August 2nd Post

 Hello Hello!

I am back to guest host at Sunday Postcard Art!

My chosen theme is Favorite Color and since most everything is packed up, I decided to go super simple.

Purple is my favorite color and so I stamped a 4x6 pre-cut card stock piece with Versamark using a Heidi Swapp stamp. Then I applied white embossing powder and melted it. I dotted the i with a Posca.

Next, I gathered the purple Distress Inks (Villainous Poison, Shaded Lilac, Milled Lavender, Seedless Preserves, Dusty Concord, Wilted Violet) and a couple of blending brushes, and went to diagonal town, lol. I finished it with some edging using Promarkers. And done.

And yay for remembering what I did!

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Oy, I have had a June and July to remember!

We got our sectional and adjustable bed. We're sleeping over at both places, depending on what we are doing and if we have to be either place for appointments.

The single biggest blessing and load off my mind was, we got our internet set up!

I was really stressed out thinking I'd need to find an IT guy for a 4,000 s.f. 2-story home. So I kept reading and trying to understand. And after 40 years of cable TV boxes, we decided to just get Wi-Fi internet through Xfinity and then choose streaming subscriptions.

But first, we finally bought new iphones. We were still using our iphone 7's! We got 17e's and love them. But this time we ordered them unlocked directly from Apple, got them next day, went to Xfinity to order new service and port over our cell numbers from Verizon. Bottom line: whereas we were paying $439/mo for internet, cable tv and 2 cellphones, now we are paying less than $200 including the streaming. 

But here's the best part: I became so frustrated and stressed over how to get the internet set up without them making me rent equipment and up the bill, one day I just poured my heart (problem) out to Google Gemini. AND IT TOLD ME WHAT TO BUY AND DO!

All I had to do was buy a TP-Link Whole House Mesh Router system on Amazon. I had it there when the Xfinity techs came out AND GET THIS they set that up for us as well!

We did have to pay a $100 installation fee, but that's a lot cheaper than paying an IT guy!

And we have blazing internet in every corner of the house.

Money well spent to get the job done and regain my peace of mind.

Honey wanted a 65" LED Smart TV for the living room and I sort of insisted if we were gonna do that then I wanted one of those Samsung Frame QLED TV's that displays art like a screen saver.

The Tv is awesome-sauce. I mean, it's the "company" room, not the game room. So I think that gives it a little class. Still trying to get used to finding our streaming channels but we'll get there. And to be honest, we haven't been able to devote the necessary time.

And we have a small leak in the downstairs vanity bathroom. Mr. Sanchez, our fix-it guy (and his company name is literally All-Fix) has been out to diagnose it. The installer put the wrong shape of donut (some rubber seal in the tank) and a little gurgle of water comes out the side every so often. He'll be back to fix next week. I insisted he also check all the toilets, especially upstairs. 

We noticed what is weird is that there are no ceiling fans in the dining room, kitchen or breakfast room, and Honey's like nope. So I found a really cute wooden blades that look like palm leaves for the breakfast room. And Mr. Sanchez needs to install it then go to the old house and take down my beautiful Victorian stained-glass fan and install it in the new house dining room.

Honey needs to assemble the breakfast room table we bought on Wayfair (we had to, none of Gallery's would work with the shape or the wood tone, which is a cherry/walnut/honey.)

And we are still packing but kinda stalled in that we have a mover date later in the month but are on a cancellation list because we are all ready to go with the first load. I'd really like to move the industrial steel shelves I scarfed from the old house living room for my craft room. There are 3 of them, like 6 ft high 3 ft wide 18" deep and not that terribly heavy. But Honey's like let the movers do it. I've planned to put my card stock and paper on those shelves and if they were moved I could start loading it up. Not that I can't do several other things until then.

And I could go on and on but it's late and time to go to bed.

I will try to post again maybe Sept. with some house photos, fingers crossed!

Til then, hope y'all are all well, thanks for visiting,

and have a cool Sunday and August.

XOX

May 31st Weekly Post

 Hello again!

Hope everyone is doing well.

This past week, Nature decided it was finally time for us to start Summer.

Temps have consistently risen, nights are becoming sultry.

Aside from the occasional blessing of a cool front, we won't have a break until Fall.

I'm thankful we lasted til almost June with pleasant weather.

They are saying we may get a few more relief fronts in June, so one can always hope!

😁 Heehee 😁

I'm guest hosting this coming week at Sunday Postcard Art and my chosen theme is FAVORITE QUOTE/SAYING. I have long loved the quote "We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own". But I was surprised to learn the author is some self-help author named Ben Sweetland. I've never heard of him. I thought for sure Ralph Waldo Emerson or even Zig Ziglar was the author, but no. Well, it just proves that brilliance is in all of us.

For the illustration, I used a Deep Red stamp called Courtyard Stairs. It stamped horribly uneven on the cold press watercolor card I used. So, I took that as a challenge to make it my own! I got out my Platinum Carbon Ink Pen and traced over the stamped lines, then got a bit bold and embellished it with some more. So at that point, it only sort of looked like the stamp, so I have really diverged somewhat from the original image. Then I got out my watercolors, Promarkers and colored pencils to fill it with color. I decided to make the stairs the "brightened path", so I used shimmering gold watercolor on top of yellow Promarker. I stamped the sentiment and then traced over it as well. I *think* that stamp came from Stamp Magick a long time ago. Anyway, I liked the result and will frame it to hang in our art gallery room at the new house.

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Honey and I celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary this weekend and this is the card I made him.

SU card base, Kraft card, DCWV designer paper, Impression Obsession and Amazon sentiment word dies, Amazon donut dies and gel penned sprinkles. Just a quick card using scraps and what was easy to access.

Here is the inside, created in PSE and printed out.

And the sketch I used.

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We are going out to eat tonight with our across-the-street neighbor friend couple, so it should be a fun evening!

Hope you have a fun rest of the weekend as well.

Thanks for stopping by.

Stay cool and hydrated!

XOX

May 19th Weekly Post

 Hello again!

It has been a while since I've posted. In my defense, I guess I needed the break and I didn't realize it's been almost 4 weeks! They say it takes 21 days to create a new habit, which I may have done. I will confess I forced myself to create this post, lol. 

I hope everyone who celebrated had a good Mother's Day. I used the Artist Postcard I made for Sunday Postcard Art a few weeks back to make this card for my 96 y.o. mother-in-law. We took it to her, along with a pretty flowery plant and some chocolates. Had a great visit and she loved her pressies.

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I received another orchid for my Mother's Day. This is the third one Dear Daughter has given me. I'd told her last year I wanted multiple plants, so now I have 3 and I'm good for now. Love my sweet girl!

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Since I last posted, I've been deep into trying to eat 90 grams or more of protein every day. I'm now old enough that I need to eat more of it because old farts can lose half their muscle mass and this is the only way to keep or regain some. If you have ever tried to do this, you know that it's pretty hard to do without ingesting 4,000 calories a day or spending a fortune on protein drinks or powders. It's taken a lot of my spare time to research and source items when we aren't working on the new house. But for 6 weeks now I've been drinking an Ensure Max Protein drink (Cafe' Mocha flavor) within the first 30 minutes after waking up. And I definitely feel a positive difference in multiple ways. Some days I can go for 3 hours before remembering to fix a cup of coffee!

So here are a few protein bowl meals I made and eaten that I remembered to snap.

This one adds onto a regular meal. I think this was 23 grams. I had to also eat a string cheese to get up to 30 grams.

Next up, this one gave me 36 grams protein.

This meal is about 35 grams of protein.

And this salad with egg, ham and grated cheese hits at exactly 30 grams.

As you can see, I sometimes have to combine foods I might not think go together, lol.

My weirdest yet was a snack of cottage cheese as a dip for buffalo protein chips, but it tasted pretty good!

I also plan to experiment adding protein-inclusive powders to my bread maker recipes. This one is a faux sourdough loaf I made using my last yeast packet right before packing the machine up to move it. (I'd already cut off the rounded top and sliced a few slices, then thought oh I better take a photo lol.) It was delicious, I ate every slice myself (ok, Honey was able to grab a few haha). But making more will have to wait a few months until we get completely moved.

Anyway, I'm also doing weight-bearing exercises so that the added protein doesn't go to waste in my body. Combined with climbing up and down stairs every day, I'm getting a good workout. At first I was exhausted, but with the protein and extra workout, it has very much helped my stamina and as a bonus I am continuing to lose weight. Right now, we are retrofitting the kitchen pantry and a few other closets. The wire racks that are in the pantry are not nearly enough storage space, so we are adding wood shelving. We are also making some adjustments to our master bedroom closet. This is all in addition to moving boxes and large items from old house to new. It seems like an endless task right now. And this will be the same thing I will be doing in a month or two, so I thought I'd update so far, but the scenery won't be changing really until the Fall.

I know some of you are thinking, what is the hold up? Why aren't you moved yet? And please let me say this with love: you have no idea how much stuff we have to move or what it feels like to live in our bodies, so please don't be worried about it, we aren't. We'll get there. I did warn you it would be several months and trust me, no need to keep asking if we are done yet, I will for sure announce it!

I apologize in advance if I sound rude. I do not mean it to be, it's just that I'm getting a bit tired of folks in real life and online thinking I need to be done with moving.

That's all.

✌💗💪

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I'll end this post by sharing a card I made a girlfriend who is a fellow coffee lover.

The coffee pot and cup, as well as the Java sentiment die are Stamplorations. The patterned paper is Echo Park. The Happy Birthday die is HunkyDory. The balloon dies are various brands. I colored the pot and cup with Promarkers.

And the sketch I used.

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Hopefully, I'll be successful in posting more often from now on.

I will definitely be posting on May 31st, as that's my next time to guest host at Sunday Postcard Art.

Until next time,

XXXO

April 22nd Weekly Post

 Happy Humpday!

Michele hosts this week's Sunday Postcard Art with a FACES theme.

I took a pre-cut 4x6 piece of white card stock and I stenciled a background with A Colorful Life's Cracked stencil and Uncharted Mariner, Chipped Sapphire and Dusty Concord Distress Inks. Next, I got out some DCWV Gold Foiled Cardstock and cut the Jane Davenport Tousled die, leaving all the bits in place and adhered it. Then I stamped a Paper Artsy quote with I/O black hybrid ink. If you cannot make out the words, it's a quote from Helen Keller: "Keep your face to the sun, and you will never see the shadows."

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I made this for a UK friend whose birthday was yesterday.

White Recollections card base, Pink Paislee designer papers, Spellbinders mat dies, Stamplorations cupcake dies, Avery Elle sentiment stamp, Promarkers.

The sketch I used.

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And here's a photo-dump of sorts -- just recent miscellaneous moments:

It's been Texas Ruby Red grapefruit season and it's my favorite fruit, with apples a close second.

We had strawberries again this year. This is the last one.

A recent avocado burger night with some yummy air-fried potato crown tots.

File this one under What A Difference A Year Makes. 

The orchid plant on the left is this year's gift from Dear Daughter.

The one on the right that is blooming was last year's gift.

It really amazed and pleasantly surprised us with its prolific blossoms!

And I finally got out for lunch with two of my closest girlfriends.

We had so much fun visiting over delicious Tex-Mex for over 3 hours!

Well, that's all from me this time.

Hope you have a great rest of the week and weekend!

XOX

April 14th Weekly Post HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my HONEY!

 Hey there!

Hope your weekend was good and your week is going well.

Marion is hosting this week's Sunday Postcard Art with a SHAKESPEARE theme.

I looked in my stamps for anything appropriate and came up with Cornish Heritage Farms castles/buildings and a Scrollswork Elizabethan couple embracing. So I stamped the buildings on a 4x6 precut torn-edge watercolor card, sketched a scene around them and then stamped the couple on another piece of card and fussy cut it. I colored my scene with watercolors, added the couple and the sentiment which was created in PSE and printed out. Since my sentiment is from a Shakespearean play set in Medina, Sicily, I searched images of it online and tried to make my sketched scene look like that area. 

Don't know how close I came but I tried!

Heehee

All's well that ends well!

😎
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And speaking of couples, my better half turns 74 today!

  H A P P Y   B I R T H D A Y    H O N E Y  !!!

I got out Creative Stamping Issue 99's Sentimentally Yours stamps, my Amazon bee wreath die, a Momenta small bee die and Pink Paislee's Queen Bee designer papers to make this card for him. I needed something round to put behind the wreath and found this Webster's Pages round die cut. I stamped the bee balm on the vertical strip element and colored with Promarkers, as I did the center die cut bee. I made his wings blue to blend with the round paper piece. I stamped the sentiment on some yellow vellum, heat-embossed it, outlined the top line with a white gel pen, die cut it with Clear Dollar Stamp label dies and some brown scrap card, and popped it onto the card with foam tape.

Used this sketch, stretching it to 6x6.

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Well, that's what I have this time.

Hope your week goes well.

Thanks for the visit!

XOXO

April 5th Post - Happy Easter!

 Good Blessings to all this Easter weekend!

We are having another mini cool front right now. Any time that the temperature barely reaches 70F in the daytime is cause for calling it a cool front this time of year, lolol.

Thanks for all the health well wishes! My shoulder blade pain is taking its ever-loving time recovering, but it is getting better slowly. I alternate Bengay cream and Aspercreme spray on it. Bio Freeze did nothing, but I noticed after applying that it was expired. I actually ended up throwing out multiple expired products. I bought them to have on hand, but since I only reach for Bengay and Aspercreme, I won't be buying anything else anymore. I did have some patches, but they really do not work on me for a long enough time to justify the gymnastics necessary for application, HA! If anyone has a go-to for topical pain relief, please let me know what it is in the comments! I am always on the lookout!

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This week's theme at Sunday Postcard Art is HARES/RABBITS and is hosted by Sabine. I used Our Craft Lounge's Hoppy Anna Mae stamp set to stamp and heat-emboss this little scene with Nocturne VF-Clair ink and clear embossing powder. I also added the Posh bunnies stamp to the foreground. The sky and grass are watercolored. The rest is colored with Promarkers.

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Last week's theme at SPA was DRAGONFLIES. I made this for it but didn't finish in time so I'm sharing now anyway. I colored the base watercolor paper with an aqua watercolor. Then I die cut some greenery for the background out of green card using a Spellbinders 4x6 Botanical Swirls die. After I cut it, I stamped it with a Hero Arts Lattice cling stamp and Brilliance Pearlescent Thyme ink before layering onto the base. I outlined the edge of the card with a black Promarker and added a Pronty Crafts quote. The Technique Tuesday dragonflies were stamped with Versamark and heat-embossed with Ranger Fine Detail Gold powder on light gold vellum, then fussy cut and added to finish.

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And I made this Easter card for Honey's mom. I had The Paper Shelter's Funny Bunny already printed out in my Easter box, along with the die cut Impression Obsession sentiment and Sizzix Sizzlit strip eggs border. I used a white Recollections card base and Simple Stories designer papers. I cut the designer papers using stitched dies by The Stamps of Life and MFT. I colored the bunny with Promarkers and accented with a gold Sakura gel pen.

And here's the sketch I used.

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That's it for me this time.

I plan to catch up reading blogs later today.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a great week ahead.

Thanks for visiting!

XXO

March 27th Weekly Post

 Helloooo! (Or, should I say Hellurrrr, for any Madea/Tyler Perry fans? heehee)

Oy!

This week has been somewhat brutal for me physically. Wrapping china and glass within an inch of their lives, filling and labelling into boxes, taking boxes to the new house (thankfully downstairs), unwrapping and filling shelves in the butler pantry, up and down a rickety ladder. Again and again. Flattening out the used wrapping paper and bubble wrap and rinse and repeat.

Well, I have apparently 'pulled something' in my back Wednesday, right inside my left shoulder blade between that and my spine. The pain has settled there and on up to my neck. So we took yesterday off and I relaxed by making a postcard for this week's SPA. But this morning I woke with my fumble fingers on both hands swollen to the hilt. My ankles and feet are fine, just my fingers. I remembered that one of my rheumatologists told me that a pinched nerve can cause finger/hand swelling, so that talked me down off the crazy ledge, because I was starting to get worried. I can still type, so I decided to make a post while waiting for Honey to wake up so he can Ben-Gay my back.

The theme at Sunday Postcard Art this week is Spring and is hosted by Sarah. 

I used one of my 4x6 pre-cut torn-edge watercolor cards, got out some very old Fontwerks alpha stamps designed by Elsie Flannigan (anyone remember her from like 2009?) called Happy Corina:

Anyway, I stamped Happy Spring using these alpha stamps, heat-embossed and then I also stamped and heat-embossed a Kimberly Poloson for Fiskars border at top and bottom. I used green VF-Clair ink and clear powder for that. Then, I got out my watercolors, painted the background bright yellow. I found two big and little flower stamps and with VF-Clair pink and purple ink I stamped them all around the card. I got out my Posca paint pens, made little blue blossoms on the border and filled in the letters with various paint colors. I added some glittery centers with a Sakura gel pen and then used a fat chisel point turquoise Posca around the perimeter to color the outside edge of the card. And done! Not really complicated or hard at all, just made it to play and participate.

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My online friend Alyson had her birthday on the 21st and this is what I sent her.

I used Avery Elle's Red and Goldie stamp set for the Red Riding Hood characters and the sentiment, stamping with Nocturne VF-Clair ink and heat-embossing with clear powder. I fussy cut Red and Fox then colored with Promarkers. I created a background for them with DOX ink and a Memory Box stencil after cutting the pieces out of white card and green dotted Lawn Fawn card using a Lawn Fawn polaroid frame die. The rest of the designer papers are Pink Paislee Old School collection. I die cut them using The Stamps of Life stitched rectangle dies (and the plaid strip was cut using an LDRS stitched strip die). White Recollections card base. I really liked how this came out. Using coordinated dies for the stitching effect helped the look, I think. 

Happy Birthday, Dear Friend!

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Well, that does it for me this time.

Off to stretch real good and back to work packing boxes!

😝💩😛

Thanks so much for the visit and your patience during these moving months!

Seeya next time!

XOXOX

March 19th Mid-Week Post

 Hey Y'all!

Hope you are having a good week.

Our weather has been great for early Spring, 70's to 80's (F) in the daytime with plenty of sun. 50's-60's at night. And the March wind is still blowing.

Our Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR) is winding down on March 22.

This year's event has had some controversies.

To quote the Houston Chronicle Editorial:

"The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is the city’s signature event. Nearly 100 years old, it’s our brand, as legible to the world as the cattle brands of Charles Goodnight or King Ranch once were to early Texans.

That brand is looking tarnished these days.

Last week, the rodeo did damage control after a slew of bad headlines and online chatter. After footage of a fight circulated, the rodeo increased security. After revealing getups garnered social media attention, it updated the dress code. That’s on top of the injured steer that had to be euthanized after a steer wrestling event. And the cringeworthy drama involving County Judge Lina Hidalgo that led to a petty back and forth between her and the rodeo leadership."

Now, I'm about as far away to being a country/western fan as you can get. I don't own any of the clothing (hat, boots, etc.), can't even remember the last time I rode a horse, and I've definitely been-there-done-that with HLSR since I began going in 1973 the handful of times I've gone.

BUT, I want it to thrive.

It's a BFD for the Houston area and for many of my friends.

(In fact, our new across-the-street neighbor has volunteered at the rodeo for decades, his father was a founding member of The Black Cowboy Trail Riders.)

So I hope they get past this and do better in the future.

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Today I have 3 different cards made with 2 Stamplorations cover plate dies. I think it's my first use of either of these dies, even though I've had them for a good long minute. I've been experimenting with ways to make multiple cards at one sitting to save me time. I've always been a one-card-at-a-time-each-one-unique kind of card maker, but this year will be different with the move. There are a lot more detailed (and harder) applications of this die, but I've gone with as simple as possible.

For this card, I sized a Bow Arts Etsy Abstract clip art image in PSE and printed it out. Then I die cut it with Stamplorations Zen Doodled Birthday Gifts cover plate. I layered it onto a black base mat and die cut the Stamplorations sentiment with scrap white card.

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For my next card, I used the same dies and different papers from the same collection. But I changed it up slightly. I cut the cover plate die out of white card and layered that onto the clip art image base mat. I outlined the sentiment die with a Sakura metallic glitter gel pen.

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For my 3rd card, I used Stamplorations Zen-Doodled Birthday Cake cover plate die, cutting it out of another great Bow Arts clip art image from the same collection. After layering that onto a base of checkered DCWV designer paper, I added back a few of the pieces and then colored in some spots with Sakura metallic glitter gel pens. Then I cut the sentiment die out of black scrap card.

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Well, that's it for me this time.

Thanks so much for the visit!

I hope you have a great rest of the week and weekend ahead.

SeeYa next time!

XOX

March 15th Weekly Post (A Little Early)

 Hi Guys. Hope all is well with you.

And Happy Mother's Day to those in the UK who celebrate.

Dear Daughter and her Bestie are visiting us this weekend on a girls' getaway.

We've had loads of fun and have gotten some good help moving light boxes and tchotchkies.

Wednesday the March winds showed up and brought us a rainy cool front.

And after it passed through, the weather has been picture perfect.

On Sunday we get another rainy windy cool front for just a day or so.

I don't think anyone down here doubts that Spring Has Sprung!

The azaleas are in full bloom and everything is green and growing now.

This week is my first of four in 2026 to host Sunday Postcard Art and my theme is FLOWERS. Since the UK ladies have their Mother's Day today, the sub-theme is Flowers for Mother's Day.

I used watercolors and colored pencils to color my image (Impression Obsession) which was stamped on watercolor paper. The sentiment is an Avery Elle stamp.

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I will be back later in the week sharing cards, but I'm cutting this post short to make another trip over to the new house to put shelf liner in all the closets and vacuum some more, then more visiting with our guests.

Thanks for the visit and see ya middle of the week.

XOXO

March 8th Weekly Post

Greetings on International Women's Day!

 And it's also the first day of Daylight Savings Time here.

The weather here is perfectly dreadful, everything is dripping with humidity, rain clouds through tomorrow, then a few days of respite, then rinse and repeat.

The theme at Sunday Postcard Art is INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY and is hosted by Mandy.

I used official Frida Kahlo Corporation stamps on this which came with Issue 120 of Creative Stamping Magazine. I stamped them with Nocturne Versafine Clair ink and heat-embossed with clear powder. I colored the images with various Promarkers and Tombow watercolor markers and accented with gel pens. I used Twisted Citron Distress Ink and a Bare Branches stencil from A Colorful Life to add the background. Frida used thorns to represent her pain and broken crippled body, so I thought it an appropriate motif. I then ink-distressed the edges with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink and after it all dried I scanned it into PSE and added the text and dark grey frame.

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I went full-on Frida Kahlo for this and let me tell you why.

There is a new traveling exhibit at Houston's Museum of Fine Arts called "Frida: The Making of an Icon". What it is not is just a retrospective of her works. What it attempts to answer is how she became a worldwide pop culture icon. It's based on THIS BOOK and is curated by the book's author. It began in January and runs through May, after which it goes to London. And the curated shows are all completely sold out, but I am lucky to know someone who has volunteered there for years, so I got to watch a DVD of the curation. They filmed a dress rehearsal to make sure the curator could be understood and also to help the docents understand the exhibit and the ushers know when and where to move the crowd. That's pretty cool that they do that nowadays. Anyway, my friend invited me over to watch it with her. Thanks to my friend who lent me her copy, I'd already read the book, so no real surprises really, other than the size of her artworks. Some I had thought were huge were really small and vice versa. I don't know if this link will work for you because The Houston Chronicle has a pay wall. I subscribe, so I am sharing their sneak peek HERE.

After I came home from watching it, I was inspired to create this art journal spread in my Little Book of Wisdom journal. (I have 5-6 spreads left to finish). I would share it over at Art Journal Journey, but I would feel bad not visiting the other entries and I just don't have enough time for that right now, unfortunately. Plus, I swore off challenges in order to create more art time and that has worked for me. Vicious circle, it is, no matter what.  

I used Dylusions and Tim Holtz stencils with black and white paints, a few stickers from my Antiquarian Sticker Book, painted die cut flowers, enamel dots, my handwritten journaling, some grungy black paint smudging on the edges and a printed quote of hers.

This is how the spread looked when I began, previously painted with a gesso base and then leftover acrylics. I chose this one because it reminded me of the Mexican flag and their colors. Frida was a tireless advocate for Mexicans being proud of their indigenous heritage and unique qualities. She grew up during The Mexican Revolution and its aftermath, and there was a movement to rid or at least mitigate the European influences in their culture (which many newly liberated countries attempt in order to develop their own national character). This is why Frida dressed the way she did and even why she grew her unibrow and let her mustache show, because those were symbols of Mexican indigenous feminine beauty. She saw herself and husband Diego as ambassadors of a new self-governing indigenous nation whose people did not look like their oppressors, the refined fair and blonde Europeans (nor Americans, for that matter). 

For my focal image, I used this very old napkin. I have no idea anymore where it came from so if you want to save a copy, go for it.

The book is not a biography; it's more of a study of her posthumous influence across generations and genres. It really helped me understand her motivations and ambition better. I learned quite a lot from the book I linked, but I really cannot recommend it because it's $60!!!! I'm really lucky that my friend got a huge discount on it (the author is a resident curator at MFA Houston).

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Well, that's all I have today.

Next Sunday is my week to host Sunday Postcard Art and my theme is Flowers for UK Mother's Day.

See ya then, and thanks so much for the visit!

XXO

March 6th Weekly Post

 Hello, Hello!

Hope this has been a good week for you.

Our weather here has been horrible for aches and pains, all week long.

😒

Dear Daughter has been feeling it and so have Honey and I.

I follow Chief Meteorologist David Paul on Facebook. He serves up his forecasts with a side of advice for human barometers, like us. Here's what he posted for March 6-12:

"For you human barometers out there, some notable pressure shifts across the US over the next week could really impact how you'll be feeling.

Starting Friday (March 6), a deep low around 995 mb/29.38" digs into the Central US (Plains to Midwest, like Denver to Chicago), with falling pressure there likely ramping up migraines (sinus swelling, vessel dilation), fibromyalgia pain/stiffness/fatigue, autoimmune flares, or vestibular dizziness/vertigo as the system approaches. Highs hold in the West and East, so rising/stable pressure there might offer some relief.

By Sunday (March low pressure (991 mb/29.26") will extend across the North and Southern Canada, with falling pressure expanding eastward towards the Great Lakes - potential symptom spikes there - while central areas see rising pressure post-low.

Tuesday (March 10) brings another deep Central US low (991 mb/29.26"), so renewed falling pressure in the Midwest/Plains, rising a bit along both coasts.

Finally, by Thursday (March 12), one low moves to the Northeast with falling pressure, while a new one forms across the Northern Plains (both around 996/995 mb/~29.38"). Falling pressure in these areas could hit hard, but rising pressure in the Central/South could ease symptoms mid-country.

If you're in the significant swing zones, prep with hydration, rest, and meds - stay strong, you're not alone!"

And oh yeah, we Americans (or most of us) also have Spring Forward Day on Sunday.

Changing to Daylight Savings Time and losing an hour.

Oh, that'll make us feel even better!

😖

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The theme this week at Sunday Postcard Art is HORSES, hosted by Anne.
I literally have nothing big enough to fill up a 4x6 area except this digital stamp line art so I used it. My files say it's by Angie's Digital Stamps. If I am remembering correctly, this lady Angie was on a design team I was on, and she gave us her images sometimes. I think that is how I acquired it. At any rate, the image is somewhat endearing to me. I chose the text because it looks to me like a mare teaching her foal to obey human commands when to gallop or stop, so she is telling her to giddy up (and we think humans teach them to do this - HA!)

 Anyway, I saved it figuring I might someday need it and lo and behold! In PSE, image was resized and layered onto a 4x6 framed background. Text added and then printed out on white card stock. I colored it with Promarkers.
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Here's a birthday card I made for a girlfriend.
White A2 card base, K&Co. designer papers, Spellbinders Hem-Stitch Rectangle die used on the base paper and also the small diagonal square, MFT wavy lines die cut out of the red dp, Sunny Studio strawberry stamps and dies, Avery Elle margarita and lime dies, MFT stamped sentiment, Wink of Stella and Stickles on the glass, white gel pen on the strawberries.

Angle shot to show the glittery shimmer.

And the sketch I used.
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Okay, that's what I have for now.
I will definitely be back to post sometime on Sunday.
So, see ya then and thanks so much for your visit!
XOX