Protect Her

Angel Falls, Venezuela

The world's highest waterfall, as seen on the 'Fresh Water' episode of Planet Earth.


Our beautiful planet is so fragile -

WE MUST HANDLE WITH CARE! ... here's a way that you can raise your voice along with other artists

Thank you, Neda for the inspiration to join hands, hearts, pens and paintbrushes and

DO SOMETHING TOGETHER

to support environmental awareness - please take a moment, follow her link & find out how!

Humpback Whales, Tongo, South Pacific

Underwater camerman, Doug Allan filming as seen on Planet Earth.

Listen with your heart

"Never Too Late"

For where your treasure is,

there will your heart be also.

~ Luke 12:34

Have you shared a similar experience? Several years ago I began to notice an odd pattern. Digital clocks would often be at 12:34 when I glanced to check the time!

About two years ago, the subject came up with a few of my close friends. We were sharing odd or unique experiences and I mentioned my "relationship" with 12:34. Immediately, those instances began to increase. Normally I would consider it to be what I call "selective perception" however, I have a favorite aunt (90 years young) who firmly believes "There are NO COINCIDENCES!"

Anxious to understand more, I turned to a dear friend to see what she thought of all this! Her pearl of wisdom: lets look up the chapter and verse in the Bible. The one I wrote above is the line I selected WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT. It has held a special meaning for me, ever since.....

and I'm listening to my heart!

Art Journaling

I just found these AMAZing tutorials on art journaling from a link on art junk girl's blog! Thanks, Lia! The artist is suzi blu, a "mixed media artist who documents her life through vlogs on youtube and sells artwork on eBay."

After spending an hour perusing Lia's lovely blogs and catching up with what SHE'S been up to, it all turned out to be the perfect inspiration/information I needed to get my "art on" today!

P.S. Thanks to Inspire me Thursday for starting this whole thread!! Their JOURNAL Challenge is one of several weekly challenges. Others are REFLECT ~ CONNECT ~ EXPLORE ~ CREATE! Go and check out this inspiring site!

Distress Technique

"blessings"

A comment was made on my flickr site (link is to the right) that this looked as if I'd used a wax technique! Actually, I have YET to use the beeswax purchased a year ago. Here's how I achieved that effect.

Technique Described:

Begin with your favorite ATC "blank." I typically use an old playing card measuring 3.5" x 2.5." Careful since all cards do not have the same dimensions.

- add a layer of white gesso, dried

- orange distress ink, direct-to-paper

- using one of the many lovely intage images from art-e-zine I made a gel medium transfer. I decided to use the POSITIVE since the negative didn't leave enough of an image to be recognizable. Cut out and attached to the card with gel medium.
- turquoise acrylic ink applied with my fingertip

- layered some distressed-looking numbers

- added a halo by painting gesso on the bottom of a bottle of glue and stamping it

- finished with my favorite final effect, GLAZE!

Now go and be creative!

Ponder This!

"A word is not a crystal,

transparent and unchanged;

it is the skin of a living thought

and may vary greatly

in color and content

according to the circumstances

and time in which it is used"

~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. ~

Fading Fast

There it is, in your rear-view mirror.. going, going, GONE! Summer has officially ended in the states, now that Labor Day Weekend is over.

"Beauty and the Beach"

Our family has been spending the summer at the south jersey shore since my grandmother was a little girl in 1890's. My brother & I are the fourth generation from Philadelphia that only had a 90-minute drive to the resort towns on this part of the Atlantic Ocean!

His two sons, born in Connecticut (where I have lived for 30+ years) have returned EVERY SINGLE summer for the past 23 years! AND, I'm excited to tell you I will be going back with my mom for one week beginning September 10th to take another walk down memory lane! As they used to say, we're looking forward to "having sand in our shoes!"

By the Sea - 101 years old!

This lovely young lady on the diving board, has a bathing suit that is trimmed in dark brown German Glass Glitter! The card reads, "Who's Afraid?"

"Horseplay" is postmarked Jul 20 1906 Ocean City, N.J. and is addressed in my grandfather's boyhood handwriting to his mother "Mrs J.E.Farquhar, 161 S.Burlington Street, Gloucester City, N.J."

Both are part of a much larger postcard collection that once belonged to my father's father.