Catch Up

Well time is just flying by this week but thought I would drop in and let you know what I have been up to. I am trying to catch up on looking at everyones posts so please forgive me if I am a bit late in commenting...

Last weekend I went to the Shabby Vintage Junk Extravaganza with my friend Anna. There was so much eye candy there and it also brought back a lot of fond memories of my gran and nan because as I walked around I realised I had a lot of the kitchen things that were there . I was lucky enough to inherit a lot of my gran's and nan's cooking things like cake tins, measuring cups and things. Whenever I cook with them I feel as if they are with me in the kitchen. It takes me back to being a little girl in their kitchens, the smells, the tastes and the the whole atmosphere of a carefree time for a young girl with her beloved gran and nan. I won't throw any of these things out even though there are shiny new ones available because I have so many good memories attached to them.

Do you have anything like that? - something that you have inherited that is meaningless to others but oh so precious to you that you wouldn't part with it for the world, something that brings back the sweetest of memories of days gone by.

I also met with a few lovely ladies - Andrea from the Pink Poodle and Alicia from Time Worn Style just to mention a few. I also bought a few goodies.......

Some lovely hand dyed doilies, a couple of interesting books, an old prayer book, some lovely lace and a gorgeous enameled butterfly box.










Here is a close up











Thanks go to Tamarah from Shabby Vintage Junk for organising this weekend.

On my way home I had a detour via Carnegie and spied an op shop that looked interesting. In there I found these little beauties

 The really big book about the Great Masters was a steal at $20 and the other books were between $2 and $5. There is a book about astrology, a book of tibetan poems, a poetry book by Henry Waldsworth Longfellow (actually this was bought at the SVJ fair - oops), and book with sayings about sisters. I can see a few journal prompts out of this lot. I also found a brand new handbag that my niece will love (I hope!) - it was $10.

I just love it when I find bargains and i had a great day catching up with a friend and meeting new ones.

I haven't been doing much in my journals because I am in a made rush to get ready for our True Blue Decorative Artists annual conference that I am teaching at in two weeks time. I am teaching two classes  -



This one which is acrylic underpainting in Atelier Interactive Paints then glazed in Archival oils

and this one which is painted in Atelier Interactives






and as usual I have left everything to the last minute and now have to prep pieces ready for students, type the pattern packets and make little gifts and things to sell on our champagne shopping night.

I did manage to doodle a mandala, it just needs to be coloured in.

I am also going up to Sydney next weekend for the HayHouse I Can Do It conference. There are 5 of my favourite authors there giving lectures and it is going to be a fantastic time. I have my books all ready to be autographed and I am packing my bag tonight so these next two weeks are going to be a bit of a whirlwind for me.

Sorry but I am still learning how to put the photos where I want them and it looks a bit disjointed. Will have to learn a bit more about blogging.

Anyway, I hope you are all taking your daily time for yourselves and living creatively.

Namaste
Lee

While the Cat's away.....

Hi everyone

I received a lovely email from my friend Anna today and then saw a nice surprise on the Chroma website. I made some cards recently using Chroma paints and mediums and they have put the cards and instructions on their website in the Paint Talk section. I just love creating all sorts of things and these cards were a lot of fun to do. I was also very honoured that Anna chose to paint my Buddha design out of the magazine that I wrote about in a previous post. Hop on over to Anna's blog to have a look at her wonderful work.

This week, my husband is away with work all week (hence the title of this post), so we all know what that means don't we? Quick easy meals for dinner, no housework, and lots and lots of ME time. Luckily my boys help me out cleaning up the kitchen every night after dinner so I have been doodling and painting this week.




This first page is my doodle that I did in my new moleskin-like journal right after a nice long meditation. I just used my coloured sharpies and I don't think I have finished yet but I have stopped for a while because usually I keep fiddling till it is too busy and overdone.






 The next group of photos are a double page in my art journal. I wanted to do a collage. Here are my stages. The first stage is stamping and stenciling on the background.




I found a plastic placemat in the bargain shop and used it as a stencil first with black ink and a makeup sponge.





Then I turn it over and used the brayer on it to use it as a stamp.






Here is the result.

Then i painted a wash of Ultramarine Blue Deep and Diox Purple over the stamped pattern. While it was wet I placed the placemat back over it and used the brayer again, lifting off to leave another pattern.






I then stuck on some paper towel that I had wiped my brush on with greens and iridescent colours.  This was actually the inspiration for the next couple of steps and the picture I found. I also stuck on some patterned serviette pieces







I had a piece of black cardstock that I had sponged red and gold iridescents on it. I tore it and stuck it over the patterned serviette.
I painted some thick irridescent green over the dark blue background and while it was wet I pressed the stamp in the picture to leave indentations of the stamp. Then I stamped this all over the page.





I punched out some butterflies and stuck the leftover piece on the page.

Then I found a photo I liked because of the iridescent beauty of her dress but also because of her confidence and her care-free and blissful mood I saw in her. I love the way her dress is floating all around her. I then stuck the punched butterflies around the girl. I cut out a butterfly in the same paper and doodled on it. I finished the pages with Opal Dust on her dress and on the butterflies.

Then I found the words that said what I saw in the photo.  They say 

"Beauty comes from deep within".  

The large caption says, 

"Although genes have a great impact on how we look, how well we wear them is up to us. Decide now to 'dress' yourself from the inside out to reflect the person you always knew you could be."

It looks like I have covered up most of the stamped background but in person you can see it there.

Anyway, sorry for such a long post. I thank everyone who has looked and commented on my blog. I really appreciate the feedback.

I hope you are all having a creative week
Lee:)

Rainy Day outside

Well, this is the view out my front door - cold and rainy outside today, the perfect day to stay inside and work on my art journal that has been sadly neglected this past week.

On Friday I caught up with a couple of friends for a leisurely breakfast and received a lovely present from my dear friend Anna. I had given Anna some pieces of material that I had all great intentions of doing something with but never got around to. This is the result, a beautiful  handbag. I just love it, Anna is so creative!!

Anna also gave me an ATC - I am so lucky to have such a wonderful thoughtful friend. Thank you Anna.

Every time this week that I thought that I would have some time to create, something else got in the way and I hadn't been able to touch a page till today. Hence the theme of my first page, having enough time to do what I want to do. It is a matter of choices and how I look at time - friend instead of foe.
I seem to be stuck on circles and swirls at the moment. I used anything I could find today to make circles, old cotton reels, the end of a sponge brush, bubble wrap and circle stamps.

I am also a big fan of Dr Wayne Dyer and Abraham-Hicks' teachings and the transfer is from an article about time.
The affirmation at the end is "I intend to make time for myself to live the life that I came here to live."

The next page was inspired by my astrology chart from yesterday. It started with the question - What would you do if you had the freedom to do anything?  It talked about the list of things that you wouldn't touch, things you love just as they are. It is a reminder to recognise these things and celebrate them and that being grateful for what you already have is the key to greater comfort.
 Here is stage 1 and 2.
I started with a pinky red with lilac background. i bubble wrapped into the wet paint, then mixed the red with white and stamped bubble wrap on top (can you tell I love the bubble wrap at the moment?)









I then stuck down pieces of a nice serviette, then painted sunflower yellow and aqua in places












 Then came the astrology article, flower stenciling, doodling, stamping and finally the finished page.







Hence, these are some of the things I am grateful for:-

I hope you are all safe an sound where-ever you are in the world and that you are grabbing those precious moments to create till your hearts desire and celebrate what you have right now, because in the end all that matters is now.

Love lee:)