T Stands for Summer and Boating Are Now Really Over for 2022

 Hi everyone. 

It is Tuesday (or Monday night) again, and time for T over at Bleubeard 's and Elizabeth's blog.

If you read this Monday night, since October is ending, and if you celebrate, Happy Halloween to you. If you read this on Tuesday, happy new month to you. Can you believe it is November all ready?

I'll also be posting twice tomorrow (November 1) with the new Art Journal Journey challenge for November, as well as the new Try It On Tuesday challenge.

Before I get to my T day post, let me share the great Halloween card I received in the mail from our lovely T day hostess and her sidekick Bleubeard. Happy Mail  is always fun to get! Thank you so much Elizabeth! (And of course Bleubeard also.) 💗

Here's my T day link today.

A couple of weekends ago, I was volunteered by my husband to be his helper.  It was time to cover up and put his  boat away for the winter at my MIL's home. My MIL's home is empty now; she has gone to my sister-in-law's home for the winter. My husband leaves his boat there for the winter as it is not in anyone's way.

Covering the boat was a new job for me, but the hubby didn't actually need me until the end of the process. In the morning when we drove the boat over to my MIL's house,  I had him drop me off at the beginning of the road so the dogs and I could walk.

It  was an absolutely beautiful autumn day.

I spent much of my day sitting in a chair in the sun reading until I was needed.

 After finishing some small tasks, my husband put up this wooden frame on the boat.

Then I was needed to help him put on the tarps that go over the wooden frame.  Here is the boat once we  finished. It will now sit just as you see it until next spring.

This process took all afternoon, and the sun was starting to go down by the time we finished. 

It did make for some pretty views on the lake.

When we finished, we were hungry and tired, so on the way home we stopped at the restaurant in my town for a burger and a beer. 

I decided to celebrate the day with a Pumpkin Head beer with a sugar rim. This is my entry to T Day this week.

My husband was more crying into his beer /soda than celebrating the gorgeous day. He is always sad when he has to put the boat away.

The next project is to close up my screen porch for the winter, which will be the day I will be crying into my beer or soda-smile.

Thanks for visiting. Have a great T day and week ahead.

Happily Ever After

 Hi everyone. Happy Sunday to you.

Today I want to share my last page for Elle's Fairy Tale, Folktale and Fable: Tell Me a Story challenge at Art Journal Journey.

This challenge runs through tomorrow, so you still have time to join in if you're interested.

Most fairy tales end with the line, "And they lived happily ever after". Since this is my final page for October's fairytale, folktale and fable challenge, that is the theme of my page.

This photo above shows the actual colors of my page. I did play around with some digital colorizing; just for fun, as you can see in the next couple of photos.

Do you have a preference? I'm leaning towards the blue.

Here's my story:

Finally Belinda is getting married to her sweetheart Ozzie. She's been waiting for him to arrive back home. Ozzie had gone off to paint the world; you can see he still has his traveling art supply box with him in one hand. Belinda had wanted to go with him, but Ozzie is a fairytale guy so he insisted he go paint and then sell those paintings to be worthy of her love. Now he is back,  and the couple  are getting married to live happily ever after. 

My page started with some spray inks on watercolor paper. The background leaves were drawn, watercolor painted and detailed with a Posca paint pen. The heart was hand drawn and cut out as well as outlined in a Posca paint pen. The 2 birds and the true love banner are stamped twice; first on the heart itself and then colored white with a pen, and then stamped on acetate to bring back the details. The couple are 2 TH people images. And then I layered some paper flowers I had in my stash, as well as adding a couple of paper hearts that were laying on my work table.

I definitely want to thank Elle for not only  hosting this month but also for this challenge. I wasn't too sure at first if I would like this theme, but it didn't take long before I was having a lot of  fun.  The theme  made me think about stories and how I wanted to represent them on a journal page.  Thanks for that  nice mental challenge also Elle. 

 I also want to thank everyone who joined in with their fairytale, folktale, fable or other story. It was enjoyable to read your stories and see what you came up with. 

That's all for me today. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Pages from My Travel Journal

Hi everyone. Happy weekend to you.

It's birthday weekend in my house. Not my birthday, but today is my husband's and tomorrow is my daughter's. We'll be celebrating tonight for my husband and then with a big breakfast for my daughter tomorrow morning. Not to sound like an old broken recording, but I remember the day my daughter was born so clearly, she can't possibly be turning 31. She and her husband (first time I've written that) are coming this afternoon to spend the night. 

Today my journal pages are not based on fairytales, fables or folktales, but I am still joining Elle's challenge at Art Journal Journey because my pages do tell some stories from my National Park Travel Journal. I've made a lot of headway in a travel journal. I like to make a journal when I get home from most trips because I think by doing that you get to continue with the trip for just a little bit longer (smile).  

I haven't  shared very many of those pages here on my blog since it's been a busy posting month. I thought before Elle's challenge winds down I would share a few more pages because each page definitely has a story.

I wanted to try painting the stalactites and stalagmites from the caves we visited at Great Basin National Park. I used black paper and 4 shades of acrylic paint. It was hard to create depth without doing any more background painting, but I do like what I put on the page, and I also like that I left the background dark (like in a cave). I did add this sticker that I had picked up in the park store. (Here's my post from last month with my cave photos in case you missed it or IF you're interested: Caving.)

And at our first hotel (Hidden Canyon Ranch near Great Basin National Park) we made our own breakfasts in our room.  I used an old set of Hero Arts kitchen tool stamps and blue ink on the background. I also used an old set of Kim Hughes stamps to make the cute little rooster, the toaster, the mini quotes, the eggs and breakfast  meats. Those images were stamped, colored and fussy cut. 

I also included the label from my trying out the Keurig that was in the room. (I was curious and wanted to give the Keurig a try since I'd never used one before, but I wouldn't buy one. I can certainly make a cup of tea just as easy without one. And  yes, save a bit of landfill trash in the process.) I drew and cut out my own sun, and also the rise and shine words.  (Here's my September T day post about the ranch and the keurig: T Stands for my First Keurig. Again, IF you are interested.)

Another page I made was about driving along highway 50 from western Utah into Nevada, and then back in the other direction. I used stamps, painted my road, drew and fussy cut my highway sign, and added some stickers. I left the background mostly blank, even though the scenery on Highway 50 was  not blank. It was a lot of open space, repetitive sage brush, dust devils and even what looked like some mirages. Here in New Hampshire with the hills, trees and curves you can't see very far into the distance, and I loved the wide open spaces  and panoramic views while driving on Highway 50. (See the T day post listed above this photo IF you  missed the original photos or want to get a feel for Highway 50.)

And finally, I was inspired to make this last page from a toy brochure I received in the mail from Amazon. One page in the brochure had this big quote on it. I thought it was perfect for my journal so I cut it out, outlined the words with a black pen and added the little you and me ❤ quote at the bottom. I layered it on my page along  an old book page and a traffic sign from a collage sheet that was in my stash. Then I used an old TH car set which I stamped (and fussy cut) the car, added the tire tracks randomly, and stamped the quotes. Finally when digging out the little heart from a craft bin I also saw these orange flowers, and I thought they looked good, so I added them.

Think that's enough for me today.  I appreciate your stopping by my blog.

Friday Face Off

Hi everyone. Happy Friday to you.  Another week is winding down. It's been another fast one for me, and it's been busy too.  I seem to have had (and still have) several things on my must get done list. I hope your week has been a good one also.

Today I am joining Nicole's  Friday Face Off  challenge. My page also works for Elle's Fairytales, Folktales and Fables: Tell me a Story challenge at Art Journal Journey. Since we are getting close to Halloween, my page today is from my Halloween altered book.  

 My page is made in a smaller altered book, so I cut a skeleton face in half. The skeleton comes from a book  I have  that contains assorted black and white images. A section had some fun Halloween images that I copied, including the skeleton face I used half of on this page.

 First I painted the page in my altered book black and added this vintage style tissue paper. I even made it a tad bit wrinkled for effect. I then added the half skeleton face and also this die cut spider image that I had in my stash. Finally I stamped the quote in white. The quote is actually not as crooked as it looks, but my altered book is not laying very flat.

We have 206 various bones in our skeletons. Bones have several roles in our body such as protecting soft organs underneath them, allowing muscle attachment so we can move, and giving us support. Skeletons also came to be a part of Halloween folklore.  Halloween is also known as All Hallows Eve, the night before All Saint's Day. Some scholars believe that our Halloween celebrations originally came from this Nov. 1 Christian Holiday, while others believe that Halloween goes back to the end of the growing cycle and  Celtic holidays associated with that. 

You probably already know that info, but what is true with both ideas is that Halloween is associated with the autumn season and the end of life. I am sure you can also figure that point out. I did recently read that if you walk by a cemetery on All Hallows Eve, turn your pockets out and leave them out so that you don't bring home any ghosts or spirits. That was a new story for me.

I'm not sure this next photo counts as a cemetery, but if I walk by this house on Monday (Halloween), I might want to try turning out my pockets anyhow.

There's some freaky faces for you. (smile)

I am also linking up this post to Gillena's Friday Lunch Break.

That's all for me today. I hope you have a great start to your weekend.

Trick? or Treat?

Hi everyone. Happy Thursday. This week is going by too fast. I've been trying to get some must do chores completed (clean up all the books in my daughter's room before she comes home this weekend and get the bees partially winterized), and I haven't had any art time, sadly. Luckily I always work on several pages at once so I do have some things to share today.

Since we are so close to Halloween, it is time for some spooky art again. My art today is  on the dark side.  I am joining Elle's Fairytales, Folktales and Fables: Tell Me a Story challenge over at Art Journal Journey

Now to explain my page. In many fairy tales someone dies, often a princess's or young woman's mother or father who might even be the king or queen. And often there is an old crone (you don't hear that word very often, do you?)  who brings some magic potion which, if it doesn't kill you, might put you to sleep for years. You may drink that potion or maybe it's in the form of a magic apple so some other treat.

My page is in my Halloween altered book.  You can decide if this woman is the "old crone" who is delivering the potion or if she is the poor person who received it. I did some inking of the background, and then layered 2 pieces of ephemera. The photo is not an actual photo but from an ancient collage sheet.  All the potions are images I either stamped, colored and fussy cut or they are ones I drew and added. I also added some bits of cut out paper I had to make a couple of "corners" on my page, and I also added lots of little foamy bits. 

 Today is  Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date , and this week her challenge is Trick? or Treat? I think my spooky page also (in a broad sense) works for that because often in fairy tales the treat ends up being a trick. 

And here's a couple of fun Trick or Treat pages  I made in 2019.

And for the dinner date part of this post, I have this super yummy leftover meal.

 Every once in a blue moon I get a hankering for pot roast. I made one last week, and it was a yummy meal. However,  we still had a bit of left overs, but not enough for 2 people for a second meal. My solution,  I made hash.

I fried up some chopped onion and  peppers, then I added the leftover roasted potatoes and carrots along with the leftover beef. I served this with a couple of fried eggs on top. 

I find this is just as yummy as the original roast was. And this made extra servings so now I have lunch for a couple of days also, all from a tiny piece of leftover pot roast. I love it when things work out that way.

That's all for me today. Thanks for visiting. 

Wednesday Art

Hi everyone.  Happy Wednesday.

With Halloween less than a week away, I thought I'd share a couple of related Halloween journal pages. I enjoy getting a little bit spooky once a year, even if I'm not really very spooky as a person.

My first page is all about Esmeralda and her teenage daughter Trixie.  (Both of today's pages were hard to photograph straight as they are in the middle of a big book that wouldn't lie flat. My edges aren't exactly straight.)

I made my page by putting down some printed tissue paper directly on the book page, and then I added a bit of green paint. After that dried, I  rubbed on some black paint to  create this abstract forest view. Esmeralda is stamped and colored, but Trixie is a die cut as are her 2 kitties.

It is Halloween, and Esmeralda was busy stirring up an appropriate potion. She had asked Trixie to go out and collect some apples to inject the poison into, but Trixie forgot all about the apples once she wandered off. She was too busy looking for her latest crush, Magnus the Wizard. You can see Trixie coming home on my page, holding only an apple core from her snack in one of her hands.

Esmeralda was frustrated as every mom of a teenager can be. She was hoping that Trixie would be more helpful now that she isn't a very young child any longer, but since she wasn't, Esmeralda left Trixie home watching the Hocus Pocus movie when she went off to gather the apples and then deliver the poisoned treats to a local Halloween party. The party is taking place in a haunted house that was built by a local billionaire as an empty shell just for parties on this October holiday. 

On this next page Esmeralda has just dropped off the apples and  is sneaking away. She hopes that no one will notice that she wasn't a guest but was just a delivery person. 

This page started with a 12x12 inch piece of scrap paper that was already printed with the haunted house scene. I added the die cut  Esmeralda and some yellow paint for her light. I also added some tape,  the stamped and fussy cut moon, a die cut bat as well as a stamped quote. I also rubbed a drop of glue behind Esmeralda to help create a funky moon shadow around her.

And do the party guests eat the poisoned apples Esmeralda made? Since I don't see any silhouettes in the windows, I am guessing they did.  They must all be asleep on the floor. It is exactly what Esmeralda wanted to happen, as she can't stand the noise and the loud music on the most important night of the year for witches. 

I am linking up to Elle's Fairy Tales, Folktales and Fables: Tell Me a Story challenge at Art Journal Journey. This challenge runs until actual Halloween, so I hope you will join in with a journal page. 

And just a note: AJJ is a blogging site. If you link up through Facebook, Instagram, etc, we might not be able to comment on your link.

Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope your week is going well.

T Stands for Harry Potter

 Hi everyone. Happy T day to you.

Today for T over at Bleubeard's and Elizabeth's blog   I am writing about something I did with a couple of friends back in August of this year.We went to a Harry Potter themed  tea.

I thought since I haven't gotten around to posting this tea related event, and since we are in the season for dressing up in costumes and pretending to be other beings, I  figured this would be a good time for this post.

(And I know not all of you are familiar with Harry Potter, but I'll try to explain in case you aren't.)

There's a gorgeous old Victorian home in a nearby town that is a bed and breakfast. It also has a tea room where you can make reservations for T and lunch. During August they were running one of their theme months, and August's theme was Harry Potter.

Each place was set with glasses and a wand so we could become the famous wizard. Also Harry's owl Hedwig had flown in to join us at the table. He didn't deliver any mail (as is his usual job), but he sure was cute.

The photo above is my 2 friends and me (in the white shirt).  The photo didn't catch me with the best expression. I look better in this next one-smile.

Each of us could  pick either one large pot or 2 smaller pots of tea. We all picked 2 smaller pots and also different teas so we could each try the others.  We had a huge selection of tea to choose from. I tried the pineapple mint, which was OK, and also a strawberry and peaches tea. Strawberry and peaches  was my favorite of all the ones I tried. It was deliciously fruity for a summer day.

A Harry Potter themed lunch also came with our reservations .

Here's the magical menu.

Here's a close up of lunch.

Not including Hagrid's ham and egg sandwich that was already on my plate.

Our Harry Potter themed tea and lunch was lots of fun. And something different to do on a summer day. It was a tad bit pricey, but then again, how often do you get to wear a sorting hat (no photo to share) or here in the US, even get to visit a tea room? (Tea lunches not in a theme month are a bit cheaper.) I would definitely go again, either in one of their regular months or for one of their other themed teas. The tea room was really beautiful to be in, and the company was great.

(For those of you who aren't familiar with Harry Potter- The sorting hat is to see which of the 4 houses you belong in. In the story it's done on new students once they arrive at the Hogwarts, the school for wizards. The 4 houses you could become a part of are Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. And yes, I must really be a Slytherin because this is the second time I've had a hat on me and the second time it said Slytherin.)

And sometimes wizards become "bad" or seem to get into trouble (whether they are guilty or not) and are sent to jail. I guess I did something wrong, but at least  I was also able to escape. Now there is a wanted poster for me.

I'll leave you with that.

Have a great T day and week ahead. Thanks for visiting.

Sunday Art

 Hi everyone. Happy Sunday.

Today I want to share a tag for Valerie's Autumn Colors challenge over at Tag Tuesday. 

I mopped up some extra blue paint, and then once that dried, I inked my page with a brown and an orange-yellow inks.

I added the big clear flower sticker, and then I dug through my stash and added some felt leaves, a felt pumpkin, and a couple of small wooden leaves.

FInally I stamped a little quote and outlined the edges of my tag with a Sharpie.

And let me also share a narrow page made on the back of a tag in my Halloween altered book. 

I used part of a black and white I cut out of an old magazine, and then I found this colorful man in an old book. I think he looks ghostly, like an apparition on the street corner. 

I expect he'll disappear as soon as the walker gets up close to him.

And with that, I am going to "disappear" from today's post too.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. 

Elk

Hi everyone. Happy Saturday. I hope you're starting off the weekend in a good way. 

I thought I would share a few more Yellowstone photos with you today as I am making headway as I go through all the photos I took.

Back on T Day a couple of weeks ago I shared some buffalo with you, and today I thought I would share some elk. 

We visited during September which was mating season for elk, and when we arrived in Mammoth Hot Springs, one male and his harem had taken over some of the grass near a building.

The rangers with their megaphones were out in full force for protection, and if you dared to step out of your car near this group, you were told to get back into your vehicle. 

You could however drive over and park and watch them from your car. That's why you get a bit of car dashboard along the bottom of the photos. 

This bull had quite the set of antlers on him. And he a large harem of cows too, 

According to the ranger we spoke with across the street and in a safe zone to get out and walk, this area of Mammoth Hot Springs has heritage grass as it is a historical zone. The elk love this type of grass to eat, and that attracts them to this location.

Mammoth Hot Springs originally was Fort Yellowstone. This was back in the day before there were Park Rangers. At this fort, soldiers controlled poaching by arresting those caught doing it, educated early visitors, provided medical care to those who needed it, fought fires and expelled anyone trying to set up a homestead within the park. 

On the day we arrived, Mammoth Hot Springs was definitely an elk haven.

Be careful where you step.

And looking back into Mammoth Hot Springs as we headed on our way, you can still see all the elk out in the grassy area.

We also saw another harem later that evening when we stopped to get dinner at the cafe at the Lake Yellowstone housing area.  I didn't get as many photos here as it was almost dark, but these elk look more natural in this environment.

Compared to our 2003 trip to this park, we saw a lot more wildlife this time than we had on our first visit.  This next photo is terrible as it was on the door of the building where our hotel room was, and I had a lot of reflection, but it always good to keep in mind.

Have a great rest of your weekend. And thanks for stopping by.