Inspiration Avenue

This is a Goodbye Message

2015-03-02T12:38:00.000-05:00

Today we come to you with saddened hearts.
This is our last post at Inspiration Avenue.
We four have so many things going on that we have decided to bring
Inspiration Avenue to a close.
It has been a wonderful ride and we thank each and everyone of you for jumping on with us through out the years and for participating in our weekly challenges as well as these great events.

We love the friendships we have made with you.

If you do not already, jump on our blogs and follow us so we can keep in touch!

Many of us are on facebook as well!

So as we say "Goodbye" to Inspiration Avenue

we do not say goodbye to you our dear friends

of Inspiration Avenue!

Keep in touch!

Maggie

Shelly

Lou Anne

Niina

Weekly Art Challenge ~ Words

2015-02-16T00:00:00.000-05:00

I love to use words in my mixed media art,

whether it's painting on text from a book page

or using quotes and words as part of the design.

This week we are back to Words as our theme!

As the temperature hovers around 0° F, I'm constantly

wondering when we'll have our first taste of Spring.

It's a bit too early in reality, but why not use

Nature and Springtime in our art to cheer things up a bit?

{click}

I love the graphic look of all these Spring-y words.

{click}

Not nature inspired, but I was first drawn to this awesome

coffee cup and then to the creative use of text.

{click}

Good advice of course ~

{click}

I love the whimsy of these next two pieces.

{click}

A pretty journal page.

{click}

I'd love to see your art inspired by nature and Springtime

in which you've used WORDS in the design!

Have fun creating, and link up here by Sunday, February 22.

~ Maggie

“Despite the forecast, live like it's spring.”
~ Lilly Pulitzer

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Weekly Challenge February 9 - Show and Tell

2015-02-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

It's time for Show and Tell!

This is one page I made recently. I loved the intense colors of this kit.

It's very close to Valentine's Day so I'm going to share a few of my Valentine-y favorites. I made these for a Valentine's challenge here at Inspiration Avenue.

Original Post with Credits

I made this with a digital scrapbook kit that I fell in love with.

It's called "Follow Your Heart" by 2 Curly Headed Monsters.

You can purchase her kits at Mischief Circus here.

This week, why not share a piece that you're currently working on, something you've been dying to share somewhere, or a favorite Valentine you've made.

Post no later than Sunday, February 15 at noon EST.

And remember, whatever you share, follow your heart!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lou Anne aka Misplaced Mermaid

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January Winter Challenge

2015-01-26T08:03:00.002-05:00

Winter is here.. at least here in northern Finland and January is one of the coldest months.

Winter is very different to everyone. Some of us enjoy outside activities skiing, skating or taking walks with dogs who go crazy with all the snow.

Some prefer staying inside warm planning what flowers to plant in to the garden in the spring.

This weeks challenge is to portray what winter means to you

Source

Is it silent beauty of nature

Source

Majestic landscapes

Source

Great time to hang out with family and friends

Source

Be amazed by the beauty of snowflakes. Each one is a miracle.

Sourse

Awake senses to see all colors and shapes surrounding us

Link up your creations by Sunday February 1st

Can't wait to see what you come up with this theme

Inspirational week to all

-Niina

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A Purple Color Challenge

2015-01-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

The color
PURPLE

There are so many shades of purple from deep eggplant to delicate lilac.

[click]

I've always thought of purple as a "love it or hate it" color.
But with so many shades and the fact that, to me, it goes with
just about every other color, I think it's actually very lovable!

Purple's complementary color is yellow.

Purple, being the combination of red and blue, can become warm or cool
depending on whether the red or the blue is more predominant.

The complementary color of reddish-purple is yellow-green.
Yellow-orange complements a bluish-purple shade.

This is easiest to see on a color wheel,
where complementary colors are directly across from each other.

[click]

How pretty purple and green look together!

[click]

This photo is full of complementary colors.
I love the turquoise blue with the orange table,
as well as the purple and yellowish lanterns in the wallpaper..

[click]

A pretty use of color!

[click]

Every mix of blue and red can qualify as purple.
If we add a bit of yellow, the brownish tones are candidates too.
Perhaps that would be close to Pantone's color of the year for 2015
which is Marsala.

[click]

I hope you enjoy combining purple with other colors!
I can't wait to see how you use this sometimes-bold and sometimes-delicate color.

Link up your creation(s) here by Sunday, January 25
(the sooner the better to give everyone a chance to visit your blog)

Have a colorful week!

~Maggie

[click]

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Weekly Challenge-Using Words to Inspire Your Art

2015-01-12T00:30:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone. I hope you all survived the holidays and are getting back to normalcy. I'm working up the energy to take down my mermaid Christmas tree. It seems like I have so many things to do and that time to do them keeps shrinking. Of course, I realized that I was signed up to post our weekly challenge, so the mermaids on the tree will remain a little bit longer.

I joined two creative teams for digital art journal/scrapbook designers. That means I get to try their new kits and make pages to show off the designs. It sounds simple, and it sometimes is. But once in awhile, I find myself sitting there pondering what to do. That's when I head over to Google to search for words. I love to find interesting quotes that inspire my artwork. Here is an example of two pages from a recent kit created by Christina from 2 Curly Headed Monsters Designs.

I looked for quotes about the color red, copied and pasted the ones I liked onto a page, and returned to the page to see which ones caught my eye a second time. The first one mentioned red hair and since my hair is red, I decided to use it. I also loved the edginess of some of the kit's elements and felt that they fit with the idea of redheads being "dangerous." The second quote about red being "the ultimate cure for sadness" was in line with my own melancholy mood so I selected it as well. You can see

2 Curly Headed Monsters Designs kits here.

Amanda, from Altered Amanda's Studio, is the other designer I create for. Many of her kits cause me to really reflect on my own life. Some of them are rich with visuals, while others leave more room for interpretation. Last week I worked with a kit called Lessons Learned. It was wide open for interpretation so I visited some quotes I had collected. The three quotes I shared were credited to Mother Teresa and each one tied in with my experiences that week.

For the second layout, I wrote my own journal entry. You can see Altered Amanda's Studio kits here.

It doesn't seem to matter whether I use someone else's words or my own. Reading what others have said on a topic does help to inspire me at times, but I also find it valuable to take an idea and translate it into words and images in my art journal. Here are some gold stars just for you!

This week we would love to see you use words in your art. It's up to you how you use them. Directions for participation are on the right sidebar. Please post your work on your blog and link up below no later than Sunday, January 19, 2015.

Have fun!

Misplaced Mermaid aka Lou Anne

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Show & Tell Show us your favorites of 2014

2015-01-05T15:05:00.003-05:00

1st off HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

Show us your favorite personal creations and /or moments of 2014

Such as:

Grand kids
Kids
Beautiful yard
Your favorite painting you did this year
Awards you won
drawings
Photography
Flower you grew

In three to five pics on your blog then

link it back to here!

Here are mine!

~Shel

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IA Challenge December 29th: Your Favorite Animal Artist

2014-12-29T01:45:00.000-05:00

This time challenge is to be inspired by your favorite Animal Artists!

Do you love animals?

I know I do.

There are many great animal artists out there to inspire you to create some great animal art.

Inge Löök is a Finnish illustrator mostly known from her card series portraying two grandmother-friends.

but my favorites are her cat illustrations. So much colors and details.

(source)

There is magical animal art like this raven from Holly Sierra.

(source)

Or more surreal and illustrative art

"Floating animals"

by Adrienne Vita

(source)

More realistic animal art from

Melody Lea Lamb

(source)

Fun and whimsical animal art from Amylyn Bihrle.

(source)

Create some animal art inspired by your favorite animals artists and

come back to show us what you've created.

Love and light

Niina

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Happy Winter Solstice!

2014-12-22T00:00:00.000-05:00

Our theme is once again

Seasons

Here in the northern hemisphere we are deep into the winter season.

I'm envious of our friends in the southern half of the globe,

celebrating the Summer Solstice just as we celebrate the Winter one.

[click]

In fact, as I write this, it is Sunday, December 21, 2014 and for the eastern

time zone in the US, the winter solstice occurs at 6:03 pm today.

The shortest day of the year!

Light the darkness however you can.

[click]

Some animals are deep in hibernation and others

brave the cold each year. Food is scarce for our feathered and furry friends

so help them out with some nourishment if you can!

(Of course, I don't advocate feeding the polar bears ;-)

[click]

Brr-rr-rrr!

Does the winter cold inspire you to create some stormy art?

[click]

We have not had a snowfall like this one yet this season.

I'm not looking forward to it, but it is pretty.

[click]

These ladies seem very happy for the chance

to show off their winter outfits.

[click]

The days are dark and the nights are long.

Many celebrations through the years have used lights to decorate the darkness.

Holiday lights reflected on snow can make the night look almost like daylight.

[click]

If you crave more daylight, here's a happy thought:

After the Winter Solstice, the days begin to get longer!

I know it's a busy week for those who celebrate Christmas,

but we hope you have time to create some

winter art between now and Sunday, December 28!

If not, please share anything you've created in the past.

We love to see your art!

Happy Holidays to everyone!

~ Maggie

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Colors of Christmas Challenge

2014-12-15T00:34:00.001-05:00

Last time we hosted a color challenge, Shel gave us several colors to use in our art. I loved the idea so I'm going to do the same thing, only with different colors of course.

Instead of assigning specific colors, I'd like to challenge you to make art using what you perceive to be the colors of Christmas. This Santa clip art came from The Graphics Fairy and represents the black and white photos that recorded my Christmas celebrations of early childhood.

This angel girl came from The Graphics Fairy. Some of my favorite memories of Christmas are the colors of black and white photographs that have been hand tinted.

Red and green are probably two of the most common Christmas colors. This one came from the FDS Altered Christmas kit by Farrah's Designer Scraps.

I made this Christmas card last year with less typical shades of red and green.

This lovely vintage angel has tints of pastel pink and blue.

Cajoline Scrap is the source for this and other vintage Christmas images.

Rachael's Scraps is where I found this glittery stem. I don't care what colors are used, I love glitter and it's my favorite crafting material to use at Christmas.

And if all else fails, head over to Pixel Scrapper to snag this free white poinsettia made by Sheila Reid. Since many have snow this time of year, I think white is something most of us can associate with winter. Sure, it's not officially a color, but we're flexible here.

Snowflake by Rachael's Scraps

The Colors of Christmas Challenge isn't about religion. It's simply a way to challenge you to think about colors that you associate with the holiday that is celebrated by many people worldwide. Feel free to change the word "Christmas" to "December" if you feel it's not something you can work with. Have fun and I'll look forward to seeing what everyone shares. Directions are on the sidebar. Thanks for visiting.

Happy Colorful Creating,

Misplaced Mermaid (aka Lou Anne)

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"WORDS" What makes us feel good!!

2014-12-05T13:40:00.001-05:00

Words are powerful
They speak to our soul
They come at us in the time of sorrow and the time we need a touch of reality
They come to us when we do not want to hear them as sad things splashed across the news
At this time how do words affect you

These are words that

cheer me up

Lift my Spirit

Keep me going

Feed my Soul

We all have things we believe in that keep us going

Not all the same

But there is that one thing in each of us, that one thing that screams at us and keeps us going.

For me personally it is God.

" LOVE IS All YOU NEED" John Lennon

I have met so many people that do not feel love and it saddens me to the core.

I love to be that smile of Love

the Cheer of the word "Hello" as I greet someone

As I work in a nursing home that is HUGE!! Some of our little people have no one and that is where I

Learned to put my woes of the day behind me and when I walk through the doors it is their home and I need to smile for them!!!

Joy that feeling that surge's through our body and soul as we get when something awesome has happened!
A new baby is born
A child calls you grandma
A friend asks you to please pray with them in public
A Song that touches you and speaks volumes to your soul
A kitten get that new home

I know it is a very busy time of the year! If you have time to Spare

Come and show us in your artistic ways how Words affect your days!!

Take a deep breath

Let it out

Are those thoughts coming to you?

Direction are on the right side bar.

Have a great week!

~Shel

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Show and Tell

2014-12-02T14:29:00.002-05:00

"December dreams"

It's show and tell- time!

This year I decided to paint some of the holiday greeting cards.

Winter, snow, nature, kittens, reindeers. . there are so many great things to paint.

I've also had great students attending my watercolor classes

Please share with us what you've been creating

- Niina

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Weekly Challenge November 24

2014-11-24T00:00:00.000-05:00

This week, I'm going to change the title to

“Four Favorite Artists”

You may be familiar with the work of some or all of these talented women.

The great thing is that they are all living and working today

and so there are many ways to find them and see what they are doing.

I've listed their blogs, and from there you can find them

on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Plus! They all teach, and they may have a free video or two

(Check their blogs or look for them on YouTube)

Mindy Lacefield

www.timssally.com

Teesha Moore

www.teeshamoore.com

Flora Bowley

www.braveintuitiveyou.com

Jane Davenport

www.janedavenport.com

I hope you will be inspired by these four artists.

Do you have a favorite artist or several whose

work you love? Please share with us!

I can't wait to see how these or other artists

inspire your creativity.

You have until Sunday, November 30

to complete your submission. Simple rules are in the sidebar >>>>>

If you live in the US, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Count your blessings!

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Seasons

2014-11-17T00:30:00.000-05:00

It's time to immerse ourselves in the theme of "Seasons" again and I've chosen autumn for my examples because it's my favorite season of the year.

Source

I made this digital collage and centered it around the lovely quote and a beautiful fall scene. It reminds me of my walk to school when I lived in a house in the woods for a short time back in 1967.

Image from Graphics Fairy

Since moving to southern California in 1988 I have often felt homesick for the beautiful autumn scenes I experienced while living in Missouri. We have some of the elements so common in fall but it's never as dramatic as it was in the midwest or on the east coast of the United States. I relish every tree that turns color and cherish the change in sunlight as the days grow shorter.

Digital Collage by Misplaced Mermaid

Image from Graphics Fairy

Whether you love vintage images or getting your hands dirty with paints you can participate in this challenge.


From Little Butterfly Wings Designs "Autumn Happiness" Kit

I'd like to encourage you and your muse to explore the theme of "Autumn" or any other season that "springs" to mind. (No pun intended) Directions for posting are in the sidebar.

Have a wonderful week full of fun and whimsy. Here is one last vintage image from the Graphics Fairy. If you love vintage ephemera, be sure to visit her site for amazing inspiration and free pictures.

See you soon,

Lou Anne, aka Misplaced Mermaid

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COLORS.... DID I HEAR COLORS? Yes it is Colors this week and a Color Challenge!

2014-11-10T16:24:00.003-05:00

Mixin it up a bit with specific colors

Purple, Yellow, Oranges and Greens

Bonus color is Black

Use these colors to create

WORKS OF ART!!!

I love Color challenges they get my mind thinking

out of the box

This pic below is what inspired me

Artist

Directions are on the right!!

Have a great week

~Shel

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Weekly Art Challenge : Time for Monograms

2014-11-03T02:02:00.001-05:00

This week challenge is to create art that includes MONOGRAMS.

As we all know Monogram is a motif made by overlapping and combining initials to form a symbol. In the artwork you can create a monogram from one letter also and let it symbolize the piece you've created. You can also combine words with monograms.

There are many ways to go with this

I really love these children's Monograms from

Pop Art Minis

A is for Alligator Small

B is for Buzzing Bees Small

Here are some Fairies from my Fairy Monogram Series

I for Inspiration Avenue

B is for the Blogging Artists

C is for the Creative Process

I hope you have fun time with this theme

Can't wait to see what all you come up with

Niina

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Inspiration Avenue Weekly Challenge - Show and Tell

2014-10-27T00:00:00.000-04:00

It's time again to share something you've created . . .

It can be something new or something you just haven't shared until now.
Show and Tell is always fun because anything goes!

For me, it's been all about mermaids lately because I'm

taking the workshop, “Mermaid Circus” with

Jane Davenport and Teesha Moore.

Ticket Girl at the Mermaid Circus

Some "Sea Nymphs"

More Mermaids

What have you been working on lately?

We'd love to see what you've been up to and hope you'll share

during our Show and Tell week.

Leave your link below by Sunday, November 2 and please link back to
Inspiration Avenue in your blog post.

(Have a safe and happy Halloween this week, if you celebrate it!)

~ Maggie

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Weekly Challenge-Favorite Artist

2014-10-20T15:37:00.002-04:00

This week's challenge is to create something in the style of your favorite artist. I must admit that I have been out of operation due to the flu for several days so I am going to share some of my favorite artist's pieces without a lot of text.

Henri Matisse was a French artist. He was born December 31, 1869 and died November 3, 1954. For information on this artist click here.

Flowers in a Pitcher, 1906

Two Figures Reclining in a Landscape, 1921

Purple Robe and Anenomes, 1937

Two Girls in a Yellow and Red Interior, 1947

I've shared some of Matisse's paintings that I've never seen before. As you can see, he was a master of color. My favorite work of his was done later in his life. I purposely didn't share any of those pieces because I will be sharing it in my own blog post. (Hint: It's his cutouts)

So have a wonderful and creative week discovering Henri Matisse. Perhaps you'll use a little more color than usual, or make something more abstract than you normally do. Whatever the inspiration, please be sure to come back and share it. The information is on the sidebar.
Lou Anne, aka Misplaced Mermaid

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Weekly Art Challenge: Seasons it is. And the season we are in is Autumn

2014-10-13T06:03:00.000-04:00

Seasons this week

Challenge

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Season of
Piled leaves
Kids putting on coats for the first time in months
Pumpkin patches
Corn Stalks gracing house doorways
Wind blowing the leaves across the streets

Did I hear someone say Fall is here?

Of course depending on where you live.

Where I am it is a beautiful palette of the oranges, yellows, reds, etc,

Here are a few prompts

Artist

Cooking with nutmeg and pumpkin and a dash of cinnamon

is such a warm fun thing to do this time of year.

Artist

Fall in Washington

Fall

Please join us this week.

Directions on right side bar

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Weekly Art Challenge - October Colors; Red, Yellow and Brown

2014-10-06T07:22:00.001-04:00

Welcome to join us to our new challenge format.

This week challenge is to create artwork

with

OCTOBER COLORS

Dominant color(s) in your piece should be in the shades of

RED

YELLOW

BROWN

To find inspiration think about beautiful Autumn / Fall Nature and Textures

(source)

Reflections of the trees

and all the color shades

(source)

October is full with vibrant colors

Pumpkins, apples, tree leaves, foliage

(source)

What about quotes ..

I really love this one from Anne of Greengables

(source)

I'm also happy to live in world where there are Octobers

Have fun with October colors this week

I can't wait to see what you come up with this theme

- Niina

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September 29 Art Challenge ~ Words

2014-09-29T00:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the third week of Inspiration Avenue's

new challenge format!

The challenge is to create a piece with

WORDS

and you can see by the header above that using ANY

type of words is accepted and encouraged!

Typed words, handwritten words, book pages, newsprint,

song lyrics, and affirmations are just a few ideas.

Use words in your art that communicate an idea

or an emotion that you want to express.

From Altered Head

The piece above includes some wonderful phrases showing

why it's fun and helpful to incorporate words in your art.

From Jane Lee Horton

Sometimes a piece will have a message to convey

and other times words just become design elements.

From Layers of Ink

Of course!

From Factory Girl Designs

So have fun with Words this week ~

we can't wait to see what you will share with us!

Leave a comment below if you are so inclined; we love comments!

There are two more themes in our 5-challenge lineup

after this week. Not saying for sure but they just might be

Seasons and Color

;-)

We hope you've enjoyed the themes so far and that the final 2

challenges will inspire you!

~Maggie

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Monthly Art Challenge-Show and Tell

2014-09-22T00:01:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday everyone!

This week we're inviting you to share something you just want to show off. That's the only criteria.

Each month we'll host one of our most popular challenges "Show and Tell." Remember that from when you were in Elementary School? It was a great opportunity to share something that was precious to you.

These three digital collages were made as examples for one of our Show and Tell challenges. You can share any piece of artwork you want. Once you link up, please leave a comment telling why you wanted to share it for Show and Tell. It's as simple as that! I can't wait to see what everyone shares! See you later in the week,

Lou Anne aka Misplaced Mermaid

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A New Weekly Art Challenge ~ A Favorite Artist

2014-09-15T00:00:00.000-04:00

It's time for a new twist in

Inspiration Avenue’s weekly art challenges!

We've selected five of our most favorite themes and

decided to explore them more fully by having them be

our main themes, alternating them week by week.

We hope each theme is one that has many different interpretations.

For the first week, the theme is

A Favorite Artist

Sometimes we may give you a specific artist to study.

But most of the time the choice is up to you.

We'd love to see what artist you particularly love!

Could be living or dead, famous or undiscovered.

Could be an early Renaissance painter like

Sandro Botticelli

Botticelli Self Portrait

an early painter of modern expressive art like

Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse, La Musique, 1939

What about Pop Art?

Andy Warhol

The Marilyns

“Isn’t life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?”
-Andy Warhol

One of my favorite living artists is

José Manuel Merello

Jose Manuel Merello, Woman with Hearts

What artist's work do you particularly love?

The artist can be a painter, but we'd also love to see sculptors,

textile artists, photographers, collage artists, etc.

Once you decide, do a piece in his/her style.

Or explore their lives and works and

do a blog post to share with everyone.

There are many facts that are not

common knowledge about even well-known artists.

(Thanks to Google, it's very easy to discover those facts!)

And it would be awesome to find out about an artist we have not heard of!

We hope you'll join us every week for this and our other themes!

Are you wondering what the other four themes are?

In no order (because we don't know yet :-) they are:

Color

Show and Tell

Seasons

Words

This week is

A Favorite Artist

and we hope you'll join us!

~ Maggie

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This week our challenge is "Apples and Stripes" #applesandstripes

2014-09-08T09:46:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday!

This week at Inspiration Avenue

I thought it would be fun to

do a little combo of

Apples

Stripes

Please join with us in this weeks art challenge!

HOW to is right here to your right~~~~~~~>

By the end of the week we will have our

Instagram

set up so you can

Hash Tag your

art

Source

source

Source

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Weekly Art Challenge September 1 ~ Summer's Bounty

2014-09-01T00:00:00.000-04:00

Summer’s Bounty

Summer is drawing to a close!

If you live in the northern hemisphere, how was your summer?

(Those Down Under are fortunate enough to
be looking forward to next summer's arrival!)

[source]

Today (Monday) is Labor Day in the US, and Labour Day in Canada.

Labor/Labour Day in other parts of the world is often celebrated on May 1.

In the US and Canada it is celebrated on the first Monday in September.

It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made

to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of their country. (Wikipedia)

Have a fun and safe holiday!

But back to summer's bounty. . .

This week you can show off the fruits of your labors over the summer.

Whether actual fruits, veggies, flowers from the garden,

or any other endeavor and its results that you have engaged in this summer.
Or maybe you've just driven by a field or meadow brimming
with the bounty of summer. Take a photo and share with us!

[source]

Have you accomplished a creative project that's come to fruition at summer's end?

Maybe you have a veggie garden brimming with tomatoes and peppers.

Do you have flowers to show off? A herb garden?

What have you dried, canned, jarred, frozen or cooked with any of the above?
What other creative projects have you worked on this summer?

Somehow I have a bumper crop of eggplant and it seems like I eat it every day just to keep it from taking over my garden, kitchen and fridge! Eggplant is one of those veggies that you either love or hate, so it's not as easy to give away as tomatoes. Luckily I have a neighbor who also loves it, but I'm still overrun with it.

[source]

I think eggplants are awesome to look at as well as to eat.

[source]

Cucumbers just waiting to become a jar of dill pickles.

[source]

We'd love to see a photo, drawing, painting, or any other creative way
to show Summer's Bounty. It can be your bounty or
something you've seen that caught your eye.

[source]

[source]

Have you been impressed by the luscious
display of produce at the Farmer's Market?
Click the link above for the recipe for this ceviche.

[source]

Link back here by Sunday, September 7 to show us your
Summer's Bounty. We only have a few more weeks to celebrate summer's bounty before Autumn is upon us. Have fun!

~ Maggie

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