Stepping Out Challenge - Day 7 - Creating Art Journals

Welcome to today's post, I am taking part in a 31 day blog challenge where I post everyday in October.  I love creating challenges for myself and joining ones by others.  My challenge for the rest of the month is to reflect on some of the series I created for myself and inspiration that I have taken away.

Listen to the Podcast

Today I am sharing about the 31 Art Journal challenge that I did by the same name in which I share 31 different Art Journals that I had made or altered, over a period of time.

I have been creating for as long as I can remember, and embarked on Art Journaling for around 14 years.

I was trying to find my particular style and wasn't sure how or where to find it but found that working in an art journal allowed me to experiment.  I created small pieces and built up my confidence.  I would use my art journal in the same way as my written journal.  I would create pieces that spoke to me and told my story, not necessary for others to see but to enable me to express myself visually.

Journals enabling you to combine art and encouraging words

At one point I did try to combine my written journal and my art journal but for me both fulfill a necessary function on their own and use both, and more recently I have been putting journaling on my art journal pages.

Over the years of taking many course I became confident with making my own art journals and also re-purposing.  I used to buy them but found when you make them or altered them yourself it added to the uniqueness and has an integral part to the stories that the particular art journal held.

Collage Journal

As time has gone and playing about with my own style I have my own way of doing things.  I create a lot of Art Journals from recycled materials and it is wonderful to see what would normally be thrown out be transformed into a thing of beauty, combining collage, and mixed media supplies

Creating the 31 Art Journal Challenge enabled me to see just how many art journals I had created - the time put into each and there are a lot more than 31 now.

Soul Restoration Journal

I encourage you to try making a journal of your own out of the supplies that are currently available to you, try making different sizes and see which one works with you best and let me know how you get on!

Tomorrow I will share the second part from my 31 Art Journal Series, which also looks at some of the courses that I have taught on.  I hope during this month you find some time to challenge, be creative and stretch yourself.

John Lewis Journal

Why not join me each day for the rest of October as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life. 

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, it is never too late to start! The main thing is to take one step at a time and do something that you find interesting.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Ps: Check out some books and art supplies in the links  below:  

Adorn it - http://bit.ly/AdorAT18

Dollar Tree - http://bit.ly/DolAT18

Blick - http://bit.ly/Blick18

Book Outlet - http://bit.ly/BOOKAT18

Stampington - http://bit.ly/STAAT18

C& T Publishing -  http://bit.ly/CNTPAT18

Dover - http://bit.ly/DOVPAT18

Craftsy Kits - http://bit.ly/CrafAT18

Amazon Store -  https://www.amazon.com/shop/realityarts

Stepping Out Challenge - Day 6 - Getting the most from your Garden

Welcome to today's post, I am taking part in a 31 day blog challenge where I post everyday in October.  I love creating challenges for myself and joining ones by others.  My challenge for the rest of the month is to reflect on some of the series I created for myself and inspiration that I have taken away.

Listen to the Podcast

Today I am going to continue with the second part of the series I did on my Gardening Channel called 31 Plants in my Tropical Garden  

Gardening can have it's challenges, ups and downs but it is also extremely rewarding.  I have spoken on the previous post about the joys of growing your own.  I get a real buzz from being able to go and pick some herbs for cooking or fruits and vegetables for a smoothie or salad, and I am increasing the plants that I am growing all the time.

 One of the things that the garden has taught me is the need for patience, at times it felt as if I was checking on the seeds that I had planted every day, expecting growth and nothing would happen, like with my Basil and Coriander seeds.  Then at other times it would seem as if plants just grew over night when I wasn't watching such as with my Mexican Sunflower plants.  Patience also taught me that just because you want to do a particular job in the garden, doesn't mean that it is going to get done and some jobs take a lot longer that you might have originally thought.

I have learnt how to adjust my soil and deal with sloping land and also had to learn not only how the weather will effect the plants but I had to spend the first 6 - 8 months understanding how the lay of the land and what would work in regards to the type of plants that would thrive in particular places.

The space that I was growing on had quite a large slope, I didn't have money to bring in additional soil to balance it out and so I had to figure out how best on a budget to stop the soil from washing away during the heavy rains, and during the dryer season deal with the cracks in the heavy clay soil.  It has definitely been a challenge, but I am glad I persist and take it as it comes. I ultimately want the land to work for me and look at the examples found in nature.

As an artist I have been very excited to find plants that can be used in a creative way, either as fibers or as natural dyes and I have found a number of plants that can be used in the Art Studio - such as the Clitoria Ternatea, Clammy Cherry, Banana leaf, Mahogany and other trees around the garden, and some of the leaves create natural dyes.

I have been adding to the 31 Plants growing in my Tropical Garden over time and I think that I probably have double the amount of plants growing in my space. These are many  different plants that I have been able to successfully grown from seed or friends have given me cuttings or small plants.  I was recently given a Tamarind Plant and Sour Sop plant and then the Sour Sop seeds that I planted amazingly started to grow, and I popped about 20 seeds into the tray.  I am hoping for a tasty harvest.

I feel very fortunate to be able to spend time in the garden and grow all the plants that I have always dreamed of growing, it is such a blessing and it is great to share the information on my Gardening YouTube channel.

I am transforming the landscape and creating a haven and it is definitely one of the coolest things that I have been able to do and I would love you to join me on the adventure.

If 'growing your own' is something that you would like to do then I encourage you to think about how you can use the space you have to grow something whatever size.  It is a therapeutic activity, even weeding can sooth away the stress and there is much to learn as you gain more confidence.

Here are the tips again If you are on a budget and want to start growing your own:

• Why don't you start with growing some of the seeds that come from the fruit or vegetables that you eat, 
• Sprouting pulses is another quick way to start growing
• Many of the seeds that you can purchase are quite economical and you can start quite quickly.
• Check out your local Pound Store/Dollar Store they usually have a garden section and you can pick up some supplies for cheap.  

Keep an eye on my Gardening Channel - for those who want to grow and garden on a tight budget I will be sharing some hints and tips so please subscribe and click the notification bell so you know when a new video has been uploaded.  I currently post 2 or 3 new videos every week.

Have you had anymore thoughts on what your approach needs to be to your green space?  

Check out some of the resources, you only need a pot and some soil to start growing. If you don't have outdoor space you should get some pot plants that come in all sizes.  Most of the indoor plants that grow in a colder climate are found outdoors in the Caribbean and with the right care can thrive with no problems in your home. 

Tomorrow I will share the what I have been doing with my Art Journal Series.  I hope during this month you find some time to challenge, be creative and stretch yourself.

Why not join me each day for the rest of October as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life. 

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, it is never too late to start! The main thing is to take one step at a time and do something that you find interesting.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Ps:  If you are on a budget and would like to check out some gardening supplies/books at a discounted price, check out one of the links below:

Amazon suggested gardening books

Adorn it 

Dollar Tree 

Book Outlet 

C&T Publishing 

Craftsy Kits

Stepping Out Challenge - Day 4

Welcome to today's post, I am taking part in a 31 day blog challenge where I post everyday in October.  I love creating challenges for myself and joining ones by others.  My challenge for the rest of the month is to reflect on some of the series I created for myself and inspiration that I have taken away.

Listen to the Podcast

Today is the second part of the challenge that I did called 31 Art Studio Essentials.  Yesterday I looked at the necessity for not only spending time everyday in an art practice but work with what you have and spend time getting to know your supplies.

Click for the PLAYLIST

For those people who are starting out you have to resist wanting to purchase every single art supply that you can get your hands on.  It is tempting I know, I've done it, I used to get this inner urge that felt as if it were driving me and the feeling wouldn't stop until I had pressed buy now on Amazon.  Once the item came there was some initial excitement, and then it left. 

There are several things that you can do if you are on a budget:

One of the things that you can do is to swap with a fellow artist.  They may have the supply you are thinking about buying and visa versa, you can try it out before you commit. 

Also some companies give away samples, you could contact the company that makes the supply you want to purchase to see if they will send you a sample.

Is there a sale on where you can purchase the items at a discount - If you are in the states and shop at Michaels you may be able to use a Code to get a discount off your total spend.

Are there things around your home can double up as art supplies?  You might be able to save some money by say making your own journals, stencils, stamps.  In one of my videos I spoke about how you can make your own art journals by making your own from directories - the department store directories are made with quite nice paper as well.

It has taken me a while to know the different mediums I like and I realized over the years that I had many favorite mediums and through experimenting became confident in using a variety of them together. 

 I also go through phases when I only want to use just one particular medium, but end up combining it with other things say clay with textiles, and jewelry embellishment.  When you experiment you come up with some exciting surprises and combinations that just fit together.

Working on the challenge enabled me to look at my materials in a different way that has worked for me.  It is vital that you give yourself time with your supplies and get to know them.  I discovered with supplies that I had brought, I didn't do any of the points such as check to see if a friend has pastels I can try out I just went and brought them. 

They were quite pricey and for some reason I had to have them I should have started out with a cheap set or a smaller set but once I had brought them I realized that I disliked the dust and getting my hands dirty, the feel was uncomfortable and they just stayed in a draw for the longest. I didn't play around with them, but because of the cost I didn't want to let go of them either. Years later I saw an artist use them with gesso - which is one of my favorite supplies to use in an art journal and when I tried it it worked for me and I was able to give my pastels new life.

Day 4 Insights

• Some of my favorite supplies are jewelry pieces that I use with some textiles, I love collecting different supplies but they all tie in together and can be used interchangeably. You don't have to spend a fortune, you can find jewelry at the thrift or charity store, or you may have some that you don't wear that you can re-purpose.

• I also enjoy creating moulds to use with clay work.  Some of the store brought moulds can be expensive, but you can make your own You can also find unique molds that you can create your own embellishments.

What has your approach been to your supplies?  Do you have some that are just hanging around waiting for a new home or could you breath new life into them?  Why not combine them with other supplies and give them a new lease of life.

Tomorrow I will share snippets from my Tropical Garden Series.  I hope during this month you find some time to challenge, be creative and stretch yourself.

Why not join me each day for the rest of October as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life. 

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, it is never too late to start! The main thing is to take one step at a time and do something that you find interesting.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Ps:  If you would like to check out some art supplies and materials at a discounted price, check out one of the links below:

Adorn it 

Dollar Tree 

Blick 

Book Outlet 

Stampington 

C& T Publishing 

Dover

Craftsy Kits

Stepping Out Challenge - Day 3

Welcome to today's post, I am taking part in the 31 day blog challenge as part of the Ultimate Blog Challenge for October.

Listen to the Podcast

Today I wanted to share one of my favorite challenges and this was my 31 Art Studio Essentials.  

I created a challenge called The Art Studio Essentials Challenge, and it was probably one of my favorite challenges where I took a closer look at the 31 supplies that I most like to used, it included not only looking but also playing with my favorite art supplies.

There are times when you need to reintroduce yourself to your supplies, many of which can be neglected if you have quite a few supplies.  I have had some supplies that I hadn't even used dry up, partly because of the change in climate but they could no longer be used. 

The Challenge also made me realize how much I enjoyed spending time creating in my art studio.  The important thing you have to remember is that you take the time out each and every day.  

Art and creativity is an integral part of life and it is something that I believe we should all take time out to do every day.  You may not be inclined to draw or work in your art journal, your thing might be photography, dance or music, but you must find time to tune into your creative passions.

Day 3 Insights

• I didn't start out having the studio space that I currently work in now, I guess I have grown into it over the years and started out on the edge of my kitchen table.  I had to put everything away at the end of every day, but I made what I had work for me at the time.  We don't necessarily need a large space to do something creative and you need to think outside of the box at times. 

What is your creative space like, are you utilizing the space you have or do you wish for a different space?  Very often we do not see what we have in front of us and desire more, more space more time, more supplies.

Tomorrow I will share some of my favorite supplies from the essentials of my Art Studio.  I hope over the challenge you find some time to be creative and stretch yourself.

Why not join me each day for the rest of October for the Ultimate Blog Challenge as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life and possibly challenges that you might decide to do. 

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, it is never too late to start! The main thing is to take one step at a time and do something that you find interesting.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Stepping Out - Ultimate Blogging Challenge - October Day 1 and 2

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The challenge season has come round again or did it ever go away!  I am taking part in the Ultimate Blog Challenge where I challenge myself to write 31 blog posts for the month of October.  There are many different blog challenges that take place throughout the year that helps get you kick started to new routines, regimes and lifestyles, so it is worth taking a look and seeing which one fits with you.  

You can choose what you want to blog on or the hosts might give you a prompt for the day for you to post on.  There are so many things that you could post about; it could be something that interest you, hobbies and pastimes, interesting facts, it can be anything, but you have to show up each and every day.

I took quite a long time in finding the thing that I wanted to share, and I am also running a day late, and then October came upon me so quickly, that is no excuse really, at the end of the day you are doing it to challenge yourself and hopefully along the way others are blessed.

I have taken part in many of these challenges over the years my very first one was with Blogging from A to Z challenge, this currently happens in April.  I have also created a series of different challenges for myself over the years that have ranged from a 7 day, 26, 31 day challenges, 52 week challenge, 365 day challenge and one that took me over a year and a half writing about the things that I was grateful for.

It is always a sigh of relief when you complete the challenge and speak about what you learnt about yourself over the challenge. 

For my challenge this October I will be reviewing and reflecting on some of the challenges I did over the past few years and the nuggets of learning that came out of it for me and what I might decide to take forward and create from them.   I feel that it is vital that you learn something about yourself from taking part in a challenge and when you share your insights you are able to help someone else. 

I will also be sharing a snippet about myself and by the end of the month you can get to know me and my work a bit better.

The challenges are a time for growth and enable you to see things from a different perspective.  I will be sharing 15 challenges that I have done over time, how they impacted my work, my favorites of the challenges and what I might do as a follow on with the information that comes from the challenge.

Day 1 and 2 Insights

• I like creating and taking part in challenges for myself. I find a work better if I have a schedule and know what things that I need to be doing. This also works well for me with the challenge, it is almost like breaking things down into manageable chunks and then you keep working away until you finish, I find that the challenge help me get specific things created or help me process information - like being able to create Tips for Carers I was able to see the things that I did in my role as a carer for my mother.

• Whilst challenges need to be planned to get the best out of them, sometimes you need to just begin, stop making excuses and jump in! I have been known just to start a challenge, and half way I begin to flag because I have become overwhelmed.  Where possible plan ahead and get all the information or tools that you need ahead of time and this will make it easier to stick with it and not start stressing about what you need to do for that day.  You also need to take things at your own pace if you start to flag - but that is where the planning ahead comes in, it is better to keep going rather than stop because you are a few days behind.  That said on some of the days I will do two posts so that I stay on schedule.

Why not join me each day for the rest of October as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life and possibly challenges that you might decide to do. 

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, let me know if you decide to take on a challenge, it can be for as long or short as you want, if you have never done one before start with a 3, 5 or 7 day and see how you get on.  The main thing is to start and do something that you find interesting.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Fear, Regrets, Life, Reflect...Begin - Life is still too Short

What you going to do with the life you have left?

Why are you hiding yourself away, are you caught up in your thoughts, are there things you are going through right now that you want to to talk about but can't speak to anyone until things pass? Is there someone that you can talk to and share your thoughts? what do you do.  

I sometimes have these spells where things don't make sense, things happen and you're not sure how to address them, or get a handle on them.  You might have previously been on a roll, and in the flow but then you get knocked for six.  We had another friend die.  Out of the blue, sudden, no sickness or anything.  Last year 2 of my cousins died - mother and daughter within 2 months of each other 2 other friends died and 2016 saw me at a total of 4 funerals.  

When I am 'feeling it' I don't feel like writing on my blog and I retreat somewhere that I can gather thoughts and reflect, wanting to share, but, you know how it is...... it can be hard to say how you really feel, try and keep it all sweetness and light and carry on as if business was as usual. 

For those who came back for the 31 things, I am sorry, but I dropped the ball for a moment, we all do sometimes don't we, nothing to feel ashamed about, forgive yourself and move on. I had to step back and allow the process to run its' course, or something.  

No Regrets

When you think about your life what is it that you would most regret not doing?  Think about those things that you currently take for granted, the things you wanted to try, the places you said that you would visit, the relationships that you wanted to make better or spend more time in, and ask yourself just what is stopping you at this very moment and what would it take for you to be able to put those things in place.

If you were told that you had a year, month or week to live what would you do with the time that you had left?  How would you spend each and every moment knowing that you would never see the faces of those people that you loved one last time.  

With so many family and friends passing away suddenly, we cannot make head nor tail of it, and each year wonder when there will be a break in the heartache that ensues, when you will get an ease - then another one goes.  We are now our parents position of going to yet another funeral, but it seems more frequent now, people dying younger, hidden agendas? conspiracies?!! reaching out for an answer, a reason, why...why?

Each year I say to my sister; we have to get fitter' healthier, stress less, value our time more. It is something that we all have to do - take our health and well-being in our hands, live and love more, appreciate, and look at those things that we are grateful for... don't wait till someone gets sick before you tell them how much you appreciate and love them.  

Express Yourself

As an artist I express myself in my art, but sometimes I don't want to share - worried at what people may think is the long and the short of it, but no more.  We are all given something to say, to share, to encourage, motivate or bring about laughter and more.  Who am I to play small, to shut down my voice because of what I think someone else thinks about what I am saying?

I want to encourage you that whatever it was that you were thinking of doing, sharing, creating, playing that you share it anyway, that you don't wait for approval, acceptance, or anyone else to tell you how you should do it. You don't know when you will breath your last breath, or the last time you will ever be able to tell someone you love and cherish them, don't wait for the 'right time' or 'when you retire' make plans, sow the seeds, put something in place .......do it now!

See the adventure in life, the joy, possibilities and things that you can do, the little things that mean the world to someone, that brightens their day and helps them to feel like maybe they could shine their 'light' as well.  

Don't waste another minute 'belly button gazing', feeling sorry for yourself, YOU CAN DO IT.  Life is too short to play it small, you will never get another chance to use the minutes that you just wasted so what you going to do with the life you have left?

I decided to go for it, to share, express, and live the life I want to live, be the person I want to be and share my joy, peace, encouragement with the world, and the bits in-between.  In some corner of the world someone is waiting for my words,  who will read to the end of this post and get encouraged when I write and inspired by my art, and I will not hide.  2017 is the year for being All I was called to be, and use the time fully not waste another moment being fearful about who might be watching a using each and every moment like it was my last, no regrets....  

Over to you..

So what are you going to do?  If you are living your life and being the person you want to be I congratulate you, if you express your love to others and are ALL you know you can be, well done.  If you are living fearlessly, grabbing hold of life grateful for the minutes I applaud you!  

If there are parts of you that you want to work on, you want to live life to the full and you are going to go for it regardless, I am in your corner and I am one of your cheerleaders who knows you have the ability and I will be there alongside you as we make the changes together....so come back on the blog tomorrow, sign up to the mailing list, let me know what you are going to do/say/try..  we got this!  Who else is with me?

21 Secrets - 15 Minutes to Sanity - Gina Rossi Armfield

In the 15 Minutes to Sanity workshop Gina encourages us to take the sometimes limited time we have and use it in a different way.  15 minutes to sanity is all that it takes to set you on the road to creativity.  By preparing our pages before hand and using prompts and selected materials, it enables us to snatch back the much needed time and create in our journals.

I enjoyed this workshop as I was able to just focus on doing what I could with the time I had.  I started preparing pages some time ago as this in itself can be a theraputic activity, especially at those times where you are not able to sit down and do a journal page, but playing with the materials on the page is definitely well worth doing.  The page is inspired by a poem I wrote - a piece of me still remains, looking at our memories, the photos that we collect and wondering what remains when we pass in the minds of others.

Here is my page before I started....

This is how it ended up.