Scribble Picnic - EGG HUNT

Wanna go on a Scribble Picnic EGG HUNT?  How many eggs can you find?

Spring break started on Monday and since the students are not in school I took some vacation days this week.  I've been trying to take care of a few things around the house but most of all, I've been trying to put some of my stash of craft supplies to use.  That can be very distracting.  But it can also be inspiring.  

My egg was inspired by some scribbling and painting I had been doing over the last week or so.

My paper flowers were created with dies that I had picked up a few years ago and had not yet used.  I thought I would give them a try this week.   The only problem was that after I had them all die cut I found out the instructions that came with them referred me to a website that was supposed to have more complete video instructions, but since these particular dies have been discontinued, the video was not available.  So I had to fudge around with that daffodil a bit.  Thank goodness there's a good color picture of them on the packaging.  I'm liking how they came out and wish I had a stamp of my egg so I could make some cards with them.  

Had I known I was going to like the egg so much I would have made a copy of the black and white drawing before I painted it in.  (The violets below do not have their centers yet.  I spent some time searching the stamp cave for yellow flower soft and finally remembered that I didn't have yellow flower soft at all.  So I had to result to using my cut paper technique to get those fuzzy looking centers you see above.)

Well, I hope you have an enjoyable Easter or Passover, and beware of April Fools!  I think we might be taking a little trip to Cape May this week for a birthday lunch and some shopping, but our Easter will be quiet.  We visited Rachel and her boyfriend Ryan in their new house in DE last weekend and our son and his family are planning the little guy's 2nd birthday for next weekend so we'll all be together then.   

So for now, I hope you join me in hunting down all the eggs the Picnickers have hid for this Egg Hunt by clicking here.  Stay tuned for the new theme.

Playing With Colors

Just playing around with some art supplies and color.  

Mini Scrap Collages 57-63/365

First Day of Spring

Scribble Picnic - CREAMS

When I first saw the Scribble Picnic theme "CREAMS" I was a bit confused.  There are so many ways to use or interpret this word.  Ice cream, egg cream, face cream, candy cream, cream soda, cream in your coffee, cream puff, creamed corn, cream of the crop, cream cheese, creamed spinach, cream of tartar..... but with the "s" at the end CREAMS must be something specific....... or not.  I had some good suggestions from Christine and Sabrina but ultimately, since I often find myself doing this the night before it's due, I decided to do go with the first thing that popped into my mind.......Cream-colored ponies (with crisp apple strudel - not visible but making me hungry for it none-the-less).

I don't believe I've ever ridden a real pony, but I do know that I have ridden carousel ponies many times.  I'm not much of one for the scary rides on the boardwalk or at amusement parks and neither is my husband so our kids missed out on those thrill-rides when they were with us.  But we have pictures of them on the carousel, aka merry-go-round, from our yearly family vacations when they were younger.  

So, I will take a gander at what the rest of the picnickers are bringing to the picnic.  You can join me by clicking here.  And should you care to join us next week, the theme is Egg Hunt!

Jingle Belles - Sing a Song of Christmas

Some of you that visit might not realize that the Jingle Belle challenge is a two-week theme.  Besides giving us two weeks to finish a card or two, they also provide us with beautiful inspirational cards of their own that they feature in the second week posting.  This would be Sing a Song of Christmas (see it even has it's own title).  

We're snowed in yet again today, so I got some time to play in the stamp cave uninterrupted.  (I've also been binge-watching Longmire on Netflix so it's been twice as enjoyable.)

The designer paper has a subtle sheet music background and even though the words that are stamped with the deer are not a Christmas song, the sentiment that came with this is a line from "Silent Night" - all is calm all is bright.  In the picture the black stamping looks a little drastic, but rest-assured, it's not as emboldened IRL.  

Okay, now I really have to get going to view all the other contributions from the last two weeks.  Please take a look at the wonderful samples from Lauren and Steph along with the entries for this week.  I'm sure you'll enjoy them all.  

Jingle Belles - Hark the Herald Angels Sing

This fortnight the Jingle Belle theme is musical.   I've had this planned in my head for the last week but, true to form, I let this go practically to the last minute.  You know how it is when you plan something in your head and then you can't find what it was that you wanted to use? Well, that's unfortunately what happened here.  I really wanted to use some sheet music that was more condensed, but I couldn't find that stash and had to go with this one.  The tree stamped in the star are the words to one of my favorite carols "O Holy Night".  

Word of caution, don't look at it too long, you might get a headache thanks to that busy background.  What was I thinking!  Well, there's always time before December to have a redo.  

So let me scurry off to finish up the second card and get them both posted in time.  You can check out all the other musical-themed cards by clicking here.

Mini Scrap Collages 50-56/365

Scribble Picnic - ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

There's a lot going on out in the universe that we don't understand and probably are not even aware of.  Could there be life as we know it on some distant planet?  And if there was, what could we do with that knowledge? Staying a little closer to home, this blue planet in our neck of the universe has many mysteries of it's own that we are still striving to learn about.  How does the whole of the universe affect us here? There are many forces in our own solar system that influence events here on Earth.  So it's not hard to believe that there are forces in the universe that by entering our solar system have an effect on us in turn.  We know that the gravitational pull of the moon controls our tides and that solar flares cause magnetic impulses that can give us the northern and southern lights or aurora borealis but what else out there is controlling our planet?  What other star flares or gaseous clouds might play a part in the life of our planet?  

Looking at a recent weather map of the latest Nor'easter we've just weathered, it appeared to me to look a little like a cross between solar flares and the northern lights.  Actually, there is a magnetic storm predicted for today which might give some of you a view of the northern lights tonight. 

I've only seen them once in my lifetime here in NJ and honestly don't remember much of what they looked like because I was only about 10- or 11-years-old and had never heard of them before.  We had been visiting an uncle a few towns over and it was cold and late, but I remembered the words "aurora borealis" as sounding strange and beautiful.  Only years later would I actually learn what it was that I had seen. 

I used some Posca paint pens to recreate the weather map.  I started with some large blocks of the main colors and then added the stroke work.  I found it very relaxing as I have with the wind maps that I have done with markers in the past.  And I really love the vibrancy of the colors in this.  

I hope all the picnickers up north get a chance to see those lights tonight.  Think of me if you do.  It's going to be cloudy here so even if it were to extend this far, the clouds would obscure it.  

Speaking of the picnickers, it's time for me to head over to Scribble Picnic and see how else the universe influenced the artwork this week.  You can join me by clicking here, and should you like to join in the fun, our theme for next week is  CREAMS which I think I might have to get some clarification on.  

Mini Scrap Collages 43-49/365

Sharing Their Creativity (Way Overdue!!!)

I've been going through some pictures this last couple of days as I keep getting that dreaded message "Storage Full" on my cell phone.  And not only that, I actually filled a card on my big camera (over 2,500 pictures) which needed gleaning.  I do transfer everything to my laptop but I've been lax about backing that up and those on my phone (even though my phone has a cloud - I have no idea where that cloud is or how to get to it) so I hadn't been deleting a lot that I should have.  I have an external drive for the laptop and I recently purchase a Picture Keeper drive for the camera and used some of my "snow day" time taking care of those things.  In the process I came across pictures that I regretfully have not published sooner because they are a testament to the talents of the creative souls that I have found a bond with over the years through the internet.

Let me start with the Christmas cards and what came with them.  The first is from Sabrina.  She used her fingerprints to creative the most adorable little penguin!  Sabrina hails from Ireland and we met via Splitcoast Stampers (remember the Teapot challenges?).  She is still an avid participant in most of the challenges at Splitcoast and is always trying new techniques.  I always love seeing what she will come up with next.  

Sabrina made me a little tetraptych or quadriptych (having four panels).  This is the front.

And the panels when opened have trees representing the four seasons paying homage to my use of this very set to celebrate the 60th birthday's of my Table 7 gang.  She wanted me to be represented and I absolutely love this as the subject matter is very close to my heart.  There is so much texture to the framing of the trees.  So much detail and thought went into it!

My friend Lauren, of Jingle Belles fame and who happens to live pretty near me, sent me this gorgeous creation.  If you've ever visited the Jingle Belles blog after viewing my posts on the challenges, you must have seen her wonderful works.  She not only makes beautiful cards, she is skilled at mixed media collaging, and also loves trying new products and new techniques.  I was lucky to have spent a day with her this summer doing just that.  

She created this wrap for the gift she sent me.  She printed the design on the paper using her techniques and talents and then decorated it with more torn paper and sari silk.  This to me is just as much a gift as what it wrapped.

Sunshine sent me this from her home in New Zealand.  Such a sweet image and a clever interactive card.  She is always trying new card designs and I am lucky that she has shared these with me.  

And Sunshine, one of my Pig Ladies, sent me this lovely card to celebrate Pig Day.  

She not only makes cards, she makes "Mail Art".  All of the envelopes that I've ever received from her are decorated so beautifully.  I know that she loves doing this and I love getting them!

My friend Clare in California who I met through blogging, is an accomplished origamist, dollmaker, and mixed media artist.  She recently held a giveaway through her Facebook page for Skeleton & Elf and I was the lucky winner.  In my "prize" package were a myriad of delightful things.  These origami crane ornaments that she made are so beautiful.  

And here is the book that she made of the adventures of Skeleton & Elf from 2015.  I know some might question her sense of humor but I find it wonderfully entertaining.  Ya gotta laugh!  She has her little elf (on the left in the picture) that she had growing up and that resembles that little Elf on a Shelf you see at the holidays, and her little skeleton in his elf hat, and all during the month of December, instead of the elf getting into trouble all by himself, Skeleton puts the screws to the elf and there are some pretty precarious (and comical) situations.  You have to laugh!  I've followed these adventures for a few years and always thought that she should make a book of them and luckily she did, and lucky for me I got one!

She also sent me this wonderful coloring book which I am enjoying.

And she is also one of my Pig Ladies and sent along this sweet flying pig ornament.......

and a very functional flying pig decorative hook for me, as well as this gorgeous card.  Oh, and lest I forget, in the picture above of Sabrina's gift, the background is a lovely turquoise scarf that Clare also sent along in my prize package.  I was truly overwhelmed with the thoughtfulness that went into this.

And I am, dare I repeat it again, truly blessed to have made the acquaintance of such talented and generous women from such faraway places.  Hugs to all of you!

Scribble Picnic - OPERA

This week's Scribble Picnic theme is OPERA.  This didn't come easily, and in fact it is a stretch but I think, er I hope, you will find it fun.

O is for Opera and Owls so how about some Operatic Owls

O - Oberon, King of the Fairies in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream

P - Pamina, Daughter of the Queen of the Night in Mozart's Die Zauberflote

E -Emilia, Wife of Iago in Verdi's Othello

R - Reiza, Daughter of the Caliph of Baghdad in Weber's Oberon

A - Angelica, Queen of Cathay in Handel's Orlando

Don't be fooled that I actually knew those characters or operas - Google is very helpful with these things.  But no amount of Google could get HWNSNBP to find the "word" in the picture so I've illuminated it somewhat below.  

And here are some real owls and their opera....

I actually got to post this early today because we're having a snow day that's proving to be somewhat of a bomb.  They kept hyping up this second Nor'easter and we are in the 8"-12" belt on all the maps but so far (noon EST) just our grass is covered and the roads are just wet though it's been snowing since early this morning.  Realistically, we could have had school today, but now we will be adding another day to the end of the year to make up for today.  I really don't mind as I work all year, so this is truly a "day off" for me that I don't have to make up.  However, if we need another day they will be taking back the day before Memorial Day weekend which I will not like to lose.  So, I'm just going to have a pajama snow day and make the best of it by catching up on some projects and visiting the other Picnickers to see how they interpreted this theme.  Click here to join me.  

Next week the theme is ACROSS THE UNIVERSE which should prove to be very interesting.  Anyone want to try some "alien art"?

EDIT:  We wound up getting about 10 or more inches of very heavy snow.  Lost a few limbs of the pines and nearly lost the cable line.  Turned into a 2-day off situation.