imagination on paper

the bohemian mountain's mood today: coy

my stamping group played with making backgrounds. this is my daily journal page explaining the different methods we played around with...

this is my "window" challenge card. i started with a trifold card (store-bought) and cut the first page in half down the front. then i put a tag sticking out on the front with a "doodad". i managed to not get a picture of the front (!). thought i had...*frowning*. too late since the cards went out to their new homes. below is a few samples of the embossed background we made in class and how i used it for my exchange cards.

here is a card i created for My Honey...

and here is the card i made for my dad for father's day...

everyone out there who still has their father around...don't forget to tell him how much you love him and appreciate him. My Honey has been the best father i know... i'm so proud of him! i couldn't ask for a better partner in the child-raising department. three kids have left the nest, one is still here. it's a tough job with no advance training available but it's such an important job and very rewarding, as you end up with great friends!!!!! happy days and wishes to all the dads....

a salty tale

one very, very hot day in bohemia, the bohemian decided that what was needed was a trip to the nearby beach... so with beach box, flip flops, camera, and beach treasure baggies in hand, she collected her two delightful daughters about her and off they went...

she had always LOVED the rock collages she found by the ocean's edge. this day was no exception. isn't it truly lovely?

one of her morning pages expressed her obsession of the ocean and its shore...

her gypsy daughter brought along her parasol to protect her from the blazing summer sun...

it provided JUST enough shade to keep the gypsy daughter cool and comfy. and she got many compliments from the other beach wanderers...

and the not-so eccentric daughter and the boyfriend found the beach oh so romantic. where is more romantic than the seashore?!

the duckling family was also enjoying the cool waters of the bay, as were the avid sailors out in their sailboats.

but, alas, beach romp came to a close. and the bohemian's "shadow was sad when" she "took it from the sands of the gleaming beach"... richard wright's words. but of course the medicinal sunshine, salt water, and ocean air had completely revived the bohemian by then. aahhhhhh...

These are the pages that i created for my fellow stamp group friends' humming bird altered round robin book. the words say: humming bird wisdom:

* sip the sweet moments

* let your true colors shine through

* don't get your feathers ruffled over little things

* just wing it

* take yourself lightly

* keep your visits short and sweet

great wisdom, huh? think i'll try to practice these this week. i'll let you know how it goes...

a very bohemian day

What a lovely warm fun-filled day this bohemian had today! She traveled far and wide and had heart-to-heart talks and did crafty things with fellow artisans... It all started with the awareness of how blue the sky was! The green leaves of every tree paid compliments to the depth of color of the sky.

Not only that! The leaves of the ginkgo tree were dancing the shimmy... Oh, you should have seen them! It was a sight to behold, their dancing was. And because of that playful wind that set the ginkgo leaves dancing, the day was so much cooler than the day before. aahhhh...yes. coolness.

The bohemian's first wanderings led her beside the lake, winding around it to her fellow gypsy/artist's studio. This wonderful gypsy had lattes ready and off they went to her studio. Her studio with a view of the lake, I must add. What you see in the above picture is this gypsy's frog and fish pond with resident mermaid, all overlooking the beauty of the lake. mmmm.... creating art, with sunshine pouring in the window, rock n roll oldies belting from the radio, and a view of the sparkling lake.... how could one NOT be in the mood for creativity? Did I mention the lattes?!

The next leg of our bohemian gypsy's trip led her through farm fields and over valleys and hills to the sparkling waters of the ocean bay. There lived her sister in a house that reeked of Tuscany. And there on her sister's dining room table were the most beautiful peonies this gypsy had beheld in a long, long while. There was even a white one splashed with scarlet, like the kind that used to grow in her own gypsy yard! Oh and the smell.... heaven, to be sure.

And what was that extravagantly perfumed purple thing? All this bohemian could do was breathe in and smile. She could NOT stop smiling...

Her visit with her sister and their mother included (but was not limited to) coffee (yea! more coffee!), lovely egg salad sandwiches, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. The mother and the sister agreed that this was a very fine restaurant indeed! But the afternoon wound slowly to a close and so the bohemian gypsy sadly said her farewells and turned her heart toward home.

Still oh so comfy in her little denim sundress, she sat out in her very own backyard, in her very own lounge chair and treated herself to (some MORE) strawberries and whipped cream. And for variety she added a banana and a nectarine. mmmmmmmm...

She smiled oh so satisfactorily, rather a lot like the Cheshire cat, and her bare toes wriggled oh so contentedly...

Oh, yes. It had been an outrageously glorious bohemian day. yes, ma'am. indeed.

another grateful fling and more morning pages

more "grateful flings" : * the view traveling up the hill to this bohemian's home *that bohemian mountain majesty *hot, sunny weather...so unusual to this part of bohemia *the beauty of the nearby lake *the road that takes this bohemian along this place of beauty * God's variety of the color blue

* flowers and warm baths and any combination thereof

* God's variety of colors with which He painted the flowers

(morning page: ink, embossing powder, magazine clippings)

* variety of colored paints

* variety of art * metallics!!!

(morning page: ink, embossing powder, stamped butterfly wings, magazine clipping)

* the beach!

* fairies frolicking at the beach

* books in which to create morning pages this bohemian artist wishes playtime and art materials and beachtime galore to all her sisters, and many, many "grateful flings" in the days to come...

morning pages...may, 2009

the quote of the chocolate page: "hand over the chocolate and no one will get hurt!"the resident artist felt the need to share some pages from her daily journal. all her life she had been a failure at journaling... she would be so committed and faithfully journal every day for about 3 months. then...failure. months would go by and pages would stay blank. staring, accusing, abandoned... so when she discovered "glue books", a whole new world opened up to her creativity and imagination... and although she is still not faithful to it every day, she has freed herself of that particular expectation and now it is all about playing and fun!!! the "sunny yellow" page: collage of magazine clippings...

"caught in a swirl..." (the resident photographer apologises for the poor quality of the photos. she is a beginning photographer and has a cheapo camera. but she hopes you get the gist of it all.) rubber stamping and embossing, metallic acrylic paint and magazine clipping

her "20 things i love to do"... includes things like going to the beach, riding a ferry boat, tea partying, etc... colored pencils, markers, and magazine clippings

(again with the cheapo camera that won't take close ups) magazine picture of girl (adorable!) and magazine clipping of quote.

and lastly for today: her mission statement: "She could see no reason to act her age..." acrylic paint and glaze, markers, and magazine clippings

*don't forget to play today!!!!

black cat's frolicy adventures

one warm sunny morning, black cat awoke suddenly. the sun was already high above the bohemian mountain majesty. the mountain's mood seemed playful that day. black cat decided it was an absolutely perfect day for a frolic. he knew that to frolic meant to make merry. it meant to play about happily and have fun. it meant to have a gleeful romp... so off he trotted. "what kind of mischief can i get into?" he thought. for awhile he held onto his magic grass stem and schemed.

"what i really need," he thought," is accomplices!" so off he gambolled to find his kitten friends.

but they were snoozing and lazing about. and besides that, they didn't want to get in any trouble with the mama. so they politely declined to participate.

next he checked at the songbird cafe to see if any of his bird friends were dining out there. but the cafe wasn't even open! it was deserted, as you can see.

so black cat went back to his magic stem. of course, he took the long and scenic way back around the house. his grandfather had often admonished him to always take the scenic route and always go back a different way than the way he had taken to get there, the reason being that you saw more magical sights that way!

black cat chewed on that awhile, while he chewed on his magic grass stem.

not a thing happened except that he got hot and cranky in the noonday sun. so off he stalked to hide under his favorite pink rhodie bush to cool down and pout about being comrade-less.

by an by, he grew refreshed and bored. and he left on a hunting trip. he arrived back to his home with lovely yumminess for lunch and dined under purple rhodie and then took a nap.

may there be many frolicy adventures in your day today. take time to play. and never go back the same way you came so you don't miss out on any magical moments.

life's blessings

aaahhhhh... is there any more soothing first thing in the morning than a nice mug of hot java? how do you start your morning? i have coffee. then i play a game of scrabble with a friend. after which, we work out in her basement while watching travel shows and pretending we are really THERE. today we were in french polynesia with anthony bourdain. tropical paradise... that is truly a blessing of life: palm trees, the murmur of the surf, sandy beaches, fresh pineapple juice running down your arm... don't you feel refreshed? the resident artist finally got the mask done she had promises to her friend! YES, she was very happy with how it turned out!! one project down, a few still to go...

another blessing of this bohemian's life...flowers! and, as this bohemian has a black thumb which few plants survive, almost ALL the flowers this bohemian enjoys are due to My Honey's grandmother's green thumb. she planted flowers all around the cottage when she and the grandfather lived here. and so, i am blessed to have a kitchen windowsill as gorgeous as this with flowers galore... mmmmmm. blessings on the grandmothers' gardening hands.

the bohemian mountain's mood today: shy... wouldn't you agree? and still i am awed by its beauty. and i feel so extravagantly blessed to have this view daily.

and this bouquet is for you, full of beauty and visual glory and smelling like heaven...