Overjoyed with Overlay

My first card from round two of our 4 x 6 exchange came from Brenda....and I love it!  The minute I saw it I reminded me of an artist I admire...turns out that's who inspired it....more on that in a minute.  For now it's all about Brenda's card!

She used permanent markers, colored pencils and velum.  One drawing is on top of the vellum as an overlay.....

....and the second drawing is underneath.  

Brenda took an online mixed media workshop with Jane LaFazio....who I've been a fan of for quite some time. I love her work with vellum overlays and Jane would be quite proud of Brenda's art piece!  And I'm quite inspired!

The translucence of the vellum reminds me of the pink cosmos photos I took yesterday in the morning light.

I follow Jane LaFazio on Instagram and love when one of her creations comes across my feed:

https://www.instagram.com/janelafazio/

I've especially enjoying her recent work with succulents and enjoyed this youtube video where she shares a succulent covid journal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1EuD7NX8m0

Here's another video on one of her journals on "everyday things she's grateful for"....it was so full of joy.

Thanks Brenda and Jane....I'm overjoyed!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPb46_ZBxAw

Happy Fall

"September, you are promising. The beginning of a gorgeous and necessary decay. The edge of triumph before the deep rest."  Victoria Erickson

I can't believe September is more than half over!  Today is the first day of fall....and it was 39 degrees this morning.  I love this time of year....the colors, the winding down, the cool crisp air....and "the beginning of a gorgeous and necessary decay."

Janet, Anita, and I had a wonderful walk this morning in and around our neighborhood in Lexington.  We chatted and laughed...and paused to look at things that caught our attention...including sure signs of fall.  We came across things that were unexpected...making it an absolute delight.

I'm grateful for walking buddies who don't mind pausing and looking.

I love pumpkins on a porch.

A surprise pop of red tucked in the shrub.

We all agreed that this little grove of trees belongs in a Dr. Seuss book.

Unexpected plantings in a rock made us wonder....

Gone fishing....or done fishing and gone walking.

A charming glow on a beautiful morning.....happy fall!

Round Two

Last week  was round two of our 4 x 6 exchange. I put my card in the mail last Monday along with some other things in a small box....and Becky finally got it today....a full week later. Lesson learned: spring the extra few bucks for priority postage....first class mail is not guaranteed. 

This time we sent our first card to the opposite person....so Becky got my first one....Brenda gets hers this second week and I will keep the third next week.  Since I recently did a little lesson with them on fusing techniques....that's what I'm doing for the three cards of round two. 

I got so involved when I was making this one that I forgot to take many pictures along the way....but I'll try and describe what I did to make this fused collage card.

I started by drawing a rectangle on the release paper of the 4 x 6 finished size.  I "built" my collage on the paper and at the end I was able to peel it right off.

I have a bin of neutral scraps fabrics that already had fusible on the back...most of them left over from my Folt Bolt project years ago.  Some of these images I printed on my printer. I added fusible to a piece of muslin then cut it 8 1/2 by 11 and with the paper still on....I was able to feed it through my printer. 

I cut random shapes and collaged a neutral background. One of these plant sprigs was a sample cutout in I shared in our little lesson....and I added a few more.  The stamp is an image from a postcard I copied onto fabric left over from a previous project. Because everything had fusible on the back...all I had to do was overlap it a bit and iron it.

The circles were cut from this piece of fabric....again, with fusible already on the back.  

I roughly cut them out....then trimmed them up.  I've used these circles in several projects.

Here's a post from 2015 where I used them in an art journal...and they are actually from a blue version of the very same fabric.

http://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2015/07/fabric-flowers.html

I trimmed the piece exactly the size I wanted.....peeled it off the release paper....

...and just lightly fused it right on the card with just a quick tap of the iron.  I added the stitching because I thought it added a nice little frame and gives a nod to the fact that this is ALL fabric. 

Week one of round two is done and delivered!  ✔

Pop of Pink

There are several things I could write about tonight....it was just one of those days.  But right there at the top of the list was Anita and Dave's fall crocus patch....who knew there was such a thing! The fall crocus is sometimes called meadow saffron...and although it looks exactly like the familiar spring bulb this fall crocus is actually in the lily family.  I also learned that the spring bulb is in the iris family. I didn't know that either.

This crocus patch was already there when Dave and Anita moved in 43 years ago and has been blooming every fall since.  The foliage comes up in the spring then dies back in the summer followed by these magnificent blooms in the early fall....just when you need a pop of pink!

The stems must be reather delicate because there were several that had tumbled over...making the patch even that much more interesting. They just felt so special.

I was absolutely smitten!

Birds eye view of the patch....that has pretty much been the same size...all these years.

Bits and Pieces of Fall

Paul and I were on the Eastern Promenade of Portland just as the sun was coming up over Casco Bay.  We were wondering if it would still be red....but instead...the sun....and everything else was golden yellow.  It was a delightful way to start the day.

 This time of year I enjoy picking up and watching bits and pieces of fall that I find on our walks.  I collect them in a wooden bowl on the dining room table at the condo which makes for a nice centerpiece....and good entertainment as I watch the wabi-sabi process.

Of course Margie's gourds have to be part of the collection....they're one of my favorite fall decorations. 

I wrote about her gourds here:

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2017/11/wabi-sabi-gourds.html

And a secondary connection story about them here:

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2019/03/circles-and-connections.html

Look at that incredible green color! They're drying nicely...whatever they are.

And as I've always said....it's all about the stem.  I love this little pumpkin sitting on my fence.

QOL

What a difference a day makes....I got into more of a groove today. I puttered around the condo and was productive in the studio. I need to wait to share my projects because they need to get where they're going first.  

I did do one of my favorite things....arrange my window sill for fall/Halloween.  This is the first time these two adorable trick or treaters have been in Maine....and I'm going to enjoy them on the window sill. 

My son Sam recently did a major bathroom overall in his apartment...something that's been bugging him for YEARS!  He shared an "after" photo with me which included a lovely floral shower curtain (that made me smile).  He declared he was going to start doing regular "quality of life" projects and activities....anything that enhances his life.  Needless to say I was tickled and wanted to get on board so we decided to share what we do with each other as motivation and a way to connect. This morning I shared these photos of my window sill with him...taking the time to do little things like this is most certainly a QOL (quality of life) thing for me.

Two of the projects I shared with Sam recently involved massive mouse droppings under the kitchen sink and a dark dirty corner of the basement. Not quite blog worthy....but I'm loving being motivated and inspired by my son! 

Did you see the little aqua leg/shoe on window sill next to the brown shoe?  That's today's found object from on our morning walk.  It's a good one...don't you think? 

Days Like This

Some days I kind of stumble around....not really being able to get out of my own way. Today was one of those days. I flipped from one thing to another never really finding my groove. 

Days like this I'm grateful for Mother Nature.

This little corner of my garden is as pretty as ever....especially now with the blooming turtlehead.

The seven-sons-flower tree is about 1/2 in bloom....

...and the pink rain lilies keep coming one or two at a time....this one is just starting to unfurl.

And there was something about this gnarly tree trunk that made me pause.

Yes....days like this I'm grateful for Mother Nature....she always finds her groove.

Speaking of Mother Nature....I heard from Mary in the other Portland and she and her family are OK. She sent me an interesting link to a map showing smoke plumes and air quality across the country....and like she noted....it's interesting....and scary. https://fire.airnow.gov/#

Beautiful...but Tragic

When I was enjoying the sunflower patch in Concord yesterday I noticed the sky was a hazy blue...not the bright blue we're used to. There wasn't a cloud in the sky....and I just assumed it was fog.  What I'm realizing now is that it likely was smoke that has worked its way east from the tragic fires on the west coast. 

I know of at least two blog readers, Toni and Mary, who live on the west coast....I hope you're OK.

Paul and I drove to Maine in the predawn hours this morning....and once the sun appeared it was a giant red ball in the sky. Although it was magnificent...it was also strange and kind of eerie knowing the color was distorted by the haze of smoke. Beautiful....but tragic. The world just seems a little broken right now.

I tried to capture it with my phone....I but couldn't get a good shot.  But John Christian Anderson did, and posted it on Instagram.  His photo was taken from one of my favorite places....Ocean Park...better known as Jane's beach. Beautiful, but tragic.

https://www.instagram.com/jcaimages/

These were my feeble attempts from a moving card along a highway mostly lined with trees.

Pops of Color

Janet and I checked out the porcelain berries at Fiske Elementary School this morning....and I was tickled to find a few pops of color.  I continue to be amazed by these colors..all on the same vine.

On the way home from an appointment I stopped to enjoy a sunflower patch at 

The Farm at Walden Woods along Route 2 in Concord.

I loved every minute of it!

There were two long rows of sunflowers.....

...and four rows of zinnias....white, red, pink, and yellow.

Such happy pops of color!