Day 13 - busy means you're alive, right?

Are you busy all the time or do you have spare time to just sit and 'be'?

Do you multi task or do you do one task at a time?

Me? I seem to be busy all the time, I often multi-task. Often words like 'not enough hours in the day' fall from my lips, run around in my head and invade my quiet time. It's not that I don't enjoy sitting and just relaxing, I just can't seem to say no to adding things to my to-do list or finding something to occupy my time. I like my art time, although I never seem to get to my studio as often as I would like. I like my time to read although the list of books in my tbr list is growing by the day. I enjoy my meditation time but always seem to be squeezing it in to my day. I like being busy, it makes me feel alive, useful and like I'm not wasting time, because you only live once, right?

 We all search for that elusive 'balance' , the work-life, social balance, the productive time vs relaxation time balance. We spend so much time working out how to get the balance that we are back at square one with no time to spare. The mind gets overloaded and you end up doing nothing.

When did you just do one thing at a time? My mornings before work involve reading while eating my breakfast, planning my shopping list, reviewing my diary for the week ahead. The other night I was having my nightly cuppa while catching up on my art video watching, reading a novel, watching tv. Now how can you really take all that in the way it is supposed to be experienced? Not very well, let me tell you. 

Time to choose consciously how I spend my time.

Speaking of time; it is time, in my mind, for this winter to end. I've had enough of the cold, the rain and the wind keeping me awake at night. Bring on spring, the renewal season, the season of growth, the glorious colours of flowers blooming and the sounds of life all around us.

Namaste

Lee

Book of Days update

 Hi everyone,

Well it's been a busy week, painting and art journaling. I've been having a lot of fun with my Book of Days and would like to show you today how I did the cover of the book. For this year long project we are altering a book and in her comprehensive videos Effy shows us the steps to alter an old book or to make a Book of Days out of a composition book. So I scoured the charity shops and found my book - From here to Eternity. I thought the title was appropriate for me at this time in my life. Effy suggested to use your word for the year on your cover so thats what I did and with out further ado I will take you on the step by step with me.

 So, after preparing our book I covered my book with Jo Sonja Blue Lagoon and Harbour Blue in a slip slap motion with a flat brush. I just love these colours together.

 Next I found some scrapbook papers with some script on it, ripped it up and adhered to the book with Atelier Binder Medium.

 i used my make up sponge to rub the two colours of paint lightly over the papers and the book to blend them into the background somewhat.

 I then used Jo Sonja Warm White and a circle dot stencil from Crafters Workshop. This is the centre of the Peony 12 x 12 stencil. Inside that I doodled with my white Gelly Roll pen. Now I love these pens, they write over anything and they are so versatile. I love circles as you know, and these two are representing the endless possibilities that await me this year in balance from beginning to end.

 I also used the 6 x 6 cosmic bubbles stencil with the make up sponge and Jo Sonja Lilac to stencil randomly over the cover. I picked up some Warm White as I stencilled so there is a variation in colour in the bubbles.

I then found an image off the internet that really represented my word of 2012 which is Balance. i printed it out on photo paper, then sprayed it with Matt fixative spray so it wouldn't run, tore the edges and adhered it to the cover with Binder Medium.

I then did some stamping with StazOn in Midnight Blue and a Kaisercraft script background stamp and Kaisercraft saying, wrote my title on the cover with the Sakura Souffle pens and there you have it.  To finish the cover off I rubbed perfect pearls over it although it doesn't show up on the photo. It gives it a subtle shine and shimmer.

Now I know the words balance looks out of balance ( I'm not very good at spacing words without measuring) and when I sat back and looked at it I was disappointed but you know what, that is to me part of finding my balance in my life at the moment, meaning that I have to let go of the little things and concentrate on the important matters. My choice was - do I rub it out and start again(which wouldn't have been easy) muck up my cover that I loved and probably put it away in frustration and probably would still not have been finished, or do I embrace it how it is with all its imperfections. After all, that is what I love so much about art journaling, knowing that nothing is wrong, it is your expression and getting it on the page is more important than fretting about whether it will be perfect or not.

Book of Days has a huge following with over 1000 members online and over 500 members on a very encouraging and inspiring Facebook page. Do go and check it out if you would like to join in on the fun.

I would also like to share a fun video from you Tube that is going around Facebook at the moment. Is is only me that recognises myself here. 

What else can you add to the list of crafters sayings?

So I have pinched the saying from my Book of Days cover for today's post

"Remember that something incredibly wonderful is always possible"

Hope you are having a creative week

Namaste

Lee

My santa's are getting restless...

Hi everyone

Thank you for all your support for my last post here and my guest post on Your Heart Makes a Difference. I appreciate all of your comments.

Leslie has been generous and included me in her latest post. Please pop over and say hi.  Thank you Leslie.

I'm still painting market bags so here are my latest offerings. They were done in the recipients favourite colours. 

Can you tell I am having fun using the Crafters Workshop stencils? In these bags I used the 12' x 12' Flower Shower,Cosmic Swirl and Flower Frenzy as well as the 6'x6' in Cosmic Bubbles, Tie Dyed and Harlequin.

The bags were based in a mix of Jo Sonja Textile Medium and White Gesso. The paint colours I used were Jo Sonja Titanium White,Pthalo Green, Prussian Blue Hue, Brilliant Green, Brilliant Magenta, Transparent Magenta and Diox Purple all mixed with Jo Sonja Textile Medium.

I have also doodled and written words over the paint with my black Sharpie and then painted the main word.

All bags were heat set with my iron.

Now onto the Christmas buildup.

Today my Santa's are getting excited and restless for the big Day to arrive. They have been here on a shelf at my front door greeting everyone who walks through the door.

  Here is the ring leader that keeps them all in line.

 They are so cheerful and can't wait for the reindeers to come and begin their big fly-around.

Well as we are in the final countdown, I hope you have had a great week. I made my first batch of Christmas Shortbread yesterday using my grand mothers recipe and it is almost gone already. I can see lots of baking to be done in the next week. Quite frankly if my family keep eating it all before next weekend, Santa will have a hard time finding any on his plate that we leave out.

Here's to the last weekend before Christmas. I hope it's not too frantic for you. For me it means  getting the house ready for some relaxing and spending time with family and friends.

I leave you today with a quote from Dr Seuss.

"And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? 

It came without ribbons. 

It came without tags. 

It came without packages, boxes or bags. 

And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. 

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. 

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? 

What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?"

 

Namaste

Lee

guest posting and art journal swap

Hi everyone

I have some exciting news to tell you today and to share some things as well.

I hope the rush up to Christmas is not getting too stressful for you. I just wanted to share some more Christmas cards that I am slowing doing in my lunch hour at work.

 Of course they are featuring Tatty Teddy. I embossed all the edges of the papers with Silver Lightening and on the bottom of the cards I added some detail with the Gelly Roll pens in Clear Sparkle and Silver. I just love these pens, they write over anything and are the sparkliest pens I have ever used.

Now for my exciting news

I am excited today to let you know I am guest posting over at Your Heart Makes a Difference. It is on my favourite subject of Gratitude. Please pop over and have a read and let me know what you think. I just love the group that Louise Gale has set up over there. It is a wonderful place to share and receive kindness, creativity and positive thoughts.

Remember the snippets of this page that I shared with you here. I had to hold off on showing you the rest as it was being used in my guest post. So here are the complete pages and how I did them.

So my first theme in the swap was "my favourite word".

My favourite word is Grateful and here are the two pages, front and back. I decided to art journal on the front page. I used bubble wrap, reverse stenciling with the Mums stencil, some border stamps, sentiment stamps, stamping on strips of ribbon that had a satin border, and then I embossed some butterflies on the page. I then wrote why I chose that word and what it means to me.

 here is a close up of the butterfly. I used a sparkle embossing powder and I liked the way it picked up the colours underneath. It then acted like a resist when I rubbed the inks over the top.

I then doodled a Mandala on the back.....

this page looks a bit lighter than it actually is but I think you get the idea. I rubbed my 3 favourite Impress ink colours on it, Pansy, Indigo Blue and Aqua and then rubbed the whole page with a wet baby wipe to blend the colours for the background. The doodling was done with a black Copic marker.

Yesterday was my birthday and I just had to share the beautiful bunch of roses that my husband and two boys gave me. Aren't they just gorgeous!

 We all went out for a lovely Thai dinner and then some yummy Chocolate mousse for desert.

I hope you are all having a sparkly week.

My quote today comes from one of my favourite authors, Sarah Ban Breathnach who actually started me keeping a gratitude journal as mentioned in her book, Simple Abundance. 

Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this moment, all you have is all you need.

Sarah Ban Breathnach

Namaste
Lee 

Simply Christmas and another swap page

Hi Everyone

Just wanted to share with you something that is happening over at Shabby Art Boutique. Kerryanne is once again hosting the Simply Christmas event which started this week and goes till Christmas, it is all about getting us ready for the silly season without going silly.

During Simply Christmas there are tutorials, starting with this great planner, as well as guest posters and giveaways. It is all about simplifying the run up to Christmas. 

I also wanted to show you my second page in the swap. This theme was vintage. I have decided I am going to art journal one page and doodle on the other. Hope they like them. I forgot to take step by step photos but I'll tell you what I did.

I based both pages in a cream mix. 

 The doodle was simply using a copic fineliner. I am enjoying getting back into my doodling.

 On the journal page I used some Kaisercraft papers from their little paper pad appropriately called Vintage Timeless. I ripped and cut pieces and stuck them randomly. Then I rubbed some Warm White around the edges of the paper to make them blend in a bit with the background. 

Stamped over the top with the Kaisercraft Sheet Music background stamp with the brown StazOn ink pad, randomly all over. 

I cut some clocks out of the sheet of paper from the Vintage Timeless range and a word from the paper pad. Then I got out an alphabet stamp set and stamped a quote I found. 

It needed a border so I had a piece of paper that I had punched with a Martha Stewart border punch so I used that as a stencil with the Chocolate Impress Ink pad and a piece of Cut and Dry foam. I rubbed some of this so it was not a stark border, like some had worn off with time.

And how appropriate but totally random was the quote that I found given my previous post.

"The chain of Friendship stretching far,

link days that were

with days that are"

I am truly blessed to have the friends that I do and I am grateful to have them in my life. 

I hope they know how much I treasure them.

Well it is off to do some art today. I didn't get as much done as I would have liked yesterday so it is head down and bum up and on to the next swap page.

Have a great day everyone

Namaste

Lee