A Walk in Baveno

Roses growing on the fence

True Italian Pizza

Life size chess board at Hotel Dino

The view from the pool

Love the village nestled in the mountains fronted by the two islands

Gardenias on the fence - so fragrant!

More roses and hydrangeas in the back

Book of Days - Italy Trip

I have been working on several altered books that I have going, along with my Book of Days art journal with Effie Wild. You can find more information here:  http://bookofdays.org/ . Here is a page I made from some of the ephemera from our trip to Italy this past summer.

My Reading Stack

I just finished reading The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein, which was really, really good. It was given to me by a good friend, and I enjoyed it so much that I highly recommend it to anyone.

Now I am reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

 This is not the type of book I would usually choose and was loaned to me by a friend. But I am enjoying it quite a bit. It is quite mysterious and full of magic. I am very curious to see how it turns out. It has certainly sparked a lot of ideas for future art.

Next on my list is another novel set in ancient Rome,  The Triumph of Caesar by Steven Saylor.

I really  like these ancient who-done-its that help to cement in my mind some of the facts and events of Ancient Rome. I love to study that time period!

Book of Days Art Journal Pages

I haven't posted Book of Days pages in ages. My camera was stolen while we were in Mexico, and I finally now have a new camera and can replace my lost photos. Here are a couple of pages from a while back. I hope to be back now to posting more often.

Bird on a Limb

It is hard to tell from this photograph, but I have folded fabric across the middle of the page. This was a super fun page to create. I painted over the top of the collaged papers and painted background. My inspiration was djpettit - I just adore her art and photography!

"Believe"

 This was another fun page to create. I used a tag, ala Effy Wild. I have wanted to put more of my spiritual life into my art journaling, and this page takes a quote from the book Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby. This has been a life-altering book for me.

"Believe"

This photo shows the tag open.  I was really pleased with how this one turned out too.

Getting Wet

This is a quote that I read today on a beautiful ripple effect.





As I pondered this quote and thought about it in terms of the scriptures I read this morning, it helped me to become more peaceful about my husband's upcoming surgery. While I recognize that we are going to "get wet", I know that God is in control and will be with us to walk with us through this trial. I just need to resolve to walk through it and know that, even though we are going to get wet, we will come out on the other side better and stronger.  The Lord reigns!

Psalm 99

¹ The Lord reigns,
    let the nations tremble;
he sits enthroned between the cherubim,
    let the earth shake.

Scenes from Baveno, Italy

We had such a wonderful time in Baveno. Everything was gorgeous - everywhere you looked. Just beautiful!

What I Am Reading Right Now

One of my lifelong habits is to read when I go to bed. Naturally, I can't just read one book at a time. I get too bored. I have several on my night stand and I just pick up the one that calls loudest to me at the time. So here is the short list:

A Case for Faith by Lee Strobel for the second time. This time I am reading it slowly and trying to soak in all that he has to say. Fascinating book.

 Next is Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. My first time ever through this book, believe it or not.

 Next is my Bible study. Soaking this one in, as well.

 And just for fun, The Art of Racing in the Rain bu Garth Stein. This one comes highly recommended to me by a good friend.

So there you have it - my current reading list.

The World's Best Coffee

I had what, in my opinion, is the world's best coffee while Ron & I were in Baveno, Italy at a little coffee shop called Coffee Time. The Americano was the smoothest, richest coffee I've ever had. It was truly one of my most favorite experiences. Yes, I am a coffee addict.

Italian Coffee = the best!

We also had wonderful coffee in the hotel, and while the view was fabulous, the coffee was not as good as Coffee Time.

Coffee at breakfast in Hotel Dino

 

 

Altered Book Page

I have been busy this summer, but now that school has begun, I hope to be back to a better routine. This is a page that I did a while ago, but hadn't posted yet.  I may add more to it later, but I like it the way it is right now. I have lots of other pages, but no camera at the moment, since mine was stolen. I need to replace it soon.

Steampunk Round Robin Book

I participated in a Steam Punk Round Robin Book Swap where each person made 10 pages and submitted them to one person, who took one page from each set and bound them into a book. Each page had to incorporate a map either in the background or in the elements on the page. Later, the additional theme of steampunk was chosen. Here is my book.

The front cover was prepared by our swap hostess - I love all the dimension she used!

This close up shows some of the yummy texture and details of the cover.

She also did the inside front and back cover - and the first page of my book is my steampunk bird.

These are the inside pages, front and back. We were to have something on the back, although it did not have to be fancy at all. Most participants outdid themselves!

This is the inside back cover with a delightful pocket! This was such a fun swap. I was pretty unsure at first when the theme of steampunk was chosen, but I do really love the final results! This swap was part of the Yahoo group, Altering Without Limits (AWOL).