tonight's blog post is brought to you by the letter 'B'

a few photos from our recent trip back to the Midwest to visit my parents and Tom's family. I have tons more, but here's a few. (Click on any of the photos to make them larger!)

Butterfly

Bumblebee (he's busy!)

Bumblebee's butt (they were tough to get pictures of, lol!)

Birdhouse (in the prairie grass / flower patch)

(the little red) Barn... along with Mom's flowers

These photos were all taken in Mom and Dad's yard... glorious summer weather (except for the humidity, which I can't handle anymore, lol!), wonderful company and lots of conversation with Mom and Dad, and a bit of Midwestern sightseeing, along with Mom's homemade pasty. (always a treat!!) It was a really nice time, although the time went by much too quick!

languishing in DRAFT status...

I am still here, but my blog has been sadly neglected over the course of the summer. Not sure how that happens, other than sometimes my 'introvertedness' gets the best of me... I can only focus on so many things at once, and over the summer, my blog was the thing at the bottom of the list. But no more! 

I originally wrote this post originally back in May, but never hit the 'publish' button, so when you read it, keep that in mind... it's been more than a few weeks! 

A few weeks ago, I spent some time at a pretty fun estate sale. The person had an actual 'library' in their house- a small room (well, really a spare bedroom) with one whole wall of bookshelves chock-full of books. They were even separated into sections by subject matter! I didn’t really need any fiction books, but I did find a few things I wanted: a copy of Roger Tory Peterson’s Field Guide to Western Birds (finally- yay!), a very nice 2002 calendar, and a paperback museum exhibition catalog from the late 1980s. Why would I want these things? Well, the bird book is obvious; the other two, not so much... unless you happen to be into collage and art journaling! (or unless you wanted to know what day of the week something happened, back in 2002, I guess- lol!) 

Anyway, the calendar and the museum exhibition catalog didn't stay the way they were for long- here's a few selected pages of a 'just for fun' visual journal that I started:

papers include: scrapbooking, magazine, handmade
paper (textured) and an image from the internet.

Most of the pages are strictly paper, glue, and tape. No painting, no fancy stuff- just the basics (well, my basics, anyway). It was kinda nice to just glue things down with no real rhyme or reason other than I liked them together. Even if they didn't really 'go' together to 'mean' anything. (Tom asks me about that every once in a while when I show him a journal page, "but what does it mean?" "What are you trying to say with this page?" Honestly, sometimes the answer to those questions is, really, 'Nothing.' Other than my love of pretty paper, glue, and pictures. Sometimes that's all I need!)

magazine and book images, wrapping paper, hand-painted and stamped,
scrapbook paper, clip-art butterfly from the internet.

scrapbooking paper (inside the glassine envelope),
rub-on (on the envelope), decorative paper tape and 
an Alice in Wonderland themed playing card.

 The photo above gives you a good idea what the calendar looks like- it's a really nice heavyweight paper, and the paintings are very pretty, if you're into the cliffs of Dover, that is. I decided I wouldn't orient the whole book  either landscape or portrait-- just whichever I felt like for each individual page.

a close-up look at the glassine envelope + rub-ons...
I like how you can see a bit of the patterned paper inside. 

Another page, waiting for paper and glue

So, there was more to 'what did I do with my summer vacation' than just this journal. Let's see... We went to the town July 4th celebration, we really did go on vacation (for a week, back to the Midwest to visit family), I did a lot of estate saling and thrifting (even on vacation, lol!), and in addition to this calendar journal, I worked in some (two? three?) of my other journals. Oh, and I bought a Smash journal, and took a class and made another journal... no scrapbook pages, but I guess right now it's 'art journaling season' for me! 

I have at least a few hundred photos on my computer waiting to be edited, and tons of things to take photos of, too... (oh, hey! While we were on vacation we toured reproductions of the ships Nina and Pinta! On the Mississippi River, no less! I totally need to post those pics, for sure!!) I guess I have some photo-editing, and some photo-taking, to do!! 

home and family pics

just a few pics from the last couple weeks:

I know this pic is a bunch of tiny white blobs, but if you click
on it, you may be able to see that they're birds. 

with all the rain, the wash that goes through our neighborhood was flooded, and attracted plenty of birds-  I took these couple photos in the afternoon on my way home from work, but that morning when I drove past on my way to work, there were at least thirty of them out there. (I regret not stopping to take the photo then!)

a bit of a closer view

I believe they're cattle egrets, an 'uncommon visitor to the Sonoran Desert: the most likely place to see them is in an agricultural field during irrigation.' That about describes this area to a T! (except for the agricultural part, that is.) The water has since dried up, and the birds have moved on.

Tom and Lefty, our Saguaro cactus

It's been a while since we've measured our Saguaro, so we did it a couple weeks ago. Tom used the retractable metal measuring tape, and just about ran out of tape; it's 9 1/2 feet tall! I guess he sure likes where he's living now, because we don't water him at all! I named him Lefty because he's got a couple gunshot scars; I figured that makes him a cowboy-gunfighter sort of a cactus, so he needed a cowboy-gunfighter sort of name! His companion is the Argentinian Toothpick cactus in the left-hand part of the photo; its name is Pancho (sort of a South American cowboy kind of name)... Pancho doesn't like his new home quite as much (he hasn't grown much at all since we moved him to this house), but hopefully with all the rain we've been getting, he'll start to grow again soon. (by the way, the Argentinian Toothpick's name comes from the fact that the cactus spines can be a few inches long, and could be used as a toothpick, I guess- you wouldn't catch me doing that, that's for sure!)

Tom and Lefty: Christmas 2008

For comparison's sake, here's  a pic of Tom with the Saguaro from Christmas 2008. We had it all decked out with white lights and a Christmas hat; not sure if we'll be able to do that again this year- at the very least, we'll need a bigger hat, and more lights!

5x7 journal pages: "same and different"

Sort of like the 'one of these things is not like the other' segment on Sesame Street, I analyzed the pages I included below and picked out their similarities and differences. 

Same: overall color scheme, yellow + pink. I've been using a lot of these colors in this journal, prompted both by the colors of the Dylusions spray inks I used on the backgrounds, and also by the bright colors of the Arizona summer landscape. 

sparrow journal page

Same: overall page construction = colored background + collaged paper + images (from the internet or magazine) + details. Most of my pages have this overall 'page scheme' to them; it's just a matter of degrees- either more or less of any one (or more than one) of these elements. I rarely use a white background, and I very rarely make a page without collaging at least something onto the page.

Same: all these pages have some sort of Sakura pen on: gelly roll, fluorescent, or glaze... I can't seem to make any pages right now without using them somewhere! darn you, Kelly Kilmer, for getting me addicted- lol!! (by the way, that link goes to Kelly's post on her pen list- great info!!)

yellow rose and graffiti flower-
facing pages in my 5x7 journal

Same: nature themed focal images. My overall 'journaling style' has moved away from using images of people (although I will occasionally still use an image of a person) to using focal images from nature, either birds, butterflies, plants, or flowers. I know some journalers use the 'person' image to represent themselves, but I never felt like that worked for me. Since I've always felt connected to nature, using these images on my pages is more my style.

Different: to me, the bird page has a calmer feel to it. The flower pages feel more 'energetic' to me, both because of the number of colors on the pages, but also the amount and type of patterns I put onto them- the graffiti flower page has quite a bit of scribble-type details on, as well as a more graphic pattern of paper (the zebra-ish pattern was a rug advertisement out of a home decor magazine). In addition, on the bird page I only used one type of black pen for the journaling, whereas on the other pages, there's more than one color / type of pen used. This difference depends on how I'm feeling when I make the pages (good mood or bad), and/or how much time I want- or have-to devote to the small details.

close-up look at the pen details on
the graffiti image from right-hand page-
white Signo pen and gelly roll pens

Different: the bird page is a bit simpler, with less layers overall. It's basically just  stenciled with two colors of spray ink, narrow strips of collaged paper on the edges, small patterned paper shapes (the circles) and the focal image. On the other hand, the two flower pages started with a much 'busier' background that included more colors, and even some gesso and stamping. Even though there's not really any more collaged onto the backgrounds of these pages, they have more pen details (which I consider another 'layer' on the page) including on the yellow rose and on the patterned paper medallions, the 'scribbled' frame on the right-hand page, on the blue deco tape, and in the graffiti flower focal image. (Again, this can depend on my mood and the amount of time I have available. But it also depends on just how 'finished' I think the page looks; it's hard to explain.)

Same: I'm still having fun with this journal! Right now, I really like the size: 5x7 is large enough to allow a decent amount of room for images and writing, but not large enough to be intimidating. Also, the paper it's made of can stand up to a decent amount of different media being used on it- so far, the only medium I haven't used in it yet is acrylic. (I guess I need to change that, and pull out my acrylic paints!) 
I'm close to completing this particular journal, and I'm getting excited at the prospect of actually completely 'finishing' a journal in such a short amount of time (I only started this book in late June)... and that means I'll have to choose which one to work in next!

it wasn't exactly on time...

...the night blooming cereus, that is. It looks like this bloom opened very late at night / very early in the morning, so it was still fully open when I took the dogs outside on Thursday at 5 am. 

while I'm glad I got a chance to see the flower in its 'full glory' due to its late-night bloom, I think this means it opened too late to be pollinated (since these flowers are usually pollinated by moths). I really need to get a yardstick or measuring tape out here, to see how much this cactus has grown- it has to be at least a foot since last winter! (apparently cacti like hot, dry weather! and perhaps, the overspray from the sprinkler doesn't hurt it either- haha!)

90 degrees Fahrenheit...

is a decent high temperature; it is NOT good as a night-time low!! Yesterday the recorded high temperature in Phoenix was 116F (we broke the record at 113F or 114F)... with just a chance of rain in the forecast. Thank goodness the A/C is working!

just a couple journal pages from my vintage gardening book that I don't think I've ever posted:

acrylic paint, stencils, and some collaged paper with a bit of ribbon... I love the vintage image of the little boy on the swing!

Collaged paper including magazine image (frog), vintage music paper, and assorted scrapbooking papers.

my journals

last week when I took one of my current journals to work, I happened to mention that it was one of my 'latest' journals. One of my co-workers asked, "you have more of these?" Well, yeah- just a few, LOL!! So, the other day when I got out the spray ink and stencils, I decided to take all my journals off the bookshelf and take some pictures.

my journals, getting some fresh air on the patio!

aren't they yummy?? they usually hang out on a bookshelf in my craft room, so it was really nice to get them out and flip thru them... like visiting with some old friends! 

This photo is the journals that are completed- or pretty much completed, anyway-- I arbitrarily decided I was done working in a couple of them so I could move on to a different book... I've felt 'guilty' about doing that in the past, but I finally decided there's really nothing wrong with doing that; they're my journals, after all. Then again, I picked up the my 9x12 spiral journal again after not using it for a year or so, so there's nothing saying I couldn't do the same thing with the other ones. 

And now, for a bit of a confession: the photo above shows journals that I've made in classes but never actually 'used' as a journal. Oh, I may have decorated a page here or there during the class, or even actually wrote an entry or two, but these journals are NOT filled with artwork and/or words. (yet.) I don't know exactly why this is; maybe because I'm usually using a different journal (that I want to finish before using the new journal) when I take the class?? I think the answer is some of that, mixed with a bit of 'it's-so-nice-I-need-to-do-something-really-special-in-it' syndrome. Since I have the paint, ink, and stencils out right now, I've started working in a few of them so once I finish working in the 9x12 and 5x7 journals, I'll actually choose one of these for my next one.  I'll show you some pictures of that soon! (once the paint dries, that is!) :D

somewhat random photos of weather and artsy stuff...

just a few random photos from the last week or so--

last Sunday afternoon, it rained in Maricopa; and when I say rained, I mean, it really rained! As with most monsoon storms, the rain just can't soak into the ground, so it runs off. So, the neighborhood streets turn into small rapids... some of the intersections were quite- interesting- to drive through, what with a 4 or 5 inches of rushing water going through them. 


I'm not gonna complain about that, though; it could be worse- a couple days ago, the north part of Phoenix got 5 inches of rain in under 2 hours, which caused a lot of damage to quite a few houses. According to the newspaper article I read, one house had over 3 feet of water inside and the fire department had to make holes in the walls to give the water some way to get outside. (!!!!)

The rain is really nice for the plants; the ocotillo in our front yard is liking it a lot, and has greened up nicely! (notice the well around it to collect the water?? smart, huh? thanks, landscapers!)

our patio table, yesterday afternoon... having another spray ink, stenciling, and painting session. Partly because Tom's out of town so I can leave the mess out all week if I want to (lol! he's not a neat-freak or anything,but when I'm home by myself, I am definitely not neat at all), and partly because a co-worker who saw my journal last week said, "I'd love to have some backgrounds like that in my sketchbook." So, I said I'd be happy to do some for him! (I may have another art-journaling convert, soon- I'll let you know!)

this one is totally random, but I think this photo is hilarious! This is my sister Judy's dog Yogi engrossed in a television program about a family who lives in Alaska. Judy said Yogi also quite liked a nature program about lions that was recently on, too. (Our dogs never do this; the most they ever do is start barking and run for the front door when a doorbell rings on television.)

5x7 journal pages- finished and unfinished

Finished: watercolor background, collaged paper
(including some Chinese newsprint gotten from someplace
I can't remember), deco tape, and doodling

close-up of the deco tape- dots on the tape
filled in with more dots with gel pens... 

finished: crazy-doodled page.
the main doodles were done with my only
Copic markers (I have a whole two of them!);
the round bubbles were then filled in
with many colors of watercolor paint.

close-up of the details. This page won't be
written on; I really like it the way it is! 

an unfinished horizontal 2-page spread.
A bit of gesso stamping for texture (the circles, done
with a wine cork before the painting), watercolors,
and a bit of random stamping with teal StazOn ink.

recent random photos-

some random photos from the last week or so:

a grate (or drain?) in the sidewalk that caught my eye- 

this pattern would make a neat stencil!

election season humor- Salmon Roe, hahaha!!
 Someone named Salmon running for Congress, 

and someone else named Roe running for city council. 

(Somehow I don't think their signs were put next to 

each other by the candidates!)  

amber waves of grain (fields of corn, almost ready to harvest) 

and purple mountains majesty (the Estrella Mountains)... 

on my afternoon commute home from work. 

 doodled details on a journal page- 

paint pens and black permanent ink

more doodles on the same page- 

white and black pen details on gray acrylic paint

(I've been into these 'pod' shapes lately)

an 'Olympic' soda display at the local grocery 

store- these kinds of displays are so neat! 

(I imagine the delivery guys who have to create 

them don't like them quite so much, though...)

I sense a theme... and some recent weather.

Not really a purposeful theme, but I do have some similar colors, designs, and images that I find myself using in my journals. These pages aren't right next to each other, but in flipping thru my 9x12 journal, these all jumped out at me since they all have similar imagery. 

During my recuperation from the second surgery, I started taking an online journaling class by Kelly Kilmer: Memories and Reflections. It includes collage templates, journaling prompts, printable collage elements, and instructions for making two different handmade books. I haven't made the books yet, but have used some of the templates and collage images. 

everything will work out

This page started with one of Kelly's layout templates, and includes vintage sheet music, painted newsprint, handmade paper, watercolor crayons, and gel pens. The image was out of an antiques magazine. (again, I don't like how my writing turned out, here-- but the page is done, and I like the finished page more than I dislike my handwriting, so it's all good.)

graffiti Buddha

This page didn't start out with any sort of a template; instead, it used one of Michelle Ward's 'Street Team Crusades', which were weekly challenges that could be used as a jumping-off point for a journal page or piece of artwork. This particular challenge was 'Strip Ease' (using strips of paper or fabric and attach to your page). The entire background is strips of all sorts of paper, along with decorative tape. The image is one of Kelly's collage images, a graffiti art Buddha. 

graffiti Buddha close up- penwork detailing

all those strips gave me plenty of room for drawing patterns, doodling, and coloring in the various patterns on the paper and tape.

now, to the weather: yesterday afternoon I got stuck in my car for a while in the WalMart parking lot, waiting for the rain to let up long enough so I could run inside the store. Once I got in, it poured hard for most of the time I was inside (I could hear it on the roof of the store!) Monsoon season is interesting in that it can be pouring rain one place and be perfectly clear somewhere else just a mile or two away. And when it does rain, it can pour so hard that the rain just can't soak in, leading to flooding. This was the scene on the highway on my way home from WalMart:

Four out of the 6 lanes on the highway were flooded right at an underpass, leading to a bit of a traffic jam, as we worked our way past the water. So far, this monsoon season is shaping up to be a good one! (except for the mosquitoes- they're horrible!)

any place worth going

another journal page, except this one is unfinished: the overall page layout is loosely the same as the first page in this post, but once I finish it, that probably won't be so easily seen since the style / colors of the papers are so different. 

and now, I'm off to try out some new supplies I got yesterday while I was out doing errands!! 

7/18/11: haboob, the sequel... (also known as haboob lite)

So, we had another dust-storm blow through on Monday, and I thought I'd share a bit of it with you. This is what I saw on Monday when I was driving home from work: yup, another dust storm. Not as impressive looking as the first one was, but kinda cool, nonetheless. I say "haboob lite" because the wind gusts were only reported as high as 50 mph, not the as-high-as 70 mph gusts the last one contained. Thank goodness, too, because I had to drive home in it, this time!

The wind really wasn't too, too bad, really- we had to slow down a little, but you could still see okay to drive. The dust is just so fine, with not much vegetation to hold it down, so a lot of it gets tossed really high up into the air in one of these storms. (Which does make me wonder: where does it all end up, anyway??) It reminded me of driving through snow or fog, both of which I'm used to, so it didn't phase me. And thank goodness for automatic window controls, right?! (I had my A/C on anyway, so mine were shut, but can you imagine driving into this with an open window? No, thank you! I would definitely be pulling over to take care of them, for sure.)

For comparison's sake, this is what it looked like on Tuesday when I drove home. Quite a difference, huh?? (there was still some residual dust in the air, but this pic is pretty clear overall.)

This is looking off the the west along the same stretch of highway. It looks like there's just nothing out there past that mountain, doesn't it?? This is actually kinda creepy to me, knowing how far (miles and miles) you can usually see out here in the desert.

Here's the view looking west on Tuesday (not the same mountain, I don't think, but you get the idea). This photo isn't much to look at scenery-wise, but it gives you a good idea of the wide-open expanses out here in the desert. You can see mountain ranges upon mountain ranges behind each other out there in the distance- I don't know how far away you can actually see, to tell the truth, but probably at least 40 or 50 miles?? This wide-open expansiveness is definitely one of the things I love most about Arizona; I'm so used to it now that going back to the Midwest feels a bit "closed-in" and claustrophobic to me now! (and I won't even talk about the Midwestern humidity; ick!! although the whole "dry-heat" thing really does make a difference, I swear!! LOL!!)