Life Rings Journal Pages with Poem

More journal pages inspired by Misty's workshop. The life rings are comparable to tree growth rings, which, in my case, are 62 around. Then I needed a poem or story to go with. I don't claim to be a poet, but I gave it a try, and I used a gelatin print background page from another class to write it on with a Pitt pen. I glued the page into the journal with gel medium, transferred the bird from a magazine image onto the page. I need more practice. The transfer didn't turn out as well as I wanted, so I added some pastels and colored pencils to fill in the places that didn't transfer. I also added a couple of small stamps and colored them with colored pencils.

I am pondering adding something to the right upper corner, but I can't think of anything I want to put there. Besides, for now, I like it like it is. :)

The poem is in typed version at the bottom of the post. 

The bird is holding a tiny pink heart carefully in his beak. The heart represents my birth and first ring of life. I was born in my Granny's house on a Tennessee riverbank a long time ago, and I've lived near the river my whole life, except for a couple of short periods when I was little.

My life has ebbed and flowed from these river banks for 62 years, just like the water lapping at the shores, every day the same, yet every day different.

Life Rings

By Sharon Prater Pope (Feb. 2012)

Sixty-two ripples

Spreading out from my Clifton riverbank birth rock,

Cast into life with abandon,

Each ripple encompassing

All of the people shuffling in and out through the years,

All that I learn and absorb,

The effect that I have on others,

The effect that they have on me.

Circling ever wider with each passing year,

Receding into the distance

Until I fade into oblivion

And all that remains is a faded memory

And the effect that I had on others

The short time I was here.

Found Words Poetry

I tried my hand at creating poetry using found words for the writing class in Misty's workshop. I don't claim to be a poet, by any means, but this was so much fun! There will be more! :)

Reaching Out

I had a few words left over from the above poem, so I used them to create the short poem below. I was raised not to be wasteful. ;)

Black & White

The one below was created using found words in a different way. You may have to click on the pictures to be able to read the poems.

Self Discovery 

These poems will more than likely find their way in to one of my journals.

Miko-Horse Sketch

This is actually NOT the first time I ever tried to sketch a horse. It WAS the first time I ever tried to draw a goat, a donkey, and a pony (see previous posts). I used to try to draw horses all the time when I was young and in school. My best friend and I were crazy about them. I was never good at it though. I'm still not, but this is about the best attempt I've ever made. I meant to try another one before I posted, but can't seem to get focused enough. This sketch is again with a Zig pen in the Moleskine book.

This is "Miko"-the horse. The 4th Musketeer (or Horseketeer). Miko looked almost like a skeleton with skin stretched over it when he came to live with us. His ribs and hipbones were very visible, and he was infested with worms. He has never been broken to ride, and he was very antisocial to begin with. He would take carrots out of our hands, but didn't allow us to touch him. He would lay his ears back and try to bite us or run away if we tried. It took a while, and much patience, to get him to let us pet him. Miko is a beautiful horse, and the only member that will put Boxey-Tail in her place. They don't really fight though. They are like siblings squabbling at the dinner table.

Miko has come a long way. They all have. With plenty of pasture and water and attention, he has gained weight and filled out. His coat is slick and shiny, and he let's us pet him without trying to bite us now. He won't push himself on us though, and is still a little standoffish. They have come a long way, but we're still VERY careful around them. I guess we're still learning to trust each other.

The thing that I love is seeing them all four coming toward me, side by side, different heights, sizes, colors, species, fur textures and patterns, personalities, voices and lauguages, and backgrounds. As different as they are from one another, they still move as a unit of friends. They sleep together, eat together, communicate, cool off together in the barn, receive attention from us together, and play together, and except when they scuffle a little over treats, they get along together really well. People could learn a lesson here. :)

They have a hundred acres to ramble around on with the small herd of cows, which they also get along with, but seem to prefer being segragated from. The cows are usually at one end of the farm and the Horseketeers at the other. There is shelter, plenty of food and water, woods, and fields for them to explore, and they seem happy. They provide me with lots of photo ops, and the happiness they've given us far exceeds what we paid for them.

I had to use two photos below to show you the 4 Horseketeers (sometimes Cooter thinks he's one too), and I was further away in one. It's hard to get them all four in one up close. Anyway, from left to right, it's Miko, Doris, Boxey-Tail, who is actually a little shorter than Doris, and Cooter.

I know my sketches don't do them justice, and this one concludes the introductions, but I'm sure there will be more sketches and tales to come...:)

Hope you enjoyed meeting them. I sure enjoyed introducing them to you! :)

EDM #242- Favorite Figurine

This is a sketch of a Snowbaby Christmas tree ornament that one of my friends, Lennie, gave me several years ago. She gave me two. The other one is sitting on a sled. It's been probably 10 years and I've never told her this kind of funny story.

I didn't put up a tree the year she gave them to me, and I thought they were so cute, plus they were a gift from a dear friend, that I wanted to be sure and put them where they would be safe and I wouldn't lose them, which I did.

They hadn't been seen since, until the other day I was cleaning out some boxes. I had looked for them numerous times over the years, in the Christmas decorations, the cedar chest, and other places I keep sentimental stuff, to no avail.

I had told my other best friend about putting them where I would know where they were, and we laughed about it. I knew they were here somewhere, but I had hidden them from myself. I know none of you have ever done that. LOL

Anyway, the other day, hubby and I decided to do some decluttering. The spare bedroom has been uninhabital for years, because it has turned into a storage/junk room. It's also where my Christmas tree and decorations are in boxes under the bed and bags of clothes that I've "outgrown" but might wear again "someday" are littering the floor.

I decided to start in there, having to set stuff out in the hall to have room to maneuver around. Inside the door sat three large boxes on top of one another with a stack of clothes that I had outgrown piled on top of them. I sorted through the clothes, laying aside what Mama might wear. I sorted through the top two boxes, which had all kinds of bric-a-brac, albums, pictures, clothes, etc in them.

Among other things, in the bottom of the third box, were two brand new fleece robes that I had forgotten about. I lifted the top robe up, and there was something wrapped in a paper towel snuggled between them. I knew immediately what it was. I opened the paper and there were the two little snowbabies grinning at me, still all new and sparkley.

I yelled and told hubby that I had finally found the snowbaby ornaments that I hadn't seen since the day Lennie gave them to me years ago. I didn't care if they were Christmasy. I brought them to the dining room amidst my art stuff and sat them where I could enjoy them finally.

The EDM challenge 242 was to draw a favorite figurine. I have many, but I decided to sketch this one, because he makes me smile.

Lennie would be the first to laugh about me hiding them from myself all these years, and this year they will be hanging on my little Christmas tree with all my other "special" tiny ornaments.

Three large boxes are all that I got decluttered that day, but it made a small dent, I found a lost treasure and two new robes, and who knows what other treasures, that I've hidden from myself, I'll find when I resume.

Ah! The joys of getting older. Hope I made you smile! :)

Dance To Your Heartbeat and Blu Sox

The Creative Every Day challenge for this month is nature. This and the previous two posts don't have much to do with nature. I seem to be in face and character mode right now in my creative endeavors. Leah gives us the freedom to post whatever we are creating, thank goodness. I say thank goodness, because I tend to forget what the theme is when I'm "playing." :) You should go to the CED site and check out the other participants work. Lots of wonderful, inspiring, creative souls there.

The untitled piece above is mixed media and is the closest thing to a nature piece that I have finished. I threw in everything but the kitchen sink in a frenzy of playtime. It has watercolor/ink/pencils, stenciling, homemade sponge stamps, a regular stamp, a little acrylic and some gouache paint, and I probably left out something, but there it is. It has leaves, eggs, and petals, so I guess you could call it nature. LOL

This one is also an experiment in painting in black and white with a touch of blue watercolors, using a large sea sponge and a brush in another "play frenzy." I wish I'd left the blue slice off of the heart, but nonetheless, I wanted to share it, just because I like it and it was fun to do. :)

You might check out the two posts, or more if you want to, before this one to see a couple of unique characters that I posted this week also.

Hope one of my efforts makes you smile. :)

Lexie-Future American Idol?

Lexie is waiting in line to audition for American Idol. She dyed her hair raspberry in hopes of getting noticed by the producers. It is in sharp contrast to her very blue eyes. It worked. Now she has to sing for the judges and she's awfully nervous. What if Simon doesn't like her? She looks like a rock star. The question now is, can she sing? Will she knock their socks off or come out in tears? We'll see.

Another doodle sketch in watercolor done in my Handbook sketchbook in wc/ink/pencils. I like Lexie a lot. She seems like a great kid. :)

Hope she made you smile. :)

Lollie-Piratress

I wanted you to meet Lollie. She was born and raised on a pirate ship and can out-pirate most of the men aboard. She emerged from one of my doodle drawings with a patch over one eye and victory in the other. Lollie has been known to break hearts and heads, and once she even stole candy from a baby, and kidnapped a poodle. She is as deadly with her smile as she is with her sword, so BEWARE! Yo-Ho-Ho!

Lollie is painted in my Handbook sketchbook with wc and inktense pencils and water. This book doesn't work well with water, but I forget and add some anyway. I've filled both my large Moleskine books, and am now finishing up the Handbook and the MS pocket size WC book.

Hope Lollie made you smile. :)

Ahnya And Harry, The Purple Bunny

Ahnya fell off the turnip truck...literally. She hitched a ride in the back of a loaded turnip truck and was sitting on the tailgate with her legs dangling off the edge. The driver hit a pothole going at a pretty frisky speed, and Ahnya hit the ground. The truck was out of sight before she knew what had happened and she was in a strange city. She's very confused and scared, but she's tough. She can take care of herself and looks at it as an adventure. What to do next is the question.

(WC/pencils in Handbook sketchbook-doodle sketches)



A Bunny Tale...Everyone laughed at Harry because he was purple. Even his mama pushed him out of the nest. All the other babies were brown. She had no clue as to how Harry came out purple, but it wasn't right somehow.

That's how Harry came to be a house pet. He was literally found under a cabbage leaf by the gardener and given to his daughter to raise on a bottle. Harry grew into a large mohair looking purple bunny, with a fluffy white tail. A delight to be around. He learned to use a litter box and could eat without making a mess. He had the run of the house and slept on the bed with his friend. He was very content and happy with his life.

But then, the local newspaper did a story with pictures about Harry, which got picked up on YouTube, making him a HUGE celebrity with movie offers, etc. After all, nobody had ever seen a purple bunny before.

And that is why Harry has his back turned. He's shunning the paparazzi.

(WC/pencils, stamp, doodle sketch in Handbook sketchbook)

Just wanted to say hello and let you all know that I'm still here. Still adjusting to hubby's retirement and not having as much time to play on the puter and create. I'm trying to work things around to where I can still do "my thing" though. I'm way behind on visiting your blogs and I miss that, but hopefully I'll get to visit soon and say hello. :)

Hope Ahnya and Harry made you smile. :)

CED Weekly Roundup

This is a roundup of my creative journey this week. Besides the daily doodle drawings and blog reading for inspiration, I spend quality time with Jim and Mama every day.

Bear in mind that the drawings are works in progress, and are experimental playing. I may or may not ever finish them or use them, but I am learning a lot from them and am a lot more relaxed when painting or drawing now. I've learned it doesn't have to be perfect to be fun or make someone smile. So, I hope at least one of these makes you smile. :>)
Monday-I did this doodle drawing spread in my Moly sketchbook, and, using a round sumi brush and watercolor, swished some color in. I put added a layer of fluid acrylics to the canvas ptg, "Hart." I also took a creative fall over Sammidog. You can read about it here if you want. Also went grocery shopping with mama and Jim.

Tuesday--I guess I was feeling a little Picasso-ish on the top one. It's a doodle in Moly wc book, where I outlined all the lines in a black ultra-fine sharpie instead of pulling out a specific image. I was going to leave it like stained glass, but after I filled in all the spaces with watercolor, this head emerged, so I used white gouache over the background, outlined the head in heavier sharpie with a red inktense pencil line on top, and embellished the eye. I actually kept going back to it over 3-4 days and doing stuff to it, but I did the doodle today. :)

The rabbit is a doodle in the M sketchbook. The image has been pulled out with a heavier pencil line. There could be something else to pull out, but I like it like it is. Color will come later.

I also re-joined Facebook, per a friend's invitation and worked on setting up my page.

Chasing Rabbits
Wednesday--Touched up the Picasso-ish page above, drew doodle of the sleeping dog in M sketchbook, and studied it for more images. There may be some more to it when I get time to focus. Sleeping dogs seem to be a recurring theme for the time being. Could be because I'm a sleepyhead. Also spent time with a dear friend chatting, drinking coffee, and laughing.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Thursday--I drew and pulled the image above out of a doodle. I don't know what it means, but this was daddy's birthday and I was missing him so much. I also wrote a personal piece post on Scribbles about my week's mishaps. I've collected some very creative boo-boos this week. :)

Group Hug

Friday--Doodle sketch in M wc book, pulled out image, added watercolor to dampened page and let bleed together. Went over outlines with black sharpie and re inktense pencil, then spattered paint on, just for fun. I toned down some parts of the "Hart" canvas painting with acrylic washes. I made three photos of Sammidog and the cats, then painted another layer of acrylic on ptg, and we rented the movie "Max Payne" on PPV and ate popcorn. Pretty good flick.

2 Kittens and a cow skull

Dancing With The Moon

Saturday--I watched a video on Black-eyed Suzie's blog. It was from Etsy featuring her making doll portraits. Pretty interesting. I also played with my camera and made a bunch of dog/cat photos, then painted some more on "Hart" painting. The above image emerged from my doodles in the M sketchbook. These sketchbook images will all become journal entries as I write on them.

I Do Not Have A Nose Problem!
Sunday--Played on my Facebook page some more, pulled the above image from the doodle marks in the M sketchbook, made photos of drawings and uploaded, and posted to blog. Took a loooooong, soothing, lovely shower and ate a pancake breakfast with Jim while we watched the tractor pulls on TV.

Hart Strings

This is the second photo of the "Hart" painting. It is still waaaaay too intense, even for me, but I'm getting there. I thought I'd have it done for the Artygirls challenge this week, which is wire, but I'm not going to. I'm going to put copper wire for the strings on the hart that she is playing, once I get the rest to suit me. I'm thinking about adding a layer of white unruyu paper to it to add texture and to dull it down a bit. The colors will still show through, only not as intense. I'm still pondering though.

This is what I do. I get about half way through a project, then can't decide how I want to finish it. So I move on to something else for a while. Frustrating!

Oh, well, it'll come to me eventually. :) So this was my creative journey this week. Hope you enjoyed making the trek with me. Can't wait to see how my journey continues next week. :)

Have a wonderful, creative week!

Late Valentine (I tried) & CED Update

First, I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day. I made a pretty digital card on my Hallmark program to post on my blogs for you, but then I couldn't get it to upload. So I went to a different program and tried to make another one, but got frustrated and gave up. I'm new to the digital art. Anyway, I tried. :)

Also, I'm waaaaaaaaaaay behind on answering comments and emails, but I WILL answer soon. I appreciate and enjoy all of your visits soooooo much!

Okay, now for what I've been up to creatively this week, amidst hubby being here and company every day and dishwashing and cooking...the house looks like it's NEVER been cleaned and we have company coming today also.

I've spent quality time with hubby watching movies/tv every night. Does that count? :)

I thought I'd show you all of my efforts this week. The scanner didn't want to scan the pencil sketches for some reason, but maybe you can tell a little about them. Most are not finished yet. The scanner left a weird color on Mama Mia, but I liked it so I left it. :) Okay here goes:

Monday-I did a double page doodle sketch in my Moly sketchbook, which has slick beige pages, and experimented with Golden fluid acrylics. I enjoyed them for a change. They are transparent and work similar to watercolors. The photo of it is here.

Tuesday-Another doodle sketch, this time in my M watercolor book, and I layed in a two-color wc wash over the whole page and the image I pulled out. I looked through my sketches for entries for challenges I play in. That was a trip. I also painted a second layer of fluid acrylics on the "Hart" canvas WIP (photo in previous post) and read some wonderful blogs for inspiration. I also discovered that the licenses for the nearly 500 songs on my mp3 player had expired because I cancelled my membership to Rhapsody, and I couldn't play the songs there or on my pc either. I didn't understand how things work with them. I hadn't even heard all the freebies that I had downloaded. I got very creative trying to figure out what happened. Boy, was I ticked! I must have my music. I will get them back hopefully.

Wednesday-I layed in wc washes on a big yellow dog that I had doodle sketched a few weeks ago, then did a dbl pg sketch in the M sketchbook and layed in some wc washes on it. Also read a few blogs.

Thursday-I made photos of two challenge entries, edited and added digital text to both, and posted (the two in the post before this one), did a dbl pg doodle (didn't draw the image out) in the M sketchbook, played with digital imagery some on and read some blogs

Friday-I read a few blogs, drew the image out of yesterday's doodle, added handwritten words to it, then did another double pg doodle and drew the image and words out of it. I haven't added color to these yet. I added some written words to a previous journal entry, and added a layer of white gouach to the orangy spattered background pages I posted previously, drawing out a couple of images and adding a little texture. Then I set up a doll in a lace dress, made photos, edited, and posted on my other blog for the IMT challenge, which is lace. I also wrote the story behind the dress there. I rode with hubby to a nearby town to get cattle feed, enjoyed the scenery, we got ice cream at the Sonic and enjoyed it on the ride back home.

Saturday-Sent valentine to email buddies, experimented/played with the drawing tools in my Hallmark card program and made a pretty valentine with "drawn" flowers on it and pretty words to put on my blogs. I was so proud of myself. Then it wouldn't upload to my blog, so I changed programs and tried to make another one, got frustrated, and gave up. I loved the doodle line option though. I also did a doodle sketch and pulled the image out in the M sketchbook. I added written words to it and added some touches to the sketch I did Tuesday. I'm thinking she needs more. Then I made a "creative" stew for supper, which means I cleaned out the fridge and cabinet. It was tasty though. :)

Sunday-I did a doodle sketch and pulled out the image in the M watercolor book, outlined it in black sharpie, and scanned all these images in. I wrote this post, which took a fair amount of finagling and effort to get all these pictures and words situated. Sorry I didn't do it better, but my pictures starting disappearing , so I quit while I was ahead. ;)

Coming up: The air dry clay that I've been softening is now plenty soft and moist, maybe too much so. I've never played with this kind of clay before so it will be a challenge that I'm looking forward to. It's patiently waiting for me to get time to play at making a doll. Will keep you posted on that one. Nettie, the belly dancing art doll has been patiently waiting for her embellishments for weeks. Maybe I will find just the right ones soon and I can show her to you.

Hope you haven't been too bored, and maybe some of the pix made you smile. Have a blessed week and keep creating and playing! :)

Arty Girlz, CED, and Mojoart

The Arty Girlz challenge this week is flowers, and although my doll/tulip doodle sketch painting isn't about flowers per se, it does have one in it. :) It's also one of my Creative Every Day entries.

This is another double page art journal entry in my Moleskine sketchbook, done Monday, and right now it's exactly how I feel, as I have gained a lot of weight here lately, added to my already overweight body. The tulip in my drawings kind of represents my dad, whom I miss terribly. They were one of his favorite flowers.

Anyway, for this journal entry I decided to experiment with Golden fluid acrylics, which are thin and mostly transparent, much like watercolors. I still used a black sharpie on the outlines, but painted over the lines some. I started to make the white dots on her hands and feet rounder, but I decided that I liked them kind of ragged. I enjoyed the acrylics for a change and am also using them on the canvas painting I have started. The text was added digitally. I may or may not do some more to the doodle, but, in the meantime, I hope she makes you smile. :)

"2 Hearts Connected"

This one is an atc doodle sketch, done in inktense pencils (ink in pencil form)/water/black sharpie, and digital text. I've entered it in my Mojoart group challenge for this month.

Thanks for visiting! Have a blessed day! :)

Creative Every Day Challenge

WOW! Three posts in one day! That's a record for me. :) I've also posted my creative endeavors for the "Getting to the HeART of it" festival on Valentine's day (click on the exploring my heart badge on the sidebar for details) and this week's Arty Girlz challenge. Now for this week's Creative Every Day creativity efforts.

I've been faithful in keeping a log of what I'm doing, which hasn't been that much this week, I'm afraid. We had a death in the family and my husband got home. He's retired now, so I'm going to have to get creative about my creative time, I guess. :)

Art Journal Pages

Monday...Mama and I had breakfast at the truck stop in town with my aunt and her family. We don't get to see them often. We had some creative conversation over chocolate gravy and biscuits, which was delicious. Back at home I read some inspiring blogs and typed some email letters to friends. I also worked on softening up some air dry clay that had hardened in the box. I added water to it. I had had it so long that when I got the urge to use it to make a doll it was already hard as a rock. :)

Tuesday...I decided to do one of my doodle drawings on a gallery wrapped canvas (below), drew out the image, and layed in the base colors in acrylics. The colors are not exactly accurate and there is a glare at the top, but you get the idea. She is playing a stringed "hart" (a cross between a heart and a harp). I'll post another photo when I finish it. I also posted some journal art and wrote comments to go with it for the HeArt Festival on my writing blog. Read some inspiring blogs. Worked on the clay some more.

Work In Progress-canvas ptg
Wednesday...Answered emails, thought of challenge ideas, touched up a painting done previously, danced with joy, and finally figured out how to add a cute background to my blog, however, after several try-ons couldn't find one that fit and left it plain for the time being. The clay was beginning to soften.

Thursday...It was beautiful, but cold, day and Sammidog and I took the long way around through the woods and fields to check on the cows. The big pond has an ice skim fozen over it and the sun was shining on it and the ochre/sienna colored sage grass around it. Beautiful. We had a good time. Also did a lot of online reading while I thawed out. The clay was getting very soft and moist.

Friday... Mama and I took an hour's drive each way through beautiful, unfamiliar country, crossing the bridge with spectacular views of the river on either side, to pick up hubby. It was a beautiful day for a drive in the country. My clay finally softened back up, so as soon as I have time, I'm going to try an art doll out of it.

Saturday... I did a small doodle sketch and painted it for this week's artygirlz challenge, and picked out an art journal page for the HeART Fest. Read online. Had a long, creative nap.

Sunday...Made photos of art and posted for challenges (see two previous posts--today's date) and added digital touches (the words and the digital spiral) to the art journal pages shared on this post, which are watercolor and black sharpie. That's it so far. If I do anything else today I will come back and add it. Now I need to get creative with housecleaning. :) Thanks for visiting! Have a great week.

Getting to the HeART of it- Blog Festival

click on to enlarge----Art Journal Pages

My heart has been closed or guarded at different times and for various reasons during my lifetime. I have experienced all of the labels on the hearts in the jar at one time or another and was sad, unhappy, and miserable.

Four years ago we lost my dad and my husband's mom six months apart. I loved them both dearly. We had one trauma after another for the next three years of that time. It was almost more than I could cope with, sending me into depression, anxiety attacks, and other health problems. I barely could leave the house and only when I had no choice.

The light is finally piercing my heart again and gradually filling it with light. The scars will always be there, but God's light is healing, and my heart is opening up to living again. Art and writing have also helped the healing process immensely. I'm very grateful for a passion for both.

These days I'm feeling really blessed and my open HeART is much happier. Some days it even sings!


Mother Henna is hosting a "Getting to the HeART of it" blog festival on her blog on Valentine's Day. If you want to play leave your link on her link page and on VDay she will post all the entries so we can all visit and see each other's hearts. :) If you want to play click on the Exploring My HeART badge on my sidebar for details.

Creative Every Day Challenge

I'm still playing and experimenting and having a blast doing it!

This is one of the journal pages I did this week. It's a watercolor sketch in my Moleskine sketchbook.

I didn't know you could hear butterflies, but you can. I was sitting outside last summer watching Jim do something and it was very quiet. All of a sudden a large yellow/black butterfly flew right over my shoulder next to my right ear. It was a very soft, fast thumping sound. I was so thrilled to have heard one. (It doesn't take a lot to amuse me, does it? :))

I also took some photos of Sammidog in his woolly lined coat that mama got him for Christmas. It was freezing out, but he didn't like the coat at all. It was a little snug since he's fattened up some. (See the cat in the background looking at him like he's stupid?) It wasn't long before the coat was laying in the yard and he was back in his house snuggled up. I managed to get a couple of pictures though. Here's one. Watch for more on my other blog.

Also, I continue to do my doodle sketches, at least one, every day and I did some sketching at night while watching TV, plus I finished the last assignment for a two year course on writing a novel this week. And I re-styled my hair, using actual hair curlers, which I hadn't used in years.

Sammiedog and I had to walk to check on the cows Saturday, because the four wheeler wouldn't start. That was a creative/playful experience in itself. It was very cold and quiet, but we enjoyed the walk immensely. You can see, hear, and experience so much more walking than you can over the roar of an atv. We could hear the birds, and the ground crunching under our feet. The ponds had a lot of ice on them, which was beautiful in the sunlight. We found a new baby calf curled up near a bush with his mama close by. My mind was whirling with images by the time we got back to the house and Sammidog had a blast running all over the fields.

Wish I had carried my camera with me, but I didn't. Would love to have shared it with you in pictures.

Below is a double page I did in my Moleskine sketchbook, which has cream colored pages, this morning. I used paint instead of my pencil to do my doodle sketch for a change. I haven't decided yet whether to draw the images out or collage and write something over it. It'll come to me, hopefully while I'm clearing some of the dust out of the house. :)

These pages were made using crimson and yellow ochre pan watercolors. I used a little too much water and one of the pages buckled a little, but it will straighten out. I used a hake brush to swipe the two colors all over the pages, let them settle a little, then dripped clear water around on them, let it settle some, then spattered red, then ochre, all over. Then, because I had used too much water and it was standing on the pages, I tilted the book and let it run. Finally, I used a blow dryer to blow it around and help it dry. This is what I wound up with.

I can see all sorts of images living together in there. Can you? :)

Anyway, these are some of the creative things I've been up to this week. Hope you enjoy. Wish I had more pictures to show you. Maybe next time. :)

Thanks for visiting and Have a wonderful, magical, creative week!

Playing and Rambling

This is another double page in my Moleskine sketchbook. It's a quirky sketch in watercolor, and the angel's wings are actually a water-based metallic copper, which looks cool in reality, but didn't show up so well in the photo. The words are original and digitally added. I am going to do some journaling around the words later.

Lately I'm doing a lot of experimenting and just PLAYing. I'm learning so much by doing that, besides having so much fun it's unreal. :)

I'm also working on the last assignment for a novel writing course that I should have finished months ago. It's the business part of the course and I hate that, so I've procrastinated. I have part of it done. Now I have to write a synopsis. I thought I would do that first thing this morning, but I got sidetracked. Another form of procrastination for me. :)

It's very cold today and supposed to be even colder tonight, like about 2 degrees. I noticed a cow acting like she was thinking about giving birth yesterday. I hope she waits until it warms up a little. I feel so sorry for outside animals in really cold or really hot weather.

They caught the prisoner. He was a white middle-aged male and was in prison for burglary. He escaped Friday night and got lost in the woods. They captured the woman who was waiting in the car before he got to her. They didn't catch him until Sunday night, so he was out all weekend in freezing, pouring down rain, with nothing to eat, huddling in out buildings. They transferred him to another prison. He didn't have long left to serve. A lot of times they escape so they can stay in prison. So far, nobody on the outside has been hurt when they escape, but there's always a chance that they will get cornered and hurt or kill somebody. Anyway, it ended well this time.

Have a blessed day!

3 Challenges in 1 + A Prison Escape

This double journal page is my entry for 3 challenges this week. Arty Girlz' challenge is "anything but a card". Inspire Me Thursday's challenge is "fuse". So I'm sharing journal pages, on which I'm "fusing" my art and writing together. I plan to write a little story around the words on the page to go with the picture, which I will then share on my writing blog Scribbles From Rabbit Hop. It's also one of the four double journal pages I've done this week for the Creative Every Day 2009 challenge.

It's a quirky journal sketch in my Moleskine sketchbook, done in ultra fine black sharpie, wc/pencils, and a touch of white gouashe. I was going for a dreamy feel. The letters were added digitally.

I wish the colors were better. The lady's hat is really purple. I couldn't get it adjusted. Maybe the colors don't look too garish on your pc. I promise it looks better in reality. I have to find a better place to make my photos. My dining room light is flourescent with a yellow cast and my walls are kind of a paprika color. Not too good for art pictures. :)

It's pouring rain here, and they called me early this morning that they've had a prison escape. They've never done that before. They usually catch them pretty quick, and often a female guard has helped them escape. The prison is about four miles from us and it houses murderers, rapists, etc. They didn't say which direction they thought he/they went.

Hubby left Wed. and I haven't checked the cows since then, so I really need to do so today, which is a little scary, since I have to ride through woods and fields. Maybe they will catch him/them pronto. Maybe I'll just stay in with the doors locked. This is another one of those times when the Be Brave challenge applies (see button on side for link). Makes me glad Sammidog adopted us, although he'd come nearer loving them to death than attacking. He's still mostly pup. Like I said, not too many dull moments around here. :)

Hope my sleepflyer makes you smile. Have a great, creative weekend!

IMT Challenge

This week's Inspire Me Thursday challenge is to use an Einstein quote. I chose "The most precious things in life are not those one gets for money" and digitally placed it on a favorite photo that I took through the dining room window one day. The photo quality is not great, but the scene kind of fit the quote, and it's true, the best things in life can not be bought. A noon day siesta in the shade with a loved one is one of those things. :)

I couldn't help but smile when I looked out the window and saw Tigger Top and Greybo spooning on the concrete rabbit bench in the shade. Yes, there are two cats on the bench if you look closely. The one behind is a light gray. :)

Waiting & My 2nd Blog Has Been Born

"Waiting" -quirky art journal sketch-pencil, black sharpie, wc pencils in sketchbook---Looks like they're getting impatient, doesn't it? :)

Drawing these images out from the doodles is still great fun to me. I look forward to getting up in the mornings to start doodling and sketching. It's become a habit that I hope I don't lose.

I did another brave thing, for me, yesterday (click on the Be Brave Project button at right-click for explanation). I've been thinking about a second blog for a while now, and yesterday I got up the nerve to give birth to one.

Moxie Blue will now contain my art related interests, photos of my creative experiments, etc., and the 2nd blog, Scribbles From Rabbit Hop, will hold my writing related interests, stories, personal experience pieces, things I've had published, etc.

I haven't been doing much writing on this blog except a little about my creative dabblings, but I've been wanting to. My other writing just didn't seem to really feel at home here. Now it has it's own home. I'm still getting things adjusted and set up, which may take a while, but I would love it if you would check it out sometime and leave a comment to say hello. Wish me luck with both my "blog babies." OK? :)

I've been trying for a while to get this post to publish correctly. The paragraphs are fine when I type and save them, but when I publish they all run together. I don't know what the problem is yet. Sorry!

Slump Days

It's been several days since I posted. I've been kind of in a slump for a few days. I'm having one of those weeks where I really want to write and create art and it's like the cork got put back in the creativity juice bottle, denying me access. My brain is coming up with ideas, but I just can't get myself to actually do anything. The weather has cooled up a bit; maybe that will help.

One bit of news, well actually two bits, my Mollie Be Muse art doll (see post/pic Aug 16) was chosen as winner of the Mojoart yahoo group challenge this month and is now gracing the homepage until the next challenge winner is chosen. Don't know yet what the next challenge is, but it will be fun. This one was a lot of fun. There were three other art dolls entered, among other great things, all made from recycled stuff, all adorable and unique. Mollie needed friends and she got some good ones. :)

I also got some very positive encouraging feedback from an assistant editor on a fictional short story that I submitted to the print magazine last March. I got an email reply this week making a suggestion for a revision in a couple of places to make the story better, which I am working on. She didn't say they were still considering the story, but she didn't say they had rejected it either. Kind of confusing, but we'll see what happens...

I did finish a book this week. I had started reading "Tara Road" by Maeve Binchey a few weeks ago, and though it was very hard to put down, I got sidetracked and didn't pick it up again until this week. It has all the elements of a good read and I found it well written, making me feel all sorts of emotions. The characters were all characters I really cared about and felt for and with. There is everything short of murder, and that came close, in this book. Love, anger, betrayal, adultery, addiction, abuse, friendship, loyalty, wasted years, success, failure, loss, suspense, blackmail, mystery, sadness, happiness are all there. All kinds of twists and turns building to a suspenseful climax and a satisfactory ending, although not the ending I expected.

I would recommend it if you haven't read it. It's not an edge of your seat thriller, but it's about the lives of ordinary people, how tangled up lives can get while they're trying to be lived, the strength that people find to face things they never thought they could, and peoples' need for each other. Very entertaining and at times thought provoking. At least to me. :)

Kind of Stumped

I meant to post before now, but I've been feeling blah for a few days, and besides it's too hot to do much. My sinuses have been acting up and I've decided that the allergy shots I've been taking weekly for almost a year are not helping so I think I'm stopping them. It's so hot and dry here that that doesn't help. Anyway, I'm feeling better today.

I've been on a mini-vacation of sorts for a couple of hours. I flipped through all my back issues of Somerset Studio looking for the issues that had altered shoes and art dolls. Didn't find the shoes, found a few altered dolls, none of which helped me, but I found all sorts of other projects to tempt me and plenty of gorgeous artwork to inspire me. I will have to look in some of my other art mags or do some online research for something to jumpstart my brain. :)

I am working on an art doll for the next mojo art group contest. We're supposed to take something headed for the trash/recycle bin and make something artsy out of it. I've been wanting to try an art doll, so I drew a pattern, cut her out of an old table cloth, got her sewn and stuffed, and kind of dressed out of throw away stuff. Now I'm stumped on how to embellish her. Nothing I have in my stash seems to work, at least not yet. I guess it would help if I really could think of a theme for her. At this point she looks kind of like a Vegas showgirl, but I want her to be more artsy. I'll come up with something. I still have a couple of weeks. If she turns out ok I'll post her pic on here, as well as in the group. Will let you know how it goes.

We're also talking about one for altered shoes if enough members are interested. I have shoes, but no ideas yet, which is why I was mining the magazines with no luck. :) It's fun though.

I've posted the links to the last two personal experience stories I had published online this summer. I actually still have three others online as well, but they are archived in the ezines, and I couldn't get the links to work. Now I need to get some more written, submitted, and hopefully published.

I'm also working on the second chapter of a novel, which has come to a halt for the time being. I was going full steam ahead and making progress on everything last week, then all of a sudden I reckon I ran out of steam. I don't know if it's the heat or what, but it's frustrating to be wanting to work on projects and not be able to figure out where you need to go with them. They will tell me when the time's right what they need. Til then I'll wait.

I guess now would be a good time to finish the novel I have over half read (Tara Road by Maeve Binchey), which is very good by the way. : )