so many give aways AND dreaming of being

a designer. For a long time I have loved to look at magazines and dream of decorating my rooms in fanciful styles. Country has been my style of choice mainly. Financial constraints and other priorities have often gotten in the way (things like travel to Australia and Kenya, a couple of other places, and also health issues). But I do try to be surrounded by beautiful things within our budget. After the fire in our home last May I was given the opportunity to redecorate some of the rooms. I did not allow myself to get very brave with colour. That will happen when I decorate in my studio in the months to come. Some of the spaces have just started being in a place I hold proud. This slideshow brings to you some of those new scenarios as well as some older spaces which I treasure.

There are SO MANY give aways happening these days. I'll be announcing my own in the one world one heart give away in the next day or two. One that ends tomorrow is here:

Please check out the beautiful LILY art by Erin Bowe.
Stay tuned for lots more links to the give aways. And please mark yourself as a follower if you have not already done so ♥

I HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE ME

must keep reminding myself of these words. This is an ATC I made a couple of years ago. The girl is from a family photo which my mother-in-law has in her collection. I have based quite a lot of my art around this girl in the past years. More about her and that art another day. Another from my cereal box art collection.

I AM STRONG. I AM FREE. I HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE ME.

balance

Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life--learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Robert Fulghum

from Inspiration Peak



I made this journal page on Saturday evening when we were in a hotel in Saskatoon. It is done mainly with watercolour crayons and pencils. My diabetes has been a problem. I have seemingly forever been trying to balance my blood sugars. Even though I wrote the poem "orange", I have just recently come to realize I focus far too much time on those blood sugars - trying to balance them. Hmmm, so much for trying for imperfection. Another area in which I seek balance is in my need for relaxation. I have a very difficult time stilling my thoughts. I have a difficult time with not rushing. There seems to be a huge tendency to try to accomplish near everything yesterday. I have been trying, not with complete success, to take ten minutes every day to sit quietly. That is one of the changes I have made recently to affect that area of balance.
Since I made the journal page on Saturday I have been thinking again about balance. I found the above quotation. I also decided to do a google search on the words "balance blogs". I was fortunate to discover

create a balance, which looks really interesting. I will want to return there. Stacey is actually doing a give away.

From there I found the fabulousHave you encountered SARK in the past? I have. What a wonderful lady she is. I LOVE her books. I had actually forgotten about SARK until I recently learned that some of my friends on facebook are fans. I will be looking for her books in the library again just to be reminded of her fabulous approach to life.

I have tried to make the above page and this one in the SARK style. I think I will be trying to view balance with a bit less of a critical eye in the future. I will hope to remember to view myself far less judgmentally.

a walk at sunrise

finally warmer weather
I walk
as the colours blossom
angels dance
weaving about
through the clouds
I sense
unrest
angels feel
strife of the world
try to bring calm

I walk
as the colours blossom
think of dance
with the angels
trying to bring peace
to a world
at unrest

(even if only within)

© Wendy B Burton

of things old

Initially I want to tell you about a friend's give away but I am sorry there is so little time left for you to enter. I hope I will post this soon enough so I can enter. This beautiful little doll was created by someone I recently met on facebook. JoAnnA has so many wonderful creations. I hope you will look at all that she has to offer even if you are too late for the give away. Please visit JoAnnA's blog to find her vintage art.


Personally, I have not done very much art yet with my own vintage pieces but:
I have never claimed to like history. If asked now, I would still say that I very much dislike the subject. I go into states of immediate boredom if someone starts to discuss any kind of history. Yet I have been weaving a story of my own surrounding ancestors, one in particular. I'll tell you more another day.
I also love anything that holds some age. I love the idea of an old house, a veranda, antique furniture, vintage buttons and beads and plates and cutlery and fabric and papers. The list goes on and on. I have acquired a bit of a collection in the past twenty or thirty(or more) years. Today I will show just a couple of items which I love. Some of these are from our cottage at Manitou.




Some are from my studio. This little tea set is from when I was a child - early 60s.


This hat was from my aunt and uncle's house in Regina. I don't know when it was from. Do you know?




Here is a touch of red, with some vintage - more about red another day also.


angels be with you as you contemplate artful creations and vintage treasures.

trying to look with my heart as well as my eyes

There is something about trying to see things with your heart instead of, or at least in addition to, your eyes. While I usually do not formalize resolutions, I think "someone" is trying to tell me this year to use my heart more for looking. One way I can do this is to find what I can in the backgrounds I have made. So often I tend to see eyes or the shape of a face. When I started into mixed media a couple of years ago, the wonderful Nance of "collage play with crowabout" taught a quick and easy way of doing backgrounds. I remember the fun we had finding a shoe and many eyes in the backgrounds I initially did with that quick and easy technique.

I believe that seeing with my heart requires me to be relaxed and not rush into things. Sometimes it requires stepping back, letting a piece "rest and formulate" for awhile. I get quite excited when I see this happening. Art journal pages are a great place to do this. I am reminded to say - if you have not yet started an art journal - this moment is the moment to do it - a very freeing decision to make. Please leave a comment first though. For your journal just grab a notebook or chunk of paper if you have nothing else handy.

These are a couple of new journal pages from this year. The first one in particular was a discovery in the word "love" and also the forlorn little creature that developed. I know that I love her. I hope you might also.


For this second one I loved the background texture from some hand carved stamps. The page was a bit plain to start with so I decided it needed a bit of glitter. I am not so much a glittery kind of girl but I am glad I decided to use it.


This one is just a photo of the previous. I chose to play with it a bit on picasa. I liked the result.



In case you haven't had a chance to see my art journal videos I'll share a couple of them here:



This one actually shows "looking through heart". I had forgotten about it.



Welcome to my new blog. I hope you will take a moment to leave a comment or mark yourself as a follower if you have not already done so.

angels be with you

about orange

Does the colour orange mean anything to you? Some people are familiar with colour theory and would have some answers to the question. Others might look it up on google and see what the colour is about. However, I can almost guarantee that the colour orange means something totally different to me than it does to anyone else. You may have seen my poem before. If you have, please choose to read it again. It is a good reminder about, about what? I suppose one could say about challenges, about life. The poem speaks hugely of what I am about. Please do not take it lightly when you read it. Read it with an open heart. Read it with a heart willing to accept. Read it with a heart willing to learn.

Orange
When I was a child
With diabetes,
I grew to hate
The colour orange.

The sugar in my body
Needed testing.

Orange
Meant sugar,
Too much
Sugar.

And now -
I envision lines,
And lines,
And lines,
In the record book,
Lines of orange.

As a child with Diabetes
What
Went through my mind
About these lines of orange
In the Record Book?

They were always present.
I probably did not even recognize
Any interspersal of beautiful blue,
Or calming green.

Striving
For perfection?
Who
Me?
Striving to erase all those lines,
Of orange,
Which could never
Be erased.
Striving to erase the lines
Of imperfection
Which would be
Forever
Part of me.

Today -
I can truly appreciate
The colour orange.

Now I understand
It represents joy.
I work towards Joy.
I strive for it.
I strive
For more imperfection.
The striving
Is not easy.

Forever will live in me -
Those lines and lines
Of the colour orange.