Boo! It's a Spooky spread!

 

This is my October page in JoAnn's altered book for the Altered Art Divas Holiday Round Robin.  I love Halloween and the purples and oranges, and cats and bats, and witches and ghosts, and I just love Halloween! LOL!

Encouragement on a Monday :)

My nephew participates in Special Olympics, which to me epitomizes the very meaning of "encouragement," not to mention the local support he has received over the years from friends and family. So this is for all the Special Olympians and the encouragement they receive on a daily basis. You're an inspiration, Wyatt! :-)

Monday Dreams

If the background to this one looks semi-familiar, it's because it was actually the first reject to "Imagine." I came across it and was going to toss it; instead I stuck it in my Inchie envie (where I store unfinished Inchies and/or ideas for the next one), and when I went to create "Dreams," I came across this reject and ended up using it! The teeny runners came from a health newsletter I get in my paycheck envelope every month! But they were the perfect size so I put the little guys to good use! :-)

Curiosity on a Monday

I almost changed my mind on using this Inchie for Curiosity and saved it for Daring, but since I made it with Curiosity in mind, decided to stick with it!

If you've ever had a cat and a door (and if you have a cat you most certainly have a door!), you know how much they love sticking their paws up underneath the door to "see" what's on the other side. Sometimes, they may not want to know!!

Destination: Monday

The only "destination that matters"...
the route from Grammie's house to Ava's House! :-)

Wisdom on a Monday :)

(Edited to add: my wise ol' owl made the Every Inchie Monday page! :-)

 

No great story with this one. I just like owls....:-) 

Every Inchie Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday, and Monday ;)

Yes, I was six(!) Inchies behind! Which, when you consider it's only an inch a week, I guess I was only six inches behind, which sounds inherently better than six weeks behind! Yeah, I'll go with that!! :-)

Anyway, being woefully behind, I played catch-up this week. Yay for me!

August 15th - Strength - With September 11th less than a month away (at the time...) and after reading several scattered updates from surviving family members of victims of 9/11, my "Strength" Inchie represents the many, many layers of support and faith and strength and hope for the future of those families and for our country.

August 22nd - Imagine - I had originally intended to leave all color out of this Inchie, leaving it to the beholder's eye to "imagine" their own color and design, but, in the end, I am a color person, and my poor little bland Inchie was screaming "COLOR ME!", so I gave in and gave it a rainbow which by its very presence inspires imagination.

August 29th - Change - The end of August brings with it the coming of autumn and a change of seasons, as my little inchie tree depicts the seasons' "change."

September 5th - Cozy - There's just something about a nice warm mug of Chai Tea that makes me feel all warm and cozy inside no matter where I am. Both Inchies (clearly I was having an indecision kind of day) were stained with, what else, Chai Tea. :-) 

September 12th - Kiss - A kiss, a kiss is on their lips...my little kids show up again, sneaking a "kiss."

 September 19th - Sparkle - I love the sparkle of the twinkling stars in the late-night skies.

Rust(y) Inchie :)

It takes more art supplies than you might expect to rust a key small enough to fit in an Inchie! Especially when you're not sure what the heck you're doing and have to re-do your efforts! But I like the way the rust effect came out for my Every Inchie Monday representing "Rust."

Go 4th and Celebrate! - July Holiday Round Robin Altered Book

This is August, yes, I know, but my month for Pam's book for the Diva's Holiday Round Robin Altered Book was July. I was originally leaning toward the whole flag theme, but the month before mine was June and the holiday was Flag Day so I didn't want to duplicate it too much.

So then I started re-thinking the 4th of July and what came to mind were all the 4th of July picnics and get-togethers we've have in the past. Swimming, picnics, and fireworks afterward, so....:-)

Micro "Sunset" Inchie

Sunsets inspire color and brilliance and, generally, a great vastness of sky and space, but working in Inchies one has to think small. So what represents color and brilliance in one square inch, for me?

Microbeads....gotta love 'em.

They may be microscopic to work with, but well worth chasing them around the desk as they try to escape the confines of your workspace! :-)

An Inchie "Nest"

This week's Every Inchie Monday prompt was "nest," although I seem to be missing Monday lately....:-)

I had wanted something 'unique' for my interpretation of nest but the muse wouldn't have it, so 'we' went with a traditional, sort of, nest. The three little blue eggs represent my three kids, and the white specks are bits of crushed egg shell. :-)

The Three Blue Chairs + 1

So this isn’t really an art related post today, but thanks to my daughter’s eye and imagination, and my tendency to snowball any given situation, was too fun not to share. It’s the impromptu and unlikely story of three blue chairs and one purple chair.

~~~

Once upon a time there were three chairs. The three chairs had many common characteristics and similar interests. They all had the same rounded backs, and were very very blue. They also shared a love of the outdoors, mostly hanging out in the backyard. They were very supportive when someone needed them, and often times helped with chores around the yard when items needed to be hung and dried.

Then one day, a purple chair took a seat next to two of the blue chairs. The two blue chairs were happy to have a new friend in their seating arrangement and took it in with open arm rests. However, the third blue chair was not amused and refused to join in, keeping its distance from the seemingly oblivious trio. The third blue chair did not trust this new “friend” with the square back and curious shade of purple. It only knew that its two blue buddies had taken in this…this…purple stranger.

So the three chairs – the two blue and one purple – sat side-by-side in the cool of the large shade tree. And the stubborn third blue chair sat alone in the hot-hot sun where it grew very-very lonely.

And the Moral of the Story is…no one wants to sit in the hot seat so you better play nice.

 

(And this is what happens when we move the chairs to the middle of the yard so we can spray paint them :-)

"Ava Bunny"

My little bathroom on the main floor has sort of turned into a "Bunny Room," where my collection of bunnies reside. (There are a fair amount...you know how those little rascals can multiply! LOL!)

Anyway, on the window is a quilted hanging I had made for a curtain quite some years ago; with a mama bunny, papa bunny, two brother bunnies, and one little sister bunny. How fortunate it is that they match my family! LOL! So a couple of visits ago, Ava noticed the bunnies on the quilt and wanted to know their names.

So I pointed out (revising for her sake) Grampa Bunny, Grammie Bunny, Uncle Ryan Bunny, Auntie Lindsey Bunny, and Daddy Bunny. She thinks about it a minute, and then asks:

"Where's me???"

:-O

So Grammie Bunny got busy and by the time Ava came for Ava Week, Ava Bunny joined the ranks of the Bunny Family! I haven't "quilted" her yet, but she's painted on!

And my Little Miss Ava Bunny was pleased....:-)

We "heart" Books Inchies!

My 3 1/2-year-old granddaughter (though she's nearly 4, but I'll call her 3 1/2 till the day of her birthday! LOL!) was visiting and watching me while I dusted the top of my piano where I display my Inchies. She asked what they were, so I told her, expecting her to have a "What, Grammie???" look on her face, so I was a little bit (but not totally) surprised when all she said was, "I want one!" 

So a brainstorm hit and I quickly grabbed a few things we would need to make an Inchie for her (and myself, in the process), and together we created these two Inchies for Monday's prompt, "Books."

"All by herself" she punched out paper hearts, and one flower, out of some old book pages that I'd colored a while back to use for quickie projects, such as this.

Then I dabbed a dot of glue on an old phone book page (they make great disposable workspaces) and she used a little paint brush to "paint" the glue onto the backs of the heart, and one flower. 

Then she glued them on two Inchies - one for her, and one for me. The idea being, "We <3 Books!"

And then she went off to play.... 

 

"Love" them Inchies! :-)

My two "love"ly girls - my daughter and granddaughter.
Love
times
two!
:-)

Sweeeet Inchie :-)

A few days late again this week *sigh* and no doubt I'll be late the next couple of weeks, too. Oh well, better late than never, right??? :-)

Anyway, this week's Inchie is/was "sweet." And since we had this deliciously sweet, and very patriotic, cake on the 4th with the Neighbors, decided to make my piece of red, white, and blue sweetness my Inchie of the Week!

Catching up on Inchies!

And I was doing so well for awhile....

Oh well, time to catch up on Every Inchie (every 3rd?) Monday! And since I found myself three weeks(!) behind, went all-digital because it's the quickest way for me to catch up! Hopefully I'll be able to stay on track after this. Miracles can happen!

The first Inchie is "Sisters", and since I have three of them, found an old black and white (showing my age, I know...) of me and my sisters. (I'm in the back right.) This photo was originally taken on my little brother's 3rd birthday, but I had to cut him and my older brother out! Bad sister I am.... But it was so cute of us girls, just had to use it! Sorry, guys! :-)

 

The second Inchie is "Woman," and instant I saw that, I knew which image I had to use! For the sake of speed and simplicity, since I was behind in posting my Inchies, I used/altered an image I had made several years ago for a playing card deck project with my Divas. The "woman" is my grandmother; a photograph I always thought of as "hauntingly beautiful."

And the third Inchie, which is actually for this week is: "Harmony." No matter where I plant my flowers, they are always in harmony with each other. :-)

And there you have 'em!

A winning Inchie of "Merriment" coming to you from Vegas, Baby! :-)

Okay, talk about the perfect word for this Every Inchie Monday! LOL!

First off, I cheated. Mainly because I'm in Vegas at this exact moment and there was no way to art up an Inchie, much less post it! So this Inchie was done a few days ago, but (hopefully) capturing the "merriment" I'm having right now! :-)

Final posting of Inchie, courtesy of the daughter....Thank you, Linds, for doing this for your Mom! :-)

"Home" is where the Heart is...even in an Inchie ;)

This week's word prompt for Every Inchie Monday has never been more perfect.

"Home"

Opting for simplicity this week, I drew this Inchie house with regular crayons, placing a heart-shaped button, painted with textured paint, at the center, which to me is exactly what a home signifies. Home is where the Heart is...:-0

And today, on this Memorial Weekend Monday, I am "home," and the my favorite little 3-year-old (that would be Ava! LOL!) is also at my home.

She is my Heart, and my Heart is "home," so.....there you have it!

(It's been a great weekend, by the way....:-)

May Day in Holiday Altered Book RR

Karen O's beautiful bird book for our Holidays Altered Book Round Robin has been nesting at my house throughout the month of May. My spread depicting "May Day."