Divinity Withinity - art, creativity, fun

Red Star Mandala

2012-01-10T14:58:00.000-08:00

When I want to create but have little energy, I often turn to the free graphics editing program Sumopaint and make mandalas from images I already have on hand.

This mandala was created from a photo of a painting in progress (shown below).
I really love how the texture of the canvas itself shows up in this mandala and makes beautiful, feathery lines.

The painting in progress is small and simple so far. I'm enjoying the colours.

Golden Light
5"x7"
acrylic on canvasboard

Alien Spires Painting In Progress

2012-01-02T11:41:00.000-08:00

I recently was given some canvasboard by my stepdad who no longer wanted his paintings.
I'm finding it really interesting how the way I paint is changed by having images by another person as an underpainting.
At first I thought I wanted to mask areas of his paintings and then have them showing through when my painting was finished... but it didn't look right to me.

You can see some of his original concentric circles showing through in this version. I have already added a coat of paint so the original colours aren't present but the shapes are:

One thing that was really excellent about this experiment was how my choice of colour was influenced by the previous painting. It led me to choose colours and combinations of colours that I wouldn't have normally. I like being stretched like this and I now have a greater appreciation for why some artists sometimes choose a 'pallette' and constrain themselves to it.

There are still changes I plan to make to this painting, areas and colours that I want to change, but for those who enjoy seeing parts of the process, here's how it looks now:

I'm still a bit frustrated by the way the blue 'tower' on the right appears to lean toward the left (rather than looking like the pink and gold shape is in front of it) but I think I know how to fix that by having a bit of it peek out from the lower left side of that shape.

I'm loving the glowing goldy colours (which are much gentler without the flash glare :)

Glowing Lights

2011-12-25T10:27:00.000-08:00

taken with iphone, edited using free Adobe Photoshop app

Free Intuitive Heart eCourse by Lauren Luquin

2011-12-21T07:43:00.000-08:00

Have you checked out this beautiful ecourse yet?

Lauren, beautiful soul that she is, decided to offer it for free!

You can read her lyrical, eloquent description of the course by clicking the image above.
Participants decide their own level of participation, no pressure or expectations.
:-)
That's perfect for me - I'm in hibernation mode right now, moving slowly and being cautious about commitments.

Lauren notes:
"*all Intuitive Heart members will get 11% off everything in my Etsy shop,

VisionWise - Earth Livity 1111, for the duration of the course*"

Painting In Progress 1

2011-09-30T07:51:00.000-07:00

I've been painting a lot more recently since I tackled (part of) the mess in my studio.
I'm so excited to have my health returned to a level where I can use acrylic paints and glue again! I am returning to my first love of using texture in painting.

Here's a work in progress:

first, paint, then a layer of glue-water mix - half and half, that I used to attach repurposed biodegradable packing peanuts! They end up shrinking and collapsing in fun ways:

It's great to keep old, damaged brushed to use for glue since the glue wrecks a little more each time anyway. You can get more life from a glue brush by washing it with HOT water and soap as soon as possible after using. I use an old toothbrush with soap right on it to scrub the glue brush.

then I used the same glue-water mix to attach pieces of printed napkins. Once the glue dries, the part of the napkin that was white becomes transparent so that just the printing shows. Flowers and a butterfly:

I have since painted the packing peanuts a shimmery pearl white and now I feel stuck in that place of wanting to add more... but afraid of messing it up!
I have soooo many paintings in an unfinished state because of this.

If you'd like to see amazing examples of fearless layered paintings, check out Tara Leaver. She is awesome! And she takes the time and effort to share photos of each step of her panting journeys! Such dedication and patience! I have learned so much as an artist from following her blog.

Pink Morning Glory Mandala

2011-09-10T08:33:00.000-07:00

created using sumopaint.com

Source Image:

Art Journal Bits 1

2011-08-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

I felt like sharing a few bits from an art journal I'm working in lately - and loving.
I have so much fun making the backgrounds! It's been totally addictive for me and feels very therapeutic. I get into a meditative state while doing it that far surpasses anything I've gotten from traditional meditation. I'm so totally 'in the moment' that I'm unaware of time passing - sometimes hours.

juicy acrylic backgrounds scraped on with an old credit card

A huge amount of appreciation is beaming around the world from me to Hanna, whose great posts on altering books inspired me to get a great, spiral-bound Tai Chi manual for a few dollars second hand. Note that because my book is spiral-bound, I skipped the step of removing alternate pages.

another background using scraped acrylic, glued in napkins, marker

These backgrounds are so fast and easy - I love using the scraped-on paint method. Pencil crayon goes beautifully over top of acrylic paint.
The nice, thick pages that hold up well to acrylic paint and fun words to leave peeking through paint:

Thanks for the inspiration Hanna!

Feather Eraser Stamp (hand-carved)

2011-08-02T06:29:00.000-07:00

All wrapped up and ready to send to a lovely woman who inspires me
(I forgot to take a photo of the stamp itself before wrapping it up... oops! :-)

Have you tried carving your own stamps from erasers yet?
It's so much fun! I love using them in art journals, on cards, envelopes, and other paper crafts.
They also make wonderful, personal gifts.
Vinyl erasers work best and if you think you'll do this more than a few times, it's totally worth the money to buy a linoleum cutter (also called Lino cutter). I have the Speedball one shown in this photo.

It has a number of different tips to choose from and I find it very handy how they can all be stored in the handle. No chance of losing them. You can carve stamps using utility/exacto knives but a cutter like this is much safer and sooo much easier.
After only a few stamps, it will have paid for itself. I tried a few different kinds of vinyl erasers before settling on one I liked. This one cuts like butter. So smooth. And it's not scented - unlike most that I tried. Ick.

There are many tutorials online. Here are a few(note that you can also use carving blocks sold at art or printing stores. It's nice to begin with erasers because they are so cheap you may be less held back by fear of messing up!):
I saw this video of Geninne's only after I carved my feather stamp. Hers is amazing! (of course :)
Geninne in action

non-video tutorial part 1
non-video tutorial part 2

I confess that I don't have the patience to draw the design first and transfer it onto the eraser as shown in those tutorials. I draw directly on the stamp or just freehand it without drawing at all.

*Tips*

1. If you wear a cotton glove on the hand holding the stamp, you're less likely to get cut if you slip. This may seem unnecessary but it's totally worth it in my opinion :) Those blades are supr sharp.
2. If you will be carving curved lines, it's much easier to have the eraser on a small piece of paper that can slide around easily - then you can twist/turn the eraser itself as you go around corners rather than trying to move the cutter in a smooth, curved line.
3. Start gently. You can always cut deeper later but you can't add back parts you've removed!
4. When you are first getting the hang of this art, you can use all sides of the eraser to practice on. It will save money and be kinder to the environment.
5. If you create any kind of mixed media art, you can also save the shavings you carve off the eraser, mix them with glue or gel medium, and create very funky background textures for paintings etc.

Have fun!

Flower Within Mandala

2011-07-28T08:59:00.000-07:00

I love this mandala - both the regular and the inverted versions make me smile :-)

created using sumopaint.com
source image (an envelope I decorated by hand):

Mosaic Mandala

2011-07-06T05:50:00.000-07:00

I hope you are all having a lovely summer (and winter to those in the southern hemisphere).
The weather has been very weird here this year with temperatures going from cold to hot to cold again all in a single week but in the last few weeks, it's finally been hot more than not and the gardens are suddenly going wild!
I've been spending less time on the computer and more time in 'real life' :-)
My favourite thing about this season is the magic of flowers blooming. I get up each morning excited to go out into the yard and see what new blooms are waiting to light my face up with a smile or awaken my fingertips as I gently touch their petals.

What's your favourite thing about this season?

mandala created using sumopaint.com from source image:

Inspiration Cloud Mandala

2011-06-11T09:42:00.001-07:00

Hmm... this blog seems to be mostly mandalas lately.
I have been doing a huge amount of art journalling/playing and painting.
These mandalas get shared most because they are so easy to post since I don't have to upload and edit images from my camera! And they're sooo much fun to make :-)

The source image for this mandala is a pen and marker drawing I did that I called an 'inspiration cloud' - doodles surrounding an empty place to write inspiring text:

Sunny Mandala

2011-05-19T06:48:00.000-07:00

Rain has returned to southern Ontario and I am yearning for the sunshine that has made only brief appearances so far this spring!
This sunny mandala was created out of that yearning:

created using Sumopaint.com

Source image (St. John's Wort):

Sparkly Mandala

2011-05-10T07:09:00.000-07:00

click on image if you'd like to see a larger version

created in Sumopaint.com from source image:

Three More Mandalas

2011-05-05T08:13:00.001-07:00

source images:

Serpent Mandalas

2011-05-02T08:16:00.000-07:00

These mandalas are made using Sumopaint.com

The source image is of a beautiful garter snake I met a few summers ago:

Willow Tree Mandalas

2011-04-30T10:39:00.000-07:00

I'm still having so much fun using the graphics programs I learned of recently.

Both of these mandalas had the same source image - weeping willow branches glowing in the sun against a blue sky.

I'm so excited at how they turned out!

Source image:

Springy Mandala

2011-04-28T07:49:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Shala from the blog Don't Eat The Paste, I was just recently exposed to some great, free online graphics editing programs. She wrote excellent reviews of them and I encourage you to check out her post on the subject: Online Graphics Applications

Having lost my Photoshop Elements CD a few years ago, I've been so excited to play with these programs! They each have things I like best about them. This image was made in SumoPaint.
The original image is my watercolour painting Jubilant.
I love how this mandala turned out SO much! The colours felt springlike to me.
You can click on the image to see a larger version if you like. There are some really neat details. Every time I look at it I see different things in it :-)
Happy Spring!

A few photos

2011-04-16T08:54:00.000-07:00

Having a camera (albeit crappy quality) on my cell phone has been making me more aware of my surroundings when I am walking about town, more present.

This old tower is in front of a modern office building where I have regular appointments and I enjoy it so much every time I see it! I love things that encourage me to look UP and notice the sky.

I really like the lines, angles and shadows.

This combination of 'fire dept' and ice made me smile:

In Love With Texture - Sculpture Painting

2011-04-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

Now that I am starting to be able to use acrylic paints and glue again as my chemical sensitivities are improving, I am starting to get excited about returning to my first artistic love: TEXTURE building.
I am completely in love with building interesting texture and painting over it.
I use various things to build the texture, gluing on whatever calls to me in the moment.
Tissue paper, fabric, brown paper bags, found objects and dried organic objects like leaves, feathers and seed pods... the possibilities are endless when you have glue and can use it!

Here is a sculpture painting from many years ago that I had a lot of fun making:

And another angle with less glare:

A number of years ago I lived in Montreal which has an amazing system of alleys - awesome places for finding strange little bits of this and that simply crying out to be glued onto something and enjoyed :-)
Most of my 'strange stuff stash' has been packed away, awaiting the day I could use glue again. I think it's time to get it out!

Is there anything you've been saving to use 'one day' that you could dig into right now!?

Enjoying Silliness... Eerie cat's eyes

2011-03-06T08:05:00.000-08:00

I hope to soon have photos of sewing projects to share with you.

Until then... how about some silliness!?

I get such a big kick out of what my partner's iPhone flash does to our cat's eyes in photos and I thought... well... maybe some of you may get a laugh out of it too!
So here are some crappy quality silly cat photos for you:

That pillow was placed vertically to prevent cats from sitting on it and covering it in fur...
... but Spooky was unfoiled in her pillow-sitting plans!

Ninja loves it when we decide to reorganise the pantry.

I just love how Ninja's two differently coloured eyes match the orange and blue fabrics on the chair!

Are there any silly things you like that make you laugh?

Thoughts on how joy and passion connect me to Divinity

2011-02-21T08:06:00.000-08:00

Thoughts about divine, spirit, god/dess energy...

...a few days ago I went for short visit to the fabric store. It's far away and I don't drive so on the occasion that I get a ride there, it's an exciting thing! I walk in and feel like a 'kid in a candy store'.
It was a short visit, about 15 minutes, and I managed to find exactly what I was looking for... which is pretty neat considering I went in wanting "something satiny and slippery to make a scarf from... in colours I like" ... but didn't even have any colours in mind. ☺

I got 4 pieces of fabric and a bias tape maker and came back out to the truck with a huge grin on my face. I kept touching the fabrics on the way home and feeling so excited about working with them.

What does this have to do with divinity?

I have noticed that when I feel good, excited or passionate, about anything, I feel connected to the divinity within me and around me.
It doesn't matter what I'm feeling passionate about. It doesn't need to be something 'spiritual'. Last week we had a mild spell and I was on top of the world to be out on the deck, blowing bubbles. Yesterday I had great fun giggling with my partner over the antics and idiosyncrasies of our cats. Both of those got me connected to that divine spark within me, the spark that I believe is connected to the great, cosmic divine energy, that I believe we are all part of.

I have also noticed that when I feel down, depressed, sad or despairing, I feel disconnected from that spark. I know it's still there, but it feels like I'm wrapped up in layers of heavier emotions that come in between me and that spark.

I feel like the disconnection from divine is what makes me feel so down, so heavy... and yet at the same time, I feel that it is the very feeling down and heavy that disconnects me. So it's kind of confusing to know which comes first, or how it comes about.

The important thing in this, for me, is knowing that feeling joy, passion and love coincide with feeling connected to divine. It doesn't matter which comes first... just knowing that they happen together for me means that I can feel more connected by purposely doing things I love, doing things that excite me or inflame my passion.
I think I'd like to make a list of things that elicit love or joy in me.

A few that come to mind:
blowing bubbles
painting

rainbows of all kinds

talking to trees, plants and animals
sewing
dancing to a song I love
being in nature
doing or saying something that makes another person feel good
swimming in lakes
planning creative projects
gardening
singing to my cat (he loves it :)

What are some things on your joy list?
I'd love if you shared in the comments. It is so wonderful to read others' joys, loves (and I often get great inspiration!).
~☼~

Super Simply Sewn Satiny Scarf forThree Dollars

2011-02-20T09:49:00.000-08:00

I adore all things shimmery, satiny, sparkly and metallic. I also love flowing clothing that moves when I do. At the same time, I'm a bit of a tomboy - the type who likes climbing trees, can't wear white without getting it dirty, washes all colours together in the laundry, and has zero tolerance for clothing that is uncomfortable. Fragile clothing, worn by me, invariably gets damaged. I choose jewelry based on how unlikely it is to get caught on things or banged up in the garden :-) When I see women with rings that stick up, I instantly think, "How do they handle that? It would bang into everything!"

I've been eying the many styles of scarves in stores lately and most of them are either made from material that feels scratchy or are so fragile they would fall apart in the wash (I also have low tolerance for clothing that can't just be tossed in the washer with everything else :).
The scarves out now are also pricey! It feels wrong to me to spend $15-20 on a tiny piece of fabric that would cost about $1 to buy.

So I decided to buy fabric and try making my own! My sewing skills are basic and I don't have patience with patterns and pinning so my creations sometimes work... and sometimes don't.

Thankfully this experiment went pretty well.

This lovely fabric shimmers in the sun and has a beautiful, satiny feel to it... yet it's made from polyester and can be tossed in the washer and dryer - yay!

widthwise seam, inside

I didn't take a photo of the first step which was to cut half a meter of fabric in half, lengthwise and sew two ends together widthwise. You can see those ends sewn together vertically in the photo above.

lengthwise seam inside

Then I had one long, narrow piece of fabric about 10 inches wide. I folded it in half with the right sides together and sewed the 2 'wrong' sides together. I didn't bother pinning, just matched up the sides as I went along with a simple straight stitch. The fabric was not cut evenly at the store so it's not even but it doesn't show when it's being worn.

widthwise seam, rightside out

That photo above is how the outside seam looks where the 2 long pieces were joined widthwise.

lengthwise seam rightside out, unironed

When I was done sewing lengthwise, I had a long tube with both ends open. At that point, if you wanted closed ends, you would sew one end closed all the way and the other end closed except for a few inches (then pull the tube rightside out through the small opening and handsew it closed). I wanted my ends left open so at this point I simply turned the long tube rightside out... and I was done! I could have ironed it so that it will lay flat but I really like the body and fullness it has and I don't want to flatten it one bit :-)

big, long tube scarf, outside

The ends didn't match up perfectly and I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that yet. I'm pretty laid back so I may just leave it :)

Total cost for this project:
only
$3
(for the fabric)
☺
☼

*I've never tried to describe a sewing project in text before so if you have any questions or would like me to clarify something, please do not hesitate to let me know in the comments :)

Very Tiny Butterfly Doodle

2011-02-07T07:27:00.000-08:00

I recently found some Fiskars squeeze punches at a discount store for $5 each. Wow! They work like a dream.
After testing them out with some white card stock, the little punched pieces suddenly looked like perfect, miniature canvases - just crying out for colour...

This butterfly is about the size of a penny :-)
Materials: micron pens, markers, card stock, punch

For some reason I find that I like doodling on smaller pieces of paper much more than on larger ones.

Do you have a size of paper you prefer doodling on?

Rainbow Crochet Cell Phone Cover - in progress

2011-02-03T10:58:00.000-08:00

The sun has been shining brilliantly, gloriously, scintillatingly... all day!
I am so amazed at how much this can effect my mood, physical energy and mental state.
Just yesterday I was sharing how I haven't been motivated to take photos of works in progress, let alone upload and edit them.
Well... the radiant, dazzling sun and clear blue sky have worked their healing magic on me and I've gotten motivated to write this post :-)

I've only had a cell phone since Christmas and I've already dropped it in the snow!
Thankfully it was fine but it made me realise that I really want a case for it.
I don't like any of the ones in my price range so I decided to try and crochet one.

Almost done!

It's very simple and it has an almost rainbow progression(it's missing purple) so it is soothing to the part of me that has been craving colour amidst all the white and grey of an Ontario winter.

When I get to the top, I'm going to crochet back and forth on only one half of this tube to make a little flap that will fold down over the top of the phone. I'll post pics when it's done.

My cell phone is also an MP3 player and since that's what I use it most for, I think I may add loops that I can attach a long single crocheted chain to so I can wear it either around my neck or shoulder-bag style. That way I won't have to unzip my coat if I want to switch songs! Brrrrrr.
:)

Update
After posting this I was thinking about how much I like how snugly the cover fits on... and I suddenly realised there was no way to have the headphones plugged in if the phone was in it's cover! OOPS! So if you decide to try something like this, be sure to leave a hole in the side that matches up with where your headphone jack is. Luckily I only had to pull out a few rows to go back and correct this (I'm glad I didn't realise after it was all done!).
☺

~

Thanks mom for teaching me to crochet all those years ago. I am still at a very low skill level... but it suffices for me and I love doing it :-)

Sharing Beauty - Links To Other Bloggers' Work

2011-02-02T09:30:00.000-08:00

I seem to be in a winter hibernation mode... spending a lot of time within both the house and my own heart and mind. I'm doing creative things in tiny bits... at slow paces... and rarely feeling inspired to take photos of them (let alone upload and edit those photos I do take!).

Wintry Window

Winter is a darker time for me - inside and out. I've been craving colour so I'm working on a rainbowy crocheted cell phone cover that I hope to share soon.

Until I have something of my own to share, I thought I'd share some things I've seen in the Blogiverse that I found beautiful or that reached out and brightened my life in some way.

These are all from blogs that I follow in my RSS reader - they are my equivalent of a daily newspaper - a morning dose of wonderful inspiration and beauty!

In no particular order...

These wonderful seasonal tree paintings at Curls Of Red

Every Single Post at A Magic Mom and Her Mandalas (seriously... I could not pick just one - many of her poem/mandala combinations move me to tears of beauty :)

Rabbits are a very special spirit animal for me and so I am loving Leah's New Moon Rabbit and Lit From Within.

This cheerful box and frame at Grace Is Overrated (and all of Christie's journal pages - they rock).

Eden's fabulous, vibrant Doodle Directories!

Dandelionlady's rich painting: Offering to the Swans

This amazing, colourful Tree drawing (done with markers) by Amy at Surviving the Day Every Day.

iHanna's hand-embroidered bicycle seat warmer. Wow!

Although not art directly, I'm really enjoying Lauren's series of Artist Interviews over at VisionWise - Earth Livity1111♥

This Flower Power print by Eliza Lynn Tobin of Art Asana

What are some of your favourite creative blogs to visit?
~

We Are All Connected

2011-01-11T06:52:00.000-08:00

those are galaxies in that photo - it blows my mind :-)

When Leah posted this month's Creative Every Day theme of Cosmos, I was so excited!

Thinking about our amazing bodies in our amazing world and it's place in our amazing Universe is one of the things that feels incredibly spiritual for me. I am in awe of both the vastness and the intricacy of the cosmos.

My mom sent me a link to a video a few months ago that perfectly expressed the joy and awe that I feel when I think about 'All That Is'. It effected me and inspired me on a very deep level. I often watch it a few times a day.

It's partially electronic music (warning for those of you who don't like that :) but the music is not overly what hooked me - it's the words of the various scientists in the video.

We Are All Connected by Symphony of Science:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGK84Poeynk

Below the video, there is a part where they have entered text sharing the words in case any are hard to understand. I found it helpful.
If it doesn't show, you can click on the little down arrow that is right under the number of views the video has had.

In the video, there are some clips of physicist Richard Feynman - who I hadn't heard of!
He was so charismatic and joyful that I got curious and read more about him. He's a very fascinating guy.

For those of you who would enjoy watching simple physics things explained (like how light works, why ice is slippery etc) there is a fun series of videos by him that I loved. It's called "Fun To Imagine". He has a great gift of explaining in ways that non-scientists can understand.
Note the sound quality is poor - I had to turn them way up to hear.
Some of it is complex enough that it boggles my mind a bit and I really love how passionate he is. It felt like the passion itself helped me to understand things that may normally have been impossible for me.

part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3pYRn5j7oI&feature=related

part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITpDrdtGAmo&feature=related

part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRxAn2DRzgI&feature=related

Further parts should be listed on the right of the youtube page of those videos. let me know if you have trouble finding them.

Collage: Falling In Love With My Body

2011-01-01T21:57:00.000-08:00

In a previous post, I shared about a dream I had that inspired me to make this collage and, hopefully, will inspire me to exercise entirely for myself. Not from any 'should', or because it's healthy or because it will make others like my body better.
Entirely for ME. So that I will be able to enjoy living in a strong, fit body that I like the feel and look of better than I do now.

I want to focus on working toward strength, flexibility and fitness - not a specific shape or size or lack of lumps and bumps :-)

I am hoping that in the process of getting more fit, I come to feel more comfortable being present in my body, and perhaps even fall in love with it. Being present is a huge challenge for me.

I enjoy what has blossomed in this collage. I'm still looking forward to adding in more details and decorations with black, white, silver and gold pens and the blank area below the word STRENGTH wants... something. Time will tell me what it will be :-)

Part of me is still feeling daunted. I find big change can feel very difficult to me and exercising regularly - without thinking of it as a chore - is a radical change for me.
I don't plan when I collage - I go through magazines and cut out the things call to me and then arrange them on the paper in the way that 'feels' right.

In the process of doing this, the issue about change got addressed with wisdom from some wiser part of me:"You will reach a turning point beyond which change comes easily"

The words "comes easily" are written on a colour copy of a watercolour painting that flowed out of me so easily after years of thinking I was 'no good' at watercolour.

The grungy blue star paper was made using this technique: grunge star rubbed impressions

My New Year's wish for you

2010-12-31T19:21:00.001-08:00

May you find joy in the simple things in life
>^..^<
A very Happy New Year to you all!

feline model: my cat Ninja

What if I could fall in love with my body?

2010-12-30T07:05:00.000-08:00

detail from collage in progress

Lately I've been feeling like I'm floating along without 'purpose'.
I'm not working due to disability and not volunteering for the same reason.
Although it doesn't come out a lot on this blog, I have pretty bad depression most of the time (though it has improved a lot since August when I had an amazing Energy Medicine session... when I do my homework the improvements are even better :)

I've tried to make my art my Purpose and it doesn't quite fit.
My art is one of my major Passions and I've always liked the idea of having my Purpose be one of my Passions... I'm not sure why it's not working. I wonder if it's because my art doesn't have big goals?

I had a very powerful dream recently in which I saw myself from behind, doing pull-ups/chin-ups in a backless top. I could see muscles and strength!
I can't even do half of a chin up in my waking life :-)
At the same time that I was seeing my body from the outside, I could also feel what it felt like to be in that strong, powerful, healthy and fit body. It was wonderful!
I've always hated exercising and have never had a body like I had in my dream and I awoke thinking, "What if I could have that?"
I wonder if I would hate exercise less if I thought of it as working toward a goal I desire, rather than a chore I feel I 'should' do?

I felt inspired and motivated and began going through magazines to make a collage, wanting to capture that motivation in a visual form that I could hang on my wall as a reminder. I hope to finish and post it soon.

In the process of cutting collage pieces, I found myself suddenly thinking, "What if I could actually fall in love with my body?"
It seemed inconceivable. Yet enticing!
For many, many years, my body has been a source of frustration and suffering, either not being able to do what I want it to or having all sorts of symptoms I don't want it to have. I feel that I have no control over my body, that I'm powerless.

I've decided to try and change my relationship with my body.

Perhaps if I start falling in love with it from the outside, it will sense that love and begin to balance on the inside.

created at Wordle.net

Handmade Christmas Cards

2010-12-16T09:37:00.001-08:00

In a bit of a flurry, I realised this week that I had delayed too long, as usual, in sending cards out. I have store-bought cards I can use, which would have saved time, but my memory dances all over the place and I can't recall which ones I sent to which people last year! I don't really want to send anyone the same card 2 years in a row so I decided to make some by hand. After a few tries, I came up with a design I liked that didn't take too long to complete:

The background is done using the markers & plastic wrap technique I posted about a while back. It's an easy way to get slightly textured looking backgrounds in a snap without using paint. It doesn't warp paper like wet techniques do.

The balls were made by colour copying my red and green paper weaving, using a circle punch and attaching with glue(stick). The 'strings' are sparkly red gel pen.

I decided to brighten up the back of the envelopes using hand-carved eraser stamps. This snowflake is my most recent carved stamp and I am totally in love with it! It was a project that I was daunted by and doubted I could do... and so put off doing for a long time rather than try and fail. When I finally tried it, it worked out wonderfully! I never know when something may turn out to be much easier than I thought it would. :-)

Video of a hawk behind my house

2010-12-16T09:19:00.000-08:00

I filmed this short clip yesterday during some snow flurries and posted to Youtube for anyone who would like to take a peek :) You get to see it take flight at the end ~.~
Things like this really make my day! It was wonderful to see.

Hawk In Tree

Add Character To Envelopes

2010-12-14T09:10:00.000-08:00

I love decorating envelopes before mailing them to people.
I try to keep the decorations simple and quick to do so that if they get damaged in the mail, it's no big deal :-)

Here's an example of one I made recently before sending to a friend who likes blues, turquoises and spirals:

On a piece of paper, I used stamping ink pads for the coloured background, silver pen for the spirals and silver star stickers leftover from my holiday sticker garland project. Then I glued the piece of paper to the envelope with a gluestick, trimmed the edges, taped the envelope closed and addressed the other side. All set to go!
It was quick, easy and fun and I hope that it will brighten some postal worker's day.

I try to re-use and re-purpose as much as possible. The piece of paper was scrap from the recycling bin and the envelope was re-used (hence my needing to tape it closed :)
☺

A Fun and Frugal Holiday Garland

2010-12-08T18:36:00.000-08:00

When I first began working on Christmasy projects a few weeks ago, I had a hard time deciding whether or not to post them on my blog. I'm not Christian but I love so many things about this holiday. Since I have a hard time with words, I'd like to borrow from Christie of Grace is Overrated, who perfectly expressed what I had been feeling on this topic. In a recent post she said, "I didn't want to offend those who might celebrate differently than I do or not at all, for I know that Christmas is not a universal celebration. Most of all, I want this to be a place where we all feel welcome and appreciated and included."
Thank you Christie, for saying that so well!
I hope that those of you who don't celebrate Christmas will not feel hurt or excluded. If you'd ever like to adapt one of my projects to a holiday or event you celebrate and want ideas how, please contact me - I'd love to brainstorm. :-) If you adapt a project and share it online somewhere, please let me know in the comments so I can link to it! I would love that. ♥
This project in particular lends itself well to any occasion one wants to decorate for. I love it so much that I plan to make one in rainbows to have up at all times. Not to celebrate anything (well, I suppose to celebrate my love of rainbows :)

I originally planned to make this garland by punching circles from cool paper and gluing to a string. I quickly discovered that I didn't have the patience to get the gluestick on the circles and line them up on either side of the string before the glue dried... at least not for the time it would take to make 12 feet of it! I had the circles all punched out and was very disappointed until I had a sudden brainwave...
Stickers.
No glue. No punches. EASY! And best of all, FUN because I love stickers.

This holiday garland has some parts that could easily be done by children and some best for adults.

Supplies:

tape (I use painters tape because it is easy to unstick from walls, string, fingers etc)
1 package of coloured circle stickers (any colours you like)
thread or string (any colour you like - I used silver because I like sparkly things)
Optional: 1 package of coloured metallic star stickers (or any sticker you like that is smaller than the circles)

I already had thread and tape on hand so this garland cost about $2 in stickers bought at a dollar store. If you use only circles, it would be around $1

Step 1. (kid-friendly)

Stick the star stickers onto the circle stickers. You can use contrasting colours. I decided I liked how it looked best when the star was the same colour as the circle. This photo doesn't show it well but when the light hits the stars, they reflect.
They don't need to be even - this step could easily be done by any age of child that could be trusted with stickers.
Idea: children could also draw on a few of the circles instead of putting stars on them. They may enjoy later picking out their drawings as they look at the garland. Another option is to spell out words - 1 letter per circle.

Step 2.

Tape a length of string between 2 walls in a corner. You could also tape one end to a table and the other to a wall. If you leave the string attached to the spool, then you don't have to calculate how many stickers will fit on what length, just keep on sticking until they are used up!
If you look closely on the left, you can see that I experimented with having circles and stars alternate on the string - it was much too finicky to get the stars to match up evenly so I abandoned that idea. You can also see that I didn't immediately think of putting the stars on the circles before attaching them to the string! Trust me, it's way easier to do Step 1 first :-]

Step 3. (not so kid-friendly)

a) Stick the stickers to one side of the string. I stuck one on the string, pressed the string firmly onto the adhesive and was able to let go while I got the other sticker from the sheet. This may not work as well if you were using a heavier weight of string. It doesn't have to be in the exact centre.
b) Stick a matching colour of sticker to the other side of the string, lining it up as close as possible to the first sticker. Don't stress out if they don't match up perfectly. Once I hung mine, I couldn't even see the mistakes.
c) Decide how far apart you want to space the stickers and repeat steps 3 a) and b) until your garland is as long as you want!

I made a big long garland but this would also look very nice in many shorter strands hanging down vertically from a ceiling. I used my experimental alternating star/circle piece to hang down from the centre of the garland.

To prevent tangling:

As you fill up the length of string you have taped between the 2 walls, you can loop the finished pieces and tape to the wall like this:

To store: I will wrap it around a piece of cardboard that I've made notches in each end of, then put in a file folder or envelope. You could also wrap it around an empty paper towel roll as shown in the photo on this blog: Polka Dot Garland

Hanging:
When made with thin thread, this garland is very light and airy. It is held up to the ceiling with Scotch tape and has not threatened to fall down. I doubt the entire 12 feet would hold with just 2 pieces of tape but I hung it in scalloped sections and it's holding well.

If you try this project, or a variation on it, and post online, I'd love if you'd comment with a link!

Happy decorating!

SNOWtographs and List It Tuesday

2010-12-07T12:29:00.000-08:00

For today's List It Tuesday list, I decided to write a few things that I love about snow... since I'm a few days into one of the biggest snowstorms I've seen in my life!

The snow began innocently enough about a week ago and I danced around all excited at the first snow of the year, taking photos like this boring one that I'm now glad I kept for comparison:

First bit of snow

It snowed gently here and there for the first few days and then, within 2-3 days, almost as much snow dumped down on us as fell throughout the entire winter last year! Snowly moly! Apparently the reason just one small region can be hit is due to something called The Lake Effect.

Same shed about a week later!

Gracefully shaped snow overhang


I love the way the snow hangs over... seeming to defy gravity

Watch where you walk!


It looked magical last night... I'm looking forward to tonight after another 24 hours of snow!

* * *

I apologise for the big spaces between photos. They don't exist when I create the post and Blogger won't let me edit them out!

Christmas-y Wordle

2010-12-01T10:26:00.000-08:00

Have you played with Wordle yet?
I love it. :-)
Basically you go to the Create page, type (or paste) text, hit the Go button and edit how you'd like the words to appear (horizontal, rounder edges, random shape, font, colours etc). You can edit a custom colour pallette like I did with this Holiday-themed Wordle. The more times a word appears in your piece of text, the larger it will be. Therefore, if you want different sized words, you will need to have some words appear more than once.

You can write your own text or play around with copying and pasting poems, songs or writing from online sources.

click to see larger image

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/2815980/Christmas-y_Words

One of the few things I don't like about Wordle is that it doesn't make an image file you can save. I got around this by using the ridiculously easy screen shot tool in Windows Vista called the Snipping Tool (which I just discovered today and am very excited about :)
~

Christmas-y Things I Want To Do: List It Tuesday

2010-11-30T16:16:00.000-08:00

I've been intending to take part in Aimee's fun List It Tuesday for a while but I never seem to get around to writing a list by hand, photographing it, uploading, editing... and then posting here.
So I decided to make a list in Windows Paint today instead. It's a real bugger to work with so it helps me to relax, knowing that my drawings will look amateur no matter what I do :-) Somehow that stops me from being too perfectionist.

Here's my list of Christmas-y things I'd like to do:

Hand Stamped Wrapping Paper

2010-11-25T12:00:00.000-08:00

I had so much fun decorating the wrapping paper for this gift and wanted to share a picture with you of the final result.
I'm normally too much of a perfectionist and it gets in the way of me enjoying some artsy/craftsy things. This time I somehow turned off the inner critic and just had fun! Nothing is really even, the wrapping job is a bit lumpy... and I don't care LOL!

The stamps: the star stamp was hand-carved from an eraser. The rest were store bought from Michaels.
The ink: inexpensive dye-based stamp pads - also from Michaels. The silver dots on the trees were added by hand with a new gel pen I am loving.
The paper: I have supplements shipped to me by mail and I always save the packing paper to re-use. It is not very strong so I doubled it up to make sure it wouldn't rip when the gift was handled.

I Love Paper Weaving!

2010-11-22T08:55:00.000-08:00

I spent almost the entire weekend with the computer turned off and was impressed with (but not surprised by) just how much more time it felt like I had.

I recently read about using a paper shredder to make paper strips for crafts instead of having to cut them all by hand... what an awesome thing! So many types of paper (please see disclaimer at bottom of post) can be fodder for the shredder - magazine pages, the cool patterns on the inside of security envelopes, sturdier wrapping paper, paper bags, drawings, paintings, colouring and art journal pages you don't need any more, coloured envelopes you receive in the mail, construction paper, sheet music (which you can photocopy if you want to keep the original - thank you S. for that awesome idea and for sending me sheet music in the mail! :)

The strips of paper can be used for many different crafts but my favourite is paper weaving. If you have a paper shredder and think you may like paper weaving, I encourage you to try it out!
I tried coating them in glue afterward and the one that used about 50% construction paper did very well and stayed flat. The one made entirely with thinner paper warped but I will try putting it under some heavy books to see if it will flatten out.

Here are some photos:

Christmas-y colours. I will likely cut this piece up to decorate cards or make ornaments with. This is the piece that had construction paper and survived the glue very well.

Music weaving start.

Music weaving finished.

I found it a bit boring all white and black and decided to try stamping on top of it... not very happy with the results but I find it interesting enough that I will try this method again :-)

An abstract watercolour painting on paper was the source for this weaving.

If you experiment with paper weaving and post online, I'd love if you'd include a link in the comments section! I love seeing other people's experiments :-)

*disclaimer and warning*
I have no idea if any of the paper suggestions could jam your paper shredder... please proceed with caution! :-) With the shredder I used, the super thin, flexible papers ended up shredding in a slight curve and were not straight-edged.

BlueBird of Happiness - detail from art journal page

2010-11-19T10:04:00.000-08:00

This small piece is one of my favourite parts from a larger art journal spread that I've been puttering with over the months.

You can click on the image to see a larger version (hopefully it works - this blogger feature has been causing me some problems lately).

I find art journalling so healing and therapeutic. I often begin by laying down a background of words or images that express a difficult emotion I am processing, then when I have kind of 'gotten it out' I continue adding layers and transform the 'negative' into a viewpoint I'd like to have that is more positive. It's rare that I art journal without realising something very important about myself.

The nice thing is that when I go back months later and look at a page, I usually can't recall the angst that began the page - I only recall the positive message/learning that came out of it!

Tip: the lid from an old toothpaste tube can be repurposed into a fun stamp that makes two circle sizes depending on which end you use. I like the frilly edges it makes. The border around the bird's 'nest' is made with a hand carved eraser stamp.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-17T07:47:00.000-08:00

New Camera Excitement!

2010-11-15T06:36:00.000-08:00

I am so excited!
I have a new camera... finally!
The Fujifilm Finepix S1800 which has a clever enough Auto Mode that I can take nice pictures easily and flexible enough manual settings that if I ever learn more and want to adjust them on my own, I won't feel trapped by too simple of a camera.

My favourite part is that the Macro function is easy to use (simply press one button) and it works. Pictures are actually in focus - something that has been an issue with the macro function on all of my previous cameras.
Equally exciting is that fact that it has a Super Macro function (simply press the button twice)... I didn't even know about this before purchasing so it was a lovely surprise. The Super Macro function can take pictures as close as 2cm or around 0.8 inches! So awesome :-)
Come spring and summer, you will likely see many flower, plant and hopefully bug close ups here on the blog.

What I find very interesting is how much more aware I am of nuances in my surroundings now that my creative mind is looking for 'photo-worthy' images.

Batteries are charging as I type this and I will be posting photos soon!

(the camera takes 4 AA batteries which is another thing I love about it - I use rechargeable NiMH batteries and they have saved me so much money over the years as well as being more environmentally friendly.)

Lovely Autumn Shadows

2010-11-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

On sunny mornings lately I have been loving the shadows on my dining room wall. ♥
They are created by the sun shining through dried up flowers outside my patio door window... and also a few butterfly 'window clings' I have on the glass.

I still don't have a camera so these are taken with a video camera that has just one quality setting: 'sure-to-make-you-wish-you-had-a-real-camera!'. That's not the official name of course... but it should be LOL!

Here's the view looking out the window showing what's creating those shadows (in the background you can see the pink sweet peas that have only succumbed to cold weather in the last couple of days!):

I also enjoy these shadows created by brass bells amidst leftover morning glory vines. I played around a bit in my photo editor to give it an antique look. Sometimes it doesn't look like shadows on a wall at all to me but rather objects seen through heavy fog:

One of my cats likes to 'help' with the photos >^..^<

Mandala Drawing 1

2010-09-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I love colouring so much that I can't wait until a drawing is 'finished to begin to colour it in.
The only thing I don't like about this is that I would love to make copies of entirely black and white drawing and be able to use them later as colouring pages.
I'm trying to discipline myself to do some drawing without colouring as I go along... for the express purpose of being able to copy them... and maybe share them here in case you'd like to print some out to colour in too!


early in the process

later in the process

I actually kind of prefer how it looked before I drew all of those lines around it (the ones filled with pink and greens).
Oh well! :-)

I just have to say, again, that I am in love with Pigma Micron pens. (No financial interest) I just love how they don't smear when I colour on them with marker (or watercolour paint).
:-)

A Poem: Weeding and Shedding Old Skin... and a Poll

2010-09-25T08:07:00.000-07:00

Today my 'creative every day' endeavour was writing.
For those of you who enjoy poetry or prose poetry, I've posted a new piece over at my writing blog called Weeding and Shedding Old Skin (as well as a photo of a wonderful snake letting me stroke it's soft skin).

I've also created a little poll here on Divinity Withinity.
I'd love it if you'd take part and let me know what type of posts you enjoy most here!
It's my first try at creating a poll so hopefully it will work!
It's on the upper right hand side of this page. :-)

I hope you're having a great day!
It got cold overnight here in southern Ontario.
The giant garden toad has burrowed into the dirt with just it's head sticking out... very wise.

Critters in the Gardens

2010-09-24T09:10:00.000-07:00

I am a person who can get over-the-top excited and happy about a bug.
A praying mantis to be precise. (if you're freaked out by mantises, scroll down to the tiny amazing gold beetle instead :)
A few weeks ago I was having a very glum day and sat down on the steps outside. Something made me look down to my right and I gasped! A beautiful praying mantis was sitting in a plant less than foot from my leg!
I put down my hand and it crawled on.

Look at those amazing segmented antennae!

I was in heaven and just sat there for ages looking at how incredibly delicate and intricate it's body was.
It never ceases to amaze me that such an effective predator can be so calm and gentle with humans! I have caught and held mantises (mantii?) since childhood and have never had one show aggression toward me though I have heard it can happen. The word 'caught' is actually misleading because when I put my hand in front of them, they simply crawl onto it. :-)

tickly little feet :-)

It also kind of amazes me that I can enjoy such a big bug and not get creeped out.
Mantises enjoy crawling up which meant that it wanted to crawl over my face to sit in my hair. Except for a butterfly, there is no way I would let any other bug that big do such a thing! And not many small bugs either.

Also seen in my garden recently was an amazing tiny beetle that looked like it was made of liquid gold.
Unfortunately, the macro function on my camera didn't work (it has since been taken to the camera graveyard) but I'll include this picture anyway in case anyone can help me identify this shiny little bug:
To be honest I think it is the one that has been chewing huge holes in my morning glory leaves but I don't mind. :-)

UPDATE: I found out that this beetle is the fascinating Golden Tortoise Beetle - it can actually change colour! So cool :-)

The day before yesterday I was sitting on the steps with my (indoor) cat, giving him some fresh air. We were lucky enough to see a big grey mouse run around the corner and disappear under the steps below my feet! In broad daylight. Very happy cat ;-)

Then yesterday, most wonderful, sitting in the same spot... we saw a HUGE TOAD. Likely the biggest toad I've seen in my life. As big as my fist, more than 3" long, about 2 feet away from my feet and not minding our presence one bit. (once again my cat was pretty happy about this)
It was feasting on big flying ants that have been all over the place recently. Toads are so cute and funny when they eat.
No photos I'm afraid.
A neat toad fact I hadn't known before today: when growing, toads shed their skin! Every few weeks! (and they shed it in one piece and eat it... ick).

I get so excited about critters in the garden
:-)

The Magical Forest - returning to my heart

2010-09-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday during a meditation I was reminded that painting is the pathway to my heart... in a way it is my heart.
I have been drawing, sewing, doodling and more but haven't painted in over a month.
It takes a bit of prep work to begin and once I do, a time warp occurs and I emerge finding hours to have passed! So I'm more likely to take an 'easier' or 'faster' creative path.

Yet when I do take the time to paint my spirit soars!
I am more in the moment than any traditional meditation can bring me.
I feel free, joyful, excited and immersed in a state of wonder at the beautiful colours and shapes that blossom.

I'm calling this piece The Magical Forest after the woods that live inside of me with my heart at their centre.
The heart is not seen directly here but the glow from behind the trees is from it.

The Magical Forest

Watercolour

8.5"x11"

Apologies for the photo quality. When I get a camera upgrade, I will update the photo. :-)

Technical stuff for those interested:
I didn't use watercolour paper for this because I wanted some of the paint to be more diffuse and spread into the paper itself (watercolour paper has 'sizing' added to help prevent this).
I used 135lb smooth drawing paper. Acid-free.
Tips:
Tape paper on all sides with green painter's tape, pressed down firmly onto a metal clipboard. can use masking tape but it is more likely to rip the paper when removed.
Wait more than 12 hours to remove tape.
The wait is worth it - it may feel dry to the touch and you may despair at how it's still warped but if you leave it long enough, this weight of paper will shrink almost flat again if the tape is pressed down well (and didn't get horribly soaked by water or paint).

6 Random Things About Me

2010-09-10T07:09:00.000-07:00

Random piece in progress

I never get tired of Terry Pratchett books (NFI) - they are the one thing guaranteed to make me laugh out loud every time. I love laughing out loud :-)
I love storms - whether white-out blizzards or torrential rain.
I hold back from trying to draw/paint/create more than 75% of the things I want to because I know I will not be able to make them 100% symmetrical. The thing I do create never are symmetrical and no one else seems to mind... I so want to get over this!
I still don't have my driver's license (I'm 34).
Unless I have guests, I eat cake and pie right out of the pans I bake them in (I'm thinking a lot about baking yummy things now that it's cooling off enough to use the oven).
I sing to my cat... and he loves it >^..^<

Birthday Collage for a friend

2010-09-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

Much more personal than a store bought birthday card :-)


(name at top removed for privacy :) Text reads: "Dear ____, My birthday wish for you is that your year ahead has many calm days, peaceful, rest-filled nights and the energy to play your butt off!"


Text reads: "SEEK YOUR TRUTH... It's likely to be at the heart of something you DeLIGHT in."

Back From Omega Institute Retreat - Wonderful!!

2010-08-28T07:53:00.000-07:00

I had a truly wonderful time last week.
I went on a Rest and Rejuvenation retreat at the Omega Institute in the country near Rhinebeck, New York.
It was beautiful, peaceful and definitely rejuvenating!
My campsite was at the top of a big hill and the entire grounds are hilly so I can't say it was restful but the exercise was good for me.
The food was buffet style, abundant and wonderful - gluten-free options at every meal.

I spent many hours at a table in their cafe or on it's patio drawing and painting. My favourite drawing was gifted to a woman there who gave me an Eden Energy Medicine session that I could immediately tell had changed my life. The results have stayed and it's so awesome! The photo is unfortunately not the best quality but I'll share anyway:

I found myself just being present and, as a result, only took photos on the final day - and not many! I have a few regrets about the lack of photos but zero regrets about being that present and relaxed. I didn't worry even once about my cats, gardens or house. In fact I hardly worried about anything at all (I'm usually a chronic worrier).

Here are a few Omega grounds pictures. Click on them to see a larger view:

Pathway to library and gardens


Impressive organic cantaloupes! They were delicious.

Stunning views on the drive there and back along the wonderful Taconic State Parkway

Creating My Own Artist's Retreat... ideas wanted!

2010-08-10T05:57:00.000-07:00

I am excited to be camping at The Omega Institute next week for 5 days.

I will be doing what they call an R&R retreat which basically means I make my own retreat. I can attend daily open classes in yoga, meditation, tai chi and movement. I can also swim in the lake, use the sauna, library and sanctuary and explore the 195 acre grounds in rural upstate New York.

Not many of the free classes appeal to me so I've decided to create my own "Artist's Retreat".
I will draw myself a schedule (that leaves lots of room for swimming, hiking etc).

I have come up with a few things so far and I would love to add some more!

Who among my readers has ideas or themes for me?

Please don't be shy!
Leave anything and everything that comes to your mind in the comments section! ☺

Themes and ideas I have so far (not in order yet):

watercolour "dots and circles"

art journal/poetry/doodle themes: "inner peace", "dissolve pride, make room for love", "belonging to myself", "enjoying the now", "opening up", "expanding"

sketching/drawing "close up plant details"

watercolour "stripes and lines"

EFT on limiting beliefs about making a living through creating

sketching/drawing "shading practice" (I have zero shading skills)

watercolour "triangles"

Here are the materials I will have with me:

watercolour paints

limited supply of watercolour paper

coloured gel pens

black micron pens of various thickness

limited supply of markers

pencil and eraser

gluestick

scissors

loose blank paper

large art journal

small sketchbook

super tiny sketchbook

I truly will love reading your ideas! I so much enjoy how other people's minds come up with things that I never would have - often things that are so rich and stretch me beyond my familiar patterns.

Summer Mornings... flowers and walks

2010-08-10T05:13:00.000-07:00

Summer has been a time of less sitting in front of the computer.
I begin my mornings instead by visiting my flowers to see what colourful treats have opened anew each day. Today I have, among other things, Morning Glories in blue, white, 2 shades of purple, pink, fuschia and red (cardinal climbers). Scarlet and pink sweet peas astound me with their delicious scent. Zinnias impress me with their long lasting blooms (over a month now!) and various colours of Cosmos satisfy my urge to 'deadhead' and keep blooming prolifically! My camera is still getting repaired so I have no photos. These poppy photos are from about a month ago:

'Poppy in waiting' and close up of a poppy petal shortly after it unfurled.

Many days I go for an early walk and marvel at wonderful skies, brave rabbits and the amazing aerial acrobatics of swallows harvesting bugs from the air! Although it was only a few individual swallows, it led me to find this awesome video - how cool would it be to see something like that in person!?!

I love being awake earlier. When less people are out and about I feel there is more space and I can spread my spirit out.

Morning Glory, Zinnia and Cosmos from previous years:

Under the Shagbark Hickory Tree

2010-07-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

A provincial park near me has a wonderful tree that I love to sit under.

It's a huge, mature Shagbark Hickory that takes a while each spring to fill out... but when it does... it's glorious!

Lush, thick leaves tower toward the sky, providing welcome shade on hot summer days. It has a nice amount of space under it where there are no branches - more than 8 feet of clearance.

I take a chair, blanket, snacks, book and camera and can happily spend a day there.
Some lovely sights within a few feet of my chair:

This is the sunny St. John's/Joan's Wort, the plant that helps keep my mood balanced without side effects since I've become sensitive to pharmaceuticals. It works best for mild to moderate depression but I have found that it does help lessen my severe depression and SAD, especially now that I've discovered some other supplements that help including (but not limited to :) folic acid, selenium, B12, vitamin D and 5HTP.

One of these days I'd love to grow and harvest it myself instead of buying it.

(please consult health care provider before using anything I mention :)

Does anyone know what kind of butterfly that is?

P.S.

Just for fun... here's a photo of my cat sitting on a box... why not!? ☺☺☺ He loves boxes and was a bit put out that 'his box' had been turned on it's side so he could no longer do his fancy leap into it. But he made it work for him this way too ;-)

Doodle: Don't Wait! Do Something You Love Today

2010-07-06T06:06:00.000-07:00

Much to my excitement, I sold my first drawing recently.
It's on it's way, all across the ocean, to Finland! How awesome is that!?
I have 2 more copies of it in the Etsy shop I just created and more can be made if there's a demand.

This inspired me to draw more - something I really love but hadn't done for a while. 'Kiitos' Michelle! ☺

Here is one of the things I drew in the last week. At 2.75" x 3.25" it's not exactly the right size to be a wallet card... or an ATC... it's just a cute little reminder. The size was dictated by some cardstock scraps I had.
I laminated it when done to protect from moisture. My opinion on self laminating sheets is not high after trying them. I used the kind that does not require heat to bond - it's a simple adhesive. It was relatively easy to use but not nearly as durable as I would have liked. The bonus was no fumes. :-)

Apropos of nothing I'd like to say that ♥♥♥ I love, love, love my Micron pens. ♥♥♥ Wonderfully crisp lines that, once dry, most markers will not smear when colouring.

Front and back before colouring:

After colouring (unfortunately I really can't capture how vibrant the colours are in real life):

If you have a keen eye, you may notice that more detail got added after colouring. I always want to add more and more. Hard to know when to stop!
I will be taking my camera in to 'repair'. Which usually means they just give me a new, upgraded one :-)
Maybe I will be able to take better photos soon! Yay!

New Hard Drive... and a minor earthquake!

2010-06-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry to have been incommunicado for a while. My hard drive died.
I have a new one now and have finally worked out all of the tech issues (I hope!).
Soon I will have my photos back on here and can share some of what I've been up to creatively :-)

My little bit of 'excitement' recently:
I experienced an earthquake yesterday! Well... just the mild tremors of the aftershock :-)
There was a mild, 5.0 earthquake centered in Quebec and it could be felt up to 500km away. Yesterday afternoon I suddenly felt the house shaking and things on top of the fridge began to rattle. In passing I mildly thought, "Maybe it's an earthquake... nah, just a big truck somewhere nearby." But later found out there had, indeed, been an earthquake. Not a common occurrence here at all. I think the last one was over 10 years ago. Of course this can really only be 'exciting' if no one gets hurt - which no one did from what I could tell.

I'll leave you with a photo from a few summers ago of where I'm daydreaming of being (instead of in the hot, humid, icky weather at home):

Bruce Peninsula National Park, Ontario, Canada.

Wild, breathtakingly beautiful, freezing cold water even in August (which never, no never, stops me from swimming :).

If you're somewhere hot, what do you do to keep cool?

Creatively Processing 'Darker' Emotions

2010-06-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

I am a person with tendencies towards deep depression at times and have found creativity to be one of the few things that can help get me through those times.
Sometimes the 'darker' emotions are strong enough that I feel stuck creatively.
Those are times when I pull out magazines and go through them to find material for collages or art 'journal' pages (a bit of a misnomer since there is often very little journalling... but I'm not sure what else to call them).

Often, the images I will be drawn to cut out reflect my emotional state.
By the time I have cut out images for a while, I've been brought more into the present moment and reconnected with my creative juice - and am then able to collage or art journal.
Sometimes, this process actually lifts me out of the difficult emotions. It feels healthy and healing - like the emotions are actually being processed, not ignored or shoved inside to hurt me.

Here are a few pages I did a while ago - adding to them each time I was in a dark place. Sometimes these pages get journalled on later.

I give myself permission to be messy :-)
In the above page, the background was done, in part, using this technique I came up with to create a random/chaotic look on thin papers that would warp with wet mediums.

In the above piece, I wanted a messy stamp and didn't have one so I carved one from an eraser (stamp carving is another thing that can totally absorb me and bring me into the moment).

Are there certain creative things that can help you when you feel sad, angry or down?

Finding Beauty In Everyday Things

2010-06-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

I try to notice the beautiful in everyday things - pleasing colours, shapes, textures and light.
Here are some pictures of things that have made me smile recently (apologies for the poor photo quality - neither my camera or editing program are great):

Vibrant pollen on Jacob's Ladder stamens - these smell divine!

Variegated yellow corn on the cob dripping with butter looked so wonderful against the blues of this awesome plate my mom made (she's a potter)

Both of the cats fit together on the tiny stool! Which is more impressive if you know how... erm... wide the cat on the left actually is :-) The cats love open windows.

I loved the contrast of the purple and green on this spring violet.

Luscious buttercup soaking up the sun.

I couldn't resist another photo of this amazing plate. It is the most perfect toast plate ever! I eat some pretty curious food - that's gluten-free toast and sunflower seed 'butter' with stevia sprinkled on top (to make it sweet) and sliced organic banana on the sides.

Tutorial: Making Colourful Backgrounds That Won't Warp Thin Papers

2010-06-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

I finally created a photo tutorial for the art journal backgrounds I've been talking about.

The technique can also be used in card and tag making, bookmarks, collage, ATC's, handmade wrapping paper or anything you can think of!
I'd love if you shared your ideas in the comments area :-)

This is mostly a 'dry' technique meaning that it won't cause thin paper to warp or buckle when applied.
I do also include a variation of this technique that is 'wet' for those who don't mind buckling or who use thicker paper. The wet version has some really awesome effects like these (and even more fun ones if you colour-mix):

I confess that I hate typing so I've written the directions right in the photos. If anyone has trouble reading my messy printing, please let me know and I will type out the directions below each photo.
Also, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask them in the comments area. I've turned off that pesky comment security device so you don't have to type in any characters before commenting :).

Okay... here we go!

*note*
I should have specified NON permanent markers :-)

*other types of plastic may give different effects - experiment if you like!

Eventually I will post a video showing just how quickly this is actually done :-) The faster, the better.

WET Technique:

close-up:

If you try any of this out and post somewhere online, please share in the comments area! I love seeing what others do :-)

A Meaningful Bookmark

2010-05-31T07:11:00.000-07:00

photo taken in front of mirror to show front and back

shown separately below

I'm not much for words today but wanted to share a bookmark that I made for a loved one. The CED theme for May was 'Intuition' and I tried to use entirely that when making this! I went into it with no plan at all - just the intent that the bookmark would be one that would be meaningful to the receiver.
This person is someone who is a bit selective and it's hard to know what will be a good match for them.
Happily, it turned out far nicer than if I had planned it. And the words and images on it felt like a good fit for the person.
Thanks intuition!
:-)

The backgrounds on both sides were done using a fun technique with plastic wrap and markers that I promise I will try to post about soon! It works very well on thin paper without warping it but has a much more natural feel than if I tried to actually colour the background with markers.

The blue border on the darker side was done with the edge of a stamp I carved from an vinyl eraser with my new favourite toy: the Speedball Linoleum Cutter.
It feels about a million times better than using an exacto knife :-)

Slow Journalling on Conflict

2010-05-25T06:58:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to Tammy of Daisy Yellow for introducing me to her style of Slow Journalling. I found that I came to a deeper understanding of what I was journalling about than if I had written in the normal way.
The care and time that it took to make my letters fit the varying sizes of space brought me more into the present and somehow, at the same time, tuned me into my intuition more.

Have you ever tried Slow Journalling?
At first it didn't appeal to me at all but I decided to try it and really enjoyed it. It was a good stretch for me.

Grunge Star Rubbed Impression Page with Ink Pads and Cereal Box Stars

2010-05-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

Did you save the shapes you cut out from the cereal box template project?
If not, you may end up cutting out shapes just to make fun pages like this one!

How To:

Lay a piece of thinner paper (ie printer paper) on a totally flat surface.

Take a stamp ink pad and lightly rub it and drag it around the page until you like how it looks. *If you have an almost dried out ink pad this will be very easy.
All of mine are newer and the trick to prevent big blotches is to have the pressure so light there's almost none... and keep it moving!*

Repeat with as many colours as you like - preferably working from lighter to darker if you care about contaminating the lighter pads with darker colours.

When you like how it looks, take your cereal box shapes and lie them under the paper.

Take an ink pad of a darker colour (or the same as the most dark you have used so far) and rub over top of the paper in the area of the edges of the shapes until you like how it looks!

So simple and easy!

In the basic image above I just used 2 colours and only used the cereal box shapes on the final layer but you can play around to make this much more saturated, with shapes on various layers like this:

It only takes minutes to do but be warned - it's so much fun it can be addictive!
Now I just need a project to use these pages... which I will likely have way too many of soon :-)

If you do something like this and post on your blog or site, please let me know in the comments! I'd love to share the links for readers.

How To Make A Drawing Template From A Cereal Box

2010-05-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

Some people can draw crisp, clean shapes freehand.
Not I.
:-)

If I want a reliable, nicely drawn shape or line, I use a drawing template or ruler.
These are normally made from stiff plastic and are very durable.
At the moment, I have ones for circles, ovals and curvy lines.
I have been wanting ones for stars but am on a budget and felt like I couldn't justify the cost.
Instead, I decided to try making one from an old cereal box!
It won't be quite as durable as a plastic one but when it becomes unusable, I can simply recycle it and make another.

I used a cereal box but you could use any thick, firm 'boxboard' such as a facial tissue box, cookie box etc. It needs to be thicker than cardstock paper. I don't think this would work well with corrugated cardboard - it may be too flexible.

If you can draw well, you can draw shapes directly on the cereal box.
Or you can do as I did and print out shapes to use (many free templates can be found by searching Google with words like "free printable templates").
If printing, cut loosely around the shapes, leaving some of the printer paper around the shape - this will help you know where you have cut because the printer paper will be cut away.
In the picture below, the star on the right has already been cut out though I haven't popped out the piece yet.

Attach the shapes to the cereal box with a dab of gluestick. This makes sure the paper doesn't slip while you are cutting. You don't need to glue every bit of it though you can if you want.
Make sure you leave space between the shape and the edge of the cereal box - this will help the template be stronger.

Using a sharp exacto or utility knife, carefully cut along the outline of the shape.

I know you know this but I have to say, "Please be careful not to cut yourself! Keep fingers, thumbs and other body parts out of the path of the knife" ;-)

I use a metal ruler as a guide - the cork that is normally on the back of these rulers has been removed so that it lies perfectly flat to the paper.
Cut from the outside edges of the shape towards the centre - that way you don't have to worry if you cut a bit too far - the extra cut will be into the centre piece that will be discarded at the end.
When you are done cutting around the shape, gently press from the bottom up to loosen the centre piece.
*If there are bits of the corner still attached, carefully cut them with an exacto knife. Pop out the shape, trim any rough bits, trim the edges off the cereal box, recycle the scraps (or use them for one of the ideas mentioned below) and you're done!

In this second picture you can see the utility knife I switched to when I realised my exacto wasn't sharp enough to cut easily. You can also see a 15-point star I drew using the small star template.
I still have room on this template to ad a few small stars.

*This template could be made stronger by gluing 2 layers of cereal box together.*

If you didn't cut too far into the centre of the shapes, you can use them for other crafts!

Here's one fun way I've used them so far:
Grunge Star Rubbed Impression Page

Other Possibilities:

collage on one side of the shapes and glue into an art journal page
collage both sides and hang from a string somewhere just for fun
cover both sides in some kind of pretty handmade or cardstock paper, decorate with sequins, beads, jewels etc... hang on a string
glue onto canvas before painting to add depth/dimension

Do you have any other ideas for using the cut-out shape?

Tips to make this template process better/different?

Did you try this and post on your blog?

Please share in the comments area :-)

Collaged Sketchbook Cover, Art Journal Page Backgrounds

2010-05-12T10:44:00.000-07:00

After using it for a while, I decided that the plain brown cover of my ecojot sketchbook was crying out to be made colourful!
Here's the result... which I will likely add more to over time:

And here are a few glimpses of what's inside.

This page was intended to be a background for art journalling but when it was done, I liked it so much that I couldn't write on it! So I added a little piece in the centre and it stands alone.

Techniques used include dragging dye-based ink pads across the paper, shading in white parts with chalk pastels, border made with a rubber stamp and then coloured in with pens and markers. The background of the centre piece is made by lightly turning an ink pad in a complete circle. The idea for using ink pads on background came from the wonderful post Creating Colorful Journal Pages by Aimee of Artsyville. I am in love with her vibrant blog! You can also see a video that shows this technique and a few more here: Art Journal Page Backgrounds

Done on a piece of paper and glued into sketchbook.
The above page was done when I was using wetter background techniques... which caused the thin paper to warp. I've come up with a great technique that avoids this problem and will post about it soon.
Yet another piece where I suddenly found I didn't want to fill in the sky with words. Though I did write in metallic pen on the bottom part.
Alphabet stamps found at a dollar store. Tree stamp was purchased, bird stamp was hand carved from a vinyl eraser (so much fun!). If flipped around, it can stamp waves/water :-)

Mother's Day Poem

2010-05-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

I've been doing so much more creating since spring has sprung but, as you've noticed, not much in the way of actualyl taking photos and posting here! I hope to remedy that soon.
I'd love to get a scanner to make uploading much easier (my camera is not the greatest and I get frustrated with the poor quality).

This month's CED theme is Intuition - a theme close to my heart.
On Sunday my intuition spoke up and let me know there was a piece of prose just waiting to come out as a gift of appreciation for my mom.

Thankfully I listened to that intuitive voice and stopped what i was doing to write!

Here it is (it doesn't rhyme :):

It's Because Of You, Mom

Children learn best by watching and experiencing
not by being told.

Therefore, what makes a great mom has nothing to do with parenting 'skills'
and everything to do with the kind of person they are.
That is what their children learn to be.

It's because of you, Mom,
That your children are the kind of people who
hold doors for strangers,
tip waitresses,
save worms after rainstorms
and encourage their friends to contribute to food banks.

It's because of you, Mom,
that your children are people who know it's
polite to say please and thank you,
rude to stare,
and
would never dream of butting in line ahead of someone!

It's because of you, Mom,
that your children are people who
are considerate of the elderly, the disabled, the infirm
and
treat animals and plants with respect.

It's because of you, Mom,
that your children are good people.

A greater gift I cannot imagine.

Thank you,
from the bottom of my heart,
for who I am.

I Won A Giveaway! Yay!

2010-05-07T07:06:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited!

I just won my first giveaway that was put on by Rachel - a fellow Creative Every Day participant.
She blogs at Curls O Fred and her own words speak far better than mine would to her process there:
"As an attempt to express, process, and grieve after the loss of my daughter who was stillborn due to placental abruption at 30 weeks, this blog will be my words, pictures, paintings, drawings in my long journey away from a mere existence to true living again."
Her words and works of art regularly move me. I am inspired by her determination to move toward truly living life again while still honouring her loss and grief.

I won an awesome bookmark and magnet that will be wonderful reminders of Rachel's indomitable spirit (and hopefully motivate me to pull myself up out of the mental muck and self-pity that I let myself get mired in so often).

You can go here to see the beautiful, vibrant pieces offered in the giveaway: Curls O Fred Giveaway

Spring poem "THIS is being alive"

2010-04-16T05:16:00.000-07:00

I awoke early today and was out walking as the sun just barely came above the horizon. It is warm here in southern Ontario and the wind was delicious and smelled fresh. It was a joyful walk and a wonderful morning

Upon return, I felt like writing for the first time in a long time.
I've posted the poem/prose over at my wordy blog May Words Flow.
It's called "THIS is being alive"

Redbird sings
sweet piercing
sunrise salutation

Robins, en masse,
hunt for breakfast

and a school janitor
quietly collects garbage
blown around by the night winds.

After walking,
I sit on a bench
and raise my arms to the sky.

Sitting here typing now,
I look out the window and see
a rainbow!

This
is being alive.

Magic Tags and Love Collage

2010-04-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

Made from scraps of failed paintings and filled with words I love, interspersed with sparkly tinsel, these 'magic tags' all in a row make my art room a happier place:

Update: I finally came across the photo that inspired me to do these (although the method is a bit different, the core idea was from here). Like much of my favourite inspiration, this came from Daisy Yellow (thank again Tammy!).

While sorting boxes, I found a collage done a few years ago.
It is so simple yet when I got to this point, I loved how it looked and didn't want to clutter it up! The wonderful image in the centre is by an artist I love - Susan Seddon Boulet.

Green Your Art! Ecojot Sketchbooks and Journals Review

2010-04-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

Ecojot sketchbooks and journals are AWESOME! I totally love them.
I love the spiral binding that allows me to lie them flat or fold them all the way over, I love the texture and brightness of the paper, but most of all, I love that they don't use chlorine to whiten the paper.

I first found Ecojot when I was searching for paper that had not been whitened with chlorine (because I react to chlorine-whitened paper). I even have to use chlorine-free kleenex, paper towel and toilet paper (not to mention 'feminine' products ;-).

The first thing I found by them was a spiral-bound journal (the lines are veggie-based inks!). Suddenly I could write without wearing gloves to protect my skin from the chlorine!! Awesome!
Then I discovered... to my absolute joy... sketchbooks!
With wonderful, funky covers made with vegetable-based inks and glues - less toxic than regular inks used in printing. They have sketchbooks with plain covers if you prefer to decorate your own.
They also have scrapbooks, folders, cards, wrapping paper and more.

In addition to using veggie based, biodegradable inks and glues, and whitening with hydrogen peroxide, Ecojot papers, including the hard fronts and backs of books, are 100% recycled and acid-free! And the few products that have packaging use biodegradable corn-based plastic wrap. A purchase you can feel good about on every level.

If you have high speed internet, I encourage you to check out their catalogue (will be slow on dial-up).
They also have e-cards. :-)

The sketchbook paper takes every medium I've tried on it well: ink, marker, glue, pencil and pencil crayon. Some examples of things I've done in these sketchbooks are: Home, Joy, the as-yet-uncoloured flower shown below, and the 'Inspiration Cloud' shown in the image above (you can see a bigger version here.)

What's your favourite eco-friendly art supply or material?

Cute Paper Flower... King Arthur had a parrot!

2010-04-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

Did you know that King Arthur, of legend, had a pet parrot?
Neither did I!
I bought an Arthurian Mythology book for 50 cents recently to use for altered pages and that tidbit popped up on a page I was using to paint background to use for paper flowers.
I've seen paper flowers on a few different sites and decided to try my hand at making one. You can make them more 3D than this but I wanted to be able to mail it in a regular envelope to a friend.

Here's the front, it hangs on the wall by a string:

Once I realised that I needed a bead on the back to tie the knot to, I decided I may as well make the back look not half bad (but not so nice that my friend would have trouble deciding which should face out:).
The back view:

After I strung the flower, I spun the layers around until I liked how they were, then used dabs of gluestick under each petal to hold them in place.

It lies almost flat on the wall.

There are infinite possibilities for paper flowers or non-flower decorations!
I love having something funky that can fit in an envelope to brighten someone's day.

Materials:

watercolour paint

page from book

scrap paper

double-sided cardstock (middles layer)

homemade 'milk paint' (food colour and evaporated milk with extra milk powder added)

string

sequins

beads

scissors

gluestick

sparkles

A 26 Bird Day (card) and an 'Inspiration Cloud'

2010-03-30T15:17:00.000-07:00

here are a few things I've been working on lately.

The first is a drawing for a friend of mine who said she enjoys my doodles.
I've left the 'cloud' empty so that she can fill it with a word or phrase that is joyful, inspirational (or fun and silly) to her.

"Inspiration Cloud"

ink, markers

I've also been working on a birthday card for my younger brother who turns 26 this week (I'm, like, totally late).
My family has a pretty wacky sense of humour and so I think he'll get a kick out of this weird card.

front:

inside:

text reads:

"Humphrey had That Feeling again.

He looked outside and,

sure enough,

it was a 26 bird day."

(play on 26th birthday)
My bro's name is not Humphrey - I just chose that because it has such a wacky sound to me :-)

I like doing things uneven on purpose because I find 'even' really hard to do.
I used a gluestick for one part of the card but it warped a bit so I used double-sided tape for the rest.
I'm not the greatest at drawing realistically and was daunted at actually drawing 26 little bird without messing up but it turned out alright.
:-)

Altered Page with soy wax resist

2010-03-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

I fell in love with altered pages at the wonderful, rich, joyful and delicious blog Raven Moon Magic via her Paper Moon work.

As always, I am held back from trying new things by my need to 'get it right' on the first try.
I've been trying very hard to get past this limitation and succeeded in this case.
I tried my first altered page recently and did all sorts of things 'wrong' but it made for a great learning experience.

I kept feeling like I 'should' add something more to all of the empty space but nothing is coming to me and I really love the way it looks as is so I am leaving it alone :-)

One of the things I did 'wrong' was to not bother taping the page down evenly. I will make sure to do that in the future.

Tips:
1. if you will be using any wet medium on the page, use a book that has thicker pages
2. tape it down using painters tape
3. do not remove tape until page is entirely dry. this will make the page less wobbly or warped from the moisture.
4. remove page from book carefully (another thing I didn't do well :)
5. you don't need to use a wax resist to bring out the words - I just preferred that because then I could paint at will and not worry about going carefully around the words
6. pick words based on what you are drawn to - NOT what 'makes sense'!
7. the words do not have to tie in with the painting in an obvious way
8. if using watercolour paint, you can either do the painting first and pick words later - removing the paint over those words with water, or you can pick the words first and do the painting after. You can see an example of how this will look by the moon in the upper right corner of this piece - the colour was removed after painting.
*note* some stain will remain.

Spring Flower Collage

2010-03-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting much though I've been doing a lot artistically... and craftily ;-)

Here's a photo of a collage I did a few weeks ago when it finally began to feel like spring would come to southern Ontario!

Normally I'm very perfectionist about collage (and art in general) but with this one I tried to let myself go and not worry about it being 'perfect'.

Using wax as a 'resist' in watercolour paintings

2010-03-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

I've not been posting much but have been daily drawing, colouring, painting and more.☺

I've tried a number of different waxes as a 'resist' to use with watercolour paints.

So far, crayons did not work well, beeswax worked okay but is very hard and needs to be scraped down after application or it kind of flakes on top and doesn't resist well.
My favourite wax so far is soy wax. I had some around in the form of run off from a soy wax candle and it works wonderfully!
Soy wax is very soft compared to beeswax and it glides onto the paper nicely without heavy pressure.
The resist does still work best if the wax is pressed down after application - I do this by running the flat back of my thumbnail over it but one could use any flat, hard object that would not damage the paper.

You can use wax directly on the white paper so that the wax lines will show up white (or whatever colour your paper is). That's what I've done here with the front and back of a bookmark:

or, if you have the patience, you can paint a layer of lighter colour, wait for it to dry (or use a hair dryer on low - keep it moving to avoid scorching the paper), then use the wax over top. Then you can paint overtop with darker paint colours like I did with the back piece of a page that is destined to be cut up into whimsical bookmarks (squiggly side is back piece done with the lighter and darker paint method, spiral piece is done with the wax directly on the unpainted paper):

Another thing you can do with wax and watercolour is a bit more complicated but tons of fun.
You can draw on the paper first with markers or coloured pens, go over the marker with wax, then use just plain water on a brush to pick up any marker not covered by wax (dab with paper towel if needed), then paint. If the markers are waterproof such as Sharpies etc, you don't need to to the stage of picking up excess marker with water.
If they are water soluble markers, this stage is necessary unless you don't mind ending up with muddied, icky colours when you paint - the marker colour will mix with your watercolour paint. (I found that out the hard way :-)

a few examples of playing around with that technique:

Space Cucumber Ship

watercolour, marker, beeswax

If you try this out and post on your site/blog, I'd love if you post links in the comments area! I'd love to see what others do with this.
☺

Joy drawing - with colour!

2010-03-08T14:33:00.000-08:00

I am really loving this playful drawing now that I've added more to it and coloured it in.

Find What Brings You Joy

ink, markers, pencil crayons

Find What Brings You Joy drawing

2010-03-03T09:44:00.000-08:00

Shifting my focus to the things that bring me joy has been an essential part of my healing journey.
I did this drawing last week with a fountain pen and waterproof ink and plan to colour it with markers soon :-) I may end up doodling in it more as well.

Find What Brings You Joy...

ink

"Nebula" watercolour

2010-02-25T09:25:00.000-08:00

Nebula

3.25"x5"

watercolour

"Jubilant"

2010-02-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

"Jubilant"

8.25" x 11.25"

watercolour, 90lb smooth watercolour paper, large chunk salt
(click on image to see larger version)

I normally only use textured watercolour paper and found the smooth very different to work with. Will take some getting used to but I really enjoyed doing this piece.

Home has cats, plants and gardens

2010-02-18T11:30:00.000-08:00

I love noticing things that bubble up or trickle down into my art from my sub or super conscious.
This is the second yellow house with orange roof I've done! I like this one much more than the 1st one.
I would never consciously choose those colours but they are in me somewhere!

I'm working with Speedball waterproof ink in a fountain pen I unearthed that is likely older than I am - and loving it.

first the drawing (which I let dry overnight so the markers would be less likely to smear):

then colour with markers:

5" x 6"

Very cheerful, sunny house. I think it's straw bale with yellow stuccoed walls (and solar panels) :-)
I wasn't positive I could draw the garden well enough so I drew it elsewhere and cut and paste when I liked it (which thankfully was on the 1st try). My work tends to be abstract or very loosely representational so I'm not too good at proportion or realism.

Repurposing Failed Projects

2010-02-16T18:42:00.000-08:00

Some watercolour experiments don't turn out well so I use the paper as background or scraps for other projects. All of the words shown in the lefthand photo will become fun inspiration tags like the Magic one shown above.
Update: I finally came across the photo that inspired me to do these (although the method is a bit different, the core idea was from here). Like much of my favourite inspiration, this came from Daisy Yellow (thank again Tammy!).

I made a strange little decoration for one of my plants including this lovely Blue Jay feather my mom sent me in a Valentine's Day card - thanks mom!

Fragrance In Gluesticks

2010-02-15T09:19:00.000-08:00

Due to the high VOC content in liquid glue, which I react badly to, I use gluesticks most of the time for my adhesive needs.
Unfortunately, the only gluestick that I had been able to find unscented has changed their formula and now adds fragrance. :-(
So I have less than one full gluestick left! Woe is me!
I wish I knew why on earth companies feel the need to add fragrance to a glue stick.
I react to even small amounts that the average person can't smell.

If anyone knows of a glue stick that they are positive is fragrance free, can you let me know? Unfortunately they don't label them as being scented so the only way I can find out is to buy it.

Thanks!

Inks With Paints

2010-02-14T14:48:00.000-08:00

"evolve"

1.5"x6.25"

watercolour, inks

I'm loving the contrast that inks on paint can provide.
Visit some of the links below to see some wild and wonderful work by artists incorporating inks with paints and other mediums.

I love:

- almost every single piece by Lawrence Yang
seriously... go check this page out - there are so many and they are all so awesome! Yes, I like weird and wacky :-)

- these weird and wonderful pieces by Cherie Tan

artificial,
umbilical

- most of, but in particular, the fish pieces by Marina Korenfeld. (my fave is The Wind - sorry no direct link but it's near the bottom of the gallery thumbnails.)

Home Is...

2010-02-10T12:14:00.000-08:00

Colouring Fun!

2010-02-08T07:15:00.000-08:00

The child in me loves colouring.
There are many neat colouring books you can get these days that are details enough to appeal adult-level colouring skills.
There are also a number of places online where one can print off colouring pages for free.

I can't recall where I printed this one from but it's one of my favourites:

My thanks go to http://www.mandalarbre.com for their amazing, inspiring colourable mandalas. They are all designed by Marc Bove and are copyrighted.
They have galleries there where you can see various coloured-in mandalas. It's wonderful seeing all of those vibrant colours! You often can print out free sample pages. Here's one:

And if you love whimsy, check out Phee McFaddell's colouring pages!
Lots of fun fairies and fantastical creatures:

I like having a few colouring pages on the go - it can help me get unstuck on a main project. I think that a freed-up inner child is a boon to any artist!

Getting Distracted by Clutter

2010-02-05T17:04:00.000-08:00

I have gone into my new creativity room a number of times over the last few days with the intention of working on art... only to find myself distracted by organising or tidying the room.
Maybe it's easier for me to create when things feel settled around me.
The room is a big mess still. It had been full of boxes and I'm slowly sorting through them - finding all sorts of things I was keeping 'in case' I wanted to use them in art 'some day'. I have boxes and boxes of those 'some day' items!
I'd like to pare down but have a hard time deciding what to let go.

What a mess!
yes, that is a snake skin on the wall :-) a wonderful snake I met this summer shed and left it fresh in the sun for me!

What is 'Home' to me?

2010-02-04T07:26:00.000-08:00

I'm having fun working with this month's Creative Every Day theme of Home.

Have drawn a background, still have to glue on all the words and then plan to paint over everything with watercolours. May add more words or ink after that. I will post another picture of it when it's done :-)

February CED Theme 'Home'

2010-02-02T11:16:00.000-08:00

The monthly CED theme for February is 'Home'.

I love this theme and got started on it by creating this blog as a place to be my online 'Home' for being creative.

Part of my creating involved choosing a blog template I liked and learning how to edit it, making sidebars more narrow, content wider, things like that. There's still some work to do before it feels like 'Home' but it's getting there and the process of learning how to make changes was a good challenge for my brain.

In my non-internet life, the 'Home' theme is very fitting.
I've been living in this house for 3 years now and have only just begun making a room entirely mine in the last few days. Until then the only space I had was shared space - there was nowhere for me to spread out and be totally 'me' without considering how I impacted others.
I am so excited to have a room I can decorate exactly how I want, leave creative projects around partly finished and expand energetically.

Much tidying and sorting is involved (not entirely fun), repotting a number of plants... the cats will not be allowed in this room so I can have plants without them getting eaten. I love potting plants - it feels very nourishing.

Soon I will cover the walls with things I have created, with possibly some of others' art that inspires me.

A house is not a home to me without plants

I'm Joining The Creative Every Day Challenge 2010!

2010-02-02T10:50:00.000-08:00

I've decided to participate in this neat creativity challenge.
I love the art of the woman who runs CED and have been following her blog for many months, feeling inspired each time I read. Her name is Leah Piken Kolidas and she provides monthly themes to help creative juices flow.
It's a very laid back 'challenge' and basically any participant can take part in whatever way feels right to them.
I love it!

Since I've been thinking, for a while now, of how much I'd like to have more positive focuses in my life, I decided to take the plunge and join CED.

I know how much healthier and happier I feel when I am creative and I think being part of this will motivate me to do it more often.

☺

Possibilities

2010-02-01T11:25:00.000-08:00

I'm not quite sure what is going on with this playful piece. I think I will add more layers to it as inspiration hits. Right now the big empty spaces feel... well.. empty.

The background feels messy - I miss my acrylics SO MUCH. I can't use them due to reactions to chemicals. I was trying to create a look of texture with just markers and watercolours on flat paper. Not working... yet.

I rarely plan what comes out - I just go with the flow.

The words that came were 'possibilities... fill the silver seas'.

The huge red egg feels like something exciting about to hatch soon.

The grinning, tiny whale felt very fun even though the logical part of me thought it was ridiculous. :-)

Storyboard 1

2010-01-29T06:32:00.000-08:00

Here's a storyboard I created last year using PowerPoint. It was very time-consuming to do actually but I really enjoyed myself :-)