• Art - Blog - Creativity

    New junk journal

    November 3, 2019 - By 

    I can hardly believe it but I’m posting something other than T Tuesday. It’s been a while. I’ve been in a creative slump. Not sure how it happened but never the less it did.

    I’ve sat down a couple of times trying to force creativity.

    Don’t do it. It’s ugly.

    What I did finally decide that I’d like to create was a place to create. A junk journal. I’m sure you’re thinking…hey wait…didn’t she just make one of those. Yep sure did. But that one is for bits of my life, more personal.

    This one is for the creative process. Whether that may be art journaling, responding to a prompt or a challenge.

    I loved this calendar ephemera my BFF sent in a package. She knew I’d love it as much as the actual gift she sent.

    I used some rusted fabric on the inside of the softcover.

    The outside is watercolor paper that had been painted and whitewash some time ago. I found it in my stash and knew it would make a nice flexible cover.

    I decided to use a 5 hole pamphlet stitch this time instead of my usual go-to of three hole stitch.

    This journal has a wide variety of papers that should prove to be a good and challenging launching point for the creative process.

    I’m considering joining another junk journal challenge on Instagram as I did in July. I need to decide soon otherwise I might be too far behind.

  • Blog

    T Tuesday: Como Zoo edition

    October 29, 2019 - By 

    Good Morning! I almost missed another week of blogging. I’ve been really off my game for a couple of weeks.

    J came home from college on a 4 day Fall break.
    It was fun to see him again so soon and mostly healthy this time. He still has a lingering cough. The evening we picked him up I sat back and watched the fun banter between the kids. It felt more like old times. Warmed this mom’s heart.

    On Saturday Mini-me and I went to Como Zoo so she could take photos for a photography class assignment. It was a photojournalism assignment to record a community event. We went to the polar bear talk at the zoo. 

    Look at the size of those paws!! It was an interesting presentation. Mini-me got lots of great photos to complete her assignment. Then we were able to walk around and enjoy the rest of the chilly morning.

    This lioness was very upset. There was a service dog walking past. She was staring and growling. The dog was whining. It was sad because the family was deaf and wasn’t aware of the dog’s distress right away until it began to act out of sorts…definitely not like a trained service dog. Thankfully for the dog, they immediately left the area when they realized it.

    Before heading home we stopped in the gift shop.

    We discovered a large selection of tea sets. Who knew?

    These cats made me smile.

    I was very tempted to purchase this black set. It was so beautiful.

    Well kids…I’m off to school. Halloween is Thursday…I’m dressing up again this year…the kids will think it’s pretty funny…I hope.

    T stands for Tuesday
    What are you doing today?
  • Blog - Creativity

    T Tuesday: canvas edition

    October 14, 2019 - By 

    I have been all over the place this week with ideas. None of which have actually come to fruition. But ideas are the start, right?

    I am thinking of making a few seasonal canvas paintings. While digging through my canvas stash I found this one. I feel like it needs some words.

    On these canvases, I threw some color down on the background to cover the previous paintings. I picked these two canvases out of a free bin at a garage sale over the summer. No idea where I’m headed with these…or if this is even a remote representation of the background colors….it was just a coverup.

    My journal keeps getting more things tucked inside without any actual placement or journaling. One of these days…

    The same goes for my travel journal. Although I did get photos printed, so I’m a little closer.

    In art class this week the kids are working with clay. One of my students wanted to make a creeper from Minecraft. On the day I missed, it was decided that he’d make a mug. I helped him assemble the pieces and create the signature face. This week it’s all about adding textures and interest.  I’ve been assisting in the assembly a few other students’ projects as well…I love playing with clay. It would be so fun to make a project myself too. 🙂

    This weekend brought us an unwelcome visitor…snow. As you can clearly see, we are nowhere ready for winter. Thankfully it was short-lived and we made it above 50°F today.

    On Saturday we also had welcome visitors. They brought over this hard cider,

    It was really quite good. I didn’t think I’d like it as most hard ciders are too sweet. This was not…it was almost like a dry white wine in flavor.

    And I promised photos of all the assembled furniture…the white pieces are Mini-me’s and the dark brown is in J’s room.

    We have a choir concert tonight for Mini-me. She is in two choirs this year…she and a couple of other girls are helping to lend more voice to the small freshmen girls choir. This means a change of clothes for them…floor-length dresses to choir robes.

    T stands for Tuesday
    What are you doing today?