A Year of Rumi : May inspiration

I last created a Rumi page inspired by Effy Wild's class in April. Finally had a chance to look at May's lesson : this was Effy's version

I decided I'd just go with a single page in my journal and began by transferring the figures from the template provided by Effy using carbon paper. By leaving the figures faceless, they can represent any loving relationship. First I blocked in some colour and then created some more of the paper stitched elements that I've been enjoying lately.

The moon is an acetate shape stitched over book paper, and the rest is organza stitched over book paper. The words are present and loved.The rest of the page evolved fairly quickly and represents all the people who have stood beside me supporting me through this year. I've included symbolism that holds meaning for me.

I am really happy to report that  chemo and some conservative surgery have worked to clear the breast cancer from my body without me needing a full mastectomy 💜 I got the news on Friday. I need to complete my recovery from surgery and then have radiotherapy, so I'm not quite done yet, but so grateful for this outcome. This lesson was just what I needed to celebrate this weekend. I don't mind that it didn't turn out to be related to Rumi's quote and love how my creative process supports and reflects what's going on in my life. 

Flashback to last year's May "Klimt in the Garden with Rumi" mixed media card - see the details HERE. 

Find out more about A Year of Rumi with Effy Wild HERE. All the lessons are available for instant access in the classroom. See all my posts about this class HERE.

Journal 52 : Week 29

Journal 52 is a weekly prompt from Effy Wild (Free HERE) that I'm creating on a deck of jumbo playing cards 3.5'' x 4.75'' (8.5 x 12 cm). Each card will include stitch, a found word, and be inspired by the project I've been working on that week or what's lying leftover on my work table. See the original post HERE.
#29 : Immersion. I love how a creative idea can pull you in and you want to just keep going with it....shared these stitched paper embellishments in my previous post 

so had to use some to create my card. Happily immersed in this play of fibre, paper, stitch...I lost track of time. Perfect!

Find all my Journal 52 posts HERE 

Creating stitched embellishments for art journals

I had a bit of a play day recently making stitched embellishments to add to my books for June and July. I thought it would be useful to gather all my ideas here for our collective future use.

My new favourite thing is to free-motion machine stitch over organza and a layer of paper as seen HERE

I start with organza, laying it over a large print book page and stitch around found words I like on the page. Then fill in the gaps with shapes and cut apart

This organza is actually orange and the colour is much truer below. Doing found words this way may be my new favourite thing!

You could also use sheet music or some other text page - in fact any other paper - you just won't have that found word option. 

Free-motion machine stitch over inky paper and tear out as you see HERE

and this one is on watercolour paper - other shapes could easily look cool on watercolour scraps

I also tried a few circles that I can glue a word or other embellishment onto later

Making small tags is always fun though they will cover more of a page of course.

It also occurred to me that I could use some of my acetate shapes more easily in my work by stitching them to scrap inky backgrounds... (these are all on watercolour paper)

All of my examples have been done with the machine but you could use hand stitching instead or as an addition....and I like using black thread, but I also love the gold above and think purple goes with everything 💜

All of these options mean that I can add stitch to my journals but glue them in without having to worry about stitching showing through on the back side of the page. Naturally when I have some more time I will also be having a play with adding sari and organza ribbons and other fabric scraps. The possibilities are endless....

Can't wait to use these and show you how they look within my book pages.

Journal 52 : Week 28

Journal 52 is a weekly prompt from Effy Wild (Free HERE) that I'm creating on a deck of jumbo playing cards 3.5'' x 4.75'' (8.5 x 12 cm). Each card will include stitch, a found word, and be inspired by the project I've been working on that week or what's lying on my work table. See the original post HERE.
#28 : Flow. Inspired by a sweet gift of supplies

I particularly love the soft blue/green of the washi and the gold of the acetate shapes and wrapping paper. Opened the acetate shapes have lovely leafy designs included

I've also celebrated my 10th bloggiversary this week - it's an interesting way to keep track of my flow of creativity, and to recognise there needs to be times of quiet as well as times of productivity and joy. 

This week's card celebrates my 10 year flow of creativity that has bloomed in ways I couldn't have predicted, and I can recognise seeds of ideas from previous work providing a common thread and generating new ideas for future explorations. 

Find all my Journal 52 posts HERE.

My 10th Bloggiversary!

It's my 10th year of blogging this week! I am still enjoying it and I can't imagine stopping any time soon. It keeps me motivated to create; I love to share my process to inspire more creativity - yours as well as mine; I enjoy engaging with you in the comments; and I really value this record of my creative journey which is so much a part of who I am. My blog is called "ALL OF ME"  because of this overlap of my creative process with what's happening in the rest of my life. 2020 has been a challenge for everyone with Covid-19, and if you've visited before you may know that I've also had my own challenges with breast cancer this year. I have finished my chemo and had some surgery on Monday (my actual bloggiversary date). I am recovering really well and get the results next Friday so keep everything crossed for me that this has been successful. Art has supported me by engaging my brain in a way that takes me out of my day and provides stress relief, escape, new discoveries, positive affirmations and joy. I've decided to share 10 of my favourite projects through the years - very hard to choose though! Click on any photo to see it larger.

Before I started art journaling and mixed media art I was a quilter. My most recent quilt was made for a wedding of special friends in February this year : 

I don't quilt that often now - I make maybe a couple of quilts a year for occasions and am hoping to create another for a recent new arrival to our extended family. 

This is My favourite quilt of recent times (December 2018) : I adored this process and would love to do more faces. Wouldn't it be cool to interpret some of my art journal faces with fabric? ...one day

See all the quilts I've shared on the blog HERE.

I LOVE art journaling. I am only a few pages away from completing my altered art journal which I began in January last year 

See pages from this journal in 2019 HERE and 2020 HERE. 

My most favourite projects are when I combine paper, fabric and stitch together : 

This Indian Wall Hanging (completed in 2013) is still one of my favourite projects : 

And I still really love this Fabric Banner (from 2014) made from my Grandmother's serviettes : 

More recently I've been enjoying the challenge of a year-long mixed media project. In 2019 it was Klimt in the Garden with Rumi : 

I'm currently creating a weekly Journal 52 prompt on jumbo sized playing cards : 

I need to create a new container that will hold the entire year.

Also this year I've been creating a book a month. This has given me some of my most favourite projects to re-share here. Please follow the links to see the pages inside these books.

January 2020 : Little Book of Whispers

February 2020 : Self-Love Tag Book

March 2020 : Meander book - Winged Things

May 2020 : Prayer Flag Banner

I really enjoyed those memories of my art. I hope you have enjoyed the revisit or made some new discoveries and will come back and visit with me again soon. Looking forward to sharing what happens next on my creative journey.

Journal 52 : Week 27

Journal 52 is a weekly prompt from Effy Wild (Free HERE) that I'm creating on a deck of jumbo playing cards 3.5'' x 4.75'' (8.5 x 12 cm). Each card will include stitch, a found word, and be inspired by the project I've been working on that week or what's lying leftover on my work table. See the original post HERE.
#27 : Light. Inspired by the rediscovery of some pieces from a play day with alcohol inks. They remind me of stained glass. 

Light is closely aligned to one of my favourite words, Shine. I had thought of a candle initially, and when I went looking in my cupboard for sari ribbon, I found some lovely metallic pieces embossed and coloured with alcohol inks from another play day. 

One was perfect for my candle. Thought I would show you the machine and hand stitching from behind. I always glue another playing card on the back of my work so they look like the original deck from behind when finished.

I love the texture and glow of this one. 

Find all my Journal 52 posts HERE.

Creating a book a month : June and July

I have an Intention to create a book a month this year : small and gorgeous, mixed media and stitched. I had originally thought that I would celebrate my birthday month (June) with another daily journal, but circumstances change and I have decided I will use that format for my 2020 December Daily. In my first post for June I was questioning whether I even had the energy to create a book. Later that week, a lovely blogging friend gifted me with this class by Joanne Sharpe! So very thoughtful and solved my creating a book a month challenge for June....and July! 

It's called Art Sparks : Words and Watercolour and includes watercolour play, lettering, and bookbinding. Below are examples of Joanne's gorgeous inspiring work.

I haven't done much with watercolours so enjoyed the loose paint play Joanne teaches

We then moved on to cutting the papers to create the pages for little books.

I decided to put all my large papers together to create one book with quotes about Shine - a favourite word of mine. I'm not sure if the cover is done yet

This book measures 4" x 6", while the little ones are only 2.75" x 4"

I've not bound these books yet, but here's a couple of sneak peeks at pages in progress in my Shine book. I'm hoping I'll be able to somehow include stitch as well...

I'll share my progress on these little books at the end of the month. See my other posts about creating a book a month HERE

Joanne's developed a series of these classes. She calls them the big, project focused, online classes with the teeny price. She has just released Art Sparks 2 : Colour, Collage, Concertina. Also US$14.95 and starts 20th July.