#ARTifacts

End of february, it's time for a post about ARTifacts, Seth Apter's project that will last during the whole year.
I am done with the box that will hold the files i use to document my creative life . Last month i showed you the first steps of the transformation of the cardboard box, here is the result:
Front :

Back

I used handmade stamps and metallic paints. Below, the file and the tag where  i write about my creative experiences of the month.
 First, january file .Front cover

The insides

The january tag 

For february i used the same system of file and tag, but i added to the file some photos i made during the month; some landscape pix and others of the sewing project of february, small hearts i cut in white fabric.

For the technics, i used collage, Masking Tape, inks and metallic paints.
Back cover

February tag

I really enjoy documenting my creative work and i noticed it  has an impact on my inspiration and i tend to procrastinate less since i began to work at this project.
Seth Apter posted on his blog photos the participants sent him. If you would like to see the pictures it is here. You won't see my work, i haven't sent him any pictures yet because the box was not finished.
I am a bit of a slow worker.
May you be peaceful and at ease.

30 Day journaling Project

11th of february already! It is time i show up and give some news  of what's going on on the norman front. After a quite difficult month of january with some personal stressful issues, february began softly and brought its lot of solutions and happy endings and even some nice surprises (sigh of relief!) including , guess what?......Some snow! Rare enough in this part of the world to be seen as a real treat! Of course it didn't last  but anyway, i had the pleasure to discover the field blanketed in snow this morning and it made my day.

This year i registered again to 30 Day Journaling Project by Lisa Sonora. Every day some prompts arrive in my email box  to ponder about ; it is an excellent way to avoid the blank page anxiety and at the same time  taking a moment every day to answer one or more of the prompts can create a discipline . To do so i made myself a small book .

This is the front cover, made in an upcycled book packaging. It ended more busy than i wanted but i like it anyway. techniques used: Stamping,collage : dried flowers, images from old book and some drawings . Gesso, acrylic paint and inks for the background.

Front cover with a handmade "ribbon". I like to make "ribbons" with strips of an old white bed sheet. In general i put paint and stamping on them but this time i sewed just a line of black stitches, the cover was busy enough.

I made the signature with a paper lightly  yellowed with age and in the corner i pasted birds photocopied in black and white; i made pale copies and used colored pencils to give them an ancient feel  not visible on the photo  alas.

This is the back cover.

In case you would like to join in, you can still do it and here is a link to an excellent blog post by Lisa Sonora "How to start journaling- 3 things that make your writing easier".

I hope you're having a nice week end where you are, thanks for visiting.

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My Love Keeps Me Warm | KarmaTube

My Love Keeps Me Warm | KarmaTube



Love is all the world desperately needs at this time!! Take the time to look at this beautiful video, you won't regret it!

May you be happy, may you be loved.

To make you smile

In case you need some humour to lessen the weight of the news, here is a  blogpost by a  french knitter on the blog "Délit Maille", it's about the one-who-must-not-be-named. She made a success in France during the presidential election five years ago, knitting all the candidates and commenting with a fine humour.

And to stay on a light note , here are two small paintings , the kind i do when i need to lighten  my mood. I create small worlds where kindness and friendship between all  creatures are the rules, "I have a dream..."

And i am on for an evening with Harry Potter movies. It 's always good to see the villains defeated!
May you be peaceful.

Today's note

 A quote i found on Teresa Robinson's blog in her last blogpost :

"When our"fight or flight" response is in charge, humility, compassion, forgiveness and the vision of a beloved community do not stand a chance. Learning how to hold life's tensions in the responsive heart instead of the reactive primitive brain is key to personal, social and cultural creativity."Parker J.Palmer.

And some beautiful blogs you will perhaps be pleased to go to:

- Wake Robin , Velma Bolyard's blog,  A world of paper and beauty. Perhaps it is me, but i find that paper, especially handmade paper radiates kind of peacefulness.

-Penny Berens's blog Tanglewood Threads one of the places where i find comfort among pictures of nature and embroidery . P.Berens's last project with embroidered pebbles litterally fascinates me. I have not found out exactly why but looking at her embroidered pebbles, i felt something like a strong and peaceful energy emanating from her work. I don't know if this makes sens but i find no better way to express my feeling.

Fog this morning in my corner of the world and a pale sun this afternoon. For once, we have "real" cold. I hope you have some warmth where you are. 

All together

It was beautiful to see all the people walking together everywhere in the world in solidarity with the women's march in th U.S. People care for other people's rights and well being and that's big and  encouraging.When i looked at the photos  and videos of the marches, i was amazed by how peaceful and joyful the participants were;many, many signs read "love", "peace","empathy" and there was a lot of humorous ones too. This capability to respond to hatred and extremism with a peaceful dignity is the sign that the awakening of consciousness is taking momentum at this time.

"Challenges are here to awaken you and even if you're awakening, life continuously gives you challenges and then the awakening accelerates and deepens." Eckhart Tolle. Thank you Eckhart! Let's roll our sleeves up.

May you feel safe and at ease where you are, may you have good friends with whom to share laugh and love!

Sharing beauty

Sharing stuff wich can uplift other people's spirit is important, especially when there is darkness and heaviness in many places of our world but not only.To me, beauty is necessary as a nourishment for the soul ,seeking for it around me is  a discipline and a life saver in difficult moments .It is why i decided to share links with you each time i read and see beautiful things on a blog.

The first link will lead you to Catherine Drea's website; she is an irish photographer and her pictures are breathtaking. Each time i visit her blog, i am in awe. She captures the essence of  what she photographies, and the light, the light!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The second blog is Kim Andersen's, Art in red wagons, where  she shares beautiful pictures, words and art. Just a picture and some words thoroughly choosen and a piece of poetry appears.

I will let you for now , be well.

May your soul be light

May your nights be peaceful