CALENDAR AND ART WORKS

Hello There!

I've been working towards my goals of changing my blog posting schedule to include bi-weekly posts on a consistent basis.  This week's feature is Art Works.

Art Works will include paper, collage and paint. I thought I'd show you what's up on my work surface: a mini collage of papers and paint ink. 

I found these great Post It notes with tabs at Office Depot with lined space for notes and a tab on the edge to mark your place or label a section of notes.  Also, I love the Grid Post It! With the Grid Post It I can keep track of developing ideas before committing them to the calendar. I also purchased a pack of clear page holders and dividers.  I LOVE calendars and LOVE LOVE LOVE office supplies!!!

 One of the new features I wanted to share with you is my hand painted calendar for the upcoming month of February.  

There's lots happening February....please join me to see what's new each week!

Bee Creative!
Suzy

PAINT, PAPER AND PALM TREES

Hello There!

A few summers ago I was giving my guest room a summer make over by sewing seasonal pillow covers for the day bed.  The appliqued designs were in the Hawaiian style where the design is cut out in one piece and appliqued to the background. 

Palm Trees 

Sea Turtles

 I diligently traced and cut the patterns for a palm tree from drawing paper to make sure it would fit the background and test out the pattern before tracing it to heat and bond and to fabric.  After the pillows were completed I decided the drawing paper cut out would make a nice collage element.  I've had that idea on the back burner for some time now; finally the idea is ready to come off the burner into reality.  

Do you ever have an image in your head that you'd like to create and it doesn't exactly go the way you had planned?  The collage in my head was a background of neutral paper and paint on which the Hawaiian style palm trees would be placed. All I can say is that it looked good in my head. 

I selected  a 20 x 20 artist canvas and scrapbook papers with lots of texture in neutral colors. 

A limited palette of craft acrylics in peony, linen, flesh and grey.  With a bit of water added to the paints, I laid on a light coat of color to the canvas with random brush strokes.  I like to add some color in the background along with paper just in case the papers don't overlap or touch there will be color to bridge the gap.

You can see in the photo above that I had already added a piece of scrapbook paper to the canvas.  I chose it because of the neutral color and the fact that it has text on it to add interest. AND it has my grandson's name JACKSON on it, in the final product it doesn't show but I know it's there <wink>.

When adhering paper to canvas I use Mod Podge or a gel medium.  Layering the papers and textures so they don't compete with the design is important.  I also add paint around the edges to blend any straight paper edges that look funny to me. 

Here is when I realize I've hit the grey paint a bit too hard in one section and it is standing out under the paper design like a sore thumb.  I tried applying more light color into the background but it wasn't covering the grey ......

Geez, this project just isn't turning out the way it looked in my head! 

Okay then, time to go to Plan B and you will have to wait to see how I solve this problem.  I'll be back in February with another post on the final outcome.  

Until then, grab some paper, paint and canvas and get busy!!

Bee Creative!
Suzy

     

CHANGES ARE COMING

Hello!

Time is rolling along this month at a fast pace and I'm jogging along trying to keep up.  Does that sound like you?  Seriously, I don't know if it is just me trying to keep up or if everyone else feels the same way.  We live in a fast rapidly changing world of technology where once we lived at a slower pace where people wrote letters and waited for a reply, it seems unreal and most unlikely today! Personally, I'd enjoy a slower pace but NOT that slow either, there must be a happy medium. 

Speaking of moving along, have you noticed Sunshine and Lollipops is getting a face lift? A new and improved format arrangement?  What do you think so far?  We are moving toward changes in content and posting on a more consistent basis. My 2015 goal is blogging on a regular weekly schedule. After three years of blogging rather inconsistently,  I've come to the realization blogging takes more thought and more preparation time and more planning than I have been willing to admit and it is important to me. It is important to make more time in my schedule to produce blog worthy posts rather than scramble at the last minute to meet a blog deadline.  This stuff (planning, blogging consistency) doesn't come naturally for me because I'm more of a fly by the seat of your pants kinda gal. But I am trying to change my fly by the seat of your pants style in order to bring you better and more consistent content. To help me with scheduling I've purchased several calendars (pocket and planner) to jot my notes in (because I'm old school), AND printed out a free monthly blog planner online AND I'm making use of an online calendar.  I know, it's a bit overkill, isn't it? Perhaps this is where I go wrong in my effort to keep everything written down (little obsessive that way), but I DO love planners and calendars! How about you? What methods do you use to keep track and on schedule?  

Planning ahead is key to keep things rolling along so I've also created a fun way to track my progress each month in a mini three ring binder (previously a SMASH journal converted to Blog Journal).  It's strictly for blog post ideas and a visual way to keep track of my TO DO and NOTES. I'll share one with you each month.  Here's my January planner pages: 

Goals for 2015 

Monthly Blog Calendar 

WORD Reminder 

Please join me each week for posts featuring Sketchbook Tuesday and Travel Journal Thursday, Heartstrings (featuring crafts, sewing, Home Decorating) Knitting with a Mission, HeART Craft (features Paint/Paper & Collage and Monthly Calendars).  Looking forward to celebrating my fourth year in Blog land with you! 

Bee Creative! 
Suzy

CLEAN UP YOUR ACT

Hello there!

Does this happen to you at the beginning of each New Year, the need to take a good hard look at yourself and clean up your act?  It really just dawned on me that is exactly what all this New Year's Resolution stuff is about, at least for me anyhow.  Just a bit slow here....half a month into the "New Year" it occurred to me that some of the steps I've been taking in the last few weeks are to clean up my act and to get things more orderly.  

It started with a desire to make a change within, starting with getting back into a daily bible study habit.  I've grown lax over the last....well let's just say I've grown lax in my bible study and really felt the Lord was leading me back into the Word on a regular basis, this time it would be an online daily scripture study called Made For Community.

  Love God Greatly.com  is where you will find this study and although the online groups are closed, you can still get the bible study links to print out and follow along with.  The study started on Monday so you can catch up easily.  I like the way there is a Reading Plan with daily scripture to read with a writing exercise that takes me deeper into the Word.

Not only am I allowing God to do some interior clean up there is the outer clean up too.  Yes, like I said, things have gotten lax around here.  I've never been in the running for Good Housekeeping award (as most of my family and friends can attest to) but it is time to start paying attention to the outer clutter again.  Last year I did rid our home of excess clutter and mind you there was a LOT of clutter to go out the front door, even the hubby was impressed with my clutter purging skills.

  I've tried to be more intentional about the stuff that comes into our space by not buying unnecessary items, truly asking myself if this is necessary and can we live without it in our home.  Surprisingly,  we can live without a LOT of things.....things that clutter up our space.  I'm going on another clutter spree, cleaning out closets and drawers and really asking myself if 1) Have I used this item in the last year? 2) Do I really need it to function each day? 3) Do I really love/like it?   I am going to be ruthless in the process of cleaning out the clutter and happy to be blessing others while doing it.  LOL!  IF you struggle with clutter and lousy housekeeping skills check out FlyLady, she is a super hero of cleaning and de-cluttering HERE.

Speaking of cleaning up and cleaning out, I'm totally re-evaluating the time I spend on social media. Oh pleeezzz.....I hear the groans now.  But it is true, the time spent on social media, text and email on my I-phone and excessive TV watching take up too much of my time.

 Time is valuable and it is a gift. We choose what our time is spent on and how much time is spent on it, what we are willing to give up in order to have that time. Is it worth the time spent? Is it meaningful time spent? Could the time be spent doing something else that matters?   I want my time to have meaning and to matter. Lately, I've felt these things have been distractions to my real life and are not that meaningful to me. SO,  hold your breath and give me a drum roll..... I'm opting out of spending time on social media and less TV watching.  That means I'm giving up the time I spend on those things to make more time for the things I really enjoy: spending time in the Word, time with family and friends, serving in the church and in the community,  reading, art, knitting, sewing and blogging about those activities that make me happy and have meaning in my life.

I hope you are inspired to clear out the clutter and make time for what you love.


Suzy

FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS

Well hello there,

Thanks for dropping by!  Pull up a chair, grab a cuppa of something warm and take a moment to catch your breath. Now that Christmas is winding down and we're into the first week of the New Year, have you made your New Year Resolutions? Are you one to make New Year Resolutions? Making New Years Resolutions is a toss up for me, some years I do some I don't. It's not like I don't have goals, I do but I don't always make them on or before New Years Eve. But WAIT, before we start on the Resolutions for 2015 maybe we ought to reflect over the previous year and see how those 2014 resolutions worked out.  

Hummm......one of my resolutions last year was to take more classes online and to spend more time doing creative things with friends. CHECK. I signed up for three online courses and my bestie also signed up with me.  We both started out taking the same classes. 

  Neither of us finished one and the other well, it kinda fell by the wayside with other things happening in our real day to day worlds. I don't think she even started the third one and as time went on we both set aside the personal painting, drawing, etc to work on a hat knitting project for missions in Guatemala and knitting for hospital newborns, and for the homeless. 

Spending more time doing creative things with friends: Does texting your BFF every night count?  We DO discuss our on going projects and new ideas too<wink>. CHECK! There were lots of fun times with the ladies making cards to send to shut-ins and as encouragement to others in need.   I knitted my first baby sweater for little Calvin Houdini  who lives in Michigan! And there were lots of arts and crafts with Sunshine and Lollipops each week! 

 All in all, I'd say my resolutions were fulfilled although not exactly the way I had planned them.  It WAS a productive year but sometimes it doesn't seem like there is much going on at all. 
 I get lazy, truly lazy and stuck in a rut but then who doesn't?  The thing is that there is plenty to do here, not really a dull moment but it seems that way when you are going day by day.  I'm never bored for something to do!  There are plenty of projects to work on in my world.  It is sometimes difficult for me to narrow it down to one project and to keep at it until the project is done.  Does anyone else have that problem? 

 Focus.  Maybe that should be my word for the year. FOCUS. Some people pick a word each year for the entire year....I did that last year.  Last year the word was RELEASE. 

 Did pretty good RELEASING a massive amount of clutter from my house too!   Maybe it might be a good thing to have a word like FOCUS.  Just a thought.  Anyone else out there have a word for 2015? Leave me a comment with your word.  I love words.  I love positive words that encourage and strengthen others. What about you? 

For 2015 I'm getting a jump-start on the handmade gifts for next Christmas, making the list of TO-DO, TO-MAKE. How's that for planning ahead?  On the TOP of the list are two Christmas stockings, one promised to my son in law before he married my daughter.  I told him he would get a handmade cross-stitched Christmas stocking only after they were married and it would be within the first 5 years. He has asked me for the last two years.  The other stocking is for Little Calvin-Houdini; I promised they will get them for Christmas 2015.  You read it here....they will match the Gingerbread-man pattern I made for my daughter back in the '80's. The cross-stitch fabric and thread have been purchased, soon the stitching begins.  

Sorry for the rambling thoughts today. I'm going to work on focusing my thoughts and other things <grin>.  Ya'll have a nice day and please, leave me a comment and let me know what you are up to in your neck of the woods.  

Bee Creative! 

xoxo
Suzy