Happysnappy

What do you wish for your health and wellness?

2012-01-25T09:36:00.001-03:00

Hunny, I´m hoOome! :D
Back from our summer holidays and ready to play. :)

For my first Wishcasting Wednesday of 2012 we are asked about our wishes for our health. You can read what other wishcasters are wishing for by visiting the original post by Jamie today.

My wish is to keep my walking practice. Started by joining Quinn McDonald´s project in December and took farther (literally) in our holidays in Las Grutas, Río Negro, Patagonia region. We walked an average of 7km a day. When I say we I mean the whole family of four. :)

Held by the Patagonian wind.

Las Grutas means The caves. These are natural caves formed by years of tides, these rocks are very soft and easy to carve.

The cliffs go lower and lower. These resembled the mayan Chichén Itza temple.

Chockle colonies on the rock floor. These are covered bu water twice a day with the tides. I took many pics to use later in my paintings.

Week 3

2012-01-22T23:00:00.000-03:00

Update for Week 3 of my picture a day for 2012.

January 15th (15/15): time to play 10 differences!We had to move for our third week at Las Grutas. Have a look at the flat (appartment) and tell me the differences between 2nd floor #6 and 1st floor #6. ;)

January 16th (16/16): our local grocery store.

January 17th (17/17): Tati and Daniel at the beach.

January 18th (18/18): Tati´s shells, rocks and fosiles collection.

January 19th (19/19): Matu and me at the caves (Las grutas, the name of the town we are staying at means The caves).

January 20th (20/20): Daniel & me with the tides board.

January 21st (21/21): last day at the beach! *sigh* We bought some souvenirs to bring home.

Week 2

2012-01-15T13:56:00.000-03:00

These are my pictures for week two for my 365 pictures in 2012 project:

Jan 8th (8/8): Patagonian sunset.

Jan 9th (9/9): family at the pool.

Jan 10th(10/10): Full Moon board for Jamie Ridler´s group.

Jan 11th (11/11): the most delicious pizzas ever. One is rúcula and parm ham and the other one bacon and fried eggs.

Jan 12th (12/12): hubbie and son reading by the pool. You can see the place where we are staying in the background.

Jan 13th (13/13): son at the beach.

Jan 14th (14/14): reading "Creative is a verb" by Patti Digh.

Of course I took many more pics like this selection from January 11th:

Books read:

Cathy Hopkins / Vacaciones de película

Carla Sonheim / Drawing lab for mixed media artists

Cathy Hopkins / Un nuevo desafío

Cathy Hopkins / El chico perfecto

I´m reading all of Tati´s Cathy Hopkins books (veeeeeeeery much into teenage topics) so we can chat about them. :D

I had been reading Sonheim´s book since the previous week, one chapter a day.

First Full Moon of 2012

2012-01-10T23:55:00.000-03:00

My title page for 2012: The world at her feet.

Background image, a yummy salad and wlots of words. E.g: Photograph by Paula, Buenos Aires (yes, pun intended ;) ), art, choose your book, do what they do, what this is about and what those who know say, etc. In case you are interested in the whole list, just drop me a line, k?

Title page, side B A very spacious room, with a great view and two glasses of wine. Inspiration board. Extremely high heeled shoe. ARt and books.

Full Moon Board for January. Want to see more boards? Go visit the tribe at Jamie´s.
Of course it has a fresh salad, beach themed accesories and clothes. Words: what we will read, see and listen to, keys for 2012, What am I thinking?, summer season...

Side B: writer´s Victoria Ocampo house and summer clothes and make up.

I know I will see more with time and that some images/words were left out and they will be featured during the month in my collage journal.

Week 1

2012-01-08T12:00:00.000-03:00

"I know, it’s the first week of January and yet I’m already feeling some goal burn out, dream burn out, 2012 getting you down." Jen Louden

How´s your first week been?
It took me about five hundred kilometres from home to start breathing a bit more profoundly and about five days to stop running around.

As you may already know I´m taking a picture a day for the third time. I took over 270 pics in 2010, 361 in 2011 and 7 so far in 2012. Here they are:
Jan 1st (1/1): the sun coming up over my fence. Exactly the same as the first for 2011, because I like things like that. ;)

Jan 2nd (2/2): our digs for the next few days in Las Grutas, Río Negro, Patagonia.

Jan 3rd (3/3): Going down the cliffs to the beach.

Jan 4th (4/4): BBQ at the balcony, with a Gulf view.

Jan 5th (5/5): at midday it is tooooooo hot to be outside, so we stay in and read. By the way, that is Tati, not me. :D

Jan 6th (6/6): walk by the cliffs in the morning.

Jan 7th (7/7): the kids ready to go to the beach.

No paintings this week.
No finished books.

Three Wise Men on the 12th day of Christmas

2012-01-06T22:00:00.000-03:00

On the 12th day of Christmas, the Three Wise Men arrived to where Jesus Christ had been born by following the Star of Bethlehem from the East. Casper, Balthazar and Melchior brought gold, frankincense and myrrh for baby Jesus.

Kids (and young at heart) leave their shoes by their beds on January 5th to find a gift for them in the morning. As a young child I lived in a flat and had no access to grass for the camels so I left them fruit salad, which they seemed to like as the bowl was always empty in the morning. ;)

The Three Wise Men visited my family this morning. :) The kids got books, I got a stack of magazines and Daniel got shorts.

It was windy today.

We went for a walk by the cliffs. Now we know why there are so many "don´t stay under the cliffs" signs.

Family pic. :)

A change of scene

2012-01-05T01:01:00.001-03:00

I´m taking part in Quinn McDonald´s 30 day Creativity practice.
It´s a deep writing and walking meditation and I´ve been writing and walking with different degrees of success (some days my monkey mind took over in my walks which led to quite a few funny moments. I like monkey watching ;) )
These past two days this is where I´ve been writing:

And this is my view. Nice. :) This is the San Matías Gulf, Las Grutas, Río Negro. The beginning of the Patagonia region.

This is my family: my boy, my girl, my hubbie. This is where we´ve been walking. A lot. :D

Project 365: 2011 Summary

2012-01-01T07:00:00.000-03:00

On January 1st 2011 I decided to have another go at the 365 project, taking one picture a day. In 2010 it had been a 276 project. ;)

This is year I managed to get 361 pictures! Yay!

January, mostly summer holidays images.

February: we went out, we stayed in, we had two birthdays in the family.

March: back to school and painting lessons.

April: more painting, parties, a Royal Wedding and Easter.

May: yes, more painting, cross stitching, a first holy communion for our niece M, movies.

June: dog sitting Candela, food, painting, kids being cute. :)

July: winter holidays in Córdoba.

August: Sparkles e-course, Tati as flag bearer, V´s first birthday, more school related stuff.

September: Loads of Tati school related events, more painting, communicating with Daniel who was in Germany.

October: days are nicer, so many family outings, Mati´s trip to Puerto Madryn, Daniel´s trip to Córdoba.

November: family, friends and food go well together. ;) T was born.

December: end of the academic year, Tati finishing primary school, Christmas related events like baking cookies and putting the tree up.

Ready for 2012 with title pages for each month. The idea is to have a project book and then divide the projects in tasks to do in my daily planner. I´ll also have a written journal, a collage journal and a painted journal.

I´ll still be participating in Wishcasting Wednesdays, Full Moon Boards and Paint Party Fridays.

My word for 2012: EXPANSIVE

2011-12-31T07:00:00.000-03:00

First a bit of history:

I started my word of the year with Ali Edwards in 2007. I also used Christine Free download "Word of the Year" Discovery Tool in 2010.

2007: NOW

Because it was time to start doing instead of only planning. It took me in the right direction

2008: COMMUNITY

My first choice was ABUNDANCE, just because everybody was choosing something similar and I wanted my share. While working with it, it gave me perspective. A "there is enough" feeling that allowed me to give to others which led me to my true word.

2009: AWARENESS

By March I had to ditch it as it was driving me crazy.

2010: LISTEN

My best experience so far. I found my word at the enchanted girl lake. I actually "heard" the word whispered by the rocks. I paid so much attention to what I was told and the opportunities offered that nowadays we call 2010 The Year of Change.

2011: VOICE

It had a great beginning, making myself heard and taking painting lessons to express in other ways than with words. About September it diluted and the mad dash to the end of the year drowned everything.

2012: EXPANSIVE

According to The Free Dictionary this is the definition:

ex·pan·sive (k-spnsv)
adj.
1. Capable of expanding or tending to expand.
2. Broad in size or extent; comprehensive
3. Open and communicative; talkative or effusive
4. Grand in scale

Synonyms: broad, deep, extensive, extended, far-flung,far-reaching, rangy, sweeping, wide, wide-ranging,widespread

Christmas at home

2011-12-26T17:06:00.001-03:00

My friend Missy always loved our Tshirt & shorts annual picture with Santa. This Christmas Eve has been particularly chilly.

Most of the pictures have been taken by Tati. It´s wonderful to see the gathering through her eyes. She made sure she had pictures of each family member on his/her own and then groups. Here are her brother and her two grandmothers.

Dinner table for eleven. Nine in front of the lens, I´m the one taking the picture and baby T is in his pram by my side.

Our niece V "getting" the Christmas tree idea for the first time.

Tati was Santa´s helper this year handing out parcels. She took time to open hers too.

All kids have been good this year. ;)

Dogs were good too. :D

Lunch in the patio for Christmas day.

Advent 2011, Day 23: Baptism

2011-12-23T23:56:00.001-03:00

Tati in front of the main altar of the Iglesia del Pilar, built in 1732. She was about to become our nephew´s T godmother.

After the ceremony ,y sister in law P, her brother (the godfather), my brother in law with his two kids and Tati (the godmother).

From left to right, outside the church: me, Tati, my bil with T, my sil, Daniel and Mati.

My father in law, my mother in law and the baby´s parents with T.

This time my sil´s family: Tati, P´s youngest brother, the parents with the baby, my sil´s parents and the oldest brother.

Advent 2011, Day 21: What do you wish for the new season?

2011-12-21T09:13:00.000-03:00

December 19th: it´s starting to look like Christmas.

December 20th: Matu´s friends arrived from 2.30pm. This picture was taken at 9pm with the ones that hadn´t left yet. We ordered some pizzas and had dinner in the patio.

This week it´s very easy for me to answer Jamie´s question for Wishcasting Wednesdays: "What is your wish for this season?" An open house like the one in the picture! Lots of friends coming and going. Whenever they want, as many as they want. Also lots of cyberfriends. We have an open cyberhome. Fancy some pizza, sweetie? Come, my doors are open. :)
To share your wish and read what other wishers are saying, visit Jamie´s original post for today.
Wishing you a marvelous winter and a fabulous summer. :D

Advent 2011, Day 19: my week

2011-12-19T08:29:00.000-03:00

December 14th: 20 cds to be recorded the video Matu prepared for Tati with 280 pictures from the first day of Year 1 to the Year 6 science fair last week. Plus a folder with every picture I ever took of each of Tati´s classmates, 18 in total. I made one for Tati and another for the headmistress.

December 15th: Yay! All 20 souvenir cds are completed! I made a cover personalized for each kid.

December 16th: Tatiana´s prom event. She finished her primary school. The official photographer is taking their picture on stage.

December 17th: panettone for breakfast.

December 18th: Daniel´s cousin Alejandro repairs motorbikes as a hobby. He came home to show us his latest completed work. Fab, isn´t it?

For my Creative Every Day check in: scrapbook pages.
I´m making a planner for 2012. After I make each title page for a month I make another page with the same background and scraps from the previous one. The home album is getting lots of attention as it is the only one I make in A4 size.

Advent 2011, Day 18: Last Check In

2011-12-18T21:23:00.003-03:00

We have reached the end of the journey through "The artist´s way" by Julia Cameron.

Twelve chapters, twenty four weeks, twenty two original participants, twelve blog guests,hundreds of read pages, hundreds of written pages, loads of exercises, some dates and quite a number of Aha! moments.

Now it´s time for our last check in.

Are you going to keep your written morning pages? Are you going to keep your practice of writing them?
Are there tasks that you´d do again on a regular basis to keep your goals in sight?
Have you got plans for more artist´s dates?

How to share with MrLinky: you type in your name in the first box (the way you´d introduce yourself) and then the url/link to your post (not your whole blog url) where you share your work with the current chapter. When you come back next week your name will likely automatically be entered but you need to redo or paste over the url/link with your new post's address.

It´s been a pleasure and an honour to share this marvelous adventure with you!

Advent 2011, Day 14: What is your deepest wish?

2011-12-14T09:25:00.006-03:00

For my December views:

December 12th, Matías is helping me out with Tatiana´s prom souvenir. A cd with 280 pictures of 6 years of school events. I went through a few thousand digital pictures to identify almost a thousand of Tati´s school related ones, chose 400 and then weeded them down to 280. Whew! Matu made some animations for the introduction and added music. This is his computer.
December 13th: thanks to Leah´s Art Every Day Month I´m back to scrapbooking. This is my 2012 diary title page for July.
December 14th: Coming later.

Every Wednesday I participate in Wishcasting Wednesdays lead by Jamie Ridler.

Today her prompt is "What is your deepest wish?" To share yours and read what other wishers have to say you may visit the original post for today by Jamie clicking here.

One deepest wish? Oh, that´s a tough one these days! I´m participating in Quinn McDonald´s deep writing and walking meditation and that brought a whirldwind of feelings and plans based on them. I have loads of wishes bubbling. As I always do when I don´t have a clear vision, I let the subject simmer. BTW: when I opened her site to link I noticed she mentioned me today! Thrilled to be a part of it.

My top wish at the moment: Spend a Phineas & Ferb like summer with the kids!

You know what? Right after writing that, all the other wishes took a step back. ;) There are more, I´ll be telling you my plans soon. :D

Advent 2011, Day 12: Check In Chapter 11

2011-12-12T09:11:00.002-03:00

Coming later in the day. :)

For Creative Every Day check In I only have my June page to show.

You can also see my Full Moon Vision Board on my Saturday post.

For the past 23 weeks I´ve been hosting a group reading through The Artist´s Way by Julia Cameron.

Each Sunday we´ve met here to check in, to share how we´ve been doing with our daily pages, our artist´s dates and the tasks. We have rebelled sometimes, all in good spirits. ;)

Today I´m checking in for my Chapter 11. Yes, I know I´m a week late but I haven´t given up! :D

1) Morning pages: I lost count. *shame* As I´m behind I don´t really know where I should start counting. And these weeks I´ve lost quite a few pages. I hit the floor running every morning and life takes over.

2)Artist´s date: totally off track.

3) Tasks. Ouch. This chapter is going to hurt.

3.1) I reread the Basic Principles but I haven´t recorded myself.

3.2) I reread the Artist´s Prayer but didn´t write it (Notice a trend? ;) ) Only one sentence that resonates with my ideas for 2012. "We welcome your new expansive ideas."

3.3) Lists. I´ll make 5 notes for each (it seems I´m literally half doing these tasks!)

*Health: back to walking, plenty of veg & fruits lunches for summer, get appointments with the three doctors I need for check ups.

*Possessions: pencils (watercolours & metallic), new summer clothes (t shirts & skirts), a beach bag, a lot of magazines for January, cool notebooks & sketchbooks.

*Leisure: Jamie´s workshop, paint, mandalas, chick lit, net surf, go out with kids.

*Relationships: have fun with Daniel & the kids, get my mom & my aunties to tell me more family stories, understand what happened with the friendship that got cold, renew my friendship with my primary schoolmates, deepen my cyberfriendships.

*Creativity: to value my own creations, to experiment with media, to create freely & joyfully, go bigger, not to fear waste.

*Work: participate in Wishcasting Wednesdays, Paint Party Fridays, Creative Every Day and Full Moon Boards. Work on my blog in Spanish. Women´s Circle? Journaling Classes?

*Spirituality: read again, search, practice.

3.4) Honest changes: I´ve been more honest in my pages this time around (I had used the MP for the first AW, another for AW in action and a third one for The Sound of Paper). I didn´t feel the surrender as I did with Faith & Will, maybe because this book was so much longer and I couldn´t keep up the joy all the time. Some pages were loud whinings. :D I´m going to burn them when we are done, just in case. ;)

The most surprising event was when I truly, deeply wanted friends. The following day I received an invitation to lunch and an e-mail. The same week I invited someone who gladly accepted and I met Betty from Singapore too. This week I met with my two mates after 30 years and got a friend´s request in FB. I got warm words on line too. Yups, things are moving.

3.5) Future changes:

Finally admit not everyone will like me (yikes!)

Bravely take a leading position

Get better in my art journaling

Prepare solid content for my blogs

3.6) Five ways to nurture my creativity in the next six months (classes, materials & dates):

Jamie´s Soul Reflections workshop

Watercolour and Metallic pencils for Christmas

A drawing book

Magazines for journals

On line classes & challenges

3.7) A week of nurturing

Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday: Tati´s graduation party.

Saturday:

Sunday:

3.8) No letter to inner artist.

3.9) Revisit God´s concept.

3.10) Sync: what I wrote in 3.4)

You may remember that at the end of chapter 5 I interviewed Jamie Ridler (Missed that one? Click here to read it & watch Jamie´s video for you). Jamie from Jamie Ridler Studios is a creative living coach. From coaching to workshops, from podcasting to blogging, Jamie´s work helps women find the confidence and courage to discover and express their creative selves so they can be the star they are.

Jamie has kindly given me three copies of Your creative Spark to share with my readers. Camilla won the first one and Serena A. the second one. You still have a chance to win the third one. Leave me a comment and I´ll add you to the draw next week. :)

Advent 2011, Day 11: Mid way Chapter 12 Check In

2011-12-11T11:42:00.007-03:00

Our neighbours trees. We think the flowers belong to a bay tree. Any thoughts on that? This is the whole tree, in between our palm tree and the neighbour´s chorisia.

First Check In for our Chapter 12! Only ONE week to go! Amazing, isn´t it?

With the holidays near things get kind of frantic. Breath in deeply and journal your heart away. We need to. ;) Have you been showing up at your daily pages?

Oh, Christmas tree! Have you seen some beautiful displays these days? Any artist´s dates to share?

The tasks ... go darling! You can make it! Our last chapter in the book.

Jamie has kindly given me three copies of Your creative Spark to share with my readers. Camilla won the first one and Serena from Dream with fishes the second one. You have another chance to win one now! Leave a comment at this post stating you want to participate in the draw. :)

How to share with MrLinky: you type in your name in the first box (the way you´d introduce yourself) and then the url/link to your post (not your whole blog url) where you share your work with the current chapter. When you come back next week your name will likely automatically be entered but you need to redo or paste over the url/link with your new post's address.

Advent 2011, Day 10: Full Moon Board and a cell phone

2011-12-10T23:23:00.001-03:00

As part of our summer plan we are going to go out a lot, so we gave Tatiana her first cell phone as a recognition to all her hard work during her primary school which she ended on such a high note (being the National Flag escort because of her good grades and good behaviour).

On other news, today is the Full Moon and I´m participating in Jamie´s Full Moon Boards. To share your vision board or see others, check her original post for today.

As every month during 2011 my board has been made out of words and images from the current issue of the local Oh La La magazine.

Advent 2011, Day 9:

2011-12-09T15:49:00.004-03:00

I´ve renewed my commitment to Creative Every Day.

You can read the whole story about Leah´s challenge clicking here.

You can join the creative tribe going to Leah´s sign up page.

I´ve been participating since the first one back in 2008 and each year takes me a bit farther in my art and my connections to cool people. I´ve met such wonderful artists thanks to this challenge!

I will be meeting my primary school friends later today and that one will be my "real" December view because I´m taking my camera with me. :)

From the left: Isa, me & Suky.

Advent 2011, Day 8: Oh, Christmas tree!

2011-12-08T21:59:00.004-03:00

It is traditional in Argentina to put our Christmas tree up on what we call the "Día de la Virgen" (Virgin´s Day) but is really called the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

This is my favourite family picture taken today, with Frida just crossing the scene. Lol!

Our mantelpiece and tree.
A new way to display our little trees.
We changed some traditions because families evolve and what worked for us many years ago doesn´t work any longer. For example the door´s garland. :)

Advent 2011, Day 7: What do you wish to celebrate?

2011-12-07T19:57:00.006-03:00

Today is Jamie´s birthday so when she asked "What do you wish to celebrate?" for Wishcasting

Wedenesday today of course she made top of my list! :D

She is the awesomest creative coach ever and shares her gifts generously with the world. She´s got the most contagious laugh and the most encouraging and comforting voice. I know it might sound contradictory but she manages to be just like that. :) She is a real joy to read and listen to and I´m very happy we have met.

Happy birthday Jamie!

On other news for my December View: proud mommy moment ahead. Tati finished primary school and she got the National Flag escort position for the last school event of the year. She is the one on the right hand side of the picture, next to the flag bearer.

It was a touching ceremony with the girls & boys from Year 6 saying goodbye to the school and their duties as escorts and giving the flags to the Year 5 kids.

Today we celebrate these kids achievements and also the fact that Year 6 finished their primary education.

I want to celebrate one more thing: no more packed lunches!!! Yay! Summer holidays here we go!

To read what other wishers had to say, visit the original post here.

Advent 2011, Day 6 Last day of school

2011-12-06T22:13:00.004-03:00

Tati finished her primary school today. It is the last time she and her classmates have used this door to go out of school.

No more packed lunches. Yay!

Advent 2011, Day 5

2011-12-05T09:16:00.001-03:00

I will update the post tonight with the picture of the day for December Views but now I will share what I´ve done this week for Creative Every Day. :) PS: here it is! The first summer treat! One for my son, one for my daughter and one for me. ;)

After Art Every Day Month I kept creating scrapbooking pages:

Wow, is about my son´s choice of colour for his walls: two cream and two orange ones. Those are the shortest, one has the window and wood panelling under the tall desk and the other one is even shorter as it has the wardrobe´s side and a big white board.
Then I worked on my 2012 planner. March is the start of the school year, hence letters, books and apples for the teachers. ;)
Easter references for April.
Black and white for May, just because. :D

Advent 2011, Day 4: Chapter 11 Check In

2011-12-04T00:35:00.001-03:00

Today we visited the annual neighbourhood fair. It has craft stalls around the park and international food stalls in the middle.

OK, my girlies, time to Check In with your Artist´s Way stories. I know December is quite a hectic, emotional month and slipping on our pages & tasks sound reeeeeeeaaaaallly tempting because "we don´t have time for this". Hang in there! We are close to the final Check In!!! We´ve done so much so far. Give yourself a hug and a little private space to work.

1) Morning pages.

All around the world people are saying things like "I´ll be much calmer this Christmas season and focus on what is important". Others are saying "If she dares even looking at me I will happily wring her neck. No way I´ll spend Christmas with her!". Whichever group you belong to, this is the time to run to your journals and write!

2) Artist´s date

See any cool decorations lately? At a home/school/office/shop? Tell us about it!

3) The tasks

Choose one, keep it close to your heart. Take it to work with you. Take it grocery shopping with you. Doodle it. Hum it. Write it. Draw it. Give it your loving attention. It will take you places.

Advent 2011, Day 3: an old diary

2011-12-03T21:11:00.004-03:00

Last year I found this notebook at my mom´s. It was a school notebook that had enough spare pages at the end of the academic year for me to use it as a diary for my summer back in 1979. I was 12 at the time and had just finished primary school.

This year one of my old schoolmates (Adriana aka Suky) found me on Facebook and connected me with another girl (Isabel) as well.

One of my diary entries said that on December 3rd 1979 I had gone to Isabel´s house on a playdate with Suky and Karina, so I posted that on Isa´s wall & tagged Suky.

Within 30 seconds Suky had posted as well, ten seconds later Isa liked the post. We were all on line at the same time!

Thirty two years to the day of that playdate we met in ciberspace and chatted for two hours. We will meet in person next Friday.

Advent 2011, Day 2: Science Fair

2011-12-02T22:32:00.003-03:00

Picture of the day, Tati´s science fair. Here she is with her friends making a volcano.
Her part:

A bit of music with their teacher Eduardo.

Advent 2011: Day 1 November update & December daily

2011-12-01T10:18:00.001-03:00

This is what I´ve been up to this November (one picture for each day, there is even more! :D ):

1: Painted bird houses //2: McDonald´s complete collection // 3: Coffee at Balcarce with Sabine // 4: Dinner at the mall with Daniel (hubbie) // 5: Gym event at school // 6: Hubbie and son play with niece at in laws // 7: Frida // 8: AEDM table // 9: Mati (son) participating in an UN project // 10: Tati (daughter) and her mask // 11: 11.11.11 // 12: local park // 13: my sil & bil the day before their son was born // 14: new nephew // 15: AEDM table // 16: dinner // 17: Tati´s science project // 18: Mary by Debbie from Geckostone arrived home // 19: uncle Sergio & aunt Adriana came home for dinner // 20: father in law birthday lunch // 21: AEDM table // 22: Tati // 23: Mati working with his video props // 24: roses from a friend´s garden // 25: Tati´s play date // 26: dinner with Shionge // 27: first visit at his grandparents home // 28: Mati discovers the biggest desk in the house // 29: Tati found her prom dress (primary school) // 30: AEDM table, back to scrapbooking!

Btw: on the 26th I had dinner in Buenos Aires – Argentina with a lady from Singapore (Betty) that I met through a blog (Ily´s) that I met through a blog (Kristin´s & Eva´s Paint Party Friday) that I met through the hostess of AEDM (Leah) blog.

During November I participated in Art Every Day Month.

In the past six seasons I´ve gone from “art here and there month” to “art on a regular basis ever so often month ” to “art every day month” to “I sleep only 5 hours a day but stay up to joyfully create and I jump out of bed early to go link every day month”. It not only made me expand my creative horizons, learning tips about techniques and practicing but also introduced me to some really cool artists around the world.

My working spaces, mostly the dining room table or the kitchen table.

Here are my 30 entries. Paintings, pencil sketches, art journaling, scrapbooking, photography and home decor.

My heartfelt thanks to all the people who left over 300 comments this month! {happy hug}

Last year I participated in a cool project called December Views by Hippy urban chic. I saved the link to participate this year again! Wanna join the flash mob (pun intended ;) )? Enrole here.

So here you are: my first view this December. Welcome home!

I received this postcard today from Serena. Thank you darling! It´s sooooooo lovely!

We put our Advent calendar up today. The season has begun.

AEDM 2011: Day 30 What treasures do you wish for?

2011-11-30T08:04:00.004-03:00

Yay! We did it! Thirty days of creativity!

For Art Every Day Month I posted every day what I had created the day before. Here´s my table on Nov 29th.
Working on my planner. Title page for February. The crown & watch (and bling!) because it is my birthday month. ;)As it is teh last day I got up early and finished another page for today.
Yay! Scraps! You knew it was coming.
I have rediscovered my love for scrapbooking and will keep going.

Wednesday, time to wish at Jamie´s! Today´s prompt is "What treasures do you wish for?". To read what other wishcasters had to say visit the original post at Jamie Ridler Studios.

* I wish for creative joy. The kind that makes you beam up and smile & hum while you work.

* I wish for creative friends. I met some awesomely cool gals through AEDM. I wish to deepen those connections.

* I wish for a fun summer holiday. Only a week to go!

* I wish for a loving & crafty Christmas season.

P.S: I will post a mosaic with my 30 pieces and my 30 working table pictures tomorrow for my November update post.

P.S 2: family news! Tati passed her A2 German exam (that sums up six years of school) and Mati received the "Revelation 2011" award at the secondary school informal awards ceremony (those are awards given by their peers by vote) for his work in You Tube. Yay for my kids!

AEDM 2011: Day 29 Scrapping with scraps

2011-11-29T01:00:00.001-03:00

Every day in November for Art Every Day Month Ipost what I created the day before. My working table had the scraps from yesterday´s page so I looked for a picture in a similar palette for our home´s album (the only one in A4) At our front door on the first day of school last year.
Mati found the biggest desk in the house for his work.

AEDM 2011: Day 28 Back to scrapbooking

2011-11-28T01:00:00.000-03:00

For Art Every Day Month I show every day what I created the day before. This was my working table (aka dining room table) early on Sunday morning.

I´ll be working on a planner for 2012, so I chose bacakgrounds, patterned papers and embellishments. This is a work in progress and I´ve already changed my mind about some things.
This is the same table, late afternoon. I took all the rest of the months away, not to be distracted. I focused on January. As I worked I realized a green background would work better than the magenta one.
Finished totle page for January. As I live in the Southern Hemisphere, January is the hight of the summer for us, hence the kids playing with water and the Bingo card (we play table games during th ehot afternoons)
I think this is my first page since last year´s AEDM!

AEDM 2011: Day 27 Check In Mid Way Chapter 11

2011-11-27T01:00:00.004-03:00

Sundays are time for our Artist´s Way tribe to check in.

Have you been writing your daily pages? Are you excitedely anticipating the end of them or dreading that?

Any dates? I´ve noticed we mostly gave up on them. *sigh*

For this chapter´s showcase I´d love to introduce to you a wonderful artist: Heather Foust from "Let the journey begin".

I´m totally in love with her girls. They have such clear personalities and the layering work is absolutely delicious. Her frames are pieces of art in themselves too. Some are found, like this one:

Click here to see the whole process of creating "Time ticking in my head" It´s amazing to see her emerge!

Magical girls indeed.

"Look within" is a BIG piece, you can see it´s actual size and process here.

Unframed art waiting for their homes.

To take a closer look at the original framed work pics on Heather´s blog click here. She makes those frames herself!

For Art Every Day Month I show each day what I created the day before. My table on Nov 26th.

On Friday evening I got a message from Shionge: Paula, I´m in Buenos Aires! She had come all the way from Singapore to an ICEM (the 20-million-member International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Union) World Congress here. After a few e-mails we were set to meet on Saturday! Yay!

We had dinner by the riverside at María del Luján and talked for hours. It was a real pleasure.

AEDM 2011: Day 26 My own Chapter 10 check in.

2011-11-26T01:00:00.001-03:00

For Art Every Day Month I post every day what I created the day before. My working table on Nov 25th was not really a table. :DA quick face sketch. This time I´m not facing my fears. ;)
One I created a couple of weeks ago but had not shared.

Now onto The artist´s way by Julia Cameron. Almost a week late but my tasks are done. :)

1) Morning pages: 13 out of 14. My pages have equal measures of gossip and plans. {Almost} no whining. ;)

2) Artist´s dates: I´m participating in Art Every Day Month. It´s like going to a modern art museum each day. :D

3) Tasks:

3.1) The destructors: housework & food (and sometimes family) are the main, not destructors but interruptors. :D I stand up from my working table and go "do" something.

3.2) My touching stones: almonds, chocolate, coffee, songs by El Cuarteto de Nos, P!nk, Ok Go and The Beatles, notebooks, folders, pens and pencils, books, bookmarks, office supplies in general, necklaces, skirts, sandals, the net.

3.3) The truth:

* The habit that gets in the way: the dispersion

• DISPERSION (noun)

The noun DISPERSION has 3 senses:

1. spreading widely or driving off
2. the spatial property of being scattered about over an area or volume
3. the act of dispersing or diffusing something

Yes, that´s about it for me. I´m widely spread, dispersing my energy and resources. Totally focused ... for about a quarter of a second. Then the next shiny thing requires my attention and I stand up and get away from my working table.

*The problem: everything must be taken care of before I can have time for myself.

*The plan: honestly, to keep going. I´d rather develop better routines to streamline housework and then have some time for me than just take the time.

*The prize: mental peace. Nobody can give me grief for not having fullfilled my duties.

*The friends: I´m not naming names, just in case. ;)

3.4) I think some of the limits suggested by Cameron are not realistic.

3.5.1) Five small victories

* My 365 pictures a year is almost 365. Not perfect score but sooooooo much better than last year!

* The Full Moon Boards were almost all posted on the Full Moon.

* I´m up to date with ART Every Day Month so far. My 6th year. Third with daily posting.

* I dared interviewing artists for The Artist´s Way project.

* I dared leading it!

3.5.2) Three nurturing actions

* I´ll be doing the Soul Reflections Workshop by Jamie Ridler

* I´ll devote some time to the 2012 planning, including art projects.

* I´ll receive art stuff for Christmas

3.5.3) Three comforting actions

* Rest after Art Every Day Month

* Go on artist´s dates

* Connect with people that loves me

3.5.4) Nice promises

* I´ll show up to work every day till the end of the month

* I´ll give myself some time to rest afterwards

* I´ll plan for a great 2012

AEDM 2011: Day 25 Paint Party Friday # 37

2011-11-25T01:00:00.001-03:00

Every day for Art Every Day Month I show you what I created the day before. Here´s my table on Nov 24th.I´ve been working on "Facing my fears". Fear #5, I´ll never be able to forget what they did. AKA: I can´t get them out of my head.
Surplus acrylics go to the next background.
A friend, who is also one of my son´s friends´ mom, sent me flowers because Matu helped her kid out. Roses from her own garden. They smell delicious. Mary´s print by Debbie from Geckostone.

Have you been painting this week? Come join the party at Paint Party Friday !

This is what I´ve been up to this week.

Sat: Discovered who had been hiding at my painting mat. He had always been there. Gesso, stencil, molding paste, stamps, acrylics, watercolours. You name it, it´s been used here. ;)
Sunday: a page that I hadn´t liked was covered in magazine scraps and painted with acrylics. She wasn´t planning on being discovered.
Monday: trying out writing under watercolours, as Mary Ann K. does in her Travelling Journal series.
Tuesday: I get it all wrong with the circles. More on the ink vs. acrylics story here.
Wednesday: dedicated to photography

Thursday: the mermaid emerged to play.

AEDM 2011: Day 24 When I make mistakes on purpose

2011-11-24T01:01:00.000-03:00

For Art Every Day Month I post every day what I created the day before. My working table on Nov 23rd.A couple of months ago I had created this base layer inspired by the work of Marizateria.
Today I revisited the mistake of using acrylics instead of ink. Why? Beacuse I don´t have inks! :D On Monday I had used acrylics which didn´t flow down as the inks in Donna Downey´s collage. And of course there are the INK blots that Leah Piken Kolidas does with ... ermm. you guessed: ink!

As Ok Go would say in one of their songs: It´s a disaster/ It´s an incredible mess/ but it´s all we got now/ Yea, that´s all we got.

In come the acrylics doing their best ink impression:
Drops pressed to form blots:
The mermaid was the first to come out to play.

AEDM 2011: Day 23 What do you wish to remember?

2011-11-23T01:00:00.000-03:00

Every day for ART Every Day Month I show you what I created the day before. Here´s my working desktop for Nov 22nd. Photo editing. Tati needed ONE picture for school which evolved into a whole photo shoot, with changes of wardrobe and settings. That´s preteens & Happysnappy mamas for you. ;)

This detail is for Tracey Fletcher King. I do run like a headless chicken all day and work at my art real late. This month has been busy and these past few days ... let´s say I haven´t slept as much. Six hours tops. :D

Today is Wednesday. That means it´s time for Wishcasting Wednesdays at Jamie Ridler Studios. For this week the prompt is "What do you wish to remember?" to share what you wish or read other wisher´s blogs, visit Jamie´s original post for today here.

I wish to remember to pay attention to what the Universe has to say to me. That just the week I was shunned by someone (don´t worry, my only sin was not to provide enough enthusiastic response to her drama) and my daughter by her daughter (see a trend?) I received an invitation to lunch, another one for coffee and a very generous gift from Jamie. Tati also received an invitation for a playdate. We have other friends. The world is not over. We are loved.

I wish to remember to send love to others as well. You never know when someone might be needing a hug. The friends who called me didn´t even know what was happening, they had the nice gesture at the right time.

I wish to remember every day to be a friend to my friends. And also to the friends not yet made.

AEDM 2011: Day 22 When I should read more carefully

2011-11-22T01:00:00.002-03:00

Every day in November for Art Every Day Month I post what I created the day before.

This is my working table on the 21st. Yes, I´m using three different areas.
When I was going to put my painting mat underneath my journal I saw someone. Do you?
He looks kind of a gringo playing mexican. Big glasses, big sombrero. In a Gorillaz in Demon Days kind of way.
Ok, back to work. For the second time this week I´m working inspired by Donna Downey. She made her collage for her Collage Mondays. I loved the concept of the circles with the drippy paint. Delicious. Only I should have read more carefully. She used golden yellow india INK.
She didn´t get the "why doesn´t it move?" moment because inks are FLUID. *sigh* Trust me when I say this colour is Caribean green, with a turquoise quality- Background paper is a 2006 Classic Paper Collection by Sweetwater, gone over with "light skin" wash. Three different punches. By the time I realized why mine was different I totally skipped the masking tape, the ink blots and the side strip.

Edited to add: Guess what! When I had a better look at it I noticed ... I had used the journal upside down! Not that bad though, it looks as if you are watching under water how someone is throwing stones. You know that sssssssssssssssplash, bubble, bubble, bubble, drop, slurp sound.

AEDM 2011: Day 21 Let it rain

2011-11-21T01:00:00.001-03:00

For Art Every Day Month I show each day what I created the day before. My table on Nov 20th.

It all started with "I´m empty", meaning I had no ideas. You can see my photographs box on the table. I was shuffling papers for a couple of hours and no ideas for scrapbooking came to me.

Then I remebered Ok Go´s song that had the line "running on the fumes". Yups, must be that. AEDM took everything I´ve got (another line from the song).

Cue to endless repets of Let it rain while painting this. After the first colour I remembered the Travelling journal series by MaryAnn K and looked for my pen to write what this piece was all about underneath the colours as I had seen her do:

PS: Ok Go also has a song called "A good idea at the time" ;)

AEDM 2011: Day 20 Check In Chapter 10

2011-11-20T01:00:00.008-03:00

For Art Every Day Month I show each day what I created the day before. My table on Nov 19th. Simple setting this time as one of my uncles and his wife were coming to dinner. Notice I even took the green cloth off the table? I "discovered" somebody else!!! That was SO NOT her plan. She intended to be ninja like and hide in my pages. ;) Another biggie for me: it is the first time I {kind of} journal in English. This is not a quote (I may have done that before) but an original line.

Time for our Chapter 10 of The Artist´s way by Julia Cameron Check In!

1) Did you keep up with the daily pages? Are you hiding out somewhere else? Like in a corn field?

2) Gone anywhere for your artist´s date? Had plans but didn´t?

3) Which was your favourite task? Which one your least favourite? Skipped any?

For this Check In I´d love to introduce to you an inspiring multi talented artist: Tammy Vitale. I met her through Art Every Day Month and was mesmerized by her outdoors pieces. I so want a garden like hers! She is playing along with us by answering several tasks. Thanks Tammy!

I'm such a huge fan of the Artist's Way. I first read it in the mid 90s. At that point in time, when I got to the chapter where we had to give up reading, I had my (then) kids reading me headlines from the 3 daily papers I felt I had to read in order to keep the world spinning. I credit that experience with realizing I am not personally responsible for saving the world - just my corner of it.

Here are some of the things I outlined in Chapter 10...they are things that I have since incorporated into my life and the way I live my life:

When we are clear about who we are and what we are doing, the energy flows freely and we experience no strain.
We begin to sense our real potential and the wide range of possibilities open to us. That scares us. (oh, my, yes).

In creative recovery, it is far easier to get people to do the extra work of the morning pages than it it is to get them to do the assigned play of an artist date. Yes indeed! I've got stars around that as it was exactly defining what I was doing at the time. I've gotten better!

The fact is I work all the time now - and I LOVE it because it is always about creativity. Then I was employed outside the home - but when I turned 54 I kept my promise to myself that when I turned 55 I could be a full-time artist (I started a year early - I'm an Aries. We're always early!)

Task # 5.1 * List two small victories: This year I imagined and completed the Garden Goddess with a gathering of women to make tiles for her area and bring gifts to bless the garden; I also kept a promise to myself to write a book, Wylde Women's Wisdom: Story (a Journal). [it's listed on the Wylde Women's Wisdom page]

Task #5.2 * List two nurturing actions you’ve taken: I made myself a necklace and earring set; I'm going to lunch with art girlfriends tomorrow.

Task #5.3 * List two actions you could take to comfort your artist: do my morning and evening gratitudes because that seems to always make my day go better. I also use that time to hold people I love in the light of the Universe and ask for their wellbeing - also for those I know in difficult times. My artist is pretty spoiled. Having been doing art full time for 10 years means that art always comes first for me and "it's my business" is the best excuse I've ever had to be creative! My artist tends to be very happy - which is good because when she is happy she is productive.

Task #5.4 * Make two nice promises to yourself, then keep them: I promise myself that there IS enough time for the important things in my life, and when I feel rushed or stressed to stop and reorient; I promise to give myself time to do something for Art Every Day Month every single day and post it - at the top of my priority list!

Task # 5.5 * Do one lovely thing for yourself each day this week: so far I've raked leaves - I love raking leaves. I love the way my yard looks afterwards (even if only for 1/2 day) and I get this lovely feeling of completion PLUS exercise! Yesterday I had ice cream for dessert. Tomorrow, in addition to lunch, in the evening I will participate in a group we call "Philosophies" which very much satisfies the intellectual side of me in a very laid back and creative atmosphere; Thursday is wide open and I can do anything I want (and I have a mosaic waiting for me - Thursday may be the day); Friday is Full Moon Dream Board day and an artist's date to Colonial Beach VA, about 1.5 hours from me where a client of mine is having a show of mosaics; Saturday at 5pm I will go join my artgal pals and we will continue a discussion about how to break open the art scene in Southern Maryland. We have no art scene but we are imagining and dreaming and intending one. Sunday we celebrate my son-in-law's 40th birthday. I do believe that's 7 days!

I´m sure you now want to know more about Tammy and her work. You will find her at Women, Art, Life.

She is also a coach and you will find a special offer for you for a coaching retreat following this link to her workshop´s section of the site.

If you spend hours perfecting your art but then struggle with putting it out into the world or you are overwhelmed every time you think about selling your art, it´s time to enrole in her Sell Your Art Keep Your Soul learning Modules.

If you want to take a little something away with you, daily wisdom and inspiration from women who have found the goddess and know She is them is provided by Tammy at Wylde Women´s Wisdom.

Jamie has kindly given me copies of Your creative Spark to share with my readers. Camilla won the first one and now it´s time for the second one. Just leave me a comment stating your interest to be added to the draw.

AEDM 2011: Day 19 Mary is Home

2011-11-19T01:00:00.001-03:00

"Mary of the Earth" by Debbie from Geckostone arrived today. She is even more magnificent in real life.

For Art Every Day Month I show each day what I created the day before. My table on Nov 18th. I got my foam stamps out. I´m using more and more scrapbooking materials. Who knows? I might even scrapbook again this month.

I´ve always admired how Leah Piken Kolidas brings her figures out of the ink blots. Click here to watch her video on the process.

I was looking at the cardboard mat I use when I paint and ... I saw him! I was already half way drawing him when I remembered to take a pic.
"I was always here." That is exactly where he has been all this time. I added the words in acrylics applied with foam alphs stamps (Making Memories).
Also stamped with Tim Holz´s distress inks and did the "gesso over it" thing.
I had some paint left and paper from yesterday´s piece, so I completed an ATC.

AEDM 2011: Day 18 Paint Party Friday #36

2011-11-18T01:00:00.000-03:00

Every week I participate in Wishcasting Wednesdays hosted by Jamie Ridler and Paint Party Friday hosted by Kristin &Eva. That means I have about 130 possible posts to read. I can make it to about 60 of them weekly. My method? My closest friends first and then I "balance the lines", adding people I know little or not at all. {Disclaimer, some weeks I don´t even make it to a dozen! Sorry!}

With Art Every Day Month I have over 100 DAILY posts to add. Cue to overwhelm. This year I´m going with the "multiples" method. E.g: on the 14th of November I visited & commented on #14, #28, #42, #56, #70, #84 & #98.

Have you got a commenting method?

For Art Every Day Month I show each day what I created the day before. My table on Nov. 17th:

Based on Donna Downey´s Inspiration Wednesday video Scrapbook paper scraps as a first layer.
Acrylics (burnt siena & medium skin tone). Too dark.
Squish of nude. Note to self: Self, sweetie, it looks kinda cool, remember this for the next one.
Watercolour pencils for flowers. By then it was midnight and not even the dryer was drying fast enough for me. I might call this done or not. It all depends on how it looks tomorrow morning. Oh, and I used the tapping on pencil trick too.
It seems to need something else. What do you suggest?

For Paint Party Friday I´ll also show you a summary of the painted pieces of the week and my working table those days.

You can find the original posts at my Home page to read what I´ve learnt this week that was all about experimenting.

AEDM 2011: Day 17 Inspiration

2011-11-17T01:00:00.001-03:00

For Art Every Day Month I show each day what I created the day before.

This is my table on Nov. 16th. A right handed artist drying the white base with a hair drier in her right hand and a camera in the left one. The Pro Multitasker at work.

One of the great things about Art Every Day Month is blog hopping. That´s how I found the Pink Sparkle Goddess blog. I absolutely loved her signs specially the "letting go of the fear" one. It totally related to my "Face my fears" series. I left her a message I´d be borrowing this one and giving her the due credit.

First step, writing.
Second, watercolour pencils & pen.

What I learnt today:

*pencil #2 (HB) is soft and will transform the watercolour pencil colour with a grey hue.

*putting the watercolour pencil´s tip into water doesn´t give you much control of where the colour goes. A big drop of coloured water is a very real risk. Yes, it happened. ;)

*Going over the inside of the letter with a fine tip brush first and colouring in later works best.

*It´s not necessary to use an ultra fine point brush. A slightly bigger tip works better for an even stroke.
Third: mistakes can be covered if you blot the whole page. True story.

What did you learn today?

AEDM 2011: Day 16 What is your greatest wish?

2011-11-16T08:50:00.000-03:00

For Art Every Day Month I show each day what I created the day before. This is my working table on November 15th. Why so many materials? Because I was on an experimental mood.

I chose this page from October´s issue of Oh La La. A Black & white ad.
Things I learnt:

* oil pastel blenders don´t work well on glossy paper. They somehow turn the pastels into a paste. A grey paste at that.

* watercolour pencils don´t colour on glossy magazine paper.

* water for pan watercolours make little pools, as the surface of a raincoat under the rain, of coloured water on the paper.

So I went for a mad alien colouring. Bold, linear. She doesn´t have Hepatitis. I was arty. :D

Today Jamie asks "What is your greatest wish?" Want to share? Go to Jamie´s original post and comment or link.

My greatest wish ...

My first thought was the girls I wanted to visit (I´m already going over our finances and air tickets fares ;) ) but somehow that felt like a "used" wish. As if I needed a brand new sparkling one. What about wishing for wildly creative pieces of art? Or being a popular blogger? Or maybe something for others like World Peace or my kids passing all their final exams?

I have 90 posts about wishcasting. Some of those wishes have already come true. Some have been discarded beacuse I have moved on or changed my mind. Some are still active in a smaller or bigger scale.

My greatest wish is to keep wishing! To gather with the Wednesday Wishcasting tribe on line, to share and cheer, to whisper wishes, to shout them from the roof tops, to encourage others to wish. Go for it darling!

And of course the words "big wish, little wish" reminded me of ...

AEDM 2011: Day 15 Sketch on the go and a new nephew

2011-11-15T01:00:00.001-03:00

I´ve been working on faces. To begin with I´m copying them from magazine ads and have one or two out of my imagination, like this one.

When I say I´ve been working on faces, I mean I´ve done six. I like hair and I play with it. I quite like eyes and I feel I will be able to work on them a lot. What I don´t like are ... yes, you guessed! Mouths. After three attemps at this mouth (I know, I know, I can´t get a closed mouth right and I´m playing with teeth already) I just covered it for the picture. This will be both my working table picture and my art picture for November 14th.
On other news: this is why I was sketching on the go on November 14th. Our new nephew. T was born at 9.04, weight: 3,564Kg and lenght: 52cm.

Welcome T!

AEDM 2011: Day 14 My own chapter 10 Check In

2011-11-14T02:54:00.003-03:00

For Art Every Day Month I show each day what I created the day before. This is my working table on November 13th. Yes, I´m working on both sides of it. This side for my Wishcasting Journal and the other one for my art journal. I´m a multitasker. :D

For my art journal (which is indeed my "let´s try this technique" one) I started with a page I didn´t like. This is my first time re-working a page. It was an experiment with wet paper shapes and a brayer that went "wrong". Not wrong as in, well ...awfully wrong but as in "not the result I was looking for".
Collage with scraps torn from a magazine (the same Oh La La issue I used for this month´s Full Moon Board).
Watercolour red wash. Mmmmmm, still showing through too much. Not what I wanted.
Yums, acrylics. Now we are talking.
Let´s play with colours. Eeeeeekkkkk! Bright!
Let´s go over it with red again. Quick! Here´s where we are missing a step as the red was totally covering the yellow and it was a mad dash to get my water spray so I could drip the red off. Squish a cloth over it for good measure.
I´ll leave the background be for a while until I know what goes on top of it.

Have you got a completed piece for today, darling?, you ask. Yes, you always treat me kindly. I nod and show you my Wish #23 from the Wishcasting Journal by Jamie Ridler.

For my Mid way Chapter 10 Check In:

1) Morning Pages: 7 out of 7. Yay! I´m back. :D

2) Artist´s date: went dancing with my hubbie. It was a community affair organized by the kid´s school. Strictly over 18s with 80´s & 90´s music plus pizza. Fun. :)

3) Task # 2 is Touchstones: a list of things we love which reminded me of Julie Andrews singing My favourite things.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

AEDM 2011: Day 13 Check In Mid Way Chapter 10

2011-11-13T01:00:00.003-03:00

Sunday means it´s time for our Chapter from The Artist´s Way by Julia Cameron Check in. Today we are mid way through Chapter 10.

For this check in I´d like to introduce to you Serena Lewis, an awesome artist from Brisbane, Australia. She will play along completing Task #2: Touchstones, a list of things you love. Here´s her take on it:

If you go to my About Me tab on my blog, I have a list of I LOVE things.

I LOVE

my kids, granddaughter and family

my dogs, Cody and Jack
wolves...my totem animal
to dabble with various forms of art media
keeping sketch journals
knitting and crochet

my camera

reading books, especially dean koontz

animals....i support animal welfare causes when i'm able
a mixed genre of music
watching movies with my kids

nature walks

the awesomeness of the sea
walks on the beach
seashells
mountain views

long, country drives
my bedroom, my sanctuary
the combo of turquoise, greens and purples

hot chocolate

vindaloo prawn curry with basmati rice

As you see here in these examples, she has a very wide range of drawing and painting skills. Enjoy!

If you want to see more of Serena´s art & life, you can find her at the following cyberplaces:

Blog - http://artbyserena.blogspot.com

Website - http://serenalewis.com

ETSY shop - http://www.etsy.com/shop/SerenaLewis

Flickr albums - http://www.flickr.com/photos/searen_art

For Art Every Day Month I show each day what I created the day before. This is my working table on November 12th.

Time to play with Tati´s oil pastels and watercolours.

Circles in oil pastels to try out the amount of colour according to pressure on paper.

Watercolour wash into circles.

Things I learnt today:

* Funny how navy blue and red turn out paler than light blue and pink

* You need quite a lot of water to paint big areas or the brush will run dry before you are finished

* Oil pastels work as resist (I knew that but hadn´t actually tried it out myself) with watercolours

* If dry the previous colour will show through, if wet it will blend in something not always predictable

* Sometimes the brush may seem clean but it´s not. Remember the wash, dry, use clear water process from day 8.

Right hand side is structured and left hand side is not.

AEDM 2011: Day 12 My own Chapter 9 check In

2011-11-12T01:00:00.002-03:00

If you´ve read my blog for a while you know I LOVE "historical" events. Like 10:10 on 10.10.10 and 12:34:56 on 7.8.9 If you haven´t, I´ll tell you I´m a professional documentalist (although I don´t work in that field any more) and that will explain a lot. :D

As you may have noticed by the name of my blog, photography is my first artistic love, so today for Art Every Day Month my entry will consist of a photograph taken on 11.11.11 at 11.11 AM

I was there on the dot!

These pictures were taken from the local Todo Noticias TV channel. I was looking for TN´s site to be able to link it here and I got another cool picture at exactly noon of 11.11.11. It says: "And now?" as they are following mega meetings in different parts of the country. Four thousand persons are at the Cerro Uritorco, one of the energy centers of the planet.

As I keep all my digital photography in this laptop, this will be my "working table" picture for today. :)

An now, on other news: Better late than never. :D This post should have been publish (if I had written it by then) last Sunday. Just in time for tomorrow´s check in, I´m doing my Chapter 9 Check In.

ETA: it´s better if I actually write it here, isn´t it?

1) Morning pages: 12 out of 14. Better than the previous chapters. :)

2) Artist´s date: some things could have been considered as such even if they were not intended as dates in the first place.

3) Tasks

3.1) Reread your morning pages: no, thanks. I´d rather use that time for going forward instead.

3.2) Visualization: I´ll keep that one in my folder, k?

3.3) Priorities:

Next week: keep creating for Art Every Day Month, posting and commenting.

Next month: Art Every Day Month for the rest of November and Advent projects for December.

Next year: will be working on that soon.

Basically I want a balance of techniques (photography, drawing, painting {with oil pastels, acrylics, watercolours, pencils, pens}, collage and whatever I fancy adding to the list in 2012).

A super outpour of creativity. Get into a photography class. Learn photo editing. Classes on line. Keep participating in Wishcasting Wednesdays, Full Moon Boards, Paint Party Fridays.

3.4) Creativity U-turns: I haven´t scrapped for a year.

Two reasons: a) I wonder what my family will do with all those albums.- I want them to keep them, but that would be too much for them. Should I weed them down and mark what I want to be passed from generation to generation? b) I was not "making" it.- I just didn´t have the WOW factor.

AEDM 2011: Day 11 Paint Party Friday #35

2011-11-11T01:11:00.000-03:00

For Art Every Day Month I show each day what I created the day before.

My working table on November 10th. The hairdryer is a testimony to my impatience. I had painted a background with acrylics this week and worked the figure with watercoloured pencils.

This is for my "Facing my fears" series. This time I put a face to my fear of being skint (that´s why he´s so skinny compared to the others). AKA I´m afraid I´ll never get what I want. There are subtle pools of colour on the background.

Purple for grief, blue for sadness. And a lot of yellow for jelousy.

For my Paint Party Friday entry I´ll show you the series so far. All done in the past week.

Here they are so you have an idea of the size.

Also the whale progress.

AEDM 2011: Day 10 Full Moon Board

2011-11-10T08:57:00.002-03:00

For Art Every Day Month I show each day what I created the day before.

My working table on November 9th.
Today the Moon is full, so it´s time for the Full Moon Board at Jamie Ridler Studios. Other wishers and dreamers are sharing their boards over there as well, check them out!

I work on school type folder paper, covering it with a collage of images and words taken from the current issue of Oh La La magazine.

Oh! I´m wordy this month. Look! No handbags or shoes! That is really strange. No other images either, except for the base one. I see home and entertaining, something that has been on my mind for the past two weeks. Words are: for new projects, there´s 2012, the key of the matter, when we connect incredible ideas come to our heads, experience, once a year (This is definitely Art Every Day Month), let yourself be taken away, life quality, this is what you need to go.
Side B: now, there´s some colour! I haven´t used any bold nail colour yet. Actually, I don´t use nail polish. The peace sign is because I´m a late sixties babe. Exportation & Know.
Both sides are quite different. Is it a balance or a struggle?

What do you see here?

AEDM 2011: Day 9 Who do you wish to have tea with?

2011-11-09T11:00:00.004-03:00

My working table on November 8th. Back to acrylics! I´m posting for Art Every Day Month every day what I created the day before.I am a "use til the last drop" painter so I work on several works in progress at the same time. Can you see the white repeating? It is the most noticeable but all the colours were used on the three pieces. The bigger, mainly green, background is for my next "Facing my fears" piece. The smaller one will be for the Full Moon on the 10th.

Here are the pages I´ve been working on for the past couple of days. I´ve played with watercolours first. Now I gave them a wash with acrylics.

The whales have been on my mind lately. First Mati (my 15 year old son) went to see them with his school last month in Puerto Madryn and now Tati (my 12 year old daughter) has chosen them as her subject for a Referat (a presentation in German).

Looking through Mati´s pictures to find a whale, I came across these:

Gaiman is a small Welsh community in the Patagonia. Their tea services are emmorable!
When Jamie Ridler asked today: Who do you wish to have tea with? for our Wednesday Wishcasting my first thought was a table like this one. Long and loaded with delicious food to be shared with friends from all over the world.

AEDM 2011: Day 8 Who fancies some pizza for breakfast?

2011-11-08T01:00:00.001-03:00

Frida does! She kept coming back to the door because she never wants to miss anything, be it a pat or more food. :DWorking in the kitchen again on November 7th (I post every day what I created the day before)
As Carolyn commented it depends on what you are trying to achieve. For the rest of the page I took Gwen´s advice for colouring and used my pencils first and water with a brush second.
Lessons I learnt this time around (adding to yesterday´s list):

*Don´t be tempted to go with the same brush from one colour to another, even if it is a very pale yellow. It will blend, or even worse muck.

*It is quite useful to have one glass with water to clean the brush, a cloth to dry it and another glass with clear water for the following colour.

*Never leave your coffee mug next to your water. Lol!

AEDM 2011: Day 7 Learning to use watercolour pencils

2011-11-07T01:00:00.001-03:00

My working table on November 6th (I´m posting each day what I created the day before).Big questions for watercolour pencils:

1) Water on the paper first?

2) Water on the pencil´s tip?

3) Water on the brush after colouring?

What is your prefered style? I tried them all here:
Things I learnt:

*Colour blending happens on its own if neighbouring colour is not dry. Good to know if blending on purpose, not for colouring inside the lines.
* I liked the style of the top hand block but it took several tries to get it again.

* Some colours are softer to use and colour more than others.
The first design was made not taking the pencil off the paper, then I added vertical lines to give myself colouring spaces and to practice a bit more, some circles.

This is an experiment with watercolour pencils and was not intended as a journal page to begin with but I´m seeing its potential now and I will keep going.

On other news, you have until November 18th to wish Lynn a Happy 3rd Bloggaversary and participate in her super give away. She has some to drool for art and the most magnificent mountain of rubber stamps for some lucky winner.

AEDM 2011: Day 6 Chapter 9 Check In

2011-11-06T01:00:00.002-03:00

I´m taking part of Leah Piken Kolidas´ "Art Every Day Month" project for the 6th time and I´m already blown away by the talent I´m discovering on line.

An artist that I immediately added to my feeds is Tracy Swartz.

Her gourd people are cute, funny and meaningful as she makes some of them to represent people she knows in real life, adding their features and personal characteristics to her art pieces.

Here are some Fairy Gourdaments she is working on. There are nine of them total. Her friend sent her pictures of her family members along with their favorite colors and things they like or have an interest in.

I asked her what she wanted to share with other artists and here´s what she had to say: It's important not to give up on that thing that brings you joy. It adds so much to your life and should be honored, no matter what it is.

Horace the Flying Pig on display at the 2011 MTV Movie Awards Celebrity Gift Lounge

Thanks for playing along Tracy!

Jamie has kindly given me three copies of Your creative Spark to share with my readers. Camilla won the first one and the second one will be given by the Chapter 10 Check In. That will be on Sunday November 20th. Just leave me a comment stating your interest to be added to the draw.

Now for our weekly "The artist´s way" by Julia Cameron check in:

1) Are you still showing up for the morning pages? One of the exercises this week was to reread them, did you? Do you hide them in a secret place, out of sight?

2) Artist´s date. Have the dates slid down the "Important" list? Did you go anywhere to fill up your well?

3) The tasks. These week we only had a few but they were quite intense! How did you react to the exercises?

My working table on Nov 5th (I post every day what I created the day before)

Fear #2: Fear of saying the wrong thing. Deep down a fear of saying something I might regret. He certainly has a "family air" with yesterday´s fear as they are related.

AEDM 2011: Day 5 Watercolour pencils

2011-11-05T00:13:00.002-03:00

My working table (this time the kitchen table) on the morning of November 4th (I´m posting each day what I created the day before).What´s all that cut cardboard? Pieces of cake mix, jelly powder and dessert boxes. Like this one:
Once cut they are the perfect size for my "Facing my fears" series. This is the first fear I put a face to: the fear of not being liked, which is eating me at the moment hence the teeth. A ghostly clown. That adds another layer that I haven´t been able to really work out.
He is not as friendly as he looked from afar.
This was my first real experience with watercolour pencils. They are actually my daughter´s pencils, so my public thanks to her. :) You can see them in the background.

AEDM 2011: Day 4 A quick sketch

2011-11-04T02:32:00.001-03:00

My work table on Nov 3rd (I´m posting each day what I created the day before):

The plan is to cut all those cardbox boxes, gesso/base paint them and work on a series called "Facing my fears" which truly means putting a face to each of them.

Here´s the first sketch, my fear of not being liked.

Yesterday my garden looked as if it had snowed. Here are some pictures to tell you the whole story.

This is a very young "palo borracho" tree in our back yard.

This is his sibling. Planted at the same time but in a much much muuuuuuuuch smaller pot.
Both are offsprings from my neighbour´s "palo borracho" tree planted from seed.
The black seeds are inside these fluffy cotton like ... oohhhh... eerrmmmm... how is it called? ... ok, then ... thing. :D
In early winter you can see the hard skinned fruits and then by early spring the cover falls (beware of sitting under these trees then, when I say hard I really mean hard) and you can see the fluffy material that will fall like snow in late October/early November.

AEDM 2011: Day 3 A gift bag

2011-11-03T08:50:00.000-03:00

This morning just before leaving home I felt the bird house I painted yesterday looked a bit bare in patches so I added some more flowers. It has been already handed in at my teacher´s workshop for the exhibition. Yay! Done! My list checking self is happy.My working table today. Yes, it´s our dining room table. Big enough for my creativity. I´m a Super Nova when I work. :D I expand and expand and expand.
Today I made a gift bag for a pre-teen girl. I used my scrapbooking papers plus ribbon, foam alpha and butterfly embellies made by one of my classmates.
The white on our grass is not snow, it´s the fluffy cotton that our neighbour´s "palo borracho" tree is sheding now. It looks really cool.

AEDM 2011: Day 2 Bird houses

2011-11-02T01:00:00.002-03:00

Last Friday I had painted the three little bird houses. Today I chose some rub ons.

I always admire Lynn´s work to the point of drooling and even if I sat and thought how to make my houses in her style I soon realized her style is very much hers and mine is waaaaaaaayyyyy simpler so fewer embellies would be needed. :) Working.
I´m very much into fuchsia with porcelain green these days. Turquoise too. All of them are here. :D
The set.

AEDM 2011: Day 1 October´s update

2011-11-01T01:10:00.003-03:00

Nine years ago Leah Piken Kolidas created Art Every Day Month. Each November she encourages people to make something every day, but as the goal is to foster more creativity if you make just one piece of art per week or just one for the whole month, that's fine. Art is also loosely defined here. Art in the sense of anything creative, whether that be painting, drawing, knitting, sewing, cooking, decorating, writing, photography, clay, jewelry-making or whatever!

I joined AEDM for the first time in 2006 and I´ve participated each year ever since.

The projects I am working on this year:

* My main daily one is a 365 photographies project. Ok, maybe it´s a 360 project as I have missed a few days so far this year. Here´s October´s mosaic:

* I´m hosting a cyber meeting each Sunday for a merry bunch of artists reading "The artist´s way" by Julia Cameron together. We are reading one chapter each two weeks to be able to fit all the tasks in this busy modern life we are all leading. :) I introduce many artists from around the world. Come next Sunday for a visit!

* I will be making a collage vision board on the 10th to participate of the Full Moon Boards circle hosted by Jamie Ridler. More collages will be made for the Wishcasting Journal. I´ve been working on it since my last birthday with the goal of having the greatest year yet the next one. :)

* You will also find me painting with acrylics, fine tip pens, markers, pencil, watercolour pencils and oil pastels.

* I might even scrapbook again this month! :D

Matt Cutts on trying something new for 30 days.

Chapter 9: Half way there

2011-10-30T00:38:00.002-03:00

Paint Party Friday #33

2011-10-28T12:25:00.004-03:00

A.k.a: "the week I was not happy with the results" or "Darn, this wasn´t what I was expecting" or "Shoot. This needs to be sanded to start again" or ... well, you get the idea.

First: the candy box that I strated in June and painted in oils twice. This is the third version and still too bright. I don´t mind bright. I do mind the white that seems to show through although it shouldn´t.

Second: I painted Julia´s hair with the remaining oils. The background shows too much as I hadn´t gessoed where the hair was going, only the face.

Third: the only really new work. I like the bigger house as it is painted just like Tati´s set. I´m ok with the middle one. The one on the right will be sanded and painted again in different colours. They are all wips. Need a second hand in base colours and then I will start playing with stencils. Not real paint but fun anyway. My daughter needed a companion to play ball so she drew her own with water on the wall she uses to practice.

What do you wish to let go of?

2011-10-26T07:34:00.006-03:00

These past few weeks the feeling of overwhelm has been always present. It was a constant companion through the set smile and even leaked to some of my posts (or lack of posts) here.

I felt like Alice´s white rabbit: I´m late, I´m late, for a very important date. No time to say Hello, Goodbye. I´m late, I´m late, I´m late.

Time was vital and I didn´t have enough.

Then Tammy Vitale posted: Ahá! What am I making an excuse for? What is the real focus? What is part of my list of "should"s? I took a good look at what I was using my time for and what I wished for time for.

By the time Jamie asked "What do you wish to let go of?" today I had quite a clear idea. And you can read what other wishcasters had to say by clicking on the original post here.

I need time to make art for ART EVERY DAY MONTH during November. How do I get some extra time from my life as it is now?

This is going to be a real surprise.

I´m wishing to let go of my Facebook account for the month of November. I will still be posting on my Paula - Buenos Aires page for The artist´s way updates and some quotes for you.

Next month I´m letting go of my art class too. My goal was to learn some specific techniques and I did. Now I´m bidding time, staying just because the teacher and classmates are nice.

My own Chapter 8 check in

2011-10-25T16:47:00.006-03:00

For Chapter 8 I fullfilled my duties as a hostess, interviewing Mónica and Brianna and putting the MrLinky in place but totally disregarded my own work. "I don´t have time for this", was my excuse. I had to laugh when the description of this chapter´s work said (in a free form translation from my Spanish version): "We will investigate the manner in which we use our perception of time to avoid the creative challenges". Sooooooooooooo spot on!

My working table:

1. Morning pages: I didn´t show up ... are you ready for this? ... Ok, then. I didn´t show up SEVEN days this fortnight. That is half the days! Unheard of. And on three days I wrote half (or less) the usual amount of lines. I was avoiding this BIG time.

2. Artist date: this is the closest I got to one.

That´s hubbie and me with our niece and a giant colouring book. Picture taken by Tati. I sharpened all 74 pencils.

3. Tasks:

3.1.1 The dream: to be a well known Blogger.

3.1.2 The Goal: 500 followers here at Happysnappy, a storyteller with a camera, 200 followers at Paula en español (Paula in Spanish, just like CNN and CNN in Spanish ;) ) 800 Likes in Facebook, to be invited as Guest to another blog/site/event.

3.1.3 In a perfect world, in five years time, all that and more. What about a whole site? Some kind of event of my own. All that on line plus something personal, 3D style.

3.1.4 In this real world, what can I do this year? I´m doing that. I´m posting on a regular basis with regular features, I´m hosting the Book Club.

3.1.5 Now, same thing

3.1.6 The dream/the north/the role model: Be a well known blogger/recognition on my own (not as somebody´s mom, wife, daughter)/ Donna Downey

3.2. An ideal childhood. The only thing I´d change from my own would be to add a room of my own (remember that my Room was my father´s office?) and a bit of loud music. ;)

3.3 My eyes change colour with the weather. I change colours too. Some days I´m a very soothing blue, the voice of calm and comfort. Somedays I´m Nature´s green, nurturing and alive. Or a bouncy orange. I admit the grey washed away days are not that uncommon.

My favourite colour has changed with the years: blue, orange, green, violet. Maybe it´s red now. I have a lot of red stuff.

3.4 Five things I can´t do: stop cleaning, swear in public, feed only on coffee and cake for every meal, play on line all day long oooohhhh, errrmmm, can´t think of more.

3.5 Twenty things I´d like to do: just click on the Wishcasting tag on the right hand side and you´ll have a long list. :)

3.6 An ideal day here and now: coffee, cake and on line time. :D

3.7 I didn´t even write it in my notebook but I know EXACTLY what it implies. ;)

Chapter 8: Check In here

2011-10-23T01:00:00.001-03:00

I´ll begin with something that will make you smile. Ta Da!

These owls make me happy. I want to hug them all! They are the cutest little owls around the net!

I met B from Sweet Limes at Art Every Day Month 2010.

She is a creative Mama, an amazing artist and an awesome storyteller who finds the coolest quotes.

I was first drawn to her because of her sewing talents. She can make the prettiest dresses, blouses and more. As all that is an unknown territory for me, I wanted to see more. So I kept reading post after post.

She definitely has an eye (and a hand) for detail. Look at these beautiful matryoshkas:

Here´s a close up for you to see the tiniest, most tidy stitches.

And the girl can also watercolour and art journal!

B is going to play along with us today, by answering one of t he tasks of the Chapter 8:

Task #1: Goal Search
> Name your dream (“in a perfect world I would love to be…”). Name a concrete goal that signifies that dream (eg, “a good review in a Broadway play”). Where would you like to be in five years in relation to that dream? What action can you take this year to move you closer – this year, this month, this week, today?

In a perfect world I would love to have a creative business that allowed me to have my focus as a mama first while still giving a sense of who I am outside everything else. I'm not looking to make a killing, just have it so I can support my habits of sewing, painting, and just plain creating. What form this will take (teaching classes? selling products?) is still a little up in the air since I'm learning new mediums and finding out what I like to do. I've only been sewing for a short few years and art has only been something I tripped across about a year ago. BUT, I know that a creative life is the one thing I need and if I can make enough money to support my addictions and habits I'm a happy camper.

A concrete goal that signifies that dream: Redesign my website and bring more traffic to it. I'm working on that now. Like every other blogger out there I want a following and I want to develop my blog and myself so that I can attract those people that I'd like to associate with.

Where would I like to be in 5 years. 5 years from now my babes will be in school and I will have way more time on my hands to chase after my dreams. I will by then carved out who I am creatively and have a clear focus on how I am going to set chase and go for it.

What action can I take this year, month, week, TODAY to move me closer is simple, I am learning. I am learning what I'm willing to do and what I'm not. I'm learning more of my own likes and dislikes and how they will fit into the larger picture later. I am stepping back and allowing myself to change my mind and grow into who I am to be. I am allowing myself to take it slow since slow is the only speed you can go when you have an hour or two a day to be creative and try new things or learning techniques. I've given myself permission to take it as it comes, to put my kids first, and to try new things or toss other things out the window. There is no pressure to be something yet that isn't a mama. Of course, I've also given myself the same permission to leave dishes and paint or avoid laundry at times to sew. I need those things for myself to be a better mama and wife.

The best part about it all is that I do get to do just what I want. I'm getting to be a stay at home mama and raise my kids. I'm sharing my love of creating and art with them and they love it too. My walls are covered in paintings and all sorts of great things my kids have made and I love that this is something we can do together. I'm growing at a pace that matches my life right now, slow and low key. And there is no pressure to be something or someone that I'm not right now and to only get there when I get there and not try to run faster then I currently can.

Where can you find B on line? Click on the site´s name and the link will take you there.

At her blog Sweet Limes, Facebook, Twitter and her newly opened Etsy store.

And now onto our The Artist´s Way Chapter 8 Check in:

Paint Party Friday #32

2011-10-21T01:00:00.002-03:00

This week on top of the usual housewife duties:

I helped the girl to revise for her BIG A2 German exam. It covers everything she has learnt in the past 6 years at school. Can you say a gazillion hours with the books?

I helped the boy with all his luggage for the trip to Puerto Madryn.

That only left time to go from this:
To this.
A white base layer is not enough paint to link at the Paint Party Friday blog but I can still enjoy the show and tell over there. :D

What do you wish to make time for? My own mid chapter 8 check in

2011-10-19T09:02:00.004-03:00

How´s that for a short post? The whole of it in the title. *giggle*

I´m a bit behind with my own check in. Mostly because I´ve been avoiding it. ;)

So let´s get it out of the way first, ok?

Morning pages: at an all time low. I missed at least three days and wrote half the required amount three other days.

No dates.

Just read the chapter but no work of my own.

Darn. I need to sit with this chapter and work out why I´m resisting it so much.

Now, onto the time subject:

I wish to make time for planning.

As I told Camilla earlier today, the world is so full of yummy opportunities that having to choose just one seems daunting. What if that other one was better for me? I have to remind myself that whatever comes my way is for my own good. I need to learn that lesson at that point.

I enrole in too many e-courses/seminars and such. I receive a few e-mails a day with videos, chats, podcats. They all take time. I need to work them into my daily "live" life and sometimes I get this distraught haunted look of overwhelm.

Is it worth it? Is all that learning doing something for me if I´m even more anxious than before? I have been deleting e-mails without reading them this week.

I need some of that time back to complete things with my own hands. Like the Wishcasting Journal that has been neglected. I can vouch for the focusing on the wishes working time and time again.
Or the art journaling and paintings for Paint Party Fridays.
I wish to really sit and read The artist´s way with my head in the book and not in the list of to dos. Another thing: read it. Not read one thing while listening to one of The World´s Biggest Summit interviews. Those are good for ironing though. :D
I always make time for these. :) Picture taken last Sunday.
To read what other Wishcasters have to say, visit Jamie Ridler´s post for Wishcasting Wednesday today.

Chapter 8: Half way there

2011-10-16T01:00:00.001-03:00

Welcome friends and visitors to our The Artist´s Way mid chapter 8 Check In!

Time to talk about our morning pages. Do you number them? Do you keep count of them? Do you keep them steadily at three or write more or less pages according to the circumstances?

Have artist´s dates gone missing? Are you asking for too much of your dates? (as in "I need to go across country to the best and biggest museum ever?" type of train of thought instead of going to the mall for some window shopping)

Talking about artists and dates, let me introduce you to a local artist.

I met my art teacher Mónica Dominguez on my birthday this year. She is one of the best birthday presents ever! :D

I discovered her new art station while on my way to meet friends for lunch.

This is the view from the main entrance, there are still another two walls full to the brim of pretty pieces to make and the most scrumptious colours. She also has three classrooms downstairs and more upstairs. Inspiration galore!
She paints a wide range of subjects from flowers to pottery going through abstracts, vegetables and portraits. Here are a few examples of her pottery series.
A close up to show the yumminess of her textures.
And the faux leather frames effect.
The glass series. I´m in love with this one. Look at the reflections! Pure light genius.

She answered task #4 to play with us.

I am violet. I am creative. I can go from an idea to another one, from one technique to another. I am thoughtful, I can vary my colour and therefore the sensations. I like all the range from purple to violet.

A room in those colours is: freshness, life, love.

Violet is the colour of transmutation. It can turn bad into good, just thinking about it.

Paint Party Friday #31

2011-10-14T19:51:00.003-03:00

Still working on these:

last week I thought I had finished box #4. I brought it home and all was good until I put it in its place. Ooooooo, eeeerrmmmmm...no. Too yellow. The white base was showing too much.

Back to the working bench and load up the orangey.

I shouldn´t have gotten this close up. My lady looks a tad freakish from this distance methinks. Anyway, more oil pastels on to her face. Hair will be in acrylics.

Last piece, a black and white ad turned into colour with oil pastels. Pretty button with no use, but it was preeeeetty.

Join Kristin, Eva and the merry band of painters at Paint Party Friday today.

How do you wish to be loved?

2011-10-13T13:03:00.000-03:00

I wish to actually recognize the love that is being sent my way.

I get too caught up in the day to day bussiness of life (and I also mean BUSYness of life). Things that need to be done asap for tasks to be completed. Run, run, run.

And then something happens, like this package arriving home (sticker album used to cover my home address and the address of the sender).
I´m reminded how grateful I am to have met Serena. She is one awesome artist and friend. She lives in New York, knows the coolest places around and makes pretty things like the mosaic that you can see in the picture. She also sent me an inspiring book and vintage Halloween cards (which are already part of our decorations). We visit each others blogs, leave comments and generally share a warm & fun friendship.
Of course there are several kinds of love. Like the one showed by my kids who pose once a year in front of their grandparents white azaleas. An overzealous gardener cut them too much a couple of years ago, so the plant is a bit "light" but no spring is complete without this picture.

From what I´ve written so far, I think I wish to be loved in a practical, everyday, thoughtful gestures way. :)

To read what other Wishcasters are wishing for this week, read Jamie Ridler´s original post. (The permalink to that particular post is 404ed, you need to go to her site and look for October 12th post) :)

My own Chapter 7 check in

2011-10-12T06:36:00.000-03:00

1) Morning pages: 13 out of 14. Mostly afternoon/evening pages. Some shorter than usual. Some quite angry. I´m uncovering old stories of mine that still hurt.

2) Artist date: our neighbourhood has been changing a lot these past couple of years with many new buildings. Some of these have shops on the ground floor. One of those shops was opened on October 6th two streets from home: an art shop!

Yay! This pic was taken on the same day. Nowadays it has a pretty sign.

I walked around a bit to have a look at other new shops and I discovered one a bit out of the way that sells handmade pieces. I will be interviewing the owner soon. :)

3) Tasks:

3.1) I didn´t make the required sign. Ooops.

3.2) Music and doodles: not yet but it is still in the cards.

3.3) Sacred space: ditto

3.4) Aromatic atmosphere at home: does wet dog smell count? It´s been raining so much poor Frida doesn´t have any other option! On the other hand I cook on a regular basis so homemade food smell is a given.

3.5) Wear something special on an ordinary day: another regular thing for me.

3.6) Buy yourself something pretty:

At 12 years old Tati reached the "I need something NEW to wear" stage. *slight roll of eyes ´cause I was sooooo different* Then a-shopping we go. A few tshirts and accesories. Why do I post it here? Because I chose some accesories for me too. We discussed possibilities to maximize the use of those. Imagine the convo: "If I choose the black barrette and you take the purple flower I can use them both with the new top." "Ok, but the bracelet is mine!" "May I use it too mom?" "Of course my darling. Mmmwa!" :D

3.7) Collage. Just in time for The Full Moon Board. This month Jamie says:

Under this moon, what harvest do you want to invite into your life? What would I like an abundance of?

Coulours and art! :D Very "spring" board. Please remember I´m on the Southern Hemisphere so I´m going into summer here. Totes and owls, the art blossoms on line.Side B: shoes and bags again! I had missed them. A lot of "grown up" images, many deep coloured accesories: bag, shoes, make up, a titanium watch, bracelets. What is that bonsai tree doing there?

3.8) Favourite movies: the ones with races, things that explode and the good ones win in the end. :D A short list: Star Wars (the original one), Fast and Furious Tokyio drift, Men in Black, Star Trek (teh new one), Los peques (local).

3.9) Favourite reads: Nora Roberts books, light detectives stories and creativity ones.

3.10) Put the collage in a visible place: I do that every month! :)

Chapter 7: Check In here

2011-10-09T00:16:00.002-03:00

Good morning! Or afternoon, or evening! ~~waves~~

This week the check in is going to be simpler than usual because that is the way life happens sometimes.

1) Morning pages. Have you been tempted to read back?

2) Artist´s date. Discovering art at your doorstep.

3) Rant, rave or joyfully tell your story so far.

Paint Party Friday #30

2011-10-07T13:01:00.003-03:00

This is what I have been working on this week:
The candy box: I had chosen it to be recycled back in June and got only to the "Sand it, paint it white, repeat" stage then. Last week I worked on the decoupaged flowers and this past week it got its yellow and red patina. Acrylics swatches. Two greens and three brown plus pumpkin. Learning about colour building.
Dresses. Lights and shadows. No, I ahven´t got much clue what I´m doing. *slightly worried grin*
Image by Suzie Blu on plywood, which I discovered doesn´t take acrylics like paper. Yea, I know ...duh! but honestly it took me several tries painting and getting paint off with a cloth to realize why I couldn´t get a similar effect to my swatches. *Paula slaps forehead but not too hard*

Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T10:14:00.002-03:00

This morning I can only echo many others in saying RIP Steve Jobs.

“There may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.” ~President Obama

Apples that changed the world: the one that Eve ate, the one that fell on Newton's head; the one that Steve built.

What do you wish to do one day?

2011-10-05T09:37:00.003-03:00

Today is Wednesday and Jamie asks the Wednesday Wishcasters "What do you wish to do one day?" To read what other wishers had to say click on this link for the original post by Jamie.

I wish to visit my Blogger friends around the world one day! *grin*

For the past 15 years going to New York has been on our wish list. One day we´ll go (now with two kids on tow, lol) and I´ll hang out with my friend Serena, who knows some very cool places.
Another place on our wish list is Miami. Picture taken in July 2010, at the 41 street´s lifeguard place. Hey, Ily! Want to go for a drink? :)
I also wish to go to Connie´s Total alignment workshop in Sedona!
On the other side of the big pond, I wish to visit Karen and tour her land. It´s beautiful! And so full of nature charm and interesting history.
And of course, last but not least, I wish to go to Debden one day and meet all my Padder friends. Or go to a retreat organized by Debbie. Dreamy.
Who else wants to hang out with us? I´ll add you to my world tour. *excited laughter and bright eyes*

My own mid way Chapter 7 check in

2011-10-02T01:10:00.003-03:00

By now you all know I´m the colour coded type of girl. :D Each chapter in The Artist´s way has had its own colour. I decided to pull the whole colour scheme together. Here they are:

Felt tip market for the chapter´s title, fine point for Tasks and pencil to underline the book.

Chapter 6 revisited. I have been paying more attention to what I was creating in the kitchen. I´m not a cool foodie like my dear friend Suzi, but she has inspired to introduce more variety in my everyday cooking. :)Layered salad.

On to chapter 7. :)

1) Morning pages: let me count them ... 6 ot of 7. Three real morning pages and three afternoon ones.

2) Artist´s date. Not alone but we went out on Saturday.

We had to take Mati to Tigre for him to go to a birthday party in an island, so we hanged out at the river side during the afternoon taking pics of nature and architecture (there are many very old, very rich maisons along the riverside)

3) I have read the tasks and done a few. Full check in next Sunday. :)

Chapter 7: Half way there

2011-10-02T01:00:00.007-03:00

Welcome to our Chapter 7 first check in!

Are you writing your morning pages? Are you using the same notebook/pad/folder that you did in chapter 1? Is the size/style still working for you? Have you changed it?

Have you gone on an artist´s date this week? Do you have a lists for the next places you want to visit?

Have you been working on your tasks?

The lovely Connie Hozvicka is playing along with us this week. She wrote "Total alignment", a free online workshop that is designed to align your body-mind-heart with your creative source. Through FEARLESS™ Painting and basic yoga goodness you mindfully begin to clear your path to creative source and listen to your innate wisdom. This workshop is intended for everyone of all skill levels, abilities, and backgrounds--from the full time professional Artist that is feeling stuck and in need of a boost of inner inspiration to the fresh newbie just starting out on their Artist journey eager to learn--and of course, every blessed soul in between!

From task #2: Do you create while listening to music or do you need a quiet environment to work?

Oh my goodness!! I'm all about the music! YES! YES! YES!! Music is a huge part of my painting practice for sure. I listen to everything from Kirtan music, to hip hop, to my beloved Michael Franti and Jack Johnson that I can never get enough of!!

From task #3: Have you created a sacred space within your home?

I am so lucky--I grew up in a home that totally supported my art making from day one--and to tell the truth, even as an itty bitty, my Mom carved out a corner of the basement that was dedicated to my wild wanderings with a paintbrush! Even then I called the space my "studio"--and ever since I left my childhood home to go out on my own--everywhere I have lived has always had a dedicated room or space for my art making. Currently my honey and I live in a 2 bedroom apartment--and the one bedroom is solely dedicated to my art making--I have one wall completely covered in cardboard so I can paint directly on the wall!

And the carpeted floor is covered in those indoor/outdoor rugs--and in the corner is my favorite part of my studio--my alter, where I meditate and center myself before each creative spurt!

From tasks #5 & 6: Has your clothing changed to reflect your changes in creativity?

Well if the fact that almost every single piece of clothing I own has paint stains on it counts--than yes! But, I have to admit--I was much more creative in my fashion choices as a teen and in my early twenties--but eventually grew quite fond for solid colors and straight lines. The one thing I do express my creativity through often is my hair. Yeah--my hair is definitely a great barometer of my creative journey!

From tasks #8 & 9: Which is your favourite entertainment (apart from making your own art)? Movies, books, music?

I am a huge reader--mostly books on yoga, spirituality, and art of course! I also love hiking here in the desert landscape where I live, playing my harmonium, shooting photos with my Big Girl Camera, and vegetarian cooking is another one of my interests as well!

Thank you so much Connie for sharing your creative space and your own process with us! To see more of Connie´s work vist her at her cyber home "Dirty Footprints Studio". You will I love the deep thought that goes into each of her posts. Her photography is way cool and her stories take us with her through the range of her emotions, being able to connect to them and experience life through her eyes.

September´s update

2011-10-01T19:44:00.004-03:00

First week: new gym shoes for Tati // Daniel receives a mention for his work for the kid´s school // a bit of shopping // Tati´s best friend´s youngest sibling (are you lost yet?) birthday // uncluttering my jewelery (one bunch to give, one to recycle and another one to get rid of) // waiting for Daniel´s call // using Facetime from Berlin to Buenos Aires //

Second week: my monthly magazine Oh La La // Tati as a German flag escort for a school´s event // McDonalds treat (my son has a YouTube page featuring Bakugan, Pokemon and Beyblades, so he did a test drive of the McD version of Bakugan toys) // Mati getting medlars from my in laws trees //Frida wearing Tati´s headband // The Artist´s way book chapter 6 // Tati´s class theatre play

Third week: Daniel arrived from Germany // TGIF on a Friday // getting ready for 2012 // our niece V, Tati and Mati playing in the garden // what Tati will take for her school´s trip // chicken and corn pie for dinner // our young tree on the first day of spring //

Fourth week: new deco for Directv // Year 6 goes on a school trip // ten new acrylics // a trailer full of curtains // new plant for spring // varnishing my candy box // coffee morning with Sabine //

And there´s still some month left! colour coding my work // the kids are back!

My wish for this season is BALANCE. I see I got Daniel more into the mosaic (but left myself out! Must work on that). I see my work (well, that´s part of me). I see food and home and family and friends. Not bad for a start. :D Now on to October!

Happysnappy

What do you wish for your health and wellness?

Week 3

Week 2

First Full Moon of 2012

Week 1

Three Wise Men on the 12th day of Christmas

A change of scene

Project 365: 2011 Summary

My word for 2012: EXPANSIVE

First a bit of history:

According to The Free Dictionary this is the definition:

ex·pan·sive (k-spnsv)adj.1. Capable of expanding or tending to expand.2. Broad in size or extent; comprehensive3. Open and communicative; talkative or effusive4. Grand in scale

Christmas at home

Advent 2011, Day 23: Baptism

Advent 2011, Day 21: What do you wish for the new season?

Advent 2011, Day 19: my week

Advent 2011, Day 18: Last Check In

Advent 2011, Day 14: What is your deepest wish?

Advent 2011, Day 12: Check In Chapter 11

Advent 2011, Day 11: Mid way Chapter 12 Check In

Advent 2011, Day 10: Full Moon Board and a cell phone

Advent 2011, Day 9:

Advent 2011, Day 8: Oh, Christmas tree!

Advent 2011, Day 7: What do you wish to celebrate?

Advent 2011, Day 6 Last day of school

Advent 2011, Day 5

Advent 2011, Day 4: Chapter 11 Check In

Advent 2011, Day 3: an old diary

Advent 2011, Day 2: Science Fair

Advent 2011: Day 1 November update & December daily

AEDM 2011: Day 30 What treasures do you wish for?

AEDM 2011: Day 29 Scrapping with scraps

AEDM 2011: Day 28 Back to scrapbooking

AEDM 2011: Day 27 Check In Mid Way Chapter 11

AEDM 2011: Day 26 My own Chapter 10 check in.

AEDM 2011: Day 25 Paint Party Friday # 37

AEDM 2011: Day 24 When I make mistakes on purpose

AEDM 2011: Day 23 What do you wish to remember?

AEDM 2011: Day 22 When I should read more carefully

AEDM 2011: Day 21 Let it rain

AEDM 2011: Day 20 Check In Chapter 10

AEDM 2011: Day 19 Mary is Home

AEDM 2011: Day 18 Paint Party Friday #36

AEDM 2011: Day 17 Inspiration

AEDM 2011: Day 16 What is your greatest wish?

AEDM 2011: Day 15 Sketch on the go and a new nephew

AEDM 2011: Day 14 My own chapter 10 Check In

AEDM 2011: Day 13 Check In Mid Way Chapter 10

AEDM 2011: Day 12 My own Chapter 9 check In

AEDM 2011: Day 11 Paint Party Friday #35

AEDM 2011: Day 10 Full Moon Board

AEDM 2011: Day 9 Who do you wish to have tea with?

AEDM 2011: Day 8 Who fancies some pizza for breakfast?

AEDM 2011: Day 7 Learning to use watercolour pencils

AEDM 2011: Day 6 Chapter 9 Check In

AEDM 2011: Day 5 Watercolour pencils

AEDM 2011: Day 4 A quick sketch

AEDM 2011: Day 3 A gift bag

AEDM 2011: Day 2 Bird houses

AEDM 2011: Day 1 October´s update

Chapter 9: Half way there

Paint Party Friday #33

What do you wish to let go of?

My own Chapter 8 check in

Chapter 8: Check In here

Paint Party Friday #32

What do you wish to make time for? My own mid chapter 8 check in

Chapter 8: Half way there

Paint Party Friday #31

How do you wish to be loved?

My own Chapter 7 check in

Chapter 7: Check In here

Paint Party Friday #30

Steve Jobs

What do you wish to do one day?

My own mid way Chapter 7 check in

Chapter 7: Half way there

September´s update

ex·pan·sive (k-spnsv)
adj.
1. Capable of expanding or tending to expand.
2. Broad in size or extent; comprehensive
3. Open and communicative; talkative or effusive
4. Grand in scale