Enough …

here we have the last spread in a visual journal that I started working in back in 2009…

as finishing this journal this month has been a challenge I set for myself I am entering it in Susi’s Art Journal Journey May challenge…

lots of my painted pages began because of inspiration from a Julie Prichard online class that taught me so much (she is a wonderful teacher!)…

the first spread I completed above in this 1958 Funk & Wagnalls  Encyclopedia was inspired by a Pretty Paper Hearts challenge blog that no longer exists …

 links to several other spreads can be found here… 

below you will find a bit of my creative process for the last pages which got quite thick…

strips of my citra solv paper and torn vintage map (thank you Carmen ♥) blended in with some white gesso…

using some of my unmounted rubber stamps on pattern tissue paper…

and lots and lots of layers of Distress Stains (one of my favorite Ranger products!!!)…

using my hand to blend and smear the stains and YES it DOES stain your hands …

to finish off the gutter of the book I wet my hand a little and used a small paintbrush to gather enough color to finish off the center of the pages…

above you can see my pages before I found my tiny seashells and starfish from a trip to Florida…

I did try and not make the pages too bulky but you know how it is once you get going…

I am a big mermaid fan…

twenty-eight spreads (double pages) in the recycled encyclopedia that originally covered French Literature — Gothic Architecture and now all it needs is a cover…

“Enough is abundance to the wise.” ~Euripides

and a bit of extra fun with my mermaid and free Photofunia…

wherever you stand…

a couple more pages for both the Art Journal Journey (Challenge Yourself)  and Dawn’s Journal Journey’s (Birds) challenges this month…

I have wanted to try my hand at using water soluble oil pastels and gesso for some time now…

first scribbling on my encyclopedia pages…

then blending with the white gesso and adding a paper doily from a tea tray enjoyed with a special friend recently…

I made a copy of a face from a magazine and various cut out flowers from catalogs along with a birds nest for ‘hair’…

the bluebird of happiness…

Rumi’s quote speaks to me again and again…

a bit of sari fabric and some velvety rickrack…

my first pages for these two challenges can be found here…

Lily of the valley tea…

“The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses.”  ~Hanna Rion

one whiff of deliciously fragrant Lily of the Valley and you are instantly reminded of just how amazing nature can be…

each flower is so distinctive…

it seems that every one that blooms in our garden is my favorite…

“Nothing is more memorable than a smell.  One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains.” ~Diane Ackerman …

joining Elizabeth and Bleubeard for Tea on Tuesday

Mandala Monday: Honey Locust Delight

for several weeks each Spring our Honey Locust tree shines in chartreuse glory later turning to regular green until the Autumn when the tiny leaves turn golden…

our Wisteria has a few beautiful blooms but is nothing close to the breathtaking display we enjoyed at Dumbarton Oaks at the end of April…

since green leaves hid many of our blossoms I decided to pluck some flowers to enjoy up close and personal…

a few golden Buttercups in our lawn caught my attention too…

joining Dawn for her Mandala Monday…

“The tiniest dewdrop hanging from a blade of grass in the morning is big enough to reflect the sunshine and the blue of the sky.”  -Anonymous

♥Blessings to Mothers Everywhere♥

“Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.” -Unknown

Mom turned backwards is still MOM…

Mom flipped upside down is WOW…

Without mothers, our society would be doomed …

OXO

more than one kind of Bluebell Tea …

we have a few patches of these delicately fragrant and pretty Spanish Bluebells in our garden…

shared from my mother’s garden many years ago which are all together different from the Virginia Bluebells I have shown you in the past…

a dream of mine is to visit an English Bluebell forest one day (when we visit the UK next month the Bluebells will already be finished for the season so I will look forward to other blooming delights)…

nature is a constant reminder of how quickly things change…

that is one reason I am so grateful to be able to snap photographs of nature’s parade of blooms…

there was some conversation last week on my Tea Tuesday post about cutting old quilts…

I really appreciated your forthcoming reactions as there are so many different ways to look at things…

what you couldn’t see in my photos was some of the wear and tear these well loved quilts have (just a small sampling of some rips and holes above) which down the road will make it a bit easier to use them for assorted art projects…

thank you as always for stopping by and making Tuesdays extra special oxo

Mandala Monday: moment to moment

“That nothing is static or fixed, that all is fleeting and impermanent, 

is the first mark of existence.

It is the ordinary state of affairs.

Everything is in process. Everything—every tree, every blade of grass,

all the animals, insects, human beings, buildings, the animate and the inanimate—

is always changing, moment to moment.” ~Pema Chrodron

joining Dawn for her Mandala Monday…