Feeling a Little More Optimistic?

I see that Karen at Emerging Earth Angels has updated her Blog. I haven't read it yet, but I hazard a guess that waaayyy too many things will make sense when I do!
I'll blog more about this later. In the meantime go to http://www.emergingearthangels.com/latest.html
to read the article.

Keep strong peeps, and don't sweat the small stuff.....it's all small stuff anyway in the grand scheme of life!

If You're Having A Tough time Right Now...

Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions.
All life is an experiment.
The more experiments you make the better.
What if they are a little coarse,
and you may get your coat soiled or torn?
What if you do fail,
and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice.
Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Telling It Like It Is

It's been a tough week! Well to be fair it's been a tough year, very up and down roller coaster, highs and lows kind of year. One minute I know exactly where I'm going, the next minute I'm not going anywhere! Great love of life and enthusiasm then down in the dump....so low that I think I will never claw my way back up again....EVER.
Virgo's in particular have been dealing with the dreadful Saturn return in their sign for the last 2 and a half years! It's almost at an end and although in many ways it's been a hum dinger, many inner, emotional cr@p has been looked at. Delving into the soul, that deep dark place that you would rather keep the door firmly closed on is not a nice place or feeling.....but going inside and being brave enough to confront your fears is the only way out.

Many of my spiritual friends have had the most awful week to. Very low, flat, depressed and fearful of what are we doing, where are we going, why are we going and when are we going....many thoughts feeling and fears combined together, and ironically we seem to be all feeling the same.
I feel that I want to reach out, connect and comfort people, give them hope and show them I care. I want to tell them that whatever their worries and fear, it's not worth the time and effort spent dwelling on things....but then I get stopped in my tracks. I feel a fake and a fraud, because while sometimes I'm strong and get my bug-rit head on, other times I can't even help myself!
I want to connect with others in Blog Land and the 'spiritual' land because I am so close to so many people and read so many blogs by people who are going through the same right now.
We need to learn and share and dare I say it, be much more HONEST on our blogs! If I'm down I tend not to blog. I'm not sure that I want anyone to know that I have deep fears and insecurities, that sometimes I feel powerless over my life and other times lack so much direction and confidence I want to hide away not only from blogland, but from the outside world. So easily you can think you are going mad or we will somehow be perceived as a bad and miserable person with nothing to give and nothing to offer. Nightmares have predominated my night sleeps for the past 3 months or so...weird in itself because I've never had nightmares in my life! and others have expressed that they are having them too. I don't watch the new or read newspapers if I can help it so it's not like I'm being drip fed this cr@p either and its playing on my mind.

I'm calling on everyone out there who can identify and wants to share their thoughts to lets get together. The time for love and support has come. Stop hiding behind a fake facade and have no fear of being the real you. Without these experiences being brought out in the open the support will not come. Spill out, scream, rant and rave if you want, people who judge don't matter and those that matter don't judge. Just don't feel alone. This week has been particularly bad for folk and only when I read this did I have someone or something to blame...those darn planets!

Autumn Equinox passed this week, a time to acknowledge that the wheel has turned and we are heading towards the Winter once more. Like it or not we are needing to accept the the dark is returning and natures is once again winding down.

So the point of this post is that I have been promising to write this for so long now.

Honest bloggers....keep on doing what you are doing. Writing the stuff spilled right from the very core of your being, those who spill the bad times as well as the good and say it like it is. We are all of us unhappy, upset, down, depressed, anxious, fearful and in our dark selves every now and again....YES each and every one of us! Many have expressed that they want to scrub their blogs and start over again, feeling that they are being too negative and no-one will visit or followers will be driven away and yes I've felt like this too, but to be fair, I would be faking it, pretending that life was oh so wonderful and a bed or roses.
I intend to make an Honest Blogger Award, for those who tell it as it is! I hope you will not desert me?

For me....next week I have yet another funeral to go to. One of a very dear calligraphy friend of mine for over 20 years. Her husband is devastated....as we all are. Her work was magical, but more than anything else she was a truly wonderful Lancashire lass who would do anything for anyone and seemed to worry for the whole of humanity. Sadly, what ultimately lead up to her death was the fact that people were suffering around her and she felt powerless to help. She was there for everyone at a moments notice and yet when she needed it most, could not ask for help herself.
I really hope she knew how valued she was and what a joyful spirit she brought to the world.
Goodnight Baaaarbaaara. Rest from your pain.

Here's the link again if you've had a crappy week
http://www.emergingearthangels.com/latest.html
It may just put things in perspective

Inktense Idea

Have you ever tried Dewent Inktense Crayons? They're better than the usual Watercolour crayons as the colours are very vibrant.

They're not cheap but come in a large colour range

try some skeleton letters with them then simply wash through with water

WONDERFUL! and so much fun!

This is just an experimental piece to see how the colours act and react. It's not meant to be a serious piece.

For the Love of LeTTeRing ArT

I've been busy playing with those letter! I seem to have got an idea and I'm doing it to death. So often creativity dries up, the fear that you will never make anything or create anything ever again swirls around your head. Then it's time to rest, relax, let ideas gestate.... and eventually something emerges.

I have written out a series of 'positive' words and small quotations, scanned them and wondering if there is a market out there for mixed media artists or creative folk (perhaps card makers or collage) to use these on their own art work. Perhaps printed out on canvas, acetate, cards, paper, transtrace, rubber stamps? Such words as Dream, laugh, clarity, humor, love, pleasure, fulfil.....

A play with letterforms and different pen, both fine line and broad edged, can lead to finished pieces. I think I need to reconnect with the freedom I felt when I first saw Lettering Art as opposed to Formal Calligraphy for the first time. Ahhh the wonder of those letters which come alive on the page.....

Where this will lead and for what reason is a mystery, and I'll post regular updates on my blog.

Have You LinkWithin? Handy Widget for Bloggers

Have you noticed that wonderful little Widget that hangs on the bottom of each and everyone of my posts? It's called LinkWithin. The idea is that it links each of your posts with others that your readers may like. Basically it's a 'related post widget with linked thumbnails'. If you would like to add one too go to http://www.linkwithin.com/learn?ref=widget for your FREE download.

It stops your past posts going to waste, it takes under a minute to download and it completely ad free and no signup is necessary.

A Royal Appointment

The Queen was in North Yorkshire last weekend, meeting the soldiers from The Queens Royal Lancers based in Catrick near Northallerton.

I was asked to write a page for her to sign in their visitors book..... it would only take me five minutes! Yeah right! Gothic script...like the previous half a dozen calligraphers had attempted. NOT my favourite hand and not one I use very much at all these days. The style is dated, structured and VERY formal. Along with this I feel it's downright ugly and should be banned. I don't usually need to practice letterform these days, but like I said, it's not one I use unless I absolutely have to and then it's under duress.

5 sheets later and not sure I've done better than the last load of calligraphers (one used a biro!)

The final page...not perfect, not wonderful, not very impressive.

But it DID take me quite a bit longer than 5 minutes.

I think the lads realised when they came to pick it up the next day...it was a job well done...and they tipped me £5 too! How very nice to be appreciated.

Lively Lettering Art and Creative Calligraphy

Generally most calligraphy tutors start to teach calligraphy using skeleton letters. These letters are useful for starting beginners off to show them the underlying structure and path that their pens will eventually travel. It also takes the pressure off beginners having to tackle not only a broad edged nib, bottles of ink, unpredictable reservoirs and a multitude of other things that can affect their beautiful letter forms. Once mastered, using a broad edged nib becomes a pushover.

Formal styles of lettering are one thing, but there comes a time when the calligraphy with it’s tight structure and letterform needs to break free.

I started to mess about with first a fine line pen, making the letters quirky, but still with some underlying structure to them…’Playful Pen Letters’

A few days later I built them up slightly using a broad edge pen. I’ve done this with capitals and with lowercase letters and Oh what FUN I’m having!
As with most things that I get my teeth into I want to do this idea to death and will build up on these letters, see what works, discard what doesn’t and see where it takes me. I’ll keep you posted.

Rainbow Concertina Book

I love, love, love working to commission, especially when the client trust you implicitly to produce something special with only a small, brief, outline of what is required.

This was a first birthday card for a treasured Grand-daughter Eden. Her name means Perfect, pleasure and delight.

The only real requirement was that she wanted 'Rainbows'....fantastic...because I love them.... and I don't know many adults that are still not fascinated by them and who look on them with child like wonder.

The covers both front and back were also Rainbows and a small charm just finishes it off. Delightful indeed.

Wedding Concertina Card

Beltane Man and the Purple Pixie are heading down to Oxford tomorrow to a friends daughters wedding. Here's the card I created for them Simple colours of gold and pale beige, with a white ribbon tie...

Inside Detail

Wedding Album

In an attempt to play catch up, I'm posting a series of smaller post instead of posting them all at once and in one post. The studio has been busy and somehow there never seems to be enough hours in the say. Beltane Man is wonderful and keeps me fed and watered, as well as creating his own work. What a gem!
Anyway....the first post....

I was asked to make a 30 page Wedding Album for a girl who's husband is in the RAF. The colours for the front and the writing are Air Force Blue.
The front is a hand made petal paper and sewn with silver beads, from which hand 4 droplets of faux crystals.