Thursday, May 31, 2012

Down Memory Lane



Over at Inspiration Avenue the challenge this week is School's Out!  Here in South Africa it is soon our winter school holiday which is a month long.  So school will be out for us as well.

The one thing that school taught me is that when I organise the practicalities of my life, it frees me up to do the things that I love, such as writing and painting, to name a few.  So for Lou Anne's challenge I made a daily organiser, a  filofax type diary and notebook.  I love nostalgic and retro themed papers and items.  When I was in Sub A and Sub B (that was the old schooling system here - now it is Grade One and Two) we had Sus en Daan readers.



I took a hardboard filofax folder, painted it, sandpapered, applied some gel medium and decoupaged the covers.



Then I created dividers.  Some were bought and pre-cut and punched to fit;  others I created as I went along.



Some days I feel quite daunted by the overwhelming practicalities of living a modern life :  it is lifting to school, after school activities, food shopping, making lists upon lists of things 'to do' and then still finding time for my Soul and Spirit and all the creativity!!

So early on I decided on this motto :  Create your own sense of self let that your be your measure!  Look at the sweet mathematical instruments I used here!  I love this as I was never any good at maths!


Food shopping!


School notes


and some tongue in cheek pages


Now if I could only put some batteries into the organiser and send her on her way to take care of the details!!

Pay a visit to Inspiration Avenue and see our weekly fun challenge - it helps to keep things in perspective!

love






Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Art with Heart


I have been away for two months! and I cannot wait to get stuck into the smell of oil paint and damar varnish!  I have missed blogging and I have missed my studio, but then I was also busy with some wonderfully exciting things and many more to come!  So it is a juggling act, as always!  I am torn between unpacking and just locking myself into my studio!  And to add insult to injury, my internet line is down and then my hard drive crashed!! so my creativity is finding new ways of expressing itself as I cobbled together my daughter's laptop (while she is at school!) and finding someone else's 3G card and then finding an elusive charger - you get the picture??

I am hosting the challenge over at Inspiration Avenue this week and I chose Art with Heart.  I have many many ideas for my own entry and I will be doing my best to make it happen.  Inspiration Avenue have had such beautiful and heart-felt challenges while I have been away!  It is truly a bright light out there in blogging world.  Please take the time and have a look and maybe join in at http://inspiration-avenue-team.blogspot.com

love
Hettienne