Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Mail Art



Mail art received from Kristine
in Denmark! Beautiful green leaves
stenciled onto cardboard, then green
duct tape to create a sturdy envelope.





Inside was this beautiful dried leaf
with white painted dots, and a quote:
"Anyone who thinks fallen leaves are dead
has never watched them dancing
on a windy day."
~ Shia Tamir

So pretty, and just what I needed on the
winter day that I received it! Thank you Kristine!


In return, I've sent...




...yes, two envelopes. One inside the other.
Inspired by the style of Nick Bantock's art work
 from the book series "Griffin and Sabine."
Includes stamping, drawing, labels,
colored pencil, reinforcement circles,
and a bird image from an old magazine.


Postcard inside the second envelope

I love Bantock's seemingly random, exotic images
juxtaposed with each other.  Since I had 
used watercolors on this postcard, I knew
it wasn't safe to send through the mail 
system 'naked.' And getting to decorate a second
 envelope was fun too! Across the bottom
 of the postcard I used some images from my Ohio petroglyphs research, done for a
It's really fun to get art in the mail!
 I recommend it!

Back of postcard with images and faux postage


Joining up for T Tuesday,
a beverage and a chat...
 

 

Monday, February 12, 2018

Wheels, Food and Beverages

 
We recently visited a sports bar/restaurant
 called The Wicked Wheel. The menu was
called the 'Owner's Manual.' The décor is
themed around wheels...
 
 
especially motorcycles!
 

Had to take a photo of the 'rocking
motorcycle.'
 
 
You could even sit astride a motorcycle at
the bar, if you didn't mind being a little far away
from your beverage...
 
 
I think maybe the fellow in the dune buggy
had overstayed his welcome!

 
There were fabulous examples of various
brands of vintage gasoline pumps. I didn't
want to annoy the other patrons by going
around snapping more photos, so just took
this one near the front door.
 
 
 
James Dean seemed to think the vintage
bicycle was quite amusing. Why would
anyone ride a bike when you can ride
a motorcycle?
 
The food and service were excellent,
even on Super Bowl Sunday!
good times with family...


 
Linking up for Bleubeard and Elizabeth's
Tea Tuesday blog hop. Click the link and
join us for a 'drink related' post.
 
 
 

Monday, February 5, 2018

How To Do A Planner Page




How do I create a page in my
Hobonichi Techo? (daily planner)






 ○  Check the weather and temperature outside 
I use an app on my phone to check the 
temperature in my town, or just look out the
window! If you are a gardener, you may want
to check your rain gauge or how your
 plants are doing this season.

Record my steps from the day before
I use a FitBit to record my daily steps. 
I try to get 11,500 steps a day. (a little over
5 miles)  My grandson asked me why I
am "so obsessed" about exercise.  I tried
to explain that since I am Type II Diabetic,
exercise is part of my "medicine." Any 
other activity that you do could certainly
be recorded, like Zumba or Yoga.






Food, breakfast, baking
On this day I just drew my coffee cup,
toast, and my Hobonichi planner. You've
probably also seen a muffin or two on
my pages!

○ A project you're working on
like the fairy house I drew, above. I got
some E6000 adhesive and glued stones
to the outside of a birdhouse. My daughter
made a little door, and I camaflaged the round
bird entrance by gluing twigs around it to
look more like a window.






○ To Do List, or what happened that day
I am not so good at 'To-Do' lists. I usually
write down what happened after the fact!
Many times I will write appointments on a
small Post-It note and put it on the 
page for the day. That way my page
 isn't "messed up" if something
 doesn't happen or gets changed.



Add a quote or saying
This can be a lot of fun when I fine
something funny, (like the B.S. quote above!)
or you can go with inspirational quotes, or
even philosophical. It's up to you. Pinterest
is a great resource for quotes. But you can
also just type in to your browser:
"quotes about _____ " whatever you're
interested in. 




Challenges to illustrate or write about
I often draw from prompts in the monthly
Hobonichi Challenge, which can be found
on Instagram.  But there are days (or months)
that it doesn't strike my fancy, so I don't 
use the prompts. You don't have to be able
to draw. You can glue in magazine images
or write about the prompt-totally up to you.
There are lots of challenges on the intranet,
so you could probably find something
to suit your fancy.




Things you noticed or thought about
I don't usually get too philosophical or serious
in my Hobonichi, but there are days when
something just strikes you. If it's too personal
for me to post on my blog, I can just choose
not to post that page, or I can cover it up
with a flap, or temporary Washi tape. Those
of you who are tech-savvy could blur 
the writing before posting.

Use doodled borders, Washi tape, and stickers
Self explanatory I think. You can use to decorate
the space between items, top and bottom 
borders, or corners. I've noticed that if I want 
something to stand out a bit from the rest of the
text on the page, draw a little border around it:
dots and dashes, curlicues, lines, etc. I often
do this for quotes.

Vary the page layouts
It's easy to get in a habit of putting your
drawing or other decoration on the same
area of each page. I think it's more 
interesting if you change it up from page
to page. Look at a children's book. The 
illustrators often change the layout from
page to page to make the book more engaging.





Do fun stuff so that you will
have something to write about! This could
be a little like "which comes first, the chicken
or the egg?" Either way, it is great to have
new things to journal about... and if you
don't draw, you can stamp, paste or add
 photos to your journal.  I understand that 
there are some little cameras
out now that are like the old Polaroids,
but they make miniature photos.



All images from 2017, Dianne Bishop Carey


Don't feel that your life isn't interesting
 enough to journal about. It's all relative.
Your life is yours. You are the one who
makes it interesting. The Hobonichi company
had this on their site:
This is my LIFE.
I can’t trade it with anyone.
These are my days,
and they belong only to me.
This is my LIFE.
This is my BOOK.

LIFE BOOK.
Hobonichi Techo
How cool is that?!
Joining the T Tuesday gang for a 
nice warm beverage and a chat...
join us!



What would you put in your Life Book?



Sunday, February 4, 2018

White Sands





Panama City Beach, Florida...
white sands and deep aqua
Gulf waters.  A far cry from snow!



Just trying out my hubby's Notebook,
and whether or not I can post to my
blog with it. See you on Tuesday
for tea!