"Lots of Loving Wishes..."

...from the bottom of my heart

all wrapped up in

lots of summertime joy and

crowned with a couple of cactus flower blooms

to wish my dad

a super Happy Birthday #88!

"To laugh often and much,

to win the respect of intelligent people

and

the affection of children...

To earn the appreciation of honest critics

and

endure the betrayal of false friends...

To appreciate beauty...

To find the best in others...

To leave the world a bit better-

whether by a healthy child,

a garden patch,

or a redeemed social condition...

To know even one life has breathed easier

because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded!"

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thanks dad, for showing me the way... ♥

"Desert Forecast..."

Daytime highs this week will be seasonable

and

will range from 103-109 degrees

Fahrenheit...

which is still tolerable outside...

cuz

it's a "dry heat"...LOL :)

...and the night time temps will also remain
seasonable
cooling to the mid to high 70's
range.
This is good...I dread July and August...:(
So...
My forecast for all you

(northern hemisphere) readers today

is a
Happy "First Day of Summer-Cactus Monday"!
Now let's all sing along...
cuz...
"It's summertime, summertime
sum sum summertime...
Summertime, summertime
sum sum summertime...
Summertime, summertime sum sum summertime..
Summerti...iiiiii...ime!"
~Sherm Feller & Tom Jameson
"The Jamies", 1958

Pssst...Happy 1st day of Winter for all of you

south of the Equator...:)

(Sorry, no song...)

"Happy Father's Day, Dad..."

...With love, from the four of us!

"Blessed indeed is the man

who hears many gentle voices call him father!"

~Lydia M. Child, 1836

"Six Word Saturday..."

"Flower rockets explode...lighting inky skies."

See other "Six Word Saturdays" here...:)

"Illusions..."

A "Batik Effect" zentangle...

masked, painted, inked and flipped!

“Illusion is the first of all pleasures.”
~Oscar Wilde

"A Month's Worth of Mail Art!!! "

...from Janet in Texas...

...a geisha chasing butterflies...
...from Maricela in Mexico...
...a glorious bird with berries and a magical unicorn...
...another geisha from Teng in Thailand...
(I am collecting geisha cards...in case you wondered...)

from Carolyn in Wisconsin...

...some beautiful spirea and blooming clover...

(Psst...the card on the left is wood burned and painted!)

...from Erika in Canada...

...my most favorite of all flowers-the columbine...

...from Carey in California...

..another origami piece...so intricate and lovely...

... from Nancy in Oregon...

...a shimmering mountain landscape with trees...

...another delicate geisha from Janet in Texas...

...and lastly two absolutely magnificent birds...

"Mesange" and "Merle Noir"

...from Lucie in Canada.

♥

This past month seems to have flown by...

and

being gone a couple of weeks

really had all my mail art stacking up. :)

I hope you can find a calm moment or two this week

when you can come back

with a nice refreshing beverage...

get comfortable...

and browse a bit in these artist's galleries. :)

Gosh, their work is so lovely and intriguing.

I am so grateful

for each and every card and each and every

artistic friendship I make.

Enjoy!

(Click on any image to enlarge for detail looks...)

"Wordless Wednesday..."

"A Bougainvillea Blossom..."

...stylized and "funkified" a bit...

and freshly plucked from the fantasy garden

blooming

deep inside my Muse's imagination.
Have a happy, healthy, and funky Blooming Tuesday!

"Half the interest of a garden

is the constant exercise of the imagination."

~Mrs. C.W. Earle,

Pot-Pourri from a Surrey Garden, 1897

"Just Remembering..."

...how Scott's mom, Lillian, always had

pots and pots of pinkish-coral colored geraniums

on the front porch...from Mother's day

all throughout the

summer and well into the fall.

These are posted here this day for Lillian

in joyful celebration...

as today would have been her

90th birthday.

Just remembering...with love and a smile...:)

“May you never forget what is worth

remembering,

nor

ever remember

what is best forgotten.”
~Irish Blessing

"(A Very Late) Six Word Saturday..."

...Ice skates...Peacock feathers...

...Double joy!!!

See other Six Word Saturdays here...:)

"Six Years Ago Today..."

...we closed on our house here in Arizona.
This little illo of her
was drawn from a photo reference as an EDM challenge
(Challenge #165 "Draw the Front of Your House")
a couple of years ago
but
I thought a repost today would be fitting. :)
And, yes...
the house was totally finished when we closed..
and, no...
it is not purple IRL !!!...:)

“A house is made of walls and beams;
a home
is built with love and dreams.”
~Author Unknown

"Love this Site..."

...it's Sandra's blog "Life Imitates Doodles"

and it is filled to the brim with

oodles and oodles

of artsey

patterns, tangles, and links to all kinds

of doodling fun things...:)

Don't diddle around...
doodle on over there for a delightful time!

;)

"Now Blooming..."

in my back, side, and front yards...

...she is called "Mexican Bird of Paradise"...

...and she will continue to grow and bloom all summer...
...and get this big by September!!!
And...here she is again...but so very much smaller
appearing as part of my spread
in our fabulous Maruman Sketchbook exchange
which was started two years ago
this week!
What an 17,566 mile adventure we had!
Mmmmm...:)
Check on this Maruman link to see all of our work!
Have a colorful
and bright blooming Tuesday...:)

“Every production of an artist
should be the expression of an adventure of his soul.”
~William Somerset Maugham

"Sonoran Moonlight..."

...painted first on some Ampersand Claybord

which has a really unique surface

and then

etched out for details

using simple scratchboard tools.

(Size 4"X 6")

Really intriguing and fun to make!

Maybe...give it a try!!! :)

For sure...have a Happy Cactus Monday!

May tonight's moon etch some magical memories

for you, too!

“Moonlight is sculpture.”
~Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Seeking Relief..."

...Temperatures to peak over 110 degrees today.

This has now become our new

home

especially...after sundown...:)

Ahhhhh! Sweet, refreshingly cool water!

“It is wise to bring some water,

when one goes out to look for water.”
~Arab Proverb

"Six Word Saturday..."

Thought patterns interwoven in my brain.

(See other Six Word Saturdays here.)

"An Art Filled Wish..."

...for those who are searching for...and craving

balance,

wide open soulful breathing space,

serenity and peace,

simplicity,

and

energy to ignite the fire to do what one loves.

May you find it all! :)

“I go to nature

to be soothed and healed,

and to have my senses put in order

once again.”
~John Burroughs

(American Essayist and Naturalist, 1837-1921)

'Wordless Wednesday..."

"Another Season Begins..."

“In June

as many as a dozen species

may burst their buds on a single day.

No man can heed all of these anniversaries;

no man can ignore all of them.”
~Aldo Leopold

Happy Birthday Scott!