Thank You

Happy Friday everyone. Today I can say that not only did the week fly but also that the month flew by also.

Today's my last day as hostess at Art Journal Journey, and the last day for the When It's Hot challenge.  It's been a fantastic month of art, and I am sending a BIG thank you to all of you who joined in the fun. I always love seeing how people interpret a challenge, and there were some wonderful creative takes!

So today I want to share the cover I made on my  journal. For some reason, I had a hard time getting the photo to come out with the right colors digitally.

I think it is the bright colors I used. First of all, the sun looks  green, and the only way I could get the sun to be even a hint of yellow was to bleach out the bright orange felt background.  And the spray splotches are blue and green, but here they look all green. And the sequins are bright orange. I think they look rathery coppery.  Sometimes these color adjustments just don't want to work.

Well I am ending the month with a bust, not a bang.

But I do have one more page with the right colors to show you.

A bouquet for you in thanks.

I hope everyone had a wonderful month of July, and I'll see you next month.

Welcome to Your New Hampshire Vacation

Hi everyone. Today I am back with some more pages from my journal for  the When It's Hot challenge at Art Journal Journey.  The challenge is almost over, and it's been great month. 

I've enjoyed all the entries by so many talented people.

So today we're trying to escape the heat by taking a road trip. I'm not sure New Hampshire is a cool place to visit as it is quite  hot here right now, but since we have mountains, lakes and a bit of seacoast, it's not a bad place to visit and find a cool spot. Of course, you might want to wait until after Covid-19 has passed.

I started with this page (on the top) where I used some Art by Marlene punch outs. Travel trailer camping is always popular, but this year in particular.  I personally like the VW convertible bug. Not sure it could pull a trailer but  I think it makes a fun page.

And so to help you plan your traveling vacation, here;s a map to make it a little easier.

My pages today are taking you to the seacoast and lakes region that I know best. 

Now I am not a surfer, but if you are, or just like watching people surf, you could start at the seacoast.

Maybe you'd rather sail or just watch the sailboats from the shore.

But to keep the sand out of your shoes, I suggest you wear flip flops. Or at least some sandals.

And after your days at the seashore you could head inland to the Lakes Region.  A cottage on the lake or a spot for your travel trailer on one of the many lakes would be a nice choice.

And at sunset you could sit on the dock with a margarita and watch the sky turn colors.

And maybe if alcoholic drinks aren't your thing, you could have a glass of refreshing lemonade.

And after the sun sets, put on a bit of mosquito repellant and watch the fireflies.

All this while you sit next to a campfire.

I'm a little partial, but hope you have a good trip.

Sun Fashions

Hi everyone.   July is winding down ever so quickly. I can't believe we only have a few days left of this month.

When I made my journal for the When Its Hot challenge I filled in every page. This challenge, if you don't already know, is over at Art Journal Journey. As there were more than 31 pages in my journal, I have some extras to share.

Today I am sharing some vintage sun fashions.

My top page is is a fantasy page about visiting Hawaii. I  had hoped to go later this fall with my husband to celebrate the big birthdays we both have/had this year. But even though the cases are low in Hawaii, we wouldn't  have enough time to quarantine and visit what we want to visit  (since the hubby is still working), and we are not yet comfortable  traveling, so for now it  is just a dream. Maybe next fall there will be vaccines and we can travel. 

 I like this lady who was on a TH photo card. I cut her out and added the hibiscus, the state flower of Hawaii. She is showing us her cool sunglasses and also the way you can block the sun with a light wrap around your head. 

And this second page goes back many more years to when  summer hats were a must.  I stamped  the background  using one of my ancient cube stamps (from just for fun). And then I reused an idea I'd used earlier. I stamped this large Victorian lady stamp and added a frame around her so she would stand out. 

I like thoat rose covered hat she is wearing.

Do any of you still wear a summer sun hat?  I have a straw beach hat and a couple of baseball caps.  I think they have definitely become more utilitarian, at least compared to these.  

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today. 

T Stands for Happy Mail and More

Hello my fellow T ladies.  Today I have a lot to share in my post.

But before I forget, stop by Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog for T this week.

First of all, I received a fun envelope in the mail from our lovely hostess Elizabeth and her trusty sidekick Bleubeard.

And I also received a fantastic ATC from Linda,

Thank you so much ladies. You' re the best!

And  I am still waiting for another ATC that hasn't arrived yet but I was told was shipped from Chris who had my name for the swap. Hopefully it will be here next week so I can share that with you then

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 And  for art today, I have another page for Art Journal Journey. My When It's Hot challenge runs until this Friday when the month ends.

And I want to say thank you to all of you who have joined in to date. I've enjoyed all the inspiring art so far!

 So my journal page today is all about watermelon which many people enjoy on hot summer days.

And my page works with my drink for this week.

I've made a few pitchers of this tea over the past week  and then kept each pitcher in the frig. It is really  a refreshing drink with ice during these very hot days we've been having. I've used the mug the school gave me for retirement as you can see to the right of the tea tin.

And as our weather has been very hot lately, so I've been inside baking a bit. I hate to see my electric bill next month for all the time the AC has been running.

I used up some bananas and also a zucchini and made some banana bread and a chocolate zucchini sheet cake.

I frosted the cake and added some chocolate sprinkles.

And I made some sourdough bread also.

Sorry to make some of you hungry!

And over the weekend I spent some time at my other-in-laws on lake. 

At least there was a nice breeze on the water.  And actually we had the place to ourselves since my MIL was at my sister-in-laws house for the weekend. That was the icing on the cake as they say.

 I wish all of you a Happy Tuesday! And thanks so much for visiting my blog.

The Last Week

Hi everyone. We're now into the last week of July. It's been a fast month for certain.

 If I had to go back to school, I would start to feel a little sad  about now that there are would be so few weeks of my vacation left. But it is good this year not to have to go back and deal with all the chaos the Covid-19 virus is causing. I feel bad for my friends who are spending some of their summer preparing for any teaching possibility. It doesn't give them much of a break at all.

The top page started with this photo that was in some packaging that I've recycled. I stamped the calendar image several times on the background in brown ink as I like the shadow effect. Then I stamped the square season image on white paper and added that stamped image to my page. This is an oldie but goodie in my collection.

And if you aren't lactose intolerant and like a cool dairy treat, how about some ice cream or frozen yogurt on a hot day?

My husband and I have a new fun tradition this summer of having ice cream for either lunch or dinner on Sundays. His favorite is strawberry, so I must have been thinking of him when I made this page.

The scoops and quotes are another ancient stamp set in my collection. The set is a Hero Arts baking set, but they work well with ice cream too.

Both of these pages are for my When It's Hot challenge at Art Journal Journey.

I am off to visit my Mom today. It is really hot, but hopefully storm free. 

Hope you are all stay cool! Thanks for visiting.

Since It's Sunday

Hi there. Hope you are having a great weekend so far.

I think my latest page for Art Journal Journey for the When It's Hot challenge speaks for itself.

Hot here, so I am going to take a break and relax just like the lady on the beach on my page. (I'm not at the beach though.)

Thanks for visiting!

Summer Flowers

Hi there.

The weekend is here. It's suppose to be a pretty nice day in my world. My daughter is around for the day, and I know she keeps saying she hopes we go up to her grandmother's on the lake. I think she wants to go for a swim. And it is hot enough for it.

Today's pages are ones that celebrates the flowers that bloom When It's Hot.  

I made my first page with a piece of Graphic 45  paper. Then I used the center part of a die cut oval ring, decorated it a bit, and added this lady I cut out of on old FLOW magazine. I used some white paint and one of  Alison Bomber's quote stamps. Finally I added some scalloped copper tape from my stash.

This second page started with some Dina Wakely blue spray paint, a Sharpie and a ruler.

Then I added an old seed packet from my stash and an Art By Marlene punch out sun.  My favorite part of the page is the flower border I created by die cutting some white flowers and then cutting them in half to create this edging. A few other additions finishes the page.  I'd like to get my  flowers to be thick with blooms like this seed packet shows.

I must say I have really enjoyed all the beautiful art so far this month for the When It's Hot challenge. There's a week left to this challenge at Art Journal Journey

Hope to see you there!

And there's some hot weather flowers blooming in my gardens right now. The most popular ones are my daylilies.

But there are also tall phlox and bee balm as well as other blooms also.

 I've been out fertilizing as some of my plants are doing great and some just seem to be stuck at the same size they were in in June. Let's see if that helps.

But the wild blackberries along my driveway are starting to get color and my grapes are getting bigger, as well as more bunches are forming.

Enjoy your day!

When the Heat Breaks

Hi everyone.  Happy Friday! 

Today's post for When It's Hot at Art Journal Journey is all about those  times when warm air rises into colder air. The result is a thunderstorm. And sometimes worse weather, but my page is only about the grandeur (and sometimes beauty and sometimes scariness) of a thunderstorm. 

I should have shown this yesterday was the weather was very humid and the skies stayed cloudy. Plus yesterday my phone kept going off  that there were serious storms in the area. Luckily we got no more than some rumbles of thunder and a bit of rain. 

But today we have a nice day on tap.

Don't you think my spray ink background came out great?  Well, I think it looks like a stormy sky. And  I drew and then fussy cut my lightning bolt. And I added a bit of yellow Stickles to make the lightning have the brightness. 

And remember, if you are near the water, or the tallest structure in an area, get inside before  the storm. This gentleman in my next page may be enjoying the beach, which is fun thing to do when it's hot, but definitely not during a thunderstorm.

My clouds are  made from bits of mica that I picked up out of my driveway, and after glueing down all the pieces, I then whitewashed the mica. Finally I outlined the mica and added some Stickles glitter glue so the clouds would stand out a little better.

And I can't believe it is Friday already.  

Happy start to your weekend!

Live Free and Ride

Hi everyone.

My page today for Art Journal Journey is certainly a warm weather thing to do. Let's go for a motorcycle ride.

OK, I haven't been on a motorcycle for eons, not since college, but my husband likes to ride. I just need to go buy a helmet and jacket to ride along with him. AND I also have to get up a bit of courage. You might laugh at that, since he is a very good and safe rider.  I just know when we had the jetski he use to dump me in the lake a lot, as well as the one time he took me snowmobile riding back in our twenties and he dumped us onto the snow on that too. I just am a little worried about being dumped on the asphalt. Going who knows what speed on top of it!

Maybe one day I will get brave.

So my page today is all about this postcard I had in my stash and that I altered a bit. New Hampshire has a very high per capita number of motorcycles, and (unfortunately in my opinion) no helmet wearing law. (Although many folks do wear helmets, including the hubby.)  We are also home to the oldest motorcycle rally in the US, Laconia Bike Week, which is just a couple of towns away from where I live.  It usually happens in June around Father's Day, but this year it has been postponed with many changes made to it. 

The postcard also says Live Free and Ride. It is a take off of our state motto which is Live Free or Die,  a quote referenced back to  Revolutionary War hero General John Stark.  This is the same war the UK calls the American War of Independence.  New Hampshire was one of the 13 original colonies that fought for freedom from the British. Anyhow, Stark's quote became our state motto, and it often used in political talk, such when people debate a motorcycle helmet wearing law.  And why our state doesn't have one.

And the last bit of interest in this postcard is the stone face the people in the car are looking at.  It is our state symbol, although it no longer exists in real life. In the White Mountains of my state there was a natural stone face called The Old Man of the Mountain (or Great Stone Face and Profile too).  It was first recorded (according to Wikipedia) in 1805. Unfortunately it collapsed from ice build up in early May of 2003. It is on the standard free license plate and is still a symbol for the state. I'm glad to have seen it many times, and my daughter saw it at least once, but new granite staters (New Hampshire folks) will only get to see photos and hear about it. That is sad.

Yesterday it was grey skies almost all day, and I spent a lot of time on my studio reorganization. Not done yet, but all the big parts are finished. Hurrah! Now I just need to go through my scrap paper bin and the top of a couple of shelves. But the room is picked up and you don't have to walk on paths around my mess. Glad to be at this point as I am ready to be done. (But also glad I've done this!)

That's all for me today.  Time to go Life Free and Ride (in my car that is-smile).

Farmer's Market

Hi everyone.  I'm here today with another inspiration page for Art Journal Journey.  This month think about When It's Hot, anything hot that is. So even if you are shivering in a cold place maybe a warm cup of tea or coffee would warm you up.

I've made a little album of pages for this challenge. This one is a little different from some. I left my background white and stamped a bunch of leftover pink paint into polkadots. I also used some fruit and veggie stamps I had. This time I colored the stamps with water based markers  (Farber-Castell Pitt Pens) and then stamped them on the page. 

Funny, I wanted to do a harvest fruit and veggie page for this challenge, but I didn't think of farmer's Markets which often are happening in the nice weather, at least here in the US. I haven't been to any this year with this virus around, but in my cleaning I pulled out a set of older Hero Arts stamps and the farmer's market bag stamp was in the set. I actually bought the stamps because they had a cool vintage style rooster stamp, but I didn't want to use it here as it reminded me too much the Asian wet markets where this virus arose.

So I stamped the bags 3 times and added a couple of chipboard images to finish it off. 

So I originally planned to go visit my Mom today as you can now schedule outdoor patio visits. I haven't seen her since February, with the Covid-19 virus and even more so the fact that she caught it.  But those weather people are saying the potential of strong thunderstorms. As much as I want to visit Mom, to drive 2+ hours each way  and maybe not be able to sit outside and spend time with her, I've had to reschedule to next Monday. Keep your fingers crossed the weather improves by then. 

 Happy middle of the week!

Summertime

Hi everyone. The last 2 weeks have flown by, and I want to thank everyone who joined in the Book Page challenge at Try It On Tuesday. 

Now it's time for a new challenge.

SUMMERTIME

I'm not sure my inspiration page is really just for summer, but the beach certainly is a nice place to visit in the summer. And maybe, if you swim out far enough (to stay cool of course, and you would most likely not do that in the colder seasons ) you just might meet one of these mythical creatures.

I am very happy my camera actually caught the glistening effect I create on my mermaid.

The mermaid and quote are images from Crafter's Companion, Molly Harrison. I also used a Hero Arts stamp on the bottom, stamping it a couple of times to fill the page.And I used 3 colors of gelatos and then a wet brush to create the ocean.

 Be sure to check out the other design team art as there are some beauties. 

And since the latest challenge at Art Journal Journey is When It's Hot, I am linking up my page to that challenge also. If you have made an art journal page, whether loose, bound, hand done or digital, think about joining us there also. (OK, enough advertising for that.)

Thanks so much for visiting. And I can't wait to see your Summertime art!

T Stands for More of the Same

Hi everyone. Happy Tuesday and Happy T day again.  Wasn't it just last Tuesday?

Be sure to stop by Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog for this week's T party.

And I want to send out big thanks to Elizabeth and Linda for the fun happy mail. I will share those next week when we share our party ATCs.

I am going to start today's post with my next piece for my When It's Hot challenge at Art Journal Journey There's still over a week of the month left and plenty of time to play along.

My page is an ode to 3 things- picnics, the beach and if you can get or like to eat lobster rolls.

Today for T,  I can share the picnic and the beach with you, but sorry, no lobster rolls. I think it is time to visit Pop's again for one.

As my title referenced, we are back in our boat. It's only my husband, myself and the 2 dogs on the voyage this past Saturday.

This week for lunch we switched it up a bit and had Italian cold cuts, cheese and tomatoes. In hot dog rolls. I guess it is time to go back to the grocery store and shop. Smile. Some of my supplies are getting low.

And for dessert, we have another pack of cookies. I bought a big box of them at Costco earlier this season just for this reason. They are very handy to take on the boat.

And this week's drink is a cold Switchback Ale which is brewed in Burlington, Vermont and is a very good beer. The label on mine could a bit pushed together on the top.

It was another hot day on the water. We did do a bit of mackerel fishing first. When we arrived we each put in our fishing lines. Within 30 seconds my husband caught 4 (there are multiple hooks on a mackerel line), and I caught one. Then we fished for another hour and didn't even get 1 bite.

My husband's boat is made for fishing so it has a wet well. The wet well  pumps in fresh oxygenated water to keep the fish alive. Sometimes we take mackerel home to eat (I like them a lot, the hubby not so much) and sometimes we fish with them. But this time they merely kept Maddie fascinated whenever someone would lift the lid until we decided we were done for the day. I then threw them back in to live another day. 

Maddie is really into the fish.

And no photos but we went for a dip into the ocean to cool off.

And maybe I've inspired you to get a boat.  The beach is near a pricey marina and this "boat", the Lady Kath, is docked there every summer. This year she has a for sale sign on her. 

We looked it up online, and the price is a mere 6.5 million US dollars. She is registered in the Cayman Islands so I wonder who is using some kind of offshore tax break.

So if you're looking for comfort and style and have a fortune to spend, maybe you'd be interested.  SMILE!

And here's a few other boats. We saw the tow boat out. Someone's engine must have died.

 And there were quite a few lobstermen out too. Getting those lobsters for those lobster rolls people buy.

Below, this is the tourist boat that goes around the harbor.  We always laugh and say no voyage is complete if we don't see the Heritage. Saturday was no exception.

And we are wondering if these next 2 photos are for  some kind of experiment of photoshoot set up. Or maybe real, but in our 11 years of boating here we have never even seen a boat here. It would have been anchored really close to shore for this to happen.

Things just look a little too nicely set up and I don't think anyone would lobster that close to tide line.

I like this photo. 

And how about something REALLY big, even bigger than the Lady Kath.

Hope you have a great T day. Thanks for stopping by