Gratitudes and Celebrations Journal - Week 38 - Peace Inspires

Gratitude's and Celebration Journal

Peace is possible in your inspired life

We can sometimes be surrounded by the noises of life that we forget what peace is like. From the moment we get up, the alarm clock, the radio, tv, the clatter of the breakfast dishes, slam of the front door, rev of the car, interacting with others, chatter, laughter, dogs barking, cats meowing, cows mooing, birds tweeting, foxes....(well you know what the fox says:) and it never seems to stop!

It seems as if there is always something going on, some crisis to avert, problem to be heard and sometimes all you want to do is shout ‘Peace, Be Still’.

You have to make time to be still, to sit and just listen to the stillness, be calm, to wait and allow your body to find its natural rhythm, as it repairs, restores, refreshes and inspires.  You need to understand what your body is telling you and take action provide the remedy. You have to give yourself the space to unwind and reflect and just be at one with God.  

Finding those pockets of inspiration 

I am grateful that I live in an environment where I can take time out to be still, and I celebrate the renewed me that is present when I have enabled myself to be at peace and to find those pockets of inspiration. 

What can you do differently to create a sense of peace for you? Have a blessed weekend! If you want to see how I made the journal (click here) Blessings!

New art - Courses Update

I have been busy in the studio working away on a variety of courses.  What I realized early this year was that I signed up for too many courses.  It is so important to keep moving forward and learning new things, but if you don't give yourself enough time to process what you are learning it can become stressful, falling behind and getting yourself in a stressful state. 

What I found happened to me was that I just stopped.  I had lost sight of why I was doing the courses as I just tried to churn out images in an attempt to keep up, and also keep up with the events happening around me in my life.  

I decided to change my mindset, I have slowed down and have been taking my time, having given myself a breather and got on with things like moving my mum into a new home, I have come out the other end excited about the new work that I will produce over the course of the next year.

I am very pleased to share with you some of the pieces that I have done over the last couple of weeks from Soul Food and Life Book courses, I will also be sharing over the coming months some larger paintings that I will be working on for the Bloom True - Flora Bowley Course  It is a 5 week course, with access after the course for 6 months, the next course starts May 12th – June 14th, 2014, so go on the waiting list to get more information. 

Here are a glimpse of 3 pieces that I recently finished....

Going to the party

Palette Love

Sweety Pie

If you would like to see the complete image you can check them out here at my mixed media art site

Material Mondays - Crochet and textiles Art Show

It has been a while since I did anything with fabric or wool, so I thought I would share with you the latest thing that I have made.  For a while I seem to be buying a new shade of wool every week, but there is a limit to how fast I can crochet, even on a good day and with all the other priorities that seem to rear their head it has kind of taken a back seat.

Crochet...

I wanted to make something for my 6 year old niece and thought a crochet bracelet would be the nice to try, it could be worn with a variety of outfits and I could make it within a few hours.

Flower and button details

It is made using wool with specks of silver thread, I created 2 flowers one using the grey wool and the other using white as contrast. 

Grey and silver thread running through the wool...

These were then and attached these to another piece of wool that had been crocheted that would fit around her wrist.  A button was added and a button hole in the opposite ends.

Flower button 

A flower button was added in the middle of the crochet flower. The bracelet was straight forward and quite easy to make, yet it looks quite effective.  I have been busy with the flowers and now have a few more to make into bracelets, and maybe a broach or two!

Flowers waiting for a new lease of life

I recently got a couple of tickets to go to the Creative Stitches show, which I am really excited about, as it will also include a look at the Festival of Textile Art.  I have been getting more and more inspired by the many fabric designs, quilting and using textiles in my work.

The Creative Stitches and the Fashion Embroidery show will be held at London, Excel on 3rd - 5th April 2014, and the tickets are £8 in advance and £10 at the door, but it also gives you entry to the Hobby Crafts show at the same venue. It will be a great way to hear some inspiring talks, see new techniques and connect with others, if your going, let me know!

Experiments in Collage

I have been part of the course run by Randal Plowman called 'Experiments in Collage', which has sadly come to an end.  I have learnt quite a few new collage techniques that I will take forward within my own work.  Here are some of the collages that I did on the course.

Seeing the world through fresh eyes

We spent 6 weeks looking at different approaches to collage,

Essential Play

Trying different techniques and seeing what we liked the best.

It's a Mans world

 I really enjoyed adding painting effects and drawings within my collages,

Admit One

 And using images printed on tracing paper.

The Secret

 Trying to step out of that which feels comfortable to being outside of my comfort zone, and then bringing it all together.  

As the course has finished around 16 of the participants from around the world decided to make and send 5"x7" collages to each other, I am still working on my set to send out and should complete them over the next couple of weeks - I'll post the collages when I have done them and let you have a peek .  I will also be able to show you some of the collages that I receive from the group.

No place like home

I thoroughly recommend this class, why not do something different that will take you out of your comfort zone. Check out Randal's website to see when the next one is running, and do remember to share what you get up to!