Doing some more Mixed Media work ...

Now I have been off and on sick for many weeks now ... seems like months actually and so my energy has been low to get creative, but about a few weeks back I decided since I missed my regular cropping time with my friend Dawn due to illness I was going to have her over for a creative Sunday afternoon ... It was really lovely to work away at home, though we didn't get to allot as much time as we do when we go to our Crop nights ... all good, have one coming up so looking forward to that!

Here is a couple pages I managed to create during that afternoon, and when I kept on going by myself in the evening:

Picture on this page:  Credit goes to a very talented artistic photographer named Kaylee Rose Waterfield - the picture itself is of someone close to my heart and I want to show the world how amazing and talented both these young ladies are.  Huge shout out to Kaylee and please go and check out her awesome new website Kay Rose Photo and Design (some parts of it still under construction but check out her facebook page - in her name link above too).

Butterflies: I actually was inspired by my friend Melanni when she on one of my Art pieces I created in her home, and I wanted a butterfly for my work ... she had a partially transparent gift bag that had butterflies all over it, she had received when she purchased something from a store.  She told me to cut one out and modge on my piece. It was so cool ... finished product (the canvas project)... so when I came home not having this cute bag I went to my local Dollar Store and I bought a couple Butterfly window stick ons ~ I seriously love the look on my projects.  As you can see I am partial to butterflies ha ha.

I also took a close up of the beaded paste that I used with a stencil - looks a lot more dimensional of course in real life ... but from the pictures below you can see a bit of the dimension the paste gave to the page.  (warning:  It took a long time to dry completely - and that was using a heat gun at first to have it set up a bit - literally to set hard a couple days.)

I am so enjoying applying the tissue and other elements to my page using the modge or decopage idea, I love that you can truly get all the creases and dimensions in there and love the layering look you can achieve.

I owe my new found love of mixed media and art journaling to Christy Tomlinson and her awesome workshops ... seriously if you haven't tried taking one of her workshop yet and you are at all interested in mixed media art they are awesome ... she is awesome ... such a real and down to earth teacher.    I am in the "Behind the Art" workshop happening right now ... but haven't gotten past the Welcome message because of dealing with being ill, but oh being in the facebook group for this course it is so exciting seeing all the inspiration and project coming out of this course already!  Can't wait to get started!  :)

A little Art Journalling at the Crop ...

My close friend Dawn and I have been trying to get out to the $5 Late Night Crops at the awesome Urban Scrapbook
- as much as we can - they often have two a month so we are happy if we can get to one for sure and two is a bonus.  Now since I have been captivated by the Mixed Media Art World thanks to Missy Christy Tomlinson I have not been scrapbooking very much ~ a layout here or there ~ my passion lately has been Art Journalling, She Art Workshops, and Mixed Media ... I have had to figure out how to pack and work on Art Journalling pages at the crop.   Now the Urban is not as well set up for this type of art work, simply because they don't have a proper sink for filling up water and washing supplies, there are only a couple plug ins and so I have to get up often to go to a counter to dry my modge or paint ect., but I am working on it and it works good enough ha ha ... I am determined to do the kind of art I am in love with now and crops are a good stretch of time to get some good work done, at home I seldom have 6 hours to allot to sitting and doing my art so crops are a perfect time opportunity to do so.  So I make it work!  ;)

Dawn and I were at the late night crop this last Friday night and I was so very pleased with the page I came away with for my Art Journal ... I wanted to do something vibrant and full of color and use a few different elements like using my modeling paste with acrylic paint ... the red flowers on the page, I also learned an awesome trick from my friend Melanni to stamp images on white tissue paper and then modge these to your art work it gives you a clear image and you can color it once it is down or before hand - I put my little birdie on this way as well as the stamp in the corner.  I had so much fun and can't wait till the next "crop date" with my fabulous friend ... :)

   

Artsy Girls Play Date Weekend ...

Well I have been under the weather now for going on three weeks now but last weekend I had an opportunity to get away to a creative weekend and I decided to just pack my little sick butt up - including all my cough syrup and lozenges - and hit the road!  ;)  My dear friend Melanni was having an "Artsy Girls Play Date Weekend" and that sounded way to good to miss, so off I went to Southern Alberta.  Gosh we were blessed with a glorious weekend and the drive to and from was seriously soul lifting, beautiful sunshine all the way ~ and the amazing views of Alberta - true rolling hills covered in snow right now but honestly all just breathtaking.  I am certainly an Albertan Girl and I love where I live, yes in all the seasons - but between you and me - FALL is my fave season of the year.

So off I went and I was so very happy that I did ... Not only did I get to meet some new friends - Lynne and Joanne but finally got to have a bit of a visit with my dear talented friend Melanni :) AND I got to spend some quality time dabbling in my new love of Mixed Media ... man I am so loving this
but there is way too much that I would like to do and learn and just not enough hours in the days or days in the week ... working full time makes for busy weekends at home and usually not with creative endeavors - so it was doubly delicious to steal away a weekend and be a playing Artsy Gal! :)

I do find that because I do not spend enough time in the creative world lately that I have a hard time getting my mojo, my ideas, my motivation to flow ... but I figure as long as I keep trying and maybe start just doing a little everyday it will all come in time.  I have in fact started a sketchbook - inspired by artists like the lovely and talented Christy Tomlinson and websites such as Cloth Paper Scissors - I am learning so much, and have been so excited to start putting things into practice.  My friend Melanni introduced me to the amazing talent of Christy ... and I am in the process of two workshops of hers - She Art and She had Three Hearts ~ and very excited to be signed up for a new one she has coming in April called "Behind the Art"!!!

So as I said I have been captivated by the Mixed Media Art World and the tonnes of options and techniques there are to learn.  I am having a great time learning to use multi media products - like mod podge, gesso, gel mediums and pastes ... and having fun with paints, inks, crayons, pastels and more!  And incorporating all my scrapbooking papers and supplies as well :)  Fun Fun!

So a couple projects I managed to finish in my very short time at Melanni's - seriously need to spend longer weekends dabbling ha ha :)

 My mixed media owl - inspired by a picture I saw on Pinterest (I love Pinterest for inspiration) - I used book paper to make the trunk of my tree then used craft color tissue crumpled into strips and placed on with mod podge to form the tree trunk.   Using various patterned papers I patchworked together my little friendly Hooter ha ha ... and then layered and shaded ... added rubons, paint, doodles ...

And Wahla!  I simply adore the finished product ... so much fun ...

AND then a little WINE ;)  And a bit more motivation ....

And started on my 6x12 canvas ...

 Again the canvas was inspired by a couple pictures I saw on Pinterest ... it truly is my go to place for inspiration ... the only problem is that I see so much that I love it is hard to get the ideas to settle down and flow together.  Inspired also by the techniques of Christy Tomlinson I got my ART on and started my canvas in the style she taught us in the "She Art Workshop"  - I am working on the very first She Art workshop but she also has recently brought out her "Number 3"  - which looks fabulous! 

My finished canvas!  Which I am so in love with - had a place in my home where I wanted to hang it and it was so cool that my little family also loved the vibrant colors and enjoy looking at it everyday ha ha. 

All in all it was an amazingly fun weekend ... spent with some cool and talented ladies ... had so much fun visiting and laughing with them all ... and was inspired by all the cool projects happening around me as well!  Go and check out their awesome blogs and see a little of the amazing ART they also create and let them inspire you as well! 
Cheers :)

Melanni - "My Garden of Eden"
Lynne - "Scrapbook Lynne's"

My fave quote of the day:
"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." 
~ Pablo Picasso

Christy Tomlinson's She Art Workshops

 My friend Melanni told me I should check out some workshops being offered on-line by Christy Tomlinson - So I clicked into her blog and signed up for a couple of her workshops ... and haven't been disappointed at all ~ I am loving how the workshops are filled with so much inspiration and have brought out my love of learning new techniques ... and she is teaching them by the tonnes!  She is such a natural and easy going woman to watch, often has me chuckling along with her ...

The "She Art" Workshop is the first one I am working on ... I am enjoying learning the basics of building up a background ... getting messy with applying inks, paints, plasters, stamps, rub-ons and more ...  how she builds layers ... till you get the desired look you want (believe me it is sometimes hard to know when to stop).

I actually created my She Art Girls out of order ha ha - this one I entitled "She can bring Beauty to your eyes" - caught my heart and wanted to work on her first.  I loved the little pantaloons and she kind of reminds me of myself.  I had such fun following Christy's directions and guidance and making a She Art Girl that spoke to me.  :)  She truly brought the beauty of mixed Media Art to my eyes.

She can bring Beauty to your eyes.

The Second one (really the first ha ha) "She loves to Learn and Create" again was so much fun learning to really work with my rub-ons, stamps and stencils - I kind of over did my back ground a bit (I got so into it) that the colors of the girl I was going to put in here did not work and I needed something more vibrant.  I am so please with how she turned out ... 

She Loves to Learn and Create.

The third one I have done so far I actually worked on at a Scrapbooking Crop evening ... believe me some of the ladies present were very interested in just what I was creating.  With this She Art Girl - which I entitled "She believes in Angels" I got into learning how to apply molding paste mixed with acrylic paints and applying on with a stencil.  I had some stop and take a step back moments where things were not going down quite as I wanted them too, but I believe my finished product makes me smile.

She believes in Angels.

That is another thing I love about the Christy Tomlinson's Workshops - is that she makes mistakes or goes down a path she doesn't want to and she lets you see how she adapts or how she works with it.  It is very liberating to know you really can not make a mistake creating your piece and that you can work with what ever issue you feel you might have.  It has helped to free my thinking from a box and let me draw outside the lines so to speak.  I am loving it!

I so encourage anyone who wants to dabble in freeing up their artistic soul, who may need a refresh, or even might like to try something new (like mixed media art) and not sure where to start to take one of Christy's Workshops.  She Art girls are a small part of what you can start to create once you have the tools and ease of using the different techniques :)  I know I am looking forward to applying all I am learning to other forms of art ... I am even applying some of the steps in my scrapbooking pages and hope to do more of that.  :)

Mixed Media Art Rocks ... so looking forward to taking Christy's "Behind the Art" Workshop in April (already signed up) really ready to learn more about the Mixed Media world and how to apply it to my art :)

Okay wanted to show you a little of what I have been doing lately ... back to my little studio ...
Cheers :)

Creativity ...

I have become addicted to Pinterest - of course they say admitting an addiction is the first step but I don't intend to do anything about it - besides pin away ha ha so I guess I am what I am - a Pinnerholic.  :)

I so love the Pinterest boards - and creating my own ~ it has re-sparked my creativity - I am scrapbooking and taking pictures again - and dabbling into Art Journalling and painting and getting my creative groove on ... and as usual it is a huge uplift to how I look at and deal with life.  If you are a creative person you get what I mean ~ I find when I don't create I stop finding as much joy in everything around me.  My Gluten Free Blog is part of my creativity and I am hoping with time as I ignite the fire within again I will get back to blogging on both fronts ~ here creative and personal life experiences and there with my gluten free living experiences ... To share a little of what I have been up to ...

 My first attempt at She Art - I drew and cut the pattern out of plain cardstock first ... put my completed piece on an art journal page ...

Just felt like drawing and painting a pointsetta for an art journal page ... which I added a small picture of Christmas to the corner ... Just used Acrylic paints on black cardstock and was pleased with the results ... 

I love love this wall art I created - using my Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge from CTMH ... it was fun to stamp and ink ... love it on my bedroom wall.  :)

It's coming back the creativity and the thoughts and ideas ... and I love Pinterest - the only problem is I wish I would win a lottery so I could be at home and gardening, dabbling in cool home decor and creating ha ha ... work gets in the way!  ;)  Gotta pay those bills though ha ha ...

Cheers  :)

Tiny Buddha article

A Tiny Buddha article caught my eye today ... titled "40 Ways to Feel More Alive" written by Lori Deschene

She starts off her article with a quote from Joseph Campbell:
 “I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.” 

The experience of being alive ~ so true ... this is what I have been missing of late ... Both my blogs have in their title "High on Life" ... which to me means the essence of "being elevated in the experience of being alive" ... so I have to live up to my "motto".  Over the years it has become a struggle at points ~ from losing people - family and friends, both physically and emotionally ~ to feeling lost in that search of "joy - being alive - simply being happy".  

I loved this simple article because of that - it gave 40 simple ways to increase the feeling of being alive ... the author stresses that yes this is quite the list but not one to make us feel daunted but merely a good list ... the point is to "do something".

I like that ... I can pick one of these points ... and do ... be proactive ... and who knows maybe it will start a trend.  A positive trend in "doing" things to feel more alive ... sounds like an upbeat idea to me.   

What would be one point you would add to your list?  What is something you could do ... something simple ... to start or add to your foundation of feeling ALIVE?!  I would love to read what others may add to their lists. :)   

Being alive ... breathe deep ... feels good.  :) 

20. Make a list of things you think you’d enjoy, and then pick one you’ve never done to try this weekend.

Kind of along the line of this number #20 on the list in the article I know one thing I could add to the list:  

1. Find an activity you have always wanted to do more or do more of and search out how to get involved.

I am part of our city's meetup groups and I recently joined the "TheatreGoers Club" ~ Kevin and I do enjoy live theatre in many forms and thought this would be a good fit.  So far we have gone to a comedy Improv show at Varscona Theatre, and attended the "Cirque du Soleil - Quidam" show this last weekend - made some new friends and are planning to go to a few upcoming "Fringe Shows" with the same group.   This has been one good step in feeling ALIVE.  

We also attend a coffee group night with a meetup group ~ again the simple act of sitting and chatting with different people and sharing experiences ... ALIVE.

What could you add on your list? 
 Cheers :)   

   
  

Organizing ...

My word of the times lately ... I am busy trying to organize life ~ somedays it is not so much fun but I figure as long as we move forward ... even if just a step at a time that is progress.

I can't believe it has been a year since I have written on my blog ... it has been a long year ... so way too much to catch up on so we start where we are right?!  Here and now ... I have a feeling that I need to use both my blogs (my living gluten free and this one) to kick start my motivation in life.  I have found that I have stopped writing, creating, feeling that drive to "do" ... so that needs to change.  I am frustrated by my older blog ... this one ... because it does not seem to have all the enhancements of my new one and yet I don't want to lose the content.  I still feel very much like a newbie when it comes to designing a blog ... it's time I start learning once again.

Life is too busy ... and not busy enough with things I want to do ... things I need to do to keep me feeling alive and joyous ... this will have to change.  One step at a time ...

I am excited for tomorrow ... it is going to be a day of wonder and excitement ... so much going on in my home city this weekend ~ so going to capture a bit of it :)  Cariwest, the Art Gallery, Supper at one of our awesome restaurants, and then ... AND THEN ... we have tickets to go and see the SHOW!

Cirque du Soleil - Quiddam

SO excited!!! 

And tonight I start out my weekend by going out for coffee and a long overdue chat with one of my closest friends Dawn ... Nice ...

Yes it's a start ... on we go!

Cheers - Sherri :)

"If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again." ~ Flavia Weedn