Friday Face-Off and Friday Smiles: meet me in my flower bed

 

 IF your blog has embedded comments, I will NOT be able to leave you a comment.  I keep getting "Failed to Publish" on all blogs with embedded comments.  Please be aware, it is blogger.  I wish google/blogger would get its act together.

I have done a bit of work in my flower bed.

I have added the rocks and moved the Chicken and Dog.  

 

Erika wanted to see the front of the rooster, so I thought it would be a great time to share him at Nicole's Friday Face Off.  

 

I hope you enjoyed the faces and the art my neighbor made.  I am simply thrilled he is letting me use these in my new flower garden.

 

I sincerely hope you will join Bleubeard and me at Friday Smiles 374 and Friday Face Off.

 

 

*WOYWW 780: 15 years and counting*

 

Today I am joining the greatest head desker in the world, our beloved Julia at Stamping Ground. 

IF your blog has embedded comments, I will NOT be able to leave you a comment.  I keep getting "Failed to Publish" on all blogs with embedded comments.  Please be aware, it is blogger and not me.

 As you can see, in the past few years, I may only visit once or twice a year, but Wendy and I will never miss an anniversary.  We haven't missed one yet!

As for the obligatory rocking horse, this tiny pin is attached to WOYWWendy's bodice.

I made exactly two anniversary ATCs, one for Julia and one for my PIF partner.

Please note that I only go shopping once a week because of the pain I'm experiencing.  I have finally realized it is due to lupus, a disorder I was diagnosed with a few years ago.  Therefore, since I must buy stamps in order to send these to their respective recipients, it will be Monday before I mail them.

 

T Stands For Mom and Dad Mugs

 

Blogger has stopped me in my tracks again.  IF your blog has embedded comments, there is a very good chance I will NOT be able to leave you a comment.  I keep getting "Failed to Publish" on all blogs with embedded comments.  Please understand I have tried every few hours for three days and still get the same response. 

Today we are heading back to The Spice Merchant.

The last time I was at The Spice Merchant, they had 

most of their Mom and Dad mugs 

front and center, tempting customers to buy their parents a mug for either Mother's Day or Father's Day.

If you couldn't decide, why not get matching Mama and Papa bear mugs.

Dad mugs seemed to come in sets of two.

If you couldn't decide,

get a set of two.

I hope each of you were able to do something nice for your mother this year (if she is still alive) and now you have some gift ideas for your father (if he is still alive).  In the states, Father's Day is always the third Sunday in June.

It's now time to share your own drink related post.  It can be photos, a place you visited, movies, postcards, books, sketches, mixed media, drawings, paintings, tags, scrapbooking, or other art that is digital, hybrid, or traditional, as long as it in some way relates back to a drink, any drink.  Regardless, please share below and Bleubeard and I will gladly visit, as will other T participants.  Please link only your T post and not your blog in general.  Bleubeard would like to remind you that old photos are acceptable because they may be taken any time, not just on Tuesday and not just this year.  Please remember to visit your fellow T participants. 

 

 

 

bEARTHday T

 

 I'm inviting you to share my bEARTHday celebrations in food and drink.

As I explained last week, my No Name friends took me to dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant.  Most everyone knows I will order Chili Rellenos, but there were none on the menu where we went.  Instead, we started with a Mexican soup I had never had before.  It had various pastas, onions, and potatoes.  

 

Next came a tomatillo salad with cilantro-lime dressing.  It was garnished with slices of avocado and lime wedges.

 

The main course was tamales.  It was served with jicama slaw that included sliced cucumbers and diced bell peppers, and sprinkled with lime juice and more cilantro.

 

For dessert there was flan, a favorite I love.   However, the ladies sent me home with a chocolate cupcake and a dozen cookies (six sugar and six snicker doodle).  

They also gifted me with this lovely bouquet of flowers.

The next day, my foodie friend Sally

took me to Golden Corral, where I got 

carrot cake, not quite as good as my grandmother always made for my birthday, but acceptable at least.

Sally is pigging out on fresh fruit and I am drinking ice water with lemon.  For me it's cake first!!!

Now you've shared my bEARTHday with me, it's time to share your own drink related post.  It can be photos, a place you visited, movies, postcards, books, sketches, mixed media, drawings, paintings, tags, scrapbooking, or other art that is digital, hybrid, or traditional, as long as it in some way relates back to a drink, any drink.  Regardless, please share below and Bleubeard and I will gladly visit, as will other T participants.  Please link only your T post and not your blog in general.  Bleubeard would like to remind you that old photos are acceptable because they may be taken any time, not just on Tuesday and not just this year.  Please remember to visit your fellow T participants. 

We are under a tornado watch.  Tornadoes have already been spotted in several western counties and the storm is definitely headed this way.  I'm taking my fur babies to the basement where hopefully we will be safe until we get the "all clear."

Second on the 2nd: Poetry

 

As most of you know, whenever possible, I like my Second Look to somehow reflect what our current host at Art Journal Journey is featuring.  That means I had to look for something that reflected Poetry, the theme which Valerie and Erika share this month.

This post was created for two very different challenges from two different challenge blogs that are no longer with us. One prompt was Rhyme Time and the other was Poetry.  This entry was originally published in September, 2014, and contains the ONE and ONLY poem I ever wrote.

It was even published in a national teen magazine, although, for the life of me, I can no longer remember the name of it.

After all, I was only 11 when I wrote and submitted it.  Actually, if truth be told (and again, I simply don't remember) I suspect I talked my Grandmother (Grands raised me from birth) into submitting it for me.

   While trying to create this entry, I looked high, low, and everywhere in between for the tree image I though I owned (in green).  But it must have belonged to my friend Kathy, because it was in with a bunch of stamped images I had received from a stamping swap I participated in years and years and years ago.  I did, on the other hand, find the other tree, but should have left it off, since I didn't stamp it nearly as well as the tree I had received in the swap. 

Now it's time to share your own Second on the 2nd.  The rules are quite simple and everyone is welcome to join the fun look back.  All you have to do is bring back a post that you are especially proud of, or perhaps one you shared before anyone knew your blog existed.  Any post, any genre, any artistic endeavor is acceptable, as long as it's been published sometime in the past.  Then link below (direct links only, please) and Bleubeard and I, along with other Second on the 2nd friends, will be by to visit. 

 

 

Nevermore

 

It's a new month and we welcome a new host, as we always do on the first.  Normally, I would thank the previous month's host for a job well done, but that host is also one of our co-hosts this month. This month two moderators of Art Journal Journey are our hosts.  Please give a warm welcome once again to the much respected Valerie, who can be found at Bastelmania and a warm welcome to the talented Erika who many of you know as BioArtGal.  Valerie's and Erika's theme is Poetry.  Valerie is up first, then Erika follows.

To be honest, I know practically nothing about poetry.  I do, however, remember Poe, as in Edgar Allen.

Quote the Raven, "Nevermore."  Detail shots below.

I started by finding a raven on the internet.  For the background, I used a stencil brush and one of my favorite stencils, the brick wall.

Valerie, Erika, Chris, Bleubeard, and I are delighted you joined us and hope to see you this month at Art Journal Journey as you share your own interpretation of Poetry.

 

We welcome art journal pages that meet the theme requirements, altered book pages, canvases, loose, or stand alone pages including fabric and digital art.  We cannot leave comments on Facebook or Instagram entries.  We do not allow cards, tags, index cards, ATCs, or ATCoins, unless they are part of a journal page, and as much as we don't want to, will be forced to delete your entry.  Please remember if your blog is not in English, we ask that you translate it for us since the translation tool doesn't work on some blogs, including mine.  Hope to see you soon at Art Journal Journey.