Got a Request to Create some Zen ANimals

     

My neighbor has a young girl who loves art, and loves to come over and create art with me and her mom. She saw my art journal was filled with Zen doodles that included one of a turtle. She asked me if I could draw some animals.  The phot above is of Poe's Raven. Edgar Allen Poe is one of my fave writers. The poem "The Raven" is well-known by fans. I think my ravens look cuter than the one he writes about...

Below, I drew some very extinct animals - Dinosaurs!! I had fun with this one, and wanted to give a her a group of assorted dino's. I decided to create a message for each of my pages. The first is a quote from Poe's famous poem. The second is just something I think everyone should adhere to. Don't you? 

Some Bunny Loves You

 Now that the neighborhood is filling with vegetable gardens, I've seen more bunnies this week than I'm comfortable with. Don't get me wrong! I love the little critters that make their homes near mine. I just don't want to feed them my tomatoes and strawberries. I worked hard to get the dirt ready, put the plants in their allotted spots, and keep weeds from strangling them. That's too much work to go halvsies with the cotton-tailed variety. 

So now you know what inspired me to doodle a new page in my art journal. Of course, I had to use the sentiment I usually use on cards around Easter time, "I love bunnies, short and tall, but I love chocolate ones best of all". Maybe I should have used a brown pen for my bunnies??? (P.S. Did you catch the "extra" bunny in my drawing? He's hiding behind my drawing, but he forgot how long his ears are...).

Campfire. S'Mores . Repeat.

 Summer is here and I'm raring to go to my trailer near Starved Rock in Illinois. My place is in an RV Park less than two hoors from my house. I have a wrap-around deck and a screen room that overlooks a small ravine with a stream. After a rain, the music from the moving water lulls me to sleep at night. 

My nephew and his family often join me there. They are pool people, while I love to relax on the deck, listen to music and sometimes drive out to the antique and thrift stores. Besides grilling, we make campfires and have enough marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate to feed ourselves and any guests that are around the fire each night.

So my art journal page today is inspired by those nights sitting around the fire, enjoying s'mores and good company. I did a pretty good rendition of the fire if I do say so myself! LOL

Feelin' Groovy

 

My neighbor called me and asked me to do a project for her for an upcoming high school reunion party. Her two friends and she wanted to decorate their jeans to make them "stand out" at the event. Since she has been on the receiving end of some of my other projects (both freely given and sold to her), she knew she wanted me to give her jeans some "stand-out".

I had pulled out the few tubes of fabric paint I had in my stash and we planned out what she wanted, which was a nod to the late 60's/early 70's. I had fun with these as I was just starting my own high school years, and remembered all the flower power, groovy, outta-sight icons of those years. My designs start at the knee and ending at the bottom of her jeans. 

I had to do a little repair work after she washed and dried them. I also found a couple more paints that really made the drawings and words stand out better. It's not my best work, but as long as she is happy with the finished work, I'm happy too!

I'm Seeing Spots!

I'm always looking on Pinterest and YouTube for another design, technique or materials to try out. I stumbled onto this "dotty" design and thought I'd try it out. It looks pretty good; better in person. But it's true that right now I am seeing spots everywhere!

If you attempt this type of doodling, I'd recommend you draw it in small doses, taking a break for your eyes! LOL  Meanwhile, my "new" art journal is filling up fast. It seems I only have time (or energy) for some quick drawing. I should be able to spend more tine on painting and crafting starting next week. Yay, me!!
 

Let Them Eat Cake...

 

Today I'm featuring one more Zen doodle. It started with a rectangle, and after adding a smaller one on top of the first one, I was inspired to make it into a cake. It has four tiers, which is a whole lot of cake! 

But it looked lonely by itself in the middle of my page. So I added some decorations at the top, then some along the bottom. I am NOT a lover of white space, so I thought a few balloons would complete the drawing. and it does, so my work here is finished, at least for today. 

I mentioned in an earlier post how I have several different kinds of journals going at the same time. Well, I have one filled with "future projects", and I need to start trying some of those I've listed instead of being distracted by new pins on Pinterest or supplies I uncover while cleaning out and organizing my crafting area.

Once my sister goes back to Germany and her hubby, I can take some quality time with those supplies and create at my leisure. I'm itching to paint, and I have empty shadow boxes lying in the dark, calling my name to fill with holiday scenes. Oh, so many projects, so little time! LOL 

Zen House in the Garden - an Art Journal Page

I got a chance to create some Zen Doodling in my art journal today. I'm trying to decide whether to color the sky blue. Or to leave it uncolored. Who knows! I may decide to put together pages for a coloring book, but now is not the time in my life. I have a To-do list that is mind boggling-at least to my mind. So I'll happily feature my new drawing here on Blogger. I hope you like it.

As a side note, Zen doodling is very relaxing. Focusing on each line or squiggle you create, being mindful of the contrasts you want to showcase, I feel like I've taken a nap within my mind when I doodle. I hope you get a chance to try the benefits of this kind of art.

Challenges I am Entering:

the Crafty Addicts - Anything Goes

Path of Positivity - Create Anything inspired by Nature

Art*Journal*Journey - Inspired by Flowers

 

Stress Less Wall Decor

 I can't find the time to craft while my sister visits from her home in Germany. I love having her here with me and my other sister. Half a world away is just too far, but she married a German National and loves living in Europe. 

But she took my car and went off to meet her best friend, so I had the day to myself. I used a thrift store find and painted the front in three of my fave colors. The words are put together with leftover stickers and rub-ons. It's about 8"x8" and something I must remind myself of every day. Life is precious and I should not stress about the small things. Sound familiar? 

The Birthday Girls' Getaway Reveal

 

My sister turns 60 in May. My youngest sister; I'm the oldest. We lost mom almost three years ago. Mom lived with my sister for 6 years and the loss has been harder for my sister than I and my other sister. I miss Mom just as much as my sister, but I am coping with her loss better than she is.

Anyway, for her 60th birthday, my other sister  and I, have planned an overnight trip to a tourist/historic place in Illinois. She doesn't want to know ANYTHING about the overnight, until we reach our destination. So we sent her 2 verses each of poetry (mine is on a previous post). Today I am featuring the "reveal" that I created for her.

I stumbled upon some Lemon Head tins in my stash- cute little things that have handles and look like mini-suitcases. I covered one with acrylic paint first. Then I created and printed out details of our trip and accordian-folded and adhered the pages into the suitcase.

I printed my favorite Bugaboo images of three girls and three women to cover the front and back of the mini-suitcase. I also wrapped the edges with washi tape and made a mini-luggage tag that I attached to the handle. I can't wait until the trip to put it in her hands. 

Besides the trip being her birthday present, I filled a pop-up photo album of Dee from the time she was a small child through present day. It has pics of us together, her growing up, and with family. I bought the album at a thrift store for an awesome price of $1.50!! It's pictured below...

I hope she feels loved and supported, and special for her landmark birthday year...

Challenges I am Entering:

  Creative Artiste - Anything Mixed media Goes

  Secrets to Stamping - Anything Goes w/a Fun Fold (Accordion for me)