3 Days on the Road

No photos...just words.  We spent 3 days on the road so far.  EXTREMELY uneventful.  We've slept in Columbus, Ohio; Des Moines, Iowa and Cheyenne, Wyoming.  Saw the most AMAZING sunset in Nebraska.  It lasted for 45 minutes.  I don't think I'll see anything like that ever again.  On to Salt Lake City, Utah today...

Moving Back to California

Yup, that is what we're doing.  We are moving back.  After four years, we are leaving the snow, the rednecks, the prejudice, and all the things that have made our lives a living hell during our stay here.  I have resigned from my teaching position; last day is Dec. 23rd. We start driving across country on Dec. 25th.  Yes, we are driving...hence, the JOURNEY theme for this journal.  My husband is staying behind to sell the house (he's still gainfully employed and we DO NEED THE MONEY TO DO THIS!) and will join us soon.

I wanted to journal the journey.  I've NEVER had a journal just for writing, so this is a new thing for me.  Here is what I have so far...

It's a bound 'visual journal' that I bought from Dick Blick's; I think 5 1/2 x 8 1/2.  Some pages are Caran D'ache Crayons and some are acrylics.  Some are stamped.  All the pages are bordered with hand painted deli papers/book pages.  I hope I enjoy writing in it as much I'm enjoying making it!

Scrappy HeART page

I love this journal because it has so many different sized pages, tags, scrap...anything I could get my hands on that was just laying around when I made it.  This is on a tag; used things that were just laying on my table.

Family Togetherness!

Had all my kids in one place at one time.  THAT NEVER HAPPENS!  Took total advantage of the moment.

Sure hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving.

New page in my Scrappy HeART journal.  I'm really missing Walnut Creek.  I just wish my stars would align and I could magically be transported there to live out the rest of my life.  Here is my page with that in mind:

The house is fabric.  I rarely use just paint, but I wanted simpleness for this page.  Background is simply water color.

Fabric Postcards

Cloth, Paper, Scissors has a reader challenge for fabric postcards.  It intrigued me so I copied 2 original pieces onto fabric and went from there.  Here is the result...

Scrappy HeART Journal page

The base for this is a library card.  Not too thrilled with the pea green...

New Altered Envelope

I think I had a desperate need for the ocean today.  Growing up extremely close to the beach really impacted my life.  If I could pick anywhere on the earth to live, it would be in a beach house.  Either coast; I'm not picky~LOL!

Light

I would have journaled sooner, but we had a Nor'easter on Oct. 28th that took out power in most of CT.  We went for 7 days without it.  Now, it wouldn't have been so bad if we were on city water and natural gas.  But nooooooooooooo!  We have a well and septic (which run on electric) and an electric stove.  And it got COLD.  However, we did fair better than most:  we had a generator which allowed us to run our pellet stove for heat, hook up our fridge and our freezer, and most importantly, run the TV and DVD player.

My studio is in the basement and there is no natural light down there.  I spent the week making jewelry and will post that as soon as I can.

Here is my ode to the storm:

Stay warm, peeps!

Heart Journal

I haven't journaled since school started and I feel like a beginner all over again.  Not too thrilled with the way it came out, but now that things have settled in fairly well at school, I may be able to get the rust off my fingers and start up again.

This is a teeny tiny piece, maybe 2 x 4 inches.  Needed to start small...

Wild Thing

You make my heart sing.......you make everything, groovy...wild thing........Dear Lord, I think I'm digressing!

I really just meant to post my Monochromatic Bird for a Monochromatic Bird Swap.  Alas, it gave me Jimi on the brain!

Why I picked browns I can not tell you other than it has been a long time since I have dabbled in it and, perhaps, needed to have a brown fix~LOL!

MAIL CALL, again...

I'm home today with a very nasty stomach bug that has already knocked 1/3 of my teaching staff on their arses.  It is NASTY!!!  So, after spending too much time trying to fight this thing, I dragged my tush down to the studio and decided to make some mail art.  I swear, I could have stayed down there for ever, but nature started to call.

The background is made from Caran D'ache crayons.  I just LOVE using these.  There is also some art-ed deli paper and painted book pages that just accumulate on my work space.  Sure wish I could stay home and play all day...

Nothing like a deadline!

I'm so good about fulfilling my swap commitments; I don't usually sign up for any if I think I can't manage it.  But September got away from me in a BIG way.  First Irene...which caused havoc everywhere.  And then the delayed start of the school year.  To add insult to injury, I was completely overwhelmed with my teaching job...so many needy children, so little time.

I have two swaps that needed to have art uploaded by today...and I DID IT!!!  The following are for a Zetti swap and an owl themed swap.  It was so nice to be able to do these, even if I was racing the clock!

Hallo-lu-yah!

A FREE day to do some art!!!  I thought I'd never see my studio again the way the school year has started. Home today for Rosh Hashanah, and spent some quality time making this mail art for a swap.  There was no theme to this, but I chose Halloween because I love the holiday.

Found my webbing spray paint from a hundred years ago and had fun with that!  I'm not a stamper, but I love these Halloween stamps.  What an incredibly relaxing afternoon.

Dearest sweet friends...

I really haven't fallen off the face of the earth.. The new school year has started and, being a kindergarten and first grade reading teacher in a high poverty school, the work is just overwhelming.  I do plan on getting back to my art as soon as I can breathe!  Perhaps this week sometime???

Halloween Banner Swap

I'm in a swap with 7 friends.  The banner is 5 x 7 3/4".  I'm not really convinced that I'm finished with it.  I'll play around with it a bit tomorrow.

I'm baaaaaacccccccckkkkkkkkk!

I was away in Delaware for a week with a friend.  No husband or children; just friends.  What a RELAXING week.  Then back home and back to work!!!  I did manage to squeeze in a piece for a swap today.

Now time to go prepare for Irene.  Sheesh!

Today's the Day

In my 'thru my eyez' journal.  Background is Caran D'ache crayons.

Stop To Think

I'm trying very hard to continue working in my journals every day.  This page is in my 'thru my eyez' journal.  I swear, I'm feeling more and more like this these days!!!

Totally Modern Mona

This is for a Zetti Mona Lisa swap in one of my art groups:

Trying to Journal Every Day...

Oh, to be a teacher.  As much as I love my job, it is so hard to go back to work.  Especially since the school year was extended by 10 days due to the MASSIVE amount of snowfall we had here in CT.  That meant summer break cut by 2 weeks.  Now I'm not looking for sympathy; however, just remember that my salary does reflect the amount of days that I work...

I am trying to journal every day.  Here are pages from yesterday and this morning.  

That poor heart has a HUGE mistake underneath it.  I had to save the page because it is a part of my 'thru my eyez' journal.

Time to go to the town pool; it's glorious outside!

Yay! Time for art...

I was away for a long weekend with my family (son came up from SC with gf.  He goes to college down there...)  Went to Lake George with my kiddos, husband, bro and sis in laws and my niece and her bf, and rented a speed boat...OMG!  What a GREAT time!  However, no time or place to do any art.  I went thru a bit of withdrawal.  Finished this page today; unfortunately, I forgot what I had originally intended to do on it so I had a bit of a brain fart when working on it.  I hate when I lose my momentum!

Square Peg

In my 'thru my eyez' journal.  Had fun making this!

Art Itinerant Week 3

Week 3's theme was Recycling and since I had craft paper from some package that I received in the past  I used that.  It didn't quite come out the way I envisioned it in my head, but you live and learn, right?

Outlines are too dark and the hearts are getting lost.  At least the message is a good one~LOL!

Plant A Seed

A small page in my scrap journal.  The page is 2.5 x 5.5 inches.  I'm still using the scraps on my work table.  This was made with spray mist, scrap paper, hand made paper, acrylics.

Some New Mail Art

Way too much fun making these!

My baby is 16!

Hard to believe that 16 years ago I had my baby.  He was a difficult pregnancy, but well worth it!

Happy Birthday Zach!!!
(Dave, what are you doing?)

Here's a piece I made in my HeART scrap journal today.  Thinking about the kiddo!

He stole my HeART!  

HeART Love...feelin' it!

Great doctor's visit last night.  However, it took HOURS to get through it all.  Still can't sleep well so I got up and made some HeART art in my scrap journal.  I think the theme will be HeART for this one.  Seems to be the path I'm taking.

This was made on one of the huge tags: acrylic paints mixed with a baby wipe, stencils and spray mists (I totally messed up and needed to cover some of it), handmade paper, Caran D'ache crayons (I love how they can be rubbed...), Staz-On inks.  Fibers will be added at a later date.

Fun in New Journal

I'm going through a bit of a health crisis right now.  Too early to post what it is, but it does have my mind preoccupied when not doing art.  I love my art journals.  They give me an opportunity to just tune out the world and the stress that I'm under.

Here is the first page in my new journal.  Background is Caran D'ache, some acrylics, Sharpie paint pen, my new stencil, spray ink.  I love the heart but not too thrilled with the star.  C'est la vie!

Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose

I chose to repurpose.  I'm still on my "need to use all my crap before I buy anything else" mission.  I decided to go through all my stuff to see what would make a fun journal page.  Wow, did I find stuff!  Look at what I did with them:

 I found huge tags, old unused time cards, and the cards you use to stick in the pockets of library books.

I also found lots and lots of water color paper pieces of various sizes.  The largest pages are 9 x 6.  there are some as small as 2 x 4.  I used my Rubicoil machine to bind it.  Can't wait to see how it will look when it's all finished!

Art Itinerant Week 2

Week 2 was acrylic paints, magazine images and being a woman.  I NEVER just slop paint onto paper (well, sometimes I do..) but I just took some bright colors and painted.  Nothing fancy, just sponge brush and paint.

Sketchbook Project Page 2

I just wasn't feelin' it.  Too much on my mind right now.