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

Sharing creatvity

Hi everyone, thanks for visiting :) I am still without internet at home so while I am at work on a break I thought I would pop in and say hi.

I just looked at my previous posts and realised that I forgot to put a couple of links to those who inspired my wave of doodling.  Kelly's lettering and doodled pages are so colourful and beautiful and Rebecca's zentangles and portraits are so detailed.  I marvel at their imagination.
While I am sharing the creativity, visit Cindy's blog for her doodling and her magnificent mandalas. Mandalas are something I have on my to-do list and Cindy's are certainly inspirational. Her sense of colour combinations are beautiful.

Now, Christmas is coming so join me in Kerryanne's "Simply Christmas" to participate in 12 weeks of fun. Guest bloggers are planned as well as handmade gift tutorials, inspiration and ideas to make your Christmas as stress free as possible while indulging in your creativity.

Last Friday my dear friend Anna came over for a 'play day'. After an hour or so of having a show and tell about all the new books, stamps, papers, embellishments we have accumulated, we got down to putting paint to canvas and paper.Well, it was actually after a couple of coffees, slices of chocolate cheesecake and a lovely lunch out in the sun.

Here is Anna showing me her new Copic markers.
I think I have just added another thing to my Christmas wish list!

How much fun is it when you can get together with someone who shares your passion? Lots!

I left my photos of the journal pages I did at home so will post them in the next couple of days.

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

I'm still in my pyjamas at 11am!

Ok, Ok so I have taken this relaxing week off thing too far being in my pyjamas so late, but what the heck. I like doing things just cause I can!

Yesterday I didn't get any de-cluttering done, I had my dear friend (who is also my hairdresser) come and cut my hair while we solve the problems of the world (and our families). After that I rang my mum and caught up with her week (she is 800km away). An hour later I thought I had better do something so I did some background pages in my journal ready for any spurts of inspiration. I then had a physio appointment. By the time I got home from that I didn't feel like cooking so dear husband said "did you want to go Mexican for dinner?" Well you don't have to ask me twice and I was out the door quicker than he had time to say "What wine do you want to take?". After stuffing myself with chilli  and the obligatory chocolate desert (called Death by Chocolate) I rang my sister to catch up (she is 1500km away). Another hour and a half later it was bedtime.  So not very productive on the de-cluttering side but hey it will still be there tomorrow.

Well it is tomorrow and yes the clutter is still there but I can't miss listening to my favourite shows on Hayhouse radio so while listening to shows about dreams, astrology and enlightenment, I did this

Now, I started with the teardrops at the top so where did that face come from? Suddenly he just started appearing. Anyway I say him because I look at him and feel a medicine man. I think I will meditate on him later and see what he has to say.

I also booked in a day for myself in the city Friday next week. I want to go to the national Art Gallery of Victoria to see the European Masters Exhibition and also to go to the Melbourne museum to see the Titanic Artifacts exhibition. I have been looking forward to seeing both of these and hope to get some great photos of Melbourne city as well.

So the "plan" for today (notice i said plan in inverted commas, totally up for change LOL) is to declutter my wardrobe. I walked in there before to see what I would wear today and nearly got lost. Today I feel like I am in Jumanji and I need a safari suit and a compass to find my way through the jungle. So wish me luck. If I don't re-surface by tomorrow send someone to look for me please. Anna is coming on Friday for a art play day and I have to be back for then.

Till then I leave you with a thought for the day by Wayne W Dyer

"When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It's to enjoy each step along the way.”

I hope you enjoy each step today and dance like there is no one watching

Namaste
Lee

Doodle day

Well, you can tell I am at home on a weeks holiday at the moment.Why do these precious weeks off always go so fast? Each time I say to myself that I will be organised and will plan the week to fit as much in as possible. Well then life gets in the way - how dare it?!!
After seeing Anna's new kitchen yesterday it spurred me on to de-clutter a couple of cupboards so that everything doesn't fall out when you open the door and so that I can reach the saucepan I need without putting on a rope and workhat to go in and find it. It was good to cross that one off the list.


Today I just needed to do something creative, anything; so this is what I did before the day started in case I don't get to do anything else. A doodle, zentangle.

Now its about time I got off this computer and do something else on my list, maybe another cupboard or read a book that has been sitting on my bedside table for a month now. Well, I think you know which way I would like to go but better see if I can do both. First some sustenance, a coffee and a bit of chocy:)

My affirmation from today is from the dear Louise L Hay

"I am organised and productive. I have lots of energy, and I enjoy getting my life in order"

Have a great day everyone.
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 

Well, aren't I just the luckiest? Being grateful..

Wow, what a day of surprises. Yesterday i logged on as usual to visit with my friends here and as I clicked on Gina's blog I was thrilled to learn that I had one a gift on her last post. I just love visiting Gina everyday and seeing what she is up to.
I then clicked on Roseys blog and was again thrilled to learn that she had picked someone from her last post to receive a gift as well (me). I love catching up with Rosey via her blog and seeing all her lovely creations.
Thankyou girls for your generosity:)

When I signed up for this blog, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know whether anyone would want to read what I had to say or be interested in what I do. I didn't know whether I had the time to keep up with it every day, but now I find it is the perfect way to start my day or spend my lunch time at work. I have met so many lovely people, who have inspired me, made me think differently, made me look at things from a different angle and generally enriched my day.
So thankyou everyone for being here, I am grateful for being able to participate in sharing our thoughts, creativity, highs and lows.


By the way there is another giveaway happening so be sure to visit Carin's blog to join in on the fun.

Now for the first picture of my little projects I hinted at in my last post. Well done Serena on guessing the cupcake and pudding.

These are a couple of the pieces I will be teaching with another friend, Karen Brouwer, for our True Blue Christmas workshop and lunch - a Christmas Pudding and a Christmas Cupcake shelf sitters. Don't they look like great friends? I have used Impasto Gel on the icing to make it more 3D and shiny although you can't really see it here. I would love to thank Paulette Itzstein for her idea of the shelf sitter. Teaching at our Christmas workshop is a voluntary thing which I love doing. Hopefully they will love doing these as well.
I have one more piece that I am working on and it is a design that Jamie Mills-Price did for our group which she has kindly given us permission to do as a workshop. She orginally did the design for our groups badges and we have adapted it to become another little mate for these two.

I hope you all have a great weekend

Namaste

Lee:)

Ready for the work week to end so the painting can start

I am so ready for my weekly day off tomorrow. 

 Friday is the one day in the week for me, when everyone else in the family is either at work, TAFE or school. It is my ME time. I like my 'day job' but art is my passion and when a girl has needs, well, a girl has needs and they have to be satisfied! 

I have so many ideas running around in my head that they just have to be put on some sort of surface, any surface; wood, paper, canvas...... I feel like a cat on a hot tin roof, my fingers are itching and each night this week I have had no chance to do anything arty... arghhh!!!

So here is a teaser of the things I am painting tomorrow for our True Blue Christmas workshop. 

Can you guess what they will become??

 

Well, till the next time...............

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