Crafting under pressure ...

I have never been one to procrastinate (I can't handle the stress), but something about the holiday crunch brings out the crafty mama in me. It could be the caffeine overload (my little "reward" for being a good holiday elf is a hazelnut latté) or it could be the barrage of holiday music pulsating through my brain or it could be chocolate-induce mania, but I've crossed a threshold and am blazing a trail through patchwork, wool draped, paint splattered Neverland of holiday gift making. 

To give an accurate idea of the extent of my mania ... I came home the other day and found myself with a couple of hours on my hands.  I ask you: what else do you do when you find yourself with a window of unclaimed time?  Sew an apron, right?

Reading the Little House Books to Cowgirl, I was seized by this idea that an apron would be just the thing for holiday 2013 (if it was good enough for prairie 1885, it is still in style now, mais non?) The above photo crops out the pile of holiday crap cards waiting for me to address them (right hand corner) and the photo album with pictures stacked off to the side (under the plastic bag) and the clutter of journals and paint supplies left waiting for that perfect day ... But all of that was easily pushed to the side so I could use the corner of the table to cut fabric. (And yes, I am a dare-devil who cuts fabric on top of a table cloth without cutting board or ruler which might explain the lack of straight edges in my sewing projects.) 

it's lined!  i know - i am that kind of crazy!

The next morning I awoke with presents to take to the post office, but not before adding an embroidered bookmark to one package. (Full disclosure: I have sitting on my sewing tray an piece of embroider that has been in process since last Spring.)

As the knitting needles rest empty, I had to cast on a hat project for Cowgirl's stocking ...

And today I bought more wool for another holiday gift which I am conceding will be a New Year's gift.  (Along with another sewing project I have in mind. I mean, hey - the fabric is out from the basement and ready to be used!)

Even Cowgirl has gotten in on the crafty holiday spirit.

 

Happy elves are we.  Happy holidays to you all!  I'll see you when the weather thaws and the wool is gone.  xo

I totally blame these two women for my madness.
 

Art-filled Summer (Artistic Mother & My Best Shots)

Left: Me by Cowgirl; Right: Cowgirl by Me

A quick recap to help establish the mood and setting for my life last week:

1) dog sick with "tummy" troubles (meaning: lots of walks so no accidents occur):

2) air conditioning on main floor of house not working for 3 of the hottest and most humid days of summer thus far;

3) kitchen sink detaches itself from concrete countertop (a case of beer held it in place);

4) electric circuit in basement (my art area) blows and cannot be reset;

5) did I mention it was incredibly hot and humid all week?

I am happy to say, in spite of these challenges, art was made, projects completed and we earned our afternoon trips to the pool, cold beer (me) and nightly ice cream reward (me & Cowgirl). And thankfully everything except the heat and humidity has been resolved!

One project that had been languishing for weeks was an altered story book which is a project from The Artistic Mother by Shona Cole (I am part of the online Group working through the projects together. To see other examples, or to join, go here.) I don't know why it took me so long to complete; I have made travel/memory books using altered kid's board books before and I love making these pieces.

i collected photographs, tickets, maps, stickers and postcards from our trip and then collaged the pieces into a board book. i wrote journal entries on the back of postcards to document our trip.

I buy cheap board books from the discount table at my local bookstore. (You could probably find cheaper ones in a used bookstore.) I first gesso all the pages and then go back over each page using a brayer to apply the acrylic paint. (The directions in The Artistic Mother have you mixing paint into the gesso for a lighter effect; I decided to stick with vibrant colors so I only did the cover in tinted gesso.)

The theme was to be a story about Cowgirl. Ever since she was a baby we have played the game "Where's Cowgirl?" It is peek a-boo except I had read that since "Bu" is a negative in Chinese, it might scare the child to keep saying Boo or "NO NO" to them. (Never mind Cowgirl knew Cantonese! She used to say BAH! and wag her finger at me which must have been the no she heard from her nannies.) When she was little, Cowgirl would simply hide herself under a towel (her security blanket) but now the game has morphed into a variation of hide and seek. Since this game so defines her, I settled upon the story "Where is She?" Each page asks the question "Where is Cowgirl? Is that Cowgirl?" and the facing page is one of the many characters she encompasses:

To put the book together, I wrote out the text and selected images using matt photographic paper to print on. (I simply created everything in a Word document, that way I could easily change the size of each photograph to fit the book.) For each page I picked a color based upon the images I was going to use and then I stamped in some details and colored the edges with water soluble oil crayon. Since Cowgirl wanted to take the book to school for Show and Tell, I decided to add a layer of Mod Podge over each page for extra protection and durability. I tried rubbing a wax candle over the surface of each page to hopefully cut down on the stickiness (a trick I learned from a fellow art journaler when using gel medium on pages).

I am pretty pleased with the final product and hope to make a couple of books with pictures from our weekend at Chinese Heritage Camp. At least, that project is on my "To Remember" list!

Since finishing my 365 project of self portraits at the end of June, I have been neglecting my camera. One morning I remembered to grab it before heading out the door on an early morning walk with Moose and guess what?

Yup, fog everywhere. I kept my camera with me even though I doubted I would see anything worth shooting. Thankfully, the Universe always has some magical tricks up her sleeve which I might have missed if I wasn't looking so intently for something to photograph:

In one tree alone I found 5 beautiful webs! (To see another one, check out Unravelling Together where my web had a fortuitous encounter with some oranges.)

And even when it is too hot to venture outside, I can stay in and play with some And amazing backgrounds/textures available for free when you sign up at Kim Klassen Cafe for her weekly offerings. This week I received "Simple Things" texture and look how beautiful it is paired with a busy bee (hmmm?):






and a pumpkin blossom (yes, that is Cowgirl's pumpkin plant!):






I've only just begun to explore the possibilities available by tweaking the effects and lighting and opacity features in PhotoShop. So much fun, I can't wait for Kim's Stay-cation in August. (Thank you Janice for sharing these goodies with all of us!)





Guess I have been busy! But there is so much fun to be had, it feels right to balance intense playful work with intense play. Cowgirl and I have two more paintings scheduled to make and I just bought more paints for week three of BIG.

How are you filling in your summer days? What memories are you busy making?

From Where I Stand ... (Best Shot Monday)

These are the things that are pleasing my spirit right now:

Saturday mornings at the farmer's markets (yes, we have many to choose from!) and the excitement of new discoveries such as this:




Chinese Spinach which is a magnificent purple color. It is so pretty, it has to be healthy!

New projects (can we say electric drill - yes, learning how to use new tools) from The Artistic Mother by Shona Cole. I already made a name plate for Cowgirl and was inspired to make this one as a gift for a dear friend's new baby. Look at those impossibly tiny and equally precious toes!




Speaking of new tools, I am dabbling more with Photo Shop and learning tons from Susan Tuttle's new book Digital Expressions. If I only had hours to spend playing around. This digital collage sums up where I am right now:






But at the end of the day, here is where my passion and my heart lies:














Seriously, can it get any better?

Happy Memorial day ... what are you taking time to celebrate?

Snaphots of my life (and my Best Shots)

I really love what Tracy Clark wrote today for Best Shot Monday:

"Capturing these elements of my daily life helps me not only better appreciate my life, it helps me to see what is beautiful in the mundane. It tends to bring out the best in things. Click after click I am being mindful and living in the moment of my life right now. Even after all these years, it still never ceases to amaze me how something as seemingly simple as "taking pictures" can be so transformative."




I am marveling at the camera's power to capture the little details that might otherwise go unnoticed or forgotten. I marvel at how my camera is empowering me to reach out and embrace my life, to live with my eyes and heart wide open and to be on the look out for the next miracle, the coming gifts and emerging magic. I know of the camera's power to clearly acknowledge what I see matters and what is seen is worth looking at. Deeply looking, deeply seen. In an effort to sharpen my skills, I have make it a priority to take a day every week or so just to take pictures. Photo excursions I am calling them. I'm not always able to take many pictures; Cowgirl keeps my eyes and hands busy.

















I am finding photography is one way to engage with Cowgirl in a way that nourishes both of us. She is an energetic child. She is a forceful presence and parenting her can be challenging on the best of days. Somehow the camera reins us both in. It gives me an outlet while she is burning up energy but it also magically keeps her orbiting near me. It is something we create together and I am realizing it feeds her need to feel empowered and contributing in some way. Her sense of being a grown up is then you can do whatever you want and can boss others around. Yeah, we have to work on this skewed perspective.

Over the weekend I finished this project for week 5 of the Artistic Mother Group (project from the book The Artistic Mother by Shona Cole):




I loved this piece ... it hangs in my yoga room and is a daily reminder to slow down, enjoy and be sure to celebrate through art making. Art-filled living and a life celebrated artfully.



I love finding ways to use my photographs in my art and the projects in this book have widely expanded my range of skills and ideas. It's not too late to join in on the fun!

What details make you smile?

Savoring the details (Best Shot & Artistic Mother)

every new journey begins with invoking the blessings of Ganesha to help us gracefully move over any obstacles in our path. double the Ganesha for extra support!

Funny how the days are getting longer but instead of getting more done, I am finding myself busier and busier with all the details of, um, well, life. Or maybe I am slowing down, taking time to enjoy things and so the days feel fuller, richer with nuance and experience. Spaciousness is a quality I have been craving lately and in an attempt to create more space in my life, I am looking at simplifying things and narrowing my focus. A bit.





Not that anyone may notice, but Mondays have been a time for my Weekly Reflections post. I am feeling a bit pinched for time given all that the first day of a work week brings and so I am moving reflections to Tuesdays to give me more time to create the art journal page and write the piece. It has been an interesting process of working in my art journal and seeing how threads of ideas emerge from the piece, inspiring me to investigate further through writing. But then the writing often moves in a different direction and inspires me to return to my art journal and to add a layer or two to the piece. I am not wanting to rush this process and pushing things back a day will give me more space in my schedule to let things evolve.

Meanwhile, today is Best Shot Monday over on Tracy Clark's blog and my intention for the coming months is to devote a bit more attention to my photography practice and strength my skills. I have a seed of an idea sprouting from BeItLiveItDoIt and the first step in moving towards that dream is to feel more confident in my photography and to clarify my approach, my "vision" or perspective, if you will.




Speaking of vision ... I have completed my Vision banner for week 4 of the Artistic Mother Group. I have it hanging by my work space to inspire me and there was something very centering in clarifying for myself what is really my mission statement when it comes to my life.




On one photograph I have an abbreviated form of what I originally wrote here and on the other image is a list of my short terms goals. Seeing my purpose and goals written out, I feel like I have been given an internal compass to help me navigate through the busyness of my days.

And navigate smoothly through the rocks and the shallows is what I am needing to do. There is so much that pulls at my attention, gremlins of worry and doubt that nip at my heels and distract me from the beauty of my life. I am calling upon the practices and the lessons I know help me to stay in my center but so often get lost in the shuffle of an over-scheduled day.

So simplicity is my cry! And the quest for this:



Costing really only common sense which is to slow down, slow down!

In an effort to practice what I am preaching here, I am now signing off in order to go gather pine cones for a fairy house that I have been promising Cowgirl we would build. I am inspired by this line from Karen Maezen Miller's new book Hand Wash Cold: "Having the good life can be so simple when you savor the one you have."

Here are some moments of I savored this past weekend from a girls' day out and about. They represent my Best Shot at living this one good life.

(oh my goodness, the Best breakfast ever! raisin wheat toast with nutella and sliced bananas! thank you for the inspiration Marisa and Susannah!)

(my favorite bathroom in all of the city! )