Rainbow Connection

I didn't notice the fabulous shadows from this tulip patch until I uploaded the photo. And I also just realized...that the whole rainbow is here...if you count my sneakers and the glimpse of my purple sweatshirt tied around my waist. I might be stretching it...but finding the rainbow does flow right into the topic of this post.

Becky, Tracie, Brenda and I are going to do another art trade.  There was never any questions that we would start something new....we just had to brainstorm some ideas and themes.  We're calling this new one a "rainbow connection"....and yes...we're going to trade a rainbow. 

We are all making a 4 x 4 art card featuring each color in the rainbow spectrum. Becky and I took a little liberty with the colors....we needed 8.  We all started with red....and this week we're sending our card to someone else in the group.  Two weeks later we'll send our orange to the next person....and two weeks after that we'll send our yellow to the 3rd person.  The 4th week we keep our green and start over again for the last 4 colors.

Confusing?  Here's the chart Becky and I made while I was there. 

We all need a little help to keep us on track.

In the end....we'll all have a set of eight 4 x 4 cards...all the colors of the rainbow!  This time I'll be able to report in as we go....no surprises at the end on this one.  I just put my RED card in the mail to Becky....and I'm looking forward to getting one from Brenda! I'll report in when I can. This project will take us into August and it's a very doable shared art project for the summer. A sweet and simple rainbow connection.  

I didn't have to look very hard to find a spring rainbow in my recent photos.

  

Rainbow Connection

How can I not post all my cards from our Rainbow Connection Project!  I've got a couple ideas where I might display them....but that's for another day. I do want to hang them all in a long row...but displayed this way the two cards from the same artist are stacked.  The first two are Brenda's...then Tracie's, then Becky's...then mine.  I love these shared art projects that celebrate all our artwork.  

I wonder what's next!

Tracie's blue card is two sided....I'll have rotate it once in a while.

And in honor of our finished Rainbow Connection Project... here's a late summer nature rainbow from our morning walks....and my garden.  It's hard to find aqua in nature....so I included a doodle I did with acrylic paint.  I started to fill in the spaces....but haven't got back to it.  

I can't seem to get enough of this acrylic doodling.  Once the fine line applicator is flowing well...it's hard to stop. Here's the aqua doodle I did on a gelli print.

And I haven't done anything with this one yet....but it should be fun to paint.

And I think this dot one will be pretty in a collage once it's painted....

and I can't stop painting swirls.  These are bigger ones in the background....I have plans for them.

Bein' Green

Happy Summer Solstice!  

It's summer....and I'm thinking about greens: apples, grapes, grass, leaves and pine needles, olives, Kermit the Frog, mint ice cream, watermelon, beans, peas, frogs, and all those lovely leafy salad greens.

My green card for our Rainbow Connection project is finished....and I'm pretty happy with the stitched starburst design. 

I have a push punch that allows me to punch a hole in the middle of a piece of paper....it kind or works like a drill.

It comes with three punch sizes....and it worked perfectly to punch the center holes for my startbursts.

I opted to keep the border simple....just a piece of green card stock with a darker green stitch line.  I did tuck a piece of black paper between the layers so the holes would show up more.  

It's subtle....but I wanted the holes to be one of the features.

Green card for the Rainbow Connection project.  ✅

Here's the back!

"It's not easy bein' green!"

Perfect quote for the Rainbow Connection project!

It's Not Easy Bein' Green

Kermit the Frog

It's not that easy bein' green

Having to spend each day the color of the leaves

When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow, or gold

Or something much more colorful like that

It's not easy bein' green

It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things

And people tend to pass you over cause you're

Not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water

Or stars in the sky

But green's the color of spring

And green can be cool and friendly-like

And green can be big like an ocean or important

Like a mountain, or tall like a tree

When green is all there is to be

It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why

Wonder, I am green and it'll do just fine, it's beautiful

And I think it's what I want to be

The Other Three

When I see blooms like this....I think Mother Nature has a bit of a sense of humor....or at the very least loves a little whimsy!

Since this time around we kept our own green cards in our shared art project I'm only seen my card in person. Here are photos of the other three.  

If you are new to the blog, this Rainbow Connection project is an art trade I'm doing with three friends from Wisconsin.  You can read about how it works here:

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2023/05/rainbow-connection.html

Becky created a green weaving.....it's fun from both sides.

Tracie painted whimsical green cats....they made me smile!

 

And Brenda created a fun frog from a gelli print and  

collaged images of real plants for the background!

Here's everyone's line-up at the 1/2 way point through our rainbow.

I think we're all having a good time with this...aqua/teal is up next.

MaryAnn's

Becky's

Tracie's

and Brenda's

Today's rainbow comes from our recent morning walks....and my garden.

RED Collage Card

I had lots of ideas going through my head for my RED card.....and I landed on doodles, cutouts, and collage.

At first I thought I would have  more layers of flowers and plants in the bowl....and even a little touch of green.  But in the end I kept it fairly simple...just a few red cutouts....black and white doodles...and a touch of gold.

The polka dots are circles cut from deli paper gelli prints. 

This is what my table looked like early on. Do you see the napkin in the top left?

That red border became the foreground.  I thought it was tableclothish.

I generally like to have a tiny little border as a frame.  So I cut my collage piece just a bit smaller and mounted it on the card stock that I had edged with red paint. 

The back was optional. I used one of my favorite children's book characters...

Olivia...whose signature color is RED! 

And of course....it's not complete without a red envelope liner!

RED card for Becky for the rainbow connection project ✔

Now I'm thinking about Orange!

Every time I post one of our rainbow connection cards....I'm going to try and include some sort of a rainbow.  This time it's some familiar fussy cutting I did last night....I like the scraps as much as I like the little flowers. I have plans for these. 

The Other Two

There is something so happy about a patch of daisies. 

 

I make a card...and I get a card for the Rainbow Connection project.....and there are always two I don't get to see except in a photo.  So it's become a bit of thing to call them "the other two."  

Becky put her card in the mail to me yesterday....and I'll share it when it arrives....but for now....here are the other two.

Brenda painted a Yellow Tang for Tracie.  

They are common in Hawaii where Brenda is from....and Tracie and her husband Loon love to vacation in Hawaii. Perfect pairing!  Well done Brenda!

Tracie's card to Becky was two sided...and either side could be the front. The yellow collage (out of her comfort zone) would be good for I Spy....and her watercolor florals (totally in her comfort zone) are always lovely!  Well done Tracie! 

In my attempt at posting a rainbow when I talk about our Rainbow Connection Project...I thought I would share this color puzzle. You've seen it finished on Margie's board...and now it's on my table....almost done.  It's at the other end of the difficulty spectrum as the last one....but just what I needed. Easy peasy...and fun!  

Pink Connections

I am excited to share Tracie's pink card for our Rainbow Connection project.  She's going to do something on the back that she'll share sometime....but she is pausing for now.

Almost all of us have had some life events that have slowed us down....and that's just the way life is.

Once I get my purple card from Becky I'll share my whole rainbow.....and I'm still figuring out where I might be able to display it.  And I'm guessing the others will share their whole rainbow too...and it will take as long as it takes! We're savoring the end.

Tracie's flower reminded me of this showy hibiscus I saw on our walk this morning.  It was massive...as big as my outstretched hand.....and the center was amazing!

And I also came across this Strikingly Pleasing view with all the different shades of pinks and greens.  The new growth on this shrub is pink....and there were several other blooming shrubs around it.  

My Picture This app tells me that this is a Japanese Andromeda Mountain Fire.

I love that the leaves are as pretty as a blooms....and have as much coral as they do pink so perfect for this Rainbow Pink Connection post!

Yellow Flower Doodle

It's time for yellow....bananas, lemons, daffodils, the sun, peppers, corn on the cob, rubber duckies, bumble bees, school buses, dandelions, canaries, and smiley faces! 😀

Brenda got my yellow card today...so I can share my little doodle experiment.  It started as a practice run...but I ended up liking it enough for it to be my finished card in our Rainbow Connection project. I had several ideas....and I was fairly certain it would have something to do with the sun.  But I ended up with this daisy doodle instead.

It was actually inspired by a doodle video that came across my Instagram Feed. I watched it over and over....and kept thinking...maybe I could use painted paper squares instead of drawn squares. 

So that's what I did.

This is the inspiration doodle by Shannon of doodillusion and can be found here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CstcZTOABoX

I just used the yellow papers I had on hand...it was supposed to be just an experiment after all.  They all were mostly on the golden yellow side and I wished I had more of a variety of shades. I overlapped them as I collaged...similar to the way Shannon drew the squares in the video. It's hard to tell from the photo...but several of the papers have gold accents. 

I outlined the squares....drew in the daisy shapes

and colored in the negative spaces with a black marker. I left one square empty...just because. I colored in the centers with a white paint pen and a touch of yellow and pink.

I edged the background card stock with black and white striped tissue 

paper and stitched on the daisy doodle collage.  

When you look closely you can see the variation in the papers. 

It occurred to me after I finished that my doodles could have 

easily been suns rather than daisies!  May have to try that!

I kept the back very simple...some painted commercial metallic paper...

and just a bit of sunshine! And I did have a yellow envelope liner...but forgot to take a photo. Yellow card for the Rainbow Connection project. ✔