Have been creating a little here and there

Think I have set an all time record for no blogging for me, anyway! It's been 2 months now! A friend mentioned a post I once did about trees and people on Facebook and it shamed me when I visited my own blog and saw how long it had been since I posted anything. I have been trying to get scans done of the mini-journal I mentioned in that last post, but it's been hard. My scanner is hooked up to my desktop and it is working vvvverrry slowly now. I think it either has a virus or spyware crap that I can't find or some settings are messed up that I'm not smart enough to figure out.

I was able to get some jewelry made this past week. Shown above are some asymmetrical earrings I made today. I wanted to use a jade floral charm I've had since I was young. I never wore it on a necklace anymore so I thought this would be a good way to wear it again. Below are 2 pics of  a necklace that started out with vintage blue glass beads from an old necklace that I cut up. Then they seemed to call for some more bright colors, so I mixed all colors of beads in with the blue. I like it although I'm not so sure about it still. I did get some funny looks when I wore it, so maybe I'm the only one that likes it.

The little journal is something I've worked on here and there with mostly little scraps from my art table. It was one of those sheets with punch out pages that you assemble together. I wanted to art it up so it was more my style. I made it so I could go back and journal in it. It ended up having some running elements throughout with an overall them of quirky!

Above the cover, closed.  Uses stamped and painted scraps of paper, flower brads, paper leaves, Stickles glitter here and there.

First page: watercolor painted and stamped vintage book pages, vintage text, Go embellishment

More stamped or painted paper scraps(color is off a bit in this scan, couldn't get it to fix) Used some gesso, markers, paint once elements glued down.  Plaid pocket has a marbled paper tag.

Still mostly scraps of paper with randomly chosen images, more stamped book pages

This is one of my favorites spreads in this little book.

More of the same. Some of the shaped paper trims I used in this journal were from some children's craft kit that had punch out shapes, strips in all kinds of colors.

I like this one, too, especially the left page. Used gesso to soften arond the edges and touches of paint, too.  Like the dreamy look it has. 

Yeah, weird, I know, lol!  Inspired by the stamp.  Again this one uses watercolor painted book pages.  I got some one day and just played around throwing colors on there in different ways.  I stamped on some of them.  Reminder to me: you need to take time to play like that again!

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Still playing around with craziness.  Some of these images like the dragon and the star were in a collage pack that a friend, Jane Widman, sent me in a swap one time.

Last page.  It is like a third page next to the spread shown above.  Actually the back cover of the book. This one didn't scan well either, maybe because of the plastic flower.  The colors look better than they show here and there is gold outlining making a tree that you can't really tell here.

Wish I could get back into some kind of artistic groove, but it just hasn't happened.  I keep feeling like I am in some kind of "waiting" mode, although I am not sure what I am waiting on.  Thought at first it was that I had to get adjusted to all the changes from my job and that may still be it, but fully expected to be over it by now.  There is still uncertainity about our farm and what we are going to do about that.  Perhaps it is having that in the back of my mind which keeps me like this.  My job does take much more time out of my life than I was used to since there are an additional 2 hours added to each day just commuting.  Also, there are no extra off days like I had at the hospital, either working 4 ten hour days per work week or a 7 on/ 7 off schedule.

I will just have to keep hoping and praying that I get my head all straightened out and that creativity will return as much as time allows.  We do take time to see Thomas and that is time I never regret.  Recently he turned 2 years old and we all celebrated that occasion with a trip to a petting farm near Tuscaloosa.  It was hot but we had a blast.  I'll close this long overdue post with few shots from that day.