LifeBook Week 38: Journey to Acceptance (Heron)

The last LifeBook lesson I was able to do was week 9 back in February! The group is now up to Week 38! I've missed so much! Instead of frantically trying to catch up, I decided to pick up and continue with the current week and also try to do as many lessons as I can retrospectively.

This week, our guest teacher was the wonderfully talented Jill Berry. Jill has showed us how to use our own painted tissue paper and gel skins in collages. Like everything else, these techniques also require a certain amount of experimenting to get them right. I'd tried making gel skins before, but I could never find a substrate to peel them off successfully. Jill recommended page protectors and I've found the ones used in scrapbooking albums are just perfect for making gel skins. They peel away easily and stay in one piece!

This is my second attempt at this lesson as the first one went off on a tangent and was barely recognizable! This time I've followed Jill's 'Heron' project a lot more closely, and I'm glad to say, I'm quite satisfied with the results. However, I realize that copying somebody else's art will never be as meaningful as coming up with my own ideas. Having said that, I added a few elements that were my own, so it's not an exact copy.

I used a dabber to pattern the tissue paper for the sky, instead of using a stencil, like Jill did. I didn't get very good results with my stencils, for some reason. The sun is made out of a gel skin. I added some reeds cut out of painted tissue paper to balance the composition and I used a purple gelato to frame the entire picture.

Here are a few photos. If you click on them, you can see them larger in the photo gallery.

I'm also entering this page for the Kraaft Shaak September Challenge on Google Plus.

WOYWW #328: Lights will guide you home

Hello to you on this rainy/windy Wednesday morning! At least in my part of the world autumn has arrived well and truly. The perfect excuse to visit the Stamping Ground to nose around other crafty desks!

The photo of my desk was taken yesterday mid-day as I was working on a project, which since then I have actually finished, so I can show it to you as well, if you scroll further down the page.

On my desk you can find the following items:

• My Wimsy Garden mini canvas, which you can see more of here.
• Some Amsterdam acrylics, which I'd bought back in the summer, but haven't had a chance to use much until now. They have a great colour range - much bigger than Liquitex Basics.
• A copy of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'urbervilles, which is one of my favourite books, but here I'm using it for collaging. I have it on my Kindle if I want to read it again!
• Some painted and stencilled tissue papers for my new project, which features a lighthouse, a sketch of which you can also spot on my desk.

Last night I managed to finish my lighthouse project, which started out as this week's LifeBook lesson, but somewhere along the road I diverged and ended up with something completely different! Oh well, I'd better go back to the drawing board for the LifeBook lesson and follow the instructions a bit more closely. The only thing I kept was using painted tissue papers and the fact that the project was inspired by poetry, in my case the lyrics to Coldplay's song 'Fix You'. The similarities pretty much end there!

This is probably not my best piece artistically - well, who am I kidding, I know it isn't - but it means a lot to me.  These past few months we went through a rough patch as a family - with my husband's mum passing earlier in the summer and the palaver with our new house, which we are now selling, never having moved in properly. 

I titled this canvas 'Lights will guide you home' which I borrowed from the Coldplay song. The three little fish represent us as a family (me, hubby and our son - in reverse priority order!) in the sea of life, the lighthouse being our home guiding us back to safety. 

I covered a 12" X 9" canvas with book paper and then used the painted tissue papers for the background, which allowed the print to show through. I collaged the pieces of the lighthouse with tissue paper as well, using white acrylic paint as glue, because I wanted the orange colour to pop, rather than be transparent. Finally, I added the strips of text and some metal charms. The entire project didn't take longer than an hour to make, not counting drying time. Here are some photos:

Thanks for visiting today! I'll leave you with this great Coldplay tune:

Whimsy Garden Small Canvas

I created a canvas last year that I just didn't like and was about to throw away during our major decluttering back in the summer, when I thought, what am I doing? I can paint over it!  That's the great thing about canvases - if you don't like something, you can always cover it up with something else!

I wanted to do something really fun and whimsical with my recycled/reclaimed canvas and I remembered the videos of +Betty Franks Krause, Mystic Tulip Art. I find them incredibly inspirational and very appealing with all their colour and whimsy. This style is right up my street! Here's a link to the original video:

My canvas is rather small, 7" X 5" in size. I used a combination of Liquitex Basics, Amsterdam and Golden Fluid acrylics for the painting and Uniball Eye and Uniball Signo pens for the doodling. Although these pens are not waterproof, I think I can seal them with an acrylic spray later. Hope you like my little whimsy canvas and feel inspired to make your own.

I'm linking this post to:

Roses of Inspiration #37
Wow Us Wednesday #239

Stamped Feather: Breathe

Today I'd like to share with you a very simple project, inspired by Rachael Rice, who was also responsible for the Dreamcatcher lesson in LifeBook 2015. As you can tell, she likes working with feathers. I first saw this tutorial through the Willowing website - you can check it out here. All you need is a large feather and some basic craft supplies..

I often go to my local Deer Park for a walk in the mornings whenever I can. Usually, there's nobody there at that time of day and I enjoy the solitude and peace & quiet, alone with my own thoughts. If you're an introvert like me, you'll understand the need to be alone from time to time, in order to listen to your inner voice and fill up with energy. As I was walking on the dewy grass on a sunny morning a few day ago, I literally bumped into this large black feather (about 8" in length) and remembered the tutorial. It felt like it had been put there for me right in my path, so of course, I had to pick it up!

The Deer Park

The Feather

I didn't have to think long about the word I wanted to put on my feather. I instantly knew it was going to be "breathe" to remind myself to relax and let go of my anxieties. These past few months have been pretty stressful for me, which resulted in quite severe anxiety attacks. I read somewhere that if you allow yourself to breathe in deep and exhale slowly, it relaxes your body and helps you overcome anxiety attacks. I'm happy to say it really works! Now when I feel an attack coming, I just breathe through it. This is what I did with my feather, following the instructions in the tutorial:

Tip: before using the feather, I disinfected it with some pure alcohol. I will hang it above my computer desk as a reminder to keep calm. Happy crafting peeps!

WOYWW #327: Change of Plans

Hello deskers! Perhaps it's not too late for me to join this week's WOYWW, having missed #326 last week. Previously, I told you about our imminent house move. Well, there has been a change of plans in the 11th hour. Due to a number of reasons and unforseen circumstances, we're staying in our old house for the time being, possibly until my son finishes primary school. I must say, I am relieved (though somewhat disappointed) and my son's happy to be back in his old school for now, so all is good.

I can still show you what "would have been" my new craft room, though. I have now transferred everything back to it's old place and I'll be back crafting again at our long-suffering dining table soon. Luckily, we did a thorough and ruthless decluttering in our old house, so we actually have a lot more space than I ever thought possible.

The eaves storage would have been perfect for my "really useful" boxes and a couple of those old chest of drawers. I also bought a rainbow coloured tower unit from HobbyCraft - I'd always wanted one! It's extremely useful for storing bits and pieces. I finally have a place for my stencils where they are easily accessible. I also got a sewing machine from my hubby for my last birthday. When I told him it was for sewing paper, he did the face-palm gesture. Oh well, I might try using it for something useful as well.

Eaves storage 

Some new additions 

Bedroom connected to the craft room (will miss the balcony - will keep the chair!)

I hope to be able to share some art next week. Finally, things seem to be calming down a bit around here and getting into some kind of routine after all the upheaval in the summer. Thanks for visiting! Happy desk hopping!

WOYWW #325: Trying to get back to blogging

Hello, I've missed you all!

I've been gone a loooong time, I know. My last post was back in April. Before that, I was able to post several times a week. Life just got too hectic around here. I'm trying to get back to blogging and creating and find some sort of a balance in my life. I think I need to try harder...

I've been on Facebook on and off as a quick fix, but I'm really missing all my Google friends and WOYWW friends - thanks to Gabriele for reminding me yesterday that I haven't posted on WOYWW for ages. She made me realise some people might be wondering what I'd been up to. I thought I'd try to catch this week's WOYWW to give you all a quick update and hopefully return to creating and blogging soon.

Working at Jackson's Arts

You may recall I started working at Jackson's Arts back in March in their warehouse near Gloucester. I was there on a temporary contract and left at the end of June. Although it was hard work - on my feet all day long, walking many miles down the aisles picking orders, conforming to strict pick rates and error rates, I really enjoyed being surrounded by all the beautiful art products. That was what made working there worthwhile for me. I wouldn't have done this job in any other environment. When an over-zealous, barely literate "supervisor" decided to move me to the post operation, I knew I had to leave. I wouldn't have enjoyed working there any more if I couldn't be in touch with the products. Luckily, it coincided with our house purchase, so I couldn't have stayed there much longer anyway.

It was interesting being allowed behind the scenes, though. I can honestly say, I will never look at a parcel received in the post the same way again. If you order online (from any retailer) please spare a few thoughts for the hardworking little people - often on minimum wage at the bottom of the ladder - who make it possible to get your order to you on time. They all work incredibly hard to make it happen.

Moving House

After leaving Jackson's, I spent the past few weeks sorting through our stuff at home in preparation of the move. It's amazing what you accumulate in just 10 years! I've downsized my son's Lego collection and sold/gave away a lot old toys and clothes. I got rid of some of my old scrapbooking products as well, which I no longer found useful for my mixed-media projects. I've cleared out my craft cupboards, ready to transfer my stuff to the new house. The picture below shows a fraction of the boxes I have. The others have already been moved bit by bit. This is my chance to make a fresh start and organize my stuff as much as possible.

My art supplies all packed into boxes and ready to go

On impulse, I decided to clean my brayers before packing them. I soaked them in hot, soapy water and after a while I was able to peel away the paint, almost like a skin. Now they're like new!

Soaking my brayers

The dry acrylic paint peels away like a skin

I also wanted to use up some cheap, old gesso, so I covered the pages of a couple of children's board books I found lying around. These provide an ideal substrate for wet media as they don't buckle or warp like paper.

Prepping some board books with gesso

I feel inspired now to create something in these books as soon as I have my new craft room set up, which I hope to show you next time! For now, here's a photo of our new house - we're not moving far, just to the other side of Gloucestershire. Far enough though to cause an upheaval having to change schools, dentists, doctors, etc. My husband will also have a long daily commute to Bristol to deal with, but he can't complain as he was the one instigating this move. Now the race is on to settle in before school starts next Thursday! And we haven't even got the phone/broadband connected - BT has been working on it for the past month! So if you don't hear from me for some time again, it will be because we're cut off from civilisation.

The window of my new craft room - it's too small to call it a studio

Thanks for visiting my blog today. I'm sorry I couldn't share any artwork with you. Although I haven't created anything lately, I've done a lot of painting - of the house decorating type! I've become quite good at paiting skirting boards and door frames, as my hubby will tell you. I'll try to visit everyone who leaves a comment - perhaps not today as we've got some more paiting to do, but I'll get there in the end! Cheerio - have fun creating!

Long Overdue Update

Hello blogging friends and anyone who chances upon my ramblings. I've been away from Blogland for a while and some of you might be wondering what's going on. I started working full-time in March and I haven't had time to create anything since then, let alone blog about it. Working full-time with a family to look after (however small) is not much fun. In fact, it's no fun at all. My life consists of (1) getting ready for work (2) getting to work (3) being at work) (4) cooking/housework when I get home from work and (5) sleeping so I have enough energy to go to work the next day. There's no time for anything else.  My weekends are spent with housework and much needed family time. Thank God for the holidays. Happy Easter by the way! I even forgot to buy a chocolate egg for my kid. Not to worry, I told him we'll get two in the sales tomorrow.

I don't have anything of my own to share with you today, so I'm sharing some of the artwork I received in the post earlier this week. First off are a couple of awesome tags I got from Karenliz Henderson from a G+ sharing group as part of a tag exchange intitiative. I love the look of the metallic dimensional paints against the black background. Check out some other cool artwork created by Karenliz on her Google page!

Another wonderful piece of artwork I received came from Heather Kraafter, founder of the Kraaft Shaak and the Kraafters Kommunity on Google+.  This came as a complete surprise! Thank you so much Heather for brightening up my Easter weekend! I love all those colourful and shimmery textures and your lovely message on the back really touched my heart:)))

I also have one of my son's school projects to share with you. I first thought it was an owl, which would have coincided with a LifeBook project from a couple of weeks ago that I've been planning to start on finally, but it turned out to be a yeti instead of an owl! I love that childish innocence in this piece, that we adults could never authentically duplicate.

Thank you for visiting my blog today. I'm sorry I didn't have anything of my own to share. I do miss creating and blogging so much! I'm not sure when I will be able to return. I'm only on a temporary contract at work until June. I'll see what happens after that. There's a possibility I might go part-time. I feel like my life is in transition, or rather on hold for a while. We've also been looking at houses and if we do move out of this area, a lot of things will have to be readjusted. I'm just hoping it will all work out in the end. I remember seeing a quote the other day that really resonated with me:

For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn't understand growth, it would look like complete destruction. (Cynthia Occelli)

Sometimes I feel like I'm at that complete destructional stage at the moment. But perhaps this is going somewhere worthwhile. I did wish for change/progress earlier this year - perhaps this is it - I just haven't worked out where it's going yet.