Build your wings....

Hi all!

I am SO excited to see signs of Fall heading my way!  I am still trying to get my routine down now that school is in full swing but so far I am really liking how much I can get done in a day!  We took off on our last camper trip of the season this weekend and just about froze!  Luckily I had long pants and a light jacket for me and Pezza but poor Kevin did not remember to grab his jacket and we ended up having to go get him one :P  We headed to one of our favorite places in Luray, VA and headed out to hike in the Shenendoah National Park.  I found a hike that said it included a rock scramble for a portion of the trail where you would have to climb across rocks sometimes on your hands and knees!  YES PLEASE!  I so miss rock climbing since I came to VA from MO. 

See those blue blazes on either side of the rocks?  That was our trail marker!  So fun!  Unfortunately I have been SO So sick with allergies and hiking plus campfire smoke REALLY did me in.  Sunday I was a mess - talk about a violent over-reaction.  And I am pretty sure my asthma has returned - BOO.  Despite being ON antibiotics I was running a low temp all day yesterday and today.  Not fair!

I DO have an art journal page to share - although I only took one picture of it...???  What's up with that?  And now it's gone because it is one of the circle journals I have been participating in.  BUT I wanted to share it with you anyway:

It has some great texture going on and lots of layers PLUS this super cool image transfer from Dover Pictura - I am officially a Dover Ambassador!  I was supposed to start earlier this summer but my summer was not conducive to doing much artwork so I am really looking forward to getting busy with the absolutely amazing array of images available from Dover - and now DIGITALLY through Dover Pictura!  I have been using Dover images for my artwork for literally decades!  They make great coloring books and clipart books as well as super reference books for everything under the sun.

I began the page with a few random light washes of yellow and then laid down a stencil resembling cracks and sponged on Teal Zircon Silks paint.  Then I stamped with one of my original Pezadoodle Background stamps - Dropped Scallops in brown Archival ink.  I added bits of pale blue wrinkled tissue paper and then rubbed lightly across it with Gold Inka Gold to bring out the texture.

I got my image from the Dover Pictura digital collection 150 Silhouette Designs.  I printed her off on my laser printer - it is important to do it on a laser if you want to use it for an image transfer or the ink will smear (don't ask how I know.)  You can get laser prints at places like Staples which is where I will be going soon for COLOR laser copies soon for another project I have in mind.  Once I had her printed I just spread a layer of gel medium where I wanted her - not too thick - and laid her face down in it.  After it dried overnight I wet the paper backing and gently rubbed it off with my finger - perfect transfer!  This is different than just printing her off and gluing her down because you can see the background behind her - she becomes a part of the layers.  After I added the quote I finished off with a feather stencil.  I mixed Kiwi Luminarte Primary Elements with my Gel Medium and smoothed it on over the stencil - gorgeous!

Are you familiar with Dover Publications?  What can you do with them now that they are digital???  For starters, with the holidays approaching, check out the loads of fabulous vintage images they have.  Check out the Halloween collections being featured right now - vintage to contemporary including some great Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) images and photoshop brushes.  Or enter the Very Victorian craft contest - Dover has plenty of fantastic Victorian image collections to choose from!  What are you waiting for???

A french kitty

Hi!

I am back!  I want to start by thanking everyone who sent me such sweet and thoughtful comments, messages and encouragement after my last post.  It makes it easier to fight through the "weeds" I am stuck in when I receive those!

So what I have been up to?  Lots.  My mom came out for a visit over spring break and we decided to head up to New Hampshire to see my oldest son, Drake.  For my long time readers - you may remember Drake dropped out of college his first semester, went to meet a girl he knew from a game on the internet and did not come back home!  They have been together for 3 1/2 years now and are perfect for each other.  But we have only seen them once and he is Pezza's favorite so it was past time we set out on a road trip!  Silly me doesn't bother to plan out my route until I am sitting in the truck to leave and I pull it up on the GPS.  I scroll through and realize it is taking me straight through New York City - including a cruise down Central Park Avenue!!!  Why the H*** would I want to drive through New York City???  Well we set off anyway and OH. EM. GEE.  WHAT a disaster!  First off we must have paid for every toll it is possible to pay from here to New Jersey.  Thanks GPS.  Sure enough we head into New York City - holy crap!  Had it gone completely smoothly through New York City it would have been harrowing.  But oh no.  In the unbelievable traffic we took a wrong turn.  Of course the GPS re-routed and it looked like we were going to be ok but then we came to yet another toll booth.  I no longer have a smart tag in my car (that will be changing) so we had been paying cash the whole way.  of course the route I needed to take was immediately on the other side of the toll booth...the OPPOSITE side of the booth we were on...sooooo we missed it.  But no worries - the GPS re-routes right?  So it tells us to get off and we begin heading on the route it shows.  Until we come up to what looks like a road blocked off and a burned up car...no wait...it's a movie set!  And a detour...By the time we got through the detour the GPS was so confused it looked like a double figure 8 onscreen and it tried to take me on to an off ramp.  We finally found a bridge authority building and flagged down a cop and got some general directions.  After driving through the Bronx and God knows where else we were finally back on our way!  The 10 hour drive took 14 hours and $62.75 in tolls!  While lost in New York I was SO sad because I was thinking how much I missed Drake and how I would probably NEVER manage that drive again!

Needless to say once we got there the horrible drive was forgotten and we had a fantastic time with Drake and Dianne.  Pezza was happy beyond words to finally see her brother again.  It was also wonderful to have my mom come up there with us - she and Drake had sort of lost touch since he moved out so it was a great start to getting them back together too!


Here are some pics of us with Drake AND of Easter egg dyeing when we got home.  We made some very cool tie-dye Easter Eggs!



I plotted out our drive home on google maps and avoided toll roads AND New York City at all costs - guess what - only took 10 hours and was much more peaceful, scenic and STRESS-FREE!  Why on earth would the GPS PREFER the hard, expensive, drive thru New York City route when there is a perfectly good and just as quick option to NOT do that?????? So we may be able to go see Drake again after all :P  Once home again my mom got to see just how insane my daily routine is!  We had a great visit though - best we have had in awhile.  And she cooked for me the whole time she was here which was AWESOME!

Before I left I DID do a bit more art work I want to share with y'all!  Another kitty ala Juliette Crane's backgrounds class.  While I love the way her work looks I am not sure I am enjoying the class or the process - just not my style maybe?  I don't know... What do y'all think?

My background began with layers of music and french papers followed by a good misting of Luminarte Radiant Rains in Fern and Teal Zircon - The gorgeous shimmer and color peaks through the additional layers of acrylic paints beautifully!

Now I WILL admit I love this little kitty's face - I don't know WHY I feel like he is French!  HAHHAHA!

Actually looking at it now I think maybe I DO like this piece!  Perhaps I just need to work on the process a bit more...

I really love the "ground" on this one.  It is done using this very cool stuff from Viva Colour called Stone Effects coupled with Luminarte Radiant Rain mist.  I used white Stone Effects paste and once it was dry I just sprayed it with Fern Radiant Rain - I quite like the way it colored the paste and settled into the crevices!

Perhaps I need to judge my work less from whether or not it looks like the class lesson and more from whether it just looks good all in itself :P

We are expecting our first batch of real kittens on Monday through the rescue I do fostering for.  We will be getting TWO litters actually and BOTH are Maine Coon mamas - how I love my Maine Coons!  Then on Wednesday one litter will be going to a different foster home.  Bubba will be SO happy to have some playmates to train and take care of again.  We are hoping one will come along this summer that we can keep for Bubba since Tiger is not terribly playful anymore.