"It Takes A Village"

When I saw Cathy Bluteau's whimsical houses I immediately wanted to play , so I signed up for her class , and had a few relaxing and fun days creating this village out of my old stash of scrapbooking papers.

I really enjoyed it but so far have only done one piece because I also had signed up for a more intense workshop involving textile  art, which I am still working on.

I could have posted this a while ago and some of you have seen it on Facebook but I thought my blog readers may like to see it and even be interested in Cathy's class which you can check out on her website here. Its called "It Takes A Village".

I did start another one, but for the time being, all papers glue and paint have been put away so I can focus on my other workshop with Jackie Cardy , and oh my…. will you love her work if you have yet to see it. This is her first time offering her techniques , and hopefully for some of you it won't be the last because she is a wonderful teacher and such a real delight to listen to with her British accent and funny remarks and sayings. Such a lovely person :) 

Hello again

Well hello... I know.. it's been forever.
I was almost afraid to post thinking, what will people think of me, that was until I started a new ecourse with Brene Brown these past two weeks. Not sure if you have heard about it , the course is following Brene's book "The Gifts Of Imperfection" , "Let go of who you think your supposed to be and embrace who you are."
Even the first two weeks have been powerful for me. To put it all in a nutshell , I am learning to stop worrying about what people think of me, and be authentic. Its not easy for me, but I am trying :)

This may be a long post , but you don't "have to read it" *giggle. I will show you the only art I have done all summer , and tell you first some news.
One of my whimsical little Christmas crafts has been published in a Better Homes and Garden magazine. I have been holding on to this news for months , so here you have it. Of all the things I have created, this has to be the most simple. Those of you have been following me for years will probably remember them shown in my Christmas Gift Bag tutorial.

This is the magazine cover if you want to go find it, not sure if its too late or not but there are some really nice craft projects in this edition, I love this little snowman.

Thank you to the BHG staff for choosing my little craft project to go in your magazine. I am really touched :) I love crafting before the holidays don't you? I am ready now to start on some Christmas goodies , and will be back to share with you.

It's been a busy year for me, as most of you know. Finally have mom and dad settled in a nice bungalow and even though I am the one who drives them everywhere I still have a lot of free time which I am grateful for. My sister is now going through her radiation treatments after having her lymph nodes removed and she tells me its a breeze compared to the chemotherapy.

My art work has taken on a whole new direction, I am into more colour now, and I have really been enjoying the Dylusion Ink Sprays so much, using my own carved stamps and making inspiring words or affirmations on ATC sized blocks. Here are some examples ......

This all started when I took Kate Krane's class as mentioned in some previous posts and I have just been using her shared techniques with a touch of my own. I have started some Squash books with this technique , and will be back to share them with you very soon. I did the Squash books with my nieces on an art day this summer and I would love to show you their take on it.

Have a happy and safe Halloween , I am not really into it all but I do give out candy tonight to the kiddos, just hope the rain stops so they can have some fun.

Whimsical Journal Cover

Finished another journal cover this week made on mixed media paper.
When I start I have no idea how the colours will end up or the design but this one just spoke to me, add a little bird. So I did and I am very pleased with it.

It will be folded in half after I stitch some papers inside.

In other news, my sister has her surgery date for Feb' 26th and she will be so happy

to get that tumour out. They will be doing a lumpectomy and taking some lymph nodes from

under her arm. I think they do this and send it all of to the lab to see what stage the cancer is at.

She will have four weeks to recoup before any other treatments as it takes this long for the test results. Its probably a good thing, gives her time to get some strength back.

Prayers appreciated as always.

Thank you, and have a great weekend.

Lynn x

A Little Whimsy

Hi again creative friends....

I thought a little whimsical art may brighten up this cloudy day.

Even if it's not cloudy where you are, it may still bring a smile to your face.

I know it did for me when I was creating these two small canvases.

I needed a hand made gift for my friend and I hadn't done any art for months so after a few attempts at other things I decided to make a very whimsical and fun canvas.

Lot's of layers, paint, stamps, doodles and rub ons , and the use of 

my "one word" for 2012 which was "GROW".

Not so much to grow a garden which I certainly did , but to grow

mentally, spiritually and creatively. I learned a lot of new things last

year including the graphics program Adobe Illustrator, and I learned

a lot about myself. 

I really enjoyed the process in creating these two pieces and that is what really is the most important part of art for me, being in the moment , and feeling that joy feeling while you play. How about you, do you enjoy the process?

All photos were taken with my iPhone5 , which as you can see has an amazing camera. I didn't add any fancy textures or effects on them.

If you are looking for a smart phone I highly recommend the iPhone and not just for the camera which I looooove....
Did I say how much I love my iphone camera?

If you are new to these kind of phones, you might not know that you don't have to buy the actual phone, you can get one through a plan you set up like I did. I upgraded my old school mobile phone to this beauty.

All photographs on this blog unless otherwise stated are copyright to me, but you are allowed to pin them with a link back to this blog. Thank you :)