Day Lilies

The day lilies are blooming in force this fine gray day, so I had to go out and get a few pictures. We had rain overnight, which was still showing on the blossoms and leaves earlier this morning. 

Here's the full view of the plant.

I should mention that when one goes out in Fit Flops to take photos after the rain, ones toes get wet. :D

P.S. Thanks, Cheryl, for introducing me to Straight Out Of the Camera

30 Days - July 30: Hearts

Today was delightfully sunny and mostly warm, as the day wore on. Unfortunately, the pleasant breeze has blown in clouds, and they are predicting "scattered showers" tomorrow. I enjoyed it while it lasted.

I spent a bit of time this morning gluing my painted papers to chipboard, and after running errands, stopped by the local craft store to use the diecut machine. These are what I'm working on... a bunch of hearts. They will be used for a purpose undisclosed at this time. *wink*  I spent time "inking" the edges this afternoon, and started applying Glossy Accents.

This is the 30th day of Get Your Art On!  I made it through, and am actually a bit relieved I only have one art blog to keep up each day. I am most grateful to have had an "excuse" to do more art each and every day and have set a firm habit, I believe. Doing art  is a relaxing thing for me,and I will continue to create at will.

Congrats to all the 30 Day Challengers! I hope you all continue to Get Your Art On as often as possible!

Cheers!

30 Days - July 29: Mono-prints

This afternoon I played a bit with mono-printing, getting the first layers on some paper for a specific project. I don't want to say too much, as it's a surprise for someone. But I squirted and pressed and peeled and this is what I ended up with:

There will be more layers and texture going on, once the paint is dry. 

I thought the freezer paper I used to squirt the paint on turned out really cool too. I'd used it before so it has some interesting colors going on.

Now to figure out what I'm going to do with the freezer paper. :D

It's next to the last day of our 30 Day Challenge. See what the others are doing here.

30 Days - July 28: Along the Shore

I spent the day creatively putzing about with my husband. It's our 16th anniversary, so we celebrated by going out for breakfast at our favorite Old Town Cafe.  We love that place! The food is fabulous and service always excellent.


As we left we noticed the tide was low, so drove along the bay to Marine Park and walked on the beach. There was quite a chilly breeze blowing, (and silly us, we dressed like it was summer) so we didn't stay as long as we usually would. But I did get a few pictures to share. There were a lot of herons along the water, in company with the gulls and crows. I was not successful getting a close up that was clear, unfortunately. If it hadn't been so chilly, I may have persevered. (Alas, I am a wimp... haha!)

A view of the low tide looking south

Looking out from near the railroad bridge... look close and you can see the heron.

My favorite tree in all of Bellingham is near the shore line.

Some lucky folks were motoring their sailboat out for a day on the water in the sun. 

Of course I HAD to look for heart rocks... and I wasn't disappointed. Can you find it? 

We then did a bit of shopping at our favorite nursery The Garden Spot, just because it was sunny and we love the people there.


After a bit more wandering about, we came home and enjoyed the sunshine in the garden. Quite a lovely day.


I consider photography a creative and artistic endeavor, and will be editing and cropping tonight. I'm not sure any other art form will be happening this evening. :)


Cheers!

30 Days - July 27

I'm working on a project themed on my favorite bee balm. Have I mentioned I just love that flower? Today I made a few sketches, and started playing with oil pastels. not sure if this is how I'm going to create what I have in mind, though...

This is the best sketch... if I keep practicing, I'll get better. So they say. :)

And is the best oil pastel sketch of the bunch. I sucketh at them thus far, however see improvement as I keep working on it. I want a bit of an abstract look to the end product.

And this is the photo I used as my model.

I've just realized we have only three more days in our 30 Day Challenge. The month has flown by! This has been a fun experiment, as I've done separate art for this challenge and for the Project 365 2011 I'm doing this year. I have engrained the art habit in myself doing art every day, and I plan to keep it up. A little bit of art a day, helps keep the doldrums at bay. Ha!  :)

See what the other 30 Day Challenge artists are doing here.

30 Days - July 26: Bee Balm

I took advantage of the overcast day to get more pictures of the garden, focusing on the bee balm;  I need a good model for a project. The hummingbirds don't seem to mind me being out in the garden, and come feed within arms length. It's pretty cool.

Anyway, I decided to play with the photographs in a photo editing program (Picnik) and came up with these versions of one closeup. Most fun!

Check out what Traci and the other 30 Day Challenge folks are doing here.

30 Days - July 25

Well! The temperature has dropped from 62 with a bit of blue sky early this morning to 58 with wind and rain this afternoon! Bah! I want my sunny day back! *wink*

So I decided a yellow and green spread needed to start in the Blue Journal - reminding me of the lovely yellow and green (with bits of red) day I had out in the garden yesterday.

I spread a pale yellow down, mushed it to the other page to "mono-print", then used large bubble wrap with a yellow green, and followed with my favorite stencil by Mary Beth Shaw for the light green.

Much more to come...

30 Days - July 24

It was a lovely sunny warm day. The thermometer outside my window showed 79 degrees! And it feels like it. I played outside in the sun most of the day. A bit later this afternoon I took my art outside on the patio, and worked on this journal page:

Not the best picture, but I took it outside at the table because I could! Ha! While I was out wandering the garden, with camera still in my pocket, a trio of hummingbirds starting playing in the garden. I love to watch them chase each other around as if playing tag, chitting to each other just like they are talking. One stopped long enough to attempt pictures...

Can you find him?

We re-did this side of the yard, covering (we hope) the invasive buttercup and horsetail. This raised bed was put in to hold some of my herb garden. We have a few more things in there... including the tall bee balm. I just love bee balm! And so do the hummingbirds.
Some of the plants we moved are now in pots along the fence where they will be planted this fall.

It's still delightfully warm; I think summer may have finally arrived here in the Pacific Northwest. And now I need to go assemble the taco salad for dinner. Enjoy your evening!

30 Days - July 23

I spent a a few hours today with my friend, first working on my black and white journal, and then at the local Artist Trading Card trade. I came home and enjoyed the sunshine and warm weather, puttering around in the garden. What a lovely change!

What I have to show you is a project in progress that I started today. I'm thinking of making something from these hearts... and getting some prototypes ready.

More to come. :)

30 Days - July 22

I woke up in a great mood this morning... and a plus! The excavators weren't operating today! The sun actually came out a few times between the clouds, we got up to 65 degrees, and I didn't have to go anywhere today! It was a happy fairy dust kind of day!

I spent some time swapping out cards for the "Putting the Bees in Beeswax" swap I hosted on atcsforall.com, and will finish up and hopefully get them mailed out tomorrow. I also did some house work, but that's boring! *wink*

Today for the 30 Day challenge, I finished up some Circus Parade ATC's for our local trade tomorrow.

The background is one of the mono-printing pages I did earlier, with added texturing. The circus parade figures are from Graphics Fairy, and are a favorite of mine right now. They are highlighted with Stabilo pencil, Glaze pens and gel pens. I'm making a few similar sets for another trade elsewhere, just because they make me happy! :)

30 Days - July 21: More backgrounds

I am working on some trades - local Artist Trading Card group and a gathering of artists from atcsforall.com next month. These backgrounds are slated for something to be used for trade. I'm not saying which group and what they'll be cut into... yet. :)
The color is not quite true. One needs good daylight, rather than mostly cloudy afternoons, to get the best pictures. LOL!

And while I was at it, I used some of the leftover paint on a few of the canvases and on a journal page.

Check out what other 30 Day challenge folks are doing here

30 Days - July 20

Today I got started splashing a bit of paint on some of the canvases I started yesterday.

And started initial painting on a journal spread.Much more to come on these projects. :)

Check what others in the 30 Day Get Your Art on Challenge are doing here.

30 days - July 19

Started working on a "pile" of canvases today. Some small, some a bit larger. Added bits of paper with matte medium, started to paint with light colors... who knows how these will develop?

I'm finding it a challenge to do both the Project 365 and this 30 Day Get Your Art On Challenge, and keep them separate. I am enjoying the challenge, however.  We'll see how the month ends out. *wink*

30 Days - July 18

After several days of rainy/cloudy chilly weather, we had sunshine this afternoon, and I spent it outside in the garden. It was actually almost warm enough for a few hours, and I loved it!

This evening, I added the stenciling to this already started background. And helped son with his memory book for kitty. I also gessoed some pages in an altered book... boring, but it needed doing. ;)

And that's as much as I'm going to get done today...

30 Days - July 17

I spent part of this cool rainy day playing with the mono-print papers I created a bit ago... adding more color and texture to some of them.

Two sheets were cut up for ATC backgrounds (thinking circus). I added a bit of black texture to round them out.

I also selected and printed images from my extensive file, and sorted through some fun papers for a RAK package (Random Act of Kindness) I want to mail in a couple of days.

This is probably as much as I'll get done today... I have a good book calling my name. :)

30 Days - July 16

My creative energy has been playing with photographs today. I took several of our local catholic church for a swap on atcsforall.com (Places of Worship) and had others in "albums" that I've cropped and edited.

I also sorted and uploaded my son's photos from his Greece-Venice trip in June, (a gazillion!) so he now has an online Kodak Gallery and Album to share with family.
I nabbed and cropped some that I like.. for future use in some art project. *wink* Here's one:

Check out what other 30 Day Get Your Art On Challenge folks are doing here.

30 Days - July 15 - Truth

I'm working on this journal page... Truth.

I've found most people don't want to hear my truth... and they don't "hear" it even if I speak it. They only hear what they want to hear. Which is their truth. Not mine.
My truth is behind the curtain... waiting to be "heard".

It's important to be true to myself, regardless what others think. In spite of what others think. Truth to self.

And that is the basis of this page, which is a work in progress. 


See what others are doing in the 30 day challenge here.

Still Dreaming of Sunshine

I am so in need of some summer weather. Our heater kicked on this morning. The thermostat is set low so I am always cold in the winter, (I love wearing sweaters) but it's the middle of July. sigh.

At least this lovely overcast weather (when it's not raining )is good for taking pictures of the garden...just remember to wear your sweater.

 This was a couple of weeks ago... I LOVE foxglove and encourage them to grow all over the yard.

The honeysuckle was lovely this year. Did you see the picture of the hummingbird who visited me while I was taking this photo?

The Japanese Iris were also lovely this year.

Today the scented germanium is beginning to bloom. It's in a pot in the corner of the deck.

And these lovely deep red nasturtiums are doing nicely. A bit of warm weather and they may actually start growing a bit more and trailing. Maybe. Hope springs eternal!

Footnote... we grow a LOT in pots or raised beds. The ground is just too soggy. And cold. :)

30 Days - July 14: Altered Tin

This is a little tin I made just because I like to make little altered tins. The flowers are Petaloo, and shared with me by Wendy at Stampadoodle to enter the Petaloo Color me Crazy Challenge.

The tin is an upcycled Altoid tin, painted with Lumiere paints. Paper is Graphic 45 Once upon a Springtime collection. I love the fairies and colors in this collection! (I have fairies in my garden, don't you know!) Petals are painted with Lumiere, as is the ribbon. The inner petals are punched from Lumiere painted paper, and attached with painted brads. A bit of Stickles was added to add a bit of sparkle.

After a few mishaps, it finally worked out close to how I envisioned it.

Check out what others are doing with their 30 Days Get your Art on Challenge here.


Oh... PS... this picture is taken on the rug next to the sliding glass doors because it's so dark and gloomy and rainy today, it's the only spot it came close to working. :)

30 Days - July 13

What is this mess? All will be revealed.

Must mention this is a second rendition - repainting. Dying ribbon... And it took me way too long today. ah well!

In other arty news, I spent about an hour with my son playing with his memory book. I bought some stickers today (Thanks, Marilyn!) that go with the paper he is using for the book, and he's been having fun. The best part is that he can do most of it without extra assistance. Yay!   :)

I need to re-size and print some photos for his book... catch up with you all tomorrow!

30 Days - July 12

Continuing in the 30 day challenge, I did a variety of things today. I worked on an altered tin, an altered board book, and my "blue" altered book... besides doing a bit of gardening. Here's the background I've started in the blue book. I wrote about some frustrations last night and then covered it up with several layers of paint and just started some stenciling, but I was sidetracked.

My son was quite melancholy this afternoon, so we worked on some memory book pages for Calvin kitty. Two and a half done. The best part of the day was a couple of envelopes in the mail from some of my online art friends for Jason... with kitty art in them. One was a drawing of a purple kitty... he was quite excited as he opened it. His smile made my day.

I have good friends. :)

Seeing Circle - Shadow (30 Days, July 11)

I love our tall red bee balm (so do the hummingbirds) so took advantage of the slightly overcast day to get some pictures. While I was doing so... the sun came out and the bee balm cast a shadow on the driveway. Our theme this week for the Seeing Circle is "shadow"... so there ya go! Ha! I'll find other interesting shadows this week too, but this is my entry.

Oh, here's a close up of a mostly bloomed flower head. Did I mention I love these things? 

30 Days - July 10

I spent the afternoon with our local art group. We gather to share what we're working on, and usually do an art "project" or learn a technique.  Today we created mono-prints. Messy and fun! The technique is to randomly squirt some cheap acrylic paints on a large piece of freezer paper. The paint needs to be "runny", so if you only have good paint, water it down. Three colors are recommended. Once the paint is in whatever pattern on the freezer paper, take a piece of white or cream cardstock, and lay it on the paint, press with your fingers, and peel off...  You'll get something like this: 

Then you can place another piece of cardstock over the top of your "peeled" cardstock, and create a nearly mirror image. While the paint is wet, you can add a little bit (or a lot) of fine glitter. Move your papers to a piece of newsprint to dry. And keep going. We did 10-ish sheets this way.

The freezer paper itself becomes a very colorful background too! 

The next step in the demo was to add some watercolor to the "white" sections, which I'll play with a bit later tonight, perhaps. Then using a glaze pen (because it's shiny), outline some of the patterns.

Our demonstrator, Cheryl, cuts them up to use in her collage paintings or for ATC's or on greeting cards. For a mixed media artist, the possibilities are endless... :)

The 30 Day Get your Art on challenge is hosted by Traci Bunkers.

30 Days - July 9

I'm nearly finished with these pages in the Fairy book. Good thing, as it's due to be exchanged tomorrow! Besides the images, I used glaze pens, poster paint pens, micron, Stickles star dust. All over my layered and stamped acrylic paint background.

30 Days - July 8

I continued working on the fairy book today... and finished off this spread. I think. I have until Sunday so it may get some additions. Oh wait! I forgot the glitter. :)

The pages are trying to crumble on the edges even after a lot of paint, and I'm not sure how it will last through all the artists. But at least they won't be touching these particular pages as often as I did while working on them. And I like the old rustic look it gives the spread.

30 Days - July 7

Played with paints a bit today (among other things). This page had a few layers already, and I've added a bit more stenciling and re-used item stamping. Not sure where it's going, but I think I like it so far.

30 Days - July 6... and then some

Working on the fairy spread... cut out a bunch of ideas from some new Graphic 45 paper. Still haven't decided how it's going to end out. Will have some ribbon and sparkles. None of this is attached. It could all change. :)

A good part of my creativity today was searching through old digital photo files for photos of the kitty. My son needed to have more. I knew I had some of kitty NOT sleeping.... somewhere. I found a couple, and the search made me realize I need to organize my digital photos by something other than month.

On another note, the morning in the garden was lovely and quiet and warm. The mock orange is in full bloom and smells heavenly!