September in the Queen of Arts Studio and a L,C&C Giveaway

Wow !

I can’t believe how fast time is going ?

Don’t you feel like the days are just flying by ?

Here we are the 22nd of September already !

Only 18 days until I turn 50…

Yikers!

But more about that later…

September has been all about the Tracy Verdugo Paint Mojo E-Course for me.

This is a great class in creativity and in intuitive painting.

Tracy is so very generous and dedicated to giving her students a positive and rich experience. I have been totally immersed in the activities and in the creative flow that Tracy has inspired. Loving it !

One thing we are doing is gradually adding layers to a canvas,

a bit at a time, over the six week class.

   

My blank 24X24” canvas went from white to this with symbols and marks…  to this with the addition of a bit of pastel color

to this with the washes of warm and cool colors.

In week three, we went in deeper and added more layers…

And this is where my work in progress piece is now. Loving that purple ! 

Three more weeks of layers to go !

Another thing I love about Tracy’s class is that she encourages you to see everything as a potential art piece.

Everything including the palettes that you use to spread your paint on.

These two pieces are from watercolor paper that was used as a palette and the shapes left behind inspired the bird and the angel to emerge.

I am excited to see what else will develop as I continue this Paint Mojo journey for the next few weeks !

 

I have also been continuing my 50 Days for Love, Compassion and Connection leading up to my 50th birthday.

I have to admit that my crappy accounting skills took over and I don’t have an exact count of how many acts of L,C&C I deliberately committed.   

I will say though, that when you make this intention to spread the love, opportunities arise all the time and when you share what you have done, other people get inspired to join in. I really love that part of the journey!

It becomes a lovely love ripple flowing out from that centering intention.

Some of the things I’ve done include providing food and water for a homeless person I passed in my car one day,

paying the entry fee at Fort DeSoto state park for the car behind us,

sending out surprise love notes and thank you cards to some dear ones,

donating some time and some Rock My World rocks to some fund raising  for causes close to my heart,

and working on looking people in the eye and making a genuine connection with a smile whenever I can.

This experience has been wonderful for me. I definitely see how life can feel much more positive when you make kindness and connection a focus in your world!

And now :

A 50 DAYS OF LOVE, COMPASSION AND KINDNESS GIVEAWAY!!!

I will giveaway 5 bags of 13 Rock My World rocks to the first 5 people who comment here.

But instead of sending the bags to the winners, I will send them out to the person of their choice with a little note of love and appreciation,

To win, leave a comment on this post with the first name of the person you would like to receive the Love Compassion and Connection rocks and what you would like the love note to say. Also include your email and  I will email you to get the address of your little gift recipient.

I will be sending the rocks out by the end of this week.

Thanks for reading through this long post !

Sending big love out there to all of you !

Pass it on… ;)

And in the end…

This is the last page in my Moleskine 12X8.5 watercolor journal.

I have worked and played in it on and off for about three years.

Lots of song lyrics were running through my head as this final page emerged…

“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

“We’re just two lost souls, living in a fish bowl, year after year.”

“Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with you.”

In the end, I will just let the Beings speak for themselves.

Close the book on this chapter.

And get ready to move on to the new.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes…

Happy Friday, Beautiful Ones ! And to my American friends, Happy Fourth of July weekend ! Make merry and be safe !

Visited by Bella Grace

I was recently the lucky, lucky winner of a give away on the She Is Three blog.

I won a copy of the gorgeous magazine Bella Grace, and some treasures from the three awesome talents that make up the She is Three trio.

This arrived in my mailbox yesterday !

Just look at the beautiful goodies inside !

Pumpkin looks suitably impressed, doesn’t she ?

The magazine is a true treasure. Juicy, beautiful, inspiring, a delight !

Thank you to Jennifer, Bella and Deb for making this giveaway so extra special

and for all the sweet soul candy you share.

Big Love, Beautiful Ones !

Reflecting on the day…

August Break Prompt – Reflections

Digital art piece by Linda Davies.

 

I had my first house guest in the new Apollo Beach house.

My dear friend Linda is here in FL staying with her mom about two hours south of us.

She made the drive up to have a day of girl friend time and art making.

We reconnected, chatted a lot, had a lovely lunch,

played in our art journals side my side,

and ended the day with a yummy BBQ dinner at a local restaurant with My sweet Hubby David.

It was so nice to have a playmate here !

I have got to get to work on building a tribe here. I love sharing my space with good friends!

Linda gifted me a lovely framed piece of her digital art (Vision – shown above).

It fits in beautifully with my new seaside(ish) home. I love it !

This is the page I worked on in my art journal while we hung out together:

It started out as a kind of mono print spread created with glimmer mist and spray inks and some stencils as well as some india ink dripped on the page with an eye dropper.

Now I have two cool backgrounds to work on.

This first page was done with Sepia India ink and a dip pen and some Distress Ink markers and a blending pen.

Some very cool doodle stories emerging here…

Love the worlds that get created when I let go and let the pen and imagination take me…

 

I hope this fine Wednesday is treating you well, Beautiful Ones !

Big love !

 

Hosted by Susannah Conway

Mellow Yellow Inspiration

I am a part of this great little stitch and swap group hosted by my friend, Deb Taylor.

Our next stitch theme is the color scheme of turquoise, coral red and yellow.

(image by Sarah Hearts)

Yum !

I don’t have a lot of yellow fabric

so I decided to try out an eco-dyeing technique that I have been wanting to try for awhile.

I researched dyeing cloth with turmeric, knowing that I would achieve some bright and cheery yellows.

It was a fun and easy way to spend an afternoon.

First I gathered some bits of different fabrics, including wool, silk, cotton, and even a few crocheted circles in bamboo.

I chose mostly white or natural fabrics but also included a couple of rust and eucalyptus dyed pieces that I had around.

In preparation, I did some stitching here and there on some of the pieces and also did some tie dye knots, or shibori techniques, if you want to use the fancy term !

Then I got a pot of water with turmeric and salt simmering on my handy dandy hot plate out on the lanai.

The turmeric has a pleasant smell but it gets over powering when its simmering,

plus having the heat outside helped save my ac a little indoors.

I just guessed at amounts of water and turmeric, using the info. I read on-line. I think there was about 10 cups of water and 3 tbsp of ground turmeric. I added a 1/4 cup of salt to set the color.

Once the pot had simmered for about an hour, I added in the fabrics.

I was not worried about perfectly even dyeing as some might be, so I packed the pieces in there, just making sure it was all covered with liquid.

I stirred them around occasionally as well.

The yellow color appeared pretty immediately ! Especially on the silks in the pot.

Chica and I waited as I  left the fabric simmering on low for about 20 minutes.

Then I rinsed out all the pieces in cool water until the water ran clear.

I used some mild dish soap as well, to get any of the powdery residue off and to take away the turmeric smell.

Then I used my make shift clothes line to dry all the pieces in the sun.

I am pretty thrilled with the results !

The cotton stayed a nice mellow yellow, and took the tie dye marks beautifully.

The silk definitely became the most saturated with the bright yellow, almost golden color.

The previously dyed wool, silk and cotton bits turned this lovely warm brown color, and I love how the eucalyptus details still remain visible.

 

And I now have a great stash of mellow yellow fabrics to play with!

Quite rightly !

I hope you have a creative and sunshiny weekend, Beautiful Ones.

Beginning with Bibitte

Bibitte Inspiration – Monday July 28, 2014

-blue jay feather, lavender sprig, duck bill lake drift wood and the vino du jour.

 

I have been away from regular blogging for such a long while now

that I feel like I don’t know where to jump back in.

I have decided to participate in Susannah Conway’s

August Break

“This is a community project that has no real rules –  the idea is to simply take a photograph every day for the whole of August. That’s it. Pause, look around you and shoot what you see. Live inside each moment. Pay attention to what’s there. If it’s the summer where you are it’s a lovely way to be present to the moments that will be gone before you know it. If it’s the winter, what better way to liven up your day than with a creative project to play with? :)”

 

I am not so great with sticking to things, but I really want to try and commit to this project.

I may or may not stick to the prompts that Susannah has provided.

I just want to see where inspiration guides me.

I have also decided to start early.

Monday.

A perfect day to begin.

Happy new beginnings, Beautiful Ones.

Haiku My Heart–Home Making…

 

 

Flotsam and jetsam

Of life gathered in altars

Saying I am here.

 

(Mini-zombie doll by artist Linda Willis)

 

(Painted rocks by the Rock Fairy)

(Star by me, Scarred heart by Alisa Burke)

 

(Mermaid from a Playa del Carmen souvenir shop, Henrietta bobbin doll by Sam Johnson, felted Rock Being by me)

 

(Stitched squares by me, yoyos by my grandmother)

 

Yesterday, while continuing the unpacking process, I finally reached the point where my real stuff, the stuff I love, that I have chosen, that I have gathered along the way,

was emerging from the piles of paper

and

finding new homes in my new home.

I recognized the feeling of placing my stuff just so,

creating little altars everywhere,

of marking the spot

with my very own hand, eye, and heart.

Made me feel like I am here now.

Made me feel at home.

Interesting to acknowledge, appreciate and in fact love,

the fact that

the creation of a home that reflects bits of who I am,

where I have come from,

what I love,

is

Art

from my Heart.

 

Happy Friday, Beautiful Ones!

 

for more beautiful hearts gathering in word and image, visit recuerda mi corazon .