Balance

Took a break from work yesterday to visit my good friend Barbara who lives in Milton Keynes, about 50 miles from me.  she is a fellow artist and I've known her for nearly 30 years! (my... time flies)....I've known her kids from birth and seen them blossom into beautiful young adults.  It was great to not only catch up, reminisce, and laugh, it was also great to share about our art and creativity....She has these Derwent drawing pencils which I loved.  I did a quick sketch using them...(will have to put them on my wish list!)

They are very creamy, almost like a pastel and come in a range of colours

It's so important as creatives that we make time for the other areas of our lives, family and friends.  This is an important part of our lives' as well as taking 'me time'.  Balance was the word that came to me sometimes so many areas of our lives can seem out-of-balance.

Are we moaning about not spending enough time creating yet spend a lot of time watching tv?

Are we looking after our bodies and maintaining our health, or do we splurge on a particular food or 'chocolate'...(chilli chocolate is yummy!)....

With so many websites, blogs, networks and videos, are we taking the necessary breaks?

Are we getting out into the fresh air on a regular basis despite what the weather is like?  Its pouring with rain today and really chilly!

Are we filled with so many creative ideas that we juggle too many at once, surrounded by those new books,  paints, fabrics, paper..... and become burnt out and frustrated when things are not pulling together?  This week I hope to do a schedule so that I can fit in all those areas - work, play, creativity, health, friends, family and 'me time'!

What steps are you going to ensure that you have some balance in your life?.... taking that time to see what is around you, planning, playing, creating, listening and, recharging your batteries?

Making Handmade Books

I won a prize draw!  The book came today in the post, Making Handmade Books by Alisa Golden (Lark Crafts) Looking forward to trying out some of the projects.  It came with a lovely book made by the author.
I have been getting into making my own books and altering books so its a lovely treat to be able to learn even more techniques.
Another book that I started this week was Wreck this Journal

I used to feel overwhelmed by blank pages either on my canvas or my journal, this book provides prompt for stepping out and getting over the fear by doing random things in it, experiment and see where the adventure takes you....  A couple of the suggestions

Some others include:

Hanging the journal in a public place and invite people to draw on it - could be the start of an interesting project or journal page, Tongue painting, cutting, tearing, writing with the pen in your mouth....and much more..should be interesting....not sure about the tongue painting, might adapt that one...but hey, thats the fun make it what you want it to be....post a couple of pages to friends, get them to do something on it and post it back...or give you some ideas for your own journal prompts.

Some might be asking why regarding some of the prompts for 'wreck the journal', I guess it's part of keeping up the creative process, we often complain about not having enough time and some of the things you can do in the book only take a couple of minutes of thinking outside of the box, and may lead you developing your creative projects further and release a bit of tension :)  It would be great to see what you've done if you have one of these books, or thinking of getting one.  It would also be great to hear about any new techniques your learning.  Stay blessed!

March Challenges....

Yay, I've signed up to the A to Z blog challenge  I am the 362nd person to sign up, and more have come after me!  It will definitely be a challenge for me as I have not yet got the discipline of writing on a daily basis down, but I'm definitely looking forward to it, going into unchartered territories.. and visiting some inspiring blogs in the process.  So if you are up for the challenge, click on the link and sign up!

The Creative Every Day challenge theme for March is Nest, so some interesting ideas will come out of that. 

Whenever life throws up a challenge, think about what the lesson is, what are you learning from it and what gifts can come out of it.....have a blessed weekend!

New techniques....

I came across Colin Reef site recently, and he inspired me to have a go at assemblage art, among other techniques.  I have realised that as an artist I have found mixed media allows me to express my many areas of interest.  I still sketch every day and on my other blog http://amandatroughtart.blogspot.com/  I will be showing my sketches and how they develop over the coming weeks. 

I find immense joy thinking about different ideas and techniques for projects. Due to space I can't work on too many at the same time, but I do enjoy having a continuous flow of ideas to work on.  There are some paintings I'd like to do but at the moment they are just sketches in waiting.  I have tried out two techniques that Colin showed on his you tube site.

The first one foil art, this just uses supplies around the house to create the layers underneath the foil. I might make this into a journal cover.  Apparently you can cover anything so will be doing some more....

Here is my first attempt at an assemblage box.  My box started its' life as paint tube container and I have added imagery from stampington magazines.  I am toying between a silver or gold frame which I will engrave.  The gold frame had been initially covered with polyfiller and painted..

This shows you some of the layers.

 A close up of the curtain

I hope to do a few more, been collecting boxes and running out of space around the house, not one to be a horder!....an artist needs to collect for future ideas, so creative storing is a must.  Been reading Organising Your Craft Space by Jo Packham, perhaps I'll be further inspired, there are some gorgeous studios in the book.  What new techniques have you been trying? be great to see:)  Have a blessed week.