Congestion

'Tis the season of coughs, colds, flu and worse here in North Carolina. My beloved Lar has had some bug which led him not once but twice to an urgent care facility. (This is the guy who never goes to the doctor.) We self-quarantined, slept in separate rooms, wore masks to no avail. The bug somehow found me. Thankfully, my recent flurry of vaccinations has protected me to a degree. My body--and the cats!--know that something's up, and I am down, trying to assure a minimum of orderliness and hygiene to get us all over this bump in the road. 

In the midst of it all, I've been enjoying my oracle cards and junk journaling, or what I call junk journaling. Yesterday, after binge watching tutorials on YouTube, I had a revelation. I'm just making things to go into junk journals--cards, tags, pockets, folios--and loving it. But I don't have an actual book to hold them all! It's like making scrapbook pages without photos or a book!! Ha! I don't think this is going to stop me. It's just too much fun! Either I'll keep them all in a box, or I'll figure out another use for them.

There.

As for the oracle cards, here's the group photo of the first 12 of 30:

And this week's new arrivals:

I learned how to rust paperclips!! So fun! 

 

If you've stuck with me this long, you may be wondering why I named this post "Congestion". I felt that life was congested this week, stuck, like the gunk in our respiratory pathways. So many metaphors came to mind about breathing, and how we take it for granted. We forget to attend to it, and life becomes shallow and labored. Stuck. For me, orderliness and order free me up to pay attention and feel less overwhelmed. I've noticed this as I do more multimedia art with various tools and pieces that I can easily lose if I don't pay attention to what I need and what I can put away. I can see how this carries over to lots of areas. Orderliness (and mindfulness) are the Mucinex of life!!!!!

On that silly note, I hope that you flow this week, enjoy good health and breathe in all the good around us. And that you are able to make every day beautiful.

Oracle Deck: Days 1-5

If you've been coming here for the past year or so, you may have heard me mention my morning pages meditations. First thing every  morning, preferably before the sun comes up, I get my coffee and sit in my dark quiet studio to write whatever is in my thoughts. Random words, incomplete ideas, dream remnants, whatever comes up. It's a kind of brain dump/gratitude journal to clear my head and find some motivation for the day. When I was doing the 100 Days Project earlier this year, I came to appreciate finding a word or phrase to remember during the day, similar to "Notes to Self" pieces that I've shared here. 

Inspired by an old copy of "Art Journaling" magazine I recently picked up at a used book store, I found inspiration in an "oracle deck" by Mosca. I decided to make a 30-day project of 2.5 x 3.5 inch pieces to form a deck of "Notes to Self" cards. Here's what I have so far.

The first 4 days: a little collage, a hint of stamping, some faces and whatever else I find

Surrender to your heart.

Notice the beauty and love around you.

Oops: Outstanding opportunities presenting suddenly

My first attempts at setting eyelets in paper

I choose to experience the sweetness of the day.

86400 seconds--all new!-- in this day.

As I "just keep swimmin'" along, I am mindful of the flow and joy within them.

The faces are a challenge, and that's okay! Once the deck is complete, I hope to refer to it daily as an inspiration for my morning pages when I hit the occasional dry spot.

Falling ... together

In a conversation with my friend Jerre this week, we pondered over how a seemingly hopeless situation had worked itself out. "Sometimes things just fall into place, with everything falling together." A couple weeks ago, I had posted about falling "apart", after seeing a great expression: "If tacos can fall apart and still be amazing, so can you!" Fall. A curious verb with extremely different meanings, depending on what comes after it! Fall. A gorgeous season that marks our transition from light to dark, from activity to rest, from harvest to planting. This week, with a return to earlier mornings and earlier evenings, we've seen cooler temperatures and many fallen leaves. More walks have me feeling more grateful, and more focused on creating.

I think you'll see some fall influence in the pictures below:

A "ZenWimmel" journal from a CZT AE class with Beate Winkler.

I added some "secret" pockets and pull-outs.

Fun!

I used Beate's folding technique to create 

a small journal for my purse.

Wishing you a colorful week!

Surprising myself!

When I was preparing this post, I thought I didn't have much and that I would focus on one piece for the whole post. (Lar and I enjoyed a week of staycation to celebrate our 26th anniversary. A couple day trips, lots of reading time, 2 rest days all slowed things down. My usual daily art practice just didn't fit in. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with Lar.) Then I opened the photos app to review some of our fun this week and SURPRISE! I had lots to share! So here we go!

Happy Belated Halloween wishes!

I did a Halloween/vacation countdown for Lar with a mystery card every day for a week. This was a folio project from Pink Monarch Prints, using junk journaling techniques.

The daily mystery cards are tucked into little pockets in the folio.

The actual folio arrived on Halloween.

CZT master class social on Zoom

About 25 participants in the western hemisphere gathered to spend an evening together.

We shared our progress on the master class (CZT AE 2023) and tangled the totes

that came with our supply kits. I love the Pentel fabric gel pen that we used. It is so smooth!

Inktober Tangles 2023

I wrote in my last post that my schedule was falling apart. Apparently that was truer than I knew! I totally missed the first two weeks of Inktober, and that's okay. But I did  two pieces with the prompts for the first eighteen or so days. I used some faux eco-print paper I had made.

"Travels with Lar"

This was a small "junk journal" using papers from Pink Monarch Prints' November kit subscription. (This subscription includes 50 pages of vintage papers with a travel theme. I think it's my favorite so far.) The base is an envelope with a hand-sewn journal, with some pockets and tags. We kept our memories and mementos in it this week. I hope to make more of these for our adventures to come. It's kind of like a scrapbook, but so much easier! This was my first go at journal making without using the tutorials. I'm starting to get it!

Love the red balloon!

CZT AE 2023 class with Annie Taylor, CZT: My Comfort String

In this class, we imagined drawing a blanket to wrap around us when we need some self-love and self-nurturing. The center gemstone: "me". Such a lovely meditation!

Finally, a "just because" piece. I had planned to create a fourth tile in the yellow leaf print series. But then I picked up my craft knife and cut out the leaf for a pocket. (See the junk journal influence?) I noticed a ghost-like face in my bits and bobs collection, then went looking for some used coffee filters, pictures of trees, my handmade paper, pine needles and finally some cottonwood bark. (My workspace was a happy mess!) I love how this turned out, and how it reminds me of my connection with trees. I photographed it on a pile of leaves in the yard.

I hope you found something to make you smile or ponder!

 

Falling apart...again

"If tacos can fall apart and still be amazing, so can you!"

This week, I tried to pull my focus back together. I don't know about you, but I usually go 3-4 weeks with "normal" productivity, and then I lose it for a week and start over again! Normal productivity includes getting outside, being active, eating right, talking to friends, taking care of my heart and brain--the things that are touted for us 60 somethings. After losing it for most of last week, I started over again this week, accepting that I am human, and batting .750 isn't too bad! (If you're not familiar with that baseball expression, it means getting something right 3 times out of 4.) Of course, I don't like the falling apart part, but, after hearing the quote above earlier this week, I had to laugh at myself. Life is not always enjoyed with a fork and knife. Sometimes you have to get messy!

I started and ended the week with this Blossom Wafuku lesson by Cat Kwan in our CZT AE 2023 masterclass.

I used washi tape for the upper ribbon.

I needed something simple, so tried a portfolio project from Pink Monarch Prints Etsy shop. Lots of fun.

I saw a cool idea for repurposing corrugated cardboard as a drawing surface. Right up my alley! I've always loved repurposing cereal and cracker boxes.

Lastly, a fall inspired Zendala with Lindy's Magical pigments.

Thanks for stopping by! Have an enchanting week!

Looking for peace

This past week has flooded our screens with horrific images of violence. I have 5 friends who were impacted by the terrorist strikes in Israel, and feelings of helplessness have dominated my days. I am grateful for the helpers, who organize evacuations, food, medical care, shelter.

The week before the world changed I had the great joy of visits from cousins. What a respite family can be. The day before their visits, my in-laws moved to another state. The loss was somewhat softened by the cousins' visits, and by a FaceTime visit yesterday where we toured the new digs.

Here's a  group shot of my work from the past 2 weeks:

Difficulty focusing on creating led me to several video lessons: Botangle, on YouTube, featuring the acorn-like Annie Oakley; Printers' Marks lesson by Eni Oken; Into the Tangle, a CZT AE 2023* lesson by Susan Yeo; and my first "Junk Journal" lesson by Pink Monarch Prints. (I think I'm hooked.) I am grateful to all these skilled instructors for the respite and beautiful marks they offered me! Also, to Eni Oken, again for teaching me how to make the faux botanical print papers with leaves. 

I'll use this for my cards for Meals on Wheels clients.

Another faux botanical print paper

Into the Tangle class. I really wanted color, but stayed with the instructions for the tile...

Until ...

I went rogue!

My Junk Journal. It has a pumpkin/fall theme. I first thought I'd give it to a friend, but decided to use it myself and see what I think. (So many of my friends are serious journalers! This would be too small for them!) It has 20 pages and several pockets with tags that can also be used for writing and storing little souvenirs. I thought it would be a great travel journal. I also thought about giving it as a fidget purse for a friend with Alzheimers. Any suggestions?

May you find peace and joy in your art, in your family and friends.

If you know of anyone in Israel who is seeking to evacuate to the US, I highly recommend Save Our Allies. My neighbors work with them. They are highly responsive and effective. Their website: www.saveourallies.org.

*CZT AE 2023:  A master class for Certified Zentangle Teachers all over the world.

My "September Song"

September has passed. Read that again!

As I reflected on the past month and planned for the new one, I saw how fulfilling and nourishing it was. A visit to my South Carolina family highlighted it all. My 64th birthday delighted me. Oral surgery slowed me down. Car issues kept me on my toes. My in-laws' imminent move to Tennessee reminded me of the constant nature of change. Keeping up with my art practice took second place most days, although I managed to pursue my study of botanical drawing through a lovely book Lar gifted me. All in all, a splendid month.

As I failed to post anything from week to week, I started to question my purpose for blogging. A friend and fellow blogger and I lamented together about the future of blogs. Were they still useful? My "mission" for this blog was to share my journey in joy. (The blogging process inspires me to make more art.) In my last post, I shared a crazy quilt of pictures from my journey: botanical drawings, collage, Zentangle pieces. Do readers want to see Zentangle art alone? If you have any thoughts on this, I'd love to hear from you.

In the meantime, my journey in joy goes on. I'll continue to share my creative process, drawing, tangling, collaging and whatever else pops up, as long as I find joy and fulfillment here. (I can't imagine how you will find it if I'm not!)

Botanical Drawings, from "Botanicals by Whimsy by Kelly" group on Facebook:

Medley Classes. This is a course offered by Whimsy by Kelly. We learn botanical drawing and combine it with Zentangle.

CZT Artifex Eruditio 2023. A masterclass for Certified Zentangle Teachers offered by 7F5R Studio in Singapore with teachers and students from the world over.

My stuff.

Stamping with leaves

I hope you found something to bring an instant of joy/bliss/ happiness and wish you well!

Until next time!