new year wishes

Season's Greetings dear viewers!
And here we find ourselves on the next precipice. If it isn't festive, please let it be peaceful, a time of eternal transcendent presence with what IS.

We've been lucky to have a pleasant holiday.  I hope, whatever it is you do or do not celebrate, that you are finding joy in the every day humble aspects of life. We have so much to be grateful for.

Here are a few of the things we've been up to over the last week.

Babu gives Muji a Christmas Morning Kiss

while Wally made me the most delicious Christmas omelet

Two nights earlier, Wally wanted to see the paper hat I'd made, hence the door ajar on a cold night where I went to fetch it from the recycle bag.

Then he wanted me to model it, hence the blurry shot as I hammed it up.

We spent Wally's 3 1/2 days off  - Making

Wally put a leaf in our living room oak table so that we could be near the Christmas tree,

the holiday music and snacks.

We have become quite enamoured over the past few months with simple book making

and as is our wont, we researched and gathered, planning to use Wally's holiday time

for this very purpose. Here Wally sizes up placement of these clear stamps on the distressed and collaged cover of his little travel notebook that is already sewn up.

While I contemplated whether or not to do a post today, Babu's cuddling

convinced me as I took these fun shots of him

So here is a shot of my work in progress, the centre of my sewn book showing the glued and sewn pockets I made from both ends of a brown paper bag, and the many tags I relished making -

stamping and distressing them like the one I hold here, as well as collage from various found papers

and decorative paper pads on others.

I wonder if you, who visit my blog, enjoy making too.  I hope that you find the pleasant mix of solace and stimulation that I do in creating something from your own two hands- remembering that creativity comes in all forms and that we would do well to take comfort from all forms of work, including the choice of conscious presence.

Please go into this new year with a solid sense of yourself, your worth and the courage to release attachment to pain, treating all relationships, most especially the one with ourselves, with compassion, acceptance and patience.

Peace on Earth

testing my colours

It's been rainy, a little cooler and even a forecast of frost by the end of the weekend, a holiday weekend albeit a little early for Queen Victoria's May 24th birthday. She must be very  old by now.
But this afternoon was beautiful!

I've told you about the wonderful spent mushroom compost we got for the garden. Many bags of it are still stored in our garage where they are producing more mushrooms than we can eat. One evening earlier this week, I asked Wally to take a bowl out to the garage and fill it. He came back saying:

"Is 3 enough?"

 

Wally knows I don't want him to lop off this fabulous rhubarb flower.

Here's a progress shot.

 

And how about this Gorgeous Flower with the funny little twisting shoot

 coming up in its corner at 7 o'clock?  Yes, another of the millions of dandelion shots taken in the world today.

And another picture of our precious Harelson apple blossoms with drops of rain caught in their petals.

 

Lately I've been bogging down creatively as I watch the amazing work coming out of the online class I've been taking for the last 6 weeks. It's hard to believe so much time has passed and still I float around, learning heaps but not applying much save those few drawings I posted here last month.

 

Finally, I realized that I need a place other than the kitchen table (which I've loved working at so much) one where I don't have to clean up every night for supper.  Turns out I have such a space, about as large as a walk-in closet, which needed a good shovelling out. Instead of waiting for its turn at renovation, I started moving things about and ...VOILA!

 

What a surprise I got today when I opened my new box of Prismacolors and found that there was not one tray which I thought was a lot!  Not 2 which I thought was great! But 3!  So I start sharpening them with the little metal sharpener provided, watching Teesha Moore and her amazing art journals, and wouldn't you know, I started getting blisters by the end of tray #1.  Well, this isn't the kind of thing that daunts me (not like making art) so I decided to practise my ambidextrous skills (of which I have none) and stumble through almost the 2nd tray. That's when I stood up and saw I had a 4th!! tray of Prismacolor pencils!  Lately I feel that life is conspiring to give me everything and more than I ever wanted.  Sometimes I am quite overwhelmed by my good fortune. Case in point:  

 

Look at this view!



Testing my colours

 

Thank you for checking what's new with me.  I'm sure one day soon I'll be back creating  now that I have this lovely studio to work, I mean play in.

 

Peace and Love to all

that we may live happily together and work toward a happier planet