random images of beauty from south bohemia...

the bohemian is still visiting the bohemia of the southlands (costa rica). every day in the secret garden where clean clothes are hung up to dry in the fresh air, the bohemian spies butterflies visiting one of their favorite flowers... and every day as the bohemian visits the kitchen of the castle, where all the lovely aromas of frying garlic and onion waft through the doorway, these lovely hibiscus blossoms greet her. and once, she even spied a leaf fairy who gave her a shy but mischievous smile. she visited a lovely waterfall garden, with blooming blossoms galore and a variety of native animals (the hummingbirds were her favorite, although the jaguars have a rare and dangerous beauty of their own). the garden bathrooms were a treat to behold! a garden spot in its own right, with lush tropical beauty... cool water pouring from the stone spout into an intensely blue bowl... and a tiny green frog to show her the faucet handle... here she is...studying her spanish in the sunshine! it is the rainy season, so one must take advantage of the sun's warmth when it shines. by afternoon the rain will have set in.... the bohemian and her daughter came across this monster on one of their walks... they were thankful someone had slain it and it could no longer sting them. it was about the size of the bohemian's palm of her hand. flaming candles of brilliant red decorate the neighboring gardens. and the bohemian is in love with the patterns of the wrought iron everywhere... here is a sample of the butterflies' favorite blossoms... they come in a great variety of colors. the scenic valley wherein lies the bohemia of the southlands... bushes full of these laughing yellow sunbursts abound. and she DID get to see a toucan finally! but only inside of a wonderful tropical aviary.... candy-colored toucan wishes to you all... hope you take time to play today!

my travel journal...

little chloe looking at my travel journal for this trip to costa rica... i painted the pages before i left... and glued in some of my favorite scrapping paper... i also inked some of the pages. this beautiful butterfly was almost whole but dead when i found him but he suffered some destruction before i got him into the journal. he had brilliant teal and electric green on him. and i inserted some stamped things and some ribbons and fiber... that's right!! and i created my usual travel alphabet...hopefully these pages will be full by the time i leave for home.. artistic and color-filled wishes to you all!

art in costa rica

the bohemian is loving the art of costa rica! the patterns... the colors of nature and natural life... the shapes and patterns of wrought iron... the beauty of marble tile and brickwork... the statuary.... the colors they paint their houses and buildings... ah... so glad to be here, experiencing it all... the intricate detail and colors of the costa rican ox carts... may the beauty that surrounds you not go unnoticed... say to yourself: "it's a wonderful world!" (thanks, louie!) and then go out and play in it...

beauty in costa rica...

the bohemian is temporarily residing costa rica for 2 months. and O how she is enjoying the beauty of the flowers and plants... the houseplants she sees in the northwest of washington state thrive here in huge yard bushes... houseplants on steroids!! and the colors are so rich and deep! it is the rainy season and everything is lush and green! she loves the gorgeous blooms on this aloe vera plant! the wild life thrive here too. so far she has seen a tarantula, cockroaches of many colors and sizes , a rat the size of a bunny rabbit and its 7 newborn babies, a tiny snake, lots of crickets and birds... bohemia is just as beautiful in latin america as it is in the northwest corner of the united states. and she intends to enjoy every minute of it!! lush, green, deeply colorful wishes to you all... don't forget to play! to see her travel journal blog, click on the link in the right hand column...

garden love and a quilty pleasure...

a little garden love....the bohemian was enchanted. and then she popped the little heart in her mouth and said: YUM! and smiled all the way back to the house... remember this crazy quilt square? well, it got embroidered and stitched and multiplied... into this lovely, wild raggy quilt!!! yes, the bohemian smiles when she snuggles underneath, thinking how warm it will keep her this coming winter! wishing you garden love and bold colors in your world... what did you do to play today?

card art and a journal page...

with a rather fun and cool piece of paper, the bohemian created this card with the metal doodad frame thingy. (literary precision is important!!) this card was made for a "metal" challenge in her card exchange group. another bold WORD card...with a wee bit of that cool paper! and then, a wedding card with a tad bit more of that same cool paper!! now she needs MORE of that extremely fun and cool paper!!! this page was created for the altered canvas book exchange themed "art saves", hosted by the lovely carmen of Writing From Life. this is the page done for Lila's book. the dragonfly is printed on heavy vellum and its wings pop up to make it 3-D. the bohemian hopes you have time to create, play, blow giant bubbles and chase dragonflies... because LIFE IS FUN!!! bubblicious and gossamer-dragonfly-wing wishes to you all.......

creativity takes a few sidetrips...

the bohemian awoke to a hazy warm morning. the mountains were looking a bit surreal, as if they didn't truly possess any real substance. but off she went into the muggy morning, traipsing off to town for groceries and social engagements... ah...time for lunch break and social engagement #1: finding herself in historic old fairhaven and you know where... oh yes...back again to the little trolley diner for scrumptious fish and chips and chatting with a dear friend! and celebrating with new flip flops...orange and pink always works for the bohemian, and throw in a little chocolate brown. and yes, they were just calling her name! creative side trip: bridal shower for her soon to be daughter-in-law. this is her darling niece and the toilet paper wedding dress the bohemian helped create for her. but of course, there was a train to sweep grandly along behind. creative side trip: decorating for vacation bible school at her church. the theme was high seas expedition. thus the whole ship effect... the bohemian loved what a few creative ladies did on the back wall... the lighthouse "rocks" are scrunched up brown paper grocery bags! it was so wonderfully 3-D! then they recreated it again at the little A-frame church, a smaller-scaled and shorter version. creative side trip: spray painted "rock" sheets the bohemian created years ago that get used every year and a faux campfire made of shimmery mylar and tissue paper and christmas lights. magic! it is so amazing how many uses the creative imagination can be put to. and making magical things happen for children is one of the bohemian's favorite ways to use hers!! may there be magical creations and splashes of summer color in your world today! hope you find some playing time... and use that lovely imagination of yours! it is such a gift!