Teesha, Thunderstom and Page Updates

     Day three of Teesha Moore's class and we worked on lettering and actually writing in our journals. I was still wrapped up in "collage" mode and had a hard time switching to writing. I wanted to write on my pages after I got home, when it is harder to do collage but easy to write with the time and space I have. Teesha was very kind and gave me lots of positive feedback, so I feel like I am on the right track. She very tolerantly allowed me to have a photo taken, something she does not enjoy, lol, but I can be a pain in the patootie when I want something. The woman with us is Sue. We are both staying at the bed and breakfast and met there the first night. We have been sitting next to each other in class and working on our journals back at the B&B each evening. She has taken a bazillion classes in all sorts of collage and visual journal type

techniques. She knows all the teachers and has participated in ATC swaps for quite a while and has a big collection. I really enjoyed hearing about all her experiences. A very talented and generous person I'm very glad to have met!
     I'm posting a few more photos of journal pages that I further embellished. It was fun to add the pen and marker details, though I always feel like I am not "done."  I only wrote a few things on a couple pages, so they will still develop further after I get home. If you ever have the chance to take a class with Teesha, I highly recommend it. She is a little on the shy side and does not really socialize with students over lunch or dinner, but she is very generous with her gifts and talents and shares it all. What more could a student ask for?

     After we got back to the ranch, a storm blew in over Lake Erie. It was very cool, though I couldn't catch any of the lightening with my camera. The clouds were still very scary though.  I could see the sheets of rain falling over the lake in the distance, like curtains, it was very cool. The front that came though brought a big wind too, knocking over the lounge chairs that were empty next to us. But did we run inside? No way, didn't want to miss the show of course. After the storm moved on, there was a fabulous rainbow and a stunning sunset. There is something so magical about a colorful sunset. It is awe inspiring as well as creative soul food. I wanted to swim in the colors that appeared tonight, though that may sound silly, that is the thought that popped into my head at the time.

     Lastly tonight, I finished up my first ATC, artist trading card, for my first swap, which has to be mailed out tomorrow! Talk about cutting it close. I had fun with it and will post photos next week. I have to wait till the recipient receives it before I can share a photo. So all in all, a tremendous day full of art, fun and beauty...life it good.
   

     And a Happy Birthday to my brother Rick!

Orthodontia and Rainbows

    The weather was as strange as the range between my daughter's orthodontia appt. and the brilliant partial rainbow over my neighborhood this evening. It was overcast on and off, rainy and sunny at the same time, muggy at times and then cool and breezy at others...such a crazy day.

     Tweaked some of my visual journal pages this morning, but won't get more done until tonight. Also going to attempt to make some "cupcake" bath bombs tonight...it takes two days, one day for the base and the next for the "frosting." They are just the cutest things and I love good bathtime treats, I'm well overdue for a good soak in the tub. Spent the day perusing bath bomb recipes along with problems and solutions others posted on various blogs, really helpful. Then I spent the afternoon looking for all the ingredients...citric acid is not so easy to find! It is one of those things I will have to order by mail in the future to get the best price, and that is if, IF, they turn out on this first go through. I will post photos at the end of the day tomorrow or the day after of the final product.

     I'm posting my "Sister Mary Sunshine" visual journal page. This one was created with one of my own photos of me, lol, because I do look at life on the bright side for the most part, I'm an optimist, always have been and always will be. I don't like the alternative...and life is just too short!


     And lastly, a few photos of the train case I am upcycling to use for my visual journal art supplies. You can see the original steel blue color in the photo where the case is tilted up since I have not painted the bottom yet. The lovely blue is the new base color. I will be adding more layers of color and fun down the line. And then you can see all the supplies I can fit nicely into the case in the last photo.