Artful Journey

 Thankful for so many things.... I will put happy mail right at the top of the list this week. Some cards from friends were a welcome surprise . I love getting mail and the inspiration that comes with it.  I have one card ready to send. Rosalie suggested we try to do some sort of zen tangling once a week, so there is some of that on the leaves on the envelope. I carried on with the animal theme with my choice of an Andrew Wyeth postage stamp. I kept the card simple with a favorite spellbinders stamp set, Stay Wild and coordinating die cut leaves. Stay as wild as you can... But don’t forget your mask. Stay safe, stay well. It’s hard to be too wild in these times, but I fall back on my word of the year, choose. It is serving me well so far, I am choosing to wear a mask, only walk in areas where it is easy to socially distance, and eating at restaurants with outside seating at non peak hours. There are certainly things I miss, but I am choosing to reminisce about the good times, ...

My small, achievable, measurable goals for fall are: 1. Practice lettering 2. Organize and use my art supplies 3. Make and send cards, which should help with goals 1 and 2 4. Enter some challenges, helping with goals 1, 2 and 3 Here’s a monochromatic card using  bo bunny flower garden stamp, tombow markers and brush lettering. Sunflowers, watercolor and pigma markers On the way to the beach, we pass a field of sunflowers, so around the next corner and through the car window, my inspiration and another happy place. Sunflower fields, Ipswich Flowering envelopes... In the mail

 So thankful to enjoy beautiful weather and a lovely neighborhood to walk in. With everyone working from home, it means company on walks throughout the day. Luckily, being in a suburb seven miles outside the city, walking here is an easy way to get outside and move, while maintaining social distancing. We vary the route, but there are certain streets that I love because of the gardens. Since we are close to the city, the spaces aren’t huge but they are beautiful!     I love zinnias, such a great pop of color  They last a long time and don’t mind the hot weather. Find a sunny spot and they will thrive. Best of all, all this glory of the Fibonacci sequence grows easily from seed.  I was inspired to paint a watercolor card after this day out. Quick watercolor card More inspiration outside my front door.

Tonno, a really nice Italian restaurant nearby. Since Covid hit, I haven’t been out to eat very much and we have  only done outside dining. I am good with that, and although restaurants have begun to open for indoor dining, I am sticking to outside dining only. Shrimp pizza Tasting a fall Sangria... yummy! Cheers...  It’s always good to be together... And make art... Procreate practice.

Since getting back to blogging, I thought it would be fun to join some challenges. It’s a great way to try some different techniques and get some inspiration along the way. I wanted to keep it simple, and therefore easily attainable and sustainable. We’ll see how it goes, but  I have taken a first step and joined color hues challenge  of using just two colors, Navy and Turquoise. I used the Altenew dodec star die with the bold hello stacked ...maybe a christmassy star-trek hello??  

 Cheers to cooler weather with beach passes easy to come by! Starting out with a Cuban coffee from Honeycomb, and all fueled up for another great beach day! Just us gulls Sandy shores Blue skies overhead  And a little card making to finish out a wonderful day.

So grateful for beach days with the fun and fabulous Fiona  Jumping for joy And adding some beach yoga Side plank Feeling strong Warrior pose Like a ninja