sketch-a-day > week 2

Dear and welcome all,

This week I have no sketches to share as my daughter Zoë has been feeling a bit poorly last week as she start teething and yesterday she had the jabs for the 3rd immunization and some fever came along last night.

I have still things to share.

One of my friends, Alice, a jewelry designer at Harriet Kelsall, recommended me an amber necklace to help and release the pain of teething and it seems to work, after all that pain last week!
Here are the details for the necklaces and now there are on sale ;-)

PURPLE LABEL by Harriet Kelsall. Image from their website.

Image from Amazon website.

I started to read a very nice book about COLOUR, which tells the remarkable story of Victoria Finlay´s quest to uncover the many secrets hidden inside the paintbox. On her travels she visited remote Central American villages where women still wear skirts dyed with the purple tears of the sea snails... and much more!

Part travelogue, part narrative history, 'Colour' unlocks the history of the colours of the rainbow, and reveals how paints came to be invented, discovered, traded and used. This remarkable and beautifully written book remembers a time when red paint was really the colour of blood, when orange was the poison pigment, blue as expensive as gold, and yellow made from the urine of cows force-fed with mangoes. It looks at how green was carried by yaks along the silk road, and how an entire nation was founded on the colour purple.

Victoria Finlay worked as a journalist in Hong Kong for eleven years, and was arts editor of the South China Morning Post for five of those. She now lives in Derbyshire.

sketch-a-day > week 1

Dear and welcome all,

Last week I mentioned about a new project: "SKETCH-A-DAY".

I am feeling a bit guilty that I did not succeed to do sketches every day because my 3 and a half months daughter keep me busy. However, I did manage to do a bit and here are my results.

I will keep on going because this practice makes me to be more aware of the things around me and helps me to get back my design capabilities after this period of "maternity leave".

As I say before, you can join me in this project on your own place and pace, and if you would like to show your work within my blog, please, drop me an email.

Enjoy your week and let´s keep on sketching!!

INSpireOn

Dear all,

Sorry for not keeping in touch during the last few months, my life has been like a roller coaster with major events like having birth our baby daughter Zoë at the end of October, moving house by the end of November, then Christmas and finally January went too with lots of unpacking boxes... and the lovely features I got from my winning Kleenex design Limited edition boxes.

Kleenex® New Designs to go Into Production

Now in Stores! Selected Artists’ Kleenex® Box Designs

I am still enjoying my maternity leave but thinking in a project that yesterday strike my attention after watching Zandra Rhodes sketchbooks video. So today I started "my sketch-a-day project". I will try to sketch things that call my attention and keep the sketchbooks for further inspiration like Zandra Rhodes does.

 

Every Monday I will post my weekly sketches to create an INSpireOn movement. You are more than welcome to join me in this venture and get feature your work within my blog. Any media welcome! Let´s get crafty!!

In the meantime, you can pop by my INSpireOn board in Pinterest too.

Have a lovely week :-)

Butterfly Mandala Design

Hello all and thanks for stopping by.

I am participating in a new Design contest with my entry called: "Butterfly Mandala" which I created for the Design packaging for Always Dailies Discreet.

Voting is now open so please, feel free to support my design and share it with your friends and social media.

The link: goo.gl/Qr1d5W

Much appreciated :-)

Zentangles

Hello all,

It is interesting how life plays some times because I have been "Zentangling" for years and years, especially in my younger days and I never came across to this way of drawing as a Zentangle until this morning when I was pinning some dragonflies in Pinterest into my board "LulLabies" and then I came across to Sue Glass Pinterest page which is a Paradise for Zentangles.

A Zentangle is a relaxing and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It increases focus and creativity, provides artistic satisfaction along with an increased sense of personal well being.









Characteristics of Zentangle are:

Intuitive: Anyone can create beautiful images from repetitive patterns. It is easy to learn and easy to do.   

Fun and Relaxing: Creating Zentangle art provides a fun and lighthearted way to relax and intentionally facilitate a shift in focus and perspective.

Unexpected Results: your creation is not restricted by your expectations.

Ceremonial: Repetitive, simple steps that support relaxation, focus and inspiration. It can be a wonderful daily ritual.

Timeless: Creating designs, manipulating symbols and putting pen to paper is part of our human heritage.

Portable: Everything you need to create beautiful Zentangle art can fit in your pocket.

Non Technical: Your creativity is not directed by how someone else wrote a particular program, nor does it need batteries or electricity.

Empowering: It is an empowering and uplifting experience to learn that you can deliberately relax and intentionally direct your attention while creating beautiful works of art .

If you google "Zentangle" images, you will get a better idea :-)

My Music Zentangle is one example
which I feel so proud of.

Keep on Zentangling!

SHIBORI Inspiration

Hello all,

Thank you for stopping by.

My mind is again with Japan and its culture and its way to make art since last week I discovered a new company called Ôtsuki Sama. I love all the things that they do and as they said in their facebook page:

"ÔTSUKI SAMA are

Creative Crafts and use of natural materials for limited editions of fabrics patterns painted in watercolor shades of indigo fabrics and other natural essences, 

decorative accessories and fashion, hand-made."

So inspired in their Indigo fabrics my mind swift again into the Art of Shibori.

Shibori (絞り染め Shiborizome^?) is a Japanese term for several methods of dyeing cloth with a pattern by binding, stitching, folding, twisting, compressing it, or capping. Some of these methods are known in the West as tie-dye.

Inspired by this, yesterday I created a New Inspiration Board: SHIBORI.

You can follow my Inspiration Boards in Facebook and Pinterest.

Enjoy them!

[blog lovin' tour] CELEBRATION

Hello everyone! and welcome to the seventh week of The Declaration of You! Blog Lovin´ tour. The Declaration of You will be published by North Light Craft Books this summer, which readers getting all the permission they´ve craved to step passionately into their lives, discover how their gifts are unique and uncover what they are meant to do! this post is part of The Declaration of You´s Blog Lovin´ Tour, which I´m thrilled to participate in alongside over 200 other creative bloggers. Learn more and join us, read here! 

My natural instinct is to celebrate. I like to share with people and come together in a joyous life.

Illustration from http://thisinsignificantlife.tumblr.com/

I like to celebrate any success that comes to me life. I prefer to do it in company, sharing the moment, however, if I am alone, I normally cook myself a delicious food which make me feel re-energetic and full of good vibes again. I also like to share with my family and friends, making them part of this "special occasion", no matter if it is big or small success, or if they are near or far away. My true nature is share moments with people.

Celebrations are very important part of my life. I came from a big family and I always remember with joy all the gathering together with the family. Those "little precious moments" are a real treasure for my soul. Also I lived in different countries, with great people from different cultures and I learn a lot. I had good memories of friends coming together to celebrate a moment in life around a table with awesome food, laughs and happiness.

I had some favorite celebratory experiences. One it was my mum 60´s birthday fete. She was very pretty and charming and the place was full of colours, delicious food and friends and family joining together to celebrate her big day. I remember, me and my partner cooking an "English breakfast" with the help of my cousin Yolanda, in the morning, for all the guests. Was very special! The celebration went all day long, with music, laughs and lots of bliss.

Another real and simple celebration was last Sunday when my partner and I harvest our first bunch of own grown potatoes and cooking them simply. Eating them was just a very merry moment!

Some days if I am in a "grey mood" I try to ask myself what is holding myself in that position and if there is no real reason, I try to let that feeling go, listening nice music, drawing, going for a walk or having a chat with my mum or a friend. 

My work is also a celebration of myself, sometimes hard others smooth, I try to think positively and keep on going, thinking big. I like to share every success and share my knowledge and achievements with people. We always learn something and if is in a celebration, ever better.

One of my recent mentors, told me once:

"Today is another day in Paradise!" and I add: "let´s do the best of it!"

Celebrations don´t need to be big ceremonies, the small ones are real treasures too :-)

My personal declaration around celebration could be:

"no matter what you are, what you have, where you are... get yourself into a group of people and celebrate little or big occasions because these will bring you what you really need at that moment. And if you are alone, do something for yourself that really pleases you!"

Photo from http://www.lovehart.co.uk/index.asp

Keep on celebrating and sharing!!