So many photos, so many memories

Well it has been a lot longer than I anticipated since I last posted. I feel like it has been a week when it has been two! Since then I have joined in on a free online workshop called Art Heart and Healing by the beautiful, multi-talented Tam at Willowing.It is a great course that introduces healing with your art journalling. I am running a bit behind but hope to catch up this week.

I haven't really done anything in my art journal but have been doing creative things like going through and printing out photos that I want to use in a scrapbook album for my son's 21st and then choosing the papers and embelishments for the pages. I haven't looked at some of these photos for a long time and it brought back some really good memories. It would be a lovely thing if the family sat down one evening every now and then and just went through their old photos and reminisced a bit. Boys don't seem as interested in doing this as girls are and in our fast paced hectic lives this is one thing that can bring us back to each other.
I also taught the second half of my purple iris class on Sunday. It was a lovely day to catch up with friends and paint at the same time.
So my only offerings this week are a couple of doodles that I did last week and a mandala I coloured in. It started as a photocopy from a book I have called Coloring Mandalas 2 by Susanne F Fincher and I added some more lines and curves and then coloured it in with coloured pencils.

 I like curves and swirls

 This one came after a chakra meditation. The bottom looks a bit out of shape but I like the rest of it.

 I was limited in the colours I had so probably didn't match up the colours in the way I wanted but I liked the meditative state and relaxation you feel when doing these.



I am still a bit behind in leaving comments on your blogs but I will get there this weekend. We have a long weekend with the Melbourne Cup on next Tuesday and my work always take the Monday off too so it is a really nice break.
I have just realised that I forgot to lead you guys over to Suzana at Creative Therapies. She kindly featured me on her blog during my absence and my manners flew out the window in not acknowledging that. Thank you Suzana for the mention :) Suzana is all about healing through creativity in our lives and is also currently doing the Artists Way so if you are interested in sharing that journey be sure to have a look.

I did start the Artists way a couple of weeks ago but have been unable to keep up so I have postponed it till after I have finished Tam's course. Sometimes I overload myself so have taken a self care step to drop some balls that I am juggling.

I leave you with a quote from the book

" What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us"

by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have a great day everyone

namaste

Lee

My baby is turning 21!

Hi everyone

Well as promised I now have the photos taken of what was keeping me busy on the weekend.
My eldest is turning 21 on the 1st of December and we are having a party for him so I thought I would make the invitations. I have had the most generous help from Pam and Jacinta at Scrappers Warehouse who gave me great ideas and where I bought the supplies to complete this little project. As the generation of today does things, most of my sons friends have been invited through Facebook so I only had to make invites for the family and adult friends. I started making them on Saturday and made one card in about 3 hours. I thought, gee maybe this is a bigger job than I thought but then I got into production line mode and completed 9 more by Sunday night, in between helping out in the garden and enjoying the fabulous spring day.

They are based with a red cardstock, then the striped paper  which I have stamped and grunged with a black stamp pad. The photos are also grunged and stuck to red card stock. the stamp was appropriate in saying 'Time Flies'.

 As you pull the ribbon on the right hand side the photos flip open. I chose 4 photos of Scott from baby to now.

 

until finally the details of the party are revealed.I thought the technique was really cool and Scott was very happy with them. He thought he was just getting a standard invite. Well, without girls in the house, I don't have a chance to do crafty things just for the kids so I thought I had better put my best foot forward for this milestone. And yes it makes me feel old but very proud of him.

Now I did mention that chocolate was going to be involved and I had all good intentions of making my now famous chocolate fondant volcanoes but I was so engrossed with what I was doing that i just ended up eating chocolate Toblerone.  Maybe next weekend I will make the fondants and share the recipe.

So there you have it, a very satisfying creative time and with the Toblerone a yummy one too. Do go and visit Pam and Jacinta if you are in Australia and in person if you are in Melbourne. Their shop is packed full of scrapbook and card making goodies and they are lovely ladies. Thanks girls :)

Have a great day everyone

Namaste


Lee

My Artist Date

Hi and thanks for popping in.

Last Friday I took myself off to the National Gallery of Victoria to view the European Masters Exhibition before it goes back to its home. I must say that I was just awestruck by the early masters paintings, the realism, the mood they captured, the glow they had in their paintings was incredible. I have only seen photos of these before and to see them up close was a real treat.

 Here is a shot looking down the Yarra River from Princess Bridge.

And another looking down Swanston Street.I love the sight of contemporary buildings beside the old St Pauls Cathedral and Flinders Street station.

Here is the front of the National Gallery of Victoria. The glass wall with the blue writing on it is actually a waterwall, very effective.

After catching the tram to the Carlton Exhibition Buildings I stopped in a the Craft Expo and called in to see Anna who had just finished demonstrating at a booth there. We had a great time shopping, watching demonstrations, shopping, looking at new products and shopping and buying things like............

 These lovely butterfly paper cutouts

Some more great stamps

 Some paper kits 

and a journal handbag and ATC box

And some paper cutouts that i will use as stencils.

After I had spent all my money I was booked in to see the movie about a expedition to the Titanic at the IMAX theatre. It was in 3d and was fascinating to see the places they can now get their cameras in to.  After the movie I was booked in to see the Titanic Artifacts exhibition at the Melbourne Museum. I had about an hour before I could go in so I went to have a look in the rest of the museum. I am ashamed to say that after living in Melbourne for 23 years this is the first time I had been there. I walked around the rainforest exhibition and the Melbourne history exhibition which were both great. I will definitely be going back again to see it in more detail. 

Here are just a couple of things I saw - some textile designs

 Some beautiful lead lighting and some pieces that you vintage girls will love.

After that it was on to the Titanic exhibition

I have always been fascinated by anything to do with the Titanic so I have been looking forward to seeing the exhibition for a while.

I absolutely loved my day in the city and will definitely be making it a regular occurrence. Isn't it funny that it seems the city where you live you generally see the least of. I suppose you take it for granted that you can go anytime you want but in reality you spend time going on holidays everywhere else but near home. 

I know I promised details of my weekend but the light is too bad now for good photos of what I was up to so will post them in the morning.

Sweet dreams and good night everyone

Namaste

Lee

Life is a journey

Here is another page completed on my play date with Anna. Yes we did a lot, don't you agree that when you are with someone else doing the same things you get so much more done than on your own, well at least that's what I found last Friday.

I was so engrossed in what I was doing that I forgot to take step by step photos.  Here are some photos of what I used that I put together afterward.

The background was sponged with White and Claret rose using a round sponge.

Then I added a photo I liked in a magazine. I love the flowers and her whole look( you will see this in the final photo. I then added some stamps about growth, journey etc.

I then used Antique Green for a stenciled flourish down each side and also on a script stamp randomly over the pages.

 

Here is the page so far. I say so far because I think I want to journal on this page about what the stamped words are about but not sure if it will be too much so I am leaving it for a while to see what feels right.

Anyway, that is all I am posting today. It is magnificent weather here in Melbourne today so I am going out to enjoy. Tomorrow I will post the photos and stories about my ME day in Melbourne that I had on Friday and about what has kept me busy this weekend - all I can say is that it is creative and satisfying.... and yes chocolate will be involved at some stage!

Happy Sunday everyone

Namaste

Lee

Sun is shining, internet is back online, all is good with the world :)

 In a previous post I promised to post the photos of the pages that I did when Anna came to play last Friday. I was inspired by the alcohol technique and a stencil that I had.
I started with a background painted in Jo Sonja Orange and Yellow Deep, blended in stripes across the pages. Then when the background was dry I painted a coat of watery black over the top.

 While the black was still wet I flicked drops of Jo Sonja Glass and Tile Medium part A over the top which created these cool patterns.

 I then looked to my stencils and used what was supposed to be an octopus. Anna saw a head with spiky, wavy hair so I stenciled with Carbon Black and then with Pale Gold on one side

I also had a pad of adhesive patterned papers and cut out dress shapes and stuck them on.

 

 

And came up with this. I thought the colours of the dresses went well with the background

I then used my Pale Gold paint and a border stamp that had dots and stars in it.

 

Added some journalling and thoughts on what the page was saying to me.

We all are individuals, with our own inner strength just waiting to be tapped. We all have our own inner wisdom if we choose to listen to it instead of listening to everyone else. Afterall we know ourselves the best don't we.

So ask yourself periodically - 

Are you listening to your inner wisdom, the part of you who knows you the best, who has your best interests at heart?

Enjoy your weekends everyone

Namaste

Lee

Gifts, bargains and doodles

This week I received in the mail a lovely package from Rosey. A lovely garland, a handpainted peg, handmade tag and a yummy Mochaccino sachet. Thanks Rosey, you are so generous and creative. I love all of the gifts. Hop on over to visit Rosey's blog for gorgeous, pretty creations

After work yesterday i stopped in at Spotlight and found these little treasures in their sellout bins. Some beautiful textured shiny cord in 4 colours and boxes of sequins. I love it when I find these bargains. I can feel a bling bling page coming on.

 Also yesterday I did another doodle. On the same background colours as the other one. I seemed to be taken with swirls, curly cue's and circles.

I am in serious withdrawal from having access to the internet when I want to at home and can't wait till the internet goes back on on Monday. I will be a bit behind on my comments on your blogs but bear with me. :)

Today my affirmation comes from Louise L Hay, the queen of affirmations

"Beauty has a healing power all its own."

Take time today to notice all the beauty around you, drink it in to all of your senses.

See you on Monday

Namaste

Lee

Sharing creatvity

Hi everyone, thanks for visiting :) I am still without internet at home so while I am at work on a break I thought I would pop in and say hi.

I just looked at my previous posts and realised that I forgot to put a couple of links to those who inspired my wave of doodling.  Kelly's lettering and doodled pages are so colourful and beautiful and Rebecca's zentangles and portraits are so detailed.  I marvel at their imagination.
While I am sharing the creativity, visit Cindy's blog for her doodling and her magnificent mandalas. Mandalas are something I have on my to-do list and Cindy's are certainly inspirational. Her sense of colour combinations are beautiful.

Now, Christmas is coming so join me in Kerryanne's "Simply Christmas" to participate in 12 weeks of fun. Guest bloggers are planned as well as handmade gift tutorials, inspiration and ideas to make your Christmas as stress free as possible while indulging in your creativity.

Last Friday my dear friend Anna came over for a 'play day'. After an hour or so of having a show and tell about all the new books, stamps, papers, embellishments we have accumulated, we got down to putting paint to canvas and paper.Well, it was actually after a couple of coffees, slices of chocolate cheesecake and a lovely lunch out in the sun.

Here is Anna showing me her new Copic markers.
I think I have just added another thing to my Christmas wish list!

How much fun is it when you can get together with someone who shares your passion? Lots!

I left my photos of the journal pages I did at home so will post them in the next couple of days.