a bit of this and a bit of that:
I'm trying to bring some organization back into my life as the final work is being done on our kitchen. For part of tomorrow yet we'll be using the bathroom sink and counter for small bits of food prep and dish washing. Hard going back to that for a couple of days but great knowing it is so close to being finished. Today I actually emptied some boxes again too. This is something I have not been able to bring myself to do for quite some time. My art supplies are in total chaos because of the unpacking and also because I've so frequently been packing up this and that to take along to the farm when we've been back and forth there doing help on weekends and for our holidays.

This image is a picture I scanned from a magazine. I've decided to do just a simple glue book with images and bits I love from older magazines - I've been rippin and tearin up those magazines - finding so many pictures I love. I got the idea from my friend Lia. I'm also sorting all my embroidery cotton to put in a special little cupboard.


One day I'll share some photos from the house. It will still be awhile as we need to be helping at farm yet and Greg continues to be extremely busy with his work otherwise too.

Angels be with you dear friends.

"Be still and know that I am God"
Must remember these words which keep appearing to me when I most need them. Sometimes that feels like every moment of every day but i just must hold them in my heart.
I got a bit panicky as I was ripping tape off the boxes where I thought I'd find my journal and rummaged through to no avail. I'll be OK. We'll find it. Just not today.



Much commotion around here these days. I don't have time to share right now. I know you understand. I'm also getting ready to leave on my retreat next week. I can hardly wait. There is much to do before I go however. I'll share what I can in the next few days but may not be back much until June 22 or so.





Thanks for all your comments, thoughts, prayers
Angels be with you dear ones,
Wendy

THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS:
I am so very excited. I have put my very first video on youtube. I had so much fun making it. I hope you will take a few minutes to watch it. I would be very pleased. As always, any comments are very gratefully appreciated. I should point out that the windyangels on youtube is not me. I'm known as windyangels4u.



You can find "Don't Cry for me Argentina" on The Romantic Guitar of Liona Boyd.

As some of you know I was encountering some challenges again later last week. I was also feeling kind of tired with this ongoing attempt at cleaning our basement and my art room. I decided I needed to do some art. I needed to do something simple. While cleaning I had come across a studio scrapbook with "durable manila paper". Unfortunately it had met some water along the way so every page has a stain at the top left side - no matter. I will choose to call these journal pages even though the pages are large (35.6 x 27.9 cm).





I decided to do a video surrounding the piece because I had many ideas to go along with it and I had written a poem in my head also. Perhaps the main reason, however, was the fabulous compliments that my friend Karen has been giving me on my collaged boxes. Ah, I should not fail to mention suziblu who first gave me the strong desire to create an art video. If you have not seen any of suzi's videos I would strongly advise you to take a moment.

Those same boxes and my hand carved stamps had created interest from two new parties ~ Valerie and some folks at the Bliss Guild. I was very honoured to have them comment on a previous post. Other dear friends to comment on that post were Suze, Susan and Janet. I am also pleased to announce that a friend I discovered online, from Saskatchewan, has started a new blog and has invited me to put a link on my blog. Welcome Lisa. Lisa does fabulous photography.

Leah never ceases to amaze me. Not only is she the creator of creative every day 2008, she also leaves frequent comments. Thanks Leah.

I cannot close this post without noting that I have been very privileged to have the fabulous Liona Boyd look at my blog and very kindly permit me to use one of her songs on my video. I am deeply honoured. Thanks Liona. Here's the link: www.lionaboyd.com/ I found the following video also on youtube. "Moorish Dance" is from The Spanish Album.





I would like to close this post with the words "I LOVE ART".

Angels be with you,
Wendy

Someone asked us recently, "Is there any limitation to the body's ability to heal?" And we said, "None, other than the belief that you hold." And he said, "Then why aren't people growing new limbs?" And we said, "Because no one believes that they can."

Abraham-Hicks Publications

Looking to more fun, more humour in my life: While I've been trying to clean up my blog a bit, preparing to forgive myself for mistakes and get that etsy shop happening I found this very cool, FUNNY video. I’ll try to post more of them over the next couple of days so I can have a bit of this humour to remind myself.

sliding through shades of blue:
I've always loved the colour blue. I was so entranced when we were returning from Regina to the farm a couple of evenings ago. Greg was very kind and made some minute detours so that I might capture photos. The clouds, their many colours, the moon, the sunset - all were intoxicating. This photo shows in some small way the layers of blue.



The summer days often make me feel as though I'm sliding through shades of blue, not necessarily in a good way. I'm thinking more of the moody blues. Cat's frequent need for attention, our holiday time being spent mainly at the farm (not really a holiday if you can imagine) and little time to create, especially in my mind, bring on these blue shades.

Here are a couple of examples of some creative time I've been squeezing in between the other blues. Some of the journal pages mention snow, heaven forbid. Some of the writing is newer. I tend to write while on longer road trips. The inks are kind of a new fave - cat's eye color box fluid chalks. Yummmm. They're nearly as scrumptious as the Reese's miniatures I mention on one of the pages.





I've also been doing a tiny bit of writing at windyangelsandyou - more on shades of blue. Take a look.

Curls: I've just returned to artwords with this entry. It's a doodle I started in one of my journals. I finished it earlier this evening. I like the colours and curves and swirls and words. I hope you like it too.

Feeling sew unsorted - a journal page I've been working on for a few days. The unsorted feeling has been here for a time but growing more over last few days this week. We were supposed to go to Saskatoon yesterday but it was storming again. We were supposed to go to a wedding in Saskatoon today but we are all sick, and the roads may still not be that great.

I am also experiencing a bit of a block mainly because my sewing machine has not been working for the past two weeks and I have a deadline to complete my February journal quilt by Wednesday. Someone else used the song that I was planning to use as suggested theme and I just felt I didn't want to use it even though I know it wouldn't have mattered.

Though I've chosen a different song AND hand painted (also suggested for this month) a number of pieces of fabric I could choose to use, I just can't get into it. I think it's what you would call a block.

Now my sewing machine is back. I've chosen the photos I want to use on my quilt and I've started pulling fabrics out that might work with the red painted fabrics. Tomorrow...

The photos are of my Dad, my brother with me, and my brother with Mom. I have to decide how to place them in the journal quilt. I may not even use them. Decisions.

Stay tuned to learn more from the seminar I attended about "art as a business" and also a piece I'm planning to write "Breathe like a frog".

Almost forgot to mention that if you enlarge the journal page, ummm, don't look too closely at the words of the background. It's just the old book I happened to get it from. Though maybe you could imagine me tearing with my teeth and using my tusks. lol Maybe it fits with breathing like a frog.

Angels be with you.

Art Journal: I may want to do more work on this piece but it's getting too late tonight. On the bottom left corner I did some colours I wasn't happy with. Then I tried to cover it. Now it's not balanced. I need to add one other element. I think I know exactly what it needs. Maybe tomorrow.

I got a new large stamp today and figured out how to use it. That's something achieved. I think this is also the first time I've used a collage image from flickr. The photos are of my brother - little fellow beside the young lady with the crown, and some of my cousins.

The princess died when she was 13 or 14 years old of heart problems. She was about 3 years older than I. Her birthday was the day before my brother's.

Wishing you magic - either of your own creating or brought to you on a gentle breeze.

Going bananas? Not much accomplished again. I guess I need some tickles today. Not certain how they'd go with my headache and jaw problems. Ah, I'll just think about tickles. There, that's better.

The pieces of fabric are only two of the fabulous pieces I got on Thursday at Haus of Stitches. I also showed the folks there some of what I've been doing. I've only ever had questions for them before. I've never actually shown them what I've done - because I've never actually had anything done before.

The other pieces are just beginnings. I don't have much energy and motivation to actually complete anything. The photo of our daughter (scan is not good) is printed onto a 7 1/2 x 11 piece of watercolour prepared with gesso. I then applied some acrylic paint. I was mostly thinking of "sometimes", the hurtful part when I did it. I need lighter colours on it. I'm not certain about how I'll put the poem on and what else I'll do with it yet. Her eyes may need some work with something. If you don't see anything about it in next few days you can know I wrecked it with experimentation. The others are art journal pages I've started and the cover. The piece that's pink in background is thin paper, not sure if I'll go anywhere with that. Till tomorrow...