Leaf print cards

It's been a while since my last post, mainly because of the 50 books project I set myself. Here is the latest - leaf print cards. I was inspired by this floor tile

which I saw in Cape Town, South Africa.

And here is my version, turned into a whole host of square cards.

I had to do the print in 3 sections as I use ink pads which are a limited size. So I started with the leaf in the middle, then did 2 prints each of the lines edging and the dotty edging. I'm really happy with the results and the range of colours.

Creativity & Mindfulness - a great combination!

Two day retreats coming up.
Saturday September 19th in Helmsley Walled Garden -https://mindfullyinhwg.eventbrite.co.uk.
Sunday October 11th at SNAPArts in Wakefield -https://creativityandmindfulness.eventbrite.co.uk.

We offer a day’s retreat - 9.30am to 4.30pm -  to encourage and support your creativity through playful drawing and writing, with mindful practice as our foundation.

Mindfulness is simply being aware of our attention in the present moment, with acceptance and without judgement of what we find there.

Practising the qualities of mindfulness - patience, trust, openness - we will enable you to explore your own creativity playfully, but without looking for an end result at this stage.

Our professional guidance in drawing, poetry writing and mindfulness will be offered throughout our day together, and will include a mindful approach to eating a delightful lunch.

Our retreat is devoted to anyone who wishes to explore mindfulness as a fresh approach to creativity, which can be expanded to all areas of life.  We especially encourage those terrified and afraid of drawing or writing as mindfulness offers a gentle and non-judgemental approach to these creative aspects.  Our tuition will include a full range of craft skills and technique so that beginners and more experienced practitioners alike can enjoy the retreat.

Lauri Bower - poet and mindfulness teacher. Clare Belbin - artist.

More die cut cards

I  have been lucky enough to borrow my niece's die cutting machine again, and so I purchased a trio of new die cuts to use, spring, summer and autumn borders.
Here are the cards that have been produced so far! (more to come!)

 spring silhouette.

 summer birds. 

The paper here is photocopied fabric over-copied with text.

 summer orange.

 autumn birds.

  autumn music.

 a kaleidoscope of butterflies. 

I had to look up what a group of butterflies was called, I thought this was very appropriate!

Die cut cards

I have had LOTS of fun playing with my niece's die cutting machine, and cut out lots of beautiful shapes and panels before I, sadly, had to hand it back! Here is a selection of the first 25 cards I have made, and there will be many more on the way!
I have envelopes full of the shapes just waiting to be applied to cards, and some will be turned into books as well.

And at some point I might get to claim the table back for things other than card-making!

Feathers!

I have been busy with book-making and binding (http://50handmadebooks.blogspot.co.uk/) which is why there haven't been any posts on here recently. And then my niece got a die cutting machine (like a mangle) and some dies and I had a go, and then started to play this weekend with some of my own, including some beautiful feathers which my sister and I bought today.
Here are the results so far -

These beautiful feathers are ready to adorn books and cards, but they do look lovely in their own right.

Thesis

This may not look very creative but it has occupied much of my time over the last 6 years. and whilst I didn't bind the book I did write every single word inside it. Finally, my Ph.D. thesis is complete and I have my own hard-bound copy! Next step is to try and get it published. The title is 'In the Tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh: the Theory and Practice of his Key Teachings'. Very relieved to have got it to this stage.

Kusadama flowers and candle logs

 Here are the Kusadama flowers displayed on my hearth. I was very pleased to have the inspiration to put them in here, a little pot of extra long matches for fire-lighting. And they sit beautifully next to log candle holders that my husband has made. 

 On our window sill are more candle holders, this time from driftwood. These were collected last May and have been sitting by the front door waiting for inspiration to strike. A friend of mine paints messages on pieces she collects and I thought I might do something similar but I love the way these work with tealights.