good blog reads

i drove to kroger on sunday to stock up on necessities such as milk and coke as this is what southerners are wont to do when there is a forecast of inclement weather.  snowbird finally smiled upon us and we received the blessing of an entire week off of school.  i have left my home three times this week.  once on the fully documented sledding trip, once down the road for a restock on milk (in which my car almost didn't start, i had to knock a two inch slab of ice off my windshield and a myriad of icicles from the undercarriage that were holding it immobile, and witnessed two rednecks deicing the dollar general with a mini blowtorch), and then today to our cub scout blue and gold banquet.  i wore my flaming converse again for moral support.  upon my return this afternoon, i took the only shovel i own and for the very first time in my life shoveled snow ice off my deck.  the sun did not shine today, so it was still a good inch and a half thick even with the balmy 40 degree weather.  i cleared a straight and narrow path to my car as i fear it will be a solid sheet of ice come morning and i don't want that to be my excuse not to go to church.  i really need to get there so i can petition the good lord for an early spring as i am mostly finished with the season we are in.

as you can imagine, i have found the time to do some really random things while hibernating this week.  for example, just now i finished going through all my "artful blogging" magazines (both the new ones and the ones i couldn't remember if i'd finished or not).  here's my list of favorites.  hope they warm your heart if not your toes.  :)

http://www.wemightbenomads.com/blog/ - they packed up and took their family traveling around the world

http://www.theclevercarrot.com/ - interesting culinary combinations and a talent for food photography

http://www.shysnarrative.blogspot.com/ - celebrating alberta, canada, and beyond

http://joythebaker.com/ - edgy food and a little new orleans glamour

http://www.slugsontherefrigerator.com/blog/ - crocheting and photographing her children in the scottish highlands

http://www.teresamcfayden.com/ - an artist whose work i like quite a lot

http://www.inspiredbyannetta.com/ - cross stitching and pretty vignettes

http://www.themagpiesfancy.blogspot.com/ - photos of maine and thoughtful, creative writing

http://www.gingerlillytea.com/ - two extremely adorable girlies in England

http://www.cannellevanille.com/ - another fabulous foodie with some naturescapes

art journal: vintage ledgers

jenni bowlin saves all her vintage crazy cat lady photos for me.  i'm not quite sure what this says about me, but it says that jenni has a very big heart and it definitely makes me feel loved.

can you believe that i haven't done anything in this vintage ledger art journal since june of 2012.  crazy, right?  i was going through photos from 2012 last night in preparation for calvinball 2015 and those were pretty sparse.  i'm thinking 2012 was the year of the great anemia.  glad i'm taking iron pills now.

i think this is the first time that i have really focused on collage in art journaling.  i think i'm hooked!  i don't know why, but for some reason i was operating under the misconception that art journaling was all about exploring different mediums.  while it definitely can be that, it's so much more as well.  i think i've come to realize that it's more about exploring your creative inner voice and for me that's accomplished more easily with paper, glue, and pen.

haha!  and i think i've mastered the dina wakley technique of writing your heart out and then covering it up with more pretties.  there's not anything profound there, really, but my inner thoughts don't feel quite so exposed when they're not as accessible.  this is all a hot mess of watercolors, distress inks, acrylic paint wash, and sharpies.

pretty clouds always make me happy.  i pencil sketched these, traced them with a black sharpie pen, painted them with acrylic paint, painted around them with watercolors, then traced them once more with the same black sharpie pen.

if you're interested in a vintage ledger of your own, i have a post up on jenni's blog today that lists a few that are currently up for sale.

happy arting!  :)

cocoa daisy: designer's challenge

this is my contribution to the designer's challenge at cocoa daisy this month.  two parts to the three part recipe were actually a little challenging for me.  i love a good challenge and i love the results!  you can join in too, and there's $10 in cocoa daisy cash going to the winner!  go, you, go!

story:  i dug the massive holly bush out by myself.  it was quite an accomplishment.  i was so proud.

design: stripes!  cut from a cocoa daisy bag, of course!

technique: i sketched the little bee!  she's colored in with sharpies and watercolored pencils for the wings.

photos: taken with my iphone 5s.  they look fine until i try to print them and then they come out grainy.  this happens sometimes when i print 3x4 instead of 4x6.  technology.  oh the frustrations.

product: cocoa daisy february kit, journal entry (the gorgeous exclusive floral is also available here).

sledding (on the best day ever!)

yesterday was one of the best days ever!

i woke up in time to photograph the ice kingdom during the golden hour
g and company woke up a couple hours later
friends invited us sledding and even came to pick us up
on the way to sledding we got the call that school has been cancelled for the rest of the week
i went sledding for the first time ever.  how exhilarating! 
we were out there for three hours
there was even a polaris ranger waiting at the bottom to drive us back up to the top.
tortilla soup waiting to be warmed up as soon as we got home
g was invited to his buddy's house for the night
they came and picked him up as i am a snow driving weinie
two netflix movies and a sleeve of dosidos later, it was time for bed
good stuff :)

sledding at an overpass.  i remember doing this on the grass in waxed boxes growing up in florida.

here i am sledding with g! :)

styling g's rubber boots that he's outgrown

second trip down and already brave enough to photograph the trip while steering!

four 5th graders.  :)

ice day 2015!

i was up and out in time to catch the ice in the golden hour.  it was so, so beautiful.  worth a foray into the cold to document and enjoy it.

cocoa daisy: using up the journaling cards

well, so far snowmageddon is really just icemageddon and we don't quite know who to blame: snowbird?  elsa?   the local meteorologists?  our friends in kentucky who stole our thundersnow?  but there are still a few hopeful thoughts to ponder:  will it snow tonight?  will we go to school tomorrow?  will we go to school this week?  and there is plenty of coke, california roles, and girl scout cookies in the house.  we're gonna make it.

so instead of sharing snow photos (i'm sure those of you on the east coast are grateful) i have a new layout and project life page to share.  stay warm!  or stay cool!  (depending on where you are :).

design:  you can never go wrong with the grid design.  so easy and so classic.

technique:  i wanted to be sure and use my absolute favorite journaling cards from the february cocoa daisy ditl kit, so i pulled those favorites out, found a set of 3x4 photos that went with them, added a few more cards and patterned paper pieces and there you go.

i also will mention that no matter how often i try, i do not like wood veneer inked.  i tried to color this piece with a metallic pen, but ended up using glitter embossing powder instead.  i always do this.  why don't i just grab the embossing powder first?  just proves once again that laziness is always more work in the end.

photos:  monthly double selfie taken with my iphone.

story:  as i was peering at the iphone camera screen i noticed my son petting my ear.  he did this so much as a baby; it's fun to catch him doing it once in a while now that he's a big kid.

product:  leftover bits from my cocoa daisy february kits.  (the main kit that contains the exclusive floral patterned paper that i've used so much plus the exclusive wood veneer is still available as well as both of those items individually).

i was also able to use up a few more of the journaling cards on an accompanying pocket page.  these little photos of the goldfinch and hummingbird in my wildflower patch last summer are some of my favorites.  i was delighted with how the acrylic pieces highlighted them perfectly without taking away from the photos.