My New Love-ART

It has been SO long since I have posted here.  I guess I kind of lost interest for awhile due to the business of life.  In the meantime, I have discovered art journaling and mail art.  I have always loved art, and used to draw when I was a child, and art class was my favorite in high school.  But after that I just stopped all art activities until about a year ago.  I was watching youtube videos and came across art journaling, and while exploring that, I also found mail art.   I am no expert, and maybe will not be a teacher or famous, but that is not why I do it.  It is a way to just let myself go.  You see, in art journaling or mixed media journaling, there ARE NO RULES, and there ARE NO MISTAKES.   Mixed media art journaling is basically just using every medium you feel like using and making art in a journal.  There are special journals for it that take the wet mediums and everything you can throw at them  An example is, today, I made a small art journal page for a swap I am doing, and used the following on it.  Gesso, stamping on tissue paper and gluing down, stencils with acrylic paint sprays, printouts from my computer, Faber Castell Pit Brush Pens, Stamp pads and rubber stamps, black outline pen, patterned paper, glue stick, and Distress Ink.  There is probably more, but that is what I can remember offhand.  It is so FUN.  So I will post some of the pages I have made in the past year.  They are not in order, and some are better than others, but it will give you an idea what I have been up to.  I am still new at this, but I am really starting to get the hang of it!  I will explain mail art in my next post.  I hope you enjoy the images.  P.S.  I have also just started my first Smash Book, and a glue journal.  I can't get enough of this stuff!

A Hot Mess of Color

I have to say that, in looking at many blogs now, that I am a rather nontraditional blogger. I say this because of my lack of subtlety. Most blogs I visit are beautifully understated, monochromatic, or pastel fantasies. Some are all white, and OH how I admire a well turned out all white room! Even my own daughter’s blog and home are very muted earth tones. (Visit her blog @ www.cozycomfycottage.blogspot.com). I actually very much admire looking at the pale colored homes and gardens. Then I look at my own home, and my gardens, and there is just a crazy randomness to it. I have a tendency to just throw colors everywhere in a riotous cacophony. It’s as if someone just flung a million paint samples everywhere! In my home, I just have whatever strikes my fancy and try to make it all fit somehow. It is probably a home designer’s nightmare…an example of the no-no’s of design. If there were a show “What Not To Do In Home Design and Garden”, I know a dozen people who would nominate moi!

My garden is like a fireworks show from spring until late fall, whereas my daughter’s garden is planted with beautiful soft blushing pinks and whites. And you know what? I love BOTH. I think that’s what makes the world so exciting. Everyone is different, and that is why we all LOVE to just spend hours browsing what other people have created in their own worlds. Isn’t that EXCITING?

I had a thought today, about God. God also flung colors everywhere! He’s the one who provided all of the glorious colors that are at my disposal. That thought makes me very happy with myself, somehow. So I will continue to admire the soft clean pastels and earthtones of other people’s blogs. But as for me, I’ve just gotta be me.

After Valentine's Day Photos

Sometimes you just want to post pretty pictures, right? These are the roses my husband got me for Valentine's Day. I particularly love the orange one with the pink in the middle! I also made up a basket of homemade goodies for the grandangels, and took pics to chronicle my grammy goodies. Too bad we all can't just do fun projects all day, every day!

Hearts

I love Valentine's Day, because I love the colors and the shape of hearts. They are just so roundy and cute! I still have to make my frosted heart sugar cookies for the grandangels, so they aren't part of the vignette, but I had fun decorating with candles and glass hearts. I actually saw the ball jars w/candles in them on someone else's blog and thought it was a very clever idea. The picture frames had been sitting in a drawer, so I decided to decorate them with ribbons and pretty papers. The beautiful, deep red glass hearts are from my friend's nursery/gift shop. I loved them so much I bought three! Can't have too many glass hearts, you know! Happy Hearts Day to all!

This I love...

"Wherever you go, go with all of your heart."

Chyna's Garden

When I was naming my blog, I thought of many different names that I loved. I was shocked to see how many were already taken. So much for thinking I might have an imagination! I then resorted to pet names, and finally came up with Chyna's Garden. For you see, we had a beloved pug named Chyna. What better name for a Chinese Pug? She was without a doubt the SWEETEST dog I have ever owned, and I have owned many.

My husband got her for me when we were dating. She was supposed to be a birthday surprise, but it ended up that I had to go with him to meet the breeder because she wanted to meet the new owner, so I saw her beforehand. When it came time to go get her, my husband was in the area and picked her up. She was so tiny that she fit in the palm of his hand. He took her to his home and had her for several days...just the two of them...alone...bonding. By the time I got her, she was HIS dog, and remained his dog until she died, thirteen years later. They were so bonded, that when she died my husband was heartbroken for months. I had never seen him so down.

We buried her in a corner of our yard, which at the time was last years vegetable garden. In her honor, and for my husband's broken heart, I turned it into a beautiful garden where he could go and sit with her. Several times I found him out there crying. It is filled with beautiful shrubs and trees (a dogwood, flowering cherry and white birch), 2 birdbaths, a trellis with pink climbing roses, and a bench for reflecting. Every year I plant something new to remember her by. Last year it was the pink flowering dogwood.

My husband got me another dog for my birthday. Guess whose dog he is?

Chyna's Garden

Welcome to my blog, where I hope you will find respite from the hectic world outside...