• Blog - Outdoors

    T Tuesday: resort edition

    I missed T stands for Tuesday last week while Mini-me and I were up north enjoying time with family at a resort. There were 16 of us which is a lot smaller group than it has been over the last few years.

    resortIt’s been a long standing tradition for the maternal side of Mr. G’s family to gather at a resort for a week each summer. The first few years we were married the yearly gathering was at a small resort in Wisconsin. We went for a few days when we could but after the resort changed ownership the tradition faded. That is until about 4 years ago when the group gathered in Alexandria, MN.

    We tried out a new resort this year and don’t regret it at all. It’s in a beautiful yet fairly remote area…as in there are no decent sized towns within an hours drive.  We were a very short distance from the southern edge of the Chippewa National Forest.

    resort

    The resort sat on a small bay of a much larger lake. It was very quiet with little boat traffic.

    resort

    Just the occasional Loon.

    resort

    There was a great beach volleyball court for Mini-me to practice her skills. She gave me and my BIL quiet the workout playing with her. Neither of us are sporty in the least.

    Each year we have a themed potluck gathering. This years theme was kind of vague…Greece/Olympus. Honestly, I didn’t really “get it” other than the food.  I brought a Mediterranean salad.

    resort

    Typically everyone goes all out dressing up, menu planning and decorating according to the theme. There was Gyros, hummus, kabobs, salads, crockpots of goodies, homemade wine and cider plus so much more.

    resort

    So much food!!!!

    resort

    The kids enjoyed games.

    resort

    And of course S’mores around the fire.

    We aren’t sure what the plan is for next year yet but I’m sure at least Mini-me and I will go if time allows.

    Tuesday has an appt. and back to school shopping for sure…who knows what else we’ll end up doing. The summer is quickly fading away.

    What are you doing today?

  • Art - Blog - Creativity

    Acrylic pouring

    Ever heard of acrylic pours? I hadn’t until a couple months ago. I watched endless streams of YouTube videos on the process. It looked like something I could totally get into given time, space and willingness to get messy. Two out of three aren’t bad.

    I did manage to eek out some space to at the very least make due so I could try this out.

    My very first attempt I used red, orange, yellow and white with Golden polymer gloss medium. Some videos use silcone or WD-40 in the mix as well but I am not a fan of using any sort of aerosol in the house especially in my minimally ventilated basement. acrylic pour

    I’m pouring onto a previously used canvas board that I coated with gesso. I put a bit of white paint around the edges to hopefully assist with the paint moving all the way out to the edges.

    acrylic pour

    I did what is called a dirty pour. You dump each of the premixed paints into the pour cup in alternating fashion. I really had no idea what I was doing so I just poured them as I felt like at the moment. I then turned the canvas board upside down over the cup and flipped the whole works over. Flip cup technique OR dirty flip cup technique as some have coined.

    acrylic pour

    I was amazed at what happened. The colors mixed and migrated. Color bubbled up from underneath.

    acrylic pour

    It was mesmerizing. Even the paint that flowed off the edge was beautiful.

    acrylic pour

    These colors made me think of agates…especially Lake Superior agates.

    acrylic pour

    When I moved the canvas to allow it to dry I ended up losing some of the magic. I fear the secondary location wasn’t completely level so more paint rolled over the edge than I had wanted.

    acrylic pour

    Here is the end result. A little more pink than I’d hoped but interesting none the less.

    I’ve created several more and even took a video of part of the process on one attempt. I’m pretty sure its my favorite end result. It’s so darn fun. I’m experimenting with cheaper pouring medium. I’ve only had one big failure and guess what!?  I just did another pour straight over the top of it.

    More to come…I promise.

  • Art - Creativity

    Remember the summer

    I’m back from vacation! It was wonderful…mini-me and I had a great time. Now that I’m caught up on laundry and all the other not so fun stuff once you get back home, I wanted to get creative again.remember the summer

    I dug into my scrap bucket for inspiration. The background paper started out lavender…some distress paints did the trick on toning that right down.

    I’ve been very drawn to blue/orange combo lately. It’s bold and exciting. remember the summer

    The tickets attached to the page are from a family road trip in the early 1980’s with my parents. Amazing that mom still had those little bits squirreled away in a box of memories for so many years. The colors fit perfectly and cemented the direction I was headed with this page.remember the summer

    The tangible bits of ephemera brought the memories alive within my head. I knew I had to use them and remind myself to remember that summer.

    Linking up with Art Journal Journey for Summertime Love

    Art Journal Journey