A Weekend of Rest.......Mentally and Physically

Today has been a day of healing for me.
Both mentally and physically.
I am fighting a cold and sore throat that I am certain one of my darling little 2 year olds gave to me at work.
I am also trying to catch up on rest, if not sleep, that I have been lacking for the past 2 weeks.
For whatever reason, my brain has decided that sleep is not necessary for me, and staying asleep
for more than 2 hours at a stretch has proved impossible lately.

When I am nursing a cold, I like to stick with natural, holistic remedies.  Me and medications have a love/hate relationship.  I love what they do when they work, but I hate how they make me feel in the process.  So I try and stay away from them.

 

 

 Ingredients for Turmeric Lassi that I made last weekend to help ward off this cold and boost  my immune system. 

 

 





 Today's drink of choice to help soothe a sore throat.  I am not able to drink caffeine anymore, so I am really glad that my favorite Tulsi tea is caffeine free.  A lot of time, I will make up my own lemon ginger tea, but today I just was not feeling it and took the easy way out.  I have had my tea kettle on the wood stove for most of the day, keeping my water hot and ready for whenever my tea cup ran low.

Healing the body is one thing, but healing the soul is another.  The past two weeks have been tough ones for me and I am working through a few personal things.  Nothing earth shattering,  just things I need to deal with.  Today, I decided not to think about those particular things and I would let another part of my mind take over.  I brought my paints out next to the wood stove, set up a nice area to do some painting and found a lesson in Tamara Laporte's Life Book 2013 course that Mindy Lacefield was teaching and got busy.  It was so fun to paint like a child and just let go.  I have been in such a funk lately, I forgot how much doing my art makes me relax and lets my mind just shut off.  It was really, really nice.

I just painted this one right into my art journal knowing that I would probably be journaling throughout the day and weekend.  It's called A Bunny Party and it just makes me smile.

Next was a Mindy Lacefield inspired self portrait.  I really love the way Mindy paints.  Her whimsical, colorful approach to her art is so happy.  And her techniques are such that I can make them work for me. 

 Tomorrow I will do more of the same.  Probably more journaling with pen and paper so that I can dump out some ideas and thoughts rambling around in my little head, that other people don't really need to read nor probably want to read.

I have a few photos to post before I sign off.   They are of the wood box that my sweet hubby designed for me, using old doors that we found in an abandoned barn. Robby built it and I sanded the wood down to a smooth finish and then covered it in a clear finishing wax.  The paint is all the original paint on the doors.  I simply love it and especially love the shelf he added so that I can create little arrangements of some of my favorite objects and change them out on a whim.  We have our wood stove burning from October until well into March and sometimes even April.  That means we go through a lot of firewood, so it is nice to have something so pretty holding our wood and a few of my favorite things.

 

 

And That My Friends, Is What I Call, A Great Weekend

Oh my goodness!!!

Did this weekend really just happen?

This was one of the most perfectly relaxing weekends ever!!!!

 

It started out perfect when I went to work on Friday.

I was certain we were having a St. Patty's Day party

in our classroom, but I was wrong.

But I didn't care.

Another teacher made me a party hat, I went and bought some

kid friendly (that means stuff I wouldn't normally eat) snacks

and we had a St. Patty's Day party by crackie!!!!

 

My Party Hat clearly shows that I am always down for a party!!!!!

 

Nothing says 2 year old party like Cheese Puffs and Sugar Cookies!!!!

 

Kids were happy when they woke up from their naps

and I didn't feel like I had let them all down.

Next year I will remember we don't normally do

St. Patrick's Day parties;)

 

So once I was home, the weekend had begun.

The sun was still up, the temps were comfortable,

I poured a glass of wine and headed outside to

find my husband.

 

Cheers to the weekend and St. Patty's Day:)

 

Saturday started off with a fabulous visit from our lovely post lady.

When I saw her car coming up the drive, I knew I had goodies arriving.

I had been anxiously awaiting a necklace I had bought from the

amazing Danita's Etsy Shop.

It was a Frida necklace she had made and I wanted it badly.

 

Isn't it pretty in it's little pouch and the cute little post card with it too?

Love this lady!!!!!

 

I had to put the necklace on immediately and hoped that the spirit of Frida

and some inspiration from Danita would send me straight to my

studio ready to create, create, CREATE!!!!!!

 

Isn't she just the most precious little thing you have ever seen?

God I love Frida!!!!!!

 

I had also ordered two books to help with my creative process.

The first one is called Daring Adventures In Paint by the wonderfully talented

Mati Rose McDonough,

The other is by the equally amazing and talented

Flora Bowley

and it is called

Brave Intuitive Painting

let go. be bold. unfold.

 

These two books are filled with great ideas of how to get in touch

with your own style and learn to let what is inside of you come out

onto a canvas as art.

 

I was so excited, I didn't know what to do first,

read my books, work in my art journal, work on a piece i am making for a friend or

work on my LifeBook 2013 class.

I started reading but then all I wanted to do was start making art.

So that's what I did.

First I did a few pages in my art journal.

 

 

 

Then I decided to get serious.

I have a friend I have wanted to make an art piece for.

She said something to me a few weeks ago that stuck in my head.

After a while, I realized this was actually a little snip of inspiration to create a

new piece of mixed media.  So I went to my studio and set myself to work.

 

Several layers of papers, layers of color, some molding paste for texture,

a transfer or two, a sketch and then....

 

 

I topped it off with a layer of beeswax which I have never done before.

That was a lot of fun and I do need much more practice, but now the finished

piece has not only color, but it feels good and has a very earthy smell from the wax.

 

 I used some of my old patterns I inherited from my mom for some of the

under layers.

Used some of my stamps and a few of my transfers

and was so proud that I could draw my elephant free hand:)

 

Wish you could tell I had sealed this in the beeswax but you will just

have to take my word for it.  I need a lot more practice with this technique

but I really enjoyed it.

 

This is how happy i am after all is said and done and all that is left

is cleaning up.  What a great day in my favorite "space".

 

The only thing left to do was to make a wonderful dinner.

I had started dough for french bread earlier in the morning so all I had to

do was put that in the oven.

 

Two lovely loaves of french bread.

 

Next was to start up some homemade pasta sauce with garlic, olives, peppers we preserved from

our garden last summer and some Italian Sausage.

Oh my goodness, the kitchen smelled so wonderful!!!!!

 

 

My sweet hubby had been watching his beloved NASCAR Race while i was spending

amazing time in my studio and kitchen.  At last it was all ready and we came together

for a lovely Italian dinner on a wonderful Irish Holiday.

 

 

What more can one ask of a weekend?

(only that the snow falling outside right now is enough to keep me from having to go

to work in the morning ;) )

 

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and that the week ahead brings you so much

happiness and love you think you are going to burst at the seams.

Make it a great one!!!!

Hugs and kisses

Deb

 

 



Wow, Now That Was Fun!!!!!!!

So this past week, I spent a lot of time being creative. 

I made a lamp for a friend for a birthday gift, I doodled a lot on my lunch breaks.
Did some sketching and painting with water colors in the evenings and on our snow day.
Altered the cover and back of a new small journal I bought to sketch and paint in.
Cooked up some pretty yummy recipes.
Found some new artists who inspired me and gave me some ideas.
Took some pictures with my real camera and not just my IPod.

It was so much fun spending so much time doing something that I LOVE!!!!!!  Many of my sketches were sketches of other artists paintings and creations.  But they were a good way for me to practice and try to work closer to finding my style.  Obviously from the list above of things I did, I am still all over the map with what I am doing, but oh well.  Being creative is being creative right?  Today I am going to start and hopefully finish a mixed media project I want to give to a friend.

The best way to explain what I have been doing is showing it in pictures.  So that's what the rest of this post shall be.  My girl drawings and Little Frida painting were my interpretations of Danita.'s artwork.   She is an amazing artist I came across thanks to my LifeBook 2013 class I am taking.  I just can't get enough of her work and just love, love, love her style.  I even wrote to her and asked her for some guidance in how to go about finding my style.  She was so kind to write me back and gave me some helpful tips, including that while copying her work was a good way for me to practice my art, it would not help me develop my own style.  I know this is so true, but I just so enjoy the process, that until I feel confident in my own ability, it is at least a way for me to do something.  I am strongly considering doing her online workshop too, but maybe I can get my hubby to give that to me as a birthday gift:) Hint, hint!!!!!!

"Reading" Lamp idea came from

Shabby Creek Cottage 

 

 Just as daylight was breaking, a beautiful blue sheen was cast across into the world

from the freshly falling snow.

 

Poulet Chateau was not showing much activity

as the chickies don't like the snow 

 

 But Beauty sure does love it!!!!!!

 

Something about all that gorgeous snow in the trees and surronding the house

makes it feel like a magical place to me.

 

  My Danita inspired Flower Child.

 

 With the electricity out, my creative spot became a seat in

front of the woodstove.  Boots drying on the hearth and natural

light being my lighting. 

 

Decided to start working back in my Art Journal I had started last year and had

stopped working on in March.  Oddly enough, the last day I had made an entry in

it last year, was the exact date that I brought it back out this year to work in.

First entry, my Little Frida painting.

This journal was for an online class I did called

No More Excuses by Gina Rossi Armfield.

I found all kinds of excuses not to complete it, but that is okay.

I have picked it back up and back on task now:)

 

 My new small journal with watercolor paper pages.  Loved finding this at

Hobby Lobby but not crazy about the plain brown cover.  No worries

I just altered it to a nice inspiration cover and back:)

(MegPie, notice your lovely gift of amazing slippers right beside me!!!)

 

 

The new cover. 

 

The new back

 

 My "Little Frida"

Thanks Danita for loving Frida as much as I do

and bringing these cuties to my attention.

 

 The sun finally came back out and the snow started to melt.

Poulet Chateau is once again loud and active.

 

Waiting patiently for me to let them out and about!!!

 

 Love me some blue sky

 

 Looks like I need to fill up some bird feeders!!!

 

A little something I am working on for someone

 

 

Yet another Danita inspired girl.  I just LOVE her work and would buy every single

piece if I could afford it!!!!

I am anxiously awaiting a Frida necklace I bought from her Etsy shop to arrive.

 

 

 

So, there you have it.  My amazing week in pictures.  Here's wishing you a fabulous Sunday, a Wonderful Mother's Day to those of you in the parts of the world that celebrate it today and a great week to everyone.

XXOO

 

 

 

 

 



Jack Of All Trades, Master Of None

Well, okay, not really even a jack of ALL trades, but, you know what I mean.

This is the story of my life and lately it is making me crazy!!!!!  I have always been a little off center.  Not quite like anyone else I know, march to the beat of my own drum and hard to fit it in a category.  But, not quirky enough or out of the box enough to be really good at the things those TYPE of people are good at.  You know the type I mean, the artsy ones who are able to somehow put the quirky thoughts and ideas blasting through their minds at rapid speed, down on paper, or shape into clay, paint onto a canvas, sew onto some type of medium, write into music, choreograph into a dance, fashion into a piece of jewelry, etc.

That type is who I am in my mind, but somehow, there is a glitch in my wiring and I can't get put into play those thoughts in my mind.  It is a most aggravating predicament.  I pour through pages and pages of articles and pictures of other artist's work in magazines such as Mollie Makes and any and all of the Somerset magazines wishing I had what these artists have.  I read their stories, and sure, some of them claim to have never known they had the ability and talents that they have until later in life when suddenly they realized what they could create.  I am pretty sure this is not my case as I have always, since I was a little girl, wanted to be able to create something.  I mean sure, I can look at other artists work and create my own version of what they have done.  I can read any recipe and pretty much cook or bake whatever the recipe is for and it turn out pretty darn good. But what I can't do is come up with anything on my own.  How do these artists, and I consider a chef or a baker an artist too, come up with the original ideas?  How do I find what it is, that is my style?  I love so many different forms of art and so many styles, but there must be something that is ME, my style.

I am obsessed with creating these days.  I find more and more inspiration everyday.  The internet has become a drug for me, sucking me farther and farther into a world of creating that I never knew existed.  With each new artist I find, there is a link to another artist who inspires them, and off I go to find that artist.  I can't get enough.  Every waking moment is spent wanting to make something, find my style,  my niche.  I read blog after blog and search artist after artist looking for something.  I carry a bag full of scrap material, watercolors, a sketch pad with watercolor papers inserted throughout, embroidery thread, a pack of needles, markers, sketch pencils, blank note cards to decorate just in case I get hit by a  moment of honest originality and need to get it put on paper at that moment.  I haunt thrift shops and flea markets looking for bits and bobs of old stuff: doilies, embroidered hankies, table runners, table cloths, cloth napkins, vintage fabrics and anything else I can re purpose into what, I don't know. 

All I know to do is to keep signing up for the online workshops I find, beg others to please tape their workshops so that they can be put on line and keep on creating the way that I can.  Most of what I make no one but me ever sees.  There is the rare occasion that I may give something I have made to someone, or most likely make a handmade card for an occasion. I would love some day to have enough confidence in what I do to share it with others besides the Flickr groups that are in my online classes.  I would love to come up with something completely my own from start to finish and it be good.  But regardless of who does or doesn't see my work, I am having a great time pretending to be amazing and creative.  There is just something so fun about painting, cutting, sewing together, taking apart and putting back together in a new way, gluing, drawing and imagining.  I long for the day when I can spend all of my time doing just this, but when that day comes, it will also be time for me to get my little farm animals and be working my on going garden which will sustain my family all year through.

Oh dear, I fear that at the age of almost 48, I have waited too long to follow my heart's desire.  I pray my body and mind hold out for all that I want to accomplish in my lifetime.  Perhaps one lifetime is just not enough to do it all.

I would like to thank the artists that I can think of at the moment, for all of the inspiration they have given to me.  Many have responded back when I have written them either on Facebook or their blog or etsy shop.   One I get to call my sister and have the blessing of being a part of her life and work.  These ladies all hold a special place in my heart and give me the fire and drive to keep trying to find my groove, my niche, my STYLE.

Vivian Driskill
Viv Sliwka
Jane Schouten
Phoebe Wahl
Rachelle Blondel
Tif Fussell
Tamara Laporte
Jeanne Oliver
Christy Tomlinson
Meg Duerksen
Megan Richards Modderman
Kelly Rae Roberts
Michelle Allen
Pam Garrison
Gina Rossi Armfield
Marisa Redondo
and last but not least, Frida Kahlo who was my very first inspiration.  A truly tortured soul with amazing talent.

Been Busy

So I know I have been missing in action, but..............
I have been having a lot of fun on my days away from work and in spare moments at night.
I promise to come back and write about what I have been doing, but basically i have gone crazy having fun creating, crafting and cooking.

Hope you all have a great day and a very wonderful Love Day tomorrow!!!!
Here's a little snip of what's been going on.

Cleaning Up To Create

Yes, the new year is one day away.  Along with the New Year comes a new on-line art class that I am so super excited to be a part of.

LifeBook 2013 by tamara laporte is going to be a one year long Art Journaling class that will teach me all types of new techniques for my Mixed Media art.  21 teachers plus Tamara will be teaching the year long course.  I treated myself to this class with the money my pops gave me for Christmas.  After much thought and "window" shopping to see what I wanted to spend the money on, I finally decided this was something I truly wanted to do for myself.  The money leftover from paying for the class went towards a wonderful on-line shopping trip to Blick to buy some new art supplies for the class.  I just LOVE buying new art supplies.  I love it so much that I almost hate opening them when they arrive and using them.  I want them to stay new forever, hahaha.

After I had made this commitment to this class, I realized my "studio" was in shambles.  I had been pottering with the sewing machine earlier this winter and working on many different projects and not necessarily finishing any of them.  I had run out of space to store my supplies that I was accumulating and the room was a MESS!!!!  There is a big OLD pool table smack dab in the middle of the room I use to do art in.  I cannot tell you that last time anyone played pool on it.  Robby wants to sell it, but we just have never gotten around to advertising it on any listings.  SO.......it has turned into a crafting/storage table for me.  But I would really love for it to vanish so I can fix the room up the way I want it. 

Here is an idea of how it looked before I started tackling the mess and how it looked after.  Notice the befores are taken during lovely daylight and the afters are at night.  I got a little distracted and had to break for dinner.  I am not nearly done organizing, but I was getting really tired and just needed to stop and I will start fresh tomorrow.  The class starts on Tuesday, so as long as I am cleaned up by then I should be good.

I know, the pool table doesn't look much different at all.  But actually, stuff that was on there was put away, and more stuff was put on there in it's place, hahahaha.

But seriously, the lighting in that room during the day is amazing.  It is so bright and cheery, I wish every room in my house was this bright.  And with views like these from the room, it is hard to concentrate for too long on what I am suppose to be doing.

The late afternoon light streaming in even made a mess look not quite so ugly.

Well, the ironing board is now back where it belongs and will no longer be used as a table to hold "stuff".  I can actually get to my table to sit at it now:)

Maybe I will even find a way to hang some pieces that I did last year and never got around to hanging up.

 

 

So, tomorrow I will get back to work in there again and make room for all the new supplies that should be arriving soon.  If any of you artsy folks have any storage ideas for me, I would love to hear them.  Shelving, storage container ideas, anything and everything would be helpful. 

 

Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful New Year's Eve.  I am once again sick with the Kiddie Crud as I have now named it.  This first year of working so closely with 2 year olds is kicking my BUTT!!! Robby and I will be staying home and staying alone so I don't get anyone else sick.  But for all of you who read this blog, have a Very Happy New Year, be safe and be happy.  XXOO

Debbie