Art and Books-What Could be Better?

Hi everyone. Thanks for visiting my blog today. Another weekend has buzzed right by and it is almost time for another week to begin. But wasn't it just September 1? Now we are almost half way through the month.

  I have some art for you and also a book post for those of you who may want to see what's been on my nightstand.

Here's my latest pattern page for Art Journal Journey. This month the challenge at polka-dots, stripes, plaids or patterns (PSPP for short). 

I began my page with a paint brush clean up watercolor page.  I stenciled a design using a lace image stencil  with some black  paint onto some thin white paper. Once dry,  I tore that paper into some bits and attached those pieces randomly to my watercolor base, and then I went back over part of the page and stenciled over some of my page with some soft modeling paste.

Originally I thought of coloring the  modeling paste part, but then I decided I liked the white color and left it. I finished off the page with a bit of stamping and finally coloring along with fussy cutting some stamped dragonflies from another sheet of paper.

And for those of you who are readers and may enjoy a book review, here's my last month and a half  reading/listening list. 

I share these mostly so I can keep track of what I have read, but I know I enjoy book recommendations and I believe some of you do also.

My goal is this year is to listen to all 7 Harry Potter books, and I am doing pretty well with it. I finished book 5 and now I am working on book 6.   Jim Dale, the narrator of these books, has an amazing voice range also, and he is  great to listen to.  I think I  prefer the stories being read to me rather than  reading them myself. It certainly makes my daily commutes much more enjoyable. Go Harry!

And my latest book club book was the Great Alone. I would probably never have picked up this book but I am glad I did. It is set in Alaska, and I found it quite an emotional thrill to read. I will say however, it seems a few of our book club choices lately have had an abusive male in them, as did this one, and I am ready for some nicer male main characters. But it was an easy read and I could read it quite quickly.  I do recommend it.

And below is another oldie, reread for me. The Historian is long ( a 28 hour listen), but I enjoyed it the second time around as much as the first. This time I did listen to it rather than read it in book form, but it is a great suspenseful story about the search for Dracula by 2 historians who believe there is enough evidence that he still lives in the mid-20th century. It is fiction, but I enjoyed the romp around Europe in the 1950's and 1970's. My only complaint is some of the story is the reading of letters by one of the historians, and maybe it could have been written more in real time, but that is a small complaint. I like its suspense and gothic (in the traditional sense) feel. It is not full of blood and gore, although there are a few random deaths, but for me a good fall read/listen. I don't know why but I always have an urge to read some good old fashion style gothic tales as the leaves begin to turn.
And do they find Dracula? I will leave that to you if you want to know I guess you will need to read the book.

And another listened to story was this children's classic.

I had never read the books, and of course books are often better than films, so I decided to listen to the Anne Hathaway version. I must say I really enjoyed it. And definitely not the film either. How much not like the film really surprised me.

Now my reading book mood lately has been mysteries, and I have been racking them up.

I am only showing only one of this Dr. Ruth Galloway series, but I am hooked on these. This is the last of 3 I've read since early August..(This is the 8th book in the series and I started with #1 in January.)  Ruth Galloway is an archeologist who assisted the police with investigations, and there is a whole cast of characters which are really nicely done. They show up in all the books and I think some of my addiction to this series is I like to see what everyone has been up to. But I do suggest you start at the beginning to get to know the characters as you go.

I also read the last couple of Louise Penny's  Armand Gamache mysteries so I am all caught up for the latest which recently came out. I haven't read that one yet,  but I think these are some of the best written mysteries around, not quite as easy a read as the Elly Griffiths one but just as good.

And (ha-ha), I keep working on my husband so he might become a bit more like Armand Gamache.
There's been a few other light and fluffy listens/reads, including the non-political book by the Bush twins and  a pie baking cookbook.
And there's a couple more mysteries on my nightstand to read (including the latest Louise Penny) and also my latest bookclub book by Barbara Kingsolver. All of which I look forward to.

Thanks for visiting.

Checking In

 Hi there everyone. How is your weekend  going? 

I could use a quiet weekend but today I was off to visit my Mom and then run errands. But since it was rainy and grey the hubby came along for a ride. I must say it was great to have some company since Mom is 2+ hours drive each way.

But how about some art? I have another page to inspire you to join Art Journal Journey This month is all about polka-dots, stripes, plaids and patterns.  Today my page is all about circles.

I had an orange and black page that I did not want to be too much like Halloween. So I began by hand painting some black circles (over the black spots) and then adding little white paint dots around them. 

I added this lovely lady which was a punch out from Studio Light. And she needed a friend so I thought this little duck stamp would be a good addition.  

Hope your weekend is going well. Hope to see you over at Art Journal Journey

Thanks for visiting.

Last of the Ocean Journal

Hi everyone.  Friday and the workweek is almost over and another weekend is almost here.
Smile.

Do you remember the journal I was working on this past summer with an ocean theme?  It had fold out pages and being summer, I was thinking about fun by the sea.  

Or in this case, fun in the water.

This last spread  is a fantasy page about mermaids.

And seashells along with polka dots too.
And since polka-dots fit my challenge this month at Art Journal Journey, I am linking this spread up.
Check out the polka-dots, stripes, plaid and patterns challenge and all the fantastic art linked over at Art Journal Journey. Big thanks to all of you who have linked up already!

My favorite part is the waves. I made then by painting on acetate and then cutting them out. I like the effect the created and think I am going to use that little find again.
You' also might not be able to tell, but the  mermaid here on the above right hand side is made from paper clay in mold. I then painted and colored her in.
Autumn feels like it is here in my world (even though yesterday we had some summer warmth), so my urge to be a mermaid is put back into the bottle until next summer.
Happy weekend!

Wednesday Art

Hi everyone. I thought I would share another journal page for the latest challenge at Art Journal Journey. 

This month the challenge is polka-dots, stripes, plaids and patterns, which one or combination tickles your fancy.

I started my page by painting some rather crooked green vertical and horizontal stripes. They reminded me of a green wire garden fence. So I doodled some vines and leaves and then stamped an abstract design that reminded me of a flower. But at that point I really disliked my page. OK, so I look a bit of gesso and scraped it with an old credit card over the page. 

Amazing how a bit of gesso can change the whole look. 

I stamped the fairy image on some plain white paper and colored her in. I also stamped her on the page to use as a guide plus there were all those cool little circles around her feet and on her dress and I hated to lose them all when I cut her out.

So after cutting her out I attached her onto her stamped on the image. Then I used some silver Stickles glitter glue to cover the dots. I also used some TH clear wings rather than the wings th image came with. And I also stamped the quote, which came with the fairy image stamp set. 

That's my post today.  Stope by the Art Journal Journey website to see all the beautiful art posted so far. Thanks so much for visiting, and  I hope to see some art from you at Art Journal Journey soon.

T Stands for a Drive through Vermont, and A Few Other Things Also

Hi everyone.  It is T Day again. Wow, the week went fast, didn't it? 

In my last post I showed you the corn maze (or maize maze) we did this past weekend. I certainly get why some of you commented that you  wouldn't want to do this maze. The one we visited was especially large. I have done a smaller one which was fairly easy and certainly a different experience.
And for those of you who mentioned being vertically challenged and walking in a maze of tall corn, I can totally related as I am only 5 ft  (1.5 meters) so those corn stalks were more than twice my size.

As the corn maze was in northeast Vermont,  we drove up through the White Mountains of my state (New Hampshire) and then into the Green Mountains of Vermont. We saw lots of pretty and interesting scenery.

 I took this top photo from the car on the road in New Hampshire, and you can see  we were close enough that Canada starting showing up on the road signs. 

 We spent Saturday night with my daughter's beau's family, and this was the view from just down the road from their cabin.

We had some rain Saturday night and Sunday morning it was just starting to clear out.

 But it wasn't all farmland.
Good thing we are used to gravel roads because we traveled down lots of those.

Vermont is known for their dairy products. 

But we also passed this alpaca farm.

What a face!

And Vermont has lots of cool barns of various kind, including this old one.

And there are a few pretty little lakes.

 And look at this tiny town library. I think it is the cutest. I could probably fit my books into it (as I have lots of books.)

Maybe I need one of these. (smile)

 And since we were meeting at the maze at 10 in the morning, we got an early start. We also knew lunch was not going to happen. So on our way we stopped for breakfast. This is my T Day part of the  post.

 We passed this diner along the way. And  here's my breakfast, along with some caffeine to wake me up and get me ready for the corn maze.
And although it is not in the photo, my straw was also biodegradable like Elizabeth's was too.

This is my drink photo for T Stands for Tuesday over at Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog.

And as if this post isn't' already long, I also have a journal page.

Just a reminder there is still a week to join in at the Girls and Boys challenge at Try It on Tuesday.

And since I stamped the stripes in the background and there is a number pattern along the bottom of the page, I am also linking up to the polka-dot, stripes, plaid and pattern challenge (PSPP) at Art Journal Journey. You still have the rest of the month to participate there.

Happy T day everyone. And thanks for visiting and reading a long post.

The Great Vermont Corn Maze

Hi everyone. Happy new week. We got home this Sunday after lunch, and after a much needed 2 hour nap, I am finally recovering from doing this HUGE corn maze up in northeastern Vermont this weekend. We met my daughter and her beau, as well as her beau's parents and sister. It was nice of them to invite us to join their family tradition, and then later to spend the night at their cabin. 

The Great Vermont Corn maze is a CHALLENGE for sure.  We separated into 3 teams, so it was my husband and myself, the newbies, seeing everyone else had done the maze challenge in other years.  There also was the in their 20's team and the third team was the other set of parents.

 There were 4 ways into the maze, and we all split up. The hubby and I took the  meeny route. One of the entrance ways was a dead end and you had to turn around and come back to start again, but luckily that was not our entrance.

 This maze covers 24 acres, which you can see from one of the little bridges you can climb up on.

 It was still early when we got to the Bell of Frustration. But I rang the bell anyhow. (Frustration was to come after about 3 hours.)

 The corn was 12 feet tall and thick. You could hear people all around you but certainly couldn't see them. (Unless you passed them on the trail, and we passed lots of people several times.)

 You could go over and through the tunnel. We made it through but never get on the path over it.

 There was a pretty view from the top of one of the bridges.

 This years theme was When Pigs Fly. We didn't know that going in, and honestly  in the maze, I could never tell.

 After 3 1/2 hours, we finally saw the exit. After 3 hours I needed that bell of frustration. But we needed to finish too.

So the only way to tell your path in the maze was to get a card punched.

That way if you returned and got a second identical punch, you knew you had returned to an already visited area.

I have to admit the hubby and I, the first timers, came in last place fore our three groups. Oh well, it was still fun, and we had a gorgeous day to do it.  The temperature was cool but the sun was warm.

And I got lots of steps in too.

I think the plan is to go back next year, But at least we've learned a few tricks and things along the way!

A Big Bloom and a Rainbow Sky

 Hi everyone. Happy Friday, or almost Friday depending where you are located. 

 This week hasn't been very eventful for me, working days, a bit of evening art time but more evening relaxing time either watching tv or reading a book. Fall weather seems to be here to stay, at least for now, and the nights have been cool and the days have been warm but not too hot. I am loving this because usually when we get back to school it seems to get really hot and humid, like Mother Nature is reminding us that it was summer vacation just a few weeks earlier.

So I have a journal page to share today.

I want to make a pattern so I began by drawing big scallops with a block Sharpie. I painted each layer a different color, did a bit of writing and also added a second mini-pattern to each scallop layer.

On a separate piece of paper, I used the black Sharpie to draw the giant flower. I fussy cut it and then attached it to my colorful background. I did add some black sequins to center of the circle, and I stamped and colored the little bee.

I am linking up to the latest theme at Art Journal Journey which is polka-dots, stripes, plaids or patterns (PSPP for short). 

I'm heading out to a camp in the woods with no internet this weekend so I can't comment on any Art Journal Journey posts. I have a weekend adventure ahead. I'll share more when I get back.

Wishing you all a fantastic weekend. 

And thanks for visiting.

Polka Dots and Patterns

Hi everyone. 

Thought I would give you a little more inspiration for the latest challenge at Art Journal Journey. This month the challenge is polka-dots, stripes, plaid or patterns. You don't need to use them all, or even 2, but just include at least one of them in your journal page.

I used this butterfly pattern paper as well as some scraps of polka-dot paper.  I separated  them with some blue washi tape. I outlined the butterfly paper and I also used a black Sharpie and a white pen to create the details around the side edges of the polka dot paper.

The butterfly face is  a Lynne Perrella stamp from paper Artsy.  I stamped it on acetate and then roughly cut it out before attaching it to the page. Then I stamped the quote and heat embossed it.  I  added a few little gemstones and also 2 cardboard dice images.

And there you have it.

I' m also linking up to Moo Mania and their use a stamp challenge.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog, and I would love to see you over at Art Journal Journey when you get a chance.

Boys and Girls or Girls and Boys

Hi everyone. It is once again Tuesday and already time for another challenge at Try It On Tuesday.

This time our new challenge is Boys and Girls.

Big thanks to all of you who joined the last challenge and shared some fantastic garden inspired art with us.

For the new boys and girls challenge, I went with a baby theme because one of  my co-worker friends (who is my daughter's age) was having a baby this past summer. Since she didn't know what sex the baby was, we were all guessing whether it would be a boy or girl.

I made my page by painting pink and green stripes. Yup, I know, if was sticking traditional I should be using pink and blue. But it is time to put tradition aside, plus I found this photo and there was no blue in it.

After attaching the little bundles of joy, I added  some fabric lace and trim as well these fun little felt animals. These are actually from a child's Valentine's kit but I thought they worked great with the babies. Then added the letters. But the page still needed something, so I decided to scallop the edges and add a little bit of sparkle paper. I think it makes the background look more like a blanket (although maybe not a totally straight one at the bottom.)

And since there's a new theme at Art Journal Journey, I am also linking up my page to that challenge. The new challenge is Polka-dots, stripes, plaid or patterns, otherwise known as PSPP.

Glad you stopped by my blog and hope to see you boys and girls at our new Try It On Tuesday challenge.

Lots of Things, T and More

Hi everyone.  It is a typical Labor Day holiday for New Hampshire, grey,wet and cool. I am OK with that that however as it has been a busy weekend and it is nice to have a low key day before the work week starts up again.

So today I am starting with a tag I made for the Purple challenge at Tag Tuesday. Thanks Michelle for this color choice because it made me to work with purple, which I have to say I never use.

And today is also September 2, which means it is time to repost something from the past. Stop by Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog for these second looks.

Today I have a drink related repost.

These photos are from back in September 2016. Here's the original link: T is for a Saturday evening campfire

 We had a margarita, mine in my Yeti ( a keep it cold cup brand for those of you who don't know about them), and we popped popcorn over the fire. We had a relaxing  summer like evening.

And this brings me to my  T Day post for this week. I'm a little early for Tuesday when we usually post our drink related items but, it works perfect with my Second on the Second  so I am including it here. Be sure to stop by Bleubeard and Elizabeth's post for that event. That post goes up later on this Monday in case you aren't familiar with it.

This past weekend my daughter and her beau came for a night, and we had another fire pit campfire.

 

And we once again made a bowl of popcorn for a snack.

But this time instead of margaritas, we had a nice brown ale.

I forgot to get photos last night of our beer while we were hanging out around the campfire, so here are our empties which I took a photo of this morning.

Newcastle brown is a locally brewed ale. And here's a correction to my original post. This is the same ale brewed in Newcastle, England, but we get the brewed in US version. (I had to look this up because a few of you mentioned it was a British beer and it had me questioning. But it is one of my favorites, no matter where it is brewed.

The rest of my weekend was eventful and I will be showing you a bit more of it next week for T day.

Hope you have a great day, a Happy Labor Day if you are in the US (because I don't think anyone else celebrates it), and stay safe if you are anywhere around Hurricane Dorian.

Thanks for visiting.

September is Here!

Hi there everyone. Can you believe August is over and it is now September?  We've had some crisp nights lately and here in New Hampshire it is starting to feel like fall, at least in the evening and first thing in the morning.

The height of summer might be starting to wind down, but maybe that means there will be more art time.

Since it is a new month,  it is time for a new challenge at Art Journal Journey  Susi and Elizabeth asked me to host again, so here I am, back for another month of fun.

I really liked Gill's EYES challenge last month and I hope you enjoy my new challenge as much.

And huge thanks to Susi and Elizabeth for asking me back too. I'm excited to host another challenge and see how you amazing artists interpret it.

This month my challenge is Polka-dots, Stripes, Plaid or Pattern. That's a lot of words so you can call it PSPP. Somehow in your art you should use one or more of these design types.

For my first page this month I painted and used a white pen to create a rough plaid.  I also used a bit or orange and blue spray ink to color the background. Then I used some matte medium to to attach a bit of newsprint tissue paper. Once dry I stamped this cool poppy and hexagon borer image.  I painted the poppy. I also added some of these washi butterfly stickers and stamped the quote. 

At the bottom of my page I made some blue sparkle paper fringe, and after attaching that I added some 2 tone ric-rac trim to finish off the page.

I can't wait to see all the fun takes on this challenge.

I also hope to see you there!