Let There Be Love

I love to walk the golf course where we are staying in Palm Desert. With my MP3 player, I can walk 9 holes in about an hour, as long as I watch out for the golfers and don't sing too loud. One day last week I fell in love with these old lyrics by Ian Grant. First recorded by Nat King Cole in the 1940's, they have been sung by many artists since then.

Optimistic

My next attempt was inspired by Susan Raihala's blog, Simplicity, and her New Year's entry.(http://simplicitybylateblossom.blogspot.com/2010/01/happy-new-year.html. In her entry, she describes the idea of choosing a word for 2010. This word would become my personal "theme" for the year. She got me thinking about it anyway, and it inspired this journal page.


I have chosen Optimistic, or maybe I should say that it has chosen me, because I haven't come up with anything better.

Don't Worry

I have limited art supplies with me in Palm Springs - two sets of golf clubs in the trunk don't leave much room! So, squeezed into a small box is a 4" x 6" art journal, some watercolor pencils and crayons, a gel pen and and a few stamps. (There are stores here, right?)

On an outing to the mall, I got inspired by a book called Journal Bliss (http://www.violette.ca/), and here's one of my first attempts at drawing my own faces.

Please excuse the photo imperfections, including the fingers holding the journal open.

Beep Beep!

Mr. Roadrunner

Greetings from Palm Springs! I know, it has been awhile, and for that I apologize (if anyone noticed LOL). I'm enjoying some warm, dry weather and a break from the routine of home. I am counting my blessings every day.

I'm here with an old laptop and without a scanner, but I do have a camera, so here's a couple of pictures for now. No PhotoShop on this old beast either, I'm afraid.

Sunset from the condo

My sister Dianne has encouraged me to post some pictures of my art journals, which I have been sharing with her during our YIM chats. So stay tuned!

Smile!

The word for the October ATC Word Swap was "Smile", and here are some cheerful ATC's the mailman delivered to me recently:

Just the thing for a dreary, rainy day, and we're certainly getting a lot of those.  But the sun is shining today!  So smile! 

Here is my entry:

Mosaic

Years ago, when my husband was "helping" me shop in a stamp store, he found a sheet of stencils that he thought would be useful to me.  I wasn't sure quite what to do with them, but he's a smart guy, so I added them to my basket.

Turn the clock forward a few years, and the standard 1/2 sheet of card stock card was getting old.  So I was enjoying adding square cards to my repertoire.  Now for me, the difficult (and sometimes impossible) part about making cards is coming up with a design/sketch/ layout for the card.  It can, unfortunately, result in a complete block.

So when I found this stencil tucked away in a drawer - Eureka!  I traced the components onto scraps I found in my "green" baggy, and the following card was born:

Peel-Off's and Gel Pens

I must admit that I rarely think to use Peel-Off's, those lovely, unique stickers made by Magenta.  But last summer, at Stamp Out Breast Cancer, sponsored by I'm Impressed Paper Arts Ltd., I did a fun "make and take", at the Cherish the Thought booth.

I finally had a chance to try this fun and easy technique again. After applying Peel-Off's to watercolor paper,  I watercolored with gel pens.