Look what I found…..

I found these wonderful old Vogue magazine covers over at Miss Moss.  I’m posting two of the covers from her site and she has even more of them at  flickr.    I won’t tell how long I spent looking at her past blog posts.  Miss Moss (Diana)  is a graphic designer who lives in Cape Town, South Africa.  She has tons of photos in her favorite areas of fashion, art, design and photography.

I also found a cute video….less than two minutes long.  It was on I SUWANNE.  If you love dogs and toddlers…you will love this video.  Plus, this blog is another photo laden blog with lots of everything on it.  The video isn’t on You Tube or I would have put if directly on here….check it out, guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.

Wait! I did find it on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PNZa2ht_34

Duct tape journal…..

I forgot to take photos of the duct tape journal I made last week.  Karen over at “Mail Me Some Art” has several swaps going on at once….click on her Mail Art button over on the right to see what she’s got going on this month and in the near future.   I decided to participate in the duct tape journal swap.  Click here to see my journal and the short video she made of the inside of my journal.

Diana Trout has a You Tube video about how to make a duct tape journal.  Click here to view that video. Diana even started a Flickr group for those making duct tape journals.  They are super easy to make….no sewing…use junk mail or other papers you may in your scrap paper bin.  

Here’s a photo of our dog Toby.  It was one of the first I took with my new camera (Canon Power Shot A2300).  He is sitting in front of the sunroom door in direct sun. He’s not a huge fan of being photographed. (like me) 🙂   I like the play of darks and lights.

                               This is interesting…if you should happen to have leftover Halloween candy….here’s some creative recipes to use that extra candy….Snickers Cheesecake sounds yummy 🙂 

Still standing……….

We went on a road trip today.  Totally spur of the moment idea.  The leaves are starting to change colors,  so,  we decided to drive over to Mountain View, Arkansas.  We headed down Highway 56 going through Franklin and Violet Hill.  From Brockwell, we went on toward Calico Rock.  At Calico Rock, we turned on Highway 5, going south through the Sugarloaf Mountain range.  We went through Optimus, Arkansas and winding on in toward Mountain View. This craggy old tree caught my attention going to Mountain View so I made a note to self to have my driver(hubby) stop on the way back so I could take a photo of the tree……I call it

“Still Standing.”

This is where we ate lunch:

This is a little flag flying on the town square in Mountain View:

Rock formations on the east side of Calico Rock:

Here are some of my latest sketches:

more nature photos and some of my doodles…..

Fall is in the air….cooler nights and warmer days.  The leaves haven’t started to turn colors here….after our drought, I’m wondering if they will just turn brown and fall off the trees.  Time will tell.  I have some more photos from Sunday and some of my doodling in my old book.  I am about to get my art mojo back again….I think, I hope. 

These photos are of a wild rose bush and a shrub with red berries.  I don’t know what the bush is….I’m sure it has a name….I need to do some research and see if I can find out about it.

I forgot about this photo, it shows moss on the ground growing up the side of the tree, all running together:

I think I will pick these rose hips….not sure what I will do with them.  I could make tea?

   

This photo is the interesting shrub:

NOTE:  Jenny left a comment that this may be a Dogwood….she’s correct.  I didn’t know that they had berries in the fall.  The article that I am linking states that the trees are usually 15 years or older before they have berries.

http://gardening.about.com/od/galleryofgardens/ig/Red-Flowers-and-Foliage/Dogwood-Berries.htm

flowers for this week…

Here are my current entries for the May Flower Challenge. I haven’t been keeping track of how many I have posted.  This past Saturday was my birthday.  My hubs went all out this year and got me a dozen white Roses.  They have been so pretty but now the petals are starting to droop.  This first photo is one of the blooms:

These next two photos are wild flowers that grow in our area.  I don’t know the name of the daisy-like flower…I have heard some say they are Black-eyed Susan.  The white flower is Queen Anne’s Lace.  These are very common along the roadsides, fields, and along the edges of some yards.

This next photo is my neighbor’s Hydrangea Bush.  It can’t decide which way to go…having both pink and blue blooms and shades in between:

These last three photos are some pieces I’ve made the past few days.  The first one is started with collage pieces that had been painted and inked.  I glued them onto a small page in my big journal.  I used watercolor and pen to define some areas.

Wallpaper flower with a doodled background:

As you can see, this isn’t a flower.  I glued some pieces of security envelopes, junk mail and scrapbook paper in my small Strathmore watercolor journal.  I used two kinds of pens to doodle…one being my old standby: Sharpie fine point marker.

Flowers Today…

I have four florals for the May Flower Challenge.  In a few days, I hope to post some faces for the 29 faces challenge. This first one is a photo I took this morning.  These are some lilies my daughter gave me for Mother’s Day about three years ago. I’m not a photographer and I use a litte Canon Power Shot camera.  I did do some alterations with PicMonkey editing program…I should have left the photo like was origianlly 🙂

The next one is a flower doodle in my old book:

Watercolor and acrylic background with stencil and pen work:

….and the last one is a mini embroidery piece I put onto a quilt block:

The Green Shamrock and Local Color…

I found one  Irish postcard among my small collection of old postcards.  This one is postmarked 1908.  The people who touched this card have long since left this earthly plane.  The back side shows an address that the card went to Miss Mabel Galloway, 261 Jay Street, Utica, NY and is simply signed Gerald….no message, just his name written in pencil. This card was illustrated by the noted artist, Ellen H. Clapsaddle.

I took the backroad to the post office today…here’s some of our local color.  My mom grew up in this area. A few days ago, the two of us were on the same road and she was telling me about the people who lived along the road.  She knew the couple who lived in the old log cabin.  The Red Bud trees are popping out all over here in our little corner of the Ozarks.

If you double click on the first photo, you should be able to see all the photos in a slideshow format:

Photos, Etc.

Last Monday, we took our visiting friend on a trip to Memphis…or he took us 😀  For those of you who have been to Memphis, you will recognize each one of these shots.  The restaurant  sign on Beale Street  is where we ate lunch.  The restaurant where we wanted to eat  is closed on Mondays.  The first two shots were taken at the visitor’s center after you cross the bridge.

                                                                                                                                                                                     

                                                                      

            On Thursday, I sent out my Feminine Frills Swap art to Michelle.  She should get it today. I got the one she did for me yesterday.  I haven’t scanned it yet.  Here’s the one I did for her….I printed a smaller version of the “not plain vanilla” face and used it again as the face for this one.  The second photo shows the back of the mailing envelope.  

        

Spring Day Photos

I was able to take some more photos yesterday as we went on a “road trip.”  It was a perfect day…not too hot…not too cold.  We have a houseguest and we wanted to show him some of the local sights.  The trees haven’t leafed out yet.  We went further south from where we live and we did see one or two Redbuds beginning to bud out.  I’ll share a few of my photos.

“Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day.”  W. Earl Hall

                  

All of these photos were shot along the White River at Calico Rock, Arkansas

End of Winter Photos

It’s been a busy week.  My granddaughter was planning to come over today and visit with us but hubs got sick last night and we decided to postpone it until next week.  I did take some photos in the yard this afternoon. I am looking for some photos to practice sketching. Yes, I’m taking another class.  I’m taking Alisa Burke’s class,  Sketchbook Delight, that actually began last month. I have been watching the first few videos and I am enjoying it immensely.  I was looking for things with a lot of texture and contrast and here are some of the photos I took outside today:

 This a stump from a Mimosa Tree that we had cut down about three years ago.  It was scored to hasten its decaying process.

A close up of one of the succulent plants that made it through winter.

We have lots of rocks here in the Ozarks and this is a fine speciman…look at all the color and contrast.

 This little half decayed leaf is looking rather shabby after going through winter.

And this Dandelion is getting an early start.  It’s looking as if we’ll have another good “crop” of them in the backyard this spring.

(Click on any photo to get a closer look)