaves and blossoms that is so fascinating?

.

This is my link to day 24 at Art Everyday Month.

One week left. I am starting to lose my steam  but will keep pushing on, although I have to admit you may lose me early next weekend with the Thanksgiving break. 

Wishing you all a great rest of your weekend, whatever time is left to that, and once again, thanks so much for visiting.

Saturday and the Sun Is Shining

Hi everyone. 

It is day 23 of Art EverDay Month, and here in New Hampshire the sun is shining, even if the temperature is below freezing. 

I'll take it.

 The shadows in the house are always so cool.

And I always think of my Nana on this day as today she would have been 110 years old. She and I were very close, and I really miss her. She was a baking and a knitting queen, as well as someone easy to talk to. When I was in my 20's and she was in her 70's we traveled a bit also. What a pair we must have looked like to strangers, but she was such an inspiration and could probably have outwalked me in a pinch.

And luckily I had her for many long years as she died at 91, so I am thankful for people like her in my life. 

And here's a page from my summer/fall journal

And when I want to do a slow sketch/paint, I can do OK. I didn't quite get Maddie right, something isn't perfect about her eyes, but I did get Pete.

I am happy with him also about the way I managed to be able to work black ears on a black dog.

And I got the shading on Maddie's snout perfect.  And in the photo she was sticking her tongue out that that and panting.

My Nana would tell me that I need to have more patience with many things in life. (In fact she told me that a lot as a kid.) And I guess when I used some patience to do this journal page she was quite correct.

I have the day to myself today. Hurrah. I am going to make some bread dough, prune my roses a bit, and spend a bunch of studio time. And get a walk in too, once it warms up a bit and the bread dough gets made. 

Hope you are having a super weekend so far.

Thanks for visiting.

The Blue Bird of Happiness

Hi there everyone.  Happy Friday.

It's day 22 of Art Everyday Month and here's my piece for today.

I used a gelli print for my blue sky background  and  added this punch out bird (Studio Light art by Marlene). 

I am hoping for some of this blue sky this weekend. It's that time of year when I see blue sky out my work window but never seem to get to be out in it until the weekend arrives. I miss being outside, and since we are suppose to get a bit warmer weather (well at least not as cold)-hurrah-I am hoping to get outside for walk or maybe even finish up some yard work.  

But since I haven't gotten a lot of real blue sky time, I can get some art blue sky time.

That's my page for you today.

Thanks for visiting.

Thursday Ramblings

Hi everyone. 

I am writing this Wednesday night hoping I wake up this Thursday morning feeling better than I did Wednesday morning. There's a weird bug going around where everything aches, and as a teacher friend said, you just can't get out of your own way when you feel like that.  This weird virus has made my hives flare up. I am losing patience with the uncontrollable itching and no one being able to do anything about them. (Even though I am on almost a whole load of various treatments.) It's been  27 months of uncontrollable itchies.

AUGH!

Sorry but I just need to write that down because it does help with the frustration. With the hives that is.

But enough complaining from me. Things could of course be much worse. And I am quite thankful that they are not.

So today I thought I would share another page for Rike's fruit and veggie challenge at Art Journal Journey.

 Apple season has come and gone, but those days are good ones. Today my mostly painted piece celebrates those days.I don't know if I've ever seen an apple tree with such a round top though.

And I am also linking up to day 21 at Art Everyday Month.

Thanks for visiting.

update-woke up still itchy (grrrrrr) but the achy body is gone and I feel better there. any little improvement is better none, right?

This Week's Snippets

Hello my lovely blog readers. 

Ir is already day 20 of  Art Everyday Month, and I have to tell you that I still haven't finished my big art project. If you don't know what I am talking about, I have been posting snippets of a project I have been working on since the start of the month. I am having a lot of fun, but some things just can't be rushed.

But today I have a few more snippets. I'm not trying to tease, because I am sure when I finish the project you will all be underwhelmed. 

It's just what I have been working on.

Have a great day and thanks so much for visiting. 

T Stands for Ice Hockey

Happy Tuesday everyone. 

It is time for T again, and today we are going north on a road trip to chilly Orono, Maine.

But first I need to pack my hockey jersey.

It's time for the Border War to continue. The University of Maine hockey team is playing the University of New Hampshire in men's ice hockey.

A quick background story: Back in 1999 these 2 teams were playing for the National Championship in Division 1 Men's Ice Hockey. At the end of playing time the teams were tied, but since they can only give out one  national championship, the game went into overtime. The first team to score would win. And Maine was the first to score, making them the National Champions, and denying New Hampshire their first ever trophy.

And for those of you not familiar with US geography, Maine and New Hampshire are 2 states next to each other.

Well that game has yet to be forgotten, and hence, the Border War began.

Since then, each year,they alternate where the game is being played, and this year it was being played in Maine, my university alma mater.

And my daughter and her beau both graduated from the University of New Hampshire.

We started having some fun family rivalry and going to these games together a few years ago.

But, before the game starts at 7 PM, let's go have some dinner.

I know not all of you drink beer, but we split a pitcher of red ale. The restaurant was crowded and loud before the game, so I couldn't hear the name of the brewery when the waitress told us and I was seated where I couldn't read the menu board. (sad face)

 But this is my drink for T day. And it was tasty.

And while we waited for dinner, we had a bowl of popcorn. Don't you love how they recycle some type of plastic tub as popcorn bowls?  

This pizza place opened in the late 1950's, and I bet they haven't changed much except for adding the TVs. But for those of us who graduated decades ago, being back at a place that has stayed the same feels good in  nostalgic way.

And dinner was pizza. I ate quite a few of these during my 4 years at school. 

While writing this post, I want another slice or 2 of this. But it is dinner time for me.

Then it was off to the game.

 This game always fills the arena.

 It was an exciting game. At the end the second period (there are 3, 20 minute periods in these hockey games), the University of New Hampshire scored.  Most of the third period this 1-0 score  held, and when they announced the last minute of play, it looked like New Hampshire would win.

But then, with 50 seconds left in the game, Maine scored. Now there was a tie.

 In non-championship games, there is a 5 minute overtime. The first team to score wins. If no one scores, the game ends as a tie.
Now everyone was sitting on the edge of their seats, as the cliche goes.

When Maine scored in the last 50 seconds, the crowd went wild. The arena got loud.

That energy kept the team going and hurrah- a little over 2 minutes into overtime Maine scored again.

That meant Maine won!

I think the newspaper quote from Maine's coach sums it all up nicely.

"The Alfond (arena name) was absolutely electric when we scored the the game-tying and the game-winning goal. It was deafening. In fact, it was so loud I couldn't hear the band. I couldn't distinguish music from the rest of the noise. That's not easy to do. It was loud."

And should you feel bad for my daughter and her beau as they rooted for the other side and were surrounded by a lot of crazy Maine fans, last year in New Hampshire their team won, and it is all just good fun. And beyond the end results, it is always good hockey in these games.

Stop by   Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog  to join us for T Day and to see what everyone has been up to.

Also, I am linking up to Art Everyday Month, day 18.

Have a great week and thanks for visiting.

Drawing Journal

Hi everyone.The new week begins.

And I shall start my week by showing you my daily drawing journal. I've been keeping this all year, but since my drawing skills are not going to impress anyone, I haven't bother to show you any of my amateur pages.

So today I will. But first quickly  tell you about my journal.

My "rules":

I do pages when I have time, and it is OK to do back pages if I don't get to them for a couple of days.

It is also OK to leave pages blank.

I don't have to draw on every page.

I can talk about my day or I can try to draw something I want to draw.

I can also tape in tickets or other paraphernalia.

And some pages are just for me to keep track of my life, like when a bill is due or other events I need to keep straight.

But the biggest rule,

I don't spend a lot of time on these.  The point is to make this easy so I will actually use it.

Here's a few pages from the last few weeks.

I am linking up to Day 18 of Art Everyday Month.

Thanks for visiting. 

Back in the Summer

Hi everyone. 

Now that garden season is over (well at least in New Hampshire but I know many other places too), it's nice to have those frozen and pickled garden favorites. That is if you had a garden and if you canned anything. I often do that but this year my garden wasn't successful enough for that.

But back in the summer I was inspired to start this page by stamping the background and then coloring it. But I didn't like how anything worked with it, so I moved on and left the page unfinished.

Then Rike's Fruit and Veggie challenge at Art Journal Journey came along and I decided to finish it off.

I first used some gesso to tone down the colored veggies, and then I used some printed paper I had as well as some washi tape. All the canned veggies were on a piece of paper and I fussy cut them. Then I used a few stash supplies to finish off the page.

I am also linking up to day 17 at Art Every Day Month.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

And I always appreciate you stopping by! 

The Warm Days in the Jungle

Hi everyone. I know I said I wouldn't be posting today but Elizabeth very kindly said she would post this, so as long as her schedule allows it, this will be up for day 16 of Art Every Day Month.

The hubby and I are heading into the northwoods of Maine today where we will meet up with my daughter and her beau for a hockey game tonight. I can't say the usual Go Blue since both teams are blue so I will say Go Maine!

And since today there is a second blast of arctic air coming in,I thought I would share something a little tropical with you. If I can't be warm I might as well dream that it is.

Right?

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the start of your weekend.

Smile. 

A Little More Autumn.

Hi there everyone.

Happy Friday. And happy  midway through the month. (Already. Holy cow.) That means I'm sharing for day 15 of  Art Every Day Month. 

Today my journal page has an autumn theme.

It's a bit of paint, paper, some stickers, a couple of found relatives and some hand made dimensional bits. 

I won't be around at AEDM tomorrow and possibly Sunday. We're doing another hockey weekend; this time heading north to my actual alma mater. This  is one of our newest family traditions. It's  the battle of the border war schools, Maine and New Hampshire, these 2 rival schools playing, and the rival  school is where my daughter and her beau went to school, so we're having a little family get away.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.

Snippets

Hi everyone. 

Today is day 14 of Art Every Day Month.  And today for Art Every Day Month I just have some snippets of a big project I am working on. Between drying paint and matte medium this project is taking me quite awhile to get through.

And I am not finished yet.

I promise once finished I will share!

Stay warm if it cold where you are and if it's warm, stay cool.

Thanks for visiting.