Thursday, May 31, 2012

continuing the journey

Not much creating is happening here this week but other important things are getting accomplished. One of the things I was very pleased to do was write a letter in support of Humboldt Art and Culture Days 2012. The Humboldt and District Museum and Gallery is the major planner/coordinator of this event together with the Humboldt Regional Newcomers Center. This event is the second annual for Humboldt and I am very much hoping to be able to participate. Look for more details here over the next months with the "Days" scheduled for September 28 and 29. Culture Days is a Canada wide venture so I will be especially pleased and excited to be part of it.

My other excitement for the week is the announcement of two new Blurb books I recently put together and had published. They are both notebooks with many blank pages interspersed between pages of my own creations - photographs and art journal pages.


"Seasons of my life" contains my own photography with selections from each of the seasons.


With a view from the inside.


"Continuing the journey" contains images of art journal pages I have made. Some are older favourites, while others are quite recent.


With a view from the back


and another from the inside.


***Please remember to click on the photos to enlarge. Also click on the notebook titles to go to a preview for each book and to order your very own copy. If you are from Saskatchewan I can deliver a copy directly depending on my supply. Because of high cost of shipping and handling from the States I would charge $20 or at cost when I am able to get a deal.***

Wishing for all a very happy week of creating, enjoying nature, or whatever is on your journey.
Angel blessings.


Monday, May 28, 2012

Monday mingle

WEEK 4
Having grown up on a farm in the prairies of Saskatchewan, I remain ever mindful of nature, critters and general farm life. I would like to share today some of my favourite blogs about farms and farm life.
  • My simple country living is a newly discovered blog. Looks terrific.
  • Barn House can be found at either the initial link or here. Neat collectibles, beautiful photos.
  • Meet Elaine and Ken at Country Cove Photography and also find them here.
  • Katherine Dunn makes fabulous art as well as being a protector of critters. Katherine is also a story teller and dreamer. I adore her book and also love to listen to Katherine's story, "The Eagle and me".
  • Carol Marriott is a friend who lives close by, at Ravenheart Farms. While Carol's main love is for horses, she also loves other critters as well as human kind. Carol has become well known for her work as a life coach and equine assisted learning teacher.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

I am OK

an affirmation.
a mantra frequently used.
an altered book.
other words
two years ago.


 and when I think about being OK, I can sometimes become inspired by others very OKness. Yokoo, she seems very OK to me. What do you think?

Thursday, May 24, 2012

pretty in pink

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles." 
Audrey Hepburn


Another bright and cheery art journal spread in one of my altered books. She started like this ~


when I chose to do blending of skin tones and give Gabby more impact with black. After initial use of acrylics for the background, I used only markers, black pen, white gel pen and a water brush. 

"pretty in pink"

Yes, I believe in miracles and pretty much all those other things Audrey mentions. What about you? 
 


Tuesday, May 22, 2012

smile

altered book art journal pages


"be of good cheer"
~ using black pen, markers and a water brush, as inspired by Alisa Burke,with touches of acrylic paint left over from another project.

I think this message from Charlie Chaplin and Michael Jackson shows that regardless of what is happening in my life, it is probably best to try to smile and "be of good cheer".




Monday, May 21, 2012

Monday mingle

Week Three

At times I feel the need to pull myself out of the monotones, the muted, the sometimes darkness in my creating. I return again and again to some of these favourites to become inspired. At times, I also find some new pastels and cheery spots to feel warmed and full of energy.

Here are some of my favourites from a time back, as well as a couple of more recent finds. For some of the links I direct you to a specific post so as to show the maximum taste of colour. Please find the home pages for each, as these are all spectacular artists with so much to offer. Enjoy.

A) Pam Garrison
B) Christy Tomlinson
C) Mindy Lacefield aka Tim's Sally
D) Traci Bautista
E)  Alisa Burke

My own play with colour ~ art journal page backgrounds with a decorated paintbrush.



Friday, May 18, 2012

colours and supplies

work through my days with all the variety of tools and ideas. labels get dyed with tea then allowed to dry for placement. "cherry blossom" tsukineko ink is sprayed, rests, then blotted. a word wends its way from my thoughts onto the page. shapes and ideas take form.

may angels be with you this day as you take supplies to strata, ideas to words, sensations to colour.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

laugh

laugh out loud. laugh a little. laugh a lot.

A new art journal spread ~ continuation of wanting to paint. Continuation of the brights and pastels. This one was fun with lots of rub-ons. I keep forgetting about them until I watch a journaling video and get the urge to dig through my selection. I have also determined an art supply which I actually can use more of. That does not happen very often. My stash of most art supplies is huge, but I love to shop for more.
Rub-ons are so fun to scratch on while I am trying to reach my Mom on the phone and when I am talking with her. I also did some of the sketching here with the pink gel pen while I was speaking on the phone. I really do not like having to talk on the phone much, but this makes the phone conversations easier.

Almost forgot to mention that I was reminded of tape transfers by my friend Dale Anne. She challenged us to do a tape transfer also. Because I had not done one for so long I chose to give it a try. They got a bit rough because I was in a hurry, but still contribute to the page. My tape transfers are the butterfly beneath the 7s and the darker patterned section beside the 4s. What kind of tape transfers have you done recently?

The near smiley face on the bottom right was just by accident but certainly meant to be there. And the word laughter was already on the book page so the choice of what to say was obvious.

Remember to laugh ~ often.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

colour inspiration

I am gravitating towards the wonderful colours and styling of Pam Garrison in recent weeks. Yesterday afternoon, feeling totally NOT motivated, I was drawn once again to Pam's blog and then found this fabulous video which told me, in no uncertain terms, to get to some bright colours, maybe pretty pastels. But where to put those colours? I did not want to take time for prepping a new page, so I chose a book which already had some gesso and background colour. Then I was stumped again, not knowing what to make on those prepped pages. So I chose to grab some lovely paint colours and going totally with Pam's ideas, do some circles. Seemed like a good place to begin. I am wondering where this will take me. Maybe some words ~ I have suitable ones in mind. Maybe tomorrow, maybe another day, or month, they will be added. What is so important is that I put paint brush to paint and then to paper. It felt SO GOOD.
While I was at my painting table I spotted these works in progress from ages ago, and thought what a neat time to share them. Some of you may be able to tell I have recently added some definition with my black marks all. The golden lady was initially created with a background of Chatelaine magazine pages, I believe from the 1960s. 
Mother and daughter, below, was started with purchased collage papers. I will need to do some adjusting on the daughter's features ~ somewhat off kilter, but for the time being adds to the interest, we can say.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Monday mingle

Week 2
In the past week the sparkly greens of new leaves have been bursting forth. I have been fortunate to capture pictures of flowering bulbs and perennials ~ tulips, anemone and scilla. I am reminded of how much I love gardens and flowers and nature, especially how much I love the season of spring.
A picture I found from one of my fave Canadian magazines has also captured many people's interest on pinterest in my gardens board.
For the above reasons, I decided to venture into gardening blogs for this week's Monday Mingle. I am hoping you will take some moments, perhaps with your cup of tea, to find flowering, and often meewing, inspiration with the following blogs.
A) Resurrection Fern
B) Canadian Garden Joy
C) Gardening with Latitude
D) My Little Home and Garden
E) A Garden of Threads
F) Canadian Gardening Magazine




Saturday, May 12, 2012

a wish

 

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud 
was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

Anais Nin


Angel blessings to you and yours.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

today's recipe

for contentment

begin with one huge dollop of creativity for the day
and another
of creative portrait practice
 remember some blue,
flowers too
 must choose some animals

add some music
with meaningful words

mix together well
and always remember
to believe in miracles

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

a flower in her hair

some days felt so lonely
some days felt so sad

 most days
same as the one before
the one to follow

too many worries
too much stress
too many shoulds 
not enough coulds

too few dreams
too little time
 the angels floating near
boldly placed courage
joy
and light
within and all around 
 a flower in her hair
a song on her tongue
a dance 
at her foot drops

***please click on images to view on black background***

Monday, May 7, 2012

Monday mingle

Week 1
I really like the idea of Susan Tuttle to have a day each week in which she puts up links to a few of the blogs she loves.
Because I like the idea so much I have decided to do the same. I am hoping to post some links each Monday for blogs I find to be especially inspiring.

Here are a few for this week.
A) I adore the nature inspired fabrics and journaling of Tracie Lyn Huskamp of The Red Door Studio.
B) A new blog I recently found through this and that, somehow through pinterest and links, I believe. But please note that Jenny DOES NOT want to be pinned or have her images shared in any way. Hoping you will take some time to visit The Custards to find some beautiful ideas, experiments, and inspiration.
C) A dear friend, Caterina Giglio, blogs at La Dolce Vita. Cat's creations and journaling are in a style I adore.
D) Another dear friend, Dale, blogs at Dale Anne Potter with her textiles and mixed media art. More recently Dale has been spreading her positive attitude throughout the world with coaching.
E) Because I love the earth and trying to protect it, I especially appreciate products like which ecojot produces. Besides their recycled products, the blog and newsletters show a number of ways they are trying to assist the earth and its inhabitants with together with our involvement.

And, just because Susan's latest list of links was food related, I decided to share this recent photo of some foods frequently found on my plate.


Thursday, May 3, 2012

to laugh

when emotions burble at every pore of my being 
when anger is ready to explode
when love is near to bursting free
when laughter seems bottled up inside
when tears are at every turn

  
***please click on image to view on black background***
Read the Printed Word!
Wendy's bookshelf: read

Exhibition 36: A Gallery Of Mixed-Media InspirationOne Week In DecemberWhat Matters MostCloud NineSafe HarbourFollow the Stars Home

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