There's a story to this page

If you're an ancestry buff you can relate.

Out of the blue a descendant of a great great grandparent

was apparently left off my tree and a DNA

match brought this omission to a cousin of mine.

He was baffled.

As I was.

And then had a hand's on deck with the 

other family historians or anyone in the family

that actually remembered him.

But, at some point I said hmmm....because I remembered

Charles and his family would come to the family

reunions (held around father's day) and

I remember as kid visiting Uncle Charles in NJ.

Well....Charles was not on my tree, not a footnote not even a question mark.

In my defense, he was not well-known amongst the 

secret keepers. Not that he was a secret, but

he never appears in any of the federal census showing

Nils & Mathilda as parents.

However, when I was invited to the "whistleblowers" tree

I noted that she had a 1905 NJ State Census that

was proof Charles was the first born in the family.

Later there are census when he was older and in my defense

those census were not available when I was on ancestry like

8-9 years ago and I haven't checked since.

Oh it's not for lack of ancestry trying.

Even though I'm not a paying member I can still acess my tree

and they tease me by keeping me updated on all the 

flapping leaves on my tree, to entice me back.

Well, I caved and joined because now my tree needed updating 

and while I was at it, I took care of the 99 waving leaves.

Very interesting, although I do find the ancestry

process somewhat cumbersome. 

But alas, my tree was up-to-date for about 30 minutes. 

LOL.

So I made this page that'll eventually get into the "album" or

actually just have an album of its own, but the other

2-3 albums go back 12 generations on some - although

something happened to my tree that I neglected and some/a lot

of what I had in there is gone.

Anyway I can't wait to do more, because alas, I have more info.

Sigh.

Tim Holtz fussy cut papers collage papers and distressed them and a tag, stamping, there

is journaling on the front and back, and Prima.

Page in my Trippin' 8x10 mixed media album

When I make random pages I really don't have a plan.

Shocking I know.

But I love to be surprised when I'm done.

So this page turned out to be quite patriotic.

Using some modeling paste I used my TH star stencil.

And then watercolors in the "red and blue" category.

Since I had NO photos to go with I decided to "jack" my

son's amazing photos of NYC that he took

dangling out of a helicopter because that's how he rolls.

Like Nick Collins visuals on FB.

When I grow up I wanna take photos like this.

So using some TH labels (need more) and word stickers.

AND I hand drew the NYC letters.

I know you're suprised.

Anyway, poor NY is having a tough time and need our prayers.

Traveler's Notebook - celebrating going into year 2 on the road

So during all the hubbub of COVID-19 we

have reached either our ONE year anniversary on the road

in the books OR

we're celebrating going into year TWO.

We are excited about year TWO. 

We'd be even more excited

if we could reach our first destination in KY on time,

however, we're gonna hang in place until

the hubbub dies down.

It'll be fun.

 Some really old Studio Calico project life cards

and some Tim Holtz going on.

And yes I handdrew the 2020 (pencil lines are your friend)

and you are gonna see more handdrawn stuff

because it gives me the illusion that I can draw stuff.

On the back side of the card, I made a pocket

 to inse rt a tagfor journaling that talks about our fun year

that we had and are gonna have.

TN - Favorite memes - Field Report

Yea, COVID-19 is awful, serious, deadly, and since

everyone is social distancing, nothing makes

social distancing better 

than humor.

We all need to keep our sense of humor so we don't

go stir-crazy.

Besides a good laugh gets those endorphins flowing 

and your body loves them and they're good for you.

So let's be amused when we can.

 I decided to collect my favorite memes that I'm

sure you have seen on my FB page.

So with Tim Holtz and some thickers, and a transparency

will highlight the warped sense of humor

necessary in these trying time.

Learning about pencil lines

I have been watching Susanne Rose on u-tube - she

rocks the art journals. Check her out.

In the meantime,

I purchased a stencil that was of a sun and rays.

Well...

I decided this album needed to have a cover other than the original

so I used some watercolors and painted over the gesso

and dabbed on the stencil.

Well, juicy dabbing results in lots of colors running amok.

Together.

Messy.

Therefore, drastic action was required and I decided to add more

watercolors because I blending would help.

But it came out as one big blob.

Enter the pencil.

And in scribbling lines that I think a flower should look like

and shazam.

It looks pretty cool.

Now I need a 'saying', a sentiment, a title.

Any suggestions?

Nothing has spoken to me.

Yet.

All sorts of cards for April.....

It's a busy month - lots of fun birthdays...

so for my granddaughter Amelia who's turning 8.

Love that little girl stamp.

Very fun.

 Pinterest strikes again and love this card for

an 8 year old grandson.

Except for the stamps, the 8 is freehand.

I really need a more talented free hand LOL.

 And Easter is popping up and love this

fluffy duck card for the grands.

Pinterest strikes again.

 A kickin' birthday card for a soccer afficienado.

Scoured the internet and found a soccer ball I could fussy cut.

 A friend of mine asked for a special card as one of

her friends is turning 100.

Can you imagine?

Lots of really old Studio Calico papers going on here

as well as thickers, stamps and Tim Holtz.

Now I need to mail them out.

Using other mediums in my "watercolor" album

Because of limited space in my area I ditched

a lot of other mediums I had but

thankfully I didn't ditch the gelatoes.

Mind you, I didn't use them much before but they

are small enough to tuck them in somewhere and in

binge watching Missy Whidden (who's u-tube as hacked

and finally restored) uses gelatoes quite liberally

so therefore I had to be a copy cat.

Love the results.

Bold and fun, though if I need them softer, gesso to the rescue.

 Back to watercolors here, but I did purchase a new

stencial prior to all the stores closing down and

I love the "fireworks".

 AND then I had also kept a small stash of mists.

Mostly Studio Calico Mr. Huey

and THAT was to spray and let run.

AND THEN, I remember stickles from Studio G.

They were really popular back in the day and sort of

went out of vogue but I had some silver and

doesn't it look really cool.

 And picked up this cute butterfly stamp in the same

shopping spree and love how they're

watercolored randomly around the page.

They'll be easy if fussy cutting is on the agenda.

 This is kind of a stencil fail. 

It was too watery and leaked about but I learned

about "pencil" lines and one does not need to be

an artist to slap some pencil marks around.

AND there's always gesso to cover up and get a do-over.

Or just plop a photo there.

 AND then, I decided that the cover needed to be jazzed up.

Enter dylusions.

It's loud and psychedelic.

And then the title - I embraced my inner Lisa Fonseca

(check her out on u-tube) she handcuts everything.

From scratch.

Sigh.

She can handcut perfect alphas like nobody's business

without drawing them out first.

I drew out my letters first - and I love how they

work with the wildness.

I do not remember the mfg for the other dodads on there

except for the bird - that is a fussy cut stamp.

I'm likin' the bigger size because the TN is kinda restrictive

so we'll see how this one rolls.