All of It

Motivation returned to me this week in many forms. It has been a gradual and gentle return, and one that I welcome with a grateful heart. I was inspired to finish more of my mini journals and get them listed in my ArtFire and my Zibbet shops. I still have more to get listed. I cooked some nice meals, started a new shawl for a holiday gift, worked on a commissioned doodle, hosted my monthly discussion group, PLAYed in my heART journal with a friend, attended an opening reception for the "Reflections" show at The Phoenix Rising Center and made some time and space to simply Be.

So far today I've made my heART journal entry for the day and will be doodling more as part of my plan to finish up the "peace" of art I'm currently working on, and possibly start another. As I type these words I'm brewing some nice nutritional herbal infusion that will be ready to begin sipping quite soon, and that will support and nourish me throughout the day.

It feels good, this. Whatever this is. And I am grateful for it. All of it.

Peace.

Puree, Kabees and Journals

This past week I've been mostly busy with garden harvests. I canned more tomato puree and will have more to do, since the plants are still producing nicely and loaded with fruit. This morning I went to the Watertown Farmers' Market in search for cucumbers. Alas, I found none suitable for half sours. My plants really struggled this year and didn't produce much. Such is life. Nonetheless, I came home with some lovely little zephyr squash and gorgeous beets.

When I got home I harvested some turnip and commenced making kabees, a new favored way to preserve and enjoy turnips. I made a two quart batch sans beets a couple weeks ago and have already polished off a half a quart. I know they'll continue to get even better with time, but to me, they were delicious in just one day! They're beautiful with the beets, though, don't you think?

I've also started listing some of the new mini journals I've been working on. You can find them at my ArtFire and my Zibbet shops. There's more of them to come too - keep an eye out!

So, yeah … that's what I've been up to lately. You?

Peace.

More Mini Journals

There's a part of me that wants to ask for your blessing and beg for your forgiveness for this long overdue blog post.

… must be tied to an aspect of my upbringing … 

Yet there's another part of me that wonders why?

February has proven to be a very busy and productive month and I expect that trend to continue. Accelerate, even. I've reorganized my time so that I'm online less and while that has distinct benefits, I realize I can't leave my blog fallow for quite so long.

I reflect back to a time when I was posting every day … and I wonder how I did that? But the wondering evolves into the realization that posting a daily update takes mere minutes and it's up to me how I choose to invest those minutes. I'll be more diligent, I promise, but daily posts are likely a thing of the past (especially with spring around the corner and seeds to start, gardens to tend, food to grow, harvests to preserve!).

All that aside, I've created some new mini journals these past couple of weeks, as you can see. I have more completed, not pictured here, and more still in process. Creating these little pieces functional art is truly an act of health and wellness for me, a practice of expressive Medicine. And because I'm loathe to waste paint (and pollute the mama) I create ACEOs and art journal pages as I make these journals. It's a joy, really!

So today I got a few listed in my ArtFire and my Zibbet shops and will be listing more over the coming days. I hope you'll stop by to take a closer look as well as watch for the new listings as they get up.

So … that's what I made today. How 'bout you?

Peace.

First Coats

I finally have some new mini journals in the works. I made time to prime and get first coats of colors on several. Next up … the layering!

That's what I made today.

Peace.

Mini Journals & Baking

Today I finished listing all my latest Nature inspired mini journals at my ArtFire and Zibbet shops. Then I cleaned the house - especially the kitchen, rearranged some furniture (again), then donned an apron and began holiday baking and other assorted holiday kitchen tasks.

I'm still in the kitchen and suspect I will be for many more hours. I'll do my best to post the outcome of this busy, baking day.

Peace.

My Latest Promotion Vid

Peace.

A Comeback

Ah, yes. I have been remiss in my blogging of late. I injured a toe and I don't do injuries as well as I used to, staying put and all. So I took a break from routine and did my best to heal and recover. During that time I prepped a number of mini journals and today I started the final stages of adding the little blessings of Nature to them. These are all still wet and will change in appearance as the medium dries. 

I also worked on some ACEOs that I will be trading with some of my Passion for Painting Guild friends. 

Healing is process, just like any creation. For me, to heal well, to heal whole, I must ...

That's what I made today. Peace.

A Return

I woke up in my own bed this morning after a week away. It felt good, yet somehow I woke ripe with frustration and seething with more than a little anger. I got up, banged some stuff around while I fixed my tea. I journaled, finished unpacking and reorganizing, plowed through email, and started spinning some new Spirit Cords. All of these things proved to be good Medicine, especially the spinning. When the rain finally came, I went outside, despite the chill, and stood rooted in it to receive a blessed cleansing. While I was out there I picked a few onions and herbs to use with this evening's dinner. I still have messages and calls to return, laundry to do and other tasks to catch up on, but I'm almost home now.

I returned home to gorgeous clouds, circling birds of prey, the song of crow, baskets of tomatoes, a waning moon and a journal giveaway at Herbal Roots Zine. Be sure to drop by and leave a comment to enter to win my autumn inspired mini journal called, Goldenrod.

So, despite the rocky start to my day, I'm feeling more settled, centered, grounded … returned. Peace.

A Day to be Still

I twisted my ankle last night. A pretty good twist, if I do say so myself. A twist that said, "stay still for a day, will ya?" So I did. Mostly. I brought my arty stuff out on the deck and worked on various projects throughout the day. It was a welcome meditation. I thought of my Daddy, who I miss, even though I often feel him around me. Sometimes I even smell his pipe tobacco. I made burgers for dinner in his honor. He loved burgers.

I thought of my father-in-law, too. He was such a good friend. We were fishing buddies. We drank beer and brandy together and laughed a lot. He could dish it out, and he could take it. I love him still.

All in all, it was a blessed Father's Day. A day of rest, recollection and healing. Peace.

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Spring Color

Today I played with some clay to create a little Venus of Willendorf goddess for a friend of mine. She's drying now and once I perceive her as dry, I'll cure her for a few days. Then I'll sand her and paint her and finish her. Her image is bound to show up here eventually.

I got out the acrylics are made a start on more little journals. Folks seem to like these and I enjoy creating them. They've offered me the opportunity to explore using colors I've shied away from in the past. But with spring bloom somewhere in my near future, creating with these colors serve as magic to make manifest this palette in my own little realm.  

Peace.

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Patterns and Love

Today I made patterns with watercolor. Watercolor and plastic wrap.  This is a technique I've been wanting to play with for some time and now that I have, I'm pretty sure I'll be doing it again.

I blended my colors, applied them to my journal page, laid plastic wrap in a wrinkled, random fashion over the the still-fluid paint and left it there several minutes removing it while the paint was still damp. Then I rinsed the plastic wrap, hung it to dry so I can reuse it. I have a feeling that the plastic will offer more interesting results as it gets more and more use. 

I've also managed to fall in love with colors … the colors of spring that will emerge from the rich, nourishing darkness of my winter-weary landscape. While I wait for Nature's palette to change, I have to make more of these. I simply have to.

That's what I made today. Peace.

Nature-Inspired Journals

Today I made some new mini journals. It's such a joy to go through all the dried, pressed leaves and blossoms that I've collected over time. Some are a few years old. Working with very these fragile preserves offers me time and space to consider the strong, flexible greenery of spring that will be returning here to my little acre very soon. And the Nature of Life. Already much of the snow has melted away and while there's still a lot to go, most of my main vegetable garden has reemerged from its winter blanket. This simple act of creation with paint, mediums and Nature is - indeed - Good Medicine for my winter weary spirit.

As I gathered my tools to create, discovered another journal I had set aside to cure. And well-cured it is. 

I listed it today in my ArtFire studio.

That's what I made today. Peace.

A Divergence from Earth Tones

Today I primed and applied the first couple of layers to some new Nature inspired journals. With spring on the way, I figured I'd sprout some creative Blooms of my own. I'm looking forward to the rest of the process and seeing just how true I can stay to these blossoming colors!

That's what I made today. Peace.

Headway

Over the past week I've created the layers that make the base to my little Nature-inpsired journals. Today I made headway in sorting and choosing and applying leaves and sprigs and flowers to some of them. I have a few larger notebooks this time around and I started one of those too. I'm most accustomed to working small, and I'm not sure if I'm happy with how the larger one is turning out. So now the question is … if I'm unable to save it, shall I use it myself or offer it in a giveaway?

What say you?

Peace.