Pep in My Step!

Blessed are those who see beautiful things in humble places.

Alyson sent me this sunburst in ice a few nights ago...and I don't think I could love it or the name she gave it more. Nature art at its best! 

Martha, from North Carolina just sent a generous donation to my tag project...and had a request that is right up my alley. I'm going to quote her directly: 

"Please buy some polka dot undies if they're available. I have a pair with big pink polka dots that I only wear on Fridays to celebrate the weekend. They always put a pep in my step and a smile on my face." 

Both Paul and I laughed out loud...and he said "she's one of you!"  I'm a polka dot fan too...and you can bet I'm going to find some for Maine Needs! 

THIS...was actually a post for Maine Needs around Valentine's day. Martha is on to something! 

I've heard from several of you that are inspired to start projects of your own, and look for ways to do something for others. And THAT puts a pep in my step and a smile on my face for sure! 

Cranberry Bogs

Patsy's get-a-way home is located on a point surrounded by 40 acres of land.... and cranberry bogs are scattered here and there on the property. 

My goal was to pick enough to make cranberry sauce for our Thanksgiving dinner....Patsy's goal was much loftier.

The cranberries are nestled in the soggy bogs....and quite beautiful when uncovered. It's messy work...but also kind of fun.

We wore blaze orange hats while we picked just in case.....it's hunting season after all.

I spy Patsy in these next photos.....you might have to zoom in on this first one.

Before Brian and Patsy built the house...we used to stay in this 

little cabin for our girls' get-a-ways.

Just enough.

We spread the cranberries out to dry.... then cleaned them up a bit while weeding out the a few duds.

A perfectly beautiful berry polka dot!

And since I couldn't stitch....I did a little doodle painting....and simple polka dots seemed to be my theme....maybe in honor of the lampshade I couldn't work on. 

I also did all kinds of doodle flowers and textured pages I can cut out for other projects. There will always be projects.

As I was writing this post....I remembered the card I made for our friends on Cranberry Island. I do love the mix of watercolor and collage.

And I do love the cranberry bogs.

Just A Little Art

Happy New Year!

It was a frosty start to the morning...but beautiful for a morning walk. I don't always get up in time to go along with Paul...but he slept in too so I was able to join him. There was enough moisture in the air overnight to create lots of frost....and it was lovely.

I'm not really one for New Year's resolutions....but I've been reading some interesting thoughts and reflections online from artists I admire...some of which I may share here at some point. But this first day of the year for me included just a little art.

Inspired by Lynne's recent cards using torn floral images I wanted to do something in my Sketchbook Challenge book on the page spread that included her note. You can read about that and see her cards here in this post. I started with an image of a clematis bloom from a catalog and loosely tore it out around the petals. My natural inclination would have been to meticulously cut it out....but I do like the torn look.

For the background I chose a page out of my manuscript book because I thought it nicely mirrored Lynne's writing on the back of her card....and handwriting has such wonderful texture.

Using gel medium I adhered the image then once it was dry outlined the flower with a black marker. 

Then the page spread went through several stages throughout the day....many of them looked pretty bad.  I liked it better just simple and plain. But because I wanted more texture I added paint.  Then I covered it up....then I added paint...then I covered it up......and so on.

I also wanted to use some polka dots which is a bit of a theme throughout the book. I forged ahead with added polka dots using a mixture of paint, cut circles from security envelopes and cutouts from a black and white daisy I had mass produced in my computer.

Here's where I ended up.  I'll have to find my own way with this Sketchbook Challenge....but this book is about trial and error and experimenting with paint, mark making, layering, and collage. I have a little bit of everything here and it started with a little inspiration from Lynne.

Here's how it looked at the beginning of the day.

LOL

I laughed out loud when I found this little snippet in Angie's stash. And doesn't it look important sitting on top of a page from my prized manuscript book?  https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-good-score.html

Then....just this afternoon Tracie texted me that she had to laugh out loud when she laminated a piece of her hair in a project she was working on....a fun follow-up to yesterday's post.  

It's good we can laugh at ourselves.  And I have to...because "I spill things."

When Paul was going through boxes getting ready for our move he found a whole pile of old work calendars.  He's gone digital but I'm glad he saved the old ones because I discovered the paper has just the right weight and texture for monoprinting on the gelli plate. So I added some of my test page to my little Sketchbook. 

In April of 1989 I was 6 months pregnant with Sam and working as a special education teacher at Deering High School in Portland ME. 

I used one of the pages I ripped out and collaged some of my old stamps for opposite page....and we'll see what ends up in the middle.....someday.

One of the things Laura encourages us to do for the Sketchbook Challenge is to play around with images that we love and manipulate them, draw them....and use them throughout our book.  

I am growing quite fond of the polka dotted pear I wrote about a few days ago...so I played around with it digitally during the ride back to Lexington. The nice thing about digital images is that you can resize them and play around with color and background and transparency. I had taken photos of the pear and a page from the manuscript book as my starting point.

https://www.designmatterstv.com/sketchbook-challenge-home/

Fruit Snippets

"If you're thankful, show it. If you love someone, tell them. If you're wrong, fess up. If you're confused, ask questions. If you learn something, teach others. If you're stuck, ask for help. If you made a mistake, apologize. If you trip, get back up. If someone needs help, help them. If you see wrong, take a stance."  

Much of my day was spent on my commission fabric stained glass piece....which is getting pretty close to being done.  Once it's delivered I'll be able to share it here.

I have been cutting out images of fruits for quite some time.  There's something about the warm colors and simple shapes....especially pears that draw me right in.  I found some snippets in a folder....and I had some on my bulletin board and I'm sure I'll find more. I'm going to play around with them a bit...alter them...and work some of them them into my sketchbook as a collage element.

Sketchbook Challenge Update
https://www.designmatterstv.com/sketchbook-challenge-home/

I said there would be polka dots.  

I think I need to knock down the paint a bit....but I can do that when I collage it in. This page needs some paint and background....but this might be where this pear will live. 

This sketchbook challenge is going to take me well into....if not through 2021....and that's just fine. I'm going to enjoy working on bits and pieces when I have time.  

Just before I posted this I had an idea.....it's already better.

I need more hours in the day!

Blend and Bleed

I was compelled to play with watercolor today just painting simple circles. I enjoyed watching the colors blend and bleed....and tried hard not to overwork them....something I usually do.

I turned this one into card #85 and added a few circles cut from my Sun Stars and Moon calendar scraps. I'm not loving the black around the glued circles....but the stitching border balances it a bit.

I splattered this one with paint that was too dark....

...but resolved it just a bit with the addition of some fused scraps from my stash for card #86.

I liked the orange and red one better before I added something...and the blue and green one better after.  You just never know.  

Life is Good

The second round of rain lilies are on the way....

...and we had lobster for dinner.  Life is good.

I found this little tree doodle in a sketchbook....and in about 3 minutes it became card #26.  Honoring past projects is partly what this 100 days is all about.....and sometimes it just requires stitching.

Tomorrow is an outing day with friends so I worked ahead and played with circles this evening for card #27.  I have several pages like this with painted and decorated polka dots.

For #27 I cut them out...then in half and made a bumpy zig zag pattern....I think it's fun and whimsical!

Here's a polka dot project I did years ago for a Pinterest inspired shared journal....the post can be found here.  

Polka Dots and Peonies

Margie and I went on a field trip to see the peonies at the Maine Audubon with a group from her community.  This peony/ice cream social is an annual event...but things are so far behind this spring  that only a relatively small number were in full bloom. It will be spectacular when they are all open...it's a pretty big patch. But we had a good time...and as you know I do like buds just as much as I like the flowers.

That's a pretty big flower packed into a very small ball.                                                                                               

I've already admitted that I sneak pretty paper napkins from parties....and occasionally I even buy a whole package.  I couldn't resist this package of watercolor dots.





They've been just sitting in a craft bin for quite a while so it was time to play with them. Yes...pretty paper napkins are for art...not wiping your hands.

I separated the layers and carefully sliced them into strips and snipped the circles apart. I collaged them on the back of a piece of a recycled calendar...so when you hold it to the light you can see the lines.  I forgot to try the deli paper....next time.

Each dot was numbered on the napkin....and at first I embraced the numbers. Then part way through decided to cut out the circles leaving just a white edge....which I liked better.  I do like the effect....it's the look of a watercolor with the texture of a collage.

I attached it to the card using a simple zig zag....and am pretty happy with the polka dots of #19.