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.

May : Prayer flags banner finished

Creating my book for May turned into a banner of prayer flags and I'm loving it. These 'pages' definitely fulfil the brief of being a monthly creation on book pages that is small and gorgeous, mixed media and stitched. I chose my words early on and stamped them on fabric with permanent ink

Next was to create my bases of book pages topped with organza and I took the opportunity to stitch some little elements too

Then it was over to intuitive layering 

First I made piles of papers, fabric and trims that could be included

It all came together very easily after that gathering.  Enjoyed the play again of making tyvek beads

and including old lace pieces and lovely sari ribbons

 It was a joyful and heart-led project. This is the entire banner followed by close-up shots of each word flag. 

Looking forward to a new project creating my book for June.

Little Book of Whispers

My intention to create a book a month is off to a good start although a little delayed by the wedding quilt I made. January's book is inspired by Laly Mille's class Little Book of Whispers

I shared my initial thoughts and gatherings HERE

The pile of gatherings grew as a happy result of doing some cleaning out of my studio....

I already know the size of my cover (16.5 cm square), so began by quickly putting together 3 folios - a spread that will equal 4 pages when finished. It doesn't seem like many but I've learned from experience that books with less pages are more rewarding to create since they get finished! I will have 12 pages from 3 folios and I can always add more if I find I can't fit in everything I want to express. These are the 6 sides as they began - already with a lace flap and pocket

I'm not going to show you a step by step process. You'll have to take the class ♥  
My book has been inspired by gratitude, joy in the creative process, and affirmations related to my recent diagnosis. I want these monthly book creations to be small and thought it would be most useful to take a photo with my hand for size comparison

I was very excited to be able to use many special elements in this book and some favourite and meaningful colours. 
Pieces of my Great Grandmother's collection of lace

Elements that were waxed in a play day many years ago 

I always love butterflies as one of my special recurring symbols in my art

Meaningful found words - you may remember that this year I am going to Shine with Intention (above)

Including stitch throughout as much as possible

Lovely tyvek beads made by Carolyn Saxby (she's announced her shop reopening Feb 2020) and gifted by a special friend

I ended up with 14 pages since I worked on my 12 double pages separately before stitching them into another folio that was then glued into the cover beneath 2 end pages 

Here's my book in detail. Click on any photo to see it larger

I tried my first flip through video. Let me know if you like this or would have liked larger photos of individual pages. 

In my first post about this monthly project I said I'm concentrating on small and gorgeous, mixed media and stitched. Intention fulfilled for January ♥