Thursday, August 7, 2025

Up, Up and Away

   Hi everyone. Hope your week is going well. Yesterday I took a blog break because I was out almost all day. I worked in the morning and then had a trip to the eye doctor. I don't know about anyone else, but when they dialate my eyes it takes hours to get them back where I can read anything. If it wasn't so  important to check my retinas I'd skip it, but if I can avoid any vision issues now or in the future, I guess I need to deal with the inconvenience. 😏


    For T day this week (my previous post) I shared a couple of balloons I saw while driving home last Friday evening, and today I have a journal page for Chris's Hot August (night and day) challenge at Art Journal Journey. It's a page in my summer journal that I am almost finished with.

    I hand painted the clouds and then outlined them with a Stabilo water soluble pencil. I also used a wet paint brush on the pencil to smoosh it a bit.  The 3 balloons at from a 49 and Market image set. I used a mini waving person stamps from an old Hero Arts stamp set, and I only stamped the top half of the image to make the person be inside the balloon. I used stickers for the words, and I outlined those sticker letters with a Sharpie. I also stamped a small image of 3 flying birds several times. I finished by splattering a bit of blue paint on my page.

   Yesterday our wildfire smoke didn't seem quite so bad, but it was cloudy and even chilly working at the boat ramp. 
  
     
     I took these next photos the other day. My wildflower garden is doing amazing this year, even though I haven't yet weeded it at all. There are so many self-seeded phlox and also goldenrod that it's turned into a flower jungle.


     I can't even see the bee-hives any longer. They are right behind this mass if tall blooms.


   And finally I'll leave you with a  shot of my grapevine, but sadly I don't see any grapes on it this year. I guess I won't be making my yearly couple of jars of grape jelly. 😩


   Have a super rest of your day.





16 comments:

  1. Your garden is really lovely with all the blooms and colours.

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  2. ...your phlox are a summer time treat.

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  3. Good morning, your garden is sooo lovely. I pretty much have lost mine now-the heat has been pretty extreme this summer-at least most of what I have are perennials so they will come back next year
    I really love your balloon page. I agree dilating our eyes is a pain but needs to be done every year as we age.
    Happy Thursday

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  4. Lovely page and beautiful garden photos

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  5. Fabulous page Erika, love the people in the balloons! Thanks for this scene which you have linked to my theme at AJJ. Your wild flower garden is looking so beautiful! Your balloons have reminded me about the balloons we saw in France...so watch this space! Hugs, Chrisx

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  6. Lovely art and beautiful photographs ... your garden is looking good.

    Yes, I agree dilating our eyes is not the most pleasant experience but sometimes necessary ... take care and enjoy the coming weekend.

    All the best Jan

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  7. Losing your sight is scary.
    I once had 40% eyesight and drove to Wolfsburg and back, unaware. According to google that is 50 miles (80km).. No one was hurt (but my heart).
    Up up & away would´ve been better No ten horses (German saying?) would get me into such a balloon, though... must post a pic of what I did when I lost my job...
    (Nothing bad!!!)
    That boat ramp is beautiful.
    As is all the flowers... (Too cold here. I should stop complaining, but I so hoped for August making up!)
    Enjoy and please keep sharing yours, hugs!

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  8. P.S. .. if you visit... scroll down at once. Bad coincidence!!! Sorry..

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  9. Your garden looks terrific, Erika. All that goldenrod should attract lots of pollinators. My daughter and son-in-law have just moved into their new property on sixty acres. The previous owners permitted a fellow to install bee hives there and they will let him continue. The payment is honey! All the best - David

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  10. Hey Erika! I totally agree with you about going to the eye doctor. Getting dialted is a real pain, and it takes me hours to feel normal again, too! I have a ‘spot’ on my retina that needs to be watched, so I’ll deal with the inconvenience too.

    I absolutely love your beautiful art journal page. I especially love the balloons, the clouds, and your fun title! And thank you so much for sharing your amazing and beautiful photos! Have a wonderful weekend! Hugs, Sharon

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  11. wonderful this journal page and Garen photos!
    Happy weekend!
    hugs Elke

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  12. I so love all of that texture on your page! Those clouds look so fluffy and how fun would that be to see in a hot air balloon too! Your flower garden looks amazing and how nice to enjoy! I hope it doesn't get too warm for you there! Stay cool friend!

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  13. I sometimes get a headache when they do that to my eyes. Loved the picture of the flowers. Wishing you a wonderful rest of the weekend. Cheers, Ivy.

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  14. Love your garden so much, Erika! I know your page has clouds in it, but the green makes it easy to imagine that its grass on the ground far below, which is what I felt when I scrolled back to the page again after seeing your garden. 😊 Anyway, love your page too--the scene, the colors, the splatters, even the tiny text-filled circles--so much texture and so much to look at and enjoy. Hope you're having a lovely August. Anita xx

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  15. Great page and photos, Erika!
    Hugs,
    Mia
    Co-administrator for AJJ
    craftartista.blogspot.com {My Blog}

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  16. Love your up up and away page. Something I have never done, something i would like to do and yet something I would probably get cold feet about at the last minute. Have you ever done it?
    Absolutely adore your wildflower garden. What a gorgeous photo.
    Hugs, Neet xx

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