Souvenir Journal!

Our relative from Sweden arrived Tuesday evening.  We had not met before but she is a lovely, out going, 21 year old that we are trying to figure out how we can keep!!

This week and weekend she is spending time with our Granddaughter and her family so it is giving me some time to put together a journal for her.  I'm not sure how familiar she is with this journaling idea but she seems very open to everything else....I'll bet she like this too.

Her English is perfect but I thought the Dictionary cover was very appropriate for this journal.

You can't have too many tags or pockets.

  Making use of the book's original spine cover and a page from a vintage calendar/planner.

A page from the dictionary covered with a coat of gesso.  Maps are a must!

These are the only pages I have finished....must get busy!

For sure I need to include photos of the relatives that started it all!

On another subject, I want to share some of the cool things I bought from one of my favorite Etsy shops, Altered Paradise at Regina's Studio.

I have no idea what I am going to do with this incredible porcelain dial....if I don't ever do anything else, just looking at it makes my heart smile!   

The #25 brass locker tab will end up in a piece of jewelry....the ruler piece and other paper and wood scraps are little "thank you for your order" that she included.

Check out her site....she has some great stuff for collage and/or altered art....I think you will like it!

Practice, practice, practice

Take heart young 'uns.....today is my 76th birthday and I still have to practice!

I do, kinda, like to practice handwriting and various calligraphy styles.

It's fun to doodle....it is not always fun to practice drawing facial features but, practice we must!  I like to play with paint and paper but I haven't been drawing a lot.....so I MUST practice.

Folks who say they can't draw, don't really know that because they have never practiced and really, they probably, just don't LIKE to draw.  Yes, artistic ability is a gift but you don't grow or get better without PRACTICE.  Dang!

Nothing, but nothing, guarantees that practice makes perfect.  Hopefully, just a little better!

Another fun altered book.....

This month I have the pleasure of adding my artwork to Connie's book!  Connie lives in Washington state, her altered book has traveled to Laura (who, also, lives in WA) to Corinne who lives in Southern Oregon to me, also, in Oregon....from here it heads to Louisiana.

Connie choose this book with a perfect title to use for the theme of the book's art......Dreaming While Awake!

she, also, owns this cool stamp!

The numbered envelopes contain a tag for each participant to fill in their information i.e. name, e-mail address, date, etc.

One of the opening pages.......followed by this beauty.....

They aren't  signed but I'm certain Connie did this piece and the one below, too...........

This is so cool, the door opens to reveal......

    this awesome insert!  Do you dream in black and white or color?

A page that is folded into triangles and opens to reveal this sentiment.....

   This is Laura's beautifully artful touch of Zen.........

Corinne does amazing design work using primarily fabric and stitches with touches of torn sheet music and Greek Goddesses !

Continuing on with the "Dreaming While Awake" theme, I created these pages............

  

.....using many keys and a list of dreams!

Maybe, it's because I've always been a day dreamer but the inspiration for these pages came relatively easy for me, which is not always the case, trust me.....so I'm ready to mail this book on and I have three more weeks before the deadline.  Hopefully, inspiration will "strike" again and I will complete another set of pages! 

Next week, we have relatives arriving from Sweden for a week...so I'll be doing lots of fun stuff.....I just don't think art will be one of them!

Art weekend......

While the rest of the country is sweltering, here in the Northwest we had RAIN this weekend.....there was a lot of it on Sunday.

So, I took advantage of the quiet time to make art...several pieces, actually.

I've told you about the round robin's, well, one involves rust and white, for which I have all four of my pages done....here is one and a peek at another one!

Also, involved in an altered book round robin and this is a peek at one set of "dream" pages I have finished.

......and then there is the journal, this is my latest page.

Hope you are staying cool and getting to play with paint and paper. 

Altered Book Round Robin

For the past few months, I have been participating in an altered book round robin with a group of women who are members of the ABC Altered Book Club.  A great on-line gathering place for altered art artists, where you can learn and share from the comfort of your own computer chair!

This is the second book I've received, since I sent my book on the road, and this one belongs to Laura.  Laura lives in Washington state, so far, her book has been in Southern Oregon and just left the northern part of Oregon....headed for Louisiana.

Here is my contribution......

These are some of Laura's pages.......

And her wonderful niche with a vial full of unused words......

And then there is Corinne's beautiful contribution......

Here are a couple "beauty shots".....

These give you more of the feeling for how the whole book comes together.  These are going to become books to treasure and I am so happy to be one of the participants.  This is my first time out and I can hardly wait to do it again.

Here's my work desk this Wednesday.....

I'm joining my friends at What's On You Work desk Wednesday this week!

Journaling is what I've been up to, along with a couple of round robins, but today it's all about my journal!

I think I have a tendency to stop working on a piece too soon, afraid I will mess it up I guess, so I am trying to push myself into going further by adding more detail.....now, I may get started and never know when to stop! 

This is where this journal page started.......

and ended with this.......

Sorry, the top photo I ran thru Piknik so the color is cleaner but you get the idea.....I added more stuff and I'm lovin' it!  I was inspired by a journal page done by Mary at A Splendid Adventure, I so like the graffiti look to her pages.

More of my journal pages.......When you've had more rain this year than in the last 100, you need to commemorate it!

  The paint chip frames cut out flowers from gardening magazines.  I used a painted paper towel for the background and the facing page looks like this........

More paper towel background with stamps, paint and oil pastels. 

I love using my journal pages to experiment....hopefully, this is where I will over come my fear of "detail"!  If, I mess up here it is no big deal.

Oh, and by the way, I write in this journal....it is my garden journal/diary, so I leave room for comments on my everyday life!

Hope your work desk is full of things you love to do!  Join me at Julia's What's on your workdesk Wednesday

All for the love of lavender.......

What a perfect day for a drive in the country....wait, I live in the country!  Well, it was a perfect day for a drive...so first we drove to Molalla, a town bigger than the one I live in and a town who's newspaper I helped publish for seven years, also, a town best know for its' 4th of July weekend rodeo!

This weekend they are having a huge competitive Bar-B-Que cook off with entries from all over the state.....so we ate some gooooood ribs!

Sorry, not photos so you'll have to take my word for it, they were good!

Then we headed to the REAL country and visited a wonderful lavender grower/nursery called The Lavender Thyme Herb Farm located between Woodburn and Molalla.  This wonderful nursery is located in the heart of the Willamette Valley's farm country...you can see the wheat fields in the background.

Not only do they sell lavender plants, here at the nursery, but they have a sweet little garden shop filled with lavender soaps, lotions, teas and other goodies.

Beautifully landscaped with shady nooks, water features and a man-made stream......so relaxing!

Sunny, 75 degrees.....I could live here!!!

It's difficult to see in the photo but the gravel is covered by water...it is their little hand-built stream..........

.......complete with a foot bridge sided with wagon wheels.

 

 

 

Sweet rusty chairs surround a beautiful flower basket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I joined in on the lavender wand making fun!

Joyce, a member of the local herb society, was teaching us how to weave ribbon around stems of lavender to make a holder for the lavender flowers that helps preserve the blooms and fragrance for years.

  Not perfect, by any means, but I'm ready to try again.

I've wanted to make one of these for some time......I learned that, like everything else in this world, practice makes perfect and I need more practice.  This is a pretty simple and inexpensive gift to make for a friend or for delightful party favors.

Actually, this is officially called Oregon Lavender Festival weekend with 24 lavender growers, throughout the state, holding special events all weekend.  We only made it to this one nursery but next year I'm going to hit a few more.

What a wonderful way to spend the day.......a delight for all of the senses!

I am linking to Jean's Bloomin Tuesday and Tuesday Garden Party