Bloggiversary and time for a change

It's the end of 2 weeks of school holidays and while I made plans, this time I was less hard on myself about ticking things off a list. I had lots of social outings, I relaxed and read lots of books, we got a few jobs done around the house but I am finishing the break feeling rejuvenated and ready to take on Term 3.

Today is my Bloggiversary and I have been blogging for 15 years! It's a good time to reassess what I'm doing, and I've decided it's the ideal time to stop. My reasons to blog have always been to inspire and connect with others and to keep an online record of my creativity for me. I get more engagement through my Instagram and for the last few years I've been keeping a monthly computer folder of photos as I work so I can see progress even when I'm not finishing anything. Here's a screen shot of what that looks like in case you are inspired to do the same

You can see that month I was working on my JIYA journal, some cards, and a baby quilt but it was a while before I had a "completed project" to share here on the blog. I just label the photos Art 1, Art 2 etc so don't beat myself up if I'm only creating once a week. Some folders this year have got to Art 37 and others only to Art 5 💜 It's all good.

I will probably still keep posting on my Instagram cos it's really lovely to go and scroll through my own art in one visual spot. My most recent post there was of these clusters I made with leftover paper and fabric bits that some would call scraps and throw away

And I have just realised I've spent over an hour composing and re-writing and editing this  - time I could have spent creating...This Note to Self was one of my first posts : 

Thank you for your past visits and comments. I'm not taking the blog down so we can continue to visit our favourite projects. 

June Review

June means the proper onset of frosts and winter weather, with Winter Solstice and the shortest day falling on Matariki this year. It's a time of reflection, remembrance of those who have passed, celebrating the present and planning for the future. It's been birthday month for me and my youngest son so every weekend we've been seeing family and friends for various outings and celebration gatherings. At school I am busy training our team and fundraising for our Lit Quiz World final; I trained another team for a Book Battle regional quiz last week (they tied for first place!); and I've been looking ahead to the New Zealand Children's book awards cataloguing books and making preparations at the beginning of next term for Book Week with a school quiz and dress-up day before we go away to Johannesburg!

Considering all we've had happening this month, I'm grateful to have completed a couple of special projects. I finished knitting a blanket for my grandson - it's a square so multi-use for pram, carseat, and general snuggles. 

For my son's 21st I used Optimal Print to create a photo book. You upload all your photos digitally and then move them around to create a book of memories. That sounds quick, but it qualifies as a significant creative project. Thrilled with the quality of the printing and they were efficient with delivery.

I managed to make progress on more base pages in my JIYA Journal this last few days. I love it when I do it, but I feel like I want to get this one completed and move onto another project now. 

As we finish June, I am starting 2 weeks of school holidays. Hoping for some decent creative time and hopefully I can share a flip-through of this journal finished.

The Make Create Express free weekend is on again next month : 12th and 13th July. 

All the info about what's included and how to sign up is HERE. It can be overwhelming to have so much on offer, and I think my cup of inspiration is full at the moment!

A short post this month and I wish I had more creativity to share, but when I look at the state of the world and news headlines, I am so very grateful for the life I have. 

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 💜