{What is this Life...}

Leisure

What is this Life if, full of care

we have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

and stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

and watch her see, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,

we have no time to stand and stare.

                 ~W.H. Davies

{New Portrait Painting...}

New portrait painting.

Cropped and mostly ready to become an art journal cover.

I could have used this painting for my own art journal

but I have been saving several paintings from other artists

for a few years now that I

bought just for making an art journal.

I cropped the original even closer in PSE

to see how it would look.  PSE makes it really easy to play

with additional cropping  and still preserve the

original if I prefer.  Can't undo a cropped on the original.

The original before cropping

{Playing Hookie, SP and Sneak Peek...}

Is it really playing hookie if you officially took the day off?

Well it's a Thursday so I'm calling it playing hookie.

It just seems more fun.  And fun is important, especially for the soul

Working with self portraits.

Continuing with shades of yellows, grays and whites 

with the  possibility of adding a SP to my

art journal.

A seek peek at a few of the pages for my art journal.

I have already attached the spine and am thinking about

taking it out and making it wider.  Or maybe it would

be more fun to make another???  But maybe having a really fat one

would be even more fun!!!!   OK, where is that seam ripper?

{PSE7 Summertime Fun...}

After 5 hours!!!!!!!!

How fast the time flys.  Did I really spend that much time?

I saved the dried petals from the tulips my son sent me for Mothers Day

and sprinkled them on my front path.  I got down low in the early evening hours

when the sun was low and snapped a few shots.  I then add some layers that Nancy Donalson

over at all pulped out blogspot sent me.  Nancy also sent me a lovely package of

fabric, laces, papers, and lots of other ephermera that I will share with you later.

If you have never been to Morgue File check it out.  They have lots of

great photos you can use and they really are free.  Thats were I got the original

photo for this picture.  Then I added layers and played around with the setting and viola!

Another version of the same photo just with different blending modes.  I couldn't resist keeping this

one too, although, at the moment I am trying to create with yellows, whites and grays

for my art journal

A really great thing about PSE is

that you can use a really blurry, out of focus photo and get something beautiful and usable.

.Case in point is this photo from a magazine.  This vase of flowers was just a small part of the picture.  Enlarged by itself it is out of focus and blurry but after altering with layers, again using some of the layers Nancy sent me I have a photo I can use in my art journal.

{Sister's Art Journal...}

Finally posting some art.  My sister's style is different then mine.

This is her art journal she created while visiting. 

The cover has an old photo we found while shopping in an antique mall

here in AZ and lots of old lace mostly found at the Goodwill.

The back has photos of eggs and a nest.

Inside includes a postcard and vintage lace collar she's had for a long time

never knowing just what she would do with it.  She finally found the perfect  purpose for it.

Altered photo and pocket.

Vintage baby or doll's cloths and photo of the antique dog she repaired.

She was not sure she could fix it.  But she did.  Hence the affirmation "Believe in yourself"

Photo of the sheer fabric we got at the Goodwill drying on the clothsline. (I used this same photo in my art journal).  And lace pocket.  The only page in the book that is not tea dyed by the way.  We had a big pot of

tea sitting on the stove for 2 days.

Glove page and more photos

We spend two whole days working to get the journal bound before she left

and we did.  Still lots of blank pages to fill in.

Still to come my art journal.

{Refreshing the old...}

Several years ago I made this steel sculpture, it was one of my first

attempts cutting and welding heavy steel.  It was also one of my first paintd pieces.

This photo shows the new paint job.  Below is an old

pic of the original paint. 

It was ugly even then but I kept it outdoors and wanted it to be somewhat rust proof

so I sprayed painted it.  It was all plain paint and I never really

like it.  But I liked the design so I kept it and moved it indoor hoping someday

I would be able to paint it more artistic.

Over the last several years I have been tring my hand at painting and

it looks like I am learning. :-)

Now with the new paint job it is as I first envisioned it.

(Yes, I have my own torch and mig welder)

{Antiquing, Shopping, & Shopping, & more Shopping...}

Just a few of the treasures we found

1. and 2. a couple of pear pictures I got in a local antique shop.  I'm really into

pale yellow color and these were the perfect shade of yellows, grays and blues.

3. My sister and I both got these cute little wire bird cages.  We had thought about making some ourselves but then we spotted these two in the trees outside of a little shop in Old Town Glendale (OTG).

4. and 5. is a faux book I also found in OTG.  It opens like a box for storing more treasures.

6. Are some silk flowers we got to help freshen up my kitchen.

7. My new purse. Handmade and signed by the artist.  8. Flowerpot from OTG, again more yellows.

9. and 10.  We both bought this magnetic weekly calendars.  And it gave me away

to revive using the magnetic poem pieces from a few years back.

11. Linens and wooden bobbins. I'll use in my art journals.

12.  Even the bags were pretty from OTG.  13.  Lavender silk plant. 14. Pear picture and lavender plant in there new place in my kitchen.  15. and 16. A very old, did I say old dog my sister found in an

antique shop and repaired it's worn nose with the fur from the old bear she found in another antique shop.

Still to come:  art journals

{Life is Good...}

Hiking the Pevine Trail along Watson Lake    

We have a few "lakes" here in Prescott, AZ.  I say "lakes" with

a smile.  Coming from Michigan, the Great Lakes state sometimes the lakes here

are more like puddles and you can't swim in any of them.  What the @%*&! you can't swim

in them.  Go figure.  Anyway, after 26 years here I've learned to spend most of my time kayaking on them anyway.

And we can always dip our toes in them.

We diverged from the main trail.  Which I will always do.

 And find the secret treasures

on the path less taken.

The sun was bright so picture taking was not at it best

What with cows and my sister?

Her first rock climbing

We had a great view at the top.

One fine day

Next up:  Antiquing and Shopping finds

{It's Good to be Back after my Sister's Visit...}

My sister has been visiting and we have been

hiking, shopping, making art journals, antiquing, shopping, relaxing, shopping, eating,

painting, visiting, enjoying morning lattes outdoors, cleaning and

rearranging my house, but alas no blogging :-(

First up:  In the Best finds category

my $2 table.  After a little removal of the

wood grain contact paper and painting

this became the lovely beauty above. It is still very shabby chic which the

photos don't show all that well. (can you see that faux

wood grain contact paper?)

And my sister found a pair of $10 cowgirl boots.

They were a perfect fit and all broken in.  As comfortable

as can be right from the start.

All they needed was a little clean up and polishing

My sister and I have such a great time when she comes to

visit.  She was here for nearly two weeks this time and

having her as a part of my day became the norm.  I hardly new what

to do with myself after she left.

But I'm slowly getting back to my old routine,

including blogging

Next up Hiking and Rock Climbing