Two Tuesdays 2014 - #8, "Lush"

'Lush' - 6" x 4" collage on paper

Two Tuesdays 2014 - #7, "Beginnings"

'Beginnings' - 6" x 4" collage on paper

Two Tuesdays 2014 - #4, "Blue Jay"

'Blue Jay' - 6" x 4" collage on paper

Two Tuesdays 2014 - #3, "Rose"

'Rose' - 6" x 4" collage on paper

Two Tuesdays 2014 - #1, "Overlook"

It's been quite a while (over a year!) but it's time to bring back "Two Tuesdays". No specific theme, size or medium for the work like I had for the 5" x 7" collages from 2012 just a goal to share something here that I am working on or have finished at least twice a month. 

I started this back in October and this is the finished piece.

'Overlook'- 7.25" x 9.25" collage on paper

Summer Color

I've had my mac book for a year and a half now and I was thinking about all the features in iPhoto that I have never used. Soooo...  this morning I tried something new and sorted through the many garden photos I've taken so far this year to put together this one minute slide show. It was pretty easy - I used the "scrapbook" template and choose Clair de Lune for the music which just happens to be one of my favorite pieces of classical music.

Tissue Paper, Napkins and Tea Bags

Do you remember making tissue paper flowers in grade school art class? I haven't thought about them until just recently when I saw a beautiful window display using them at an Anthropologie store. They were so pretty and brought back such good memories of fun crafty times in art class that I wanted to try making some again.

I painted some white tissue paper with watered down acrylic paints and thought I would also try using some some decorative napkins I found at the Christmas Tree Shop last year.

Tea bag papers work well too. They are the perfect proportion so are a little less fussy than having to cut the tissue paper and napkins to the right size. They are pretty strong and don't tear as easily as tissue paper does.

I remembered the basics of how to make the flowers but I found the rest of the details and easy to follow instructions at Rust & Sunshine.

It won't be long before I can fill vases with fresh cut flowers from the garden but until then these will do.

Soaking up a little of the tropics...

at the Connecticut Flower & Garden show in Hartford yesterday.



© K. Johnson

 

Blooming Cactus

 

I can't believe the show of blossoms on my Christmas Cactus this year. 

This plant stayed outside all summer long on the deck completely unpampered and ignored. I didn't even remember to bring it inside until after the second frost.

 

It is now enjoying a nice cozy spot by the window in my dining room.

Doesn't this blossom look like a butterfly?

Two Tuesdays - Collage #17

2012 Collage Challenge

© K. Johnson 'Summer Plans' - 7"x 5" collage on paper

Inside an old gardening book I found at an estate sale a couple months ago were some folded up hand written notes from someone’s garden plans. As I was cutting and gluing these found notes into this collage I was wondering about what plants were their favorites and what their garden might have looked like.

I’m forever jotting down ideas for future garden plans. Some so grand that I’ll probably never get to them but it’s always fun to have a vision and dream a little.  

All the collages in this series can be seen here.

Two Tuesdays - Collage #14

2012 Collage Challenge

© K. Johnson 'Bluebells' - 7" x 5" collage on paper

All the collages in this series can be seen here.

Two Tuesdays - Collage #10

2012 Collage Challenge

On Sunday I wrote about a recent Paper Swap and the Flower, Plant and Tree themed papers I received from Eliz in Singapore. These are the collages I created using only papers from this swap. It turned out to be more of a challenge than I thought working from a group of papers chosen by someone else. There were certainly enough papers to pick from but maybe that was part of the difficulty - having so many choices.

© K. Johnson 'Lucky Fish' - 5"x7" collage on paper

These warm yellows and oranges are colors I wouldn't naturally pick up but I actually like this one the best of the four.

© K. Johnson 'Dragonfly'' - 7" x 5" collage on paper

© K. Johnson 'Singapore Green' - 7" x 5" collage on paper

© K. Johnson 'Rosy' - 7" x 5" collage on paper

All of the Two Tuesdays collages can be seen here.

A Rose is a Rose is a Rose.....

In March I took part in my 3rd paper swap over at LaWendula's Paper Swap Blog. I gathered up as many papers following the theme of Flowers, Plants and Trees as I could and wrapped them up to send to the person I was paired with. This is some of what was in the package I sent.

I was paired with Eliz an illustrator living in Singapore. Singapore sounds so exotic and I was anticipating all kinds of interesting and different papers. I was not disappointed - here's a sampling of the fun papers and items she sent.

My collection has really grown, having participated in several of these paper swaps. I've been intending to use the wonderful papers from this stash in some collages and am happy to say that I finally got to it.

This week for the Two Tuesday's collage I will share a few I finished using some of the papers received from Eliz. See you on Tuesday :)