My Last Green Irish Journal Page

Happy new week everyone. I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I had some art time, read and took Sunday off from using the computer. It was nice. Now that I am teaching online from home I feel like I am spending too much of my day on a computer. It is  too easy to never leave work as the computer is always sitting there, and it is sometimes hard to not check in via email or Google classroom which is one format we are using. (And for those of you who asked, we are using ZOOM, and online meeting format, to meet with our kids.)

I will stop by and visit as I get some time today.

This month is almost over so I wanted to share the last pages from my imaginary trip to Ireland. 

Sorry about the light issues on the top right corner of this first page. I used a transparency with harps on it (you can just see a few) as harps are a part of Irish culture.

 I had a lot of fun collaging these various elements on both of these pages.

And I am going to link up with Eileen's GREEN challenge at Art Journal Journey

I'm keeping this short since it is just about time to go to work, or should I say go out to the table and go back online.

Hope you have a good start to your week.

Week 2 of Teaching Remotely

Hi everyone. Let me start my post with another piece for Eileen's GREEN challenge over at Art Journal Journey. The month is winding down, and there has been some great pieces so far! Maybe you still want to join us before the month ends?

Here's yet another page from my Vintage Irish Travel journal. This is an art project totally created and not based on any real trip (although I did get to visit Ireland once), and I set the time of this imaginary trip to 1957. My page was started with some stenciling as well as some light inking of the background. I added some ephemera and did a bit of stamping too.

And the photo is a bit crooked-when I tried to straighten the bottom it threw off the top!
And I always forget about some challenges as while going to work, I was just too busy. But now that I can squeeze in some extra art time, I've been thinking about challenges and I want to join the More Mixed Media challenge which is Anything Goes with Optional Green.

And since this week is winding down, I thought I would do another update to my teaching virtually from home. It has been a much better week overall, with less stress, so here's what I've concluded.

Update- schools have just been closed until May 6. We'll see what happens by then.

1-I am missing the kids. Online is better than nothing but online is not the same as being face to face.

2-But I have certainly learned a lot of new things about my students, things I would never learn in the classroom. Many of the kids work from their bedrooms, and that is certainly something I would never see otherwise. There is the girl with purple lights, the girl with some fantastic paintings on her wall, the boy who is a Dallas Cowboys mega-fan, the kids who literally are sitting in bed just having woken up in my 9AM group. I see what they eat for breakfast, see parents walk through, have met their dogs and younger siblings. That part is rather fun.

3-I am working way too hard, but not complaining. With all the new formats I need to use, most of my old lesson plans don't work. I need to adjust and adapt for this new format. In a way it is fun, because planning is something I like to do. And thankfully at least I'd already been using Google classroom and am comfortable with that format. 

4-The administration has gotten less tough. Our building team has backed down  and that is good. It would have saved a lot of stress last week if this had happened then, but the whole administration had a lot on their plates and were probably stressed themselves. This was a lot to pull off. And even though the governor said that online teaching didn't have to begin until this Monday, our district decided we would start last Wednesday, 3 days before the state. That gave us less time to prepare, and of course that increases stress.

5-So yes, this is a less stressful work. Now I am just trying to get more organized. But I will get there.

6- And I have to say, I love not setting an alarm every morning and getting up an hour later.

That's about all here. Just washing my hands a lot and staying away from as many people as possible.  Hope you are too.

T Stands for Life in the Time of the Virus

Hi everyone. I am starting week 2 of my teaching from home, and I was excited to see my ever demanding principal has softened her message dramatically. I guess enough people must have complained to her. 

And that takes a lot of stress off me, but I heard from a friend with a baby, and she is still feeling the tension. This online teaching is a big change.

I do feel like I have some rhythm to start the new week however, so that is a good thing too. But the bad news is a good dumping of snow is expected overnight tonight, so looks like spring will take a little bit longer before it appears. (Tomorrow is suppose to be nice though so maybe a lot of that snow will melt. Keep your fingers crossed for me please!)

I still have some pages from my  1957 Irish travel journal project left to share, and seeing it is still March I will share more this week. Plus I am jealous of those of you who some green outside already.

So let me pretend with this art project.

 This second photo is not as good but I did go back and stamp one of those Irish blessings on the page which I think finishes it off quite nicely.

I am linking up to Eileen's green challenge at Art Journal Journey The challenge runs until the end of month so if you are home hanging out and feel inspired to make some art, it would great if you could join her.

And since it is time for T again, stop by and join us at Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog and share your drink related post. I will still share this photo from the other afternoon.

I had a cup of coco in this mug I bought in New Mexico.  It has some ancestral Pueblo  designs on it. 

And the pile of magazines behind the mug is one of the projects I need to do.Time to weed through and clean them. The Secret Journeys book was a gift from a friend this past Christmas, because she felt I would need to start planning my retirement travel. Of course right now I know when retirement will begin but not when I can start that travel.

My coffee table you see here (by the way) was something my husband built about 25 years ago. 

Otherwise life is quiet.  Thank goodness for art, books and tv. And the internet too. My social life is now totally revolving around technology, except for the hubby and the dogs.

I hope everyone is washing your hands. Stay healthy.

And Happy T day.

Midweek Art for You

Happy Wednesday everyone. More and more things are shutting down here in my part of the world. I am now working from home and so is my husband. This is the first day we will share the dining table with our work and computers, so let's see how that goes. 

The only hard thing about this working at home is I know there is a fun play space and lots of toys just a few steps away. Let's see how long I can keep my willpower and actually work. Ha-ha.

For Tag Tuesday this week I have this Frida Kahlo tag for their Women/Mother's Day/Feminine challenge. I missed the last challenge because I got sick, but I did manage yesterday some time to make a tag for this latest challenge.

I had this Frida stamp in with my southwestern stamps, and I discovered her when I was looking for another stamp. I really like how she blends into my bright background.

And I have another page from my vintage 1957 Irish travel journal to share with you. I know St. Patrick''s Day has come and gone but the green is perfect for Eileen's challenge at Art Journal Journey . Plus green is a good color for any day. 

And we're suppose to get a little bit of snow tomorrow (let's hope they weather people are wrong), and there is no green here yet, so I am going for it.

Wash your hands, stay 6 feet away from others, and stay healthy my friends.

Thanks for visiting.

T Stands for a Happy St. Patrick's Day

Hi everyone. This year St. Patrick's Day falls on our T day, so today I am going to celebrate green in my post.

I will begin with a double spread in the vintage Irish travel journal I created. This of course works with Eileen's green challenge at Art Journal Journey.

I began my page with some scraps of green paper. Then I did some background stamping as well as some inking. I also created a St. Patrick's Day tag with plans to use it on my page. I  finished the page off with some items I had in my stash and also some images I received in a pack I bought off of Etsy.

And how about a green drink? I hope you stop by and visit us at Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog for this week's T.

I never go to MacDonald's, but one thing I happen to like is their Shamrock shake, only available around St. Patrick's Day.  I think once a year I can have a shake from them and just enjoy it. This past weekend my husband went through drive through and got us each a shake. And I did enjoy it.
The green is perfect for this March 17.

So I am not going to write about my stressful day of work as we try to move into online learning mode (no more days going in for awhile at least). I actually left and went home and worked from home. Much better for sure. and only 60 days left until retirement. Smile.

So have a cup of T, your choice, and have a wonderful green St. Patrick's Day.
Stay healthy my friends.

The Toilet Paper Heist and a Bit More (Smile)

Happy weekend everyone. Saturday was a not so cold but windy day.

In the  morning the hubby and I took a trip over to check out my MIL's home on the lake. She spends the winter in Maine at my sister-in-laws home.

 I managed to get a little walk in with dogs.

Even with the wind it was still a beautiful day. The woods was a good way to escape the Covid-19 news for a little bit.

There was still mostly ice on the lake but the shoreline was starting to break open.

And inside the house we discovered she had a whole case of toilet paper so we figured since she didn't need it right now as she is in another state, we'd grab a couple of packages for our own stash. Just in case we might need it. Even though we did stock up just to be prepared.

But seeing you can't buy any toilet paper anyplace right now., it is better to be safe than sorry.

Of course we told her and she was OK with it.

But it is strange how we are all thinking now because of this virus.

Today's latest news on the covid-19 situation and school is that we have classes Monday and Tuesday and then a work day Wednesday with no kids. Then we start remote teaching. For who knows how long depending on the situation. I am pretty prepared for that but I do have a few questions about the overall expectations.

And of course this may all change before Monday morning as the situation is constantly developing.

And here's another page for Eileen's GREEN theme at  Art Journal Journey from the 1957 Vintage Irish Travel Journal I made.

I started by inking my page and then adding a scrap of vintage wallpaper I had. I included a few vintage images from the paper stash I bought, and I stamped a few images too.

 Hope you like it.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

And thanks for visiting!

Another View from my Latest Art Project

Hi everyone. Hope your week is going well.

We've had some big news with the Covid-19 since last night. The NBA has cancelled its season, and Trump banned travel to Europe (except Ireland and the UK)  for 30 days. Lots of colleges and universities around here are going to go to online learning only after spring break for them next week. That's just a taste. The news has a huge list. We've been told at work to be prepared to assign work online if needed. Let's see what today brings for changes. 

Today I have another page from my 1957 Ireland Travel journal. If you haven't been by lately, this project is a large board book that I collaged with vintage looking papers.  I gave it the theme of a 1950's travel journal.

I picked Ireland because Eileen picked GREEN as the challenge topic over at Art Journal Journey.  And Ireland is such a green country. I was lucky enough to visit there once several years ago and it is a beautiful place. And with St. Patrick's Day coming up next week, it seemed a no brainer of a topic.

I used an old book page as well as various tapes to make my background. Then I added some copies of 2 vintage photos as well as a TH found relative. A few other bits and pieces finished off my page.

That's all for me. It is off to work I go today.

Thanks so much for visiting.

Looking Forward and Looking Back

Hi everyone. This is mostly a pre-post I had written. I've been down and out with either a weird virus or a reaction to the allergy shot I had Wednesday. It started with a high racing heartbeat and now a fever and aches and pains. My allergist seems to think it have the flu, but between the fact I had the vaccine last fall,  had a negative flu test result yesterday and have no respiratory or cold like symptoms, I don't think she's right about that. Who knows, but I do think it is time to give my allergy shots a break just in case this is a reaction.  Anyhow, I wanted to mention this as I am back into catch up mode at Art Journal Journey, Try It On Tuesday and on everyone's blogs.
Here's my pre-written post.
Today is the last day before we change our clocks and spring ahead here in the US. Although it makes the mornings tough for a few days until I get used to it, the longer evenings makes the time change  so worth it!
  I am back with another Green page for you. Green the is the challenge this month at Art Journal Journey which is being hosted by Eileen.

So I thought I would introduce a new project to you. I found a green Irish paper and ephemera stash on Etsy awhile back.  Since it was winter, and there was a general lack of color in the outside world,  I was very interested in this ephemera pack. (Plus it wasn't very expensive.) Now I am not of Irish descent, but I love green, so I got this idea to make a vintage travel journal. I hope you don't find it too cliche, but I was working mostly with the ephemera and papers that I received with the kit, as well as a few items I had in my stash.

I decided that 1957 was a good year to set the journal as much of what I have is vintage style. Here's the cover. I used some paper and a piece of wallpaper strip that came with the paper ack, as well as the Ireland map piece and the large shamrock image. I added some washi tape, the green metallic trim on the left as well as the letter and number stickers, all of which came from my stash.

I'll have more to share with you another day.

And I thought today would also be a good day to do my February book post.

 February was a good reading month and there were no bad books, but interestingly I did a whole lot re-reading.

One series I really enjoyed was Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series. This series was the basis for HBO's True Blood series. The books have some fascinating characters like mind readers, vampires, fairies, maenads, and many others. Plus there are murders and some fun  romantic twists. 

I originally finished this series in 2013 when book 13 (the last of the series) was released, and it is time for a reread, or should I say listen this time.

  I listened to the first 3 of the series this month.

Ten more books to go. And I know I will enjoy them!

And I also read the latest release in Elly Griffiths forensic archeology series. 

The Lantern Men was as good as it gets and very very much enjoyed by me.

And I listened to this book about traveling in Australia which was narrated by the author. I had also read this book many years ago, and I remembered enjoying it.. And I must say I really enjoyed it 

again. It was funny as well as informative. Bill Bryson is one of my favorite authors. 

And another favorite author is Louise Penny. I also want to reread some of the earlier Louise Penny murder mysteries, and this is her third book. I reread books 1 and 2 at the end of 2019. I don't think Louise Penny can write a bad book. And Gamache, he is a great inspector and character.

If you have a travel hankering (OK, I do), the Seine is an enjoyable read. The author does spend several chapters in Paris, but this book is not just about Paris. She has stories about the life and people all along the Seine, as well as those about the river itself. I guess if I can't take a trip there, I might as well enjoy it from my couch.

And my last February listen was this short freebie about caffeine. It was just enough science as well as a lot of fascinating stories and facts. I learned a lot, and definitely enjoyed it. 

And that was February. 

Thanks for visiting, and I hope everyone is having a much better start to the month than I am.