Book Review - Treasured Notions - Vintage Beads and More

I am so glad that you could join me for in the studio.  I am reviewing the book Treasured Notions, which is a lovely book especially for those of us who like to collect a range of materials and elements for our creative work.  You can access the book on Amazon - https://amzn.to/3Enp4vE

I had a look through some of the things that I have collected and use in my fabric work and you can see a selection of the beads that I have in my collection.  The  beads which come in all shapes and sizes, you can make your own out of recycled material as well which can be great fun. 

I have been using beads for years.  These particular ones I brought around 20 years ago, which I think makes them Vintage!  I used to wear my hair in plaits and would add the beads at the end - using the colors Red, Yellow and Green.  I was rocking it back then:)

The beads are glass so quite a few of them over the years broke.  I now use them in my mixed media stitched projects.  

As well as purchasing the beads individually or in a set, you can sometimes find some great beads at the local charity store.  At one point my local charity store was making bundles of unsold jewelry and beads, it was like a treasure hunt and you always came away with some amazing pieces, I had some great finds that are being prepped for many different projects.

One way to be creative if you don't have time to get on with a project is to maybe spend time sorting your supplies.  You would be amazed at what 5 minutes create play can do when you try and fit it into your schedule. 

Check out the Video Below that I shared as part of my Essential supplies series to get a better look.

Thank you for joining me

Creative Gardener - Looking at the Sweet Sop Plant

Sweetsop grown from seeds

Welcome to the garden, today we are looking at Sweet Sop plant also known as Sugar Apple or Annona squamosa.

My plants have been grown from seeds. One of them is fruiting. Both the fruit and the leaves have many benefits and are packed with vitamins and minerals such as B6, calcium and iron. It is one of my favorite fruits!

I will be trying the leaves to see how they taste as a tea and let you know. If you have tried it, please let me know what you think in the comments.

Check out some courses while you are at it!

Click HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Material Mondays - Creating a Travel Sewing Kit

Welcome to Material Mondays, my weekly fabric and mixed media art materials session where we tak a look at some fabric projects, techniques and have fun playing with fabric.  This week I show you what is in my travel kit.

I have a felted piece of material that houses my needles and pins and a selection of embroidery thread in different colors depending on the project that I am working on and some standard ones.

I also travel with an embroidery hoop and a piece of heavy cotton that I have written several encouraging words on.  When I travelled this time, I hadn't wanted to take a lot of supplies and found the words on the fabric ideal, as I could not only stitch, but I was continuing to reflect on the encouraging words as I was stitching.

I also have a series of fabrics of different stages, some have been wax resisted and dyed or painted, it is great having these small pieces to collage together and add stitching when the mood takes me.

Check out the accompanying video to see the travel it up close and you can check out the previous Material Monday Episodes HERE

I am also taking part in the Ultimate Blog Challenge and you can check out previous posts below

Day 1 - What are you Doing with your life?

Day 2 - Coles Adventure and the Case of the Rogue House Sitter

Click HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Coles' Adventure and the case of the Rogue House Sitter

Cole in the Garden

It had been a while since I travelled, like most people Covid had us locked down and to be frank the staying at home appealed to the hermit tendencies within me. 

Getting a House Sitter

I had decided to get a house sitter, (someone who looks after your pet and home while you are away), deciding that I wanted Cole to stay at home and not leave the house empty. Travelling and arriving at my sisters seemed very surreal by the time I got there, as it was my birthday and two days later would be mums funeral. 

I had spent the previous week getting my place ready for a house sitter, and  he arrived 2 days before I was due to leave so I showed him round Barbados and helped him settle in and get comfortable with Cole, who got on with him from the word go, only to have him walk out on the day of my departure saying that Cole had barred his teeth at him, and he couldn't continue. 

He had also listed a range of other things that previous hosts had provided that I wasn't, such as use of a car, air-conditioned room, and sleeping in the master bedroom!  I couldn't believe he was walking out as he knew before he came what was to be included and Cole had been treating him like a member of the family from the time he arrived and was very comfortable with him.

Cole loves his belly rubbed

Cole's favorite toy

I was an emotional mess, to be told that he was leaving on the day of my departure, a few hours before my flight took off, leaving me to scramble around to find a kennel.  I went into automatic mode knowing I had to keep it together.  I managed to change my flight for the following day and found the last boarding space at the RSPCA.  I used Seans Pet Transportation and was very impressed at his calmness and he was able to get Cole in a transport cage backwards!  Cole was confused, suddenly he was being put on a lorry by a stranger wondering where the stranger he had just let in his home a shared his toys with went.

In the waiting room

It was traumatic at the RSPCA as well, after I got him checked in to lead him back with all the barking dogs scrambling at their cages on either side of the walkway, it felt like a prison.

Cole's home at the kennels

He walked into his cage in a daze, the cold hard metal floors, the noise, no comforts from home and the only food for 30 days would be a daily dose of hard kibble.  I was so upset leaving him and eventually made my way home.  This wasn't supposed to happen, Cole should have been frolicking in the garden eating the food I spent 4 days preparing in advance, having his treats and daily banana, and sleeping in his padded warm bed with the sounds of the singing frogs and the crickets melodiously in the background.

Cole and art appreciation

It is funny, I didn't realize how much I liked dogs until my son brought him home as a month-old puppy. He has been a constant companion hanging out in my studio or when I am in the garden, and he also is great at reminding me when I have spent too much time in front of the computer screen.

Skin and bones 

While he was at the kennels it seemed like he didn't eat, you could see his ribs and his spine, he came back half the size he left. He smelt awful and had some sores on parts of his feet and elbows and it was like he had been in a war, and since he has come home, I have just been spending time trying to get him back to health.

Cole On the mend

I am not sure I would be able to trust another stranger to housesit for me again, it was one of the worst experiences that I had been through.  Despite being an older traveler and having references a list reviews, they were just words, and he wasn't in the right frame of mind to look after Cole or have the experience claimed.

For now, Cole is on the mend, he is enjoying being back home and settling into his routines, yet I wonder sometimes when he looks at me if he remembers his experience. 

Have you had an experience from a house sitter or put your pet into boarding while you were away?

What are you doing with your life? - Are you ready for a challenge?

Welcome to the blog, it has been a while and I have been taking time out to come to grips with losing my mother.  I shared in my previous post, and I spent time with my sister, and we went down memory lane.  There is now only the two of just who are now the older generation...

I send love and tender hugs to all those who have lost loved ones, there is nothing that can quite prepare you for loosing someone.  We have to make sure we treasure all the memories and the time we spend with each other.

When mum first went into the first residential care home, I had put a book of her life together and filled it with photographs and some of her likes and dislikes, I spent time this week looking through it and it brought much comfort.  I am glad I shared my experience as she navigated dementia, some of the laugh out loud moments that had been tinged with fear - her walking in with two policemen laughing and joking after going missing for over 4 hours we were worried sick, she came back with tales of her adventure, and I am sure several hairs on my head went white that day.  

Mum loved adventure

In my A-Z of caring I spoke of some of the feelings that I experience, including a feeling of loss, and things not being fair, on the flip side it brought out mums' sense of humor and a love of dancing, art and so much more.

She would called herself the 'Dancing Queen' and teach whoever was interested how to do the Shimmy.  She had two favorite songs - Dancing Queen by Abba, and  One Love by Bob Marley - we had them both playing for her at the funeral - we gave her a good send off.

I now think of next steps for my life - we forget fast time flies.  What things have I been holding myself back from doing that I need to get on with? What dreams have I been sitting on?  What has yet to be fulfilled?

So, what is stopping you?  What have you promised yourself but keep on putting it off, saying to yourself tomorrow?  Tomorrow might not come and there are people out there waiting to be inspired and motivated by you!

What are you hiding from? Whose opinions do you care about so badly that you are holding back?  I have resolved for myself that over the next few months I will go all out, reaching for those dreams and creating a ton of new ones - we are not promised tomorrow, and we don't know what it may bring - see James 4:13-15.

That said, why not challenge yourself, start today, decided what you want to do and follow through - I am participating in the 'Ultimate Blog Challenge' and I will be posting every day in the month of October and sharing some of the work that I do.  Start living your best life, where your dreams however small can come true - live the life you can be proud of - I know that you can do it!

Click HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Saying Goodbye to Mum

A life's Celebration

Mavis Trought

I have over the years shared my journey with my mother who was living with Dementia for the past 20 years.  It has been a journey and a half, insightful, sad at times, full of joy and laughter, and now loss, - You can see some of my posts in 'A Carer's Journey'

A Journey's End

My mothers physical journey on this earth ended on the 30th July at approximately 1am in the morning. She was 99 years old an amazing feat by far and gracefully slipped from our grasp as she now mixes and mingles with those who have gone before us. 

Mavis in her younger days

During the month of August I stepped back from my usual routine to focus on what needed to be done - funeral arrangements, then dealing with the day, and what her no longer being physically with us meant for me and my sister.

Mum loved to draw

We have been reminiscing on the impact that she had on our lives growing up and how we move forward without all the routines and habits around her care that had been formed, and interacting with her on so many other ways from the expressions on her face, touch - holding hands to the words that she would share with us.  The song 'Dancing Queen' by Abba along with 'One Love' - Bob Marley were two of her favorite songs and she loved to dance.

Always the opportunity to dance

We celebrated her life, and loves, with family and friends who had at one time or another interacted with her on so many different ways.

Sometimes you need to be still to take things in to be able to reflect and step back to take a step forward, and we laugh at her sense of humor and playful character remembering these times with fondness, and will continue to tell her story and share the memories for generations to come.

Many around the world have lost loved ones and continue to do so and I encourage you to think about the memories that you are able to form, continue to talk about your experiences and see where you can spend time with your elders and family members, who have so much wisdom and knowledge to pass on.

Mums memory and spirit lives in us and we will continue to celebrate the impact that she has had on our lives and that of her grandchildren and great grand children to come.

No Sew Art Journal - Art Journal Flip through and Make Your Own!

Welcome to my One Sheet Art Journal where I will be sharing with you a flip through of a selection of Art Journals and then showing you how to create one yourself. Check out the video above.  I love these mini journals as they are so easy to create and you can create so many different themed journals to use.

These are the journals that I am going to show you how to create

I start out by using a scrap piece of A4 paper from your recycling pile - this will be covered eventually so it doesn't matter what it has on it.

I use a range of supplies - and I suggest you go into your paper stacks and see how you can use them up on the pages.

After they are created I add paint - I find water color paints to be really easy to use - you just have to be mindful of how much water is on the brush.  You will then add any stickers, ephemera or words that you may have to add.

Here are a list of the supplies

• Sheet of paper, - can be recycled paper from your stash
• Background paper, I used ones that I had stamped images on - sign up to one of My Free courses and get a selection of art background papers to print out - https://bit.ly/coursesart

• Water Colors/paints of choice (amazon have a wide variety to choose from - https://amzn.to/3zkO8PK

• Stickers - https://amzn.to/3ODt3G0

• Ephemera - https://amzn.to/3BtnDdI

Click HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

I hope you enjoy!!

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I am teaching - Check out my FREE Courses - https://realityarts.thinkific.com/ For More inspiration behind the scenes and exclusive content please visit my Patreon page. https://www.patreon.com/realityarts

Check out additional digital papers on my Etsy Store

Garden Stroll - Time to be Present

 

In todays video we take a stroll around the garden.  It is important to spend time just being present, seeing how things are growing, watch the bees as they make their way round from flower to flower, see the birds chase one another and hear their chatter.

Awaken the senses in your green space where you can, combined with the sunshine and a cool breeze all make for providing you with wonderful therapeutic benefits.

While you are there check out some of the other videos of plants that are growing in the garden.

How Does Your Garden Grow

Check out the Self-Directed, life-time access course How Does Your Garden Grow .

We take our inspiration from the garden, and the plants that you find, looking at the shapes and patterns and then we take what we have into our studio spaces and create mixed media art designs.

You also get a selection of background pages and downloads of images - plants, coloring book, patterns, and a digital print of the art produced for use in your own creativity

Check it out HERE

Stay blessed and be a blessing!

Material Mondays - Working with Fabric Paints

 

Welcome to Material Mondays this week where we look at working with Fabric paints to create designs on our fabric pieces.  You can check out the video above.

You can use them as a layer on your fabric or as a finishing touch.  I like to add stitching as well as other elements.

Today I share how I use the fabric paint to lay down color and then add mark making and other designs using a range of different brands.

I also use stencils and sometimes stamps creating on the surface of the fabric.  I use the metallic dimensional paint to add highlights on the surface of the fabric rather than have the dimension.  This piece will then have either some more mark-making done on top or I might draw a figure.

 

Material Mondays

You can also check out some of the other videos in the Material Mondays Series below.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Check out my latest course, and also while you are there check out the free resources available.

Mixed Media Art Wall Hanging - and Weekend Creativity

 

This was a lovely piece to work on and I got to recycle some cardboard and beading that I had in my stash.  It makes for a lovely little wall hanging, I used burlap rope, you can use chain, add beading and ribbon.

Third Saturday Art

You can also join us for Third Saturday Art

Join us every Third Saturday of the month for an art prompt, organized by Martha also known as Ayala Art​ on YouTube - and a group of artists who love to create. You can click the button to be notified. My theme that I am working with in my art journal this month is 'rainy day' full of texture. 

I work intuitively so you see the page unfold before your eyes as it comes to me, I will explain more in tomorrows post. Be great to see you there! 

Check out some Free Courses and resources available on my course platform - check it out HERE

Material Mondays - Working with Fabric Pens

 

Welcome to Material Mondays this week where we look at working with Fabric pens to create designs on our fabric pieces.

You can use them as a layer on your fabric or as a finishing touch.  I like to add stitching as well as other elements.

I share with the a selection of fabric pens that I use, they come with different nip sizes for different effects that you may want to create on the fabric.

Amazon has a wide selection of fabric pens that have dual uses - you can check some of them out here - https://a.co/bNs0Iya

Material Mondays

You can also check out some of the other videos in the Material Mondays Series below.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Check out the free resources listing in the side bar of the Blog and sign up for one of the FREE courses.

Artsy Second Sunday - Art Journal Page - Sunshine

 

Feel the Sunshine art journal page for Artsy Second Sunday.  An art collaboration with several artists who share their ideas via monthly prompts, we all really enjoy creating art and using a variety of different art materials.

Join us on Sunday and catch us live and join in the creative chatter.  This page uses a lot of texture and was fun to create.

Check out some of these Courses while you are here, and some of the FREE courses on the course platform.

Meet the Artist - Sir Karni - Musician!!

Meet the Artist

Happy Friday, in 'Meet the Artist' I share with the the work of Sekani Springer - known as Sir.Karni.

You can connect with his music HERE

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Fabric Art Journal

You can also check out this weeks Fabric Art Journal Video

Also make sure you check out the Art Resource Hub to see some of the current offers for July.  You can check it out HERE

July Offers/Discounts - Art Resource Hub

 

Check out the Art Resource Hub for July and see some of the offers available and the Free Courses.  You can click on the links below to go directly to the offers.

Stampington 

Free Gratitude Tote with Subscription Order 

Up to $20 Off Subscriptions Plus Free Gift 

In Her Garden Volume 1

Dollar Tree

Buy Your Crafting Supplies Now at Dollar Tree starting at $1.25!

BBQ Offers

Shop Dollar Tree's Summer Glassware Blowout with glassware starting at $1.25!

Arteza

Amazing News Save Up to 50% Off Everblend Art Markers at Arteza.com

Amazing news: grab up to 50% off at Arteza.com

Hot Glue Gun Kit

Blick

Free Instructional Videos by Blick Art Materials

Most-Loved Art Supplies

Get a Free $5 Egift Coupon on Orders $50 + Free $10 Egift Coupon on Orders $100. Promo Code CFEB. Exclusions Apply.

Creative Bug

Get 60 Days of Creativebug for FREE!

30 Structures in 30 Days: A Daily Practice in Bookmaking with Faith Hale on Creativebug!

Three Ways to Stitch a Pamphlet Book by Sarah Matthews on Creativebug!

Design! Carve! Print!: Make a Custom Stamp from iPad to Paper with Sarah Matthews on Creativebug

Creative Live

CreativeLive Sitewide Sale! Save up to 50% off classes!

Get $50 off an annual Creator Pass Subscription

Watch FREE online courses live at CreativeLive.com

Dover

Creative Haven - Coloring Books for Grown ups.

Free coloring page and book excepts from Dover

Dover Books - On Sale

Hero

Hero Arts Rubber Stamps

Hero Arts 50-25-25 Sale

Intertwined - Book Review

Book Review - Intertwined

I shared this book in my Arts and Wellness Café, and you can check out the video above, if you are into Yarn you will love it, with many projects for you to try and different ways in which to combine yarn.  You can check it out on Amazon - HERE  

I will be trying some of the projects and letting you see them in my Material Mondays episodes where I work with fabric projects.

Let me know if you have it and what you think.

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Art and Spirituality Summit

My session went live today on the Art and Spirituality Summit and you will be able to see if for the next 3 days.  It is Free to join the summit and there are 28 teachers that are sharing their insights as well.

LEARN MORE

Free Courses to Check out 

LEARN MORE