Trust

Firstly, I have my January post going live today on Your Heart Makes a Difference where I am talking about New Years Resolutions vs New Beginnings. I will have the link at the end of this post if you would like to head over and see what my thoughts are about that.

Each year I like to choose a word of the year, a word that is a quality or feeling I would like to cultivate, nurture and a word that I would like to live long after this year has ended.

This year my word is

Trust

This year my word came to me in a meditation, a quiet time of reflection that let me sit and really feel what my soul wanted me to learn this year. This year is a year to trust in myself, a year to trust in the universe, a year to trust that whatever journey I am on it is exactly where I am supposed to be. Sometimes it is hard to trust when you are faced with challenges but that is exactly the time to sit, reflect, meditate and listen to your intuition. It never lies. It is how you interpret it and, whether or not you listen to it, that really makes the difference.

After my meditation I sat down in my studio to create my first page in my Book of Days. 

 It is a great way to set the tone for the year when you actually do something to creatively express your word instead of just talking about it.

So, no on to the path I took to create this page.

I am using my favourite paints of the moment, Atelier Free Flow

I painted the entire spread with a watery layer of Cobalt Blue hue. Then I ripped up an old dictionary into strips and stuck them down with Atelier Gel Medium

I then glazed the entire spread with Pthalo Blue. While still wet, I sprayed lightly with a mist of water, let sit for a minute and then blotted off with paper towel

 I am really in love with the Quinacridone Magenta at the moment and so I glazed that all over the page too and made some marks with various tools using Cobalt Turquoise Light and Pthalo Blue

 How scrumptious does that look?

After this I got carried away with what I was doing and forgot to take photos but you can see I painted the face in glazes, wrote my words with a white Glaze pen and added dots of Titanium white.

So, what about you? Do you pick a word of the year and what do you do to record that?

I hope you'll go and visit me over at Your Heart Makes A Difference

Until next time

Namaste

Lee

2014 - A New Year, a Fresh Start

Happy New Year everyone. Are you looking forward to 2014?

After a very hectic, up and down 2013 I am looking forward to 2014, a fresh start, a year filled with love and laughter, a year of new beginnings........ and to that end I thought I would share some of the projects I have in my diary this year.

Firstly I am so excited and thrilled to share some exciting news. Last year I guest posted on the blog "Your Heart Makes a Difference" hosted by the lovely Louise Gale, which you can re-visit here. Well Louise has asked me to be a regular contributor to this wonderful uplifting blog on a monthly basis. I am delighted to be included in this group of awesome people and can't wait to post my first offering. In the meantime head on over to Louise's blog to read my intro and to find out more about the beautiful heart-centred musings that make up Your Heart Makes a Difference. My first post goes live on 26 January.

You know that I like to keep busy, trying out new ideas, participating in group art projects and learning and sharing as much as I can so here are the other projects that I have signed up for so far. Click on each title to be taken to the appropriate websites:-

Book of Days 2014 Session 1- hosted by Effy Wild

Well before the last BOD session of 2013 finished I signed up for the first session of 2014. I love Effy's processes and the whole Book of Days community are a welcoming, generous and loving group. My Book of Days has become my constant, my way to look back on my year/s and reflect on where I have been and how far I have come. With weekly videos and connection with the group you can't go wrong with this one.

Life Book 2014 - hosted by Tamara LaPorte

This is my first year in Life Book and to say I am excited is an understatement. I have heard so much about it that I can't wait to jump right in. With so many lessons from so many different teachers I know I will learn so much this year.

Big Dreams, Small Wonders - hosted by Louise Gale

This course is all about finding out what your hopes and dreams and ultimately your goals are for the year or years ahead. It runs for 6 weeks and is a lovely process of letting go of the past year and moving forward with love and grace.

  Your Heart Makes a Difference - hosted by Louise Gale

As I mentioned at the start of this post, This is the website where you can be inspired by Louise and the other contributors to live a heart-centred, creative life.

The Documented Life Project

This is another new project I have signed up for. It is free and it is a planner but so much more, with weekly prompts and a lot of inspiration for keeping a diary/planner/ art journal all in one.

Creative Jumpstart - hosted by Natalie Kalbach

A month long course which is full of videos and prompts to start your creative year off with a bang.

• 23 videos from 21 artists, or over 3 1/2 hours of videos
• A chance to win giveaways from the CJS sponsors
• Participation in a lively community via the CJS forum
• Access to all videos and CJS forum until November 2014

I am so excited and looking forward to everything that presents itself in 2014. Let's get going....