Tangents and Tactics Number 2

This is Number 2 in Tammy's Tangents and Tactics series at Daisy Yellow.

Tammy is determined to keep us busy.

Tammy's instructions were to be messy and so I was messy with gelatos.

The stamps were done with acrylic paint and items found around the house:

bottle and jar caps and the squares are from an empty plastic candy holder.

I "Googled" on Half Empty and Half Full and included some of what I found as 

journaling on the page. 

This was fun.

Thanks Tammy!

Wishing YOU well and much joy.

Tangents and Tactics: Starburst

The Index Card A Day Challenge may be over,

but Tammy is still busy keeping me busy!

She has started a new Art Journal Tangents and Tactics Series.

The series includes art journaling techniques, video tutorials and creative prompts.

 Need new ideas for your journal pages?

This is the place!

Tangent #1 is the Starburst.

Here's my Starburst.

I took my time with this one.

I doodled.

I had new stencils I hadn't tried yet, so I did!

I collect quotes, words that I like and you can see some of them here.

Some watercolor pencil, brush markers, micron pen.

Thank you Tammy!

You can see more Starbursts here.

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Good Morning!

Good Morning!

WIP

I thought I'd share some Works In Progress with you.

Most of my journal time the last few weeks have been spent
writing about Rocky.

Before Rocky's passing,
I had started this lady.
I was quite excited about her.
I wanted to work on a few techniques before I put her on canvas.
This is from my journal.

I'm not sure now where I'm going with her,
but I'll start again -- one day.

You can tell by the wrinkles that this is definitely a WIP!
What a lot of fun!
Reading glasses are a must!

My book making supplies have all arrived.
YeeeeeeHaaaaaaw!

Journal Friday

It's been awhile since I've posted just journal pages. I've been spreading them around in other posts. So, today -- Just Journal Pages -- sort of!

Flower Bomb
This just fell right into place.
No thinking involved!

B is For ....
Birds and Butterflies
This took a while.
Mostly paper, a stencil, stamp, clip art.
I wanted to do this in my journal before I tried it on canvas.
I'm thinking about transferring it to cloth and making something.

Lastly, this is Teddy when he was a baby.
Always ruling the roost!
4 x 5 canvas kept simple

Enjoy your Friday.

Joy to You!

This and That

I thought this journal page went well with my reading of Happiness is an Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life by Sylvia Boorstein, Ph.D. So you get two for the price of one today!



Sylvia Boorstein is a co-founding teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California, and a senior teacher at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. She writes a regular column in Shambhala Sun and that is where I first *met* her. For many years now, I've enjoyed her columns and her books. I find her thoughtful, kind, funny and a wonderful teacher.

Happiness is an Inside Job is a small gem of a book. Using examples from her own life, she shows how the mind can fall out of its caring connection. "Opinions embedded in neurons take a long time to erase. Peace of mind derives in its own time." "Restoring caring connection when it is disrupted, and maintaining it when it is present, is happiness".

The book is divided into four parts: Equanimity, wisdom, and kindness; wise effort; wise mindfulness; and wise concentration (the last three being the three meditative steps on the Buddha's Eightfold Path).

I took my time reading this book. I wanted to fully digest each part. I keep finding little scraps of paper with quotes around the house -- nice little presents to myself. From Boorstein's friend Tamara "Worrying is futile! You don't know what to worry about first." "May I meet this moment fully. May I meet it as a friend."

She told a story about her uncle who, when he was talking about someone, if deceased would say "Uncle Clyde - May he rest in peace" or if the person was alive would say "may he live and be well" and then go on with "was sure cranky those last days" or "is sure cranky about his garage". Sort of like the Southern, "my neighbor, god bless him, ...". It reminded me of Mr. Spock on Star Trek and the Vulcan greeting "live long and prosper" !!! But, when her uncle died, no one had a bad thing to say about him because he meant - may he rest in peace or may he live and be well - even if they were cranky!

She also talks briefly about her teacher Sharon Salzberg - someone else I enjoy reading.

I'd like to leave you today with this quote--

"Here are the two formulas that I use for formal metta (friendliness or loving kindness) practice:

May I be free of enmity and danger.

May I have mental happiness.

May I have physical happiness.

May I have ease of well-being.

And,

May I feel contented and safe

May I feel protected and pleased.

May my physical body support me with strength.

May my life unfold smoothly with ease. "

Remember to Breathe!

Joy to You!

Feast or Famine

Isn't that the way it always is? It's either Feast or Famine.
It's no rain or too much rain (at one time).
I am happy to report that, without having to do a rain dance,
we have had rain twice this week.

Each time Mrs. Dragon ...

and Mr. Dragon sat on their balcony and watched the storm.

There is nothing like a good storm
with lightning and thunder
to enliven the soul.

The rain fell

and the street filled with water
(Lake Dragon).

Today
May I Sit
And Listen To the
Sounds of Nature

The perfect journal page for a wonderful rainy Thursday!

(Affirmation inspired by Kind Over Matter)

Joy To You!

Funky Fun

I have been playing with a journal page. The stamps around the edges are from an Inkadinkado Stamp Set called Scrollworks. This was part of my birthday sack from Mar and I wanted to try them out on something so around the edge they went. The center of each page -- no rhyme or reason -- just continuing the black. Then I added the *cool* parts -- ice, watermelon, drink, man relaxing. I've thought about adding the words -- across both pages -- TOO BLOOMIN HOT -- but I think that message is already there -- unwritten!

Then I went to BeFunky (thank you Kim) and played around with the pages.
Here are my favorites.

That's it.

Some Funky Fun

Enjoy your day.

I'm Taking Another Class ....

I'm taking another online class.
This time with Pam Carriker called Visual Journalism 101.
I'm really enjoying the process.
Here are scans of the first page -- Lesson 1.

Remember, I'm working in a lined composition book --
a little different than water color paper.
I'm going to start another page today with different colors.
Stay tuned!

Head over and see the other classes that are being offered.
Several new classes have been added.
Creative Workshops

Journal Friday on Sunday!

Here's the journal page that I normally would have posted on Friday. One of my sticky fingers took Mr. Robin's head off and I had to repair him. Now that he has his head again, here's the page. All of these birds have visited our backyard -- some only once -- some everyday. This page is a continuation of the My Favorite Things list which I'm still adding to - the latest being Micky Mouse as the Sorcerer's Apprentice. I wanted to remember nature ... remember the visitors to our backyard that have given us so much pleasure and true joy with their beauty, their antics, and their *friendship* (birdship?).

I didn't post on Friday about The Next Chapter and The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women. As I read the last chapter, I kept thinking about the Metta Prayer that goes something like this:

May all beings be peaceful.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings awaken to the
light of their true nature.
May all beings be free.

It all starts with us, doesn't it. Making time for ourselves. Knowing ourselves. I start with myself when I say the Metta Prayer. May I be peaceful. May I be happy. May I be safe. May I awaken to the light of my true nature. May I be free. Then I go on to my loved ones and then to all people.

May you all be peaceful, happy and safe this beautiful day.

I Have A Cold

What a title for a post! I Have A Cold. Well, I do. And this too shall pass. I know that. Meanwhile, I feel sorry for myself!

Quite a lead in for Surrendering to Creative Cycles, the next chapter in The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women by Gail McMeekin. The cold is a cycle of sorts -- it will end and I'll feel better about everything! Cycles I understand. By the time you have lived 5 decades on the earth, cycles became a part of you. Listening to the moon. Enjoying the seasons. Which brings me around to another quote I remind myself of often. It comes from Gardening At The Dragon's Gate. It goes something like this: "all four seasons of the year are present in the span of one day. Thus, spring is the dawn of the day, full summer is high noon, autumn falls at dusk and father winter oversees the midnight hour." Life is the same. I'm at the end of summer and entering autumn. I am nearing a crone and proud of it. I actually believe, at times, that I will make a terrific wise woman!

Creativity follows cycles, too. I wasn't very creative this last week and I'm blaming it on my cold, but I did get one journal page done.



This is Teddy. I moved the chair so that I could put my journal in it to take a picture. He decided that it was his chair and if any picture was to be taken it would be of him. Look at his eyes! Too funny!

Monday was the Lunar New Year 4707 - the year of the Ox. I am an Ox -- calm, hard working, with a resolve and a tenacity that at times is tiring! I didn't like how my stencils in the corners turned out -- too much paint (even though I thought I used very little) so I wrote over them.

My word for the year is LISTEN. There's a message to the cycles in my life -- LISTEN!

Happy Day Everyone!

Engaging Your Creativity

Today the group at The Next Chapter is talking about Engaging Your Creativity, Chapter 3 in the book 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women by Gail McMeekin. I read a few of the comments this morning that my fellow members made, and found that I wasn't the only one who wasn't turned on by this chapter. Some of this may be my age. I'll be 60 this year and I've been through the pains of working in jobs that didn't interest me and spent a lot of time wondering where I'd gone wrong. I just fell into my profession. I worked in a hospital while I was going to university and once I graduated I just continued in the medical profession. I made a living wage and met Mr. Dragon - so not all was bad. And, it wasn't bad, just didn't *turn me on*. But I was successful enough to be able to retire (thank you Mr. Dragon), became a professional volunteer, which I really enjoyed, working with Ronald McDonald House, art centers, humane shelters. It really wasn't until the last 10 years that I've been able to do what I really wanted to do -- Asian art. Again, it's volunteer (mostly) -- doing research for the curators in asian art and is especially exciting right now because the galleries are moving into larger space. Lot's of research to do and I love it. I get to "lecture" (with a very little L) to the docents and try to teach them why I am so excited by this art -- ancient and modern.

I did relate to Jolen Godfrey (Independent Means, Inc.) when she said, 'For the last 20 years, I have watched when I have begun to bounce off walls, and that's real information that things are not great. Rather than put up with a really dysfunctional, unhappy life, I have at least been able to say, 'Uh-oh, things aren't right here, and I need to find something that will make me sane and more at peace with myself." Amen! That's usually when I'd start a new yarn project of some kind and escape into the meditation of the project -- calm, serene work.

I did find a few quotes that I especially liked, but have to say that my favorite was one by Dolly Parton, "The way I see it, if you want the rainbow you gotta put up with the rain."

This brings me back to last week and my list of things I love. I prepared the journal page (above) and have started to list them there (sorry,no picture -- I ran out of time today). Here they are (so far):

• teddy bears
• museums (all kinds)
• books, libraries, used book stores
• dragons, wizards, fairies, magic, science fiction, fantasy
• laughter
• art, yarn, crochet, knitting
• nature, birds, trees, critters, oceans, rivers, snow, flowers, waterfalls
• kitties,puppies, pets
• tea, tea pots
• soup
• Buddhism, meditation
• the color green
• anthropology
• the zoo
• chickens, deer
• cookies, jamoca almond fudge ice cream
• chocolate
• candles
• ceramics, hand built/thrown pots
• butterflies, dragon flies
• Chinese and Thai food, sushi
• music
• pink plastic flamingoes
• picnics
• college baseball, hot air ballooning
• champagne
• gardens
• snowmen
• walking barefoot

I'll leave you today with a quote from OFFERINGS: Buddhist Wisdom For Everyday:

"On the day that you were born, you began to die.
Do not waste a single moment more!"
~Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Week Two: Secrets of Highly Creative Women

First, No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Life just interrupts our plans sometimes. The good news is we have finished the repairs and painting downstairs left from Hurricane Ike. We started on the upstairs this week including getting a new computer - finding a place for it and moving data from the old computer to the new. I've spent the day going through file cabinets and shredding. The shredder and I have developed a relationship! I feed it and, so far, it enjoys it!

Today marked Chapter Two over at The Next Chapter of 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women by Gail McMeekin. Chapter Two is about honoring your inspirations. There are several keys involved including practicing play, communing with your senses and nature, creating a sanctuary, and inventing rituals.

Sanctuary really hit home for me along with communing with nature. I've posted before about our sanctuary garden (Musashi's Garden). Playing in the dirt has always been important for me. I remember being very young and quite taken with being outside and planting something -- watching it grow. Playing in the dirt is relaxing for me. It lets me escape from the daily *junk* into another reality. Ideas, creativity -- also seeds that are planted and grow.


This is the background for my next journal page. This time I remembered to take a picture of it before I started with the collage elements.


This is the page with the collage elements added. I will journal this weekend. I have to admit that I really like the page the way it is! My added words may be very brief! The Buddha is a garden Buddha. The bird and flower are from a piece of wrapping paper I've been saving for years. It is old and somewhat fragile (one of the reasons I didn't cut too much around the flower and bird). Once again I had the idea for the journal page before I read Chapter Two and I'm delighted that they fit so well together. Sanctuary in the garden and in my home -- with candles burning, ideas flowing, new insights and ideas.

Once again I made note of a couple of my favorite quotes from the chapter: "Imagination is the highest kite we can fly.' (Lauren Bacall) and 'Nobody can be exactly like me. Sometimes I even have trouble doing it." (Tallulah Bankhead).

Jamie suggested we make a list of the things we love. I'm going to start my list this evening. I'm afraid I won't know where to stop!

This evening I'm taking a break from the shredding and back to the crocheting.

Journal Page

This is a journal page I finished late last night. My old friend the Universe must be on my mind because it is the theme of the page. I'm sorry I didn't take a picture before I added the collage elements. I really liked the paint application.


I found representations of the Universe: the Eagle Nebula, Saturn, Jupiter and the Galileo module, the Crab Nebula, the human brain, a fossilized ammonite shell. The universe within and without. The journaling includes information about each.


There is also a story here. In late December I was visiting Dragonfly Reflections and found a post about messages from the universe and the web site Tut.com. I now receive a daily message from the Universe by way of Tut and have included parts of them on this page. Things like:
"It's within you. The answers you seek. The direction you want." and "the power to be whoever you want to be. Your dreams are not yours by mere whim. They've been matched to your gifts... Listen (that's my word for the year) to your heart. You have the right stuff."

The Next Chapter started today with the first chapter from The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women by Gail McMeekin. One of the sentences I marked to quote is: "your creative self is alive and waiting for your invitation to evolve. Dare to embrace your creative self and manifest your dreams." Interesting how the journal page came first and then the reading of this book.

Oh, great Universe. I get the message. Listen it is! Create! Play in the garden! Paint! Knit! Yippee!

Creative Weekend

I had a creative weekend that I hope will continue into the week. With dark, cloudy, cold weather, it is the perfect time to stay indoors and play! I had a dream. It was about my favorite niece (the daughter of one of my best buddies). Then I got an email from her Mom telling me my dream was right on. So I hit my stash of baby yarn.

Stash of Yarn

This is what I have so far. Sort of an afghan jigsaw puzzle! Granny squares in different sizes all put together. I figured when I ran out of yarn in one color, I'd just continue on with another. What do you think? It is so soft. I'm having fun with it, but am sad that I put up the lacy stole once again!

Sunday I decided it was time to put together a journal. I have lots of composition books and thought I could recycle them into a journal. I hate to go out and buy some more paper. I love paper and between Mr. Dragon and me -- we are being overrun by art paper! I'm making a list of things to order from Dick Blick. Mr. Dragon will start another art class at the end of the month and between the two of us I'm sure we'll have a nice size order.

So I pasted pages together on Sunday. And pasted. And pasted.

If this works out, I'm going to make a cover like one that was in this month's
Cloth, Paper, Scissors
from an old embroidered dish towel.
Recycle, Recycle, Recycle!

This is what I worked on this (Monday) morning. Sorry about the picture. Someday the scanner will be working! My word for the year is Listen. I need to listen FULLY. I think I'm a good listener, but sometimes I respond too quickly -- sort of miss the real point -- if you know what I mean! I also need to listen to what the universe is telling me -- or hitting me over the head. Yo! Girl! Listen up! The word for the month of January is PLAY (thanks Leah). The little birds have musical notes on their bodies. I'm happy with my first page and it was FUN!