Passion :) :) :)

First of all,

Happy Holiday

Weekend

Everyone!

So for all of my American Friends

Happy 4th of July Holidays this week

and to all of us here in Canada

Happy Canada Day!!

And to everyone else

Happy Weekend!

(grin).

Now, the dictionary states

'Passion'

'A powerful emotion or appetite'

So today's Blog Post is about my 

latest Passion, as I figure what

I lack in talent, I surely make up 

for with Passion for any new art form

that grabs my attention, or interests me

whether it's 'flash in the pan' for a moment,

or becomes a life-long interest.

This new Passion, started up with my 

Art-Pal Leslie giving me a big handful

of this wonderful thick, watercolour paper.

It's 11 x 15 inch has had me intimidated

for months looking at it. 

I kept picking it up when I would come across it in my art cupboard and the feel of it, the texture and thickness, would always make me feel like 'this could really be interesting to do something with', but  I lacked the self-confidence to think of a project to use it for.

Until now....or should I say, over the past week,

as I have been up for days and nights playing

with this, (grin).

First up, supplies:)

I decided to pull out all the stops, and

get into my art drawers and cupboards to

see what would motivate me with this

lovely blank paper.

So I pulled out my collection of 

Claudine Hellmuth Acrylic Paints,

My Tattered Angels Stencils and Stamps....

Tattered Angels Chalkboard and Glimmer Mists...

Tim Holtz 'Distress Stains'....

My wonderful assortment of ....

Watercolour Crayons...

And other assorted Stamps, pens and such

to start 'something'!

I decided to try my hand at making a 

Journal from scratch.

Not using graphics, or collage, or commercial

products, but using my own imagination.

I painted, sprayed, stamped, and started with one big sheet.

Then after doing this to both sides of each sheet, while

still slightly damp, I took a ruler, and tore the sheets

against the ruler, into quarters, to create pages.

Once they were torn into quarters, I inked the edges,

punched each page for putting into a book form later.

Then the real fun began....

Layering acrylic painted images, stamping, inking,

playing!

Layer after layer of whatever grabbed my attention

to use, I did!

Now, I must confess.

I have no ability with calligraphy.

So using a set of stencils, I made up for my inability

to create lovely lettering with tons of pen and ink work!

So I just kept playing....

Until I came up with this:)

Now, that I've decided that it is to be a journal,

I made the covers, ( to be finished at a later date).

I cut chipboard and glued with gel-medium,

front and back to the chipboard and pre-punched

the ring holes.

So now that I have found this new passion,

I think this project will be keeping me busy

for quite some time, as each page is turning

into a 'discovery' and 'journey' 

in itself.

Here's some more examples of pages

to be 'worked on' and some 'sort of finished'

A beginning...

Looking forward to playing with this one:)

Wouldn't this image make a great background

for an ATC!

(I'm finding this new passion leads me into all 

sorts of ideas as I'm playing:)

I have a feeling this will take months!!!! 

(grin)

And I'm just getting started!!!!

So I have a beautiful old gold box from last years

Christmas cards, that I'm going to keep all these

pages in, so at a moments notice, I can grab a

page and work on or complete as I feel the 

'Passion'

So over time, I'll be sharing more pictures of this

As I always can jump from one medium

to another, to incorporate in the finished

journal:)

So that's what I'm up to this week!

Hope your Holiday Weekend and coming

Holiday Week is full of fun times, great 

Family get togethers, and maybe even

some lovely Art Time!!!

Cheers to you all!

Enjoy!

project in between other shorter posts:)

7Gypsies Photo Tray Project Finished!!! (Finally!)

Well as I said in my last post, now that I'm

somewhat back in the Land of the Living

and getting over my bout of pneumonia,

( at least I'm out of p.j.'s!).

I'm frenzied in my finishing projects

that have been waiting for me in 

my Art Room for the past 

4 weeks!  

This project, my 7Gypsies Photo Tray

has been too long and I apologize 

for dragging it on.

In it's previous posts, there were

two more slots left, so I'm pleased

to say that they're finally finished:)

Slot #5 of the series 

is

'Being an Original'

This picture is of my dearest wild friend

who you've heard me refer to on occasion,

who we call Bubbie.

He was a true Original, even though

he was a 'twin' to his sister 'Sissy'.

We had a nearly 4 year relationship

with Bubbie, from his birth to the time

he went into rut and disappeared last

year. His sister 'Sissy' I'm pleased to 

report, has just given birth for the

first time, a few weeks ago, to a 

pair of twin babies, ( I think boy and girl).

She comes every night for her carrots and

apples, and has now brought the babies

with her:) I have known this little 'family' for

nearly 6 generations, and have kept track of

their lineage, and of their 'personalities'.

But I digress....:)

Last but not least in the 7Gypsies Photo Tray Project

Baby Woodpecker:)

Our little 'visitor' spent a few days with us

last Spring having a little 'rest' then was

set free again in our area, where we 

were so pleased to actually be able to keep

track of the little guy all that Summer.

I hope you've enjoyed the series, and again

with apologies, for it being so long and

drawn out, but do check past individual posts

of this project to see how it all came together.

I wanted it to be a little different from

using the Photo Tray for 'family photos' as

most are using it for.

But then, in Nature, they are all our 'family'

Enjoy!

Sunday Night Muse:)

Greetings All

How's your weekend been going?

I've had a wonderful weekend

feeling better from my 

month long dealing with the 'crud'

and spent this whole weekend

playing in the Art Room!

I had so many half finished projects

waiting for some attention, and over

the past month of being under the weather

I keep hearing the projects calling my

name from the Art Room.

(Ok, so I don't lack in imagination:)

Tonight's post is another 5 x 7 Mini Journal

'Precious Things'

I made a 5 x 7 Mini Journal in a previous

blog post, so I won't bother showing the

whole procedure again. If you need

to, look up in older posts to see my 

previous Mini Journal:)

Tonight, it's just some 

'Eye Candy' 

to enjoy:)

Inside Cover of

Mini Journal

This is first page, and I have to give a 

'shout out'

for Debrina at Land of Enchantment

for the great dress graphic!

I bought her collection of these

dresses, and in future projects

you'll be seeing them from 

time to time as the colours and

the graphics are rich!

Also on this page of course

one of my pet bird's feathers,

(Doodlebug the Woodpecker:),

and the wonderful Retro Cafe Art's

Bird Lazier Cut-Outs!

Page 2

Just plain and simple:)

Page 3

A little more involved:)

Used some more of my handmade

flowers, that I used on my previous

post of 'Urban Wildlife'

A few lovely leaves, some lace,

and a bit of rusty metal:)

(Thanks Kristin:)

Page 4

Bits and Pieces:)

Page 5

A 'Spring Scene'

Page 6

The 'Secret' Page

A 'Secret Wish'

that is....

On the back is lined paper

to 'write your wish'...

and keep it in the 'Secret' pocket:)

Page 7

And what Mini Journal is complete 

without a place to 'Keep'

special things....

and in my case, what journal doesn't

get a peacock feather in it!

(grin)

And the back cover

I think it's my favourite page

in my Mini Journal.

Mr. Wise old Owl

a wonderful graphic from

Piddix:)

So there you go, some fresh 'eye candy'

for a late Sunday night blog post:)

I have a few more blog posts coming

up over the next day or two to

catch you all up on my latest

finished projects and even a few 

other interesting things:)

Have a Great Start of the New Week!

Enjoy!

Back in the Land of the Living Again:)

Hi Everyone:)

Well after long silence,

(sorry if you've been checking in

and finding the same old post!)

I'm back in the land of the living,

although still not 100% yet,

but feeling better enough to 

finally be getting some Art-Time in!

I started this canvas quite a while ago,

but after being laid up nearly a month,

it's been staring at me from the easel in

the art room, screaming to be finished!

(It's also been in the way in the art room

as space is at a premium!)

The canvas size is a odd one,

12 x 30 inches, that I've had

hanging around in it's packaging

for a few years, never quite knowing

what I had intended to use it for.

I used Claudine Hellmuth Paints for the first time

and found them to be really something different!

And the colours are wonderful!!

The canvas I call

'Urban Wildlife'

As you know, ( or at least

learning about me:),

I'm a wildlife, pet,

animal freak:) I always think of

the saying that the 'animals were

here before we were' when it comes

to Urban Development and in the 

area where I have lived for nearly

24 years, I have slowly watched 

our incredible wild countryside

give over to the urban setting.

I've had to photograph the canvas in stages

so you can see the details, as it was so

large, I couldn't get the camera to capture

the bits and pieces in the pictures.

What if the Apartment Building

were home to the animals

was sort of my idea for this.

The garden, are all hand made flower heads,

that I punched out of plain paper, stamped,

inked, mounted on chipboard, used layers to

create depth, used brads and vintage

buttons for the centres, then mounted

them on tea stained round tags.

The leaves are wonderful ribbon leaves,

made from what seems to be satin, that

once I started using, thank goodness

my Art Buddy Leslie still had extra of!

(Just goes to show I was flying by the 

seat of my pants, and didn't check before

starting the project if I had enough supply!)

The 'Apartment Building' 

itself, is a piece of chipboard wrapped with

the new 7Gypsies Tissue Paper which 

I am absolutely in love with!

I've included lots of metal bits and pieces

that I had purchased from 

Retro Cafe Art!

I love the rusty fences, and the door knob

is a Tim Holtz Hitch!

(As you know from my previous posts,

I used these Hitches for feet on an

ATC Project!)

I love coming up with more ideas for using

them!

Each window of the building has a photograph

mounted on hand made paper backing,

and the window frames are also new

wonderful cut-outs from

Retro Cafe Art:) that I covered

in Vintage Dictionary Paper and inked.

The 'Residents' are

'Bubby' the deer (top left),

'Doodlebug' my Kitchen 

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

(as a baby when he first arrived:)

(top, right)

(bottom right)

'Hop-a-Long' another of our

local deer community at my home

and 'Oliver Howard' 

our wonderful Spitz.

Love all the rusty metal bits! (Thanks Kristin!)

And all of the Lazier Cut's of the birds 

were from Retro Cafe Art too!

All of the little bee's on the canvas are a stamp

from 'Magenta' that I have had great fun 

playing with, and colouring and cutting 

them out for all sorts of uses:)

The top of the 'Apartment Building'

are also wonderful products from

Retro Cafe Art

that come in masonite kits 

that you put together,

embellish and create with.

(Previous Posts ATC Holder also 

one of Kristin's kits!)

I lined this one with the Vintage Dictionary Paper

before adding the embellishments.

(The mini feather is from our Budgie's

shoulder, which she doesn't moult 

very often, so I 'prize' these feathers

for special projects:)

Then I added the 'top' which was

a piece that I made of another

of Kristin's wonderful kits!

I had great fun making this 

piece, and the colours in

the photo's just don't do it

justice, as in person it

is such a cheery thing to look at:)

Now I have to find a place to hang it!

(grin).

Hope you enjoyed this piece and

hope it gives you some new ideas

to play with!

Enjoy!

(More posts to come, as I am now

back in the Living!)