"Happy New Year..."

May your 2011

be fueled with artistic inspiration and energy

and

may it be decorated

with healthy, bountiful days.

♥

May

your breaths be pure and long and deep

and may they

fill your spirit with the exhilarating

"Ahhh's" and "Mmmm's"

of sweet serenity.

♥

May your eyes endlessly feast on

magical moments and miracles of nature...

and

may they sparkle in joy and wonder.

♥

May your heart

nestle softly in smiles and happy memories

and may it

be blanketed in the warmth and coziness

of friendship and love.

♥

These are my wishes for each of you...

from my heart

to yours.

♥

"Pens, Patterns..."

...and playful practice. :)

Several pieces positioned upon another page

in my Artful Musings Journal

drawn entirely lead free

diving straight in with ink...

and

not a single preconceived thought

in my head...:)

Fun!

Click on image...to enlarge...;)

♥

(BTW... Arizona had BIG SNOWS

in the "high country"...Flagstaff...last night...(2+ feet)!

Closer to home...

the tops of the mountains surrounding the valley

to the north

are snow packed...and soooo gorgeous!

In addition...we even had

a few flurries which danced by and amused us

here in the desert today!

Hmmm...

palm trees, cacti and snow flurries...

who would have ever thought?

Happy Birthday Mom! :)

We each wish you a day packed to the brim

with joy filled smiles...warm hugs...

lots of smooches...

and the happiest of memories. :)

Fly high and enjoy!

♥

Much love from

Dad,

Peg and Scott,

Jack, Sharon, Vanessa, Lauren, Steve, and Myles

Mark and Katie,

Susan, David, Joya, and Jillian!
♥

"Our birthdays

are feathers in the broad wing of time."

~Jean Paul Richter

"Tiny Tidbits..."

...abundant enough

to delight each of the senses...

decorated our wonder-filled day of magical

family memories.

Our festive Arizona holiday season was

officially

kicked off with a bang

"Chuparosa Christmas" style

yesterday.

Life is, indeed, certainly good!

“You never know when you're making a memory.”
~Rickie Lee Jones

American Singer and Song Writer

"Feathers and Boughs..."

...are combined together in my Zen Journal to create

a twist on the old familiar wintry

snowflake.

This was started at the Grand Canyon

in November...

and just completed last night...

almost a month later!

Good Grief!

:)
And, of course...
(with the aid of Microsoft Digital Editor)
I had to flip her to enhance her more traditional
frosty flakiness.
I just couldn't help it!

“They say that every snowflake is different.
If that were true,
how could the world go on?
How could we ever get up off our knees?
How could we ever
recover from the wonder of it?”
~Jeanette Winterson

"Jump Starting My Muse..."

...some seasonal scratches and sketches

in my artful musings journal

while watching less than wonderful

repeat programming

on television.

Now, tonight...well...that's another

story...

"White Christmas" is on!

YAY!

"Just A Few Flakes..."

...to celebrate the magic of the first winter snowfall

today

back "home" in Sycamore, Illinois.

(I just saw the Facebook photos of JGL's backyard...

it is a wonderland! )

Ahhh...

those first gentle snowfalls...this is a time

I really miss the Midwest...:)

♥

However,

interestingly enough...

a serendipitous southwest snow encounter

occurred as

my brother and sister and their families

drove up to the high elevation

of "rim country"

here in Arizona to cut down Christmas trees

today!

They found gorgeous deep snow, beautiful trees,

and 50 degree temperatures.

(And...I just know...

the little ones were in "snow angel" heaven!)

Me?

I chose to stay down here in the west valley...

at a balmy 75 degrees,

no snowfall...

(just a few (watercolored) flakes...)

fresh rosemary in the air...a chair on the patio...

a copy of Eat Pray Love in hand...

the sound of Gambrel quail chatting away.

Mmm...:)

No matter where

friends and loved ones were today

it certainly seems like

a lovely, magical Saturday was had by all...:)

“Begin doing what you want to do now.

We are not living in eternity.

We have only this moment,

sparkling like a star in our hand...

and melting

like a snowflake.”
~Francis Bacon, Sr

"She's at it again..."

...her brush dipped in a cottony white palette

painting delicate strokes

across a crystallized cerulean blue

Arizona canvas.

Ahhh...

such is December in desert

as

viewed from my very own backyard.

See more Skywatch Friday photos

from around the world

here.

"Family Time...Well Spent"

We (Scott and I)

visited mom and dad for dinner on Sunday.

(Mom made her special chicken...YUM!)

And...

then went back again on Monday

to help decorate their tree

along with my sister and her 8 year old twins.

I took my sketchbook...

to the absolute delight of the twins

who

immediately filled in a page...:)

It really felt good to get back into the sketchbook
mode...I have let my sketching skills
go by the wayside this past year...
and
they are in desperate need of attention
and polish.
What better time than the holidays to
jump start a renewal program!
All my entries above were made "lead free"...
drawn in ink "straight in "while
either standing at the kitchen counter
or seated with book in my lap.
I just added watercolor
and the floral detailing on the twin's page tonight.
Ahhh...
what a delightful couple of days we all had.
it was such great fun to simply go
across the valley and be
"home again"...:)

“A man travels the world over in search
of what he needs,
and
returns home to find it.”
~ George Moore

"Farewell November..."

...and

a late Blooming Tuesday entry...

ala Tlaquepaque...Sedona, Arizona style.

(Yes...alas...'tis yet another beauty still awaiting

placement in my sketchbook!)

Hey...

where in the world did autumn go this year???

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

"Happy Thanksgiving..."

...may your heart swell

with

boundless gratitude...

and sing a sweet song of love and joy!

"We can only be said to be alive

in those moments

when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."

~Thornton Wilder

"Wordless Wednesday..."

"More Sedona Love..."

...wishing you a Happy Blooming Tuesday...:)

Ahhhh!

"Red Rock Country..."

...meets Cactus Monday...:)

What a great week...lots of photos and art to share!

Soon...:)

Have a really great day!

"Round #2...Zen Moly_X..."

This is Lisa Rene's Moleskine.

She began her lovely book in a vertical format.
Above are Lisa's pages one and two...

...which flow flawlessly into her pages three and four.

It then became my task to join my art to hers.

(Note that on the bottom edge of Lisa's page four

that the curlicue to the left...

and yellow bit to the right are part of my art

which overlaps onto her original pages.)
:)

Here you can see more clearly how I chose

to join my art to Lisa's.

Lisa's page four is on the left...

My page five follows on the right.

Notice that the format

here will now transition from vertical

to horizontal...:)

A full view of my pages five and six...
...followed by my pages seven and eight.
If you look closely you can see how each page
is defined by the way the
Japanese style Moleskine pages are folded.
Above is another view of my pages 7 and 8 with
my design overlapping onto page 9...
where Cindy Michele will then join her art...:)
Here is an actual photo of my portion of Lisa's book
attached to Lisa's page four.
(Note the zig zag folds of the Moleskine.
They are really fun to work with...
but will become more difficult to photograph
as new artwork is added as there are
30 zig zag pages in all...60 if one uses both sides
of each page...front and back.)
Whew!
Here is a final photo of Lisa's entire book
thus far.
I included a quotation in my portion of Lisa's book.
It appears within the sun design.
It reads:
"Simply be aware of the oneness of things."
~Lao Tzu
Those words became my inspiration
for the zentangle art I included in Lisa's Moly.
Her book is now in the artistic hands of
Cindy Michele in Tennessee.
I can't wait until the arrival of the next Moly...
and,
if I have the rotation sequence correct in my head,
it will be Jella's from Belgium. YAY!
My Moly should be soon arriving in Oregon
to the studio of Sandra
A.K.A.
"Madame Zentangle Extraordinaire"!
As always...
please feel free to click on any of the photos above
to enlarge for better viewing...
it's well worth it! :)
I hope you have enjoyed this little tour
I wish you could see all this art
in real life...
it is zenfully amazing!

"Dia De Los Muertos..."

...meet Senorita Desert Rosita...:)

Happy

Cactus Monday

All!

♥

"No Tricks...Only Treats..."

...especially of the ATC variety. :)

(Click on photo to enlarge for detail...)

There is a major Art-athon taking place this weekend

over at Illustrated ATCs.

These are several of the pumpkin themed cards

I made yesterday...

with more to add to the collection today.

I will post the cards I receive

at a later date.

Right now I am pretty much "pumpkined out"!

Happy, Happy Halloween

to those of you who celebrate it...

and a special Happy Pumpkin Festival weekend

to my good friends back in Sycamore.

Have the time of your life...

♥

Miss you!

"I would rather sit on a pumpkin...

and have it all to myself...

than be crowded on a velvet cushion."

~Henry David Thoreau

"Skywatch Friday..."

A solitary wing...

found soaring over my head

in the western skies

near the White Tank Mountains in Arizona.

See other Skywatch Friday photos here.

“Don't wait for someone
to take you under their wing.
Find a good wing and climb up underneath it.”
~Frank C. Bucaro

"Forever Stampin' Love..."

...in case you haven't seen these yet...

they are the new "Forever" stamp just issued days ago

and now currently

available at your local U.S. Postal office.

Whee... I love new stamps!!!

:)

"A Soulful Mirror..."

"The eye

sees a thing more clearly in dreams

than the imagination awake."
~Leonardo da Vinci

"Black and Orange Blossoms..."

...a Pumpkin Squash mandala...
...and a funky Halloween bloom...
both
decked out in their seasonal costumes
all ready for treats...no tricks...:)!
Happy Halloween week Blooming Tuesday All! :)

"A Pumpkinized Cactus..."

...perfect for kicking off Halloween Week...:)

♥

Have a Happy Cactus Monday All!

" 'Tis Day One..."

...for me

of yet another sensationally fabulous

"trip around the sun."

YAY! ♥ :)

"Because time itself is like a spiral,

something special happens

on your birthday each year:

The same energy

that God invested in you at birth

is present once again."

~Menachem Mendel Schneerson

"Lisa's Labor of Love..."

...landed smack dab in my heart

late this summer.

After making a long distance postal trip

from Indiana to Arizona

this special gift was then forwarded

to Illinois where I was in August and September.

What a complete surprise!

You can only begin to imagine

the wonderful joy this little handmade treasure

brought...

the best part of which was a thank you call to Lisa.

What a special moment it was indeed

to be able hear her voice

and

to connect with her person to person.

We have all intertwined

our lives deeply...both personally and artistically

through this magical world of

blogging...

but it is until we actually meet...

either in person or over the phone that

some magic happens...on a most special level.

I treasure this beautiful journal

and

the thoughtfulness which brought it to my heart.

Every page I turn...every stroke I pen...

every memory I create in it

will be tied back to the skillful hands and

most generous and loving heart

of our dear Lisa.

So much to be thankful for...:)

♥

"...a good friend is a connection to life-

a tie to the past,

a road to the future,

the key to sanity in a totally insane world.”
~Lois Wyse

"How About..."

...another autumnal heart?

This one is

draped in rich brown suede...(cowgirl style)

and is

all blinged out with a pair of

"flirty-girly"

copper colored cactus flowers.

She rises,

full of energy and curiosity,

in the rosy dawn of another beautiful

Arizona desert morning...:)

Hmmm...

What will this day bring???

♥

Have a "Happy Blooming Tuesday" all! :)

“Slow buds the pink dawn

like a rose

from out night's gray and cloudy sheath;

softly and still it grows and grows,

petal by petal, leaf by leaf.”
~Susan Coolidge