What's Going On

Things have been happening underfoot, 

and by that I mean literally under our feet.

A couple months ago, hubby decided to do something about our

upstairs floors, which were badly in need of help.

We decided to sand, stain and seal the ugly painted wood. 

Sounds good in theory, but my advice to you is: 

Never do this if you are living in the house.

Before and after

 When I say "we", I mean my husband; this was his project

and he did all the work with some help from our son.

It was nasty, stinky, dusty work, but they did a great job.

I have to say, the first two rooms turned out awesome.

The trouble is, the room that's left is my office/creative space.

I've begged, argued, procrastinated, used logic,

and threatened to get them to leave my space alone.

After all, you can barely even see the floor in there.

What a waste of all that work!

But I have finally run out of arguments,

and I will be packing up all of this and more

by the end of the week and putting it . . . somewhere else.

This includes my computer. I'm hoping I will still

be able to visit blogs etc., but it's going to seriously curtail

any attempt at artsy-type work (or play).

Ugh, I imagine I'll find some stuff I didn't even know I had.

Plus, in a cruel twist of fate, 

the stairs to my bedroom on the third floor 

are inside this room, and it's the only way to get up there. 

I'll be losing my bedroom, bathroom, and office/art room

all at the same time. The first rooms were off-limits

for about two weeks. I feel almost homeless!

Alright, chin up and quit whinging and whining.

Better go find some boxes . . .

Inspiration Avenue Weekly Challenge

Summer Sunrise

I'm not sure what prompted me to begin painting this picture.

Maybe I've been reading too many historical novels

and have a yearning to live in Medieval times.

But being a woman in the middle ages would just s-u-c-k.

So never mind that.

I didn't set out to do it for the Summer Sun challenge,

in fact I added the rising sun on the right side so I

could use it for the challenge, eeek. But I'm

rather happy I put it in ~ I like the idea of the forest girl

with her owl standing on the edge of the woods as the sun comes up.

It's painted on rather rough wood, 

and I wish I had used a smoother surface. 

But I think I may just give it a coating of beeswax so that:  

a) it smoothes out a bit, and

b) I have to stop fiddling with it.

Beeswax is so final isn't it. . .once it's on there,

you are truly finished. Unless anyone knows how to

get it off so more paint can be added?

I have another painting of a woman, and I am dying to

re-do her mouth, but alas, she is coated with beeswax. . .

Stop over at Inspiration Avenue on Sunday afternoon ~

the Summer Sun entries will be posted there.

Hope the weekend is treating you well!

Inspiration Avenue Weekly Challenge

Love is in the Air

So Romantic is the theme this week at Inspiration Avenue,

prompted by the lovely Stephanie of Dragonfly Design Studios.

What could be more romantic than love in a garden?

I'm not sure, exactly, since I am the most unromantic person I know.

But with the sweet-smelling peonies, and kisses, and smoldering looks,

surely romance is in the air.

The peonies are from my garden, and the luvver-ly lovers

are from vintage pictures, of which I have tons.

I had started a painting for this challenge, but it soon

became apparent that no-way was I going to finish it by Sunday,

and a bit of digital was the way to go.

Eeee, I should learn to start something before Friday.

Go to Inspiration Avenue this Sunday afternoon

to get your romantic fix!

Paint Party Friday

Following the Creek

I was thinking of summers past and present, and remembered

a post from a couple of years ago about summer days in the 60s.

We had tons of fun in our unstructured, disorganized way.

One of the activities that kept us busy was following the

neighborhood creek to its end. But, as we discovered, it

had no end! Or none that was closer than miles and miles

from our neighborhood, I'm sure. But being 10 years old,

we actually thought if we set out to follow it, we would

eventually come to the end. Never mind tangled undergrowth

that was impossible to walk through, or that it might take us 

until well past dinnertime or even into the next day! 

Ending up hopelessly lost in unfamiliar territory?

Never entered our minds.

What were we hoping to see at the end? 

Nothing in particular. Just the end of the creek, 

and then we could move on to the next challenge.

But, as I said, we never made it to the end. Truth be told,

what we were calling the end was actually the beginning

(since we were walking upstream, sheesh) and the water probably 

trickled out of a rock or an underground spring somewhere far away.

Too far to walk, but we didn't care about that!

ANYWAY.

When I was putting together this mixed media collage,

I thought of those summer days. I had no other purpose in mind

than putting together images that I liked. It's a bit messy,

but I don't think I'll clean it up. I'll leave it as-is, just like those

memories of our long ago summer days.

***************

Wow, where did this come from?

This beauty popped open yesterday amid all of the

plain red and yellow lilies (as if any lily could be called 'plain').

If I planted this, it has never bloomed before. 

And if I didn't plant it. . . who did?

I love lilies, and I try to enjoy them during the short time they

are blooming. Will have to give some extra time to this one!

Happy Paint Party Friday!

Please visit the party to see what has inspired the entrants this week.

Have a lovely weekend!

Inspiration Avenue Weekly Challenge

Bake-r

The theme this week is BAKE.
Leave it to Lisa of The Wright Stuff to give us a challenge
that really makes you think. The first thought
I had was to paint a luscious pie or some other sweet treat.
Which I was perfectly excited to do until I realized
that I have no idea how to transfer all that
scrumptiousness onto paper. Hmmm.

Something a little easier to draw
is the Baker instead of the Baked Goods.

I had fun painting my little Baker Girl.
To me she looks quite serious about her confections
which, I hope, means they are quite yummy.

Since this is another journal entry,
I had a blank page to fill beside the baker.
So here is a sentiment that caught my attention
right away. Someday soon I hope to put this into practice:

Stop by Inspiration Avenue on Sunday afternoon
to see what others have cooked up for the theme "Bake"!

Ta Ta! I'm off to have a slice of the apple pie I baked last night...

Rainbow Challenge

Somewhere...

Over the Rainbow

was the theme at Inspiration Avenue this week.

Shelly at Pics by Shel stepped up and brought us this brilliant theme!

It is very difficult to find a fairy who will pose for a picture,

especially when they are so seldom seen. If you see one,

their image will only be stored in your memory for an instant.

Since they enchant you right on the spot, your

memory of them is erased as soon as they fly away.

I was lucky to spot a rainbow fairy who could be persuaded to pose. 

I tempted her with some delectable rare truffles

that were given to me a long time ago by another fairy.

Being very vain, as fairies mostly are,
(and also possessing a voracious appetite for truffles)
she was concerned about being placed on the right sort of
background to show off her brilliant rainbow finery.

Many, many backgrounds later, this is what I came up with,

and that is why I am late again with my entry for the weekly challenge. 

She really wanted a much more colorful (rainbow) background

and disappeared in a huff when I told her this was the 

final, absolute end. Good riddance!

But, HA, I do have her image permanently down on paper!
(Funny, I can't remember her at all
unless I'm looking at the picture ;)

Please visit Inspiration Avenue on Sunday afternoon

to see all of the colorful rainbow entries!

Paint Party Friday . . . Journal Pages

Carnival

Another journal spread...

I started with ink blobs again, red, purple, and yellow.

It's kind of fun to randomly drip the ink and

then wait for something to come to mind as you gaze at the splotches.
I think it was the intense color with the slight suggestion of
a face that made me think "carnival".

After it was finished, I thought this is kind of
what a migraine headache looks (feels) like to me also.
I used to get bad, bad headaches, but fortunately
I get far fewer and less intense ones now :)
So it's a party or a headache, or maybe both!

Visit Paint Party Friday
to get in on the party!