Our 33 Anniversary Card for Mr Bear

My first attempt at making a 'waterfall mini album card.'
I chose the Flemish Beauty pear motif to symbolize not only the love we have for each other, but the love we have for the place we now care for.
I can't think of a greater gift than having a Flemish Beauty pear tree that you plant in the midst of February last year, burgeon with blossom, then come Spring, bless you with three perfect pears.
The card tells the story (and of course I could not resist the PUN)

Blessings of Anniversaries and New Years to everyone on here
Shanti

Putting the Garden To Bed

Gloves, Grapevine Circlet, Curled Hosta

Blessings of the Oncoming Dormancy
Shanti

Something So Clever

Have you inherited Great Aunt Ethel's china and though you truly loved the dear old thing, her china pattern was frankly not 'your cup of tea'?
What to do?

This is one idea and I loved it so much I just had to share it here.
TA DA!
How about a new lamp made out of her cup and saucers?

Light On!
Blessings!

A Slider Birthday Card for Mr WL

*
One of my favourite animated characters is 'Scrat' the sabre-toothed squirrel.
His obsessive love for his acorn strikes a chord I think within the heart of every person who doesn't understand the words 'quit while you are ahead.'

Anyhow..being a bit of nutcase that he is (and I can say that lovingly as WL is my cousin), I thought Scrat was an appropriate symbol for a birthday card to someone who (cough) has achieved the half-century and then some.

So without further ado:

View 1 - the Slider card closed

View 2 - the Slider card open

Happy Birthday to my dear neighbourcousin and many many more!
Blessings and love
LN

Au Revoir - Karl's Mini Scrap-Star-Book

As soon as Karl headed for bed, I quickly turned our office into my 'creative chaos' space and put this mini scrapbook star together for him.
Not bad for something I worked on until 3am!

I had originally intended it to be a mini scrapbook album - but there were just so many great shots over the week, that I had to include those.....which of course lead to a quandary...how the heck do I squeeze them in?
I only had 3 pockets on Side One.

So..mini accordion fold to the rescue!
For the Side Two flip side, on each page I glued another mini album for those additional photos.

I think he will have fun with it on the plane and of course I hope his wife An and daughters Robyn and Sam will enjoy seeing it as well.
It's all very well to have your photos saved on a disk, but nothing is so wonderful a memory catcher as a little album filled with photos from the week that was.
Au Revoir Karl
Mind How You Go
and
Safe Home
Blessings
Shanti

My 'Stuck' Tag Book and Secret Card Project!

I couldn't show these earlier as my Belgian Guest (Karl) might have seen them on this blog and I wanted them to be a surprise! (he is currently sleeping off his jet lag in the Quail Room)

First up: as promised (and sorry for the wait, been busy doing house cleaning!)
my 'Stuck Tag Book'. I created a mini album, glued small envelopes to each page and then wrote on the tags little 'a-muse-ments' to kickstart the creative juices flowing when I am 'stuck' for an idea.I got this wonderful inspiration from Cloth Paper Scissors latest edition - page 66 - Spontaneous Combustion by Robin Olsen - Using Prompts to Spark Design.
I wrote out some of her ideas and made up my tags.

Now for the Big Project:
I made this for Karl as a Welcome card: Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
(plus there is also another Project which I will show when it's finished - a mini photo album with secret photos done all this week. (got to love those candid shots!)

I also made a card for An his wife as a thank you for letting him stay with us using two photos I had shot recently of Queen Anne's Lace - I thought she might like to know there is a wildflower here (yes i know some of you think of it as a weed) that bears her name!
and of course I could not forget his daughters, Robyn (8) and Sam (5).
So yes, I have not been idle, just not had much time to post these.
The Muse has been visiting me and prodding my elbow while gluing things together!
Don't you think snail adhesive is the best thing invented since the electric toaster?
Blessings of A-Muse-Ments to all!
Shanti

Vision Journal Workshop 6 - Passion

*Do we recover from losing a passion or do we go on to find a new one?

I used to have a 'passion' for chewing newspapers - truly!..I tore off corners and chewed them up and ate them when I was little!
(hmm...do you think I was genetically programmed to become a writer?)
I'm sure my mother was relieved and heartily grateful when I Lost that Particular Passion -
so..
In my case, some passions are meant to be lost ( ie eating newsprint) and some are meant to be found; such as taking this Vision Journal Workshop!
Can you believe it's been six weeks? (actually more as I took a bit of time off this summer); still in the main, I continued to think and visualize and create with those weekly prompts.
And guess what happened?
I found and recovered and discovered a new passion for my creative side that did NOT involve a keyboard, but one in which I actually uncovered my old passion for paper folding.
I used to do a lot of Origami and it was wonderful to find directions to make cards with crazy pop ups or my current favourite; hidden pockets!
Check out this site from SplitCoast Stampers for a great tutorial on making them:
Double Pocket Cards!

Since I will be on the ferry this week for another 2 hour ride to the mainland, I have decided to take along my art supplies and do a 'Stuck-Tag Book.' (or what to do when you are 'stuck')
I will post a picture of that when I complete it.

Speaking of Tags leads me nicely into ATC's and the Soul Journal ATC swap which certainly was a Passion of Participation for me!
Here is what I did with all that wonderful ArtWork that was sent to me - Thank you all, my Soul Journal artists! (Enlarge and see if you can pick yours out!)

Blessings of Abundant Creativity!
Shanti

Vision Journal Workshop 5 - Willingness & Blocks

Continuing with the Italian theme..
I copied all of those 18 excuses that Kathryn had listed from Dr Dwyer's site on a couple of sheets of paper.

Then I drew a line through each one, and after writing my affirmation alongside it, (to counteract it's negative influence), tore and cut them out, arranging them as sort of a Spaghetti Dinner!

There is NOTHING so SOUL SATISFYING as sitting down to a good dinner and telling your Inner Critic to buzz off and let you POSITIVELY FEAST!

This was another one of those crazy quotes which I had been wanting to do something with for a long time and this morning (it is 0239 as I write this) I finally found it's rightful vehicle.

Enjoy!
Invite your Muse to Dinner this week!

Blessings!

Vision Journal Workshop 4 - Picturing My Dreams

I confess to be being a 'behinder' - what was that Wise Old Saying?.
'the faster I goes, the more behinder I gets?'
Yep, That's me.
Good intentions, then someone moves the calendar two days forward and whoops!
Life Happens.

However..one of the Good Things to come out of Mr Bear's thrice yearly Medical Appointments with his Renal Specialist, is that it involves a 2 and 1/2 hour ferry ride to the Mainland.
These ferries are still pretty much in the dark ages as far as WiFi goes - so what is a body to do when you are sitting there staring out the window...ah ha.
you guessed it.
Create and try to catch up with the week's FunAssignment!

I grabbed my lap tray, loaded up a bag with pencil crayons, mod podge, stamps, baby wipes, inks, scissors, magazines and paper and proceeded to merrily rip and tear out images.

Then I lay those aside while I rooted around for my stamps and inks and proceeded to lay down some green masking tape for a grungy harlequin design and a lot of spirals including my favourite Journey stamp.

While assembling those ripped magazine images, I was surprised and intrigued by what had caught my eye.
I had thought that 'picturing my dreams' would be full of 'business' stuff - after all I am in the process of starting one, but noooo..that ol Muse decided to go humourous on me and do a Dancing Spirit and Trophies for Writing! - lots of writing - both fiction and travel writing! and of course Best Sellers as well! and Being a Star and just saying YES to JOY!

Then back home today, I sat down and thought about 'putting myself in the picture' as Katherine suggests.
I couldn't do that without including Mr Bear and His Big Dream Once He Gets a Kidney (which is Mine also) - namely Traveling to Italy, particularly Rome and its Coliseum.
Hence the Bear Stamp, the Roma Metro Ticket, The Roman Urn and of course a Priority sticker on that Ancient Circus Site!

Blessings on 'Picturing Your Dreams'
Shanti

Vision Journal Workshop 3 - Positive Intentions

In conjunction with the August Full Moon or the 'Moon When All Things Ripen' and a 'boost in the roost' website I have discovered (Pinching The Ostrich); this week's 'Key Card' encapsulates both sets of Wisdoms.
I have decided to take my courage in both hands and create a new business opportunity for myself
The challenge that I had in creating this week's Vision Card was to reduce this decision to two words, but I did it!Hence the ' Blessing Service': both a noun and a verb.
I also decided to include a bit more words - after all this is the Positive Intentions post and thought they deserved Their Own Open Door.

Blessings of Positive Intentions in all that you do!
Shanti

Vision Journaling Workshop 2 - Core Values

I began with creating this Background Paper:
Ranger Distress Inks: Vintage Photo, Broken China
Vivid Red
Quietfire Dotted Harlequin stamp - in a Harlequin phase at the moment!
Spiral Stamp
Journey Stamp

MY TEN CORE VALUES:

1. Courage - The Lion from Oz and Les Miserables Illustration - Beyond the Barricades

2. Patience - Spider web

3, Determination - Shot of my Spanish Olive tree which I thought had been killed by last winter's cold temperatures - I was so thankful it survived!

4. Vision - Eagle Eye5, Discipline - Yogi6. Inventive - The Tetra Bag! I love this so much and have made one from a Bird Seed Bag!

7. Decisive - Crown - In Order To Lead, You Must Be Willing To Follow As Well.

8. Compassion - Hands holding bird

9. Loyalty - Sword - Old Oath of Allegiance: 'You have my Sword'.

10. Inner Strength - The Fire and the Rose are One.
My Personal Motto: "NEVER confuse my Politeness for Timidity!"

Blessings
Shanti

Vision Journaling Workshop I - Relaxation & Serenity

I took advantage of the great weather we have been having and once more set up my Outside Studio.
While Handel's Water Music played on our outside speaker, (in time with a very determined woodpecker!) I wrestled with a pesky breeze and gaily ripped page after page of images.

I tried to do it quickly without too much thought, trusting that my eye and the Muse would find words and pictures that would fit the current Assignment; "to create a collage that represents relaxation and serenity."

Here is what I came up with - my take on Relaxation and Serenity:
(I love Infinity Pools!)

Now for the Vision Card to accompany the Collage -
1. I laid down some tape to create a Greek Key Maze design, then dabbed on Distress Ink Broken China followed by Distress Ink Vintage Photo.
This is the first time I have used these products but was curious and excited! to see how it would react with water!
I loved how I got a bluey green from the mix.

2. I went to my front garden and picked three burgundy red Japanese maple leaves and after laying them face down face down, I took a cotton ball, rubbed it in some sparkly red inky powder (from who knows where - there is no label) and made 'shadow maple leaves'.

3. After waiting rather impatiently for the whole works to dry ( I was tempted to run around the yard, waving my paper in the air, much to the delight of the neighbours I'm sure) I quickly rubbed and peeled off my tape to expose the white paper underneath.
Perfect for writing my 'mantra' which is....

I Create By Letting Go - Create By Letting Go 'I' - By Letting Go I Create.


Here are my two cards before they are cut and pasted into my journal:


Blessings to all Vision Journalists out there: may the Muse visit you tonight!
Shanti

True North Arts Vision Journaling **** A 6 Week Workshop !

*That's right - SIX WEEKS!
I remember the feeling of Dread when I signed up for 'weekly blog' prompts, wondering how in earth I was going to make good on my commitment?

Two years and more than 600 posts later, I am still here, writing away.

I admire and am inspired by Kathryn's work and because I have been involved with her Yahoo group for over a year, I decided to take 'la plunge' and become a 'beta-bunny' for her Workshop.

Besides, the title 'Vision Journaling' combines both my loves, images and writing.

So here I am in Week One, with a pile of pages torn out from various magazines, sitting on my studio table downstairs, waiting for the Muse and me to get together.

I don't know about you, but I find that the Inner Critic and Procrastination seem to be related...

O well, a cup of liquid brains (coffee) or TWO and I should be able to toddle down there and do something.
Wish me luck!

And O by the way, JUMP IN! The Water's Fine and Kathryn's a Great Teacher!

Blessings of the Muse
Shanti

Illustrating a Friend's Novel - Harlequeen

I was sent the precis of his latest writing and an image began to take form.
Just for fun, I decided I would attempt to illustrate it.
I wanted to create the flavour of a Venetian Carnival within an antique playing card format.
My favourite lady was hauled out of the vault and became the HarleQueen.
So here she is.
Blessings of the Midnight Muse to all the artists out there.
Shanti

Knotting a HandFasting Broom

July 3, 2009
The night before Felicity and Ken's Handfasting Ceremony, I had taken up the challenge of 'Knotting The Broom' which they were going to jump over at the end.
Approximately 6 hours later, here is the result.
Not bad if I do say so myself.
All that Girl Guide Knot training came in handy!

HandFasting Ceremony - July 4, 2009

1.The Broom before the Handfasting cords are tied on
2. Tying on the Handfasting cords
3. The Well Knotted Broom
Blessings of Well-Knotted Brooms and Happy Marriages!
Shanti