One Little Word : September - rest, pace and joy

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 are looking at our word in relation to the three words of Rest, Pace and Joy = paying attention

It's been the perfect mix of things for me to consider this month. Although I've still had my share of stresses/overload this month, I feel like I'm coping better than I did in August. Progress not perfection right?
At the beginning of September I did a post called Spring means a fresh start. Spring's a time to take stock, spring clean the house, sort out the garden... It's also a time filled with the promise of light and warmth and longer blissful days. Reading back over that post, 2 main points stand out : 
In amongst all the looking forward, I want to BE PRESENT to what is in front of me right now. 
Don't do something because you should - do something because you love it.
Both of those sentiments have stayed with me this month, and are reflected in how I've filled my cards. I decided that I would keep this simple - the important thing is reflect on what I'm doing, not that it's beautifully presented...but I do love the calendar backgrounds that I used for printing my cards ♥

I laid down a lovely scrapbook paper to make my cards the feature - didn't have pieces wide enough for each page so was able to add some more pretty paper and fabric tape on the respective edges. I wrote on the cards as though talking to myself, responding to the prompts as though they are questions eg. what does Joy mean to you right now?

I really loved adding white stamping and pen work to the pink background of this journal spread earlier this month - on topic :-)

so decided to add some simple stamping and doodling with a white pen to this spread as well

I'm doing so much better at keeping up with the prompts this year than I did in 2016, which means my word is consistently present in my days. As I did last month, I thought about how this prompt linked directly to my word. I have a word that relates to each letter of SHINE : 
Share = blogging here about the prompts and sharing in the FB group
Health = REST
Inner work = consideration of all that these prompts mean to me, and what they can add to my understanding of myself and continuing personal growth.
Notice = PACE
Enjoy = JOY
Here's my completed spread for September : 

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.

Daily Journaling Week 38

I'm following the prompts of the original Documented Life 2014. Week 38 : Draw, paint, doodle or sketch a feather on your page...or add a real one. 
And from the blog for Life Documented 2017 HERE : 
Prompt: Use very basic supplies to create an art journal page, focusing on technique, not art supplies.

Technique: Use paper and scissors to create your own circles, or any other shapes that make you happiest.

Since I included a stamped/doodled feather in my previous week's spread, I was inspired to include a real peacock feather this week - it informed my stencil and colour choices. My basic supplies this week : stencils, paints and sprays

I decided to focus on techniques applied to stencils this week. First up acrylic paint wiped off with baby wipe through stencil

It's fun to play with different sizes of the same design. Below you can see spray through the larger leaf stencil on the right, printed to the left

Repeated technique below with a darker purple - sprayed through on the left, printed on the right

Then I sponged iridescent paint through the larger version of the feather stencil

Inspired by the gorgeousness of this on the top right hand page (click on any photo to see it even larger ♥)

Found words added

And finally my real feather stapled on - I love the mix of hard and soft

Here's my final spread - these shapes make me happy, and layering stencils is such a simple technique, but can have such a lovely effect

You can see all my posts about this project HERE and my Flickr album HERE.

Book of Days : Star Shine

Art lesson from Book of Days - first lesson for Session 3 was about creating a textured background and then using masks to lovely effect. Effy's example was the autumn leaves spread HERE. Of course we're not in Autumn here in New Zealand, so I thought I'd do something reflecting my word SHINE. 

I did my background (pretty colours - gold included of course), and then Coldplay's lyrics just popped into my head "Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you" so that informed how my page developed 

Detail showing lovely layers. Click on any photo to see it larger. 

Page complete : 

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.  

Daily Journaling Week 37

I'm following the prompts of the original Documented Life 2014. Week 37 : use a white pen prominently on your page And from the blog for Life Documented 2017 HERE : 
Prompt: Use a stamp as your focal point
Technique: Stamp, collage and drippy paint
I started with a base layer of collage

followed by colour (leftover paint from a project I was working on at the same time)

drippy paint

a stamp as my focal

and I have two pages, so added more stamps as focal to the left and I outlined them with my favourite white pen

I also sponged the white ink pad through punchinella for a bit of added texture. I completed my spread with letter stamps to add words that are so crucial to my well-being at the moment.

Hope you are able to enjoy some creative time and some gentle rest this weekend. You can see all my posts about this project HERE and my Flickr album HERE. 

Daily Journaling Week 36

I'm following the prompts of the original Documented Life 2014. Week 36 : Black & White And from the blog for Life Documented 2017 HERE : 
Prompt:  To use school supplies.
Technique:  Using a variety of school supplies feel free and go back to basics.
Quote: “I’m still learning.” – Michelangelo, age 87
Another busy week....I don't think I'll stop saying that until school holidays at the beginning of October - maybe not even then! The trick is to focus on the thing in front of you that has to happen that day (lists are my friend) and I've been saying no to a few things as well - that experience has just provided relief not guilt so I am doing the right thing there ♥  I've also given myself permission to only post once a week...then if you see me more than that this month it's a bonus.

Decided to try out some new stencils I got from a school supplies store for a simple journal spread for last week. I began with a layer of cheap black student acrylic paint and then while still damp wiped away some with baby wipe and simple stencils

Then I sponged a couple of stencil images with white 

- the Koru (bottom right) is one of my favourites - it symbolises new beginnings, harmony and growth and life - so appropriate for Spring, and nicely complemented by the silver ferm - an important New Zealand symbol. 
I decided to do some simple enhancement with my white sharpie paint pen 

and then keeping it back to basics I simply added some found words : we have 3 weeks of business/busy-ness until our holidays and I have a well-mapped path to get me through the tasks I need to complete. Click on any photo to see it larger

I do like the simplicity of this spread - clarity in my busy world ♥
You can see all my posts about this project HERE and my Flickr album HERE.

Spring means a fresh start

September = officially the start of Spring here in NZ. Although I don't get excited about expecting to be into warmer clothes until after the Equinox on 23rd September, I remain hopeful - as I began to write this I was in bare feet and we had lots of sunshine and 18 degrees during that week ♥ (not so warm this week I might add!)
Spring's a time to take stock, spring clean the house, sort out the garden... It's also a time filled with the promise of light and warmth and longer blissful days. We've still got a whole 4 months of the year left - what are you going to do with it? 
In amongst all the looking forward, I want to BE PRESENT to what is in front of me. There's work to do, and it's a great time to think about whether there's anything that needs changing....Last weekend I left my family at home and went to Otaki beach with a lovely creative friend.

We walked on the beach, ate well, shared stories, and took our sewing machines. I took my hydrangea quilt project, and started stitching another leaf....it was tedious! And I realised with sudden clarity that although I enjoyed the day that we had stitching as a group in the holidays, I'm not prepared to spend the hours that are still required on a project that I'm not absolutely in love with. Yes it's a beautiful quilt, but it will always be recognisable as someone else's design, and I have so many other projects I want to be doing that while I learned some great techniques, I'm not going to finish it. I put my leaf away, and went back to stitching on paper again. Immediately I was in my happy place ♥ 

Don't do something just because you feel like others expect you to, or because you started something and feel like you "should". Life's too short to be caught up doing things that don't make your heart sing...I thought I should have a look again at my year-long projects.  I want to complete my Daily Journaling project because my journal looks like this ♥

and I'm mostly enjoying the prompts. I've also realised {duh!} that I don't need to be constrained by the way I started this project and I've moved to this being a weekly spread often without documentation. I'm not sure I'll continue with a weekly challenge like this next year, but I'm happy to continue for the last third of the year.

I LOVE Book of Days with Effy Wild - we have just started Session 3 after a month-long hiatus. The break was welcome for me in a month that turned out to be overwhelmingly busy, but I am looking forward to getting back to the energy of the awesome FB group, the weekly Bed Head diaries (Effy's video musings), more learning from full-length mixed media art lessons (videos & detailed PDF every 2 weeks), as well as continuing written responses to the daily prompts offered. I think BOD is something that will remain into 2018 - it's very special. BOD is on sale right now - read about that HERE.

Inner Work journal - I write in this regularly and stick useful bits in too : responses to Effy's prompts (above); exploring Tarot as a mirror to what's happening with my own self-development; capturing wise words from others; responding to One Little Word prompts; printing out messages I want to keep from FB...I feel like this is a long-term habit now.

LOVE this Oracle card - perfect for Spring ♥ (click on the photo so you can read it)
One Little Word online class with Ali Edwards. The monthly prompts encourage you to think about your word and stay connected through the year. This month we are looking at our word in relation to the three words of Rest, Pace and Joy = paying attention

It's the perfect mix of things for me to consider right now - I'll share when I've given it some more thought.
If you're looking for some new things to spark your creativity in September there's a FREE 29 Faces Art Challenge (daily prompts) that's happening HERE, Flora Bowley's got a FREE Creative Revolution Playful Prompts Challenge HERE, and Effy's doing a Blog Along for September - posting every day. Workshop 3 of the FREE Strathmore workshops for 2017 has opened as well - so all are available HERE until the end of the year. See my entire list of cheap and free online art classes HERE - always available top right of my blog.
And if you want to check your direction, I've been enjoying some of the prompts from Susannah Conway's mid-year check-in

I was too busy to unravel at mid-year, and at this change of season there's still time to think about where you want to direct your energy for the rest of the year....
I hope that something I've said here has struck a chord with you and helped to clarify what you want to do with your precious creative time. Don't do something because you should - do something because you love it. Talk to you again soon.

Daily Journaling Week 35

I'm following the prompts of the original Documented Life 2014. Week 35 : Draw, sketch, paint, doodle a face 
And from the blog for Life Documented 2017 HERE : 

Prompt: To incorporate 'Tea bag Art' into your journal in some way.
Technique: Experiment and use a variety of art supplies to create your art.

Very excited by both of these prompts - although I haven't done it much myself, I admire Tea Bag artists - Ruby Silvious and Judy Coates Perez are firm favourites. 
Last week was looking forward to September 1st (Friday) and the official first day of Spring.
First I soaked a tea bag of a lovely pink hue, and used it to add background colour to my pages

Once used, I dried it and pulled it apart to make quite a sizable square : doodle a face - this is my Tea Bag Art

She's wishing for all the good things of Spring....then I tried to use a variety of art supplies on the rest of the spread. I tried to think of as many different supplies as I could fit!

These are cute tea bag labels that I've saved over time - I used a couple on the final spread. I also soaked another teabag cos I wanted to try a stitching experiment. I used my machine and fancy stitch - on one layer it tore a bit - but looks grungy and cool (right) - doubling it worked just fine (below)

Above - collage (coffee card) and below washi tape

Above - watersoluble media for some simple daffodils and below - staples for a different way of attaching

Time to add words - stamping and found words (large print book)

Paper serviette

and, finally, acrylic paint touches

Here's the completed spread with all the challenges ticked off this this time :-)

You can see all my posts about this project HERE and my Flickr album HERE.
Have a fabulous week