And so it begins....

Starting the new year in a way I hope to continue....

Gorgeous weather on 1st January = family outing to the river. Outings to the beach or river recharge me.

Stitching 

More of this in a future post

Reading good Fiction

Enjoying new art inspiration (a Christmas gift)

And in the spririt of my word for 2014

I've started looking at some free online classes

HERE

HERE

January Experiments HERE

and this one isn't free but very good value - this is my 3rd year

HERE 

Will share when I've got art to show you inspired by the above. Note that I will keep updating the list of cheap and free online class options for 2014 and you can always access that in my side bar.

Strathmore have released Joanne Sharpe's artful card-making videos on their Youtube channel...that link is worth checking out for many free tutorials.

December Daily finished

I've now completed the December Daily project inspired by Ali Edwards. My project is this altered book.

This is the last few days of December at my house. Click on any photo to see it larger.

And here's the finished book chock full of goodness :-)

So loved doing this altered book. It started like this

And now I've got this

Doesn't shut flat anymore :-)

See my other postings about the project here or view all the finished pages together in my flickr set. Now I'm returning to my normal daily calendar journaling practice for 2014 and can get stuck into some new free classes.

My Word for 2014

Happy New Year

I am ready to embrace what 2014 has in store for me.

I'm starting a new job as the School Librarian at Carncot Independent School. I'll work 3 hours every day during term time so I get to do what I love professionally, and still have time for my family and creativity :-) 

Time to share my word for the year. Some of my past words have been  Completion (2013), Lighten Up (2012), Be Present (2011). Although I sometimes lose sight of it towards the end of the year, I do find it a helpful way to start. Hear Christine Kane talking about the concept here. If you think you'd like to choose a word, there's a huge list of possibilities here.

I have finally settled on

Living Thrifty will mean :

* Using what I have and not buying new art supplies.

* Not buying new art books - I have enough inspiration on my bookshelf to last me a lifetime!

Lucky me got the Stencil Girl book for Christmas and
the library can feed my art book habit without me spending :-)

* Completing current workshops instead of spending money on new ones

BUT don't forget the free ones :-)
* Making more meals/trying new recipes and buying takeaways less (currently once a week)

* Continuing to attend the gym regularly so I am using my  monthly membership payment well

* Using my time wisely - spending less time on the computer looking at other people's work and concentrate on creating in my studio

Would love you to leave a comment telling me your word or creative goals for 2014. See you again soon