Category : Blog

1716 posts

Cold winter nights

There is something magical about a fresh snow fall. It’s so incredibly quiet outside. Its as if the fresh fallen snow acts as a sound dampener. We are expecting snow this afternoon into tomorrow. I can’t wait. We had a nearly brown Christmas this year. Sad for those of us who love the snow.

While awaiting the promised snow I decided to do some art journalling. We had watched a little Bob Ross: Joy of Painting over the weekend so it was him who really inspired me to paint today.

Since I was thinking about starting a new art journal anyway I had the freedom to paint on a black sheet of cardstock.

This is my second 7×7 Creative Memories scrapbook turned art journal for me.

The size is perfect. I also love creating on a separate paper then adhering the finished product to the page.

I added a bit of fine blue glitter over the wet paint to give a little extra shimmer to the page. These words from a Tim Holtz sticker book were perfect.

Linking up today with Art Journal Journey for My Favorite Season

Art Journal Journey

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Merry Christmas

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T Tuesday: Christmas is coming edition

It’s almost here! Winter break. Christmas. Mini-me’s sweet sixteen. New Years. It’s all just around the corner. I’m so ready and not ready all at the same time! So much excitement…so much to do.

Saturday Mini-me and I got up early, grabbed coffee and breakfast( sorry not photographic proof) then drove to Duluth to pick up J for his winter break. Finals are over. He’s off for almost a month. 

The weather was beautiful…42°F and sunny! Mini-me and I took a brief walk around canal park before heading to the university to get J and his gear.

The weather is continuing to be very unseasonably warm as we sneak up on Christmas. In fact, Mr. G and I removed the screens and washed windows on Sunday afternoon. Now I know you are all super jealous of our momentous afternoon date. :)

Last week we had a team party at work. We were all asked to bring a $5 giftcard in disguise. As soon as I read the email the cartoon bubble in my head went to work.

Behold…my giftcard in disguise. I had really wanted to make the eyebrows and mustache more “furry” but since I was so sick I wasn’t able to find anything more than some black ribbon.

Since the grass is showing green outside with very little snow anywhere to be found I am looking to our tree to bring up the festive spirit. Maybe some of these words will inspire me more.

T stands for Tuesday

What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: December Daily in progress edition

Crazy!! We are 10 days into December already.  It’s been harder than I thought to keep up with journal writing each day.  I have been collecting things to add to my journal and keeping my thoughts organized though so when time allows I’m able to get it down on paper. 

Here are just the first few pages.

The craft sale at school was kind of a bust last week. There were meetings scheduled most days in that space both before and after school…prime shopping times. I spent more than I made. Such as this little mouse ornament.

Isn’t he cute!?! When I saw him I knew I had to get him.

And of course this mug!!!!

You had me with pink. Then add the glitter and brown words. This is technically the second mug I have bought from her, then first one was a coaches gift for Mini-me volleyball banquet. My friend and co-worker does such a nice job with these custom mugs.

On Friday last week I started to get another tickle in my throat. Yep…sick once again. This time I got it bad! I had to call in sick today. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to work tomorrow. I have no voice…barely a squeak at times. I still feel pretty cruddy.

I think I got a little cocky thinking that I’d gotten this far into the year with just a mild sniffle here and there. I know better than to tempt fate like that again.

While I sat huddled under my blanket in my favorite rocking recliner, I knit this cowl for my girl with the yarn I shared two weeks ago.

I love the chunky yarn…such great texture.

I’m about to go make another cup of tea and do a bit more snuggling under my quilt.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: Christmas is coming edition

The countdown is on. Christmas will be here before we know it! AHHH! Who had all their shopping done? Nope, not me. And we have a couple birthdays on either side of Christmas too. WHEW…the pressure.

In reality, I’m not super stressed at all. It all seems to work itself out. I do enjoy gift giving…just more the spontaneous gift giving than the obligatory. Such as I got a sweet gift from a coworker completely unexpectedly. I had complemented her a  her bag and she told me she’d picked it up in the dollar spot at Target( not affiliation). A couple days later she brought me my very own matching bag!

I like to try to make some gifts…or make gifts for others to give. I was working on a new item I saw a while ago and have wanted to give a whirl. I got all my pieces cut and ready then ….

this happened.

Totally not getting anything done. That’s ok because I was still recovering from the weirdest illness I’ve had in recent years. Sore throat, stuff nose, icky tummy and wicked dizziness…like hardly able to walk dizzy. Mini-me got it first then me then Mr. G. Thankfully it only lasted a day.

Back to the craftiness…

I made microwave bowl cozies. No more burned fingers. They are microwavable, reversible, washable and downright handy.

Our school is having another craft sale week long this year.  Its really fun to see what co-workers like to create in their leisure time.I brought some of my old etsy and craft sale stock as well as the new product that I’m trying out. Frankly I don’t care if the bowl cozies sell because I can give them as gifts.

On other news…my December Daily is ready to go. I will share it in another post. I’m really excited about this project. I keep tucking bits of this and that away each day to slip into my journal. It will be super fun to look back on in the coming years. I still pull out the book I made from my calendar project of 2014.

The cold weather has me sipping on tea everyday…both to keep the chill off and to sooth my sore throat.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: thankful edition

Welcome to T stands for Tuesday where we share a little about whatever the heck we want along with our beverage of choice. Pretty easy rules, right?!? Here’s my adherence to the rules…

Since I am finishing up my extended break from work….6 days off… Woohoo!…. I thought I’d share a few highlights.

Wednesday evening, Mini-me and I went to MOA (Mall of America) not to shop but to pick up J.  So cool that he can take the bus right from campus to home…or relatively close.

Thursday, we enjoyed a lovely meal at my in-laws. I brought the stuffing aka: dressing as it is unstuffed. I wrapped the dutch oven in newspaper and towels just like my parents taught me when I was a kid.Later my BIL followed us home to extend our visit a bit. We hadn’t seen any family in a couple months which is sad when we are only about 20 minutes drive from one another.

Friday, we decorated for Christmas….it’s our tradition to decorate the day after Thanksgiving. No Black Friday shopping for us. Only twice in my life have I braved that chaos. No thank you!

Saturday was so quiet I can’t even remember what we did…or didn’t do.

Sunday Mini me and I made the first batch of lefse of the season. So yummy.  Of course, later In the day Mr. G and I had to deliver J back to MOA to catch the bus back to college.  Just a few short weeks and we’ll be driving up north to get him for winter break.

Monday I spent going through some totes in the storage room. I was able to reorganize and purge enough stuff that I have one completely empty tote. Mini-me and I brought a pile of stuff to Goodwill to donate. They always give a 25% off coupon when you donate…so of course we went in to see what they had. Mini-me found some yarn…she’s requesting another cowl.

I did manage to work on some creative pursuits as well during this long break.  You can check out the previous two posts for my vintage linen remake and art journal page. I also continued work on my personal journal and completed my December Daily journal. It’s all ready to go! I’m thinking I’ll do a video with a flip through perhaps. It has WAY too many pages for photos. WAY more than I need but hey…I’m still learning with this process.

The current experiment is rose gold tint for Mini-me

She’s been trying little bits of it all through the break but tonight decided to go all in. I helped her spray it in damp hair…now she’s waiting to rinse.

I think it will be fun regardless. Besides…it’s temporary. When I go, I go all in with the pink hair…permanent style.

Tuesday is back to reality for everyone.  All good things come to an end. I do really like my job, so its not all bad. I just miss my free time. My mini-me time. Gosh, it’s going to be really hard when she goes off to college. *sniff*

 

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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We flew

Lately most of my time has been spent creating journals, writing in them or thinking about them…but not art journals.

I tend to do this…I get completely obsessed with one thing and virtually abandon the rest for a time. Art journals and mixed media always find there way back to me. They are my true calling.

Today though I knew I wanted to art journal. I started out with some dress pattern paper and gelatos for that lovely aged yellow color. I added bits of torn fabric and papers in opposite corners of my spread. I then added some red and gold with a variety of sprays and golden paints.

After that I wasn’t really sure other than I thought I needed another color…something contrasting. I came across a tattered book mark in my stash. The colors of the flowers matched perfectly and the blue gave that contrasting color I was looking for.

After I decided on the wooden bird for the opposite page I dug out my sealing wax just for fun. I haven’t use it in ages. My cousin and I got little sets back in the early 1980’s when we were girls and wrote letters to each other. I still have my set and a few more seals that I’ve picked up over the years just because they are pretty and kind of a unique thing to come across at a rummage sale.

I happened to find a journal tag that was the right color blue to act as a perch for my bird. The words we flew jumped out at me from my box of found text. I thought a bit of loopy thread gave some nice texture and was a bit reminiscent of a nest.

The tag looked a little boring so I used a bit of distress ink on a script stamp for a little more vintage feel. I didn’t have a brad the right color so I dipped a white one in paint then sprinkled with baking soda. once it dried It had a nice muted appearance in just the right color.

I’m super happy that I gave in to my impulse and got creative today.

Linking up with Art Journal Journey for Vintage or Modern

Art Journal Journey

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