Don't you just love summer?

 The weather is so warm and beautiful, the skies are so blue and the sunshine lifts the spirits.  We've been out enjoying all of that and the ability to actually travel locally.  Just up the Kootenay Lake from us is a spot we'd wanted to visit for some time, and this past week we did so. 

The Glass House is a marvel of construction started in the early 1950's utilizing glass embalming fluid bottles (you can guess what occupation that gentleman held, right?).

If you're in our area, I truly recommend the tour...it's truly mind-boggling what can be done with 600,000+ embalming bottles!

On the way home, I talked John into stopping so I could get a photo of my favourite fence - it's nearly as wonky as am I!  Were I able and had the program, I'd be painting that fence white and adding a wide range of polka dots in vibrant colours!

I've had little time in the studio this past week, but did manage to get some more mini books done.  With only three more of the seventeen to go, I'm hopeful I can get them in the mail and on their way to their new owners within the coming week.  Not before time, right?

With the loosening of the Covid restrictions, I'm delighted to have been working with Ruth Bieber for the last couple of weeks, and we are hoping to finish the nineteenth piece this week.  Covid has certainly turned this project into a marathon.  Here's a detail sneak peak of a recent piece.

I'm hoping that wherever you are in the world, you're enjoying the seasons, getting safely out and about, and having the creative time of your life.  Here's to living the dream. 🌞 🍷🌄

🌞🌻🌄🌞

There's not much going on...

 ...in the studio this week, apart from a very quick play with some mop-up paper towels (glued to some backing paper) in contrast with black paper, specifically for you, Angela.  Will I ever get tired of the pop of explosion when bright colour hits black paper?  I doubt it very much.

And because I hadn't quite had my colour fix for the week, I did a page in the 'black and white' journal.

We were out of town for half a day to celebrate our granddaughter's first birthday.  Judging from the smash cake, I think she had a great day.  I'm not sure that lovely eyelet dress came out of it too well, though. 😜

John planted some sweet peas here in front of the condo for me - they have to be my favourite flower.  Can you smell them from where you are?  The variety is a heritage one, and they're so strong and fragrant I'll bet you can. 

We didn't have to go too far 'out and about' to find this lovely scene - no further than the front deck, in fact.  Peeking through the undergrowth of cedars into John's flower patch was pure delight.  Owen and his mom, Rochelle, were visiting, so I talked her into taking the photo for me as I was too lazy to head into the condo to get my own phone.

This world is filled with amazing amounts of unexpected beauty, isn't it?  May you have found a huge number of them in your own week.

Bless that glue cave...

... because it's getting a fine workout.  I got playing with white paper (including unpainted dryer sheets) over black this week.

I can't decide whether I like them better on a black background or a white one, but I'm definitely liking the combination of commercial white filigreed papers with the dryer sheets  I admit to finding it impossible to resist adding that pop of red on it.

I didn't stop there, naturally - I added another layer to each of the pieces I spray glued last week.  

I suspect by the time I add a judicious layer of mediums, they'll both be juicy enough to eat.

I worked on the mini books as well this week, finishing another six of them...only seven more to go and they'll be heading out in the mail.

And just in case you want a closer look at some of these papers, here's your chance!

And just a tongue-in-cheek accolade to the Town of Creston, who have started work on a level slalom course for gophers near one of our local parks; they expect to have it ready for the 2021/22 winter season.  We're excited - are you?

 

Happy week, my oh-so-creative friends - see you next Thursday!

I'm in big trouble now...

...because the sun is shining and I've moved my glue cave outside.  This means, of course, that I've been gluing dryer sheets and pasting them onto other stuff.  I started small just to suss things out, and these two pieces on paper were quick to do.

Then I got to wondering how it would look with darker tone cutouts beneath the dryer sheets and now I have a good background on which to play.  

The glue cave got a good workout

and now I've got a couple of large pieces that I can chop and slash to my heart's content.

Of course, I'm still working on the mini books, and with four completed I feel like there is progress being made - only 13 to go!

Given that we've had some slight lifting of the restrictions, I tore over the mountains this week for a quick visit with my daughter and grandson.  We did the Castlegar Sculpture walk together and found these beauties!

Owen insisted on some time out in the park, and he was absolutely right.  It was the perfect day for it.

I hope that your week has been filled with as much creativity, fun and beauty you could pack into it.  Summer vibes are definitely in the air!