May Review

May was a big month of loveliness for me. The weather continues to be mainly settled so not too cold yet. We are enjoying cuddles with our new grandson and seeing our son and his lovely partner being wonderful parents. I have decided to go back to Aquarobics which is such fun. And...I took my school Kids' Lit Quiz team to the National competition in Wellington and we won it! This means we qualify for the World competition to be held in Johannesburg in August. Lots to organise and still seems a surreal achievement but our flights are booked. Eeeek!

With working full time and those extra things taking my energy and focus outside work, I am so proud of what I have still managed to achieve creatively this month. 
JIYA Journal - still pages left in this journal to create some shine in Winter.

One of my ideas this year was Creating a Book a Month. This was January

February

March (not a book!)

And life happens, so I gave myself some grace and created the makings for a book in April

I have finally managed to complete my book 

I had done up to prompt 4 of Messy May on loose pages before the book was together

I'm just going to keep going using those delicious messy papers and fabric bits into June - whatever works right?!

I've also been knitting a blanket for my grandson's pram/carseat - I've got 1/3 to go. 

Red Cross do a book sale every Kings' Birthday weekend. This was my treasure this year - all will attain new life in my artwork. $4 each - a bargain adds to the joy.

Last month I shared Wendy Solganik's free Mixed Media 101 series. 

I'm sharing it again because although you can watch the main videos on YouTube (see the playlist here), I have since discovered that if you enrol (still FREE) on Willa Workshops you get an extended version ie. more content! As I type this, on YouTube there are 8 videos on the playlist, whilst in the workshop there are those videos plus extra tips about organisation and storage, aging fluid recipes and thoughts about finding your style. Useful things even for the more experienced artist, and definitely would be amazing if you're a beginner. 

Tammy of Daisy Yellow is doing ICAD again - read all about it HERE.

Create art on an index card from 1st June - 31st July. I have friends doing the 100 Day project and they create a series of 7 cards once a week, so you could try that. Have fun!

I post as art happens on my Instagram and Facebook Artist's page. Altho there's lots I don't love about those platforms, at least I can scroll through easily and see my art 💜 

April Review

Daylight Savings has ended and I have to admit we are in Autumn now (leaves falling, lower temperatures at night, dark by 6pm) but we had stunning weather for our school holidays, including Easter and ANZAC weekends, and I'm only just thinking about swapping out my summer clothes for boots and warmer layers. 

In my work life, I started April with a couple of "Be Brave" art sessions at school (2 hour sessions with 20 students learning something different out of their comfort zone). I taught them how to collage master sheets and then use these to create a zine from a single piece of paper or make bookmarks. This is their work.

In case you are keen to make zines yourself, Camila Garcia has created a YouTube called Mastering the Art of Zine Folding and shares 5 different ways of folding a book from one piece of paper. Very clear instructions and useful to have a variety of techniques in one place. 

See her other beautiful zines here. 

I am also very proud to say that my Intermediate School Kids' Lit Quiz A team competed against 45 other teams and won their Regional heat of the Kids' Lit Quiz on the last Monday of term. The team of 4 answered 100 questions : 10 questions across 10 different categories (unknown ahead of the day). They will compete in the National final later this month.

In my last review I shared that I was making a secret stitchy project that had an April deadline. Here's the quilt for my gorgeous first grandchild.

I stitched these words around the borders : twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are, up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. 

This was the song I used to sing my boys when they needed soothing and is a strong memory that will hopefully now get passed to our next beautiful generation. 

Still working in my yellow JIYA Journal - a place for written journaling. These are some of the spreads from April : 

I am half way through now and it is just what I need it to be right now.

I joined Brooke Henry's offering of BB Bash Beyond which I shared last month (no longer available) which gave me lifetime access to all her prompts from the offering plus fun bonus content. During April I managed to play with the prompts of Messy

Repetition

and Scraps - snippet rolls and a master sheet on a recycled coffee sachet box which is going to be a book cover!

She has also inspired me to rearrange my supplies : I have always organised paper and fabrics by colour so why not paints and markers?! Seems obvious when I always gather by colour story for projects! She made me realise that this way you can concentrate on using the whole variety of supplies you have, making substitutions and using everything because you can see it. I had such fun laying out the colour stories.

Seeing them this way I am even enthused to use colours that aren't my favourites - all look full of possibility to me ♥ I now have dedicated containers that I will pull out as I do my projects with limited colour palettes.

A few free classes around at the moment - I guess Spring in the Northern Hemisphere is a time for new ideas. I was thinking I'd do Messy May (you can sign up HERE to get prompts delivered by email or just follow along on Instagram or Youtube) but I might just give myself some grace and hopefully create a journal with the lessons I have from Brooke. I have the prompts if I change my mind as I get into this month. 

Tam is hosting a new venture in May with 35+ art sessions.

As is often the case with such a large offering there is a 2 week free showcase (1-14th May) and then you can sign up for lifetime access for a price. Find out about the artists and sign up here.

Wendy Solganik is also offering a free Mixed Media 101 series. 

As I write this she has a playlist on YouTube that so far includes Under paper, Paper stash, Know your glue and Limited colour palettes. If you are a beginning artist, what I've seen so far is highly recommended. You can also get these videos as a free class which you sign up to from her site. This would be the way to go if you are interested in joining her email list and getting information about other classes and special deals. It's also a useful place to read more about what videos and why she is producing in this series.  

Hope May treats you well. You can see me posting during the month as projects happen on my Instagram and Facebook Artist's page.

March review

March is the start of the Autumn months here although I am in complete denial as I post this that Summer is on its way out. So far we have been blessed by gorgeous sunny days and cooler nights for sleeping and I've only had to put on an extra layer in the evening a couple of times so far. Often we have lovely weather through April school holidays, so cross everything for me...

I decided I'd create another batch of cards to see me through the next few months. I had some leftover background card which I was able to trim to size and then I made a variety of watercolour florals. 

I ended up with 2 sets of 6 cards and some leftover stems to keep for future inspiration. 

JIYA Journal - still making slow progress in here.

Love how pages evolve and I don't know how they will turn out when I set them up...

This patterned plastic flap turned out to be a fun way to 'disguise' some of my writing about stuff I wanted to note but not dwell on. 

This journal will probably see me through the end of Autumn but not sure if I will create another after that or move to something else. 

I decided to Create a Book a Month this year. I didn't quite get my February book completed for my last review so if you haven't already seen it on my FB or Insta here it is :

I also did a flip through on Youtube : 

Sadly I haven't made a book in March. As well as the late finish of my February book, my mother-in-law went into care this month and I've been doing a secret stitchy project that has an April deadline.

Pleased to say this project is complete - I just can't share til after it is gifted.

I also had to prepare for a couple of Be Brave art sessions at school (2 hour sessions with 20 students learning something different out of their comfort zone). I will teach them how to collage master sheets and then use these to create a zine from a single piece of paper, and make tags, bookmarks and cards. These were my gatherings for our meet and greet session last week. I will share the results of the class next month.

Brooke Henry hosted her Free BB Bash for the second half of this month and I had thought I would use her lessons for a book but I was just too busy. Instead I've decided to join her offering of BB Bash Beyond which is US$29 and gives lifetime access to all the prompts plus fun bonus content. Brooke is so generous in her sharing of creative lessons, this also makes me feel good that I am supporting her as a working artist. 

For April, I'm hopeful I'll get to play with Brooke's lessons, and there are quite a few other options for free play and inspiration.

Francesca Nunes has a free week of exploring creative ways to print on paper and fabric : March 31-April 4. Sign up here. 

Jack Ravi and Jane Chipp have an #artfulmemorieschallenge. Click on that hashtag for responses to previous challenges, and go here for the list for April 2025 prompts.  

The invitation is to respond to these prompts (each is a tiny, poetic biography… the start of a story waiting to be told) using found photographs. You can use your own photographs, or download free images on their website. 

I also found this free class this month : Tina Walker shared her #5waysjournal finished HERE on Insta.The base for each page was created through the 20 techniques she shares in her free online workshop. 

The workshop features how to use her and your favorite mixed media supplies to create wonderful bases and backgrounds for your art journals and junk journals and how to bind all of your pages together in a flexible and fun way. You can sign up here. 

So much goodness available. You can't do everything but aren't we lucky to have so much on offer? You can see me posting during the month as projects happen on my Instagram and Facebook Artist's page.

February Review

My blog is called "All of Me" so while I want these reviews to celebrate my creativity, I also want to be real about life. February has been both very tough and also full of joy. On the joyful front, both our sons have found their loves and we have celebrated an engagement and a baby shower. The tough stuff is stressful and exhausting but we can do hard things if we celebrate the good, support each other, and give ourselves grace to accept help and take breaks when we need to without feeling guilty. I am grateful that in February I read some great books, had some lovely catch ups with friends, enjoyed swims and sunshine and long daylight hours. I'm back at work for Term 1 at school which is busy and exhausting but also very rewarding. And I managed to create art this month. I made a 50th birthday card for a friend : 

My JIYA Journal isn't anywhere near a daily journaling practice yet, but I have made progress. These are some favourite spreads from the month.

I'm still enjoying the yellow base (see how it started here) and it will serve me well as we approach Autumn.

I've embarked on a monthly challenge this year : Creating a Book a Month. January was an Accordian Junk Journal. My February book was inspired by Autumn Moon's Circle Journal (sorry you can no longer sign up for this class). I managed to have several fun sessions making papers 

and I've cut them into the circle shapes 

and started to put them together 

but I'll have to share the finished book in my next review...Hopefully there'll also be a March book to share then. 

Brooke Henry is once more hosting her BB Bash later this month : a FREE 14-day interactive experience filled with live calls, prompts, and hands-on art-making. Sign up HERE. March 16-29, 2025. Loved this last year. She says it's for mixed media artists, beginners, and creatives who want to let go of perfection, embrace play, and explore new techniques.

If you are interested in participating in the 100 Day project see my January review post and check out more from Roben-Marie Smith about getting ready.  I'm loving her posts on Instagram about #100daysofembellishbits

I will continue to post as art happens on my Instagram and Facebook Artist's page. I hope that March treats us all kindly and that we can find joy in our days.