I am back!

I want to begin by apologizing for my absence during the last 2 weeks.  I was in College Station and in the Dallas - Ft. Worth areas of Texas celebrating birthdays and the 4th of July with my family.  I was so busy, I didn't have much time to work on my artwork or do much blogging.  In addition, I've had several home projects to work on since I got back.  Thank God, I was able to get enough art work done to warrant a post today.

Before I left on my trip, I did have a chance to make a couple of tags for my daughters' two grandmothers whose birthdays we celebrated during the trip.  I designed the balloon tag to coordinate with the gift wrapping paper.  I began by making a tag card out of kraft paper using a guillotine paper cutter and a corner rounder punch.  Then, I cut a red Tim Holtz mini ticket and a teal green strip to use on the background.  I punched 3 balloons and decorated them with a heart, a party hat, and letters to spell the word "mom."  I tied some thread to the bottom of each balloon, gathered the ends, and glued them under the stamped "celebrate" label.  Inside the tag I hand lettered the sentiment with some paint markers.  To finish my tag, I punched a hole on the top and tied some raffia.  I am submitting this tag and gift wrap to Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge: A Little Stamping, Jen Price's In the Studio, and Manon Visser's Paper Saturdays.

During my trip, I did manage to visit a couple of book and art supplies stores; I work in my art journal once; and I took morning walks almost daily.  Being an artsy introvert who likes to stay fit, these little escapades were of utmost importance.  My art journal page was inspired by Jessica Sporn's page on The Secret Garden, which I pinned here.  My design is a combination between hand lettering, doodling, paint dabbing, freehand cut paper flowers, a faux postcard, a faux stamp, and a Maryjo Koch fussy cut butterfly.  I am submitting the art journal page to Artists In Blogland: July's Color This Quote, Order of the Opus Gluei #160: Pin It, Spin It, Win It, Inspiration Avenue - Words.  The photograph, which I took at a flowerbed by my oldest daughter's apartment, has an interesting collection of mushrooms.  For some reason I'm fascinated by them.  I am submitting this photograph to 52 Photo Project: Gallery 12 {This is what I found}, Maria's Orange You Glad It's Friday #46, and Lorik's Mandarin Orange Monday.

During the last couple of days I designed and illustrated the two pieces above for my Tag Tuesday post.  The bookmark tag was inspired by the Biblical passage found in Revelations 1:8, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."  However, I substituted the Greek letter Omega (Ω) for the letter "Z," which is the last letter in the alphabet used in the English language.  I am submitting it to Jennifer McLean's Artist's Playroom #65 - Bookmarks,  Word Art Wednesday - Challenge #88, ABC Wednesday: Z, and Ramona's Inspire Me Monday Week 80.  The face changing puppet tag was inspired by Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio, the classic Italian fairytale about the puppet-boy whose nose grows if he tells a lie.  By rotating the head piece, Pinocchio's truthful and deceitful expressions can be revealed.  I am submitting this piece to Artists in Blogland: Show & Tell Saturday, Julia Dunnit's What's on your work desk? Wednesday #214, Eva and Kristin's Paint Party Friday: Week 18 - Year 3, and Alexandra's Sunday Sketches.

I hope you enjoyed my simple collection of art projects this week.  Thanks for coming back to visit, and hope you take the time to leave a comment.  Blessings!