Girl Power

Hello from New Hampshire. This morning I am thinking next week is Christmas, not the US celebration of Thanksgiving.

 I think rose season is over at this point.

But today is it already above freezing and when I stepped outside to snap these photos every cell in my body was smiling because it actually felt  warm to me. That's what happens after a couple of very cold days. Time to get back to the normal November chill, not January chill.

We got around 4 inches which is more than some and less than others in these winter weather fronts that have been moving through.  You can see that the dogs have thoroughly enjoyed the snow though from all their pawprints in these photos. 

And I have another retro style vintage page for Art Journal Journey. 

Some polka dot tissue, some stenciling with paint, some pictures cut out of my sewing pattern book, a mini-tag from my stash and  a few letter stickers are what I used to make this page.

This has probably become a cliché image, and I will say that model's arm muscles sure don't look very powerful in the little snapshot photo. I actually like the ladies in their 1940's work outfits though. Even those look glamorous. But I guess if you are tall and thin (not me)) anything looks good on you. (smile)

I am also linking up to AEDM, day 17!

Happy start to your weekend.

And thanks so much for visiting.

Farm Girl

Happy Friday folks.  We've gotten about 3 inches of snow at my house this morning. It's snowing right now. It's one of those tough weather patterns though because I work 35 mile away at the seacoast where it is raining. Not enough snow here for me to feel I need to call in  but just enough to be a pain to drive through. That means I get to trek through the snow to wherever the snow-rain line is. This is when I would love a delay so they have more time to clear the roads, but alas, no delay. I've done this a million times (or so it seems) so  I'll shortly be heading off. And I have an all wheel drive car and I'm a tough winter hardened New Englander, so I will be fine also.

I'm back with another page for Art Journal Journey and the latest Vintage or Modern challenge. I'm going vintage today with this page from my calendar journal. 

I love the idea of being a farmer, but I think the reality of it would not be for me. As an animal lover, the idea of having cows or sheep sounds fun. BUT, I like to come and go and hit the road every now again which doesn't work with animals to care for. Now I can head off as it's easy to  get my daughter to dog sit or we take them with us as they travel well in the car.  I can't imagine doing that with a cow. Plus getting up even earlier in the morning than I already do is not appealing. So I guess I will live out my farm girl fantasy with this page in my calendar journal.

I covered the page with this striped paper and then added some die cut hexagons. The cows are a rub-on from my stash, as is the old fashioned printed cardboard button.  Then I added the TH girl and a quote that I cut out from a bunch of quote cards I have.

I can't say I've been up in my happy place much this week. It's been cold and dark when I get home at the end of the work day and all my mojo is gone. I definitely have been watching too much tv in the evenings. But, it has made a good time for me to knit.

I finished up this pair of socks for myself. And I've started a pair which I hope to have done to give to my daughter for Christmas.

I'm linking up and sharing this with you over at AEDM.

I am definitely sun deprived right now. Hopefully this weekend I can remedy that a little bit.

Hope you're up to something you want to be up this weekend too.

Thanks for visiting and putting up with my weather woes..

A Modern Girl

Hello everyone. Today my page for Art Journal Journey and my Vintage or Modern Challenge is this trying to go modern page. It's not a very complicated page, but I  couldn't figure out what else to do with it. But modern is often about clean simple lines without a lot of extra. So voila. This is what you get.

I started with this painting by Paul Klee that I found in a very old art book I have. Then I added this modern gal that I cut out of the sewing pattern book I have. A stamped quote and some doodled lines complete my page.
BIG thanks to all of you who are linking up to AJJ! There's some great inspiration and art over there if you haven't checked it out.
I am also linking up to ARDM. It is day 15 and we're halfway there!

I hope those of you down south and west have warmed up, gotten power and and survived the snow/ice. I've seen images of the storm on tv.  It's too early for this, isn't it? We have the cold now. This morning it is 16 degrees F (about -9 degrees C). And tonight, the snow is coming.
Hurrah! (NOT!)

Happy Thursday!

Retro Robot

Hi everyone. It's been a VERY chilly day here in New Hampshire. I had to pull out my heavy winter coat. But even more than this cold we are watching a big storm coming up the coast that is supposed to bring some snow my way-maybe even as much as 10 inches by Friday evening. Holy cow!

I have another page for Art Journal Journey today. The challenge is vintage or modern, and when I started this page I was thinking modern. But having used some metallic paints as well as the metallic paper gears, I decided this page looked more retro than modern.

I do like how the word vintage can mean so many different things. I am really impressed with all the different takes on this challenge I have seen over at AJJ. And all the talent too!

I am also linking up to AEDM for day 14.

Happy Wednesday and thanks so much for visiting me.

T Stands for the Wrong Margarita?

Happy T Day folks. Tuesday has arrived and it's back to work for me. I had a wonderful 3 day weekend, and even better is that the end of next week is Thanksgiving and I get another one then too. (grin). Plus I get to eat one of my favorite meals then too.

Today we share our drink related posts over at Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog.

The other night my husband and I went out for dinner with a good friend from our college days and his wife (who he met after our college days). Our friend was such a good friend that he was best man at our wedding, and my husband was part of his. And then as often happens, we lost track of each other. But the good news is we reconnected a few years ago and we all get on well so it is always fun when we get together. 

Our friend's wife ordered a jalapeno juice margarita and I was boring and ordered a plain margarita. 

They looked the same when the waitress brought them out and somehow  she swapped them on the table. By the time we realized her mistake, I had had a few sips and my tongue was tingling.It actually wasn't bad, and required me to take tiny sips, so the one drink lasted me all evening.
And one thing I did this past weekend was bake some bread.

 These are my loaves. It's a sourdough pumpkin bread with a cinnamon swirl. I started a sour dough last summer and now that I have gotten proficient at pizza dough I am moving on to bread. This one is my best by far.

And my rt for the day is this piece I made with  tea theme. It is another take on modern styled vintage.

I am linking up to Art Journal Journey which I am hosting this month. The theme is Vintage or Modern.
And I am also linking up to AEDM for day 13.
Thanks for visiting. 

The Modern Girls

Happy new week all my blogging friends. Monday has arrived and we are in the cold here in New Hampshire. There is actually accumulating snow in the forecast for later this week. Even if we don't get the snow, it has sure been an early arrival for winter this year.

I'm still hoping to do a little raking today just so it won't be so much work in spring, but we'll have to see how much it warms up outside.

So while I wait, let me show you today's post for Art Journal Journey. This was a paint use up page that I then bordered with scraps of paper. I stamped these Jane Davenport ladies that I won over at Valerie's blog. I added the painted hair, some painted butterflies, some left over flowers that I cut to make part of the order, and finally the quote.

I am also linking up to  AEDM.

That's all for me today. Thanks so much for visiting!

Fun and Whimsey

Happy Sunday. And Happy Veteran's Day as we call it here in the US. I saw it is also known as Remembrance Day,  or Armistice Day as well as other names, so whatever it is called in your corner of the world I wish you a happy one. 

I also know it is the 100th anniversary since the end of the Great War, World War I, but I would not have known that if it wasn't for what I have read on blogs. It hasn't been mentioned here at all.

The sun is shining here, but the wind is a blowing. I think this is what they call blustery or maybe even slightly like a hurricane (no not quite but my dry sarcastic side is getting the best of me this morning). I will not be raking today unless I want the leaves to blow right back into my face.

I was still doing a bit of work table cleaning when I created this page the for vintage or modern challenge over at Art Journal Journey .   It's a fun and whimsey take on the theme. Guess I'd call it Vintage Modern.
I began with this vintage printed piece of vellum which I attached with some glue and lots of stitching. Then I attached all sorts of bits and bobs off my table, creating faces from some of them, and adding some of those googly eyes. I colored a few bits orange just some some contrast and stamped the word humbug.
And that is my page today.
I didn't get to post yesterday as I planned over at Art Every Day Month, but I did my drawings pages for a couple of days so I did make a bit of art. But I am back today.
And since it is Veterans Day, I thought I would share this handsome fellow not from the Great War but from the big one that came along after that. I don't think either of my grandfathers served in the first world war. I know one of them was new to the US during those years and the other was living in Finland.

This photo is none other than my Dad. I'm not sure where he was stationed when this photo was snapped, but he is my favorite Veteran by far.
And although I don't have anyone in particular to remember from the Great War, I once visited the Imperial War Museum in London and their fabulous exhibit to the trenches. I can still vividly remember the smell they created so you could know what it was like to serve in those trenches, and it was not a pleasant thing for sure. Here in the US it is such a small part of our war memories comparidly, but  for many of your nations it is was a much bigger and more important memory. History is such a fascinating story, and there are so many point of views to it, isn't there?
Happy rest of your weekend everyone.

Some Art

Hi there. Friday is here and it is almost the weekend. A long one for me as it is Veterans Day (Armistice Day) holiday weekend. I just read that it has been 100 years since the first world war ended. If I remembered my history better I would have known that.

   Today I have a tag and a journal page to share with you.

I am linking it up to Tag Tuesday and their newest challenge which is Poppies.

I  drew and colored these with a couple of different red markers. Then I added a bit of black paint and some red Stickles glitter glue.

This is a great challenge for this time of year.

And I guess this page can be described as vintage modern. I began with the triangular background which was a page in my calendar journal. I did a bit of coloring, and then added a few of these "ancient" rusty stickers. These stickers are something I bought probably close to 20  years ago, and I liked them so much that I have 3 sheets of them, although by this point none of the sheets are complete. I wish they still made stickers like this.

Then I added the TH found relative and the quote, as well as doing a bit of doodling in the circles.

I am linking this page up to my Vintage or Modern challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

Big thanks to those of you who have joined in. It is much appreciated.

And before I forget, I am linking up to AEDM and it is Day 9 also.

The sun is suppose to disappear here today and more rain is due later in the day. And then, the cold arrives. Oh boy. 

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Puppy Love

Hi everyone. I'm back with another page for Art Journal Journey and the latest Vintage or Modern theme.

Today my page began with this vintage photo of this pup I found in a magazine.

My question is, do dogs who let you dress them up and paint their nails really exist? Not that I would want to do that, but I've had several dogs during my life and I have never had one that would sit for more than about 10 seconds with a hat on. 

This dog is a great vintage photo though. The blue knitted outfit is something else.

My background paper is one of those old fashion bubble test answer sheets that I changed a bit by using a stencil and some molding paste.  Then I created some dog biscuits from a piece of cardboard. I must say I was quite pleased how they came out because even though they may not look exactly like a real dog biscuit, they do have a nice 3D effect and the color is pretty close.

I took my title from an old 1950's song which I think was from Paul Anka. 

 I'm also linking up to Leah's challenge at 

Art Everyday Month.
Yesterday ended up being a gorgeous day in New Hampshire. I wish I could have stayed home and worked in the yard and soaked up some sun. I have just a few leaves to rake.

Hopefully this weekend the weather will cooperate for a change. Today is suppose to be nice but more rain is due in tomorrow. And the long range forecast is a little scary- we could get some snow early next week.
It can't be that time of year already, can it? (smile).
Thanks for visiting.

Let's Get Messy

Howdy! Wednesday has arrived and they say we might even have some sun in my little part of the planet. That would be good since we've had more dark and wet days than is usual for this time of year. It's starting to get to me.

I think this weather inspired me to make this clean up page. This page began with me using up a bit of left over blue paint, some stenciling from a stencil that I needed to put away, and then me stamping the eye several times. And all my additions were left over bits from my work table. Finally I stamped the quote on a scrap of graph paper and added that to the page.

This month's theme at Art Journal Journey

is vintage or modern. I am definitely going modern today.

Thanks to all of you who have joined in so far this month. I really appreciate your support.

And I am going to also link my page up to Art Every Day Month.

Thanks for visiting.

T Stands for No Power

Happy Tuesday everyone. Time for T over at Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog and also today is Election Day here in the US. The kids are off from school in my district today and we have a teacher work day. (Back on primary voting day some of you asked about why the kids were off, and to answer that  it's because New Hampshire has a law that makes it legal to carry concealed weapons on school grounds,where the polls to vote are. Since the school is responsible for student safety, and not knowing who will be entering the building to vote, the district has made the decision to have us to do one of contractual work days and give the kids the day off. )

So this past weekend my husband and I headed off to our college alma mater. We like to follow our college ice hockey team, and my husband had a birthday last week. I got him tickets and booked a hotel room so we could go to the game and have a night away.

I totally forgot to take any photos during the game, which was just as well as our team lost by a score of 0-1. Neither team looked great. Oh well, a game is always better in person and we still had fun. I just hope the team improve as the season goes on.

But the excitement of our weekend was the windstorm that blew through late Saturday afternoon. Around 4:30/16:30 the power went out at the hotel, so we decided to grab an early dinner and went into town.

There was no power in town either, but the only place with generators was where we were headed anyhow.

 Pat's Pizza was about the only pizza place in town back when I was a young co-ed,  and one of the best things about this restaurant is that the only change since those days are some new tvs. It is nice to go back after 30+ years and have something remain the same.

Now I can't say Pat's is a very classy place, but it is a good place for pizza and beer. And it's got history!

 And since they were the only place with some electricity, they were pretty crowded.

We got a table next to a beer sign which was powered on, so we had pretty good light. 

And we had a bowl of popcorn along with our beer while we waited for our pizza.

OK, not my best photo.  I took off my hockey jersey for fear I would spill pizza on it.

  When I got to Pats I always order the same pizza. Just because I can.

 It was all yummy.

I'm also linking up some art to Create Art Every Day.

This is day 6 and I am showing you the calendar from the front of my drawing journal. 

That's all for me. 

Thanks for visiting. And happy T day.

Groovy

Oh is it Monday already? 

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. 

I have another vintage page for Art Journal Journey, but today I'm heading back to the swinging 60's.  I was around in almost all of the 1960's but I was pretty young so I don't know if they were really swinging or not.

This month's theme at Art Journal Journey is Vintage or Modern.

I was really inspired by this colorful tissue paper that became the background of my page. It reminded me of the psychedelic color scheme of that decade. I added this lady in her caftan that I cut out from that big pattern book I've been using off and on this fall. (I got it on markdown for $4 at Hobby Lobby back in August, cheaper than most magazines and full of great images.) Then I added a few assorted die cuts and stickers to finish off the page.

And I am also linking up to Create Art Every Day.

Hope your week is starting out in a good way. And thanks for stopping by both here on my blog and at Art Journal Journey. I really appreciate it!

Don't Settle

Hi everyone. I have a pre-scheduled post today since my husband and I are driving home from our little weekend outing to our college alma mater. We attended a hockey game last night, but I will have to fill you in on T Day on any exciting details from our trip.
I did want to link up another page for the Vintage or Modern theme I am hosting at Art Journal Journey

So here's a page from my calendar journal. My calendar journal which is getting pretty thick since we're in week 44 of the year.
I began by coloring the plaid background of the calendar journal page Then I added the TH relative and the quote. After that I stamped the swirl above her head and doodled in the stars. To complete the page I added first some black and white paper tape along the bottom and then some gold diamond tape over that.
I  like to think  this woman (on my page) from an obviously older time period is giving us folks of the present time a little advice in the form of this quote.

And it's Day 4 over at Create Art Every Day challenge.
Hope you're having a wonderful weekend.
And thanks for visiting my blog.

Who Are You?

Hi everyone.
 I got the hubby hockey tickets for our college ice hockey team for his birthday, so today we are headed north 3 1/2 hours for a hockey game, some nostalgia and a night away.

I am looking forward to it.

But I want to link up a page for the Vintage or Modern challenge over at Art Journal Journey before we head out. Obvious today I am going modern all the way in my journal page.
I got inspired by some of Julie Fei-Fan Balzar's ( Balzar Designs) art one evening as I was reading some of her blog posts and it got me doodling/coloring in my own way.  Then I cut out the face and attached it to this Gelli printed sheet of printed paper. Sometimes you just need to put away the paints, stencils and other paraphernalia and to be like a  kid and color.

And I am also linking up to Day 3 of Art Every Day Month. (I don't have an  instagram and other such social media accounts so I may not be able to comment on your post if this is how you linked in.)
Hope you're having a great weekend and finding some art inspiration in your day.

Style Is Eternal

Hello everyone. Friday has arrived and today it's time to start the second quarter of the  year at my school. And it is already November. Wow, the year is sure going by quickly.
Today  I'm back with another journal page for the latest challenge at Art Journal Journey

I am sticking with Vintage again, for the Vintage or Modern theme.
I began my page by layering bits of 3 different tissue papers. Then I added some texture by using a stencil and molding paste. Once that dried I rubbed some silver and grey paint over it. These stylish 1950's dressed ladies are cut out of the giant sewing pattern book I bought on markdown back in the summer. There are lots of pages of vintage clothing examples for patterns. So I think you might be seeing a few more vintage styles from me this month. :)
And with all the texture paste and matte medium glueing down tissue, my page has a little bend, so please excuse the letters that are not at all straight in the photo, but are mostly straight on the page.
And since today is November 2, I am joining in over at Second on the Second on Elizabeth's blog.
My page today is from November of 2015. It definitely has an autumn feel. Here in my world there is barely a green leaf left right now. And we are supposed to get heavy rain again today so I bet  many of the remaining leaves will be coming down today.

I chose this page because this is what it will look like once that rain arrives.
You can read the entire post from that day here.
And lastly, I am linking up to

Create Art Every Day  with today's post.

Thanks for visiting and I hope your day is going great.

Vintage or Modern

Hi everyone. 

 November has just arrived and it's time for a new challenge at Art Journal Journey. And I am excited because I get to be your hostess this month!

BIG THANKS to Susi and Elizabeth for asking me back to be your hostess again.  I feel quite honored. I hope I can be as good a hostess as Linda was last month.

As  I wrote for the Art Journal Journey website:
November is a time that I always find a little  bittersweet. For those of us in the Northern hemisphere, the beauty of summer and early fall has faded. Winter is coming. I get a little sentimental for the past, but at the same time, I am still excited for the future and for what the rest of the year may bring. It's these feeling of sentimentality and  excitement for the future that lead me to my challenge this month: Vintage or Modern. I hope you'll join me on a trip back in time or  you'll share the here and now. 

I made my page by first spraying the background with brown and purple Distress ink sprays. Then I stamped the old cars (B-Line Designs) and added some striped tissue paper from a napkin.  I added 2 pieces of printed acetate to the top right and bottom left corners. Then I added some black paper die cut images- the 2 old cars, the pocket watch and the black chain. The TH found relatives came next, and finally I added some gold dot stickers.

Thanks for stopping by.

I hope you'll join me for this challenge this month. I can't wait to see your vintage or modern pages.

And I just discovered from  Bleubeard and Elizabeth's  blog.

Art Every Day Month

I will join in also!