This life is a wild ride,

and one seems not to know from one moment to the next where we're headed.  Last week I missed posting due to a runaway few days across the mountains, and now I'm playing catch up.  One of the reasons was a celebration for our youngest grandson's second birthday party, and it was a blast.  His birthday painting this year was of a Simple Simon character called Mr. Noodle, and Owen was beyond excited with the painting.

The Simple Simon characters are delightful, and the catchy tunes they sing are just perfect for this budding musician.

It seems as though both grandsons are fall babies, so there is another birthday painting in the works right now for the older one.

Grandma better get on it, 'cause it's less than a month away and this one needs to go in the mail so it reaches him in time.

Meanwhile, book-making, journal play and paintings are all cooling their jets in the studio as I recover from a wrenched back.  I'm in that time of 'when-will-I-ever-get-back-to-completing-all-these-ideas-in my overflowing-creative-brain?'.  Luckily, the back is slowly regaining strength and improving.  I'll be tap-dancing in the studio soon enough, and enjoying your inspiration creativity in the meantime.  Happy week to you all.

How can it be...

 ...that September is nearly over, and it's well over a month since I posted last?  Talk about making plans and life laughing.

I've had a wee bit of time this past week to work on a previously-started journal spread, and it is, at the least, colourful by now. 

While there's a long way to go yet, some areas are well in progress.

I'm really like the contrast between the masked areas and the dark overlay,

as well as the patterned work next to the wild abstracted leaves.

With lots of infilling yet to complete, 

I can see that it will be another week or two before this spread is finished.

There are more stencils and masks waiting for additional inspiration, just in case.

And with luck, it won't be a month before I get back to it!  Now, I'm off to catch up with what you've been doing while I was 'out to lunch'!  Happy creating, my friends.

Time out is a good thing...

 ...and that's what's happening here.  I'll be back in September, and look forward to reconnecting with you all again.  Happy summer all!  

Well it was a squish. . .

 . . . but I did manage to get another crossed-structure binding completed.  And while I made a mistake, it was a new one, so that's a great thing, right?  No repeats!  🤣

Because I've admired a friend's elastic bindings so much, I created one for this book, which means there will be no slipcase involved due to the depth of the 'jewel' on the elastic.

The elastic and set stone makes the book a clear 3/8" deeper on what would be the inside of the case were there to be one.

I'm loving the black against that p o w colour, so carried it through on all the edging as well.

There were bits of cutoffs from the linking of the binding, and I'd normally throw them in my stash to use another day.  My passion for the colour combination meant that I literally could not wait to create something with them.

I just had to make some tags (I keep a stash for gift-giving) with them, and very much enjoyed the contrast created by different sets of backgrounds.

And front or back, they look terrific to me!

I hope your colour combinations gave you as much joy this week - I look forward to seeing what you've been up to!  

Goof-ups galore...

means that it was a good model project, right?  Whenever I try a new book form, I expect to make a ton of mistakes and this one was a great example.  Regardless, I think it's rather pretty, and it gives me the impetus to try another one.  The book is 4.5" wide x 5.5" high x .75" deep, and I'm loving the cover in spite of all the craziness last week with chemical reactions between alcohol ink and stamp pad inks.

The crossed-structure binding is an interesting one to do, and I love the way it looks.

I'll ensure that the cut edges are all coloured on the next one so they aren't so visible.

I also finished a couple of tiny (2" wide x 3" high) mini accordion books retro-fitted to some cast-off jewelry boxes.  This one falls into the Arcturus series quite nicely. I'd say.

It makes me smile to think there actually could be dragons out there in that star system...wouldn't you love to see that?

The other mini  is about 'The Red Rubber Ball' and was the result of an ear worm that would NOT go away.  

The morning sun has been shining like a red rubber ball here for some days, and the heat wave is truly amazing.  This morning is the first cooler day we've had in a while and a 7:30 am walk had us at 25 degrees C.

I'm sure by now you all know that I'm a rabid environmentalist, and that enthusiasm usually shows up in the studio with recycling/upcycling/reusing and etc.  This past week, though, a handheld turbo something-or-other that attaches to the vacuum crapped out, and I decided it was time I put my brain to the test.  I found some directions online for a repair, and tore the thing apart.  I'm happy to tell you that the thing does NOT have to go into the landfill, and I managed to not only take it all apart but put it back together.  

I feel a huge need for us to do something more to save the planet we occupy; we need to be conscious of everything that goes in the landfill.  Our small town has just started a recycling program and I'm delighted to see this.  What's happening in your area?  I'd love to hear about ways in which you and your community are working together to make a difference.