Monday 24 November 2014

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>

Tuesday 11 November 2014

My Mandalas so far




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

Monday 10 November 2014

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!

Sunday 9 November 2014

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.