Fundraising for Walk the Walk

Helloooo!  When I go back to the Island in August this year, I'm taking part in the Isle of Wight Challenge, which is a 100 km walk around the entire island taking place over the August bank holiday weekend. It's also a fundraising event for charities, so I have set up my own charity page for Walk the Walk.

Now as you know from reading my blog, I've done the Triathlon Pink and the Perth Mother's Day Classic walk - both of which raise funds for breast cancer research and care.  It's a cause that's close to my heart as one of my grans died from breast cancer, and my mum nursed her and experienced the pain and anguish this cancer causes for both sufferer and carer.  I'm doing this for women everywhere :)

Here's the official blurb from the website:

"Walk the Walk

www.walkthewalk.org is a grant making breast cancer charity, which means that everybody taking part in our challenges is raising money for Walk the Walk. The charity then works with charities big and small that are involved with breast cancer and grants funds to where we know it will make the most difference. Our policy is to support research and also to support those that have cancer now. "

It's an amazing cause and will help fund breast cancer research that will benefit the whole world, not just the UK, so I hope you will feel lead to make a donation - it doesn't have to be huge, any amount is very welcome, and the money goes straight to the charity not my bank account!  :)  I've started off with sponsoring myself!

I'm fully intending to revamp my page, but at the moment I've forgotten my password and can't access it - it won't affect you however if you want to visit xx

I'll keep posting updates on this blog and facebook.  Thanking you in advance xxxxxxxx

AEDM - my union flag

Today's offering is based on an embroidery design my friend created the other day as well as the fact I'm missing the UK quite a bit at the moment.  It's always worse at this time of year as Christmas approaches (it's really not that far away ..) and I start to miss family more and more and wish it would snow.  Hardly likely to happen here :)

My homesickness makes me seek out stories from home and my book of choice this time has been 'The Ten Second Staircase' by Christopher Fowler.  I discovered Mr Fowler quite by accident at our library earlier in the year when I picked up one of his books because it had a Union flag on the front and the title was intrinsically English - 'The Victoria Vanishes'.  That was enough for me!  Now I generally follow the maxim not to judge a book by its cover, but this time I was right to do that.  I find the Bryant and May detective series very witty, the stories fantastical but believable in the same moment and I love the combination of logic and the esoteric.  I'm also getting to like the sound of London, the scene for the stories; visiting in my teenage years as a 'country bumpkin' from Devon at the time, I found the capital city intimidating, whereas now I'm becoming curious about it's history.  Simply brilliant, but don't take my word for it, read the books for yourself.  I felt a little saddened that I had to explain to Big B (who was very young when we left the UK) that the names Bryant and May were taken from a brand name for matches, but even he could see the wit in that.  I'm trying to convert him too.  You can check out more at the author's blog.

And if you want to be inspired by more art every day this month, check it out here ...

thinking about it, my next pic will be something from my life here in Australia, just in case people start thinking I'm unhappy here, because I do like it!

Memories - making a 'Book of Days'

Provoking memories - hydrangeas remind me of my mum - they're her favourite flower.  Somehow she doesn't feel so far away ...

Wow - funny how you put something out there and connections start turning up like magic :)  I'd spoken yesterday about my intentions to work on exploring and expressing my 'roots'.  Well, today through one of my Facebook groups I found out about a year long project that encourages you to make an art journal of memories - Effy Wild sends out regular emails and short videos to get your creativity going (a passion close to my heart as you know).  It looks wonderful, I'm really excited about it even though I don't fully understand what I'm supposed to do yet - though some of the words being bandied about including journalling and altered books are getting the imagination up and running!  If you're even getting the slightest feeling of curiosity, go look at Effy's website here to register - you can only get the newsletters with info if you do this.  And don't panic about having to catch up or keep up - Effy's advice is to embrace 'your inner turtle'.  Don't you just love it already?  :)

Shopping at Guildford Pottery

In the recent holidays Little Man was lucky enough to do a pottery workshop and today I was able to pick up the lovely dragon he made (and 2 little dishes he made on the wheel - very impressive!).  The classes are held at Guildford Pottery, phone up for details.

I also had time to look round the shop and did leave with a few treasures :)  The beautiful blue sugar bowl and the little gumnuts were made by one of the teachers at the children's class, that's what I love about buying from the galleries - you get to meet the people who made the objects you love, it all makes it so much more special.

 

Check out the gallery if you're passing through Guildford!

Dos de los muertos

Frida Kahlo

Today is the second day of the Mexican festival 'Dos de los muertos' - Day of the Dead.  Rather than being as spooky as it sounds, it's actually a time to remember those who have passed on - children on the first day, and adults on the second.  Skulls are a prominent symbol and symbolize both death and life - the Mexicans celebrate by making fantastically colourful shrines and special foods.  You can find out loads about it if you Google it.

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist who used the symbology of skulls and skeletons in her work.  She was an amazing woman and her work is thought-provoking and sometimes brutal, but for me very inspiring too.  So I remember her today, and my grandparents - and also the lovely people who are still with me and bless my life.

Thinking about Death (1943)

Frida's artwork is available to be viewed at sites such as this one and I found the photo of Frida on the Library of Congress website, which looks like a huge resource for all sorts of images.   And click here for what looks to be another good site for art research (it's where I found the self-portrait).  Places to start your research if you so wish!

Art Dolls in the makings

Thought I'd just give you a book reference tonight as my long-lasting virus has now morphed into earache and I'm feeling like pants!  Anyway, it's my plan to make a couple of art dolls before Christmas and one of the most amazing and brilliant books I've come across is 'Creative Cloth Doll Collection' by Patti Medaris Culea.  As it's also Blogtoberfest, maybe you could pop over to her blog - her blog banner features one of her dolls.  There is also a button for Amazon where you could get a peek at her book. 

Off for a refreshing sleep, and hopefully painless ears tomorrow :)

Lessons from a Dragonfly

I've not been writing in my blog as much as I've been wanting to - I always leave it until the evening, by which time I'm too tired to string a thought together (I've been warned this is what happens after hitting 40!).   So, I'm going to try and make time for blogging earlier in the day, it would be a shame to stop as I enjoy it so much.

What do you think of my delicate dragonfly?  I attended a teleclass this weekend with a friend I made on SARK's Dream Boogie last year - Mikell Worley.  She's a very talented artist and is presently finishing up an ARTbundance coaching course at Artella, and this teleclass was part of her prac.  We learned all about the characteristics of the dragonfly and what we could learn from them in our own creative life journeys.  I learned that a dragonfly can't walk, it can only fly - how awesome to be able to view life from above!  I often fly within my dreams so it's a part of the dragonfly that I really resonated with.  Mikell also used the word 'luminous' to describe them and I just love that word!  Both the sound and the meaning - I think it's going on my favourite word list right next to onomatopoeia!!  To be a creative light in this world would be wonderful ...

Yarn Addiction

I think I may have a problem!  Off I went to Spotlight this morning just to buy some yarn for a couple of projects, but there was so much on sale and I couldn't resist temptation.  But I must say most of the yarn is actually for the Crochet A Rainbow project.  The yellow is for something secret which may or may not happen ... mystery, mystery ... look up 'yarn bombing' in Google ... and the lovely mottled purple is for a snuggly scarf for the winter - which I admit to looking forward to very much now.  :)

Someone's going to be busy ...

Divine Didi Dolls

What a lovely surprise arrived for me in the post on Friday - a gift of a Didi doll from Claire at Felt Like Stitchin' (who I met when we were both taking part in Blogtober 2010).  Isn't Flossi just gorgeous? 

Beautiful stitching - take a look:

And it even has a teeny tiny pocket on the back with her name tag in it!

It's so gorgeous - pop over to the Felt Like Stitchin website so you can purchase your own delightful Didi doll!

Recovering in a circle of women

Here I am - now I know that the best blogs always have an image per post, but they also come from the heart and being brutally honest - I'm feeling so tired, so will simply share some thoughts and another quote xx

Yesterday on the ward before my op, I looked around at my fellow patients and got to thinking about being a woman.  I was the token 'middle-aged' woman, there was also an elderly lady and a couple of younger girls in their teens/early twenties.  But, despite our differing ages, we were all there for healing and care, and I wondered what stories we would all have to share.  What stories could the nurses share with us too?  I'm fascinated by the concept that we are all linked by our common human experiences - which made me remember and look for this quote I want to share with you:

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"A circle of women brings opportunities for personal and planetary healing.  Here we can discover more about ourselves as women as we see aspects of the Feminine reflected back by our sisters, and learn from the wisdom of their life experiences.  Here we can create a support network for our journey of Women's Spirituality as we rediscover and learn to revere our connection with Nature, the Earth and the wild.  Through such a circle we can become aware of another potential model for society."  (taken from the Moon Diary 2009)

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

That's why I'm loving being part of Blogtoberfest - it's like being part of a global circle of women - brilliant, creative, passionate women - all sharing our journey.  Exciting hey?  For more links to awesome blogs pop over to Tinniegirl - and join the circle!

Blogtober 10th

Firstly I want to thank everyone for their comments and following of my blog these past few days - it's made me smile lots!  I have tried to comment back but somehow got into a muddle and ended up becoming a follower of my own blog when trying to message someone else!  So I'm going to wait until Tuesday when everyone goes back to school to try again.  It's going to need every brain cell working so that I can concentrate and get the job done properly!

I'd also like to take a moment to thank Tinniegirl and Curly Pop who are the two main organizers of Blogtoberfest - pop over to their awesome blogs and get some inspiration as well as links to other fantastic bloggers and giveaways.

For my creativity segment today I'd like to share a pic of nature in its creative process - I saw this beautiful banksia yesterday with older leaves topped by some pale and tender young leaves. 

I'm always amazed at how effortlessly and quietly nature carries on working right under our noses!

Update

Think I'm getting a cold. Feeling very sorry for myself :(

Been having fun today working on my dream as part of the Dream Boogie course by Sark - see my little badge in the top right hand corner.  Take a look at her site to see what's happening on Planet Sark - it's a pretty amazing place. 

Ciao for now - going to bed with a nice cup of tea (cures everything) and a hot water bottle.  Bliss.  ;)

Sewing challenge

This June I'm taking part in a sewing challenge - see the image in the sidebar or click the link here.  The challenge for this month is to design something ourselves.  As I'm not really very experienced at pattern drafting I'm aiming for something simple yet spectacular!  I have this awesome fabric in my stash and I've decided to make an a-line skirt with it, using the Frida fabric and a coloured plain fabric to make the back and front panels.  Think there may well be some embellishing on the plain fabric panel as well.  At this stage all I've done is draw a rough sketch of what I want to achieve and I'm hoping that the simplicity of the design will mean that it all comes together pretty quickly.

Here I am sitting with my left hand in a wrist brace - it was my right hand earlier in the year if you remember.  It doesn't feel like carpel tunnel this time; I've basically overworked my hands with all this crochet and sewing and made my muscles ache!  Anyway, I did some research on the web and have found a supplier in Australia of therapeutic craft gloves, they seem as if they'd be really effective.  I'm persuaded so I'll be buying a pair and trying them out.  I believe it's better to take action now and relieve the problem rather than do nothing, do lots of damage and end up never being able to craft and paint again.  I would be a lost little soul indeed!

tiny post

I've been working on my dastardly plans to take the arty world by storm - you can view some of my artwork at Deviant Art - look for 'artycrone'.  It's quite a confidence booster when other people add your art to their favourites.  Some of the pictures have been used already for this blog; I'm also intending to put newer paintings up as they appear!

It's been a bleak few days for me this week.  Although I have strategies for dealing with my depression, it still manages to creep up on me occasionally.  Got a couple of good ideas for artworks from the experience though.  Inspiration is everywhere.

Hello Kitty Lookalike

Isn't she so cute? This is a Hello Kitty lookalike I've knitted for a very special person's birthday. You can find the pattern here if you'd like to have a go yourself. It will probably take a couple of hours to do the knitting part, and another couple of hours to do the sewing and messing around with stuffing (plus finding things/materials if you're anything like me). The pattern didn't include the bow as seen on my kitty, but as my daughter said, you can't have a kitty without a bow. I made it by casting on 12 stitches and knitting 8 rows garter stitch, then casting off; next I wound a length of wool around the centre to make the bow shape and used the end to sew the bow to the toy's head. You could even make some little polka dot dresses for her ... hmmm, got the imagination going now ...

Oh, and Kitty is quite small, less than 15cm high, but I think that is just right for small hands, or to tuck into a handbag for grown up Kitty fans!

Bushfire links

I wonder if Dr Who ever feels like time is running away from him and there's no way he can catch up? Because that's how I feel at the moment! Christmas is rightfully called the silly season, and with the hotter weather over here we have more reason to behave in a silly manner! I feel like I'm running all over the place searching for presents, cards and trying to remember everything I still need to do before the big (one!) day, when all I really want to do in my heart of hearts is relax with my family and just BE with them.

So, I have an enormous list of things I want to write about in my blog and so much to share, but little time to write about it all; I have decided to honour the maxim 'there's no time like the present' and tell you about the meeting I attended tonight about being prepared for bushfire season which has already started in Australia. The whole shire had been notified of a fire safety meeting, and in the very small hall it was standing room only, surprising everyone who turned up late (yes, us!) and FESA and the fire department as well. Anyway, we learnt how to protect our homes but most of all how to survive in case of a bushfire. My blog is going to be really useful tonight, as I'll pass on a couple of links we were given. The first is a phone number: 1196 which is the meterological department and gives out weather forecasts, temperature, UV rating for the day and the level of fire danger. I've phoned it tonight and I know it works! The other link is a site that enables you to register your mobile and e-mail address so that you receive an alert of a fire if it's in your area. Of course there is also the central FESA website with lots of excellent information for all of the emergency services.

I don't know why I chose the picture of Busselton jetty for this post, but a couple of reasons could be that it is one of the most photogenic places I know and that water is the perfect antidote to all this talk of fire. We left tonight's meeting more informed about the right behaviours and planning involved in surviving a bushfire, and are now determined to make our property firesafe. If you live in WA (or anywhere in Australia for that matter) take a few minutes to check out the links above - they could help save your life.

After the holiday comes the dreaming ...

Beautiful colour of nature


Myself looking very co-ordinated with my surroundings at the lighthouse in Augusta

Struggling a little to come back to the real world after a gorgeous and relaxing break in Margaret River. My creativity today has been in the form of cutting out pictures for my 'vision board'; images symbolizing my perfect day and perfect job. Needless to say there are plenty of pictures of paintbrushes, artworks and paints! At the moment the board is sitting on my sewing table with pics spread around on top, but not glued down so I'm praying that no-one goes up to it and tips it up! It's really encouraging to look at pictures of things, feelings or people that make your heart smile. Vision boards seem to really be an object of the moment, if you type the words into Google you'll get lots of results. My motivation to actually sit down and make my board came after reading 'Spiritual Business' by Kate Forster. The book helps you make a business plan using your intuition and spirituality - I'm sure my more logically business minded friends will be shaking their heads in amusement, but this approach has worked for Kate, and being the whimsical headed artistic dreamer I am I'm willing to give it a go. I just can't do logic! I'm determined that the year 2010 is the year I stop being scared to chase my dream and really move forward towards making a living out of being an artist. So watch this space! ...

I feel like ...

OK - so why do I feel like a pair of big pants? Lots of little things really, nothing that bad at all! Firstly, I have been feeling quite homesick, I guess it's to be expected when my mum has just gone home. This homesickness feeling is like a little dog that follows me round all day, no matter how fast I try and run away from it, it manages to keep up with me! (And I think there's a piece of art in there somewhere ...)

I intend to use my 'feeling like pants' day to help me with my next medicine doll tomorrow. The second doll I have to make for my Medicine Doll Course is the Scapegoat doll where I can explore my fears and the shadowy side of my personality. I'm going to look at all the negative self-talk I constantly bombard myself with, and unfortunately I listen to it too much. (I promise you this is all leading somewhere!) For example, I started the day feeling low; later on in the day I went online to check e-mails and to read my favourite blogs. Instead of just enjoying them I started comparing my blog to others, looking at the number of blog visits, coming to the conclusion that I'm not as good as everyone else. Now, I am not whinging and fishing for a sympathy vote - rather I'm coming clean with a confession that I think I have an issue with checking blog statistics for a start! And also confessing that I'm annoying myself with this constant self-sabotage! Maybe if I declare my problem publicly I will be on the journey to overcoming it! Part of the journey is to be able to put all my feelings and emotions experienced in my self-sabotaging behaviour into a doll - it's an immensely powerful experience - I'll be sharing photos of the doll here without a doubt - I feel ready to make the doll now; I've been chickening out of making it for a while!

Now, the next part is that I made a drawing with a visual comment of my feelings about my day - the result being the beautiful big pair of pants at the top of this post! I can tell you I felt so much better and lighter in my mind after drawing the picture - you can see that by the flowers and hearts I added to the pants that I was already feeling more lighthearted. It's positive to see the lighter side of life! More proof that art helps heal I believe.

When I sat down and really thought about it I realized that blogging is important to me simply because I love writing and putting my thoughts down on 'paper'. I do it for me, and blog visits and statistics don't really matter. The other great thing is through blogging I've got to meet some awesome creative people, and I get to share a little of their journey. Check out these sites for inspiration and a dose of sunlight in your day: Violette's folkart site, an awesome whimsical artist; Attic24 for crochet and lovely images; Virtually Sally where you'll find creativity and friendly chat. There are so many, I can't include them all here! Go exploring ...

Extraordinary Expo

Photos top to bottom: Linda at the stand; yours truly at the stand; a close up of some the canvasses we were painting at the expo - we were encouraging people to tell their story; a close up of more canvas art and my spirit dolls!

Oh my, where do I start? The four days at the Conscious Living Expo were totally amazing! We met so many people, stallholders and the general public who were really taken with our belief that art and colour do indeed have the power to heal. A startling amount of people said they either had no creativity or that they had a creative block and could we help them remove it! Well the answer to the first part is EVERYONE is creative, and we can help you discover that, and the answer to the second part is also a resounding yes - if you have a creative block, come to us at Creative Seeds and we'll help you work through it. We spent so much time talking that my throat is now sore!

I need to give a special mention to Billy from the Pure Spirit Personal Development booth - he kept us grounded when we were away with the fairies in our arty realm, and his cheerful smile and hearty laugh kept us cheerful during the slow times. Thank you Billy! Also, Brigitte, a gorgeous woman who kept us company at times throughout the four days and joined me on the journey in the yurt! (More of that later!) She had a communal art installation - people were invited to make a friendship bracelet out of yarn to tie to a huge net to remind us all of community spirit; that we are all connected. Take a look at their websites when you have the chance, they are awesome people.

One of the highlights of the weekend for me personally was getting to meet Caiseal Mor in person. What an amazing man. I first read his first novel 'The Circle and the Cross' about 8 years ago and have always secretly wanted to meet him. Imagine how excited I was when I knew he would be at the expo. I was like a little kid when I bought his book and he signed it for me! His flute playing is out of this world, and at one point whilst I was watching him on stage I nearly fell into a faraway trance myself and had to shake myself awake. Absolutely spellbinding. Then I took part in his meditation workshop in his yurt with a small group of people. Caiseal was drumming whilst we all went on a meditative journey. I cannot tell you how absolutely amazing that experience was, but I am truly thankful for it. As I went back to our booth, Linda looked at me and said 'It looks as if you've had a healing' and she was absolutely right. I feel totally at peace with myself. Though we didn't need it, this weekend has been proof of our belief that we all have the power within ourselves to truly heal ourselves.

Caiseal Mor does a lot of work with parents and carers of autistic children as he is himself autistic. At one point a lovely lady walked past who told me she couldn't be creative because she is autistic. It was before I knew of Caiseal and his autism and I wish I had known because I would have told her to seek him out and see everything that he has created, despite the labels put on him throughout his life. Maybe she did find him, I do hope so. Caiseal Mor has written an autobiography on his life with autism if you would like to read it - 'A Blessing and a Curse' (see website for details).

I suppose I shouldn't leave out the news that we also won a prize for having the most creative stall at the Expo. Totally unexpected, but yes, we are very, very proud! We have been so stressed and anxious at times that we almost walked away and made excuses so that we wouldn't have to do it, but we hung on and finished the whole four days and enjoyed every moment of it. We had so much fun, laughing at the silly things we did each day, hugging people who wanted/needed a hug, sharing our passion for art, listening to people tell their stories. What a privilege indeed to share a moment in people's journey of life - thank you so much to everyone we came into contact with - you are all truly amazing!

Getting better for the expo!

I'm not inspired to blog tonight - I have (another) cold, and my nose doesn't stop running for long enough to give me a few minutes on the keyboard!

So I'll simply post a link tonight for the Conscious Living Expo which is happening in Perth this week, and Creative Seeds will be there with a booth - we're offering Aura-Soma readings and the opportunity for self-expression with painting on a canvas relating to what has meaning from the reading. It will be great fun!!