T Tuesday: catching up edition

Gosh it’s been a while…11 days since I’ve posted anything. I guess should should give a little recap of what’s been happening around here.

I missed last T stands for Tuesday because I wasn’t feeling well. I had some crumby virus that had me feeling wiped out so I decided to skip it to get more rest.  When I was feeling better I decided to go get a haircut and brighten up my blond a bit.  I got almost 7 inches cut off!! And it’s still below shoulder length! It was down past the middle of my back. I was feeling frumpy with dishwater blond hair. Now I have a fresh new (still low maintenance) cut and my blond is back, baby!

I’ve been working on a couple of paintings…switching back and forth between them as I wait for things to dry or inspiration.

Just a few works in progress. #artadd #cantstopcreating

A photo posted by Halle Gustafson (@halleshobbies) on

I’ve also been working on writing an article that will be published this summer. I was a bit surprised by the focus but am having fun with it. How’s that for a tease. I promise I’ll share more when the time comes but for now I just need to meet my deadline.

Over the weekend we celebrated a birthday. J turned 17!!! I’m still a bit shell shocked from that. Just one more year of being a minor. Next year he’ll be able to vote, serve on a jury, register with selective service…yikes!!!!! More grey hairs. But for now we still just get to have fun as witnessed here as he tried out a new game.

Yesterday we watched the Super Bowl and ate a bunch of greasy junk and had beers. Today it was back to gym and a green monster smoothie for me.  If I’m being completely honest..this was the first time at the gym in 2017 for me. I’ve been attempting to workout at home but I think attempting is the key word in that sentence. Time to renew my efforts.

What are you doing today?

T stands for Tuesday

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Be proud of who you are

Once again I’m sharing a piece inspired by strong women.

be proud

Being feminine has nothing to do with strength or weakness. If you enjoy pretty dresses and hats…wear them! Carry yourself with confidence.

be proud

I felt my well dressed girl belonged strolling along on a beautiful summer day . Some mop-up baby wipes in grassy green fit the bill. I layered torn pieces then topped it off with a bit of white fabric to act as a base or perhaps a sidewalk for her to be stepping onto.

be proud

Linking up again with Art Journal Journey.

Art Journal Journey

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Create

After completing the background for this journal page I realized it had a very 80s feel. The pink and green screamed it actually. I decided to embrace it and add elements that fit the era. 

I have to tell you about this pink brad eyelet though.

It caused me no end of trouble. I dropped it several times…then my crop-o-dile wouldn’t reach to put it where I wanted. Finally I used a Japanese screw punch and a manual eyelet setter. While hammering I hit my middle finger pretty much as hard as I could with my tiny hammer. There were cuss words and then laughter from the next room. Mr. G says “Did you seriously just hit yourself with the hammer?” Yes $#%@!* I did.

Just had to give you something to make you smile for the day.

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T Tuesday: shopping edition

Another Tuesday is upon us. I swear that Monday is a lost day for me. I have great intentions of getting something ready early but something seems to get in the way.

Yesterday was a teacher workshop day so the kids were home. Mini-me and I went to the mall to spend some of her Christmas and birthday money. She’s such a thrifty shopper…I love it. Goes straight for the clearance racks like a pro. Not that she doesn’t ever pay full price but it’s got to be the thing that she wants/needs and can’t wait for it. I am happy to say that isn’t the norm…more like the exception.

Did you know that indoor shopping malls were born here in Minnesota? The very first one was built in Edina MN which opened in 1956.

Here’s an excerpt from an article on MNopedia.org:

Southdale Center was built at a cost of $20 million and had eighty thousand square feet; it opened with seventy-two stores and two anchors, Dayton’s and Donaldson’s. Seventy-five thousand people attended the gala opening on October 8, 1956. Another 188,000 visited the complex the following weekend, most taking advantage of the mall’s five thousand free parking spaces (organized into lots identified by clever animal symbols—an innovation, like the mall itself, that would inspire countless imitators). What did visitors see? Gruen’s interpretation of the best of European cities: “streets,” cafes, two department stores, and many smaller boutiques surrounding a “town square” with a garden court spotlighted by an enormous skylight. A fishpond, mature trees, and a twenty-one-foot cage filled with brightly colored birds. In short, a prototype for the malls that would fuel suburban growth throughout the country. 

Then, of course, there is the monstrosity called Mall of America built across from the MSP airport. Most Minnesotans hate the thing. I haven’t been there in well over 10 years even though its less than a 20 min drive.

I’m not really sure how I got off on a tangent about shopping malls but there you have it.

This was my view a little earlier this morning.  Lunches were made, everyone was up and moving on their morning routines…it was time for a cup of coffee and a little browsing on my iPad before moving forward with the day.

I wish it were light enough to take a decent photo of the journal pages I completed the last couple of days but we’ve had nothing but grey skies so I have to wait until later in the day to get any natural light.

Today I’m planning to do a bit of crafting and continue work on our taxes. Fun stuff…blech.

What are you doing today?

T stands for Tuesday

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Mixed media girl

I had to try out another girl right away but on a sturdy substrate this time. 

I glued random bits of papers down onto a discarded book cover for texture and a first layer of color. I added paint in various colors covering up the blank areas next. I loosely sketched my girl and began filling in with paint, gelatos, neocolors, charcoal pencil and even plain old colored pencil until I got the look I wanted.

NExt I added stamping with Staz-on and lightly colored them in with watered down paint. Again I used Tim Holtz stickers for my words. Lastly I added the yellow lace trim at the top to give it a finished and feminine look.

I’ve already sketched another face this time on an old canvas. Hopefully you’ll be seeing that one real soon.

I’ve been very prolific with my art over the past few days. I have two journal pages that I can’t wait to share as well. (well…I am going to wait until the next post to share them) Stay tuned.

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Be your beautiful self

I’ve tried drawing and painting people in the past with very little success. They generally were disproportionate and had really scary eyes. I mean truly frightening.  I decided to check a couple books on drawing out from the library to see if I could teach myself.

After paging through several step by step tutorials, I felt a had a much better grasp on the technique. Of course not being someone to make things easy on myself, I grabbed a “mop-up” piece of paper to begin sketching on. Perhaps I’m less intimidated by a messy garbage page than a blank white one.

Since the sketching of the girl went well, I decided to challenge myself further and attempt to paint her. be yourself

I had to be really careful not to get the paper too wet as it was only copy paper. You can see that I wrinkled up some of the fibers of the paper in her hair. Luckily I was able to get it to lay back down and not rib a hole in the page.be yourself

The words are from a Tim Holtz sticker pack. They fit my mood…being proud to be a woman and no one can take that away from me. And that’s as political as I’m going to get. :)

Linking up today with Art Journal Journey for Every page tell a story.

Art Journal Journey
Out of the mess of everyday life she finds a way to shine ~Hålle

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T Tuesday: TIL edition

TIL you ask? Today I Learned.

While looking through photos to put this post together I saw a burst photo series that I thought would make a cool animation…the only problem was that I had no clue how to make that happen. With a quick search I found a great tutorial that walked me through the process step by step.

Not too shabby for less than 5 minutes worth of work.

I did finish my quilt…you can see the full post about it here.

And created an art journal page for AJJ…full post here.

Today consists of some taxi driving….J to school as the roads are pretty slippery from a glaze of ice and Mini-me has an appointment this morning. Nothing like having to drive on the ice. YUCK!

What are you doing today?

T stands for Tuesday

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