Category : Creativity

622 posts

I decided to dig deep in the blog history for Second on the 2nd this month.

Secondlook

I’ve been scattered lately when it comes to art…a big part of me thinks that the “old days” when I participated in many more swaps and round robins….before postage got too out of hand…I was forced out of my comfort zone and in the process grew as an artist.

This post was definitely from those days. Have a look…

eyes

I completed my pages for the latest book I received in my current round robin.

The original drawings from the book were hand-painted by me with watercolor crayons. The chopsticks were shorten by breaking then shaping them in a pencil sharpener before a slight bit of whittling and sanding.

The bamboo was drawn then painted by yours truly. The fortune reads “The luck that is ordained for you will be coveted by others”

I’ve never done any Asian themed art before…at least not consciously. I did do a mixed-media painting a while back that ended up having an Asian flare.

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Hope you enjoyed this second look at my post from January 2008

Here we are at the end of summer…well, at least the end of the 2015 Summer photo Scavenger hunt hosted by Rinda.

At my last check in I had over half of the items on the list as well as the alternates.

2015photo hunt 1

I am so happy to say that I have completed the list!! Hooray! I love being able to check something off a list. In fact…secret coming…I write stuff on my to-do list after doing it just so I can cross it off. Yeah…I have a problem.

The remainder of the items are as follows….

4. People playing a board game or card game

game time

a rousing game of Scattergories Categories

6. A metal bridge

metal bridge 1

This first photo was taken while passing a company that builds metal bridges. We passed it at least three times so on the last time I had passed of my phone off for someone to snap the photo at my direction.

metal bridge 2

I think this may have been one from that same company in real world use.

8. Someone “plugged in” to social media

plugged in

Sad but true…computer in the van.

11. A cellular tower or television satellite dish

cell tower

Along the interstate…

14. A traffic signaltraffic signal

Rural central Minnesota gas station with really old pumps and the craziest items for sale in a convenience store I’ve ever seen. It was like an episode of Hoarders with price tags complete with a literal path to the “customers only” restroom. Yikes!

15. A flag pole with at least three flags on it

three flags

Ok I’m taking a little liberty with this one…but it was REALLY HARD to find.

18. An overloaded truck, car, bicycle or other vehicle

overloaded 1

Two examples on the interstate…The first some big piece of farm equipment

overloaded 2

And this one was just crazy and freaked me out when it came into view. I saw this white truck in my lane ahead of me suddenly.  AWH!!!! But it was being towed by another truck piggy backing on the lead truck.  WHAT?!?!  I’ve never seen anything like that before.

Photos taken while on the road were taken by my kids…thanks you two!!  Safety first. :)

21. A photograph of you with a sign reading “2015 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt”. Note: you may not use a substitute for this item.

sign

This was great fun! I’m already looking forward to playing along next year! Special thanks to Rinda for once again hosting this great summer challenge.

Nothing like waiting to the last minute or the final hour to work on the Art Journal Journey theme for this month… TIME

Art Journal Journey

Honestly I wasn’t working directly towards the theme but after placing the focal image down the idea that she was in a hurry came to mind. Then it was just a point of find the right words to fit her look.

Time to go Art Journal Journey entry| Halle's Hobbies

I find it ironic that the happens to be an ermine on the page….part of the weasel family…often associated with being sneaky. Fun how things work out sometimes.

I came back from a wonderful mini vacation to a surprise in my mailbox…I've been published again! Somerset Holidays & Celebrations |Halle's Hobbies

Thanks once again to Stampington & Company for choosing to publish more of my cards. Now that explains why I hadn’t gotten all of them back in the previous package. :)

Hello! Did you miss me? I’ve been around just not keeping up with the digital world. Summer is passing so quickly and it seems as if the appointments and events are multiplying on the calendar. This seems to happen every year at this time.

I finally was inspired to do some art journaling. I started with a page I had used to clean my brushes and palette on during a long ago project. Having that base of color gives a jumpstart on building the layers that give depth to a page.

Pete's problem art journal page| Halle's Hobbies

After putting down some more colors it was a little too “in your face” for me. I took some white paint on my finger and mellowed out some areas. The end result made me much more happy than the beginning loudness.

I found the image of the old cowboy in a bin and thought his color scheme meshed well.

Pete's problem art journal page| Halle's Hobbies

Then it was the hunt for the perfect found text to give life to the page.

Pete's problem art journal page| Halle's Hobbies

I thought these words spoke to the worn down look of the old cowhand.

I’ve been slowly but surely working on the list since Rinda of Gallo Organico posted it way back in the beginning of June.

I missed the first check-in the end of June. This summer has gotten away from me. I have to admit, each year that passes, time speeds up exponentially whether I like it or not.

So on to the list….

flowers

1. A bouquet of flowers: This was in the waiting room at the eye doctor. Silk flowers arranged in a vase is technically a bouquet.

door knocker
2. An ornate door knocker: I found this at an antique/junk store not too far from home. The town is super small and hosts shops that are only open 3 days a month. They call them “occasional sales”. The rest of the month you are limited to several bars, a coffee shop and a gas station.

walking a dog
3. A person walking a dog (or other animal): I nabbed this photo before the parade on the 4th of July. You’ll be seeing more photos from that same day…just wait.

column
5. Architectural columns: This was taken at another of the “occasional shops”. Super fun antiques, remakes and junk to peruse.

turtle
7. A turtle: Two for the price of one. We knew just where to spot a turtle at the arboretum. They love that log in the pond.

tent
9. A tent: A couple more photos taken on July 4th. The top is the beer/entertainment tent for the carnival and street dance that is held on the evening of July 3rd. The bottom photo is the cub scout float in the parade.

college

10. A college or university: I took some classes at this community college many, many years ago. It’s just a few miles from The Mall of America and IKEA. I love IKEA…MOA, not so much.
potta potty
12. A public restroom, bathroom, or toilet: These were only a fraction of the port-a-potties on site for the Independence Day festivities and there were still lines as it got later into the evening!

carousel
13. A merry-go-round or carousel: Also from the carnival…

lake
16. A panoramic view, taken while standing someplace high in the air: I was going to use this photo for my natural body of water but the more I looked at it I realized that we were really much higher than Lake Minnewashta in the distance. This was also at the arboretum.

Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt 2015
17. At least two people wearing matching outfits or uniforms: Again from the parade. I could have had SO MANY for this one as well but most of my photos had the backs of heads in them. This one I was able to crop most out. :)

ticket booth

19. A ticket booth: I bet you can guess where this one was taken!

pond 1
20. A natural body of water: I honestly could have dozens of photos in this section. Minnesota IS the land of 10,000 lakes after all.  This was taken at the arboretum. Its a really nice pond with natural wetland surrounding it. They built some boardwalks so you can walk all the way around it. Just beautiful.
If you find something on the list too difficult, you may substitute one of the following items for any one item on the list, except for Item #21:

I’m not giving up on finding the rest on the list but I will post my alternates anyway.

Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt 2015
Alternative A: People eating outside: From the carnival before the parade

Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt 2015
Alternative B: Someone holding an umbrella: Very smart idea this man in the wheel chair had to shade himself during the parade.

Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt 2015
Alternative C: A rocking chair: I love my folding rocking chair! My kids laugh but I don’t care.

So lets see here…I got 13 of 21 so far and 3 alternates. Not too shabby.  But I still have these left to find.

4. People playing a board game or card game

6. A metal bridge

8. Someone “plugged in” to social media

11. A cellular tower or television satellite dish

14. A traffic signal

15. A flag pole with at least three flags on it

18. An overloaded truck, car, bicycle or other vehicle

21. A photograph of you with a sign reading “2015 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt”. Note: you may not use a substitute for this item.

Wish me luck!

I’m finally linking up with Seth Apter for Buried Treasure again. I have somehow missed it since the very first time back in 2009. buried treasureI had so much fun going back to choose what I wanted to share. Ironically, the first one I chose was the same one I used in 2009. I guess I’m pretty proud of that tutorial. :)

Here is my original post from 2013:

20130406_1706After our snow yesterday…yes you read that correctly…snow on April 5th, I guess I wanted to remind myself that a new season is actually upon us.

It is Spring according to the calendar and before we know it, the weather will be hot and humid.

When I started this journal page I had no idea where it was going. 20130406_1705

I spread my super thin, lame gesso over the pages in my Watkins cookbook journal then kept adding layers of paint and stamping.

Next I wanted to try out some molding paste applied through a stencil…a technique I’ve seen several times on YouTube videos. I love the texture it adds. I’ll definitely be trying that one again!20130406_1708

I used water and walnut ink to age this library card which is placed on top of a bit of a forest scene magazine page. Love it when things like that work out.

Still looking for more texture I glued down a bit of flower trim.

I am incredibly happy with 20130406_1704the way this one turned out.

And look..the sun is even shiny bright today promising that the Season is actually changing.

 

 

 

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I must admit this is still one of my favorite art journal pages. Everything fell into place for me that day.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will again. Also a great big thank you to Seth for providing this chance to check out other mixed-media artists we may not have come across yet. Also thanks to my dear friend Elizabeth who gave me the heads up this year…I guess I’ve been on summer break too long. HA!

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