Puffinpocalypse!

Oh look, I made a travelers notebook with puffins for my mom, in the midst of writing for NaNoWriMo! I didn’t include all the extra goodies I normally would, since my mom’s not a planner gal. It has the cover with elastics, a folder, a booklet, and a calendar. Since it’s all removable, I wouldn’t be surprised if she just takes out the calendar and throws it in her purse.

Can you believe I discovered when I went to paint the cover, I had no good pink paint??? It was dried up dregs. So I’m slowly replacing my old paints as I find out what’s dead. I’ve had some of them like… 20 yrs. It’s not really a surprise. They only had bright fuscia-ish pink, so I had to mix it, and naturally spilled it down my pants and all over some forms on my desk. Go me!

The puffin’s wing wraps around to the interior, because I’ve never had a decent sense of scale. Ugh. But I think it’s cute that way.

The puffins are all watercolour and pasted on.

As you can see, it includes a pink BIC pen, because why not?

The booklet has matching papers for accents. I didn’t think to take a picture of the folder. It has a tropical island, because why not?

Nov 10th is day 59 of Shenanigans!

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And so it begins…

Update: November 5th–I made some cards to add to Mom’s Christmas gift, and I’ve completed 5 days of NaNoWriMo, bringing my #100DaysofShenanigans total to 53. I’m over halfway there!

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Blessed Samhain and Breaking Limiting Beliefs

I was invited to join a Facebook group with some writer friends about smashing our limiting beliefs surrounding creativity. So we’ve spent the month noting what they are, how they came about, and so on. Being the list maker I am, I also made strategies for coping or negating them, not just figuring out their opposite or ‘medicine.’ Because I’m into figuring out an action plan, not just placating myself.

I am feeling in my power tonight, and ready to take on the world. A friend of mine was very unsupportive about all this the other day when she asked me about it, and in explaining it all, I found myself feeling ferocious and determined and ready to take it all on. Yes, I’m spending this time healing, but I’m also creating the stepping stones to entrepreneurship. I know that as a creative it can take multiple income streams to support oneself, but that doesn’t mean falling back on a ‘day job’ to support the rest. It means working hard and carefully putting things into place so that all the drops collect and fill your bucket.

So tonight as I welcome my beloved dead, my ancestors, and those the world has wronged, I also burn my limiting beliefs and step through the fire and into my power. I will not give up. I am strong. I will make this happen. I recognize the amount of work I can handle right now, and I know it is building up to what I need; that is not the same thing as struggling.

Also, here’s my pork and pumpkin stew, made for my Samhain meal with my guests. It was yummy!

To do: 

  • Take out my offerings
  • Burn my list of limiting beliefs
  • Wash off the negatives and anything clinging from the previous year, and have a relaxing soak
  • Prep for NaNoWriMo, starting tomorrow
  • List my top unfinished projects to complete by the calendar year’s end
  • List the ‘hard’ things I need to attend to (KDP print, CafePress decisions, etc)
  • Photograph and list the TNs I have ready for Etsy, post those suckers! And make my Black Friday coupons for Etsy
  • Update the lists as I go!
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100 Days up to Day 47

I really got behind on my record keeping for this project. I’ve been making notes on my tracking sheet when I remember. I’m at day 45, so far as I can tell. I did the Lifebook Summit, and I’m counting that. On the left is one of the guided activities, and since I love making feathers… there it is. Some things I just made notes about so I can do it when I’m puttering around with nothing specific to do. I also recorded a lot of quotes in my notebook, related to healing trauma through art and things like that. I’ve been working on that a lot lately, and I’ve come to the realization that healing is my part time job, and creating stepping stones to my own creative business is my other job. They are equal right now, because that’s what I need.

I also did a LOT of stamping and die cutting for myself and as a gift to my mom’s friend. This is just an example picture of the stamping. Included are some tea dyed index cards that I stamped to include with pagan ephemera packs like the ones I showed previously. I really like the look.

The pumpkin spice drinks in the bottom right are for a TN project I’m nearly finished. I just need to do some colouring and finishing up.

The die cuts you see are for card making, for my mom’s friend. The ones in the pack in the background have been stamped with sentiments so that she doesn’t have to just cut them out from the white backgrounds I send otherwise. I think they’re nice, so I hope she finds them useful! I tried to make them in a lot of different colours to suit different projects. 

The stamping and die cutting shown here are just part of several days of each.

I did a couple days of intense writing in preparation for NaNoWriMo, and my novel (3rd in the Lupercalia: Sanctuary series), Black Dog. No photos of that. I just hung out at Tim’s and belted it out. I’ll post pictures of the renovation at some point.

And the last thing I did lately is the mummer ornament for my mom’s Christmas gift. I have more things coming by mail, and more things hopefully to make, but I wanted to send this and other things out while Canada Post was having the free shipping special within Canada! She likes mummers, and I found the ornament at Dollarama, so BAM! I hung a cute red Christmas bell from the bottom, too. I’ll call this one Day 47.

 

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Days 21 to 30 of #100Days

Days 21, 22, and 25: Pagan ephemera folders, made with beautiful autumn papers! I don’t know which I like best, but I made a special trip to Michaels to look for this paper pad! I love it so hard! I think it’s called Autumn Dreams.

Anyhow… let’s take a peek inside the folders. They’re the full 12 x 12 page, with a 2.5″ pocket inside, and a bellyband for attaching paperclips and such up top on each side.

So I know it’s a bit hard to process what you’re looking at because there’s a lot. And I’m not even done yet! These are meant to be a basic BOS or journal embellishment kit, which you can expand on with the other packs I’m preparing too, like the woodsy pack in my previous post. There are journal cards that I tea dyed and stamped on, envelopes, tags and labels, paperclips, stickers, and various die cuts. It took days to do all this, but I love it. I kinda want to keep them for myself. LOL Still working on these, because I have so many ideas!

Day 23: I made circle tags today, which can be tuck spots, or attached to a paperclip. I haven’t decided yet. Need to distress the edges, I think. I bet you can tell these will be for more pagan packs.

Day 24: I got back to my writing today! 2600 words starting off my 3rd Lupercalia: Sanctuary book, called Black Dog. Working out the twists as I go. So happy to be writing!

Day 26: I did a whole bunch of stamping and fussy cutting today, in preparation for other projects! I’m planning to do some TNs with various fandom themes, and you can see some witchy journal cards in the mix too. I watched Final Girl while messing with this. Interesting.

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Days 12 to 20 of #100Days

Day 12: More cards for my mom’s gift, on the left. There are handmade envelopes behind the cards. The butterfly cutouts were made with a die.
On the right are some mini envelopes made with a new die that came in the mail today. I love happy mail! Those are for another project where I’m making sets of ephemera with different themes.

Day 13: sketched out 2 pages for the colouring book. Tomorrow I’ll be inking! Just too tired today to complete anything. One is a cat with a snowman, and the other is a page full of random cats with different accessories and details. That will be a lot of work to fill in!

Day 14: So I guess the image is technically tagged wrong as it’s for day 14, but it’s completed Thing 13. Oi. Maybe I’ll have to tag the next one a day up to allow for it and not confuse my days of the challenge.

Anyhow, I thought a kitty snuggling up to a snowman buddy might be cute, after I did the one tobogganing the other day. I was thinking of my cat, Parsa, when I drew this one. I could see her making friends with anyone, really.

Which reminds me of something I was imagining after I brought home Halloween decorations yesterday. I’ll need to sketch that one out later.

Day 15: Thing 14 is a wall o cats. It was fun coming up with different themes and accessories for these guys. I might do another one just to challenge myself on how many more ideas I can come up with! Or maybe I’ll lift ideas from this for more individual pages, like the one at the bottom with roses on her head makes me think of Frida Kahlo. A Frida cat would probably be popular.

So this one is image 18/25 for the colouring book. Heading down the backstretch! So within a week or so, the images could be ready for cleanup and layout for the book! I’m excited about that. I feel like I started strong with my colouring book series and then really dropped off for about a year. I want to build up my inventory so that it keeps rolling along more easily.

Day 16: Thing 15, the Frida cat inspired by the previous wall o cats. I think she’s pretty cute, personally. I need to fix her right eye when I do the proper scan, but otherwise I like how it came out.

 

 

 

 

Day 17: Sept 26th (to help me keep track) I made 2 sets of 2 gingerbread man cards. One is for my mom and one is for my mother in law. I probably won’t make the folder for the second set, just wrap them in ribbon and tissue, maybe.

I think they’re pretty cute. I’m glad I got the die set. Not so excited by having to colour in the face holes. I may just get around it by putting black paper behind it next time around.

I also did some sketching for the colouring book. One I like and one I hate. I don’t think it’s fixable, so I’ll just scrap it.

Day 18: Butterfly cards for my mom and my MIL. I love this die, and you get little butterfly confetti as leftovers! I’ve got a bunch of this type of die on my wish list now. I’m addicted, and they’re so easy to make beautiful cards. I used tie dye paper behind the front of the card to make the butterflies all pretty and stuff.

 

Day 19: Pagan ephemera pack, woodsy edition! I’ll probably add more things to this, like journal cards and such, but I made two sets that will be going in my Etsy shop eventually. It includes pockets and envelopes, tags, tuck spots, stuff like that. I’ve got lots more ideas to come. Can you tell I’m enjoying my die cut machine? LOL

 

Day 20: Christmas ephemera packs, again 2, and it includes similar things to the pagan packs, but with winter and Christmas themed papers and cutouts. I have some Christmas type stamps coming, so there will be more added to these soon enough! Hey look, there’s more of the gingerbread man! Men? Whatever. LOL

We’re at Sept 29th as of Day 20. On to the next post!

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100 Days of Shenanigans

I need to get my butt in gear, so I decided that joining some challenges might help. Lately I’ve been dragging my ass about working on my art and writing, and I really want to get things launched. I let anxiety paralyze me too much, for too long, and financial fears can be helped by getting things out there. Build your assets, I reminded myself. Income streams, you know.

I first joined iATCs You’re So Fancy challenge, where we have to complete 5 images this week, so long as they’re detailed. Apparently these pass muster on the ‘fancy’ tag.

Then a friend was posting on Facebook about doing a 100 days challenge to make her things. Like the silly fool I am, I decided to push myself further. So I am going to try to do 100 Day of Arting–any kind or size of art, so long as I do it every day. So here are rough scans of images I’ve done for my next colouring book, Whimsical Cats vol. 2.

The first is a steampunk flying cat surrounded by hot air balloons over farmland.

The second is a trio of kittens attacking a teddy bear. In cold blood. LOL

The third is a kitty on a pier pawing at a fish. Those barnacles took a while to doodle in. Whew! But that post on the left is really crooked. Good thing no one’s really counting on it to hold up.

Anyhow, that’s the first 3 of 100. I started September 10th, 2018, and should be done before the end of the year. I’ll try to remember to update them on my blog here every few days so I have a personal record.

 

 

Edit 1: Here’s Thing 4, which is 4/100 days and 4 of the 5 fancy arts for iATCs… Drawing the roses was fun. I think maybe the cat needs some markings for interest, though. I’m not fond of the butterfly. Maybe I’ll redo that and paste it into the finished image after I clean it up. Meh.

Edit 2: And here is Thing 5, a mercat fishing with a branch and string, because of course she would do it that way. Duh. I’m not crazy about the water and feel like it needs some work. Maybe some clouds in the sky, but the rest is good for now, I think. I’m fond of doodly borders, even partial borders, as you can see. This is my final entry for the You’re so Fancy challenge! And 13/25 for the colouring book.

Edit 3: Day 6–I stamped a bajillion images for on stocking stuffers I’m making for my Etsy shop! I also cut most of them out and sorted them into themed packets so I can work on them more easily. I have a bunch of the bases ready to go too, just no finished products in hand yet.

 

 

 

 

Day 7: Stargazing, for the colouring book. This is 14/25 on that project.
I’m liking that I don’t have to do the colouring pages each day, but it is definitely a good push toward getting the book done! I might try to do some pencil sketches today so that days when I’m not feeling like drawing something new, I can just ink up one of those. We’ll see. I’m losing steam today because of physical crunchiness and allergies, but I do have coffee on hand. Sadly, the grocery store and Bulk Barn I was at last night had no pumpkin spice to buy, or I’d be adding it to the coffee. It satisfies my craving well enough that way.

8/100:  This is my mom’s bday gift so far. It’s a folder (4 pockets and an extra pocket between the folders) with handmade cards and envelopes. It ties shut with seam binding. The base is kraft cardstock, with designer paper on the front and back, and along the tops of the pockets.

I’m going to do some different holidays, but her bday’s in November so Christmas/winter first. I want to decorate the front a bit more still.

 

The cards you see are accented with cut out portions from pretty dies I have. The left is deer in a forest, and the right is evergreens in a circle with paper behind. I really like these two designs a lot. I’m not sure what the next ones will be yet, but I do have some pretty butterfly dies coming, which do cut outs of this sort. I might wait for those before doing the next set, if they arrive before the potential postal strike (insert large sad face here if that happens!).

Days 10 and 11! These bring the colouring book count to 16. Yay! I just totally had to do a photo bomb. In the actual image you can see the front cat’s eyes and part of the nose. lol Sometimes they don’t show in the thumbnail. This is what happens when I don’t want to do another aerial landscape to fill the bottom of the picture. I might have to do more photo bombs!

 

 

For the toboggan picture, I hate the snowflakes under the writing so I’m going to delete them when I do a proper scan and cleanup.

 

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I won!

Today I got my prize pack in the mail from Deborah Blake, in celebration of her upcoming Cat Magic book! Look at all the fun she jammed into the envelope!

There’s a Witch’s colouring book, a notebook, a broom pen, a stuffed cat, lots of bookmarks, a rubber ducky that’s a calico cat (currently residing on my Bast shrine, because rubber duckies are our thing), and a copy of the cover of Everyday Magic, which I will probably make into another notebook. So cool!

What am I working on now?

So glad you asked! I haven’t made it to the thrift store yet to look for something suitable to cover the spines on the traveling Books of Shadows I’m making, so I’m piddling about with little extras inspired by various YouTube crafters. Currently I’m doing some tag page markers and little goodies like that. I’ll show them off when I have things done. 🙂

In Facebook I’ve been making a concerted effort to share stories of kindness and positivity, because I don’t know about you, but I know I need it.

I’m also forging ahead on my second volume of the Whimsical Cats colouring book in between all the rest. I find I really need to change up what I’m doing frequently to keep my sanity, but to focus on one project of each type so I don’t get completely sidetracked.

I’ve also been doing fairly steady editing jobs, which I’m enjoying a lot. I get to fix things! And that feels pretty good. 🙂

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Lady of Self Blessing

I’ve been a bit behind on watching the current Women Unleashed sessions, but I knew I should push myself to do it before they expire. I always find something helpful to my progress in understanding myself. It’s been a slog for me again, having had to deal with some personal truths and the need for time to rest and heal. It’s been difficult to process and accept. But it’s where I’m at.

Self Blessing WIP1It shouldn’t be surprising that Shiloh Sophia’s session where we created our Lady of Self Blessing is just what I needed right now. To accept that I’m worthy of blessings bestowed upon myself is even harder than to accept blessings from others. So I am sitting with this piece and letting it develop as it will. The most was done as I watched the video and after while I listened to another both last night, and then today I worked in the inked lines. There’s a lot more to do, I feel, but it will come as it will.

Self Blessing WIP2I really like her expression and the tilt of her face. She includes all the four elements: fire hair and lion ears (the lion is a personal totem as well); water chalice at the heart; air wings because I can fly when I don’t drag myself down; and the roses are earthly beauty and grounding. I’m planning to decorate her with Mendhi patterns, maybe as a garment.

I folded the sides in so she can stand up or be folded for safe keeping and then presented when I feel the need for the sacred self, but I’m leaning toward cutting down the sides to follow the wing shapes. Because I can, and it’s interesting. But I don’t want to do that yet until I’m sure I’m done with the shapes around the head.

The spiral at her throat is for speaking my truth, and the semi colon is because I will go on–I have more to say and I’m not done yet.  The photo isn’t the best angle, but that’s okay. I’ll take another when I’m done to show her off. 🙂

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Inking at Albert’s

It’s stinkin’ hot today, but Daniela dragged me down to Albert’s, a Jamaican restaurant at the end of the street. She wanted to use their wifi to update her phone, and I took the opportunity to work on inking the sketches I’ve started for Whimsical Cats vol 2.

I had the jerk chicken salad, which was great, and we both had an Irish moss to drink. Their rum cake is… very rummy. Very. LOL

In any case, I did manage to ink up 8 of the pages I had brought, so that’s about a third of the book done! I’m happy with that progress. I need to do up more sketches to take to one of my usual haunts to push this forward more while I have some momentum. 🙂 I really like how it’s all coming out so far.

I’m using Micron pens, if anyone is curious about my tools.

I don’t have any pictures of me working on art, so I got Daniela to snap a couple while we were there. Check out my new glasses, eh. I’m not fond of them, but it really helped me see what I was doing, so I’m not going to complain I guess. I’ll have to get her to take more so that I can find some photos I like for OFFICIAL USE. Ha.

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