Memory House

 

My Memory House is filled with knick knacks from the past years…..  also in the middle of the house is a tree… I lived on Oak Tree Lane as a child… and thus the tree… with the word FIND…. As I had to leave home in order to FIND myself…  to BE ME… my mantra at this time… to be 100% me in all ways… to create my art freely and to respect myself, (as well as all around me too)  but to live my life fully in all ways…    I am also trying to organize my things from the past into memory items… such as this house… 

I have put all these cute little things I have collected along my paths of finding myself…  or trying to do so… LOL.. I often wonder if I will fully find self.  When I was growing up, I use to baby sit for this family down the street and the husband and wife were very connected to all life… their kids were different in some ways.. some good, some not so good… but always free mentally to think freely… I always was drawn to that… as I was not brought up in a free thinking family… we had to do what others were doing… or do things that were ‘right’ so that others wouldn’t think we were different!!!  Go figure… now I live the opposite way in so many ways… FREE as a bird… doing as I choose to do in so many ways…  My husband is one of my biggest supporters in all ways… as we are both trying to do the same… Live freely and love it all.. 

Okay… got a little carried away… but you see memories do that to me…  give me direction… 

 

At the top of this house… there is a little wishbone… and  a dragonfly…  the wishbone is from one of our chickens…  a memory of the 200 birds we had…  we have a lot of fond memories in so many different ways..  The dragonfly represents my need to change and all the changes that I going thru…  

 

The little birds were something that I saved for as a child… they are little ivory birds that I love… that will date them… as ivory is not used for that anymore…  and also not at the price I paid for them…    As you can see there are flowers that I have made and also charms where I have use alcohol inks to leave a pretty flower…  Love these … making them and the end result…  so much fun… 

                                                            

 The words....  LIFE IS ABOUT CREATING YOURSELF... are so very prevalent in my life right now... so I found it fitting to add this to my memory house...  

 

In the center of the box, you can see the TREE… it is made from Tim’s Tissue paper… and the branches are long reaching…  with leaves that I stamped from stamps I made… this is my TREE…  my growth to FIND self…  The little blue bottle is a bottle that my hubby found one day digging in a fence row in New jersey… when we use to live there… many moon ago… 

 If you follow me at all.. you know I love flowers of all types... so here is one I made using a Tim Die cut... and also an embossed oval filgree Ideology piece... love using these... for all kinds of things... and the Pen nib for Journaling and writing of my life.. . 

 

Number 6… my lucky number that is always in my life…  along with a little dog that another neighbor gave me… she was a woman with a hubby but no children… very sad…  she always wanted children…  but had no luck…  thus the blue dog…  had to keep it as a reminder… to be thankful all the time for what we have, how we use it, and love it all…  not the material as much as the emotional… 

 

Okay… my little door….I had to have a secret room… and in this room (LOL) there are a few bottles… and in one bottle some little beads… I also love to bead and make jewelry.. and also a fly… as I love insects… I have always wanted to collect butterflies that have gone on to happier places… I have a few… but always wanted a lot of them… also it reminds me of all the birds nests I had when we lived in NJ… tons of them… and I had to leave them… just no room in moving… 

A good friend of mine painted this for me on a stone from Maine... she knew my love of snails and also knew of the love of art that we had as a mutual desire in life...  






A little hand carved dog... and I can't remember where I got this either... oh well.. 

 Another piece of ivory... but this came from my Mom's childhood charms...  it was on her bracelet and I always wanted it... and one day she gave it to me... I cherish it...  so this is the Jungle that it came out of...  I made the leaves from stamps I also made... 

 I have had a couple of Dachshunds in my life... and they were both females named Gwennie... so this is my Gwennie dog.. and it is in brass... they were the love of my life...  

 

At the bottom… I made little drawers and put some knobs on them…  Each drawer also has memories of certain good times…  some Sheeps wool that I got this year…  when I went over to see the lambing… a really wonderful day… and also Birthday candles from our daughter birthday this year…  a bracelet that I loved… but it is broken… and maybe I will find some one that will be able to fix it… 

Last... my sewing room...  
I put thread on these little tiny spools... you can see how tiny they are... as the thread looks thick!!!  The little bottle has buttons in it.. that are also very very tiny.... Just had to add that to this memory house... as there was a time when a quilt a week was my thing to do... now it is paper.. LOL... just different medias but still loving it all... creating has always been a love of mine... even in the kitchen.. I love to cook and create new dishes and ways to prepare the food we partake of...  

 I am sharing this house with you as part of the Challenge on Studio L3...     I have made quite a few of these configuration boxes... and if you check out the left side panel you will see more of them...  I also made some for our children for Christmas with Ornaments that they had when little... Also one of my husbands families mementos for him as a gift... Ones for my Mom to see fall... and also to light up her Christmas with a little light that really lights up...  How about the one I did and turned it into a clock... I really love using these boxes.. they are fun and easy to use...  be creative and allow your mind to run away with you...  

Thanks for stopping by today... and have a fun day... stay cool and enjoy the summer months...  Love, Light and Peace...Bonnie  

July Tag a La Tim

 Today has truly been a CHALLENGE day.... yikes... this is forth and fifth challenges..  yikes... am I addicted to this??? I think so... and I love it... I love sharing and doing all these fun things... also learning about all the different ways to use things...  


So this month Tim had us do a technique that is so fun.. one of my all time favorites... I love the look that the mixative gives to the inks... I don't have canned air... so I used a straw and blew the ink around the paper... and love the different looks I got... I did quite a few and have a few on here to share with you... if you haven't tried this one.. you really should... it is really wild...  love it...  

 I wanted to move onto the next step... so I used my heat gun.. and the mixitive 'bubbled' up a little bit... for a really nice bit of texture.... I love that kind of thing...  


I also grabbed the Olive Archival ink... vs the Black... oops... big time oops... but that is okay... I love it anyway... not as intense as the black would have been...  so this is great... 

 Using time... living time to the fullest...  living in the moment....  all of these things are my mantras now... as I am loving all the fun things in my life...  wow... what a fun time...  

 At the beginning of this I decided that I really wanted a pastel tag... so I used Sherbert and also pool... and then juniper... so I got a fun color scheme with that... 

 I also tried the sherbert and the pool with cranberry... thinking  and hoping that the mixative would calm down the cranberry... but not enough... so I tried one more... 

I used three greens... and then lemonade and peach Bellini...  think these are the correct names... but you get the idea anyway... 
So I used the first one for this tag... but these other ones will be saved and used for something else...  





So I used so of my Alcohol inks... and had a blast...  I really do enjoy them...  and will be teaching a class on the 26th of this month down at Scrapbook Creations...  for details please go here...  

This tag is for two challenges... one is for Tim Tag of the month

And the other one is for Stamper Sunday...  Hels asked us to use Silver...  

So if you want to learn detail by detail how to make this tag background etc... go to Tim's site for all the details... you will be glad you did...  

Hey... have a fun day... enjoy creating something fun... and thanks for stopping by for a visit...  Love, Light and Peace...Bonnie 

Collage PLUS tangling!!!

Today is CHALLENGE DAY.... that is for sure...  I love to do challenges, and really like to do one project per challenge... but this week I am combining a few... as I have a lot of other things to do too...  and I really like to do these...  

So here is a project that will go into one of my journals.   I am going to show you the whole process... as I really did have fun making this...  I had sprayed (Dylusion sprays)  some Pretties by Bonnie... and when I was done I had this really nice paper...  I put it aside...  so today I used it to start off my paper...  you can see the flowers  if you look closely... Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge is to use sprays, Stencils, spritz, etc etc... and I did... I also finished off with a nice spritz of Perfect Pearls... love that stuff...   

 I am sorry for the line in this.. but my dial up doesn't always allow me to completely upload pictures without having to redial at least a couple of times... not fun... but just part of my life... so excuse the line...  
I wanted to show you the stencil uses... I love the leaves... 

When using a Stencil and the dabber of PEARL... I get this lovely reaction... which I adore...   Have you ever used it...  if not better get some... it is fun... and the results are GREAT...  

On this area, I have used a number stencil with gold metallic...  love the look of that too...  so many fun things all on one sheet of paper...  

But it didn't stop there.... 
I kept on... as I had a few other challenges that I wanted to add to this paper...  

 So I started to get involved with some Zen Tangle doodling... and I love it... so I decided that this also had to be part of the second challenge for today... and that is My Monthly Mojo... and Sarah, you are so very right... we have to find ourselves...  and when that happens I will let ya'll know...  but for now... I love doing it all... and when I am doing some things it makes me happier than others... I love to put colors onto paper...  and I love to doddle... but that can change at any given minute... I just have to follow what my muse requests that I do at that very minute... LOL... Do I ever know..?? NO... I follow what my inner being tells me to do...  and I try and listen carefully... as sometimes it changes.. .  LOL... but it is always fun for me... and if not, I stop doing it...  I need change all the time... I know that... 

 I love drawing... and I love colors... and I love to mix the two... I also LOVE flowers... but I also love other kinds of things too... so when the mood strikes... I do it... 


A few weeks ago I really went crazy with leaves... and I just wanted to draw leaves... and also color them... so I had to add some to this drawing too... 

 Words... I love adding words to SOME pictures... not all.. but some...  I love just doing things at times... and today was a good day to doodle.... 


Weather wise we are gaining degrees by the minute... it started out fairly nice this morning... as we had a good rain last night... with high winds... and lucky for us... no damage... just a nice watering for all the plants...  So muchly needed... wow... really big time..  but now it is starting to get up to about 90 some odd degrees... not nice...  but I am going to ink some more later... hopefully... anyway... I felt like doodling and that was MY STYLE this morning... 

 Since I have been creating ART for more than 60 years now... I guess I have to say that my inner ART CHILD is still active and doing well...  she really loves to create and get messy...  


But these Zen Tangles are so fun... and I get so wrapped up in them... that I hardly realize that my back is starting to hurt... from the position that I am sitting in... lucky for me I have an inclining table... so I have been on that a few times... pulls me right back into shape... for more tangling...  LOVE IT.... 

 Live in the NOW... BE ME... a few of the mantras that I repeat all the time...  I am trying these zen tangles out, as I am new to this style... so I am 'copying' others forms... but always add in my own too... I love this form of ART!!!!   have you tangled today???   Good yoga for the brain... 

 So you see what I mean about leaves... I love them...  stenciled or drawn...  love them...  Even going up a vine.. or a plant stem... love leaves.   

 All these colors are so rich... bright and GREAT.... Bright has to be IN now... as I am loving it...  and seeing more and more of everywhere I go... even in clothes... have you noticed the changes all around YOU...  
Have you made the changes internally for you yet???  I am in the mood for this change and love it...  I guess it reminds me of the psychedelic colors of the 60's...  my hippie days...   

Sarah also wanted us to comment on why we share our work of art...  well... I love to share and stimulate others to create... and that is also why I teach.... sharing is very important in our world today... Peace has to be felt in order to obtain it on this EARTH MOTHER... and we need that so very much... we don't need more war... or any war... we need LOVE and sharing... and that is my purpose in this life time to do...  I feel that we all need to realize that and start to really put our minds into world PEACE...  we are all one... and need to start to act like it... there is no separation we are all one... and need to love each other... unconditionally too..  
 

 The third challenge is over at ART JOURNAL CAFE...  and it is to use some pieces from Magazines...  not really a favorite... because it is someone else's art... so I have to be really picky about what I add to my art...  it has to be about what I am at the time...  so these are some that I could add...  it took me longer to locate these than to do all the doodling... which was over 2 hours... 

 So there happened to be a Stampington magazine on the table near by me.. so I started to look through a pile of them... got totally absorbed in a few things... and then remembered what I was suppose to be doing.. .LOL.... so I did find a few pictures that were good for me...  One that says  LIFE IS A GAME.... PLAY IT OFTEN.... we need to do that as stated above... 

 I found a really great little section of collage all by its self... and so I used that to fill in a blank zen tangle free area... LOL... 

 And of course I had to add a flower... made with Pretties by Bonnie   digital images... 

So there you have it... a fun picture of all kinds of ME...  the colors... they are me now...  as they represent HOT... it is hot here... and I need to go take a nice COLD shower... then I can use blues and purples...  I am going with the flow... I am ME...  

Hope you are staying cool... and enjoying the day...  
Thanks for stopping by for a visit...  and hope you will come back soon... Love, Light and Peace...Bonnie   

 

Tangling a bird

 Oh what fun I have been having...  I bought a Zen Tangle book and am so enjoying this... I love to doddle... I guess you could say I do... as I have published 12 books of my doodles...  but they are all free handed ones... Zen tangles are not as free... but a lot of fun...  


I did the bird... (a picture of it un-painted is below...  and then I looked at the challenge today for Just Add Water... Artists Play Room Challenge... and it was to do something with Red and White for Canada's birthday... or Red, White and Blue for the USA Birthday... so I did one for each...  it has red and white bird... and then I added the blue background... and blueberries...  which is what has motivated this page in my journal in the first place...  

 You see... we have about 50 blueberry bushes... and they are the rabbit eye blueberries... which are large and delicious...  oh my goodness... they are so wonderful...  anyway... I kept on noticing the CARDINALS flying really close t o the house??? That's weird???!!!  Why are they doing that??? but then I asked Glenn if the Blueberry bushes in the back were in fruit... YUP!!! That is why they were flying close to the house... to get some... there are a lot of feral cats around too... they help keep mice, and other things at bay... and also will attack birds...  so they fly close to the house so the cats dont see them... I guess.. so we  have had very very very very few of them...  no good...  bad cardinals...  so I have asked them not to eat them all... we did get a couple of quarts from them... but that was all... 

Here is the original tangle I did... it is about 4x4 inches... so it is small.... and very detailed to say the least...  but hey... when you are learning like I am... you try to do these so you learn...  

I added the branches and things and then colored it in and put it into my journal...  what a bird that is...  took me about 2 hours to do!!!  

The green stands for love... love of country, love of others and just good LOVE...  

It is a little HOT here today...  to say the least...  they are saying it is up in the high 90's... but that is not what it feels like..  It is most likely a little warmer... as the temp on the deck is 102...  a little warm...  I am sitting with the fan on.. but will enjoy a nice cold shower in a little while...  

Have a good day...  stay cool... and enjoy you holidays...  Love, Light and Peace.... Bonnie  

The Three Crowns

 

CHAPTER 17: Hurrah for the Red, White and Blue!

The White Queen gave a deep sigh, and laid her head on Alice's shoulder. `I am so sleepy?' she moaned.
`She's tired, poor thing!' said the Red Queen. `Smooth her hair -- lend her your nightcap -- and sing her a soothing lullaby.'
`I haven't got a nightcap with me,' said Alice, as she tried to obey the first direction: `and I don't know any soothing lullabies."
`I must do it myself, then,' said the Red Queen, and she began:

Hush-a-by lady, in Alice's lap!Till the feast's ready, we've time for a nap:When the feast's over, we'll go to the ball --Red Queen, and White Queen, and Alice, and all!

-- Chapter 9, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There

In the United States, we are celebrating Independence Day this month, so we have a patriotic Red, White and  Blue color challenge for you! Of course here in Wonderland we know those colors are for the White Queen, the Red Queen, and Alice's blue dress! Enter your red, white and blue project by July 27 for a chance at a prize from our sponsor.

__._,_.___

 I read this and then went to Alice in Wonderland books and read the passage again... and saw that Alice had just received her crown .... so I made crowns for all three of the QUEENS...   

The colors... 
RED, WHITE, and BLUE!!!   

How surprising!!!  

So I got out my foil tape, and made three crowns... embossing the band of each one a little bit differently...  Alice's which is the blue... she got the Fluer di lis as she has been seen with one on the end of a ruling wand...  and of course her favorite color... BLUE... with a large A all decorated with Blue Heart gem stones!!!  She is a royal you know!!!!

 The White Queen.... she of course had all diamonds on her crown... (I wish !) and I used the snowflake embossing folder on her band...  white... and pretty... 


The little butterfly just had to go on the white queen's crown... she is so light and frilly... 

The Red Queen's Crown, which is up above... with all the red rubies on it... and the band has embossed hearts... so regal for the Queen of Hearts...  

All three of these crowns were fun to make... and the decorating was the most fun...  They were very easy to create... as I used my Tim Holtz small stapler... to put the crowns all together... so very easy using this...  Now the 'gem' stones... the diamonds, rubies and sapphires are all little clear 'dew drops' that I dyed with my alcohol inks...  and also put them onto the crowns with the Glossy Accents... as a glue!!!  Love that... it dries quickly and clear!! What more can you ask for when putting gem stones in place!!!!    You can get all these at Simon Says... and also MUCH MORE... hope you will take a look at their store front...  and I do wonder who will be lucky person to get this shopping spree??? That is a wonderful prize!!!  Yikes... I love it...  

Well thanks for taking a look at my crowns... and I do hope that you put on your crown and enter our challenge of the month...  it is so much fun.. and look at the PRIZE!!!  WOW...  
 
RED   WHITE    and   BLUE 

Patriotic Alice in Wonderland…

To use the Red, White and Blue theme I thought for a long time… and finally thought I would do a configuration box that I have wanted to do for a long time… but then there were some things that I wanted in my configuration box that were not in the theme of Red, White and blue… so back to the drawing table…

Okay… I could do a fun little album of Red, White and Blue things …. 

Things that appear in Wonderland…  for example the Red Queens dress is red, white and blue!!!  Right???  … but that just didn’t settle right with me…  I need to get really excited about a project that I am going to do…  and this one is being sponsored by Simon Says… and so I am using some of the WONDERFUL 6x6 printed paper pads that they have… I love to go to Simon Says and pick out all my 6x6 papers…  so very many to pick from… and perfect size for all my projects…  as I tend to work smaller than larger…  so I LOVE these pads…  I will use them on my project… with no problem… but what project am I going to do…

laying down 

 

Finally pay day!!!  I made this… and I love it… and I had so very much fun making it… It is only 3.5 inches tall… not very big… and yet it will be mailed to a friend of mine that LOVES Alice things…  and it is will be treasured for ever and ever…  (I love friends like that… ) 

So I used white card stock to create the bones of this little book… and then created a special nook for each Red, White and Blue theme in the three cubby holes…

 RED
 The Red of course had to be the Queen of Hearts…  she is so red… her voice is even RED…  LOL… do you know what I mean…

 These are the 'wall' papers I used ...  I love them...  

 WHITE   

Then the WHITE… well that had to be the WHITE ROSES… that the cards had to paint RED!!! 

I decided to use this really great red rose paper as the three 'cards' were painting the roses RED... 

 BLUE  

And the Blue… well it had to be Alice… but I wanted something more.. so I added the favorite part of the Alice in Wonderland movie to this area… the BLUE BUTTERFLY!!!   

A little bit larger picture for you to see...  The smoke is even BLUE... LOL..   

 The detail on this paper is so very beautiful... and it is so ALICE to me... 

 I had to add this picture of the final scene of the movie... where the magnificent blue butterfly lands on Alice's shoulder!!!  And then flies off...  


So special... so I had to add it here... 

 

So there you have it… I added a few wooden red hearts to the front and back.. and I also used my Dylusion Sprays that you can also get at Simon Says… they are so very special… the colors are vibrant and alive…  I love them.. so if you don’t’ have them… hope fully you will get them from Simon Says…  (which I have to add this…  Simon says ships really fast…  I love it!!!)  

The papers that I used are from the following pads  Sweet nothings by Kaiser Craft, Conservatory by 7 Gypsies, Crush Collection by Bo Bunny  …. And I think a few more??? But when working I am not really focused on which book I am grabbing… but on the colors of the papers… LOL… just my problem…  but the papers are wonderful... 

This is looking down on the project... you can see the RED WHITE AND BLUE very clearly...  oh a little green is good luck!!!  

Hope you will join in on this fun challenge... it is really a fun one... and then go on over to Simon Says and buy some goodies... they sure do have a HUGE selection to choose from...   Thanks for stopping by for a visit today... and hope you will come back soon... 

Love, Light and Peace... Bonnie