Christmas is just around the corner.... so I'm told

Hi everyone, thanks for dropping by. 

I really appreciate all the lovely comments you are making and the fact that you take time out of your day to come visit me. So big hugs and kisses to you all...

Each year I paint and then donate Christmas ornaments for my son's special needs school to sell at their annual Christmas concert. All of the money raised goes directly to the school so I am happy to be a part of it. 

My son has been going to this school for about 7 years and this is his final year. Yes that is going to be another significant day for us when he finishes there. They are a wonderful school and have made such a huge difference in our lives and I am deeply grateful for their existence.

 Each year I have families who collect the ornaments so i have to come up with different designs each time. 

Here is the start of the process. I had them all base-coated and ready to go. Then I line them up, usually on my ironing board and paint all the one colour at the same time so by the end they are all finished at around the same time.

As I am not proficient at designing my own and knowing that there are Queens of Christmas out there, I borrow ideas and designs, with their permission of course, and paint those.

These cute little elves are designs from the lovely Kerryanne

These ones are from Jamie Mills Price

 I love Jamie's designs and have painted many of them over the years. I was also lucky enough to paint with her when she came to Melbourne a couple of years ago. A lovely lady and so generous with sharing her painting secrets.

 I used a stamp for the background which was stars and dots and looks a bit like snowflakes.

These are the puddings and cupcakes that I will be teaching at our True Blue Christmas workshop on Sunday.

 I used Jo Sonja paints and painted on some Opal Dust to make them sparkle

And here they are lined up on my ironing board all ready for some varnish all 52 of them.

I also dabbled in a bit of card making yesterday. 

A friend of mine is getting married on the weekend and I made her a card to give her with a couple of little gifts. I found a couple of videos on you tube as inspiration like Natalie's.

I used my Big Shot and the Spellbinders Die Template called Flying Beauties to emboss and cut out butterflies. I distressed them with Imprez ink in Fawn and Jo Sonja Rich Gold paint. I used this paint on the ribbon to get the matching colour and also rubbed it around the edge of the card face.

I embossed and cut the tag from the Spellbinders Nestabilities set which I stamped and distressed with the same ink and paint. I stuck pearls on the body of the butterflies as well. The heart paper on the left hand side is printed vellum. Inside I printed what I wanted to say in matching ink colour on vellum. I really like card making and think I will do more of it in the future.

Well today I have a lot of scrapbooking to do on my sons album and will be going to a scrap night at Scrapper's Warehouse so I can hopefully get it nearly finished by his party. I have my fingers crossed.

Today I offer you a Buddhist saying

"Live in the present and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering"

I hope you all have a great weekend and remember to find beauty in the present moment no matter where you are or what you are doing. Here it is supposed to be sunny and around 29 Deg so I'm looking forward to getting out in the garden and enjoying the sunshine..... ahhh come on Summer.

Namaste

Lee

Spring is in the air...............and up my nose!

Yes you guessed it I have hayfever. First time in about 4 years and it is driving me nuts. I hate sniffing and not being able to breathe and the sneezing is enough to give a girl a hernia. I don't like taking drugs unless I have to so I have pulled out the big guns today, the blue lace agate and citrine crystals, the garlic, horseradish and vitamin C tablets and the olive leaf extract. I rattle like a pill bottle and I have crystals stuffed down my bra and in bracelets and necklaces.
 I have looked up Louise Hay's book to see what the metaphysical reason is, here is what she says - Hayfever is usually caused by emotional congestion and fear of the calendar. Now we get to the nitty gritty.
Christmas is coming and I am usually running around like a ninny and not organised till the last minute, although this year Kerryanne over at Shabby Art Boutique is helping me with that this year, I have my sons 21st in less than 3 weeks and I still haven't finished his scrapbook album or put together the photo slideshow for the night and we have ALL of our relatives (that would be 9 ) staying at my place. Don't get me wrong I love having the family here as it doesn't happen very often that we are all in the one place at the one time. Lucky for me I have a great neighbour who has generously donated the use of some beds. So yes, I think I am scared of the calendar at the moment and that I won't get it all done on time!
So my affirmation to rid myself of hayfever is I am one with all of life. I am safe at all times.

So on a lighter note here is what I have been up to in my absence.

I have been playing with a new toy. A Big Shot embossing and die cutting machine. As you can see in the background I have taken over the dining room table with this "little" project so I will be glad when I have finished it and it is cleared away ( and so will dear husband).

 I have been using it in my sons scrapbook with the coloured core cardstock so when you sand the embossed areas they reveal another colour underneath, so neat. I have also bought a couple of die like this tag below. You can emboss and cut out shapes with the one stencil. Here is a photo from his school pages.

Another thing I have discovered and hence now have an addiction for is Opals embossing powders. My friends at Scrappers Warehouse had a sale on last weekend and so I went to support my friends :) and bought a few more things for my sons album. Here are some chipboard letters I played with using two or more colours.









In the Water baby photo I also used fantasy film on them as well.
I am still perfecting it but love the look I can get.
You can also paint the chipboard letters and then just clear emboss over the top so I can see endless possibilities here for my scrapbook and art journal pages.
What do you think?







I have been doodling a bit too. It keeps me sane and relaxes me when everything else is getting too hectic. Just 15 to 30 minutes and I feel so much better. I especially love doodling after a meditation so it keeps me in that habit as well. The first one was inspired by a lotus flower hence the name, and for the second I wrote - 'the eyes of the soul in a woven tapestry of life'.

In this next one I painted the background first in Jo Sonja Prussian Blue Hue and Aqua and then thought white pen would be nice over the top but I had a terrible time getting the white gel pens to give me nice flowing lines. Then I remembered a packet of Souffle pens I recently aquired and they worked a treat.

I leave you with a photo of my rose which is gloriously flowering and smelling delicious.

and a quote

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
Ralph Waldo Emerson 

 

I hope you are all having a glorious day wherever you are and that you take time to smell the roses

Namaste

Lee