Tuesday, August 10, 2021

The Mushroom Man

 Hi everyone.  Happy middle of the week. August is turning into a busy month for me. I'm posting this Tuesday night because this week, even though I thought it was going to be relatively quiet, has become as busy as last week.  Maddie came down with conjunctivitis in both eyes which has so far required 2 vet trips. Pete also has been picking a spot on his skin which has gotten hairless and scabby so first thing in the morning I need to bring him to the vet.   I checked out my calendar, and I see the next couple of weeks have lots of days filled in also. It will be mostly fun things ( as long as I can stop visiting the vet's office), but I'm not sure if I want so much to do. Maybe a quieter month would slow time down. Ha-ha-I wish!

With all the rain this summer, mushrooms are growing everywhere. They inspired to make this page in my garden journal.



I am linking page page up to More Mixed Media where this month's challenge is Anything Goes with Optional Brights. And I am also linking up to Neet's TYPE challenge at Art Journal Journey

This is not a very complicated piece. It started with a page from a 1970's illustrated science dictionary which you can see on the left side of the photo.  I salvaged this book back in my teaching days when one of my fellow educators was cleaning out her storage closet. She put a huge pile to trash in the hall (which is how they wanted us to do it), and I went through it and grabbed a couple of things I though would make good art materials.  This science dictionary was one of them.

 I then rubbed a bit of brown ink on it just so that the page made more of a background and didn't look quite like I just stuck it on some paper. On the right, where the page didn't reach, I added some of this honeycomb duct tape I had.

On a red journaling card from my stash (that is ATC sized), I stamped a definition multiple times as well as some little mushrooms. I colored the mushrooms.  I recently picked up this fun Mr. Mushroom stamp in his coat with those cute big ears  (from Pink Ink), and I thought he worked perfect here.  I stamped him on white paper, colored him in and after fussy cutting, added him to my page.  Finally I stamped the quote words. You can see there is type on the old book page, the definition stamped words as well as my stamped quote words. And you probably don't need any explanation about the bright colors.

And how about just a  few interesting fungi photos from my morning walks over the last couple of weeks.







Have a great Wednesday.









20 comments:

kathyinozarks said...

awesome mushrooms! I love your page too.
healing hugs sent to the pups-

Valerie-Jael said...

Love your beautiful journal page the mushroom man takes me back to childhood stories. And thanks for linking to us at MMM as well as AJJ! Today it's cool and misty here, autumn is coming! Love all the fungi, they have such lovely forms. Sorry about the doggies needing treatment, hope it's better soon. Have a great day, hugs, Valerie

Meggymay said...

Your mushroom man is such fun and its a fabulous page in your journal as well as great inspiration for neet's AJJ theme.
Have a goos rest of the week, its sounds like you are going to be busy.
Yvonne xx

Let's Art Journal said...

Loving your mushroom inspired garden page and your photos are amazing, you discovered so many different types on your morning walks 😁. Happy midweek wishes! Hugs Jo x

Barbara said...

Interesting fungi are everywhere. Your second photo reminds me of the state of NJ! Good luck at the vet.

Let's Art Journal said...

Meant to say... Wishing Maddie and Pete get well wishes and big hugs too! xx 🐾❤️

Iris Flavia said...

How cool, I love this 70´s stuff :-)
It was way too dry (and cold) but recently at least we got good rain.

sirkkis said...

A fun and beautifully made page, Erika. Thanks for sharing the fungi photos. I love to eat mushrooms.
Happy rest of the week xx

R's Rue said...

I love the photos from your walk. Sending healing hugs to the pups. Hugs.

LA Paylor said...

mushrooms are almost magical looking. They feel like people or houses to me

Annie said...

I have been noticing that artists are keeping many themed journals. I hadn’t thought of that. This is a great page for your garden journal. The image and words are so fun. When you mentioned garden journal, I saw the honeycomb side of the page as chicken wire. Something I see a lot of in gardens. Especially communal gardens. I thought that to be quite a clever idea. Wonderful mushroom photos.

Divers and Sundry said...

I hope the pets are well soon.

I like mushrooms and toadstools and get a kick out of seeing them in the lawn. My daughter always liked them, too, and when she moved out she left her concrete mushroom lawn ornament here. Fun :)

Jeanie said...

Poor Maddie. Zero fun for her. Or you. Or the vet. Love all that fungi, especially the ones on the side of the tree. I'm not seeing any here at home but expect to see it when I hit the lake this week. It's beastly hot and humid -- I can't wait to get out of town!

CJ Kennedy said...

Fun page. You have quite the variety of mushrooms growing. There were a couple growing in the backyard an the lawn guy mowed them down. No more mushrooms. Maybe there will be some after this next heatwave. Stay cool!

Neet said...

Sorry to hear about the dogs ailing, I hope you get them both sorted quickly.
That's a fun journal page Erika. How fortunate your colleague had thrown that book away if it revealed such lovely pictures as the one you chose for the left side of your page.
the mushroom on the red card is delightful on top of the stamped definition.
All the elements, including the washi tape down the right hand side work well and the whole page fits in ideally with my theme at AJJ.
Thanks for entering again Erika.
hugs, Neet xx

craftytrog said...

A wonderful page and fabulous fungi!

nwilliams6 said...

Erika, love the mushrooms and fungi in this post. What a great journal page and so interesting with your great definition stamp, salvaged dictionary, and that mushroom man - so fun! Super cool pictures too - especially the ones on the side of the tree. Mushroom man would approve of them for sure. Hope the dogs get better fast! Hugz

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

You know I'm a science geek, so this page grabbed me from the very start. This is a truly fun, colorful entry and that mushroom is hilarious. Thanks for such a great entry for Neet's theme. You have a lot of mushrooms where you live. Fungi don't grow here because we are in a drought and have too much heat, too. Hope it's cooler where you are.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I completely forgot to say how sorry I am to read about Pete and Maddie. I sincerely hope both are better soon and your vet knows what is wrong with Maddie.

DVArtist said...

This is such cleaver art and wonderful photos of the shrums.