The Moon and Me

The teeny tiny crescent shaped moon in the photo above is a waxing moon.  Today and until this Friday the moon is waning and the crescent will be the other way around.  On Friday we will have a new moon.  For those not familiar with the moons cycle; from the full moon to the new moon the moon is waning, and from the new moon to the full moon the moon is waxing.  I am new to all this and just recently became aware of how heavily I am influenced by the moon.

I have been tired and lethargic over the past week and feel this could be due to the waning moon.  It is a time for decreased activity and increased rest.  I have read that the waning moon is a time to send away negative things such as relationships or financial worries and to clear out closets and suchlike and to start a cleansing diet.

In addition to the waxing, full, waning and new moon, the moon is either ascending or descending.  All these different factors are considered when deciding the optimum time to plant seeds, mow lawns, water and feed plants etc. 

Armed with my new information about the moon I am going to try to live more closely to it.  I will use the waning moon as a time for clearing things away from my life and the waxing moon to bring things into my life.

Are you influenced by the moon?

Waking from Slumber

My moods have swung like a pendulum this week.  When the day is bright, so am I, but when the rain won't stop falling, and the sky is grey and gloomy, I just want to slide back into hibernation.  Even Gizmo wants to stay inside in the warm!

I went for an afternoon nap today.  I have so many dreams at night I feel I am living another life in my sleep!  I woke up with a start as my bedroom was filled with golden light.  Just as the sun was about to go down there was a beautiful sunset and I felt hopeful again of the better days to come.

 I took my camera with me as I went out into the garden to lock up the hens for the night.

 The sky was so beautiful and a good omen for the weather tomorrow.

Something caught my eye as I was looking skyward and there in a clearing, through the trees, on the top of the workshop, a fox stared straight back at me.

Keeping Busy

Following the advice of my blogging buddies (thank you for all your support and kindness on my last post) I have been busy making and doing and getting out and about.  Today I went to one of my favourite places.  I love the bohemian feel of Covent Garden in London and feel very at home around there.

 It was a bright and sunny day and the colourful shops lifted my spirits.

 I got to visit the shops that I like (bought a lovely big chunk of Rose Quartz in the shop above).....

 ....and my son got to go in the shops he likes such as the Forbidden Planet comic book store that is a haven for a soon to be teenage boy.

Yesterday I went on a jewellery making course local to where I live.  It was just a small group of four of us and a tutor.  The first thing I made was the bracelet above.  It is really heavy and has loads of bling!

 We then made earrings........................

 .............and then seed bead bracelets.

 I think I enjoyed making the clasp most of all, shaping the wire around into spirals with round nosed pliers.

I also made a pretty necklace with faceted glass beads and used crimp beads to hold them in place.  I thoroughly enjoyed making the jewellery.  The hardest part of the course was choosing what beads to use!

A Blip

I am going through a blip in life at the moment.  My desire to put on a happy face is proving to be extremely challenging.  Once again I am going through a period of self doubt - self loathing even.  I don't know where or why this feeling comes over me.  It is a real pain. 

One of my teeth crumbled away as I bit on a sugared almond at the weekend.  Now I look as ugly on the outside as I am feeling on the inside.

This feeling is temporary I know.  Normal service will be resumed in a few days.  Thank you for listening.

East Meets West

Crafting has no cultural boundaries for me.  I like to work with the finest hand printed Japanese Washi papers to the textured, creamy water colour papers made in England and use crafting materials from every country in between!  I made the little Japanese doll  this week.  She will be either made into a bookmark or mounted onto a card.  It was such a pleasure to work with the Japanese papers and I almost salivated (but thankfully didn't!) over the beautiful patterns and texture of the paper.  The way I feel about paper is the way that some of you feel about fabric or wool so you will know exactly what I mean!

 The Japanese papers come in a vast array of colours and designs and are based on real-life kimono patterns.

 In addition to playing with my washi papers, I have been mounting up my hand stamped and water coloured images onto card stock.  The flash accidentally highlighted the cellophane packaging in the picture above looking like a watery sun!

 I think these colours are very bold and vibrant.......................

but I also like the lived in look too!  Have a lovely weekend everyone.  I hope the sun will put in an appearance!

Finishing and Starting

I have finally finished making my fairy cards so it is time to move onto something else. After seeing the pictures of hens made by potato printing in the March issue of  Country Living magazine, I was inspired to have a go myself.

 I cut a potato in half and cut a crescent shape out of it.  I applied acrylic paint onto the potato in the colours of a chickens plumage and then pressed gently down onto paper.

 I produced these images after a couple of attempts,  OK, they are not fantastic pieces of art and have an amateurish cartoon-like quality about them, but the good thing is I know I can do better!!!

I need to refine the potato shape and play about with the colours too.  Why not have a go?  It is great fun and you don't need to be an artist to do it!

Pretty Things

 Spring fairy.

 Purple Primulas.

 Yellow Primulas.

A silhouette just before sunset.

Serendipity

I have noticed something recently.  My new positive outlook on  life has begun to change my fortune.  There has been no major changes such as a money windfall or offer of interesting employment but there have been little things, and it is the little things that make all the difference.

In the last couple of months I have had 3 emails read out on the Create and Craft channel (don't laugh!) and a photo of my scene-it cards shown.  I have had two letters published in the local newspaper, I received a personal email from Uri Geller, I won a beautiful knitted bag in Viv's giveaway and today Louise sent me a lovely magazine on baking and cooking - just my kind of thing!!!

In addition to the good fortune being bestowed on me, I have had a surge of creativity and feel that I am making progress in my creative endeavours.

Being upbeat isn't easy for me. I have to work at being positive.  Even if I am feeling low I adopt a cheery attitude and have recognised that my good mood has a positive effect on those around me.  I have made a conscious decision to do something for someone else every day.

I truly believe that serendipity is at work.

The Winds of Change

The weather had been turbulent up until Tuesday this week.  The wind was forceful and the clouds sped across the sky.  The wind took my breath away as I fought to walk against it.  The weather was angry it was as though it wanted a final showdown before letting the new season roll in.  I think the winds swept away the remnants of winter and I now feel ready to welcome in the springtime.

 My renewed energy got me stamping with my new fairy stamps. 

 It is very relaxing to watercolour them in.

I have been using my scene-it stamps too and making the scenery very springlike!

Flower, Zentangle, Gizmo

 

I have been buying a lot of the traditional 'cheap 'n' cheerful' spring flowers recently but had my head turned by this beautiful exotic looking orchid.  I have never grown an orchid before but am assured that they are easy to grow from the instructions that came with it.  I should immerse it in water, for an hour, once a week and feed whilst in flower.  When the flowers are finished I am to cut down the stem and it may start flowering again.  The plant wasn't cheap at £10.00 but the flowers are supposed to last for four weeks.  We shall see!

This is my second attempt at a zentangle, doodled whilst the dinner was cooking in the oven.  It looks like a couple dancing to me, and quite ethnic in style.  The interesting thing is, that when you start to doodle you have no idea what the end result will be.  I see many more zentangles coming on but I won't bombard you with them all!

Here is Gizmo sitting among my craft materials. Whenever I put a sheet of paper down he just has to come and sit on it and try it out for size!

New Discoveries

Just recently I have discovered two lovely new blogs through an established blogging friend Judy Hartman at Hartfelt Fabric Art.  They are Anne from My Giant Strawberry and Sharon from sallymomsprouts.  They are a mum and daughter team who have moved to rural Wisconsin to start up a farm.  I am so excited to follow their journey,  They are both intelligent and inspiring women and if you like similar things to me, I am sure you will enjoy their blogs, and of course Judy's too if you haven't already visited her.

It was while looking at Sharon's blog that I found Blog Zentangle listed in her side bar.  From what I understand, zentangle is a form of meditative doodling, creating images from repetitive patterns.  The image at the top of the post is my first attempt at having a go.  I am completely hooked and can't wait to do my next one!  If you want to find out more about it visit Zentangle.  It really is addictive!

A Daydream

One day I will live on the edge of a market town.  My house will be near enough to civilisation but far enough for isolation.  The house will have enough rooms to accommodate all of my interests.  I will have an art studio, a craft room, a pantry with shelves laden with all types of home made preserves, an apothecary full of lotions, potions and tinctures to both heal and delight.  There will be a library full of books and enough spare rooms for friends and family to stay.

In the garden flocks of chickens and pekins will be able to roam free in a fox-proofed area.  There will be a large vegetable patch and flowers will seed themselves liberally.  Rose arbours will line pathways and a wildlife pond will be home to all kinds of creatures.  At the bottom of the garden is a woodland with a stream running through.  

A squashy-faced lap cat or two will keep my chair warm and I will sell my home made wares across the Internet to my bloggy friends.  Nothing but a dream.  A wonderful, inspiring and hopeful dream..............

The giveaway winner from my last post is.............Rosie from Corners of my Mind.  Rosie could you please email me your details and I will get a surprise package sent off to you.