WholeLife Mastery

I Love Lists

Wish list. Grocery list. Dream list.  List of Items of Immense Importance. Of course there's often a to-do list.  However, the most important list is my daily Placemat that has a column for me "Today I Want..." and "I want The Universe to..." I've finally learned that the most important list is the list of spiritual qualities I want to be.  Most days Peace, Joy and Faith top my list.  What do you want to be today?

I Knew I'd been altered when...

I was as excited about the brilliantly colored water left over after cooking beets as I was about the yummy Beets with Orange Vinaigrette that I made this weekend. I dyed some dryer sheets with the beet juice and used one as the background for a recipe journal page. 

Thanks of a Grateful Nation

Once upon a long time ago I lived near Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, which bills itself as the "Birthplace of Memorial Day".  In addition to learning how much I need sunshine and warmth to be happy, living in that part of the country also reminded me of why we celebrate Memorial Day. 

Time in a Bottle

Altered book for today's Las Vegas Art Stamps Altered Book Club meeting. The found text reads: "in a moment there was a thread of impatience.  It's the wrong time. A few minutes earlier to love and laugh and to be sure of herself.  She was holding her breath.  She closed her eyes and let it out." I haven't yet figured out how to represent the "Whiligig of Time".

Random Rubber Journal Cover

  With covers, I think this journal is about as finished as it's going to be.  I've had the directions for this aluminum tape cover for ages.  When I saw this episode of the Carol Duvall show for about the third time, I took the hint and finally tried the technique.  I forgot to use the blending solution with the alcohol inks -- has anyone tried plain old alcohol for that? -- so they didn't blend very well.  Thank goodness that "happy" letters are "in".  These letter stamps are mounted on round wood, so it's REALLY a challenge to line them up. 

Say Yes to Contrast

Here's a contrast-that-clarifies exercise to try journaling about.  In Refuse to Choose, author Barbara Sher recommends making an "Everything I Don't Want" list so you can discover the underlying theme that points to what you DO want.  Now that I've finished this Random Rubber Journal with 23 entries in 37 days.  What an auspicious number! Now to come up with a fitting cover for the first craft book I've ever actually (almost) finished.

The Whirligig of Time

I did my usual process in reverse today and it shows. I almost didn't post this one.  I don't like it very much. Next week I have a round robin entry due on the subject of time.  Flipping through a magazine one evening, the phrase "the whirligig of time" from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night caught my eye.  If I had looked it up BEFORE doing the spread, I would have done something round as a whirligig is most often defined as a spinning toy or something that continuously whirls. There's even a whirligig quilt pattern.  And the moral of the story result of the experiment is, reading first, then art.  It works for me! "All life is an experiment.  The more experiments you make the better" (Emerson).

Practice Hospitality

Butterflies are Free

Still clearing my studio to convert it back to the guest room.  Today's finding was a box of leftover transparency trimmings and a folder full of foil.  Put them together (ran the transparency through the Xyron, stamped butterfly with StazOn, rubbed foil on the back) and Voila! 

What story are you living?

  One of the great advantages of doing this random rubber journal has been that it finally got me around to using some of the supplies that have been hiding -- I think they all get together while I'm asleep and play hide and seek.  The background on this spread is watercolor crayons.  On the left side of the spread I stamped some script, then washed over it with Twinkling H20s.  I even used some watercolor pencils to fill in the little bits on the "happily ever after" stamp.  I wonder what I'll find tomorrow?