Welcome to the neighborhood!

One of my favorite things about life in my neck of the woods is living side by side with a variety of critters.  For many years I lived out of town on a small lake, this was an ideal place to observe wildlife as they came down from the treeline in search of water. I never tired of them or lost my enthusiasm to see them as they strolled through my property on their way to the water's edge. Late spring and early summer was a particularly exciting time because of all the critter babies being born. They soon became frequent visitors with their mothers and as the months passed by, there was the added fun of watching how much they grew! Moving into town was very bittersweet for me. For many reasons it was time for the change, but my daily visits from my four-legged neighbors felt like quite a loss. Well, a few years have passed and living in town now feels like home. Much to my surprise and of great joy, I still have four-legged neighbors that come to visit regularly. We have a herd of deer that we affectionately call Townies. I must admit not everyone enjoys having them around, they are a constant source of debate at City Council meetings and no one seems to agree on what can be done to make either side happy!! I suppose if my prize winning roses were being eaten off their stems or my vegetable garden was raided in the night, I too would consider them unwanted pests! I have chosen to just enjoy them and leave the griping to others!!

Speaking of visitors, today Blossom and I were lucky enough to have a new mother and baby resting in the shade of our side yard, they found a refuge from the scorching sun and it's 104 degree temperatures! Below are a few photos that I snapped... Mama never took her eyes off of me or Blossom,  just in case we meant any harm to her little one! 

Nothing compares to Mother's Love!!

Awwwww, all babies are just plain cute!!

Chow Time!

 Until next time, Blessings to you all!

It's official, Summer has arrived!!

Alright everyone, it's time for a little Summertime sing-a-long...

Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer

Those days of soda and pretzels and beer
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer!

 

  Then again, there's nothin' better than singin' the blues in the still of a sultry summer night...

 

 Summertime, and the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high
Oh, your daddy's rich and your ma is good-lookin'
So hush little baby, Don't you cry

 

(don't you just love the sound of that sax?)

 

 During our intermission, we have a little Postie Show & Tell...

Most of you know that I love to Janoodle, so I thought that I would expand on the size and move from atc's to posties... voila, New Super-Sized Janoodles!! 

Below: photo of backgrounds using Jacquard Dyes, before detail inking

 

Below: photos of 4"X6" Postcard "Super-Sized Janoodles"

 

 

Soooo, this summer when it's a little too hot outside, pour yourself a 

tall glass of iced [whatever] and chill out with your favorite arting project... and don't forget to keep on singin' along the way!!!

 

Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty
Been down, isn't it a pity
Doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city...

 

And babe, don't you know it's a pity
That the days can't be like the nights
In the summer, in the city
In the summer, in the city!!

 

 

Until the next time...Enjoy your Summer!

Blessings to you all!! 

Put some new life into old ideas!

Today we have a Mail Art Show & Tell... I'm always looking for something new to create as Mail Art. There are soooo many wonderful artists on the internet generously sharing their techniques and talents, I really do enjoy seeing their work, undoubtedly it inspires me to stretch myself a little farther to experiment more! Whether it's a postcard or an envelope I still want it to reflect my style of art and in the end, I want the recipient of what I send out to receive a little piece of me when they open their mailbox! 

I recently went through some old Janoodles that had not been traded so I removed them from my gallery pages on AFA. I thought I'd repurpose them into a mail art envelope. I started with a template of an envelope that I cut out of a sheet of 140# watercolor paper. My plan was to create a basic patchwork pattern using the cards. I used a small amount of glue to attach the cards, just enough to keep them in place as I made the pattern. 

Below is a photo of cards & how I laid them out on the envie.

 Cards laid out in a patchwork pattern on top of envie template

I'm definitely not a seamstress, this is one thing in my life that tested my patience and won hands down!! That being said, I decided to sew the pieces to the template to create the patchwork quilt look that I had envisioned. When my mother passed away, I inherited her beloved sewing machine. She would be beyond livid to know that all I've ever used it for was sewing paper or cardboard, not to mention that I've managed to mess up the tension with no knowledge of fixing the problem. (To be perfectly honest, I actually like the irregular stitch effect!)

Below are photos of the cards after being stitched down to the envie.

Cards attached with a simple Zig Zag stitch

Section close-up to show stitches

Below are photos of the assembled envie, ready for mailing!

Envie Front

Envie Back

 Send someone "a little piece of yourself" with Mail Art!!

Until next time ... Blessings to you all! 

It's never too hot for ART... who wants lemonade?

Northeast Washington State is supposed to have idyllic weather this time of the year, moving through late Spring with temperatures in the high 70's and maybe peaking at 80. I can't help but remember that I moved here from the Southwest seeking a much cooler and greener environment.... so what's happening? Can we finally agree that global warming is a "real thing" as we venture out into our record breaking heatwave. Today marks another day of 95+ degrees topping out yesterday at 101, previous records have been in place as far back as 1918. Oh well, I suppose this too will pass... until then, I will use this as an excuse to stay in and do ART ( as if I really needed an excuse!).

Today's Show & Tell  is inspired by one of America's favorite summertime pastimes, Goin' Fishing! Of course, my personal favorite pastime is ART, so what could be better than ART FISH!! 

I recently joined a swap at ATC's for All called "Art Fish Frenzy" for 3-D interpretations of any style fish... right up my alley, I love creating in 3-D and I love fish art... so, I cast out my line into creative waters and managed to reel in my fresh catch of the day!  

The fish bodies are made of papier mache using tissue paper, aluminum & wire... there heads are made from polymer clay... they are assembled with findings that encourages movement while they hang.   

Below photos: Unique "one of a kind" designs of undocumented & unknown species of fish!

 First 3 of 6 

Second 3 of 6

Hanging View

 Thanks for stopping by, Until next time...

Happy Creating!!