Category : Creativity

622 posts

There’s no place like home

This has been such a busy time for our family. Adjustments being made across the board. It makes me appreciate the simple things.

A family dinner with all of us present. A driveway chat with the neighbors. Having all the laundry done. And being creative with enough time and energy to share it with others.

 

The pieces of this fell into place without me even realizing it. I’ve been a bit of an emotional wreck on and off over the last 3 weeks….not even going to sugar coat that one. The changes were scary. I have taken comfort in my little bubble of security for the last decade or so. Pizza on Thursday, Fish on Friday. Routines and schedules grounded me…ground all of us. More than I ever realized.  I honestly thought of myself as spontaneous and I am…to a point. I just didn’t realize that as the years ticked past, my way of thinking and of life became more rigid.

This quote spoke to me. As much as I am enjoying my new career, I do morn for what was, as silly as that sounds.

I truly do like working in a school again. This job is definitely different than my previous but so am I and that’s ok.

ACK! See super emotional. Chatty and over sharing. Not my usual style.

Back to the journal page…. The little bit of lace just felt like the perfect finishing touch of the page.

It’s funny because if you’d have told me that I’d be spilling my guts on this journal spread and in the post when I got started I’d have told you that you were crazy. Well, look who’s a little crazy now. LOL

Linking up with Art Journal Journey for Color in My World…highlighting my favorite color PINK/

Art Journal Journey

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T Tuesday: better late than never edition

I think the title says it all… this whole working outside the home is really cutting into my artsy time. Of course I knew it would but eventually I’ll find time for creativity again. I have so many ideas float through my head when I have a moment to pause my brain. Now I just need to execute said ideas.

My first week of school was good…exhausting…but good. This week we are starting to get into some routines which can only mean that things are about to change! The kids have had a busy week as well. Mini-me had a game 1.25 hours away on the first day of school and tonight is playing in our capital city of St. Paul. Crazy how far they travel to play teams not even in our conference.

This little guy is so confused as to why mom’s not home…he’s a little mopey about it.

Also since I’m not out in the yard all the time, the deer have decided it would be fun to jump over the garden gate and eat all the leaves from basically every living plant in our yard. Makes me wonder if we will have a really harsh winter or if they are just opportunity eaters,

I did manage to finish the mixed media piece I was working on last week. Anyone remember those I AM LOVED buttons? I want to say they were from the early 80s?? I happened to still have one floating around. Yep it’s a sickness…never get rid of fun stuff like that.

Over the weekend we roasted hotdogs for supper again in the chimenea. Some neighbors showed up and we had a impromptu party on the deck, capping off the night with a couple games of cribbage.  Thank goodness we got a light under the umbrella!

What did you do today?

T stands for Tuesday

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T Tuesday: cha cha changes edition

So many things happening around here. So many that I’ve been completely neglecting my blog and my art lately. Neither of which makes me happy…the neglect that is.

Let me give you a brief and incomplete list… Kids going back to school one week from today, Mini-me starting high school, packed sports schedule, college applications, jury duty and a few other items I’m not at liberty to discuss right now.  Don’t get me wrong, this list is exciting for sure but a definite shift in gears for us.

That being said…I did clean off my desk and start playing around with a mixed piece.

I also did a bit more canning…

4 pints of diced tomatoes and 7 pints of spicy beans.

Oh yeah and painted the front door…that turned out kind of crummy though so I’ll need to sand and touch it up. Basic white…fairly boring.

That’s it for today…other than my obligatory beverage photo.

What are you doing today?

T stands for Tuesday

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T Tuesday: summer wrap up edition

These last few weeks of summer have us trying to squeeze every bit of summer fun and activities that we can. We’ve already started the school ramp up. Orientation yesterday…during the second half of the eclipse…nice timing people. At least it was raining like crazy at that time so no one cared.

Speaking of the eclipse…did anyone see it? I built a couple boxes in case the clouds cleared. We got peeks at it as it was eclipsing.

The clouds rolled in thick enough to obscure our view minutes before the greatest point of totality in our region. It was very strange though….the temperature suddenly dropped and the crickets started chirping. So awesome…just wish we could have seen as well as felt it.

The eclipse reminds me that I should show you my still work in progress of the acrylic pour project.

Somehow I seem to have lost the chipboard 3 overnight….I’m guessing Marvin had something to do with that.  I think I’m going to paint the numbers either white or black…leaning towards white. Then seal the whole works before attaching the clock parts.

I’ve also been playing around with my button collection again…

I have some ideas for projects. More button stacks. I just love how they look.

Over the weekend we had an evening that was just perfect for a fire. Hot dogs for dinner anyone?

As I waited for the fire to get going I checked out the garden. Late summer has done a number on some of the plants.

Such as the pumpkin  plant..totally dead and gone.

The green beans have totally taken over. I’m surprised since they were really poor early in the season….which is completely opposite of the last few years. I’ll definitely have some spicy beans to can.

And diced tomatoes as well.

Since the thick humidity, as seen here over the weekend, has finally cleared out. I’ll likely tackle the canning today in between playing taxi driver of course.

What are you doing today?

T stands for Tuesday

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T Tuesday: in progress edition

I had plans for today’s posts. It was going to be spectacular…tons of photos…a walk through of my latest project in process.

But then….my phone died. As in, it was no more.

I use my phone to take quick in process pictures instead of my DSLR.

Off to the store I went to have them look at it and buy a new one if need be. It wouldn’t turn on for them either so…I picked out a new one to replace my over 2.5 yr old phone which seems to be a senior citizen in the phone world. I switched from Apple to Android. This will take a little adjustment period.in progress

Here’s a little snippet of my project. More to come…

Today after my morning coffee (reused photo) and a bite to eat, its off to volleyball tryouts for the girl. Me… I’ll be measuring all the hard surface areas of our property to determine if we can extend the edge of our driveway a bit to make room for more parking.  Did I mention that I’ll be signing Mini-me up for the classroom portion of drivers ed very soon? AGH! They are growing up too fast!

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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Interpretive crochet

That’s what I decided to call my near inability to follow a pattern. I’ve decided that I’m ok with that. I crochet mainly for myself making dishcloths. My stemware really doesn’t care if I have too many or too few stitches. Why should I?interpretive crochet

Honestly, I can and have followed a pattern…once for sure.  The green hexagonal dishcloth proves it. I’m pretty sure the purple one is correct as well. The rest of them..not so much.

interpretive crochet

I tend to crochet when I’m waiting or watching TV. I think its the TV that screws me up with the whole pattern thing. OH well. They are pretty and will certainly clean dishes so that’s all that matters.

Incidentally…the purple yarn is the last of my cabbage dyed yarn.

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A second look: Art Journal vs Altered book

This month for Second on the 2nd I wanted to reshare or perhaps rehash the debate over art journals vs altered books. Let me know your thoughts.

Take a look….

altered book vs art journal | Halle's Hobbies

Over the years there seems to have been a shift in the verbiage used to describe the process of taking a book of little or no use and making it into a piece of art. Or perhaps it could even be a book with great meaning to you and you want to express yourself within it. Either way…you are altering it from it’s original purpose. Hence the name altered book, right?!  But the line has been blurred as mixed media and collage entered the scrapbook and paper arts world. I’m not saying this is a bad thing…more products, techniques, blogs and tutorials out there. Mixed media entered the main stream. Along with that is where the shift happened from altered books to art journals.

I’ve always felt (and still do) that explaining to outsiders what an altered book was bordered on exhausting at times. I’d, all too often, get a blank stare from the person I was talking to about my new passion. Somehow changing the way I described what I was doing as art journaling made more sense to my audience. Oh, it’s just art in journal form. Sure, if that makes it easier for you to understand…I’m cool with that.

For me, I feel as if the difference between an altered book and an art journal has a couple different facets. An altered book must first of all have been a written and published book. Secondly, for it to be an altered book, it has a theme.  Such as this Vintage Fashion altered book….which happens to be the first round robin altered book swap I ever participated in.  Too bad postage costs have skyrocketed since then.

vintage fashion altered book | Halle's Hobbies

 After completing a few themed altered books, I began creating pages randomly with no theme. Just a place to play and be creative. Somewhere along the line I started calling my “no theme” altered books, art journals. It seemed easier or perhaps more logical way to describe them once I heard more about art journals.

For me, I feel an art journal can be comprised of any substrate. Plain or scrapbook paper, card stock, bound journal, moleskin, cardboard. You name it…it’s likely been tried…as well as, you guessed it….published books. This causes the dreaded crossover…well, is it an art journal or an altered book? I feel as if I’m talking in circles.

I think what it comes down to is personal preference. It is art after all. You can call it whatever you want. We all define what we think is art in very different ways. You aren’t going to please everyone and you shouldn’t try. Art is an expression of yourself. There are no hard and fast rules…which is why I got interested in altered art 11 years ago.

So there you have it…my opinion on the difference between an altered book and an art journal. What is your take on this subject? Do you agree or have another ideas? I’d love to hear your opinions.

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