Word of the Year January Mandala Community Project

Almost a Mandala...
Kathryn of Truenortharts.com and 100Manadalas.org sent out an email asking folks if they would like to contribute to the Community Project using their Word of the Year. I said yes as this was something that I had not done before and was going to be a delightful challenge -
a) you had to stick to the shape emailed to you, no going outside the lines
b) you had to stick to the colour you were requested to use (in my case, shades of  BLUE)  along with black white grey so no going wild with the fuchsia or purples! (darn lol)
Here is what she sent me to colour or alter.
The shape reminded me not only of a Leaf, but a Flame as well.
Since my Word of the Year would fit this wonderfully, I then had a good think about what else it looked like. Hmm..how about a Peacock Feather?

Once that was coloured in and after a good slug or two of  beanjuice, I fought with my aging crashing software program to produce this:

Ta Da! Not too bad if I do say so meself! I chose ILLUMINE as my word for 2015 as it implies not only action but service (for example: enlighten, to bring light). I hope to keep this in the forefront of all that I do in 2015 so that I can help shed a little light in a dark corner.
I can hardly wait to see what my contribution will look like in the giant Mandala that Kathryn is creating with 35 others!  WOOHOO!
Blessings of the Gregorian New Year to all who read this.
May 2015 bring you ever closer to your heart's desire.  

Solstice Blessings on You All.
May the Light of the Midwinter/Midsummer illumine your way.

Mandala Found, 5 Days of Mandala Magic and O GOOD GRIEF!

Dear Perusers:
Here at the Mandala Factory, I have been geomentally busy with trying to figure out how to square the circle. In the meantime, I completed a mandala that had been squirreled away in the back of my pages, so here it is:

While I was just finishing this one up (and patting myself on the back for doing so), Kathryn decided to let us 'mandala'ers' know that Julie Gibbons was holding a FREE 5 day workship called Mandala Magic. Ever at the ready to take advantage, I scuttled over like a crab at high tide to partake.

Mandala Magic Day 1 -  a 6 point Mandala which became 12 - (it was the Muse who told me to do that so don't look at me that way- she claims she was 'feeling seasonal'.).

Day 2: Lotus Chakra Mandala
Then the La Musa settled down and I was able to do a half decent Lotus Chakra Mandala with hardly any sharp pencil poking or interference from her.

Day 3: Collaged Mandala - Loki the Trickster decided he wanted in 'on the action'  I was joyously tearing up paper and finding all these neat words which resonated with my inner psyche and gleefully GLUeIng Them Down on to my Mandala base. For some strange reason, after I had done about half of them, they were not sticking! Not only that, the Photos and o so carefully ripped out Words were  disappearing and becoming mushy!
What the HECK? I looked at my glue stick which turned out to be a KIDS SUNSCREEN stick instead!

This troublemaker somehow mysteriously landed in my art supplies and was grabbed by me and well you now know the story. You can see by the photo how easily I could be confused..
Charlie Brown said it best:

I have tried to rescue my Day 3 Mandala by liberally coating it with matte medium in hopes that it will saturate what's left of my words and photos and STICK TO THE BASE! DARNITALLANYHOOO!

Here it is: poor thing..

Heaven only knows if Loki or La Musa will visit me when I attempt to do Day 4: the Hamsa Mandala! Wish me luck.
Blessings to all Mandala'ers out there who are going round in circles. <g>

My Mandalas so far

 

Blessings on this Wheel's Turning as we head towards Yule to all who view this.

The Krickle Krackle Project Part II

At the beginning of Nuvember - we were given the honour and priviledge to view 'Miss Maggie' my new grand-niece for the first time since her birth way up north in Whitehorse Yukon.
And for the Occasion I had wanted to make something special. I decided on a Krickle Krackle.

WHAT IS A KRICKLE KRACKLE?
It's a piece of soft flannel sewn with tabs on the outside and the 'krickle krackle' (in this case a cereal box liner paper) sewn in the inside. When baby grabs the flannel at one end, it 'krickles' and so do some of the tabs.

My cousin Dianne had made one of these for a new baby and I loved it's simplicity so much that I wanted to make one.

The only fly in the project ointment was that it had to be (ahem koff koff) SEWN!

I have had a nodding acquaintance with sewing over the years and have never forgotten while making a gym strip bag, back- stitching my thumb not once but TWICE to the fabric. Kachunk.
So you can understand why my brand spanking new Brother sewing machine had never been taken out of the box since I bought it 2 years ago and was roosting under the dining room table (outta sight outta mind).

But with Dianne's encouragement and help with the logistics, I took my Brother over to her place, plugged it in, and  got the darn thing constructed!
It was not perfect but lovingly made with hardly any cursing or gluing involved!
Blessings on those who can Sew Like Whizzes out there! May your needle never break in mid project!

October Octember: More projects! - a Birthday mini book & Krickle Krackle

As you can see, the DLP got put aside while I dealt with not only the two previous journals but these projects as well.I still can't believe that October went by so fast. I think there should be an extra month squeezed in between September and October and called 'Octember'!
A friend's surprise Birthday celebrating her half century had to be acknowledged with some sort of special gift and what better than a 'witchy' type mini album for one whose birthday is so close to Hallowe'en?
My local scrapbook store had these absolutely fabulous papers from Graphic45 called an 'Eerie Tale' and I had great fun putting it together.
So a big SHOUT OUT  to the following Ladies who have brought us amazing mini albums on youtube: my twinster Jean the MusicalScrapper,  Ozegran and Kathy Orta! who brought us such great techniques and enabled me the 'non' crafter to actually have fun doing this album!
Here are the photos:
I loved how the black tags worked with the accordion binding.

 

After I added miles of washi tape, buckets of glue, pockets galore, ribbons and more tags (I lost count!) I felt truly satisfied that I could give the Birthday Girl one heckuva mini album that had 'lotsa real estate!' (fave phrase of Kathy Orta!)
Here she is Opening it Up...

This is the first of the October Projects that I was able to create: stay tuned for Part 2 - the Krickle Krackle -  next post.

Blessings.

O My gosh..where did I leave off? Let's do September shall we?

Besides August that is!
Chalk it up to Ran out of Steam September and Ouchie October!
So here we are in Nuvember and no that is not a typo.
I have renamed the month so we can pronounce it as 'new', as this month has always been a difficult one for me to get through.
I will try my darndest to post what I have been up to.
First for September:
I managed (with the help of my co conspirator Nelson) to surprise my spirit-bro Scott with my appearance at his first facilitation of the Autumnal Equinox Celtic Sweat in the new Sweat Lodge which bears the name 'Triskele'.
Not only did the building of the Lodge go smoothly, but so did the Sweat.

In Preparation for this Event, I managed to make 2 Journals: one for the Fire Keeper (Nelson and it was his birthday too!) and one for the Lodge Keeper (Scott).

I do confess that I was watching bits and pieces of Game of Thrones via youtube while constructing these so quite a bit GOT thrown (pun) in to the mix!
Gosh how I love those Dragons! and being born in the Year of the Dragon meant an instant attraction to those flamethrowers!
How could a Fire Keeper NOT have a Dragon on the front pocket -

and here is inside the Fire Keeper's Journal.

Both journals are done 'midori' style  so that the interior books can be added or subtracted as needs arise.

Want to do one? have a look at Ray Blake's video.

For the 2nd Journal, this is what I created for Lodge Keeper Scott.
His Journal has a leather Triskele knot (done in honour of the Lodge's name)  to grab and pull up and over to open the journal.

Here is the inside view of what the Lodge Keeper has for his interior 'real estate' so far <g>

  






As for yours truly, I did not go 'ungifted' either. During my magical time spent with my old and new friends, I was given jars of homemade raspberry, cherry and gooseberry jam by Nelson.

and from Scott a Drum!
The tradition is that the first drum you make you give away.
How honoured I was to be it's recipient!

Blessings to all who read this.

August Break Day 31: Love

Wow!
I can't believe it's the end of August (where did the Summer go?) and I actually kept up with the August Break posts as well! (thank you Susannah for photo Challenge!)
I could write reams about how much I love my husband, the place where we are living, and other things, but I chose to close with something a bit smaller in size yet this wonderful invention has encompassed all of the above.
It is my love for Photography and the Camera.

When I got engaged and was about to embark on a solo journey to Israel for six weeks, instead of a diamond ring, my fiance (now my husband of 36 years) gave me an Olympus Trip 35 camera.
The die was cast.

I have currently worn out and discarded  6 point and shoot cameras (both Canon and Nikon) over the last 3 years since I started doing almost daily shots!
My husband is convinced that electrics and I 'don't get along'. <lol>

When I at last break down and get some sort of Smartphone, I will probably go through a few of those as well! (husband take note)
Blessings to all those Moment Capturers out there: may your lens never fog up or your flash fail.

August Break Day 30: Soft

Blessings to all those who provide shelter from the storm.

August Break Day 29: Nature

This tree perfectly exemplifies my hope for My Nature as I go forward into Crazy Kronehood.
"Perhaps like the arbutus, also known as the Crazy-Woman Tree, we thrive in opposition to the norm, drop our leaves when we're not supposed to, shed our bark and still flower." 
From British Columbia Reconsidered: Essays on Women - Gillian Laura Creese, Veronica Jane Strong-Boag pg. 296

 Blessings to all those Crazy Krones out there!
 

August Break Day 28: Something New

And here I thought that my strawberries were finished for the Season, nope. Turns out there is one more hanging around <g>.

Blessings to all those who find 'something new' every day.

August Break Day 27: Lines

If they give you ruled paper, write the other way. 
Juan Ramón Jiménez -  Spanish poet, who received the Nobel Prize in Literature  in 1956.

In my last year of high school, I took his advice and wrote my English Literature exam across the lines with his quote at the top of the page.
I received an A+. ( I think the teacher was amused).

Sunlight through the Blinds on a Tuscan style painted wall.
Blessings to all those who continue to 'write the other way'.

August Break Day 26: Morning

Poets and writers have lauded Morning's  soft Light for centuries and if I am awake when that is happening,  I agree.

But over the past years, Morning has come in two stages: Pill time when Mr Bear stumbles to the kitchen, takes his meds and has breakfast, then returns to bed; and the 'official' Morning when I wake up, take my pills,  and have enough beanjuice (ie coffee) in me to comprehend the world around me.

Blessings to all those 'early risers' out there.

August Break Day 25: Little

My mini micro 'Tiny Flame' roses that smell just as heavenly as their bigger sisters.

Blessings to all those who patiently grow and enjoy the mini micro rose varieties out there.

August Break Day 24: Memory

A young man in Les Baux, Provence. 

Note the carefully tucked in hands, for he was told (as all little boys are told) 'You can look, but DON'T TOUCH!'

Blessings to all little boys out there, especially those men who have not forgotten they still have that little boy inside them.

August Break Day 23: Adornment

This summer the Scarlet Runner has adorned my Jerusalem Artichoke 'forest' with peek a boo scarlet blooms and massive dangles of bean pods.

Blessings to all faithful waterers of the garden out there. May your efforts bear fruit!

August Break Day 22: Shadow

Blessings to all those who can take a walk in the shadowed cool of the summer evenings.

August Break Day 21: Treasures

Blessings of treasures seen and unseen be yours.

August Break Day 20: Peaceful

Blessings of beautiful dreamings be yours.

August Break Day 19: Black & White

Zentangle with black and white feathers.

Blessings to all 'tanglers' out there.

August Break Day 18: Jump!

And he did!

Blessings to all Pacific Tree Frogs - who sing all year long.

August Break Day 17: Bookshelf

Our pride and joy - floor to ceiling bookshelves custom built for us by our OCC - outlaw construction company. This is only a partial view and yes, we have read them all, some more than once!

Blessings upon Blessings to all Librarians out there!

August Break Day 16: Look Down

Our Stairwell looking down.

Blessings to all those who can manage stairs!