Playing Not my Family Tree

 So I bought this giant box of photos because I wanted a handful of photos from it and I spent a nice chunk of time on Monday playing family tree.  It was actually kind of cool to see people grow up in a few pictures and figure out who was related to who.  I was very lucky that the owner labeled almost every picture.

 Same little girl at around 8 and 17 and her wedding photos are in the box as well.Wolfe family which turned into the Morrow family.

 Father Morrow on the left and son on the right.

Overturf and a snapshot of them with the Morrows.

Hootman Family

Happy Birthday

In case you need a cookie break.  

I literally said why doesn't this place just make a giant chocolate chip cookie for desert.  After dinner who I was totally stuffed my wish was granted and they brought me a giant chocolate chip cookie.  I gave my boyfriend the ice cream and a small piece of cookie and wrapped it up for another day.  It was amazing.  Didn't Snoopy say something about happiness and cookies?

Dreams and meditations

     Surround yourself with positive people and situations and avoid negativity-Doreen Virtue.            When I'm exhausted at the beginning of a work day I do a little meditation of yellow globes of light filling me with energy.  Surprisingly it works every time and I wanted to get it on paper. Even when I don't want to draw something serious making circles is always relaxing and counts towards making art every day..                       I planned to draw a horse or unicorn but a giraffe kept popping in my head so I put that on the page along with some random shapes.  The token says Northrop Aero Institute and it was taking up space in a drawer so I plopped it on.  The string was used to tie a feather on an adjoin page so the coin may or may not be staying.  I cut the orange and brown dots out of a tag that was a recycled piece of screen printed poster.  The fish was from an old meditation that told me to lighten up. Proof that everything in meditation doesn't have to be serious.  I want to make a visual dream journal but I need to get back in the habit of writing my dreams down and at the moment I'm focused on sleeping..
Happy Weekend.

Journal pages

I've had a devil of a time posting the past week but I've been taking my journal to work. I started a new job a couple of weeks ago and I'm adjusting to the schedule. Still looking for the perfect shoes so I can manage the 5 miles plus I get in at work. I have an hour for lunch and it's a great time to journal.

Jornaling and cleaning

So the fun fact about my new camera is that if I hold it sideways to take a long picture the picture comes out sideways when I upload it to my blog.  I'm not the first person to complain about it and I do know how to fix it but editing a picture twice isn't the best way to spend my time.  I just have to remember to keep the camera horizontal at all times and I can avoid this problem.  Anyhoo I'm taking part in Traci Bunkers 30 Days of Get Your Art On, a little late but I'm zooming along in my journal.  If I spend all day working in my journal I could finish a whole page but alas that isn't possible or fun so I'll stick to my lazy squeeze it in schedule.  I'll post the finished pages at the end of the week.  I originally snapped this photo to remember the layout once I closed the book. Picture or not it changes throughout the process.

 I have to count up how many things I bought so I can throw out the same number of items when I put these away. We found so many great things at this one house and unfortunalty we ran into a little bit of memories determines price so I wasn't able to get everything I wanted. I settled for this old girl scout notebook,dish (from Denmark), Ledger with only a few pages filled out, embroidery thread, book binding supplies and these blocks  You can't put a price on memories but I had to draw the line at $5 for grandmothers homework. 

        

I think the blocks are my favorite thing because they are so quirky.  The seller didn't know if his grandad made or bought them. They have a series of fastners on them so you simply push them to keep them together. I didn't know until today that the bag also had the wooden beads that I can wear as a necklace.  These are the same beads that I see in current necklaces so I'm going through my ribbon collection tonight to see what I can put together.

Journaling and lunch with my sister

I was taught not to read at the table but my sister is downloading books to her Kindle so I don't feel bad drawing in my journal while she is distracted.  So happy to have my journal back home safe from  Sommerset Studios so I'm making haste to finish the last 8 pages or so of this 42 page book.  I'm eager to start on the next project.

Weekend fun

Saturday drove up to Los Angles to attend the Renegade Craft Fair.  This is the 3rd time it has been held in Los Angels but they take place in several different locations. It was a very sunny afternoon but we had a great time walking around and drinking everything in.  I enjoyed talking to owners of the blog and online shops that I have only seen online. I have a big list of things I want to order and pleasantly surprised by the level of craftsmanship present. Unfortunately I had just eaten lunch so I wasn't able to visit any of the famous LA food trucks.  http://www.renegadecraft.com/los-angeles

The fair was close to China town at a state park adjacent to a light industrial part of town.  We ended up parking in the farthest point form the fair and were pleasantly  a surprised by the number of things to take pictures of walking to the fair.  This one is close to public transportation and plenty of free parking.  The car above was some sort of garden project but it wasn't clearly labeled so I may do a bit of research to find out more about it.  The giant planter box on the left is repurposed and across the street housed a nice open space with 20 or so boxes filled with flowers and edible plants.

I bought several lovely small pieces of felt from this vendor and I have no idea what I am going to make with them but I have a few ideas floating around all ready.

Oh Ma Felt

So many buttons so little time.

I was standing on this little bridge to nowhere and happy to be in a bit of shade and actually feel the wind running through my hair.  So happy to have a nice set of UPPERCASE magazines safely under my arm.  I have been looking at their website for a year but haven't bought the magazine because they are located in Canada and the shipping charges were too high one magazine.  I did find out the one shop in San Diego that carries the magazine so I can stock up on future issues.  I plan on keeping them forever so it's easy enough to justify the book like price.  They were also discounted at the fair so I was a happy camper.  I think a subscription will be my holiday gift to myself.

Pictures from the fair

This is quite small  (about a foot wide)but has so much detail packed into this bowl.

I could have moved right into this plant display for the summer.  The plant display at the fair is just as good as the home and garden show for tips and ideas. I enjoyed talking to the woman who made the butterfly garden display. She told us how each plant attracts a different butterfly.  Which was something I had not thought of before since I thought they were more like bees and were attracted to color. 

The theme of the fair had to do with car races so this explains the appearance of  Herbie the Love Bug .

4-H bunnies

Cocoa Roses

Tons of picture snapping for reference photos. 
Turkey, Bunny, goat, lamb and cows we all in attendace looking perfectly regal.
A great painting of a cow may be in my future.

Busy Bee

      I try to cram all my errands in a certain neighborhood into one full day and these things can get a little bit hectic but most of the items on my to do list are fun so no complaints.  I found this amazing yard with giant sunflowers and only a few bees to watch out for as I snapped my pictures .I have only been stung twice in my life and they were 20 years apart and I would like to keep it that way.

        Between my walk from one appointment to the library I stop off for some dairy free soft serve. It's a family owned business so I try to go once a week to keep them in business (smile).  They feature a vegan flavor every day and it's across the street from a great Popsicle shop but I'm a ice cream girl at heart.

      Dinner with friends and I was very happy to receive a small piece of brown paper in the mail with a package and promptly turned it around and used it to wrap the flowers.  The brown ribbon came off a giant box of candy that I ate long ago and I painted lovely with liquid acrylics on the paper.

I'm working on putting together a file of original collage materials and it is a long project but I have been thinking about it for a year and I am ready to put it into action.

<-----working on new lettering techniques with my dip pen.  Not bad for the first pass but it has a way to go and something quick to do in the morning before getting out of the house..  

House sitting

       I read this book in a day and a half and it was a great way to kick off the summer reading season.  I gave myself the goal of reading 10 books by September 1st. I'm reading book 3 and 4 this week and enjoying every minute.  I'm sure Summer reading is left over from being a kid but I tend to kick up my fiction reading during the summer and go back to the craft and design books during the rest of the year.  I tend to take vacations in February or April so Summer vacation has become a thing of the past.

      I am officially in love with this wildflower display in a neighbors front yard.  It is so neat and filled with so many different flowers.  It is funny to say but when people plant wild flower mixes they don't look that wild but this family has this perfectly done and it comes up to your waist so I'm tempted to jump right in.

       I am so tempted to knock on the door of this house and talk to the artist.  This piece sits on a fence but I never see the dangerous dog this warns against.  They have a studio in the garage and I never see anyone inside but I see lots of canvases and easels tempting me inside.  Personally I'm sticking to watercolor but I am a sucker for childlike paintings on wood and canvas.

<-----My house sitting buddy. She likes to flop in front of the door to stay cool and listen for people walking on her sidewalk.  So cute and she let me take her on lots of walks and cuddles with me while I read or watch a movie.

Random bits

This week I am in love with green and gold. 

The local art store got a face lift. I pass it every week on the way to the library for the 25 cent magazine sale. This art store (Visual Supply) is a small space but the prices are good and the owner features the work of local artists on the inside.

           "The great planting is finished", she says waving her arms with a flourish.  Since the plants were a little too short to fit into the box I filled each of the holes with a bit of burlap. The entire planting took about 2 hours and I ripped all the labels off the containers and put them in order in my book so I know what each of them are. 

            I left the two spaces by the handle free so that I can still use the handles to pick it up.  I am going to look in the floral section of the craft store for some decorative moss to put inside and add a bit more green.   

              In case you were wondering you can buy a giant piece of  80x80 inches of burlap for under four dollars at your local hardware store. I also bought a small bag of succulent grade soil to fill in the holes and the rest will go towards replanting some sad little cactus for a friend.  They have become the playground for some spiders so I'm trying to get the cobwebs out without impaling myself on the spikes.
              I found the little bird at a craft show for under $5 and it came with the stake attached so I just cut it down a bit so it wouldn't tower over the big plant.  I think I'm officially in every free rewards program around town so the big plant was free with my $5 coupon from the local hardware store.  I thought about breaking it up into smaller units but it makes a fun focal point in the corner.

Updated Journal Bag

Before



After



 I love my French Army Journal Bag but it was looking quite sun damaged and sad so I punched up the color a bit and added a bit of stitching.  I simply put the bag in a bucket with a powder dye and left it to bake in the sun for a bit.  Gave it a thorough rinsing and put it back outside to dry and finished it in the dryer.  The back of the bag has a sewn in piece of press board so I didn't to encourage secret mold.  People of all ages talk to me when I walk around with this so it's kind of fun.    I have more than can fit on this bag so I rotate them.I can't wait to find more buttons.

    Runaway...

Good News comes in the mail

       

      I found out last week by mail that  a few of my journal pages made it into the galley section of Art Journaling Magazine.  It's on the newsstands now and a nice motivation to get cracking on a new journal.