Where is your soul's compass leading you?

Hi everyone, 

I hope you all have had a great week and weekend. To my friends in the US I hope you had a great Labour Day relaxing and enjoying your long weekend.

So today I want to share with you another page in my journal. I was inspired by some great new stamps I have and some papers. 

It is titled "Where is your Soul's Compass leading you?"

My journal page already had washes of green and red which were leftovers from a previous page.
I used a Tim Holtz mask called Concerto randomly over the page

I sponged over the mask with Jo Sonja Pearl White

To give this nice shimmery effect. I wanted the base to show through.

Next, out came the Kaisercraft clear background stamp called Sheet Music and the Black Staz On ink.

I then got my hands dirty by finger painting on some Jo Sonja Titanium White, streaky down the pages

The papers I wanted to use today were from a Kaisercraft mini papers pad called  Black and White Timeless

I tore and cut out images and stuck them down with Atelier Binder Medium.

My next layer was using stamps from this great Stamp It set. I love the detail in these stamps and you get so many stamps in one set that there are endless combinations.

So here is where I am at this stage, not too busy but starting to convey the message that I had in my head.

Out came the obligatory Crafters Workshop stencil. This one is called "mums" and I have wanted to use it for a while now, so I softly sponged on Permanent Alizarine.

A border was called for so I drew around the pages with my Sharpie, Zig black pens and Signo white pen.
and wrote the title on another page out of the mini paper pad which had gridlines on it. I rubbed some of the red paint on it too after tearing it apart.

Here is the final page. The pages always look a bit bright when they are scanned but they are clear so I hope you get the idea.

Do you feel guided by your soul or are you mainly in your head? 

Do you take time to connect with your soul and what it really needs?

Or are you influenced by what everyone else wants you to do or what you think they want you to do? 

Do you make decisions based on your true nature or do you base your decisions on outside influences that don't really satisfy your soul's needs? 

Sometimes we feel anxious when making decisions, we jump from one answer to the other, being influenced by others comments on what we should do, then we go over and over it in our head, constantly swinging from yes to no, to where and when. We feel scattered and full of worry. Then after we have made the decision we still feel anxious and still have an empty feeling and wonder why.

When you connect with your soul on a regular basis, through meditation, art journaling, doodling and writing you are touching base with the wisest part of you, the part that has your best interests at heart, the part that knows you best. We are then able to calmly make informed choices based on what we need. When we make decisions based on our soul's compass we may still feel butterflies in the stomach, but they are butterflies of excited anticipation, of taking a leap, fully trusting in the universe and where you are being lead.

Have you connected with your soul and listened to its message today?

Have a great day everyone.

Namaste 

Lee

PS. I have come down with the flu so I am a bit slow it getting round to visit everyone but I will see you soon.

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

Confessions of a Hoarder

Hi everyone
Thanks for your lovely comments over the last few posts. I really appreciate the time you take to stop by and visit. :)

After my doodle yesterday I went for a lovely walk in the freezing cold air and came across this flower. It was right in my path, just meant for me.

I love the bright orange and the petals are really shiny and soft. I think I will turn it into a painting one day. What do you think?


I have a confession to make. I am a clutterbug and hoarder.

Phew! there I said it out loud.

It is a time honored tradition passed down from my mother and I have been a "collector" since I was young.

I go through cycles but my husband, who is totally the opposite, keeps it from overtaking. At times I really hate it and then go through a de-clutter that honestly feels so good when I am finished - which is what I have been doing this week, bit by bit. 

I did get into my wardrobe yesterday and tidied up and gathered two bags of clothes to donate to the local op shop. Now that feels good.
Along the way I had a few fights with these...

  I also found a few things that I just can't let go of......yet

yes they are tap shoes from when I was 17

I also love my scarves and have them hanging on a towel rail so I can easily pick which one I want to wear.

 and ended up with this

 Now to my medicine man from yesterday. I did do a meditation to get some insights and I can tell you that after two foolscap pages of writing I had a lot of information including his name, where he lived, who he was and why he is with me now.


This morning I did another doodle. It was on a background that I did yesterday and thought it looked a bit flowery. So here it is.

..From this






















to this.....
 

I hope you all have a great weekend. I have run out of my internet download till the 10th so I will try to post from work next week. Thankfully I have upgraded my internet so this wont be a problem in the future. 

Here is one of my favourite quotes

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures."
Henry Ward Beecher

Namaste

Lee

Grand Final week - Take 2

Hi everyone

Well what a weekend it has been. I love my AFL and especially love watching the season's culmination which is the Grand Final. Even though my team was not playing it is still a great game to watch and Saturday's game was a nail biter, right down to the siren which signaled that it was a draw. Now in AFL only the Grand Final is replayed if it is a draw, that's the rule love it or hate it, so when it was over we didn't have a winner and we have to do it all over again next week. The good thing for me is that I have a very dear friend who was able to get two extra tickets and

I AM GOING TO THE GRAND FINAL!!! 

It will be my first ever grand final and probably my only chance of going to one unless I become a member in the future. To be in the crowd at the MCG at a normal game is great but to be at a sellout crowd of over 100,000 cheering fans will be awesome. The atmosphere is like nothing else ( oh the U2 concert came close) and it will be a day long remembered.

Anyway, i digress....

I received a lovely package in the mail late last week from Gina. You may remember from my last post that I had one a giveaway that Gina had on her blog and I was able to pick whatever I liked from her Etsy shop. I choose the green tree frog and shell stamp. 

I couldn't wait to try out the stamps so thought I would use them in my art journal. This is my first one and I hope you like it. These little frogs are well camouflaged in nature so I wanted to convey that in this layout. 

The prompt I choose what "What green means to me". The same colour can evoke so many different emotions in everyone from calm to irritating, cool to hot, happy to sad, exciting to dull, quiet to noisy. I think it can reveal a lot about your personality in the tone of the colour you use and the colours themselves. You can tell what sort of mood someone is in by the colours they choose to wear that day, further the colour you choose to wear can also then change the mood that you are in. I tend to go for bright colours but also love looking at pastels, I just don't seem to be able to paint soft colours - too heavy handed I guess.

anyway, here is the progress of my two pages

I want to thank Gina for her generosity and I hope I have done your stamp justice. As soon as I have used the shell stamp I will share.

Here is the quote for today

 comes from one of my favourite authors Cheryl Richardson

"Think BIG. There are unseen forces ready to support your dreams."

Hope you are having a great day.

Namaste

Lee 

Some new bookmarks and a painting in progress

Hi again, wow two posts in one day - i had better calm down a bit LOL.

Here is a painting that I started in a workshop on our True Blue conference a couple of weeks ago. Today I fiddled with it a bit but there is still a lot to go.
It was with an Aussie artist Kathy Van Ee. 

She is a fabulous artist and it is the second workshop I have done with her in the past couple of months. This workshop was a portrait study of a photo that Kathy supplied. It is done using Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue and White using the wipe out technique. I still have a lot of fine details and touching up to to but I was quite pleased with my first portrait painting. it really took me out of my comfort zone as I always say that I am not very good at faces but Kathy really made me see a face differently and she showed us how to pay attention to the little details that in the end make such a difference.

The first photo is the reference photo and step by step photos that Kathy supplied. the second photo is my painting.

 At the moment she has a rather large nose but Kathy said I have the shape correct so I have to adjust that. It also needs more highlights and just more detail. I also liked the way Kathy did her background. We just added odorless solvent to our oils on the brush and let it run. That was a bit scary and I had to stop myself from touching it till it had done its work but I really like the effect.

 ******************************

 I also made some bookmarks today while I was playing with background papers. They were adaptations of pages I made in my art journal a while ago. Here are the step by step photos

The paper was first painted in stips of Napthol Crimson, Brilliant Magenta and Orange. Sprayed with water and swiped with a credit card. I also pressed over the page with  a daisy patterned paper towel.

1.This is using the end of a cardboard roll dipped in white to stamp.

2.Then I glazed over the stamping with Clear Glaze and Brilliant Magenta and Napthol Crimson

3. Next I used a favourite daisy stamp

4. Here is the stamp. I also used a heart shape brush scrubber as a stamp too with Yellow Deep. They are the yellow dots.

5. Here it is finished with some liner work in Yellow Deep and Pale Gold.

**********************************

My next one was with the same background colours but with a different stamp and detailing.

1. a paper stencil for the background pattern

2. This is the background sponged with pale gold

An oriental writing stamp

The stamp was random all over using up the ink each time before restamping.

Added a Peace stamp

The finished page.

********************************

The next one was with Pthalo Blue, Prussian Blue and Diox Purple

Background three colours blended together

Stamped Iridescent Violet with bubble wrap

Used a swirly flourish stamp randomly all over

after the bubble wrap and stamping

then used a birdie stamp set with Pale Gold paint

Finished page.

I have cut them up into bookmark size and tomorrow will write some quotes on the back and laminate them.

Time for a nice long meditation, dinner and then on to painting some Christmas decorations that I will be teaching with a friend at our True Blue Christmas Breakup.

Have a great weekend everyone
Namaste
Lee