Book of Days: June 28th - July 15th

HUGE catch-up on Book of Days photos...

Grab a cup of tea... maybe a snack...

This could be awhile. :O)

First up...

18th Multi-Day Spread complete!

Finished on July 9th.

 June 28th:

Full Spread

 June 28th:

Last Day of School.

 June 29th:

Full Spread

 June 29th:

Playing with Dollz

 June 30th:

Full Spread

 June 30th:

Potluck and a Movie

 July 1st:

Full Spread

 July 1st:

CANADA DAY!!!

 July 2nd:

Full Spread

July 2nd:

Keep Busy and Ignore

 July 3rd:

Full Spread

 July 3rd:

Summer Patterns...

 July 5th:

Full Spread

 July 4th:

WOYWW 'cheater' Day

 July 5th:

Post Sleep-Test Hangover

 July 6th:

Full Spread

 July 6th:

Change in Plans

 July 7th:

Full Spread

 July 7th:

BRAVE!!!

 July 8th:

Full Spread

 July 8th:

The Best of Times

 July 9th:

18th MDS DONE!!!

Full Spread

 July 9th:

Starting 2 Lyrica

 July 11th:

Full Spread

 July 10th:

Medication Side Effects

 July 11th:

WOYWW 'cheater' Day

 July 12th:

Full Spread

 July 12th:

Color Meditation

 July 13th:

Full Spread

 July 13th:

GOOD Day...

 July 14th:

Full Spread

 July 14th:

1st 'intuitive painting' for The Red Key

 July 15th:

Full Spread

 July 15th:

House 'looking' = tired

The Red Key: She Sees...

Today we step two feet into a personal inquiry:

How can I start to awaken and honor
and cultivate my inner and outer vision?

Watch Shiloh's 8 videos for
Las Promesas: The Sense of Sight

and begin your journey with the Muse, asking her:

Show me that which I have not been seeing

*****

So this would be *my* first foray into 'intuitive painting', it was powerful!

 

Here SHE is... 
See Your Worth

Not sure about all the symbolism so I'll have to do some looking. 

Cool Green colors for the Portal, edged in Silver...

The Red Thread...

Her face is slightly turned to the left... 

She is crying one single purple tear from her left eye...

Her hair *is* fire...

The Winged eyes are Dragonfly wings...

She is looking straight into your eyes, not downcast... 

Looking through to the inside of you...

Silver jewelry...

Golden centered Sunflower...

Three seemed to be very important:

 'War' stripes in three colors...

Three dot designs also in groups of Three-of-Three 

(across forehead, around each eye and the cheeks/neck)

Trinity Knot made of three brush strokes and tipped with three more dots...

I felt as though in a dream while painting, with the candle flickering beside me and it's scent hanging in the room... wasn't conscious of what was going where on the page until it was all done.

Attached her into my Book of Legends... she also slipped into my dreams last night. 

I followed the steps laid out, 

Minus one... 'cause I'm *ME*. 

Meditated... 

Asked...

Wrote my letter... 

Dear One,

Now is the time, Now is

 your time to ‘be’. Stop and

look, stop and see, slow down

and let the world come to you

instead of you rushing out to

the world. You are worthy of

this audience, you are worthy

of this gift. I have chosen to

come to you, not somebody else,

because you are perfect. Now

open your eyes and see that too.

Love, Muse

 

 Painted the Portal overtop...

 Skipped making a pre-sketch... 

Went straight to putting brush and paint to paper...

Scrap Our Stash Design Team: July Stars & Stripes Challenge

This month over at Scrap Our Stash the challenge is:

Stars & Stripes

Decided to dig into the Steampunk photos taken by the very talented Robert Allard:  http://raphotography.smugmug.com last March. For some reason this photo came to mind first when I saw the topic. *kabang!* lol 

I loooooove this picture of all four of my boy all set and ready to fight evil daemons!

The base paper is Tim Holtz which is most of the 'stripes' for this layout. Placed the picture on the page, arranging it so the lines were coming out in a 'burst' and drew a light pencil line around the photo for a guide. Then I stamped a few gear with the Gel-a-tins: Shifting Gears set, using Gold ink and then heat embossing them in Silver. The guide meant I wasn't stamping where it wouldn't be seen: So I didn't waste any supplies or energy. 

Then I took both Gold and Silver Sharpies and drew some 'ray' lines coming out, following in the same directions the stripes were already going. 

Next I prepared the photo by placing it on a Light Yellow piece of Mulberry Paper, wetting around the photo, careful not to get the photo itself wet since it's a printer photo and would smudge and then tearing the paper... pulled it off in small bits and pieces to get it really long and raggedy. Then I inked the edges in Bright Yellow ink. I repeated the with Pale Orange Mulberry Paper and Bright Orange ink a little bigger than the Yellow. Attached them to the back of the picture so it looks like the boys are coming out in a Fire-Burst!

The Silver Gears were punched out with a Stampin' Up! Punch and the Copper Stars were all hand cut out using an Exacto knife from DCWV Metallic Stack Paper... yummy paper I've been hoarding. Arranged these and glued them on, then added a sprinkling of Me & My Big Ideas Icons bling-age in Red, Yellow and Orange.

The last step was cutting a My Mind's Eye rub-on title in half... used both halves over top the photo itself and added a few stick-on pearls.

I'm super-duper pleased with how this page turned out AND it's been 'Boy Approved' with an "Awe Cool Mum!" "Neato!" and "WOW!" from the crew. (The eldest nodded, that's as good as you get from the teenager now... lol)

The Red Key: Nightgown Painting.

When you get up in the morning, before you get dressed...

Slip off to the easel or art room or your journal. 
And take 15...5...even 1 minute to put brush/pen/lips to
canvas/paper/journal before the to-do-list mind clicks in.

Pull out your journal right now and ask her
"Dear Muse -what time is the best time for us to sneak off and be together?"

****

Well this morning was the perrrrfect time for this! 

We're now on Greg's 'summer schedule' which has us going to bed between 2-4 AM and getting up at 11-ish-y AM. Works out well now that we've established a good family rhythm:  

The boys get up earlier and have cereal, play, make a mess etc... 

We get up have Lunch with them, Greg leaves for work...

Then EVIL MOM makes everyone clean up.  

I like it. 

But this morning the boys were quite rambunctious and LOUD and woke us up before 7 AM. 

Greg went back to sleep but I could not... 

Near us last night there was a rather large fire in the Bush along one of the nature trails. We'd been smelling the, not that unpleasant, aroma of wood smoke all evening... but waking up all of a sudden *with* the smell of fire all about gave my system *too* much of an adrenaline jolt, soooo no more sleep for me! 

Got up, got caffeinated and started to ART... in my Nightgown. 

Found out:
Sleep Deprivation + Copious Coffee = Muse Fuel!

Ended up with a painting of myself and my Muse working late into the 'Starry Night'. Almost all my ART-ing gets done in the wee hours, after gloaming, when the smallest of my four boys are asleep for the night...

 

 

Inspiration!

  

Me, in my Nightgown...

 

...and my Muse. 

 BONUS:

Leftover paint smeared on a canvas board and textured paper sheet... for later use!

The Red Key: Start Close...

And as you start wondering into how to design and structure a daily Creative Practice I thought that this might be a nice reminder to start close in.  What are the things that are easy, that come natural - that you could own and claim as a way that you are already wooing the muse?

******

Started with a mis-print photo that's been lying on my desk awaiting a purpose... close enough? lol 

It's of the outdoor 'church' at the Sugar Bush at The Olde Log Cabin Sugar Bush around the corner from us. A 'ritualistic' place as the background...

 Printed off the David Whyte Poem that was included with the prompt, inked and added it to the page.

Inked and Stamped a wee red envie for some hidden journaling: A place to keep my Daily Creative Practice notes... a hidden reminder. 

Finished by sewing a length of red Embroidery Thread  'through and around' the key and draped it up the page. The end of the Red Thread can be used to pull the envie open. 

The Red Key: A Symbol Slipped In...

On a quest in dangerous territory your bags come prepacked: 

Red thread of course , Red keys galore... but wait... what's this?  

Your muse has slipped something else in..  

A symbol just for you, sure to unfurl it's meaning.  

What might it be?

********

For me it's been Dragonflies...

ART-ed them before for Soulistry:

http://keepsakescrafts.blogspot.ca/2012/04/soulistry-gifts-animal-totem-dragonfly.html

These were some of the meanings for this symbol that *popped* for me:

~Dragonfly is the keeper of dreams, the knower within that sees all of our true potential and ability. 

~Dragonfly also connects us with the power of color and the ability to work with many different colors to achieve anything we want to experience in life.

~People who carry Dragonfly medicine are often quite talented in the use of Color for healing.

~Dragonfly people are also very talented at helping others navigate their own emotional waters.

Page was painted, dragonfly mats laid down, sprayed, stamped, spritzed more... played with lots.

Wings are painted in with Glass Paint. 

Red Thread running through the page is journaled:

Following the Red Thread...

Changes are happening...

flutter... flutter... ZOOM...

Here and there and everywhere..

Dragonflies flitting in and out...