Catch-up postcard post and AJT#4

    Well, summer has officially come to an end for me. I went back to school last week. Though my schedule seems like it will be quite a bit more hectic, I was happy to see all of the students and jump right in with all of my lessons. (The students actually came with me too!) This week I see all of my choruses for the first time. It is always nice to talk to the students to see what is going on with their lives and to hear how they sound mixed with new students. It is also amusing to hear how different my middle school boys sound from one year to the next. I am very excited to watch and hear these young musicians grow over time.
     So, the art has slowed down too. I was working on the AJT3 (accordian book), but I'm still finishing. I'm also working on the vivid flower art journal page. (I might even just start an art journal.. lol)  For now, here's the grid from AJT4. Sorry if the 3 pictures are a little too much but I kept seeing different things as I angled the pad different ways. So, here's everything- with a lot of detail. I really like the sheep square and the 3rd one in on the left side, bottom row- which is a scrap of mine from gelli printing. The colors are more vivid in person. This was fun and therapeutic to do.

    This summer was a lonely summer for my mailbox. (Good thing I have Marianne who won't give up on me!)  Fortunately, it was great for postcards. Here are all the cards received since my last post.

From Russia- The postcard was sent in this cool Olympics envelope.  Does anyone know what the building in the 3rd picture down is? It is written in Russian on the back but... I don't speak Russian. 

 Wild Lithuanian strawberries.

From Ukraine

 From Germany

 Taiwan (the 2nd one depicts the story of Sleeping Beauty)

 The Netherlands

 Czech Republic

 South Africa:

   I think I'm officially caught up now. Oh, speaking of being caught up, if any penpals are reading this and I owe you a letter, please let me know. I have found a lot of older letters around the house but I lost track of which ones I have responded too. I'm not the best housekeeper. 

     I hope you are all blessed, happy and healthy.  Thanks for reading. :)

Art- DPP 9-13 and AJT2

   I took some time this week to continue playing with my art challenges. Here are the daily paper prompts.
DPP9- Game

 DPP 10 is stitching. I don't have a sewing machine. Although I would really like to try this, I think it would be a really bad decision for my hand/elbow problems lately. I might have to pass on this one. :(

DPP11- Ogee. I have a problem with drawing symmetrically. Any suggestions?

DPP12- Round

 DPP13a and b- Grid. I like grids- very mathematical.

   I also followed Tammy's art journal tangent for a half empty/half full page. I stepped outside my comfort zone and went to a page of watercolor paper instead of using an index card. The left side shows my biggest "half-empty" issues and my right side shows things I know I have that make me happy. I also have some little things written in in black on the half full side but you can't see them too well. Laughter, mail, chocolate and music are a few of the things written in black. 

    This was my favorite part of the night- David saw me doing some painting and he asked if he could sit down and work with me. He did a book report for school. Well, actually it's a summer reading program run by a bakery. The kids write a report and bring it in. They get a "book buck" and can trade it in for baked goods. Talk about incentive. Anyway, he loves to draw and color so it was really cute.

Catching up and new art challenge

   My kitchen table has become a pile of "to register" Postcrossing cards and wayward art supplies. God bless my husband for being patient with me. I received lots of great postcards this week. From Belgium:

From Sochi Russia:

From Taiwan. The sender is a 16 year old girl who plays the piano and the erhu.

From Finland. Is this a close up of a grape or something totally different? Where are all my Finnish friends? I love this card!

From the USA. "Ember- the Fire Sprite" by Ruth Thompson

From Australia. For some reason the picture of the stamp she sent doesn't want to cooperate. It's a stamp of the royal visit from Prince William and Kate with their son. I've never seen that before.  Also, she told me about the Aboriginal singer Gurrumul Yunupingu. Check him out. His voice is so soothing. 

From Italy, also with pretty stamps that I hadn't seen.

From Poland

Colorado, USA

Russia:

China, I'm not sure I'm holding the card right. 

2nd card I received from a Penpals&Letters Swap back in July. Thanks, Kirsty!

I finished my Index Card a Day Challenge and since I had so much fun being creative, I joined the next challenges. One is a daily paper prompt- which is basically a create based on a prompt project, no other rules. I'm continuing on with the index cards though many people are moving to an art journal. (This would be easier for size but I would never get anything done at home or for the challenge.)  The Art Journaling Tangents &Tactics is a set of techniques, tutorials and creative prompts. I'm really looking forward to this. I would love if you checked out Tammy's page at http://daisyyellowart.com/    She's pretty awesome. 

     Speaking of awesome.. lol, I am growing a bit in my comfort level with trying to create. I'm usually pretty rule oriented so these prompts are so helpful to me. I am finding, however, that I'm able to come up with more than 1 idea rather than just taking it literally or feeling totally incapacitated. Here are my first 5 (6) daily paper prompts:

DPP1- Rainbow  AJT1- Starburst

DPP2- Window. I'm disappointed with this a little. It's a stained glass window. I wanted the painted outside of the window to be a lighter grey. The window "glass" is painted wax paper. 

DPP3- Drips. I really like this one. It's flicked/dripped watercolors

DPP4- Flowers- inspired by the daisies my nana gave me for my anniversary on Friday. They're much prettier than these. Mutant stems. Oops. 

After my stem issue, I thought maybe I should just do that one over.  So, I tried my hand at collage. DPP4b

DPP5- Linear