Harp Dance

I finished the Beeswax collage valentines, ready to ship off to Mother Henna!! My 'trial run' cards I'll be giving to 'friends n family.'
I'll outline the process later :) As a kid, my mom would help me make construction paper valentines with doiles; when I saw these, I finally had the inspiration for the cards. Each has a heart or Harp stamp (hand carved on a white heart shaped eraser) for the heART in the center.

Inspired by a lovely SoulCollage card 'she dances the world into being' created by Ilah; (& here's a card by Rainepresence - both posted on KaleidoSoul) I did this little Harp Dance piece with the rest of the wax using a small pressed board 'picture' I'd picked up at St. Vincent's a few days ago for 25 c :)
"We dance on the gold strings of the universe, singing the llano, soaring & spinning amongst the stars!"

The gold on red in the corners is from large paper party napkins I'd picked up at Goodwill; I've had the lino cutters since High School, & used them occasionally over the years.
My 8 year old grand daughter carved the other side of a heart shaped eraser I used to make the valentine stamps.

I got a call this AM that the beekeeper had dropped off 2 # of wax at his mom's sewing shop for me, at ~ price of one pound if I'd gotten some at Michael's craft shop! I picked up a small 'butter warmer' (over a candle) at Bi-mart last week, & it works well to heat the wax! Just have to prop the brush against something, as it's not deep.

Waxing Poetic!

The 'Waxing Poetic' Class was great fun! The teacher Diana is the Children's Librarians at our local Public Library - & does the blog :)
She's also done SoulCollage, & said she'd been thinking of doing more, so that was fun! There were 5 other students, & a great flow to the class.

Basic tools are: fairly lightweight paper (tissue paper is great!), a small crock pot or electric frying pan to melt the wax (a combo of white & 'normal tan' beeswax - NO PARAFFIN!), inexpensive brushes (~ 1" wide), & either a blower that's used to strip paint (Darn, I forget what she called it! - that one gets very hot, looks like a hairdryer) or an embossing blower; & a quilting iron (I have one of these mini irons already :)

We made 3 collages, using several materials for backing - a medium weight card stock, artist's canvas on cardboard, canvas on wood, & a pressed board. The lighter weight boards buckle a bit, so you need to take that into account when you choose what to 'play' on!

We began with the card, & basic technique of painting some wax on the background, heating it with the blower (not long, & keeping it moving), then applying a piece of tissue. You could put a bit of wax on top, & then either 'blow' or iron. Ditto, ditto, ditto!!

Darker colours first, in most cases, tho you can also do some 'framing' with dark colours at the end. Old patterns are a lovely option (the curved lines on the upper L of the 'Egyptian' piece are from a pattern!). This was done on the canvas, & black & white Egyptian figures are from the 'goodies' I received in Ophelia's Give Away. the black circles on white (& in the lower L of 'Egypt') are painted in black ink on white tissue. We also did some transfers, using acetone & RECENT xerox pictures, transferring the image to white tissue paper.

My 4 year old Grand daughter 'claimed' the picture with the Girl on the Moon - my Full Moon in Cancer Dream board! It's her birthday Sunday, so I'm letting her have it :) The moon image is also from Ophelia.
The blue wavy circles were a print I did in class (from a stamp Diana brought). Stamping was done with acrylic paint on tissue paper from an art store. She had some lovely bits of paper to choose from! Old printed paper napkins are fun - the word in the lower L of 'Full Moon' are the top layer from a napkin! The gold is on white tissue; the white disappears into the wax!

I brought along some 8x5" matt board to use for a SoulCollage piece; so after doing my 3 'class pieces,' made a card. The statue was from a magazine, the black circle from that sheet of white with painted circles, the coins from blue tissue printed with coins, on a background of painted tissue & handmade paper, with another piece of gold on white tissue.

Gatekeeper: I am the one who stands watch at the gate, who monitors the flow, who welcomes abundance & grace. I am the one who watches, who listens, who waits.

Other techniques we played with - incising a design or line into several layers of wax, & colouring in the groove with oil pastels (you can wipe off the excess), using the iron to melt a BIT of crayon (she had the 64 colour box!) One gal embedded a feather she'd brought, & that turned out well. Diana often mounts the wax pieces on white board in a frame - no need for glass! The wax will scratch, but is a fairly permanent, & old, way to preserve images! I plan to do more :)

ephemera & Beeswax collage

Today the 'goodies' from Ophelia's give away came in the mail! Little odds & ends, with sparkles of colour & pattern, fun things for altered journals, collage, etc. There are a few pieces of music - I never quite 'dare' to cut up the music I have; tho I've considered playing with some copies; these will be perfect!
Saturday I'm enrolled in a beeswax collage workshop at the local Artists co-op studio & gallery, Currents. Here's the blurb:

Waxing Poetic: A Beeswax Collage Workshop
Diana Anderson, Instructor

"Learn to make a multilayered collage using wax, color and paper. Build layer upon layer of wax and paper to create a translucent collage. There will be demonstrations on incising, wax transfers and embedding into the wax. Supplies to bring: Xerox copies of a few favorite images sized under 5”x 5”, apron or old shirt and a few pieces of your favorite papers. Some paper will be available."

I've seen some of these, & they're lovely. The beeswax gives the images a patina & depth that you don't see in ordinary collage. I've been gathering 'bits & pieces' - some from Ophelia, paper from the exchange & some scrapbook paper, a few of those 'favorite images.' This should be fun! & always nice to explore a new technique.

With my daughter getting married in a few weeks, we need to make little baskets for tht flower girls, & a ring pillow. Dresses are picked out, other items are being assembled; the space booked, & the harpist (me :)

New Year Altar Collage

2009 begins.
I spent NY eve doing a wee altar collage (on the inside of a small box, so it stands up on its own) & then at a NY party with a group of friends.

Sacred space calls, pearls, a red heart bottle, a small buddha, an archway, whispers of presence as we dance into the next phase.

Soon my youngest grand daughter turns four, the wheel turns, life dances on.

New Year Visioning

I'm invited to a party this PM, sharing time & goodies with friends who will play games. At times I enjoy games, but those times are rare, & dependant on the company & the game!
Apples to Apples & Balderdash are fun, as are Domino games. 

Peggity (a 50s varient of 'Go') I adore, & as a teen was a 'Peggity Shark.' My dyslexia makes Scrabble unbearable, so I don't usually participate in that. The Transformation 'Game' is a delight, but my friends usually say it's too 'serious, . . 

So I'll be bringing collage supplies as my 'back up plan' - one of my favorite New Year's Eve activities is doing a treasure map or vision board! I have made these occasionally - the first was at New Years with friends ~ 12 years ago. One couple thought they wanted to adopt a child, but hadn't begun the process. They EACH put a photo of an oriental child on their boards, & within the next two years, adopted their son, then a few years later their daughter!
Another friend wanted to take her husband to the red rocks in Arizona, & that was the 'one thing' on her delightful board that hadn't manifested yet. (within a year, they went!)

Earlier in the month I made a 'dream board' on the New Moon. I'll be intrigued to see what images come at this hinge between the years, what images I'll choose for seeding the future. The word that came for 2009 is PRESENCE, so whatever I'm drawn to will support that intention.
For tomorrow, Tori mentioned a blessing jar suggested over on Robyn's Blog - & I had to check it out! Sweet ritual: "Sweep, Smudge & Blessing Jar" Lots of choices for the contents of the jar! & one of my galfriends gave me a sweet little ceramic jar for blessing words - think I'll use that!

Blessings upon the New Year!

Two cards on the New Moon

 My grand daughters spent the afternoon & stayed overnight Sat. After a day full of sorting & clearing, we did some collage.
I made my cards for New Moon in Capricorn.
They LOVE cutting & pasting with Grammie - it was a nice way to end the day. We used a calendar I brought back from Hawaii a few years ago as the 'base' photos - Alyssa chose an orchid, Kakay some Red hot pokers.

The first is Soul Dance. The essence definition for Plumaria is "Brings awareness of family roots. Restores spiritual integrity for native peoples."
When I visited the Big Island of Hawaii, Plumaria was an essence I was drawn to make, & did so early the last morning. I felt blessed that a native man (one of the grounds workers) helped pick a sprig of flowers, & brought me another - Pikake - which he was very excited to show me! 

I looked up the definition on the hotel computer before going outside, & felt that 'spiritual integrity' was 'tapped' with his assistance.
The little girl REALLY reminds us of my Kakay 'rocking out!' . . . there's a sense of fairies, & the dignity of the woman on the left.
"I'm the one who is excited to BE HERE, who hears the music of the spheres & dances my own dance! 

I am the one who sees the essence behind the symbols, the turn of the seasons. 

I am the one who transcends the wheel of life, & finds the beauty wherever I AM!

The second card, Petroglyph, draws on images from Peru , with a shaman in the center, & a blue butterfly on the Right. 

"I am the one who has been present from the dawn of time. 

I am the one who provides light to draw on the stones of your soul! 

I am the one who shares the secrets, & tells the stories. 

I am the one who remembers. Drugma Cho Dron Wong Mo - the dragon depository of the Dharma! 

I bring forth the heart of all that is."

I was given the name Drugma Cho Dron Wong Mo when I studied Buddhist Reiki teachings; the week before, a psychic had tagged me 'Wisdom Keeper!' 

I puzzled over the Tibetan name - then made the connection - 'dharma,' wisdom teachings, 'depository' - something to keep them in - ah ha! 

Dragon Mother, Wisdom keeper!!

Clearing the way

Around this time of year, I often find myself clearing & sprucing up around the house, at times painting, at others, working on clearing & cleansing. The sun in Early Cap. is transiting my 4th house - so a great time for this inspiration of moving energy! I moved

Most of my creativity has been focused on making little blessing stars, for family to hang in their cars, a Victorian Cone (shown above, & inspired by Caroline's post), & other holiday goodies. Now I'm more seriously addressing mountains of paper & other stuff - went through the clothes that had mounded on top of my dryer (in one of those sweet off kitchen alcove closets) & put a bunch into a 'pass on' bag; finally moved the big coffee table into another room for crafting. Etc.

Look for more creative activity SOON - & stop by Vestella's Vale for other updates - including the inspiration of the search for a new broom!

Oh, & Molly over at Herspeak has a wee give away! Check out Monday's post - there's still time!