New Art Journal Pages

I sketched this page on our way to St. Paul a couple of weeks ago - it is my impression of our drive through Kansas on that day.



I sketched this next page on our drive to the Mall of America when our car said that the outside temperature was -5 degrees F.



This next page represents a word game that my mom and I play, called Perquackey.



And I did this last page on Sunday, when I basically did 3 things: cleaning our bathroom (ugh!), attending an OSU Wrestling match (OSU won, but it was a very close, and exciting, match), and then making my first Journal Quilt.

What Kind of Flower Are You?

I am a Daisy What Flower Are You?

"You are just a sweet person. When a friend needs a shoulder to cry on, you are happy to offer yours with a box of tissues as well. Once in awhile, you wish you could be a little more dramatic but then sensibility sets back in and you know that you are perfect the way you are."

The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue and The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

OK, we've been back for several days now, and this is my first chance to post here. The Nationals were fantastic! I will be uploading a few pictures we took as I have time. I also finished one book while we were gone and started and finished a second since we got back. Both books were for Bookworms Reading Group Yahoo Group.

The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue - The story is told by Razi, who stays "between" after her tragic death as a young woman. She tried to find out what happened to the love of her life, Andrew, after she loses track of him. She also becomes interested in a young couple 70+ years after her death. The story moves back and forth between past and present in no particular order (like random memories popping up). You would think that that would be very confusing, but it isn't. It turned out to be a very effective way of telling the story. I rated this book 4 out of 5.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - Santiago is a young shepherd boy who dreamed of finding treasure at the Egyptian Pyramids. He is advised by a gypsy woman and a mysterious king to pursue his dream. Along the way, Santiago meets several people who teach him many things that help him on his search. It was a kind of mystical story that was well written, but I couldn't really identify with. I rated this book 2 out of 5. My favorite quote from the book was this - "'It's not what enters men's mouths that's evil,' said the alchemist. 'It's what comes out of their mouths that is.'"

On the Road

We are on our way to St. Paul Minnesota today. We'll get there tomorrow. We're in Clear Lake Iowa tonight, which is only about 2 or 2 1/2 hours from St. Paul. The reason we're heading to St. Paul is to see the US National Figure Skating Championships! We've been to several skating events over the past few years, and we always enjoy them. And no, I've never figure skated - I can't even stand up on skates! We just love to watch. I've brought my art journal with me, and I've already done a bit of sketching in it (some in the car and some in our motel room tonight). I can see this is going to be my newest obsession!

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

This was a really good book. According to Amazon.com, "Jacob Jankowski says: "I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other." At the beginning of Water for Elephants, he is living out his days in a nursing home, hating every second of it. His life wasn't always like this, however, because Jacob ran away and joined the circus when he was twenty-one. It wasn't a romantic, carefree decision, to be sure. His parents were killed in an auto accident one week before he was to sit for his veterinary medicine exams at Cornell. He buried his parents, learned that they left him nothing because they had mortgaged everything to pay his tuition, returned to school, went to the exams, and didn't write a single word. He walked out without completing the test and wound up on a circus train. The circus he joins, in Depression-era America, is second-rate at best. With Ringling Brothers as the standard, Benzini Brothers is far down the scale and pale by comparison."

It goes back and forth very effectively between the old and young Jacob and is very well written. I rate it 4 out of 5.

Art Journal

At the instructor's request, I have removed the pages of my journal that are from the class lessons. I didn't realize that posting my pages was a copyright violation, and I certainly never intended to do that. I do want to encourage anyone who might be interested in learning art journaling to consider this class; it has been a wonderful way to learn art and to develop the "habit" of journaling on a daily basis. Here is a link to the class: Love This Journal Workshop.

Now, it is NOT a copyright violation for me to share pages that I've done that are not from class samples, so here are a couple of those pages:



I was sitting in the parking lot at Bass Pro Shops reading (while DH was shopping) and I happened to notice this bird on top of the pick-up next to me. I had my art journal with me, so I decided to see if I could sketch it. The bird ended up a bit too big compared to the size of the pick up, but I got the general idea anyway. And this is one of my first sketches, so I'm pretty pleased with the results. The other page tells about the exhibit we attended at the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.

And then we were watching a movie the other night and the opening credits had the scenes all cut up, so I got the idea to do something similar with a picture out of a magazine.

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

I finished this book today. It was good - not the best book I've ever read, but good. And it had a pretty surprising ending that I won't give away. It was about an 18 year old unmarried Amish girl who gives birth to a baby and is accused of the baby's murder. Through some unusual circumstances, the girl's attorney ends up living with the girl and her family, and so there is a lot of interesting information about Amish life in addition to the basic story. I would rate it 3 out of 5.

Now I'm starting Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

I finished A Thousand Splendid Suns yesterday. It was one of the best books I've read in awhile. A very well written, gripping story that often made me angry; I think the story will stay with me for a long time. I highly recommend it - I rate it 5 out of 5. And by the way, this author's first book is The Kite Runner, which is also a really good book. I've been told that the movie stays pretty close to the book, but I always think a book is better; you can get so much more from the book. So, read the book, then go see the movie.

Books

I've decided to add a category for books to my blog. By this I mean that I want to start keeping track of the books I read and whether I liked them or not. I won't be writing formal reviews or anything, because I'm not that good at reviews. I've joined a couple of online book clubs, and most members keep track of the books they read each month - I've never done that before. It's an interesting concept.

At the moment, I'm reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini. It is a wonderful book - not a happy story, but really gripping.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

I just realized I never posted my Christmas card for this year.

Credits: All papers, ricrac, and Joy stamp from A Merry Little Christmas by Michelle Coleman
Stitching from Girl Next Door Stitches by Christy Lyle
Flower from Flower Parts Bright by Flergs

My Tumbler Insert

I finished MY tumbler insert today (still need to print it out). This was a lot of fun to do - it has pictures of the most important people in my life (DH, DS, DDIL, cat, and dog).

Credits: Background paper from Eat Your Greenz by KSharonK Designs
Bottom paper from True Romance by Michelle Coleman
Stick pin from Mudd Pie by Manda Bean
Word strips from Label Me by Penny Springmann
Red daisy from Art Inspiration by Michelle Coleman
Green and yellow flower from Flower Parts Bright by Flergs
Ribbon from Twisted Up by Miriam Lima

I feel better today. I also finished binding one of the two quilts that need binding. I hope to work on the other one Wednesday. Tomorrow (Christmas day) my DS and DDIL will come over in the morning for breakfast and presents. Then in the afternoon we'll go to DDIL's parents' home for a late lunch. It should be a nice day.

Blech!

I've had a bad cold the past few days, so I haven't felt like doing much. I have 2 quilts I really want to get bound, but I just don't have the energy. Yesterday, I squared up one of the quilts, made a label and a hanging sleeve. Today I basted the sleeve and label to the back of the quilt, cut the binding, and sewed it together. Maybe tomorrow I'll put the binding on the quilt. Normally I get all of this done in just a couple of hours, but when it wears you out just to breathe, it's hard to get much done!

I worked on the insert today for my mug - I think it's almost done. I just have to decide if I need to add anything else.

Decorating

We finally put our tree up the first part of the week. My cat's new favorite place is under the tree. I know this isn't the best picture - I think the camera focused on the ornament in front of the cat instead of on the cat, but it's the best I can do at the moment. I made both the tree skirt and the ornament you see part of in the picture, btw.

New Layouts

Over the past week or so, I've finished several layouts. Only one of them is a traditional layout - all of the others are inserts for the Create Your Own Tumbler you can buy at Starbucks. They are all gifts, although I also bought one for myself. I just haven't gotten to my own yet.

First up is the actual layout. This is a photo from the wedding of the daughter of one of my friends.



Credits: Red paper from Remember When by The DigiChick Design Team
Left Paper strip from Classic by Eve Recinella
Scallop Paper from Food of Love by Jen Caputo
Bottom Paper from Puppy Paws by Heather Roselli
Red flower by Michelle Coleman
Word from Love by Vera Lim
Ribbon from Winter Wonderland by Michelle Coleman
Clip from Love Ya Muchly by Jennilyn Designs
Template by Shari Barnes

Now for those tumbler inserts I mentioned. First for another friend - pictures of her grandson.



Credits: Sweet label from Label Me by Penny Springman - Sweet Shoppe Designs
All Boy from Boyz World by Eve Recinella - Sweet Shoppe Designs
Like Father Like Son from Simple Sayings - Boy by Eve Recinella - Sweet Shoppe Designs
Dog stamp and chipboard circle from Puppy Paws by Heather Roselli - Sweet Shoppe Designs
Bottom paper from Shell Seekers by Jeri Ingalls - Scrapbook Elements
Top paper from Dreams Collection by Katie the Scrapbook Lady - Scrapbook Lady Designs

The next tumbler is for my son.



Credits: Background from Collingwood by Eve Recinella
Bottom paper from It’s a Guy Thing by Michelle Coleman
Heart from The Gazebo by Amber Clegg
Gold star from Frameworks by Cindy Simon
Today wordart from Cinnamon Tea by Peppermint Creative
Happiness definition from Shabby Smiles by Shabby Princess
Memories wordart from Simple Sayings by Eve
String tie from Organic by Miriam Lima

Next one is for still another friend - pictures of her kids.



Credits: Jumpring from Twist of Lime by Mari Koegelenberg - Snap and Scrap
Heart charm from First Love by Sandra Boddington - from Sweet Shoppe Designs
Precious definition from So Sentimental by Zoe Pearn - Sweet Shoppe Designs
Folded flower from Bingo by Kim Christensen - ScrapArtist
Red flower by Michelle Coleman - from Art Inspiration Collection
Staple, family tag, memories tag, stitches from Label Me by Penny Springman - Sweet Shoppe Designs
Top paper by Jomi Van Bekkum from Daydream by Jomi Van Bekkum and Eve Recinella - Sweet Shoppe Designs
Bottom paper from Marmelade by Eve Recinella - Sweet Shoppe Designs

And finally, this last one is for my daughter-in-law.



Credits: Background paper from Organic by Miriam Lima
Love definition from So Sentimental by Zoe Pearn
Bottom paper from Lucky You by Cindy Simon
Journaling rectangle from Stained Doodle Shapes by Eve Recinella
Wordart from Day to Remember by Sara Carling
Green flower from Summer Celebration by Diane Rigdon
Blue folded flower from Bingo by Kim Christensen
Hanging heart from Page Bracelet II by Cindy Simon
Jump Ring from Taste of Lime by Mari Koegelenberg

ETA: I see that I failed to give credit to Patty Knox for the template. It is free, and it can be found here. After making one insert, I scanned the paper that came inside the tumbler and modified the template slightly for a better fit - but I really do mean slightly. The template works fine as is.

Holiday Decorating

I've just been looking at Christmas decorations on blogs. I have had a really hard time getting into the spirit this year. I usually enjoy decorating for the holidays. I love my ornaments, since many of them are hand made - some by me, some by friends, some purchased. But we still don't have our tree up yet, and I really don't know when we will. But I did finally do some shopping today - and I feel much more prepared now. I even wrapped several presents tonight - just don't have a tree to put them under yet! Maybe this weekend. And I did get my DH to put up my Santa quilt on Saturday.

My DH has been out of town since Sunday, elk hunting in the Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma. It is a once-in-a-lifetime hunt (literally), because you have to put your name in to a drawing, and once you're drawn for it, you're ineligible to be drawn again. He's been putting in for the drawing as long as I've known him I think. Several years ago, they made a change so that for each year you put your name in and weren't drawn, you'd get an extra entry the next year. So he finally got drawn this year. He was SO excited when he was notified. He hasn't gotten his elk yet. At least he saw several today. He has one more morning to hunt - the hunt ends tomorrow at noon.

Memories of Alaska

I finally finished this quilt yesterday. I started it sometime after we went to Alaska in 2002; I then set it aside to work on something else, and all of a sudden, several years went by! But I'm really glad in one way that I didn't finish it a few years ago - because my quilting has improved so much that it is really much better now than it would have been then. The pattern is by McKenna Ryan.

From Our Blog To Yours

Another fun quiz - not too far off for me:

What Your Handwriting Says About You

You are a fairly energetic person. You know how do pace yourself, and you deal well with stress. You are somewhat outgoing, but you're not a natural extrovert. You think first before you act. You tend to be independent, rational, and logical. You are balanced and grounded. You know how to get along well with others. You need a bit of space in your life, but you're not a recluse. You expect people to give you a small amount of privacy, and you respect their privacy as well. You are a free thinker. You are unique, open minded, and artistic. You don't care what other people think. You are a decent communicator. You eventually get your point across, but sometimes you leave things a bit ambiguous.

What Does Your Handwriting Say About You?

Friends & Family (more wedding photos)

I finished this layout yesterday. I was reading on Jen Caputo's blog a few days ago that she had a new sketch collection done but she needed to get one more sample layout done before she could share them. I commented that if she sent me the sketch I could get a layout done for her, and she did! I was thrilled to be able to help her out - plus she sent me a coupon for the whole collection - WOOHOO! I love Jen's templates - I have almost every one she's ever done, and I use them a lot. It makes putting together a layout so much easier.

Credits: Template by Jen Caputo.
Papers from Beachcombing (background and title block) and ShellSeeker (circles) by Jeri Ingalls, Organic (journaling) by Miriam Lima, True Romance (scalloped strip) by Michelle Coleman, and Pacific (straight strip) by Sara Amarie.
Title - Distressed Alpha Brushes by Michelle Coleman.
Cardboard heart - Love by Vera Lim.
Open heart - True Romance by Michelle Coleman.
Stitches - Mega Stitch Pack by Christy Lyle.
Buttons and string tie - Organic by Vera Lim.
Flower by Dianne Rigdon from Summer Celebration kit.

Here's the whole collection:

What American Accent Do You Have?

This is the most accurate quiz I've done yet - I found it on Katie the Scrapbook Lady's blog.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The South
The Northeast
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Asian Charm Quilt

I just finished this quilt this morning. Although I enjoy quilting now (I didn't used to - I've always loved piecing), I still don't quilt bed-size quilts myself. So I had this one quilted by a professional long-arm quilter. I really like what she did. I got it back last week, and finished binding it this morning.

Marmot

Journaling: "During our hike to Gebhart Mountain, Glen stopped to fish along the stream. While he was fishing, I hiked ahead to take pictures. I saw this marmot sunning itself on a large rock. It didn’t seem to be a bit afraid of me; in fact, it seemed to want to have its picture taken. So of course I obliged by taking lots of pictures. These are just a few of the many pictures I took of it."

Credits:
Papers from Naturally (journaling and background papers) and Snowfall for Him (blue and stripe) by Eve Recinella - Sweet Shoppe Designs (SSD)
Template by Jen Caputo - Scrapbook Graphics
Swirl from Graffiti Grunge Swirls by Shawna Clingerman - SSD
Scratch n Stamp Alpha by Eve Recinella - SSD
Sanding Brush from Digital Distressing Kit by Nancie Rowe Janitz - ScrapArtist
Stitching from Mega Stitch Pack by Christy Lyle - SSD

From Our Blog 2 Yours

Another funky quiz:

You Are The Stuffing

You're complicated and complex, yet all your pieces fit together. People miss you if you're gone - but they're not sure why.

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?

New Stuff from Eve!

Eve Recinella has several new kits out that will be available on Black Friday (tomorrow, November 23). Here are some previews.

Lucky & Me

Credits: Background paper, frame, tag from Snowfall for Him by Eve Recinella - SSD (available tomorrow November 23, 2007)
Journaling arrow from Say Here Journaling Bits by Eve Recinella - SSD
Notebook paper from Daydream by Eve Recinella and Jomi Van Bekkum - SSD
Stitched star from Basic Shapes by Sandra Boddington - SSD
Gold stars from Celebrate by KSKDesigns - Pickleberry Pop
Stitched cardboard star from Super Stars by Lauren Grier and Shawna Clingerman - SSD
White star from Stained Doodle Shapes by Eve Recinella - SSD
Brown Star from Its All About You by Lauren Grier - SSD
Scraplift (for SSD Spin a Lift) of LisaRose’s Craziness:
http://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/inspiration/showphoto.php?photo=10532&ppuser=42

Journaling states: "Like most photographers, I usually don't like pictures of myself, but this picture is an exception. Glen took it in July, 2006. I've used it as my avatar on all the forums I belong to, but I've never done a layout with it."

Planet Earth

We watched the first DVD of Planet Earth over the weekend. It was fabulous! We missed the series when it was on the Discovery Channel, so we are watching it on DVD now (there are 5 discs in the series). The photography alone is worth it! We are members of Netflix, so we get the DVDs from there - and their version is the original BBC version with David Attenborough as the narrator instead of Sigourney Weaver. I highly recommend it!

Creative Team Call

Credits: Template by Bree Clarkson - Sweet Shoppe Designs
Background paper, string tie, stitches from Magnolia Kit by Katie Pertiet - DST Gold kit
Date Taken and Memory tags from Spumoni Medley by Laura Deacetis - Sweet Shoppe Designs
Bottom paper from It’s a Guy Thing by Michele Coleman - Little Dreamer Designs
Button with ribbon from In The Lines by Angela Barton - Sweet Shoppe Designs

I love this template from Bree - she is having a Creative Team call with her templates and you need to do a layout with it and send it to her to apply, which I am doing. After I finished the above layout, I decided to do another one with the same template, and that's the one I'm submitting with my application.



Credits: Template by Bree Clarkson - Sweet Shoppe Designs
Papers from ShellSeeker Kit by Jeri Ingalls - Scrapbook Elements
Paper tear by Steph Krush - Steph's Digital Paper Tearing and More
Heart and Cherish from The Gazebo by Amber Clegg - ScrapArtist
Ric Rac from Marmelade by Eve Recinella - Eve Recinella Designs
Staples from Regality by Eve Recinella - Sweet Shoppe Designs
Fibers from Ana by Lauren Grier and Key Ingredients by Heather Roselli - Sweet Shoppe Designs
Photo corners by Angela Barton, Flower by Christy Lyle, Brad by Shawna Clingerman - all from Some Kind of Wonderful - Sweet Shoppe Designs

See how versatile templates can be? The template is a 12X12 square (as most templates are). Since I scrap 8.5X11, I always have to modify them. But I like doing that - sometimes I make them horizontal and sometimes vertical (and sometimes, like this time, I do both!).

From Our Blog 2 Yours

I really don't know who comes up with this stuff! I found it on the Sweet Shoppe Blog.

Your Pilgrim Name Is

Love Brewster

What's Your Pilgrim Name?

To see what your pilgrim name is, click on the link above.

Sunflower Sunrise Table Runner

This is the table runner that I mentioned in my last post. As you might be able to see from the pictures, the flowers are 3 dimensional. In the centers of the 3 sunflowers are Swarovski crystals. I really enjoyed making this, and am quite pleased with the results.

Postcards

I mailed off my K is for Kite postcards today. And I just realized that I never posted a picture of my J is for Jar postcards from last month (or the I is for Impatiens from the month before, but I can't find a picture of those). So here is the K is for Kite:





I used two fabrics for the background - grass and sky. I stamped the hedgehog, and put the kite string to the back where his "hand" is so it looks like he's holding the string. I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

And here is J is for Jar:



I have a machine embroidery design for the jar. I used button fabric for it and also clear vinyl, and put some real buttons between the vinyl and the button fabric - I have to admit I thought it was a pretty good idea. LOL!!

This is probably all the postcards I'm going to do for awhile; I've gotten just a little bit tired of doing them (and of not getting all the cards from my swap partners - doesn't happen a lot, but enough to get old).

I also finished up a sunflower table runner yesterday that I've been working on for quite awhile; it is another of the Mount Redoubt patterns that has 3 dimensional flowers on it. I am really happy with how it turned out - I will post a picture of it later.

My quilt guild is having a quilt show today and tomorrow, and I actually talked my DH into going with me this morning. It was a pretty nice show, and we had a few vendors there too. I bought several things from Homestead Quilting, which is an internet store that also goes to quilt shows and guilds. Most of what they sell is embellishment-type of stuff - I bought some hot fix crystals, a Ricky Tims DVD, some new glitter paint that I'd not seen or heard of before, and a book about using the glitter paint and other stuff by the same company.

New Blog Header

For some reason, I really enjoy making blog headers, so I made a new one tonight.

Credits: Techno flirty papers
Ribbon and stitching from Shabby Sundress Collection the Elements
Jewelry tags and jump ring from Fresh Delights
All above by Eve Recinella of Sweet Shoppe Designs
Painted wood alpha by Samara Gugler of Digital Scrapbook Place
Messy box alpha by Tamra Burwick of The DigiChick
Folded corner template by Karah Fredricks of The DigiChick