Saturday 27 September 2014

Make It Personal 5

I've just spent two days at The Bramble Patch again at the Make It Personal workshop with Hilary Beattie.

This was the 5th of 6 sessions this year but actually my last one as I will be in Florida when the next one happens.

I've written about these sessions in January, March and March again, May and July.

This session was about using the fabrics and papers we had made during the other sessions as a starting point for inspiration and designs.   The fountain in the photo above has been the inspiration all year but I have really struggled with it as I didn't have any definite images I could use as focal points in any designs I came up with.    I wrote about this problem here.

However I decided on the first day to just tear up papers and fabrics and stick them down on a large piece of Pelmet Vilene (Pellon Peltex) and see what came to me.   I should have taken photos of the process but didn't.   On Friday once the piece was dry I started looking at what I could do with this background and Hilary suggested cutting up slivers of one of my gelli print deli papers. I put Heat'n Bond on it first and then cut it up and ironed it on.

This is it with all the raw edges.

  And here it is in closeup.

I worked on 3 design pieces over the two days working on one or other as I waited for things to dry.  I worked on this 12 inch square canvas.

This is a rectangular canvas that has some stamped seedhead images  using one of Hilary's stamps.

All of the pieces need more stitching and marks made on them.  Whether that happens is another matter!

The course is being run again through 2015 so you could sign up.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

Monday 22 September 2014

Fun and Frolics

Last Friday I was asked whether it was really wise of me to have invited a couple who I had never met into my home to stay for 3 nights.  I didn't think it was a problem - I had spoken to Valerie on Skype and she does amazing art - so what could go wrong?

Well

Nothing!  It may have been the best decision I have made in a long time.  We picked Valerie and Keith up from Birmingham Airport on Friday evening and we hardly stopped having fun and laughing until they caught the train to London this morning.

On Saturday we went to the Black Country Museum so they could see some of the industrial history of the Midlands.  We went on the boat trip into the Limestone Caverns and Keith 'legged' the boat for a while.

We watched the chainmaker's demonstration.

We accosted a total stranger to ask her to take our photo.

We drove into Birmingham and took Keith and Valerie to Gas Street Basin and Brindley Place.


We walked through Victoria Square where Keith was offered a free taste of blackcurrant flavoured lager.  Actually we were all offered it.  The rest of us refused!

We went to the Hippodrome Theatre and had dinner and then saw the musical Cats.  (I borrowed this picture off the Cats website.)

We got home and talked and laughed for another couple of hours so we didn't get to bed until well after midnight.

After a slow start on Sunday morning we went to Stratford upon Avon and managed to take a photo of Shakespeare's birthplace with no one in front of it.  Mind you we did have to wait for a man who had been having his photo taken to finish texting someone.

We walked along the river and visited the Parish Church.  We drove past Anne Hathaway's cottage ( the real Anne Hathaway not the film star) and onto Wilmecote where we had lunch and then drove past Mary Arden's house. (Shakespeare's mother's family home!)

Roger decided we should go to Kingswood Junction in Lapworth on our way to Baddesley Clinton.  As far as I am aware there are only two moated Manor Houses in England and this is one of them.  Keith would have liked to spend 2 hours there and we had 15 minutes.  We walked quickly round the house!

Even so, we were 10 minutes late for church.  Oops!  The day finished with coffee and cake with friends before driving to the Diwan for a Balti.

We were all up early this morning so that Keith and Valerie could catch the 9.24 to Marylebone for 48 hours in London.   Fortunately we will see them for about an hour on Wednesday when we pick them up from the station and then take them to the airport for them to start there very long journey home.

I hope we are able to get together again very soon.  It was SUCH FUN!



Monday 15 September 2014

Blog Hop - with a difference!

I was asked in June to take part in a blog hop with a difference but it came at a bad time so I had to decline. But last week Sandie invited me to take part and it seemed like a good idea (until I came to actually write something)! Why is it a blog hop with a difference? You are given 4 questions to answer and you have to invite 3 people you know to blog the following week and invite 3 people. So here goes!

What am I working on?
At the moment I seem to spend more time thinking about what I should be working on rather than actually working on it. I have lots of projects on the go and none of them seem to be getting anywhere. I signed up for a Sketchbook course with Linda & Laura Kemshall and then realised it really would be better if I finished some of my other projects first.

I’m working on an Advent blog called Pause, Ponder & Prepare with my friend Diane who lives in Florida. Diane has written an Advent study and I have found the Bible verses that tell the Christmas story for an Advent Calendar. All of this is on the blog already although there are still PDF links and such like to add. Also we are both going to do our versions of the study and calendar and blog about it on our personal blogs. I haven’t even started on that yet.


I have been attending a class called Make It Personal taught by Hilary Beattie at The Bramble Patch. It’s six sessions of 2 days over the year. Session 5 is at the end of this month where apparently ‘we will work using our fabrics/papers as a starting point for inspiration and designs.’ Come back at the end of the month to see how I got on!


If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that I am taking part in One Little Word and Document Life Project – although with the latter I tend to ignore the prompts and do my own thing.


How does my work differ to others of its genre ?
I’m not sure my work fits into a genre. I do different things for different projects. I like to work with paper, paint and inks when I am art journaling. I like to work with fabrics and paper when I’m working on a textile piece. At the moment everything I’m doing is driven by a course or a project and I rarely just play.   I need to do more of that.   I’ve learned loads of techniques from attending workshops, doing on line courses or watching YouTube videos.   My aim is not to be a poor imitator of well known tutors work but in doing that I don’t start working on my own work.  I must find time to play.

Why do I write/ create what I do ?
I love setting up what I call art challenge blogs. Click on the tab at the top of the page to find links to them. I started them as in the creative circles I was mixing in online there were people asking for challenges. I decided that I would do them with quotes and Bible verses to use. I particularly wanted to make them easily available to everyone and not charge for them although the planning takes up a lot my time. I include a particular art technique to use each day. I also work on the challenges myself and do photo tutorials on my own blog of how I did my pages. However I encourage people to use their own ideas, the paints and papers that they already own and to come up with their own work. I am always astounded by the wide range of styles and work I see as a result.

Earlier this year I launched more Christian-based studies. These are based on teaching series from my church to which I add journaling questions or prompts. These studies offer opportunity for creative responses but I don’t put art techniques to use.  You can find a link to Identity and to Honour at the top of this page.

I feel that I am called to use my creative gifts and my teaching skills to help other people release their creativity and their faith.

You may like to read this post From under the sideboard.  It explains a little bit more about me.  The coaching sessions I had with Robin encouraged me to launch my first art challenge blog, An Attitude of Gratitude.

How does your creating/ writing process work ?
I spend a lot of time thinking and then have short bursts of creativity with the paints, inks and papers.  And then I go back to thinking.  Sometimes I wonder if the ratio of thinking to doing ought not to be the other way round - more doing and less thinking!


Well done for getting this far down the page.  I seem to have written rather a lot after all.  Thank you for sticking with it and to Sandie for inviting me to share my creative processes with you.

Let me introduce you to three friends:  Mary, Shonna and Merri who will be sharing about what they are focussing on next Monday, 22nd September.  Do hop over to see them.

Mary Brack stumbled on art journaling about 6 years ago.  She makes and sells altered book journals and you can find her at Me, With My Head in the Clouds.

Shonna Worsham Bucaroff teaches art classes in San Diego and online.  She has set up a Ning Community - Twistedfigures and has just started offering the Free online course "Kingdom Come". 

Merri Dennis is running a year-long free online creative Bible study using Psalms.   You can find her at Bible Crafts and Activities.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice


Friday 12 September 2014

Last of the Scavenger Hunt

So here we are with the last of the Scavenger Hunt.

1 A sign welcoming people to your  home town.





2 A garden gnome.  I was walking back from the shops and took a shortcut through the cemetery to get to the road where I knew the sign above was.  I was planning to drive to the local garden centre to find a gnome and to my surprise I found one on top of a grave.

11 A horn.  These aren't strictly horns but they are horn-shaped.  They are the pipes of an organ and I was standing underneath them.

12 A mascot.  I looked up the meaning of Mascot: A person, animal, or object believed to bring good luck, especially one kept as the symbol of an organization such as a sports team.  When I was clearing out my Dad's things I found this St. Christopher which many people wear as they believe it ensures safe travel.

And lastly a parade - number 14.   This row of shops is known as Dovehouse Parade.  You may be able to see that the Dry Cleaners is called 'on parade'.



If you want to see the results of other peoples' scavenger hunts, pop over to Gallo Organico.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

Tuesday 9 September 2014

Continuing the planner

I didn't write much into my planner through the last few weeks but determined that I would complete the pages even if I had to cover the pages with stickers - which you will see is what I ended up doing!

Week 31
I watched a lot of the Commonwealth Games all week so not a lot to say!
I stuck this gelli plate print in.   It may or may not get journaled on!
Week 32
I went to a great workshop at the Festival of Quilts.
Ali Edwards asked if some of us would send a photo of ourselves holding up our One Little Word.  Here's a copy of the photo I sent.
Week 33
I couldn't remember what I did this week so  - stickers!  Plus I stuck the flap down onto the lined page.
Week 34
Here's another page with the flap stuck down.   The OLW task for August was to look at the music that was important to you but I felt that I had already covered that when I was doing Summer of Color.

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice


Sunday 7 September 2014

What else did we see?

Yesterday I shared all the gates and openings, but what else did we see?

All sorts of dfferent things!

3 ducklings sheltering under their mother.
 A signpost in Chard to places we've never heard of!
 A sign about 'Kiss me Hardy'
 Giant thistles

The Strode, at Barrington Court
 Barrington Court
Two very large houses built next door to each other.  The one on the left was originally the stables.
A giant clothes peg
A cupboard in the wall
 The Manor House we stayed in on Wednesday.
An oversized Kingfisher that looks more like a Puffin
Lytes Cary Manor
A metal sculpture at Glastonbury Abbey
A metal cockerel, also at Glastonbury Abbey.
And lastly, a door, in a cemetery.

A selection of things that caught my eye!

Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice

















Saturday 6 September 2014

Doors, Gates and Openings

If you read yesterday's post you know we had 3 days away in Somerset.  I wanted to go to Montacute House.  We also managed to go to Barrington Court, Tintinhull Garden and Lytes Cary Manor.

I love to take photos of patterns and flowers.  But this time I seemd to be drawn to gates and gateways, and openings in hedges.  There are a lot of photos in this post!

Chard in Somerset

 Barrington Court, Somerset











Interestingly (well to me anyway!) the one place I didn't take photos of gates and opening is Montacute.

Tintinhull Garden

 Lytes Carey Manor






Glastonbury Abbey

Glastonbury Tor


Thanks for stopping by.
Bernice