Gratitudes - Art Corner

I am so grateful for the corner that I spent a lot of time being creative in the early days.  I worked on the edge of the kitchen table and for years wished for a studio.  I am now blessed to have the small box bedroom as a space of my own - that dedicated space I can create and express my heart. 

What are you grateful for this week?

Book Review - Art Journals and Creative Healing - Sharon Soneff & Art Cards

I came across this book purely by chance and after reading the introduction knew I had to buy a copy.  Art Journals and Creative Healing is a lovely book with a wealth of contributions and photos shared by many artists.  It follows on from Sharon Soneff's previous book entitled Faith Books and Spiritual Journaling which is on my wish list!

The book is split into two sections, Health and healing for the emotions - which looks at finding peace in the midst of turmoil and Health and healing for the body - finding comfort in the midst of physical challenges.

Each contributing artist shares a piece of their story, how they have used their journals for healing and how you can incorporate them for yourself.  There are a wealth of great ideas for approaching areas that can be quite sensitive, and you work at your own pace.

Dotted throughout the book are a series of worksheets written by Mindy Caliguire to help you recap on the previous chapters prompts and to help you overcome any blocks there are also creative tips.  How deep you choose to go is up to you as you reflect about your journey in your journal but you will find strength and support in the process.  You will also find a great list of resources and biography with contact details of all the contributing artists.  I think it is definitely a book to have on your shelf.

Art Cards

I have also continued to produced my art cards as part of the 21 day Art Challenge with Motley Soul, here are some more of the cards I have done.  It has been really great to do the smaller pieces of art, and try different ideas and styles.  The cards are 4 inch x 6inchs and you use whatever card you have, I have used card that I had used for other backgrounds and then added a new design ....more to come!

Crochet flowers

I learnt to crochet at school. Learning what seemed a skill that died out only to see it resurfacing over the past few years as something quite popular alongside other traditional crafts.

When we were younger mum used to make these intricate circular table place mats using the finest of needles. By my teenage years crocheting and knitting seemed to be what older people did... how the tables have turned. Over the past few years I started to give it a second glance, and have come across so many who not only crochet, but knit and make felt products. I had held on to the needles I had inherited for my mum and over the years I think I made a scarf once. But saw some flowers recently on you tube and decided to give them a go.

The basic flower is pretty easy and you can have as many layers as you wish or add rows to make the flower bigger. I’ve decorated mine with some buttons and beads. Armed with your flower you can use them to go on a number of things. I made a couple of wrist cuffs, and I will do a tutorial on how to make a a broach, hair accessories, decorations for journals even a mini bag. 

There are some great patterns out there if you want to be more adventurous. If your a beginner check out you tube for some easy how to steps, just type in what you want to learn and it could be a great skill addition to your creativity.  Blessings!

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Felting

Felt is a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing woollen fibres.

I came across some beautiful felt cupcakes after taking part at the Christmas fair and carol service run by Emmanuel Evangelical Church and organised by Angie Ng.  It is always a really lovely event and many thanks goes out to Angie Ng and her team.

On my stall I had decided to offer some of my art work and cards for sale.  I will be adding these to my website, over the next few weeks.

There were many talented people that had stalls and the one that specifically caught my eye was a young lady called Veron and her Cupcakes by Design.   The cupcakes were beautiful, not your traditional cupcakes, even though they looked good enough to eat they were fat and guilt free.  Veron had lovely designs and they were also scented.  Seeing her designs made me want to try my hand at felting and it seems to be getting quite popular, with several magazines featuring designs and how to recreate yourself

Miss V's Crafts - Cupcakes by design

I encourage you to give her blog a visit and see the designs for yourself.  She is in the process of updating and adding some new deigns, so do leave a word of encouragement.

Also on my tour of pinterest I found some interesting designs - (Click on the images to find out more)

Felt slippers

The Margarita, Felt Chair by Vanja Bazdul

Felted purse

 If you want to give it a go yourself there are lots of tutorials available, check out Living Felts or many of the others that will come out in the search results on youtube.  Blessings!

Maturity - Creating in Faith

 How do you teach maturity? how did we learnt it growing up, was it the reaction to responsibilities which we gained as we got bigger and the way we dealt with situations, the challenges we faced and how we overcame them. 

Some have responsibility forced on them at a very young age and so very quickly are dealing with circumstances and situations in which someone twice their age would have broken down.  They have a maturity that enables them to deal with the circumstance and informs their decision making. 

I learnt at 13 that my 50p a week pocket money was not going to get me as far as I would like and despite trying to negotiate a raise the answer was still no.  My father would tell me about life as a boy in Jamaica, having to get up at 4 or 5am in the morning, milk the cow, collect the eggs, take the goats out to the field all before walking 3 miles if not longer to go to school.

With this I took myself off to find a Saturday job.  My first was for a shoe shop called Saxones, and my level of maturity increased as I dealt with the many customers, those who wanted to try on 50 pair of shoes and in the end not buy anything.  Learning to deal with people, interacting and maintaining professionalism was something we had to grasp quickly in the busy store on a Saturday. 

The bible says that there comes a time when we no longer drink milk like children but go on to solid food, which tells us that we go through changes to deal with the more complex situations that will meet us in our adulthood. We have to use a combination of knowledge, insight, reflection, discernment and understanding with every circumstance as this will form the basis of our maturity.  And as our children grow, we don’t want them to have to deal with things too early, but we have to ensure we give them the tools necessary to handle themselves with confidence when the time comes.

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,and of faith in God,  Hebrews 6:1

But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:14

Bugsy Malone - night to remember

I was 11 years old when the advert came over the TV, they were holding auditions and needed children for what turned out to be a very successful movie.  

Bugsy Malone paved the way for many of the child actors and actresses, some of whom have had very successful careers. It was the kind of film that you could watch year in and out and sing along to the songs. 

A while back me and some of the family were able to enjoy what was a combination of theatre, cinema and audience participation at the Troxy Theatre. 

Let the fun begin!

We were ushered down the streets to stand in line to wait to enter the secret back door. With what seemed like a trip to the library to check in our books we were transported into the world of Fat Sam's Speakeasy at the heart of Prohibition, Chicago.

What are we letting ourselves in for?

Dressed up in cloths and accessories of the era, we were included in the action, firstly auditioning for parts as dancing girls and then took to our seats to listen to Talula sing her song.   

Me and Ahisha take in Fat Sam's Band

Also amongst the action was the viewing of different scenes from the film - the live-action boxing rings, Bugsy and Blousey Brown's tiff and casinos playing as we sipped our drinks. It was more like an experience rather than just going to the theatre. We were then presented with the film itself, which in my opinion we didn’t need as we had already had so much fun....

Alan and Sekani mean business!

That said when the warning was given that Dandy Dans mobsters were approaching we were armed with ponchos and custard pies and at the finale pelted each other, while dodging the splurge guns. It was full of laughter and definitely an experience to remember. 

Splurge Gun Fight, armed with our pies and ponchos

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Grattitudes - Music

Comforts and sets a mood.  Music can lift your spirits and make you burst into tears....

 What are you grateful for this week?

21 Days - January Monthly Challenge

My first four cards in the challenge

Have you thought about what you are going to do with all those pieces of papers, cards, or odds and ends that you have in your art collection that you promised you will clear out?  Before you put them in the recycling, why not join me and create a series of twenty one 4 x 6 cards created from decorated paper, scraps, or just about anything you already have.  

 

If you've been to my blog before you know I like a challenge big or small.  I've been playing over at Motley Soul  with Mika on her January challenge and you don't realise how much fun it is until you take part.  There is no fee, lots of encouragement, a series of prompts available if you get stuck, and is a great way to help you de-clutter from all those things you started to create and never quite got finished.  You can create some lovely pieces of small scale art that you can use in future work or bless someone with.  There is no time like the present, so come over and join in!

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Letraset Neon Markers - Product Review

I recently received a free set of 6 Letraset neon markers and I’ve been trying them out to see how versatile they are for my needs, and working with my other mixed media materials.

They are a twin tip water based ink marker and come in a range of florescent colours.  I have been playing around with them on different surfaces to see how they stand up.  

I used moulding paste on this journal and had no problem adding colour using the markers.  And the heart below is made from tissues paper.  They work well over glitter, and gave it extra sparkle.   They are water soluble so it’s a good idea to use them at the end, but you can also use them with water to add a hint of colour to your work.  The Letraset Neon Markers bring a vibrancy to whatever surfaces that you are working on.

 

You can also use them on gesso or to colour your gesso.  I put some of the marker on a plastic sheet then added some gesso.  You get a lovely pastel type finish but with the same vibrancy of the neon marker – depending on how much gesso you use. 

They also work well on fabric, this is a page from a fabric journal that I made recently, I decorated the flowers with the neon markers. 

The other thing I like about the markers is they have a colour stickers at the end of the lid which makes them easy to store and find the colours that you need without having to pull everything out.  All in all have found a use for them in quite a few areas of my mixed media work, and as an additional tool they will definitely come in handy.  If you would like more information about their products you can see more Here

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