Sunday Weekly Wrap-Up - Including Elton!

This past week has been an exceptional week for first rate entertainment! Thursday we went to see a musical comedy "25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee" put on by a local theatre company. It was so funny - we both loved it.

Then on Saturday night I finally got to see Elton John in concert!

He brought his Rocket Man tour to Hamilton - a 45 minute drive for us.

What a musician! What an artist! He played almost non-stop for almost 3 hours! Song after song, he played and sang. What a fantastic show!

Then this afternoon, we went to Stratford to watch Shakespeare's "The Tempest". Christopher Plummer played Prospero and again, what a great artist! He's 80 years old and has such stamina and great memory! He dominates the stage when he is on (which was most of the time!)

After the performance he signed his book - which of course I bought and he signed!

I did get some art done this week as well. My hubby was on holidays so had to fit creating in when I could.

I took part in GPP #42 and had fun with the strip-ease collage. Couldn't stop making collages. I'll use them different projects (see here).

I also continued on with my July collage-a-day challenge.

July 8 (Spelling Bee)

July 9 (to represent "strip Ease" for GPP)

July 10 (ELTON!)

July 11 (for "The Tempest")

I have also been working on a number of ATCs as I have many swaps due this month.

(More later in the week)

Have a wonderful week!

Sunday Weekly Wrapup

Finally, school is done for this 2009/10 school year and I have 8 weeks to recover! (and celebrate!)

It has been a stressful year, filled with many challenges. I spent most of last week cleaning my classroom, sorting books and papers and trying to organize for fall.

Now it is time to concentrate on my well-being. Jamie Ridler's wishcasting question on Wednesday really made me think in terms of what I wanted (and needed) to do this summer. Number 1 is to make time for creating - making ATCs, photography challenges, completing my art room, working through art courses and books to improve my skills.

I began a challenge for myself (which was one of my 101 things to do in 1001) - create a collage card every day of July. Here are my first 4:

July 1sr - celebrating Canada Day
July 2nd - Playing with handmade papers

July 3rd - Queen's visit to Canada

July 4th - Queen's Plate and the Queen was there!

I have been busy as well with a number of ATC swaps for ATCsforAll. These offer just enough of a challenge and are fun to boot. I have met some very fine artists and received some great artwork in return..

Birds


Favourite Children's Books

I am continuing my work on my quote cards. Along with this, I would like to start a visual journal for my favourite quotes. A number of people have described theirs and I want to go beyond just recording meaningful quotes (which I do a lot of already).

So I have a lot to keep me busy and challenged this summer!

A lovely lady from Britain started an exchange for her 50th birthday. She wanted to receive 50 handmade postcards and in return she would send 50 back. I have already received my lovely card and am sending her hers.What a tradition to start for one's milestones! (I'll have to remember that for my 60th!)

Sunday Weekly Wrap-Up

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I posted a Sunday Weekly Wrap-Up! The last one was May 30th.

This past week has been a busy one, with finishing reports and preparing for the end of school this Wednesday. But I have also been busier articstically than I have in a while.:

* creating ATCs for a number of swaps

 

* taking photos

(here's my newest plant)

* working on art postcards

(More on these next week!)

Next week I will return to the ABCs of art with a look at Impressionism.

While visiting blogs this week, I found two challenges which I want to take part in:

1. Madeline Bea has begun "The Sunday Creative", with this prompt : OPEN

My goal for the summer is to return to her "Creativity Boot Camp" and work through her

journal and art prompts in more depth, as well as take part in her Sunday prompts.

2. Michelle Ward hosts GPP and this current challenge is "Gridlock". This will be the first challenge I will try with GPP. It is due by Canada Day (July 1st).

As school finishes I hope to return to several memes I enjoyed over the past several months , then had to stop due to work:

*Weekly Reflections

*Sunday Citar

*Best Shot Monday

*Thankful Thursday

There are other ones I have tried a few times in the past and would like to try once again:

*Skywatch Friday

*Thursday art memes

My goal is to be busy creatively all summer. I am looking forward to having fun with art.

Life is Good! and Sunday Weekly Wrap-up

Earlier in the week I received a lovely tribute from Lis of "Dandelion Seeds and Dreams" - Life is Good!
Part of the award is to answer 10 questions – here are my answers to her 10 questions (needed some away time before I could write responses)

1. Do you have a special gift and what is it?I feel that the one true special gift I have been blessed with is that of teaching – with respect, passion, caring and patience. I enjoy my interactions with the students and love to see their eagerness to learn. I want to make learning exciting and fun for them, to ensure that they love reading and that they show respect to others.

2. What would your perfect day consist of?
A perfect day would have the people I love central to the day, with time for art, music, and dancing. I would have time to read a favourite book and eat some special foods.

3. Who do you miss and what do you wish you could say to them?
I miss my Mom and my aunt/godmother (they were sisters) the most. I lost both of them in the same school year – my aunt in September and my Mom the end of May, two years ago.
I would tell them both how much I loved them and how much they have both influenced my life and the woman and mother I am.
I was lucky though, as I was always to tell them how much they meant to me and how much I loved them often.

4. Do you have a recurring dream and what is it about?I have had recurring dreams occasionally, but they usually relate to a problem or challenge in my life.

5. Who inspired you as a child? Do they inspire you today?My parents inspired me and still do.
My father was a great believer in treating everyone as his equal, whether bank president or caretaker. At his funeral (in 1972), I remember the caretaker of the bank where he worked, tell me that my dad always stopped and asked after his wife and children and remembered their names. My dad did not suffer fools, and especially pompous ones, at all.
I got my love of reading and math from him.
My mother became my role model of what a mother should be like, as well as how to cook and bake. She had a very hard life, yet she never complained. She always tried to look on the positive side of things. She was always on the lookout for something that would make a loved one happy.

6. How do you hope you will be remembered?I hope I will be remembered as a person who gave of herself, who cared about her family and friends, who tried to make a difference in the lives of her students, and tried to help, even in small ways.

7. Is there a moment or an event you wish you could do over and why?If there was one event I would change, it would be that I separated from my ex sooner, and moved away from his influence on my children much sooner than I did. It might have prevented the abuse of my oldest and the debt I went through for many years.
The trouble is, if you change the past, you would change the future and I might not be married to my husband now.
Things happen and change us, for better and for worse. That time of my life made me stronger.

8. What artwork would you like to own?I would love to own a Vincent Van Gogh – one of his sunflower paintings. Any of the impressionist painters’ work or a painting by one of the Group of Seven would work as well.
But I am always on the lookout for new artists - there is so much talent to be discovered.

9. If you could have any talent, what would it be?I would love to be able to be to create large landscapes and large floral paintings.

10. Describe the best meal you ever had (or perhaps your dream meal) and who was with you (or would be with you?)My favourite meals have always been ones with family or friends. I have favourite foods, but it is the whole experience of eating and talking and laughing that makes the meal special. Follow that up with games where everyone takes part (think Scattegories or Pictionary) and the whole evening is complete! Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and birthdays are all special times.

The next part of the award is to pass this on to fellow bloggers who inspire me, who I visit regularly:

There are so many bloggers I would love to learn more about and who offer so much inspiration. So, I am going to leave it to you wonderful bloggers who would like to participate and let us learn more about you. Life is indeed Good! Grab the award and answer the questions!
Here are the 10 questions:

1. What would your perfect day consist of?
2. Who do you miss and what do you wish you could say to them?
3. What is your favourite book and/ or author?
4. Who inspired you as a child? Today?
5. Where in the world would you most like to visit and why?
6. How do you hope you will be remembered?
7. Which 3 people would you most like to meet? Why?
8. What artwork would you like to own?
9. What is one of your favorite songs and why?

10. Describe your perfect day.

Sunday Weekly Wrap-Up:

This week has been slow artistically. I have been trying to organize and plan for the months ahead. I have been reading blogs and interesting articles.

I created more papers for the Artistic Mother group this weekend

and finally completed my Poetry/inspiration Journal. I was stuck for a long time trying to decide what picture to use. Then yesterday while going through some old pictures I found one of my parents and me, when I was just months old. There was my inspiration! Then the cover easily took shape.

(The quotes don't show up very well but both mean a lot to me.

The second reads:

"Your talent is God's gift to you.

What you do with it is your gift to God" by Leo Buscaglia

Giveaway Day Winners:I chose 3 winners for the World Giveaway Day on Friday and have contacted them about their winnings.

The winners were:

Baukje - sun quilt/calendar holder

SewFunky - the cards and tag

Crystal Hendrix - Surprise package of supplies

It was wonderful to hear from so many bloggers. I will be visiting them all over the next few weeks. I didn't win anything this time but I found some very interesting blogs to which I will return!

Worldwide Giveaway Day! Sunday Weekly Wrap-Up

Over 250 bloggers are taking part in the World Giveaway Day, today May 17!

For the next few days visit participants who will be offering wonderful giveaways on their blogs. You have from May17-20 to visit and leave comments for your chance to win wonderful handmade gifts or supplies.

This is the first time I am participating in something so big as a participant. It seems a wonderful way to meet other bloggers and give something of one's self.

I am offering 3 giveaways!

I realized that:

1. I had missed my one year blog anniversary in March as I was in Mexico - thus one giveaway: A beautiful quilt hanging for hanging a calendar.

2. I had missed my 300th post - so a second giveaway:

2 ATCs and a tag

(here is a sample of some that I have made to choose from)

3. And , just to be taking part in this giveaway day, I am also going to give away:

a surprise package of art /craft /sewing supplies!

?????

So be sure to make a comment on this post by May 20th and you will be entered in the draw. I will draw 3 names on May 21 and notify the winners that day. (Be sure to leave contact information!)

Be sure to visit the other wonderful participants listed here.

Sunday Weekly Wrap-Up


ABCs of Art this week focused on the letter G and luckily for me the main art project that I was working on was - my guardian doll for the guardian doll swap at True North Arts!



The dolls are due May 31st. It was fun creating this little doll - pattern provided!


I have been working on my Bunny Swap and got all the packages ready to be mailed later today. I received some beautiful bunny ATCs as gifts from some very talented artists! It was a lot of work , but oh so worth it. Now I am trying to decide on my next swap!

ATCs For All is a fun place to create, meet others and take part in some fun swaps!

Sunday Weekly Wrap-up

What a rollercoaster ride of weather we had this week. High temperatures, then rain, then high winds and hail last night. Some parts of Ontario even got snow! We didn't, but we are having frost tonight. Our tiny vegetable plants are camping out inside tonight!

I had hoped to do some daily sketching this month, but most of my art this week has been creating ATCs and photography. At least I am taking time for myself most days, and creating!

I was able to complete several sets of cards this week:

Flower people: (and the only faces I did for ABCs of Art this week!). I really enjoyed playing with the gesso faces I created for another swap and I tried it for this one as well. (can you guess which one is Elton's??)

(I am having trouble loading pictures tonight - they won't be moved so have only loaded one set )

I also created Bunny cards for my own swap as well as cards for the fruits of the vine swap.

Over at Creative Every Day, Leah has a new theme for May : Intuition.

I just read an article about Judith Orloff, who has written a book on intuition, called "Second Sight". In her book she gives tips on how to tap into your own inner wisdom.

Here are some of her suggestions:

Rerun your movie: After an event, rerun the event in your mind. Focus on how you felt.

Tune in to your body: As someone speaks to you , pay attention to all of your senses. Your body will provide information if you pay attention.

Ask your dreams: Write down a question before bed and let your dreams provide insight. In the morning, pay close attention as you wake to what you remember. Write it down before you get up.

Use your "gut-o-meter": Pay attention to gut feelings - if it doesn't feel right, or you sense danger your gut is trying to tell your brain something.

Check out her website here.