Book of Days : musing with the masters

Art journal lesson from Book of Days in June. This spread was an exploration of two different influences - Klimt, with his swirly doodles, and Modigliani, with his elongated faces. I've been dying to finish this lesson and finally got some time. I began with collage and gold acrylic, before adding a layer of Transparent glazes. 

Showing you the before and after the glaze cos I just so LOVE the transformation - I used two of my favourite colours : Turquoise (Phthalo) and Permanent Violet Dark (both Golden brand)

Then it was time to add the first stages of the face and hair

Face development : I just love my Polychromos coloured pencils. They smudge so beautifully over clear gesso, but are then permanent. 

Click on any photo to see it larger.

Hair and decorative details added with gold posca pen

Lovely layers

And here's the final spread

The end of August = end of our month-long hiatus from BOD - we start session three on 1st September - YAY. See my Flickr album for all my art from classes with Effy HERE. Sign up to Book of Days or other classes with Effy Wild HERE. 
Been a bit of a Klimt-filled month ♥ Go HERE to see my Klimt-style journal page for Life Documented, and HERE for my Klimt in the Garden Mixed Media Collage Box. Can't wait to see what September brings.

One Little Word 2017 : August - this chapter

I'm taking Ali Edwards' One Little Word OLW workshop. The monthly prompts encourage you to connect with your word throughout the year and I've been enjoying how SHINE is developing in 2017. This month we were encouraged to take a look at where we are right now - consider this chapter of our life by thinking about what we are struggling with and what we're celebrating. 
I've been struggling with overwhelm this month.  Not one big thing, just LOTS on - a big refurbishment project on at work and working some extra hours because of that, 6 birthdays to be celebrated, roses to be pruned, a large creative to do list, normal domestic stuff, being present for my family, making sure I connect with friends, keeping up the gym habit....Added to that are a couple of side issues - hormonal migraines and insomnia + dealing with crappy wet and cold weather....
I've found a few strategies that help : 
1. Listing and prioritising - getting the things done that have important deadlines, and being more relaxed about when other things happen (or don't...aka housework!). This was my creative to do list for August - ticked a lot of it off, and let some stuff go

2. Reminding myself that I can only do what's in front of me - stressing about what's coming isn't going to help anything

3. Asking for help - telling people what I need to get through - being honest about how I really am so that I can be supported and show others that they can ask for help as well. 
4. Writing it out - my Inner Work Journal has been AWESOME 

- I write down my frustrations, save helpful advice (eg uplifting emails from Brave Girls)

and often draw tarot to see what's resonating with me and then reflecting on my response to that

5. Creating - every time I make time for creativity I feel better. Sometimes writing fills the need, more often it's stitching, mixed media fun or art journaling. Which brings me to CELEBRATING : I have happily completed a lot of projects this month :  

I am also so very grateful for my husband and my boys and the closeness of our relationships, as well as for my lovely girlfriends who are always very ready to meet for coffee or wine and a chat and share of our lives and joys. Last week in my daily journal : 

And so to creating my spread for this month. I began by printing some of the digitals supplied by Ali onto old calendar paper. I love the effect of these flowers in the background

I responded to the prompts in note form since I've been writing around this topic a lot in my journal 

and attached this as a flap over my creative projects plus my usual monthly list of what I've been reading and watching - less this month than usually.

I didn't follow the photo prompt as suggested this month, but I have included a photo of me as I am "right now" - wearing a new fav black cold-shoulder top that SHINES ♥

It's been a month of learning and personal growth. Although I haven't talked about my word on those pages, I've been actively trying to SHINE throughout August. 
From my original post : 
SHARE 
Engage meaningfully with others
Develop relationships
Continue to blog
Shine so others believe they can too
HEALTHY
Good eating + Gym habit = Energised
Be mindful
Rest
INNER WORK
Self-care and self-compassion
Affirmations
Explore intuition/oracle cards
Build inner strength/belief in myself
Lighten up - try not to sweat the small stuff

NOTICE 
Practice gratitude
Reflect on daily activities and make improvements (good habits = easier to shine without effort)
Pay attention to what I will accept (eg. let other people's negativity slide off)  
ENJOY
Regularly spend time doing what I love : 
- creating
- being with my family
- meeting regularly with friends
- walking on the beach
- lighting more candles
- wearing sparkles when I dress
- reading good books 
- watching good movies and TV series
- listening to good music
SHINE is still very present every day ♥
Looking forward to September and the promise of new beginnings that Spring brings. I've already made my {mostly} creative priority list

See all my posts about OLW 2017 HERE, and my Flickr album which includes any art featuring my word as well as the class prompts HERE.

Stitch*Bookery : book 3

Lots of girlfriends having birthdays in August so here's another book from the online class I'm doing with Mary Ann Moss - delivered today. It's an accordian book (from Week 2 lessons) stitched on manila luggage tags. This time I didn't check up on favourite colours, I chose them based on what I see her wear and that she gifted me this gorgeous heart as part of my birthday present

It might have been all about me, but I'm working on the theory that you give girlfriends gifts you'd love to receive yourself! So I gathered again - this is probably what takes the longest amount of time. I've got backgrounds in my neutrals and 2 colours of turquoise and red, plus some focals/words I want to use. 

Then I just start stitching onto the tags - layering as I go - not planned ahead....so much fun to see what comes 

Although I began thinking all the stitching would be in red 

I decided to do some stitching with a variegated turquoise/purple thread as well

I used some of my favourite techniques again : paper serviettes

and found words of course ♥

It's fun to have lots of variety in the pages - different types of paper and trying out my machine's decorative stitches as well. I love my sewing machine. I've been using my "new" (2 years old) fancy one since there is no glue or paint associated with these tags.

I used a manila tag as a pattern to cut the shape out of a lovely recycled birthday card before I stitched on it 

The tag below was in my stash from an experiment for a journal page in 2015 - I just added a little stitch detail

I stitched paper to 12 tags on one side only and decided that was enough to join them up. I stitched 2 together back to back to make the front cover more solid. When I sorted the rest it was obvious that some belonged together

and the others soon fell into place (click on any photo to see it larger)

I love the look of all the different fibres/sari ribbons that I added to the tops of the tags

I haven't covered the stitching on the back and I rather like the look of it 

My friend is a poet so I thought she has 3 choices : leave the back as it is, stick down some of her own lovely paper and imagery, or write poetry in the gaps

Gifted this morning and had to smile - I was wearing turquoise and she was wearing red! I'm away from tomorrow for a crafty weekend at the beach and taking my sewing machine and paper with me. Happy Creative Weekend to you ♥
PS. The current class of Stitch*Bookery is closed, but Ms Moss will be running another session with registrations from late October. See all my posts about this class HERE.  

Daily Journaling Week 34

Another week almost gone and we are rushing toward September - thankfully it really does feel like we are approaching Spring this week. Colder temperatures but apart from Sunday, sunshine every day. It's a VERY welcome change from all the rain we've been having.

I'm following the prompts of the original Documented Life 2014. Week 34 : Fill the page with numbers that relate to your week
And from the blog for Life Documented 2017 HERE : 
Prompt:  To create our very own art gallery.

Technique: Create mini pieces of art using a variety of mediums and techniques (ink spray, threads, sewing techniques, sketching etc)

This week I started with a spread base already created by cleaning off stencils 

As I've mentioned before, this can either be a blessing or a curse. This week, it's a blessing. It's great to have 2 lots of prompts to choose from, because I just haven't had time this week to follow the 2017 prompt as I would have liked. Bit of a cheat maybe, but my project photos have become the gallery of my art this week!

Read more about these projects by clicking on the links below : 

Stitch*Bookery book 2

Little book from one piece of paper

Stitch*Bookery book 3 - accordian book 
I thought the prompt from 2014 of fill your page with numbers from your week would be fun, and it was....I stamped the numbers and filled in the details. It's a simple but fun spread - not every week can be great art! As always, I hope that seeing my work encourages you to add more creativity to your days.

You can see all my posts about this project HERE and my Flickr album HERE. My journal is blooming ♥