Welcome 2026

    Hi everyone. Happy 2026 to you!  🎊⌛⏳

   My New Year's Eve was very low key, and the new year will start that way also.  How about you? Any big plans for the start of the new year.?

    I'm here to start a new year at Art Journal Journey. Again, thank you Sharon for hosting last month.  You rocked it! And thank you everyone who joined in also. Winter was a great way to wrap up the year, and might even be a great way to continue into 2026 from the way the weather has been going. Or maybe for some of you, a warm and sunny beach would be better. 

    It's a new month so time for a new host, and for January, I am hosting. I've chosen a theme of "What's Up?"  Let me explain what I mean by that.

    I picked the phrase "What's up?" because it can be addressed in many ways. You can take the phrase literally and make a page about something that is up. It could be something in the sky, or even something up high like an item on a shelf or a skyscraper. I'm sure you can think of many things that are up.

   OR, since some people like more of an open ended theme, you can make a page as though you were answering someone asking you "What's up?" . If you aren't familiar with that phrase, "What's up?" can be interpreted to be what's going on with you, what is happening in your life, what's happening around you, or even how you are.

   I'm excited to see how you interpret the theme and to see "What's Up?" with you. And just to clarify, you don't need to use both interpretations of the theme in your journaling.

    "What's Up?" with me. Well I am, like everyone is, welcoming in the new year, so that is the theme of my first page. I did include some fireworks on my page because that's an example of something being up in the sky. 

    To make my page I painted the background with some pink graphite watercolor paint. Then I stenciled in the letters and numbers for the title of my page with a Sharpie. I used a silver marker to color them in. Then I took another stencil that looked kind of like a firework and  used a gold paint pen to make that image. I add gold glitter glue to the little star-like ends of the lines. 

   After that I stamped several clocks from a couple of clock cube stamps. I then die cut the ric-rac and added a piece along both ends of my page. Finally, I punched out a phrase and a bow from some 49 and Market punch outs. I  outlined the bow with a black Sharpie.

  Please remember our rules also. Art Journal Journey is an art journaling blog. Our themes run for a month and your journal pieces must somehow connect to the theme. Please, we only accept art journaling, but it can be journaling in any form. BUT we don't accept cards, ATCs, tags or other forms of art UNLESS they are part of a journal page. 

   I hope you like my theme this month and decide to join in at AJJ. I'm looking forward to seeing "What's Up?" with you.

   And I'm wishing everyone a wonderful year ahead too with lots of joy and happiness, good health, good friends, good family, and of course, some good art ( or whatever it is you love most 😀) too. 

In the Woods

    Hi everyone. I hope you're having a lovely weekend.  Friday and Saturday were absolutely gorgeous summer days since we had very low humidity, sun and perfect temperatures. It's been a boating weekend at my house, as my husband and I went out on Friday afternoon, and then, when the daughter and son-in-law visited yesterday,  we also went out on the boat. We don't usually go out on the weekends as it is  much busier not only putting in the boat but also out on the water. I'm glad we could take advantage of some beautiful weather though, and we didn't have the heat  we had had earlier in the week. 😏 

    Today I have some art that takes you into a pine forest not the ocean. I'll be linking up to Halle's Botanical challenge at Art Journal Journey.

 

  I started this page by using some various stickers. The pine branch faux postage stamp went in the middle, and then I added the pine cones. I wasn't quite sure where to go next so I took out my watercolor paints and painted the  bits of pine needles and branches around my page.  I also used those same watercolors to splatter some brown and green around my page. 

   I outlined the edges with a brown Sharpie, and then took a few more stickers (the animals and the quotes) and added them to finish off my page. 

   And although I don't have any recent photos of many woodland animals, nor have I had any recent sightings of bears, raccoons or bunnies (nor any other forest mammals), I do have a couple of photos of some birds that more of less live in/around the forest since I took these next 2 photos at the lake where my mother-in-law lives.

Here's Mama duck and her babies, and then  a couple of Canada geese.

The wild turkeys were  recently back in my yard again too. They sensed me at the window and they quickly moved to the edge of the woods and into the shade so this isn't the best photo.

    And how about this next forest duck? Ha ha. 😏My daughter picked this up for my husband when she was in New Orleans earlier this year for a conference.  I'm sharing this  for Gillena's Sunday Smiles.

Have a super rest of your weekend and also start to the new week.

A Couple of Autumn Journal Pages and a Tag

 HI everyone. Happy Thursday. 

     I'm back today with 2 journal pages  for Alison's Autumn Colors and Inspiration challenge at Art Journal Journey. These pages are from the autumn journal I made last month.

    This first page started with me gluing down some well used scrap deli paper. You can see it on the left side of the page. Then I layered some scraps of colored paper around it, and finally I took some neutral watercolor paint and colored in the white areas.  Then I added some black scrap swirls from a die cut, as well as adding  some black half pearls to that. I stuck down these white leaf stickers, added the number piece and finally  added the sticker quotes which are just a little bit crooked. 😏

     This next page started with some scraps of paper and then I layered over that some printed tissue paper by Paper Artsy/Alison Bomber. I used watercolor to color in the rose hips.  I added some black metallic paper trim along the bottom, as well as the little bird; I stamped the quote from a very old Wordsworth stamp. Finally I took a medallion that I made awhile back from paper clay. I inked and painted it to get it to look like it does.

      The newest challenge at Tag Tuesday is Spooky Vibes, hosted by Pinky. I started a couple of tags the other day, and here's one I've finished.

       I started by using a stitched  spiderweb die on my tag. Then I inked it, die cut the wreath, the phrase and the crows. I used some foam confetti bits on the wreath, added a little die cut spider and then finished with some washi tape along the bottom. I hope it's spooky enough for your challenge Pinky. 😀

    Let me finish with a few random views of autumn I've snapped in the last couple of weeks.

These first few are from the last of the year trip to my local botanical garden.  The next couple are some views from my area.

I don't know what caused this leaf to have stripes, except maybe from a car tire ( or tires) that ran over it.

And finally, last night my husband went  on a comet hunt drive. We found a place wide open to the west, and even though the comet looked like nothing more than a vague little puff of cloud to my naked eye, my phone picked it up.

That's all for me today. Thanks for stopping by. 

    

Mid-Week Art

 Hi everyone. Happy middle of the week to you.

     Today I am sharing some various art. I'll start with another page for Halle's I've Got a Notion challenge at Art Journal Journey. Although I don't have any actual sewing material on today's journal page, I do have some sewing themed paper pieces.

I have a few old sewing themed dies, and I used them here. The sewing machine, the sewing dress form and the bottom lace are all die cuts. In the center I used an old sewing themed embossing folder. I embossed the backing on a piece of packaging from a supply that I had bought. I have a whole pile of supply and other types of light cardboard/heavy paper that makes great die cutting, embossing and even used directly art pieces. The background of my page is  a Gelli print, and finally, I used an old rubber stamp several times on the page. I thought this quote, although not strictly about sewing, suggests all kinds of clothing one can make with a sewing machine. 

I also have another tag for Pinky's "Flowers"  challenge at Tag Tuesday. This time I  went a bit grungy. I’m not sure if I like this tag or not, but I don’t dislike it either. 😉 I also used a shaped die cut to make the base tag, and I also did some stamping to decorate it.

Before I end this post and since I'm not posting tomorrow, I want to wish everyone in the US a Happy Independence Day.

And to everyone, have a great couple of days! 

The Rest of My Harry Potter Journal

Hi everyone.  It’s just about the end of February, but as you know,  we do get an extra day this year. I thought I’d save my end of the month final   Art Journal Journey post for tomorrow, the 29th.

I am linking up this first page to Vicki’s Keeping It Light challenge at Art Journal Journey.  This page, even though it is on a black background,  is again a contrast between light and dark. It may not be the most creative nor varied media page I've ever made however.   😏

I used mostly stickers as well as die cut spoon for this page. But the ice cream circle is the actual top from my little personal sized tub of butter beer ice cream. (And it was very yummy!❤)

And here are some other pages not for AJJ. Let me start with the cover. I've shown this before, but my friend Deb had the idea that I should add some actual Harry Potter quotes i my journal, so I added one to the cover to finish it off.

Dobby is one of the house elves in the HP books. House elves are more like a slave than a servant.  I made a house elf page and created another window view because they had some house elves in windows around the park.  This time the window lifts up.

The background is made with sponged on paint glaze.

We went to the Hard Rock for lunch one day, and I had a sandwich. We chose the Hard Rock because it was located in the City Walk area (of the parks) which is quiet during the day. It was nice to have a little crowd escape and to sit down at a more private table.  I made a page about that meal.

My background  started with a napkin I brought home. I gave it a spray of some liquid ink, and then I used some stickers, die cuts and the little flag that was in my sandwich.  

One night we went over to Disney Springs and walked around the shops. I hadn’t been there in close to 20 years and boy has that area gotten huge. I picked up this post card ( you can see it above) at the Coca Cola store. I also picked up a free Mickey Mouse sticker  at the world's biggest Disney Store and grabbed a menu from the ice cream shop where we had dinner. You can see those in the photo below.  Dinner was that hot fudge brownie sundae shown on the right hand page.  (And boy was that yummy too. ❤)

And who doesn’t love a minion? If you're not familiar with them, they are from some children's movies, and they're looking to work for the most evil person there is. I had a blast making this page.

You might remember my post about my new mug and the insane ride on the Veloci-coaster. I had to make a page for each of those.

I should have drawn in some upside down riders on my page. I might go back and do that.

And next here's a page I made with the saved tea packages from some mugs of tea I had in our hotel room. One thing our hotel did not have was free tea (what hotel doesn't have free tea?), but luckily my friend Deb brought some from home.

Then it was time to get ready to go home.

I made this (above) page using the inner packaging from some Hogwart's Express tickets I bought as a souvenir.  I liked the gold border around  the packaging. Above, I added the polka dot paper and the stickers.

Below I just attached the Hogwart's Ticket.  My ticket package had 2 tickets, one for each direction. I used the going to Hogwart's ticket in the front of my journal, and this one in the back.

And finally, the back of my journal. 

The final page was stenciled before I made a sticker collage. 

And on the inside of the back cover, I used some stickers and painted some buildings. I also used another quote from the Harry Potter stories.

I have a couple more pages I haven't shared. If I have time I might share them on another day, and if not, you basically saw all of the journal.

I hope it wasn't too boring.

Have a great day.