Believing in the Universe

What do I mean by believing in the Universe?

I talk out loud to the Universe and ask it for the things that are really important to me. 
It has never failed me, and I am very grateful for that. I don't ask for 'things' - that is not what I mean. 
There are times when I feel that life is spiraling out of control and I don't know how to stop it. These are times when I talk to the Universe and ask it for help to straighten things out and make sense of them. I ask for guidance in how to handle the things that come up to make things better. 

When life makes sense it is much easier to work on the things that are fun to do, like making cards and singing. 
Those are two of my passions and I relax when I am occupied with creating new cards or learning new music. When my life doesn't make sense, and I am all upset, I can't enjoy the creative process. 

The Universe has never failed me. I am forever grateful!

not quite next day....

I did make three cards on the evening of July 23. Two of them are up on my facebook page, the last two photos on the second page. I am really enjoying working with watercolours as well as stamped images. The watercolours give a different feel to the artwork and the colours so vivid and varied.

I find it most relaxing to play with the watercolours and the images. I sit with my headphones on at lunch at work, listening to (of all things) Days of our Lives while I am applying the colours with my little brushes. I get carried away by the colours and am experimenting with new ideas all the time.

So, the cards on Facebook are my first attempts using the mix of media like this and I will be adding to the collection soon.

It has been sooo rainy in Calgary for the past few days, with a few more days to come of the same weather, that playing with watercolour paints like this is like feeding my soul and creating a feast of colour for my eyes to drink in. Very uplifting!

soon!

Three cards to make before Sunday....

I really must get busy. I have an Anniversary card, a housewarming card, and a birthday card to create this weekend. The Anniversary card should really be done this evening so that I can send it off tomorrow in the mail. The other two I need for Sunday, since I will be delivering them in person.

I have an idea for the housewarming card already, and am going to work on it over my lunch hour today, using some black ink and my watercolours.... I know that once I begin this process at noon, the creativity will build and I will probably end up making all the cards this evening. I am looking forward to it and will post the completed cards on my facebook page when they are done. I do need to add one card to that page that I did a couple of weeks ago.

It is so hard for me to design cards that are suitable for men, but still look really cool, but I do think that I have managed to do that a few times.

Will go for now, but will post again tomorrow.

Time to get creative again.....

I seem to procrastinate until I really NEED to make a card.....then I can usually pull off a good one or two, but I think that it really is time to use some of the new products that I have.

Aside from the briefcase full of cool papers that I picked up at Costco on Easter Sunday, I have since acquired several new sets of acrylic stamps, some fine tip glitter glues in gold and platinum, and some fine tip purple ink. The brush on this is like a fine eye liner brush so you can really control the application and can have very fine lines or fill in very small spaces.

Inspiration is coming, along with a few birthdays that are screaming for cards......

I have been doing some water colour filling in of stamped images over my lunch hours at work, when I am not out and about with friends having a visit, so I do have lots of bits and pieces all ready to go.

I also have been following "LaFemmePapier" and am eager to try an altered book. I absolutely love mysteries, so the next time I am at Goodwill or my favorite used book store, I will be keeping my eyes open for a suitable book, as well as any other little goodies to add to it.

bye for now...lets go be Creative!

colour, creativity and relaxation

Today the sun is shining and the sky is blue and it is a wonderful day.
In the past couple of weeks I have treated myself to some water colour crayons, brushes,
water colour postcards and water colour paper.

On Tuesday evening I took some of my favorite stamps, old and new, and cut some of my new
water colour paper into different size squares, suitable for all sorts of cards/tags, mini gift cards, etc.

I used my versa mark black ink and stamped designs on each square.

Today, because it is so beautiful outside, I am going to take my wc crayons, papers, brushes, and some water (of course) outside to one of the quiet green spaces on campus and will spend my lunch time painting. By the end of tomorrow I should have some really cool designs to work with that will inspire my creativity to produce all sorts of different cards.

If you are anything like me, you feel a burning urge inside to "create". I drink colours and sounds in when I am outside, whether walking, hopping on a bus, or driving, or just sitting in the sunshine. I sometimes find it difficult to sit still when the creative urge is building inside of me.

I never used to share this feeling with anyone, kept it to myself, until I went to see my Naturopath one day. He is an Iridologist and as he was looking at my Irises, he told me exactly what I was feeling. I started crying because I couldn't believe that anyone could just look at my eyes and know what was going on down deep inside of me. I said that I had these feelings but didn't feel that I could paint or draw well enough to bother trying, and his answer was the best thing for me, and exactly what I needed to hear at that moment.

He said, you have so much creative energy built up inside and you MUST let it out. I don't care what your painting looks like, I just know that you need to let this energy loose.

So, now I do just that. I feel so much better and I get excited about my creations. I haven't really used the wc crayons much, so this is going to be fun. I have never used them to colour in a stamped design before and I am really looking forward to the noon hour today so that I can begin!

When I am happy with the end product, I will take a couple of photos and post them on Facebook.

Cheers and enjoy the day.
Leslie

Colours

I found a beautiful summer top on the weekend that has the most beautiful colours set on a white background with a white relief design on it. The colours are all done in such a way that they look like vivid watercolours giving impressions of so many things....plants, flowers, fire....and down one side there are little rhinestones enhancing the feel of the design.

I want to create some cards in this manner.....time to pull out my water colours I think.
I will take a trip to the bookstore today on the campus where I work, and find some cool watercolour paper suitable for putting onto a card and this evening I may just find the creative energy to produce some cool cards.

Now my creative juices are beginning to flow. If I create some cool backgrounds, once the paint is dry, I can use some favorite stamps (and some new stamps) and some black ink to stamp over top.

I bought a wonderful set of acrylic stamps a couple of months ago that are flowers, and wreaths and different groupings of flowers that would be perfect on a backdrop like this.

I am wearing this top today so that I can drink in the colours throughout the day, giving me more inspiration.

Now I am so excited, it is too bad that I have to be at work all day, and the day has just begun. It is only 8:30 am. I won't be free to go paint for eight more hours....

I will look at this time as necessary to absorb all the colours in my top and play with them in my mind.....

Creativity

I often wonder why I don't always feel creative. I can sit down in the craft room and look at books and look online at cards and designs and not feel inspired at all, until I have been there for over an hour or so. Sometimes, I will just sit there, with the TV on for 'background', and play 'Hearts' on the computer for a while before I actually feel like getting down to "work".

Making cards should not be work. It should be fun and relaxing and exciting because my creative juices are flowing.....but...not always.

Sometimes I have tons of ideas and can hardly wait to get to it and at other times, I think I know what I want to create until I get there. Then suddenly none of my paper is the right kind, or colour, or weight, or I don't have just the right stamp to use.....and, as with all other stampers, scrapbookers and cardmakers I know, I have tons of stamps (correct?!?!) !

There are times when I can hardly concentrate on everyday things because the urge to create is so strong that it needs to come out of me - but those are the times when I am not near my craft room, or don't have the time to sit down and just surround myself with the papers, inks, etc to play with for a few hours at a time. When I find myself in this situation I make a promise that as soon as I can I will make the time to spend in the craft room. But, invariably, when that time comes, I spend at least an hour trying to 'get in the mood'....(for crafting!).

I am almost always happy with my finished cards (almost but not always), so why do I procrastinate, or fidget, and not just get right to it?

Do other people suffer from this same experience? I find it frustrating, because I think that if I could just start in immediately 'creating" I could come up with a bunch of cards in one sitting, instead of perhaps producing one only, and feeling lucky to even get that one.

I also notice that I will get into a pattern and for a few cards, they are all made the same, using the same types of materials. e.g., all using cuttlebug embossing, or circle punches, or the same stamp set. I don't know why that is...one of life's little mysteries, I suppose.