What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 266

This will be a short entry as my sons are arriving today.  Desk is neat & tidy this week because I HAD to clean my office.  And my desk was a disaster.  Allistair didn't help when he decided push everything off the end of the desk so he could curl up take a nap!  He sort of forced me to acknowledge that I needed to start cleaning.  Everything is done but the closet...that is a whole other day of cleaning.

Black & White with a touch of Blue

 I used my Hobby Lobby 40% off coupon to purchase VIVA Modeling Cream. I was looking for something different to add texture to my work.  I like this as it went on smooth and pushed through a stencil with ease.  The VIVA Ferro Special Effect Paste is harder to work with as it is gritty and doesn’t push through the stencil as easily.  For the touch of blue I used Liquid Pearls in Royal Blue.

Black & White

I completed the next ACT in this same series; this one is simply black and white.  I started with a preprinted ATC which I normally don’t use but I felt it needed some kind of pattern in order to offset the lack of color.

The winner of the giveaway was… pearshapedcrafting!  Please email me (it is on my profile page) as I was unable to find your email via Blogger.

Off to get some last minute things done before the boys arrive.  With all the storms that have been occurring here in the Midwest, I hope everyone is safe and dry!

Sneaking peeks at other’s creative spaces at What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday  Won’t you join in on the fun!  We would love to see what’s on your work desk!

Celebrating One Year of Blogging!

Selfie: working in an art journal

One year ago today I sat nervously at this desk and created my first blog post.  I had already spent several weeks navigating Blogger, selecting the right template, figuring out how to put the blog page together the way I wanted it.  I worried no one would read it.  But then as I visited other bloggers I noticed that many were doing it for themselves, that what I had read was wrong; having tons of followers was not the true objective.  I was learning, stretching, and challenging myself, which was my original intent.

My post have evolved as have my post yet I have not been able to settle into a “routine” for posting.  I have two weekly memes which I participate in and feel at home with and I am challenging myself to post outside of those.  Scary sometimes!  While having tons of followers isn't the objective, knowing there is someone out there reading your posts and leaving comments makes the process more enjoyable.

 Coming to one conclusion

After a year I am still struggling with finding my life’s purpose.  What I have learned is that I want to leave teaching young people.  It is no longer fun nor gratifying. State mandates have taken the spontaneity out of teaching and replaced it with data documentation, test taking mandates, and over all fear mongering.  Now I need to work on the next phase of my life. 

Art Journaling

Still feeling the stress.

Inspired by Patty’s (Radish Blossoms) morning pages, I have begun working in a new journal to just do collage work.  No rules, no judging; just putting in pieces of ephemera that inspire me.   I catch my left brain chiming in and getting bossing at times about coordinating colors and patterns; I’m still working on quieting that voice.  Creating these pages is helping me do that.  I also find myself still waking up 0 dark-thirty (wee hours of the morn).  To alleviate this, I am trying to do some quiet work before going to bed.  Working on these collages helps slow my racing mind, turn off all the to-do lists, and prepare me for sleep.

 

Free Pass: to let go of judging while creating this page

Giveaway is today; tonight 7:00 pm EST to be exact.  I can’t wait!
 

Altered Golden book Junk Journal

Thank you to everyone who has left comments, been supportive, and who are following my humble blog.  I appreciate you all so much!

This week’s challenges

 Summer of Color: Week 4

Color pallet this week is Pink & Apple Green, with a Smudge, Splash or Pop of Dark Green.  Fun colors!  I had no idea what to do until I received a small goodie bag of die cuts from @Kimmi50)  over at Swap-bot.  Inside was a dress form in the shades of this week’s challenge. 

I dug through my scrapbook papers and went to work mod podging them down then used bubble wrap to put the paint down.  Fun, freeing, and easy!  The photo is from the Grand Rapids Art Prize.  My original thought was to use a photo of pink phlox but I loved this VW Bug and it was the perfect shade of apple green. 

After finishing the page I sprayed it with Heidi Swapp’s color shine spray.

Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt:

 Did not fare as well this week but I love the rural landscape I was able to find.  We wanted to get out of the house as it was such a gorgeous day!  We visited the beach at Seven Lakes State Park then went for a short hike.  Got this shot: 

#18: A water fall (2nd shot)

Could not resist snapping this photo of Orange Milkweed - Asclepias tuberosa.

 The hubby drove the back roads home in hopes of finding a cool farm, field, and/or fence.  I saw this and knew this was the shot. 

#7: A rural landscape

 

This barn with the mural was across the road.  Rather unusual so I snapped a shot of it as well.

Reminder: Giveaway ends Monday, July 7^th.

My 1 year Blogiversary is July 7th.  To celebrate, I am creating an Altered Golden book Junk Journal. 

Here are a couple more sneak peeks: 

Go HERE to follow the directions for entering.  Good Luck!

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 264

Dining room table: turning chaos into an organized binder

I decided to let you in on a dirty little secret; I've been sticking my received swaps in a drawer instead of organizing them in a binder.

Full Swap-bot junk journal

When my Swab-bot Junk Journal became too full, I started organizing a binder but never finished.  After I rated each swap I was piling them on my desk then stashed them in a drawer.  I decided that once school got out I was going to get them organized and STAY ORGANIZED! 

 

Chaos organized into an already bulging binder

You can view the binder HERE.  I plan to add photo as series swap pages become full. 

Giveaway sneak peek

altered gift bag page

Journaling pages

To get this done on time, I have been completing one page, front and back, each morning.

If you still have not entered for the giveaway visit HERE.  

 Swapping

ATC: Black & White with touch of PURPLE

I joined another series swap, Black & White with a Touch of _________.  This is a challenge for me as I have not practiced creating Zentangles which would lend itself well for this swap.  Because I like to create ATC’s with texture and depth, I experimented using drywall tape and pastes.  For the one on the right I used model paste.  After it dried I sprayed it with Dylusions black ink and Perfect Pearls in pewter. I used Silks acrylic glaze in boysenberry for the touch of purple.  This is the one my partner got.  For the one on the left I used Ferro Special Effect Paste.  Looking at it now, I wish I had used a stencil with a larger design.  I opted to not send my partner this one as it still needs something, just not sure what.  Any suggestions?

 

RAINBOW OF COLOURS - FLOWERS ATC - #9 (Rainbow Flower Flourish)

This is the final ATC for the series RAINBOW OF COLOURS – FLOWERS.

Sneaking peeks at other’s creative spaces at What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday  Won’t you join in on the fun!  We would love to see what’s on your work desk!

Celebrating my 1 year blog anniversary with a giveaway!

Allistair supervising

It's WOYWW hosted by Julia at Stamping Ground.   Want’s on Your Workdesk? Wednesday is about sharing your workspace and what you have been creating during the week.  If this is your first time hearing about it click on the blue text and you will find a list of amazing artists waiting to meet you (and you get to peek in on their desks)!

Here is what I've been working on this week:

Week 1 color prompt was Aqua Blue & Yellow with a Smudge, Splash or Pop of Hot Pink

Week 1 Summer of Color

Months of the Year ATC Series - June

RAINBOW OF COLOURS - FLOWERS ATC - #8 (Pink Flower Flourish)

ATC Challenge: Gifted Treasures (Ying & Yang)

 For this swap, we were only allowed to use supplies that we had been gifted via swaps.  I wanted badly to distress the edges or add some paint but I couldn't as the only paint I had been gifted was some glitter glue.

Flower ATC Swap #2- Daisies/Coneflowers (Dance in the daises)

To the giveaway:

Allistair "helping "me write my post for the giveaway.  He pushed keys, knocked back the screen then napped.

July 7th will mark this blog’s one year anniversary.  To celebrate I am giving away an altered Golden book junk journal.  This is a sneak peak of the unfinished version.

If you want to see a finished version my altered books go here.

Here’s the rules for the giveaway:

1.        Be a subscriber: Select: Subscribe in a Reader (in the upper right column)  then complete by following me via Feedburner.  *(if you are already following me via email you can skip this step)

2.      Leave a comment in response to the give-away  AT THE END OF THIS POST.

Giveaway closes Monday, July 7^th at 7:pm EST

If you want, put it on your sidebar and let me know (your name will be put in the hat an extra time for this).  You don't have to be a WOYWW participant to enter.

 Thank you for helping me celebrate the milestone!

A note about selecting the winner:  I opted not to go with Random Generator or Rafflecopter.  My goal is to get more subscribers  so I want to reward those who subscribe to my blog.  If you are concerned about not getting you name in the hat, don’t be!  I’m a left-brained, anal retentive science teacher… I triple check everything!  Thank you to 505whimsygirl.blogspot.com  for your tip.

And the winner is... pearshapedcrafting!