Nurturing a daily creative practice

It's been a while my friends, too long really, but while life feels like it is passing by sometimes, it is good to just stop and take a breath and be present.

While I may not have been posting on my blog, I have been arting, teaching my monthly art journal classes, travelling to teach at an annual weekend art convention, and exhibiting and selling my work at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. I have also signed up for Book Of Days, Lifebook and the 30 Day Journal Project this year. Add to that a major house renovation, that I was project manager for and you have a busy year. Thankfully, the renovations are finished (and look fabulous) so it is time to get back to 'normal', whatever normal is.

It is so easy to get bogged down in daily running around, feeding the family, working a day job, getting caught up in the day to day running of a household that, sadly our creative practice is sometimes last on our list.

Personally, I sometimes struggle with spending time in my studio playing with no end in mind, no "product" to produce, just arting for me, without feeling guilty, selfish even. But you know what I remind myself every time I get in this mindset, is that without this art practice I am not nurturing myself, not honouring myself.

It is essential that we find "me" time every day, whether that be 15 minutes of creative expression, 15 minutes of quiet time with a cuppa and a good book, or whether that be 15 minutes walking out in nature.

Late last year I was hearing from a lot of people, myself included, that there is not enough time in the day to art so to that end I decided to find a way of making my creative practice a part of every day. A challenge, if you will, to make art part of my everyday, even if I have just 15 minutes. It is not to 'produce' anything, it is just to exercise my right brain, to keep the creative juices flowing, to banish the excuses that there is no time for art.

To this end I have been adopting a daily art practice, which I coined, Lunchtime Art Time.It started with a daily challenge between a friend and I. Each day we would take it in turns to post a prompt and by the end of the day we had to express that prompt on a page in any way we chose. For me I decided to challenge myself to make my creative practice portable and so packed up a little art box and started taking it to work.

Each lunch time I sit down with my travel art box and my handmade journal and loose myself in my art for half an hour. Most times, I end up with 15-20 minutes, most pages are very simple but they take me out of the daily grind and bring me peace, ground me and centre my mind into the present.

So, what do you think. What are your favourite supplies to go in your travel art kit? I would love to hear the essentials that you cannot live without and what you take when you travel.

  I would love for you to join me and make art a part of your daily life, so connect with me on Instagram and lets make some art. Click on the icon below to go to my Instagram page.

Until next time
Namaste

Lee

Friendships and doodles

Just a quick post today to share the link for my latest post over at Your Heart Makes A Difference and some photos of my latest journaling and travels.

My latest post on Your Heart Makes a Difference went live today so if you would like to read my musings about friendships pay a visit to this heart-centred blog.

For the last 2 weeks I was camping near the beach,

a beautiful relaxing time to regroup, to gather my thoughts about the year ahead and reconnect with one of my greatest loves, the ocean.

I took a small kit of art supplies and a couple of journals with me. I found a great little plastic box with a handle and it perfectly housed my pots of twinkling h20's, small bottles of gesso and white paint, paint pens, pencils and black pens and an old store card.

This was the perfect place for me to get back to my doodling, an activity that you can pick up and put down at any time. You can spend minutes on each piece or play and doodle for hours.

With my limited art supplies I was also able to keep up with my Book of Days

as well as catching up with the Big Dreams, Small wonders ecourse that I am doing with Louise Gale.

How are you going with the courses and classes that you have signed up for this year?

As I listen to the rain falling heavily on my roof, I am reminded of the craziness of the weather at the moment and am so grateful that we are all safe and sound and hope you are as well.

Namaste
Lee

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....

two in one week!

Well, I don't blog for ages, then I post 2 in one week. One word for that isn't there..... random. Yep that's how I go sometimes and this month has been no different. I am actually sharing this weeks Book of Days spread during this week. I know, shock, horror! I'm also sharing a painting I delivered to it's new home last weekend.

 First the new painting. I was given a colour palette by my client and a general theme of what they wanted and this is the finished canvas. I really love the light airy colours. It was a bigger canvas, measuring 1.8 x 0.6m.. I really loved it and so did it's owner.  I really love painting these long canvases and it has me wanting one in my own house now.

This week for me it was all about being in the moment and finding little Joy Moments each day.

The prompt for this week was to use fabric in our spread. 

I used the Atelier Free Flow paints and I started with a brush blended background of Pthalo Green, Cadmium Yellow Medium and Titanium White.

Then I used one of the new Scrap Fx stamps, Ruffled Feather, with Titanium white and also just spritzed with plain water to create texture in the background.

I always tell my students to save everything in case they can use it in their art journals. I see them roll their eyes, listening to me telling them to save crazy stuff, wondering when they could use 'that' again. Well as I was sitting at my desk I was wondering what sort of fabric I wanted to use, looking around for inspiration and my eyes landed on some scrunched up dried, used baby wipes.

 Well, baby wipes are a type of fabric aren't they, so that is where I started. I decided that I didn't want to rip them up and saw my Big Shot machine sitting idly by, not having been used for a long time, so out it came with some Spellbinders die's. I cut out circles and dragonflies and began my spread.

 We had some lovely sunshine this week so I sat out and doodled around the circles and labeled them with the days of the week.

Of course I used by favourite journaling pen, the White Signo, and the purple Aqualip for the title and some doodling. The Aqualips are fast becoming my go to pens for titles now. They flow so easily and dry with a nice glossy finish.

Each day, at the end of recording that day's happenings, I wrote a Joy moment, one moment from each day that gave me joy. No matter how small there is always something that gives you joy on any given day. It can be as simple as my Monday Joy moment of finally curling up on my bead with a good book after a long day at work. Do you look for joy moments in your day?

Registration for the next session of Book of Days is open on October 15th. Sign up for Effy's newsletter so you don't miss out.

Life is a Precious thing....

Life is Precious

Life is Beautiful

Life is to be Treasured

Life is Short.....

This weeks post is all about life, how you respect it, how you take time to appreciate the little things, how you spend your precious time living the life that you imagined.

My Book Of Days spread is from a couple of weeks ago and had that theme running all the way through it. There ended up being reminders of it every day, a common theme of appreciating life and living it to the fullest and remembering those who are no longer physically with us.

It is a simple spread. The prompt was to paint in journaling blocks for the week ahead, making it super easy to just fill it in as you go. I loved it!

The background is all made up of leftover paint on my palette from another earlier spread and a painting that I had started. Not ever one to waste things, I used it on this spread. All the marks I made were using found objects around my studio like corrugated cardboard and bubble wrap and various pens and paintbrushes. the journaling blocks were first blocked in in Titanium White and then the colour lightly painted over it, mixing in a bit of white and leaving it shabby, doodled around the outside of each block and then filled in each day with a white Signo. Easy peasy.

 On another note, during that week, I flew up to Sydney to teach two classes with these wonderful ladies. On the Saturday I taught my Blue Lotus

and then on the Sunday I taught 2 art journal classes on a canvas board.

I was also able to catch up with one of my dearest friends' on the Saturday night, so it was a really quick but meaningful visit all round. 

This weekend once again reminded me how lucky I am to be able to teach and share what I am most passionate about. It reminded me that when we all share that common passion, great things can be achieved, friendships forged and strengthened and our lives are so enriched by the experience. It reminded me the value of true friendship, the precious time we have with them and how we must vow to make each day precious.

Day 31 - Goodbye Winter...

I made it, 21 posts out of 31, so I missed a few here and there. 

I've really enjoyed this blogalong with Effy, getting to know some more about my blogging friends and challenging myself to blog consistently. I used to blog regularly but found it somewhat overwhelming trying to get around to visit everyone else's blog and leave comments, thinking of things to blog about, and thinking my posts had to be a. funny, b.witty, c.thought provoking or d. spectacular and blingy. It all got a bit too much and i left blogging for a while. When Effy put up this challenge I had second thoughts but decided that I would blog this time because I wanted to, not worried about how many people read it, not writing it to get more followers, not writing it to please someone else, just thoughts for my own memory keeping and if it started a dialogue with others that would be a lovely bonus. What I found was that I was able to write my posts a lot easier than before. The words seemed to flow out of me, no pressure to "perform". My thanks go to Effy for hosting the blogalong and to all those that participated. Even though I haven't visited everyone's blogs yet I will get there. There is just so much goodness to see.

The art journal spread today is another out of my Book of Days and the prompt this week was to use tags. 

This first picture is with the tags closed

This picture is with the tags open and journaled on.

Today is the last day of Winter and the weather is gloriously sunny and mild for a change. I have made no secret of the fact that this winter has really been a struggle for me. I struggle without my daily dose of sunshine, so I sat outside today, listening to the birds, basking in the suns' rays and doodling and writing in my art journal.

Goodbye Winter and hello Spring....

Namaste

Lee

Day 29 - a recipe and a journal page

Here is the recipe for the Cinnamon Maple Cake that I was talking about yesterday. 

It is a modified version of a recipe that I shared on my Facebook page a couple of weeks ago. Apart from the amazing taste, I love it because it is Gluten Free, Dairy Free, low sugar and low in carbs. Now how can you go past that one?

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, low carb, low sugar Cinnamon Maple Cake 

(makes 9-12 servings)

2 1/2 cups almond meal
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped  
1/2 cup chopped merjool dates
1/4 cup coconut oil or butter , melted ( i find the coconut oil helps keep the slice moist and together more than using butter, and the taste is soooo good)
1/4 cup maple syrup - I used Greens brand as it is the lowest in sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:
3 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
3 Tbsp. coconut oil or butter , melted
6 Tbsp. maple syrup
1/2 cup  chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 160deg C fan forced. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish or pan with butter and lightly dust with almond meal.

To make the cake:

Combine the almond flour, salt, baking soda, pecans and dates in a large bowl.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter , maple syrup, eggs and vanilla.  Make a well inside the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined, the batter will be very thick.  Scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish. Using a spatula, gently push the batter into place making it as level as possible.

To make the topping:

Combine cinnamon, butter, maple syrup and pecans or almonds in a bowl.  Spread the topping over the cake batter. 

Bake for 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick  inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 1 hour on a wire rack.  Slice cake into squares and drizzle with Maple Frosting before serving.

This cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.  Once you drizzle it, store it in the fridge.

Maple Drizzle:

3/4 cup coconut butter - see below on how to make coconut butter

1/4 cup maple syrup (or more to taste)

1/4-1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, almond milk, or coconut milk - i used almond milk because I have it in the fridge anyway.

pinch of salt

In a small saucepan, heat all ingredients over medium-low heat, stir until well combined.  Consistency should be thin enough to drizzle over the coffee cake.

***If you eat dairy and prefer a maple cream cheese drizzle…substitute 4 ounces softened cream cheese for the coconut butter and reduce the heavy cream to 2 Tbsp.-1/4 cup and blend in a small bowl with a hand mixer until smooth.  Again the consistency should be thin enough to drizzle**

Coconut butter

to make coconut butter place 2 1/2 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut(not desiccated) into a food processor. process for about 10-20 minutes stopping now and again to scrape the coconut down into the bowl. after a while it will turn to liquid and will set upon cooling. this quantity makes just over 3/4 cup of coconut butter. 

I'm catching up on my memory keeping in my Book of Days so this is acutally for a couple of weeks ago. It is all about the week that I had no voice. i used Dylusions sprays, paints, crafters workshop stencils, and new foam stamps from Scrap Fx

The week that I was ordered by the doctor to have complete silence started out as a real challenge and a difficult and frustrating week. As the week wore on though, I really started to connect fully with my inner voice. It's funny the different things you notice when you lose one of your major communication tools. It was almost like other things were amplified.

It gave me a good understanding why silent retreats are so popular and it is something that I wouldn't mind repeating on a smaller scale.

Namaste

Lee

Day 26 - Relationships that make you feel good down to your bones...

Last post I spoke briefly about my friendships and I said that I don't go for the number of friends but the quality. I will always choose to have a small group of good friends rather than a whole plethora of acquaintances. Some of my friendships are with people half a world away that I have only formed through Facebook and blogging, some are right here in my backyard. I am shy when making new friends, worried as to whether they don't want the friendship as much as I do, I loose confidence in myself and get scared of the rejection, that usually never comes, by the way. Sometimes I forget things and I feel that I'm not being a good friend, I sometimes analyse whether I am doing things that a friend "should" but I read a great line in Effy's blog post today - "The thing is that your people will love you. Period.There's no scrambling to be good enough required. There's no need to bend and shape yourself into an acceptable configuration. You can be you, and they will just love you." I think I will type this out and stick it on my mirrors, my fridge and anywhere that will be in my face in times of doubt. 

Today my Book Of Days spread is about family. A few weeks ago we travelled up to my Mum and Dad's place to throw Dad a surprise 80th birthday party. My sister and her family travelled down from northern NSW and we travelled up from Melbourne to meet in the middle. It was the first time all the cousins had been together for a number of years and I wish it had been longer, but you take what you can get. As well as my friends, my family accept who I am - well they can't really get rid of me :) Even though we are thousands of km's apart we never loose sight of what is important.  For Dad's party we gathered close friends and family and, for a man who doesn't like normally like the fuss of party's, particularly for himself, he thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Spread was made with

napkins, paint, manilla tags and coin envelopes, black aqualip pens and white signo pen

Far too often we let this crazy pace of life get in the way of connecting with those close to us. It's time's like these that we are reminded that we have to make the time, even if only for a short message or text to say hello, or an hour long phone call to catch up. Life's too short.

Nurture those relationships that feed your soul, that make you feel good right down to your bones.

Namaste

Lee

Day 17 - Trust

I'd like to share my latest Book of Days spread today. It was all about trust - trust in yourself, trust in the universe.  It is so easy to get caught up in the negativity of a situation. In the end, what is important is not what happened but your reaction to it. I trust that everything in this universe happens for a reason, even if at the time, that reason is not clear. I trust that in time it will be revealed, I trust that i am never given anything I cannot handle, and I trust that the universe always has my back. Whether it is a simple physical setback or something else, I try to see them all the same and find the solution, the positive, the lesson. 

This week has had a couple of challenges. 

When I sat down to record them in my Book of Days, I realised that the common thread of these challenges was that they required trust.

This technique, Effy called a pulled face because the background is done first, totally intuitive, with no outcome in mind. Then you find faces in the page and go with however they present themselves. This was sort of like a meditation when this face appeared. I didn't know how I was going to write about this week until the face appeared. I love this style of painting, like automatic writing, like meditations.

Namaste

Lee

Day 2 Blogalong - Time for a new story...

So I have made it to Day 2. I'm not usually that consistent with blogging so this is a big deal for me.

This spread was in my Book Of Mirrors. What is the Book of Mirrors you say, and what is the difference between Book of Days(BOD) and Book of Mirrors(BOM)? Effy explained it perfectly in one of her videos (I'm paraphrasing here because I can't put my finger, or ear,  on the exact wording) The Book of Days is for what is happening in the world around you, memory keeping and usually has photos involved. Book of Mirrors is about what is going on in your inner world, you inner landscape, something that is affecting you deep to your soul; it is your souls' voice. It can be a representation of an epiphany or it can simply be a reflection of your inner dialogue at that time. A BOM spread can have a lot of journaling like this one I am sharing today or it may have nothing other than a title. I usually do a little meditation or centering practice first to quiet the mind and really tune in. I light a candle or burn some incense. I do some automatic writing. Armed with the prompt given and inspiration from Effy I sat down to explore what is really rocking my world at the moment. Currently I am in week 4 of viral laryngitis and I am over it. In the metaphysical world, laryngitis is associated with words unsaid, not being heard or feeling supported so this is what I explored in reframing what is the root cause of my problem. This prompt was perfect timing.

supplies used were 

Silks paints in Snap Dragon and Stargazer

Jo Sonja metalic paints in rose Gold and Pearl White

Violet Shade in Pan Pastels

Black Permapque pen,

White signo pen

What is the story/s that you are telling yourself and is it time to reframe and write a new one?

Namaste

Lee

Day 1-Feels like forever

Feels like forever since I blogged. Life has been an absolute whirlwind this year with my art journal classes that I am teaching and taking. I have decided to join in on Effy's blogalong so here I go.

I have immersed myself well and truly into art journaling your inner voice and would love to share one of the classes that I have been taking - Book Of Days Premium with the gorgeous Effy Wild.

I am using my handmade journal and we started this session with our intentions page. This was a really great way of setting the tone for the BOD session and I will be doing this for every journal I make

Week 1 and I mounted my photos on journaling cards and then used them as tip-ins, putting my thoughts about the week on the back of the photos.

Week 3 I used some of the gorgeous washi tape that has just come in at my local scrapbook shop. I really loved incorporating more photos into my BOD in this session. 

Supplies used in the above spreads are

Scrap FX stencils - link here

Jo Sonja and Atelier Interative paints

washi tape

In BOD you get a facebook group to connect with other BODer's, 2 videos a week with Effy incorporating our Book of Mirrors and our Book of Days, you also get the Hand bound journal making boot camp video so you can make your own journals.  What more incentive do you need other than that BOD is on special now till August 15. On the link below you will get your coupon code. Go, go, go what are you waiting for?

To join in on Book Of Days Premium just go here

Namaste

Lee

Book of Days update

Back again to finally show you some art...

While I was away last week, I did do a few pages in my Book of Days which I can show you now.  I am a bit behind in art journaling the pages but because I am also working through Sarah Ban Breathnach's Simple Abundance I am writing it all down so I can refer to it later on. I am really enjoying this process as it stops me from sailing through each week unconscious of what is going on around me but also within me. If you feel like joining in, just visit Book of Days here.

This is a page with the challenge of doing a mosaic of some kind. As you know I love my spirals so this was the shape I first thought of. It expressed perfectly what I was feeling on the day, going within and listening to your inner voice instead of all the chatter that can sometimes send you off course.

  This was my first spread for the start of last week using crafters workshop stencil in the background (white sponged over the stencil on a blue background), glazing with various colours of Copic markers, white paint and punchinella, cut outs of thongs from a scrapbook paper collection, and a white signo pen for the writing.  

 As I had limited supplies, I actually used a few supplies that I don't normally use and it just shows how much you can do with very little. The background for this one was water soluble crayons, then white paint and punchinella and journaling with a black copic marker.

 This last page of the week was to celebrate my youngest sons 20th birthday 

(yes I did say 20 and this makes me feel.... ummmmm... well more advanced in age than I was last year lol).  I am not saying 'old' because I think that it is all in the mind but it did make me pause - in a good way :)

The background was Inktense pencils, a circle border stamp in Black Staz-on and journaling with a purple artline marker and white Signo pen.

The message on the right hand side describes how I was feeling after a lovely relaxing week away, realising that you don't need all the latest gizmos, the clutter of "stuff" and other distractions to make your life complete. Sure they can make it easier but I have found recently that they can also make it more stressful. The technology that was supposed to make our lives easier can often end up taking up more of our time as it gives us more and more things to do while we try to fit it into our already busy lives. 

Sometimes you just need to  

stop, breathe and listen to the stillness. 

Find a quiet retreat, even if for only a few hours and  

just "be". 

This is often when you realise just how much you have to be thankful for.

My quote today is the one I used on this spread.

"Who is content with nothing,

possesses all things."

Have a lovely day

Namaste

Lee