round robin art journal

journal page for my friend

a friend of mine sent me her art journal and asked me to fill a page in it

she suggested I might like to send her an art journal for her to fill a page

and that is how my first round robin art journal has begun

my art journal ready to be filled

 her journal doesn't have a theme

but I thought I would like to have one for my journal

my theme is "sunlight"

now I just need friends to raise their hand, saying, "I'll do a page!!!"

if you do,

I'll do a page in yours

and round and round we go

:)

bookends

do you have any summer reading that you would recommend?

I keep a running list in my notes so I can put books on hold at the library

I'm still reading (savoring) 

The Street of a Thousand Blossoms 

by Gail Tsukiyama

I love a book that sends me off to learn about something I had no idea about beforehand

like: the firebombing of Tokyo in March 1945

that anyone survived those days at all is a miracle

maybe my next book to put on hold will be something to make me laugh

Mark Twain or Garrison Keillor

how about you?

I can't seem to get Mister Linky to work today

so, for today, we'll just go back to our old way of making the rounds

(using the comments as a guide)

mend a tear

perfectly good jeans

which had a tiny tear

and now they sport

a perfectly good patch

not simple

or easy

but it really brought a grin to a certain 8 year old

now I can show it

the birthday present for my sister, that is

it's about 7 X 11 inches

the base is an old book cover

and I added lots of layers of collage,

gesso, pen, paint, oil pastel, jewels, etc.

I centered it around a vintage advertisement for a washing machine

and as I was working, a story was taking shape in my head

my sister loves retro, vintage, fun, quirky stuff

so I was thinking of her the whole time I was making this

it has her personality all over it

especially the crowns

here is the story:

of course, I used my new typewriter :)

the story is glued to the back of the piece

... all of it just for fun ...

in the stands

there is a lot of in-action at a baseball game

so eat peanuts

or knit

or put peanut shells on your fingertips

:)

working tea

today my workdesk is bathed in warm sunlight

a good day to make a birthday present for my sister

and drink some iced tea

a combination of:

irish breakfast tea (NOT decaf)

red zinger tea (rosehip and hibiscus)

p.o.g. juice (pineapple orange guava)

now if I could just bottle up this color and use it for paint!

what are you up to today?

hot tea?

cold tea?

coke?

lemonade?

whatever your beverage is,

 I hope you're also having a good day to go along with it!

* * *

easy recipe

fruit pizza

1 box yellow cake mix2 eggs1/2 c oilmix together and press into a jelly roll panbake at 350 for 15 minutes

1 pkge cream cheese1/2 c powdered sugarmix with a mixer and spread over cooled crust

add sliced fruit

if you have an aversion to cake mix, use a shortbread recipe .... But then it's not easy is it?

finding my way

I'm still struggling with technique

but am discovering that simpler is better for me

the less fuss

the happier I am

simple

simpler

simplest

brothers in arms

you may remember an earlier post "photo transfer - 3 ways"

(I had featured this same photograph of my dad and his younger brothers)

for this quilted piece, I used fabric transfer paper 

(made by Avery and found in the printer paper department)

I used tea bag paper alternating with old music sheets as a border

the colored fabrics are my own hand dyed muslin

and, using my new typewriter, I made a miniature banner 

it says:

brothers in arms

(I thought it was funny the way the brothers aren't holding hands, they're holding arms)

blossom tea

tea on tuesday

(in reality, posted on monday night)

this is the amount of light we have at 8:30 at night

needless to say, it's hard to nod off to sleep until about 11:00

so I've brewed a cup of "Relaxing Tea"

(San Francisco Herb and Natural Food Co.)

and am digging into a new book:

I'm hoping it will be a good one.

Gail Tsukiyama also wrote

"The Samurai's Garden,"

a book I dearly dearly love

a love story that takes place in post WWII Japan.

So I'm off to bed now with my tea and my book.

I will see you all in the a.m.

(p.s. please drop Nancy an e-mail, she is at her wits end with blogger and has been unable to post, but would love to hear from you. Visit her blog and click on her profile to get to her e-mail address. She misses everyone.)

***

simple sunday

Hallelujah Cake

(recipe from Elizabeth)

box with a lid

you may have seen my earlier post about the repurposed book cover

"an easy box to make" (the original how-to)

and

"tea and minor details" (added helpful hints)

well, 

here is the same box with a lid

I used a 1958 textbook from the local high school

"Adventures in Reading"

I wanted something to keep my haiku postcards in

as the box fills up,

the lid will rise as well

*

the lid is just a smidge smaller than the box

the handle is braided twine threaded through holes I made with an awl

the edges of the box have been very cleanly cut using my x-acto

*

once the lid rises above the box, 

it will be time to make a new box

adventures in reading

:)

beach combing

we had a beautiful day on saturday

it was a perfect day for a trip to the seashore

the water is extremely cold

and the air was cool

but the sun was 

oh so warm

and there were 

rocks rocks rocks

everywhere

 we brought a few of them home

they're nested in my printer's tray

a lasting memento of a perfect day

sun tea in the garden

... we have had three days of sunshine now ...

how quickly all is forgiven

:)

the herb garden was calling to me

I wish I had taken a "before" picture!

this was a mass of forget-me-nots

and was actually much prettier!

but at least now it is back to a state of

restraint

order

and

manageability

how nice it was to have thyme to work in the garden today!

and carefully tend to things in need of attention

this is the marker I made several years ago for our beloved

kitty witty

these poor stones need a re-painting I think!

***

are you enjoying thyme for tea?

I hope you are!

link your tea post here - we all love to pop around and say hi!

rock collection

my rocks so far

(we had torrential rain yesterday - all day - so it was a good day for rocks)

the penguins

and this one whom we just woke from a nap

are my personal favorites

they are all in my shop (shoppe as Patty says)

in the shop section called "rocking"

tomorrow WILL be sunny and beautiful and the girls and I are going beachcombing

I told them to bring their combs and their tangled hair

they just laughed

... but really ...

first real sunny day since May 19th

but who is counting?

surely not me!

have a beautiful weekend!

xoxo

mr. owl

yup, can't stop painting rocks

painted rock

I painted this rock today

(it was the heart shaped one that I picked up at the beach on Whidbey Island a few weeks ago)

in the end I decided it wasn't a heart, but a bird

I have seen hand painted rocks (like Geninne's),

and after many attempts, 

I think I have come up with my very own stylized bird

I feel good about it because I am honesly inspired by other artists

but I also did not want to copy

I had one of those kind of breakthroughs that is so energizing

now I just want to paint lots of rocks

... and I know you get what I mean

;)