Peek-A-Boo

I thought I would share a little Christmas present I made for Max. Max is the almost two year old of my dear goddaughter Emily. He's such a sweet little boy.

Paul and I often check out the free little libraries on our walks and I picked up a peek-a-boo zoo board book a few months ago. The minute I saw it I knew I was going to alter it for Max.

It's what was in my little woven package I wrote about a few weeks ago. 

There were five peek-a-boo pages....and working on it during the focused and somewhat heavy time after Margie's death was good therapy for me. It got me out of my head and emotions and into something simple and creative. (If you are reading this in an email and the photos are oversized and distorted I recommend you link to the blog by clicking on the title.)

I didn't take any before photos...but each page featured an animal that you could peek behind the wings....or arms...or feathers or something. I altered/covered parts of all the pages.

Unexpected Surprises

It's always a good day when it's filled with unexpected surprises.  

This morning I found this photo from Linda in my inbox....at least a dozen finches taking turns at her feeder. 

Paul spotted this odd little plant in front of the steps at the pond....not sure we've seen anything like it before. It looks like a tall skinny mushroom.

I plugged it into my Picture This app this evening and found out it's field horsetail....and can be quite invasive.  I'm wondering if I should pull it up. It's kind of cute...or is it odd.  I think it's both.

And I had to cross the street to check out this shrub....the color and long gangly branches drew me in. I love to see up close how things awaken.

And I was pleasantly surprised about how interesting it was. The Picture This app told me this is a smooth leaf willow.

And a few surprises came in the mail too....including this card and artwork from Eliza...my art buddy.  

It looks like spring....the first thing that came to my mind was purple crocus.

And....a card and gift from Susan...from Scotland.  I talked about our recent Zoom visit here: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2022/03/connected-by-cake.html

Susan repurposed a children's board book and created a six word story book inspired by the a shared project with my Wisconsin friends.  https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2015/01/six-word-story-booka-shared-art-project.html

Here are a few of Susan's creative pages....I love it!  

I love these paper flowers.

Different journeys....one aim...seeking joy! Thank you so much Susan!

What a great day full of unexpected surprises!

The Rest of the Quote Journals

Here are the last four pages I did in the various quote journals....and the pages Ellen and Lynn created.

I want to make note of the fact that this project lasted well over a year. We were all busy with our lives....so had each other's books for months. It has never been about getting a shared project done quickly....we stay flexible...and just do what works. However long it takes...in the end it's worth it and a joy to see the finished products.  

Thanks Ellen and Lynn!

At some point...we will tackle another shared art project....it's a good thing. 

I used a variety of torn tissue paper and matte medium to make the background.

The description of this quote journal project can be found here, and other posts can be found here and here.  

Cake!

This is a silly little pop up page I added to Lynn's quote book....

and yes, some things just require cake!

I thought it paired nicely with a slice the rainbow cake my sister LaVonn made for her son's birthday. You either have to have a lot of patience....or a lot of pans.  I think my sister has a combination of the two.

The Quote Journals...Continued

I said this quote by Brian Andreas would reappear...and here it is
again on a page spread I did in the quote journal I started and ended with.

At the time I made the page below I saw this quote on Pinterest....
it was the perfect quote for me at the perfect time.

The little shapes on the right are snippets and scraps from greeting cards.

These little shapes on the left were made with washi tape and watercolor. I made sheets of alternating watercolor strips and washi tape...embellished them a bit with pens...and then cut them up.

Have you heard of Angelina fibers?  The are a very interesting product and I have only played around with them a little bit.  The fibers come in all colors and are kind of like tinsel...or Easter grass...sort of.

You can pull off a little chunk of fibers and iron it between two pieces of parchment paper and the fibers fuse together. If you use a lot of fibers you can actually make a sheet that's fabric like and cut out shapes.  But I like these loose, organic edged swatches. 

I want to play around with it a little more...I think it could be useful for needle felting....or art quilting. 

Below I stitched a little swatch of fibers into this art journal page from a while back. And to my delight...there is a "little joy" in the middle.