I.W. 2015

Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday (to Me) and Happy New Year – in that order!

It’s true that I’m a Christmas Baby, or near enough, so we have this super duper roll-on that begins with the beginning of holidays for the kids,

into the Christmas period which we spent up in Cairns with the in-laws, spent almost everyday at the Lagoon because there’s not many places you can swim in FNQ in the Summer;

through my Birthday (I turned 46 – I knew you all wanted to know that – not ashamed, at all!); I bought myself a 1960’s Imperial typewriter and went to a day spa for a deluxe pedicure, treated myself to a vino bianco and finished my novel; hubby took me to our favourite Cairns Italian restaurant for dinner;

via New Year’s – we partied till about 10pm and I fell asleep after midnight,

and believe it or not, I have time to blog!

Because I have a few special things happening this year, but let’s begin with Inspiration Wednesday.

This was a free video series by Donna Downey that started about 4 years ago and has inspired many creatives to get their stuff out and use it and experiment with new stuff too. Donna took a I.W. break last year and the world was a little emptier.

Donna has decided to run I.W. again in 2015 in a fortnightly video format for a very small cost. So, how could I say no to that?!

First, I had to make my journal. Well, I have fabric, canvas, paper, etc and a sewing machine so why not use it.

Here’s the first prompt and I love it.

I chose Derivan Matisse Brilliant Alizarin and Dioxazine Purple as my opening spread colours. There was a RAINBOW to choose from but red and purple have always been with me in one shade or tint or other. It seemed fitting that these 2 would set the stage for the year to come.

The stencil I chose is from Chris Cozen’s Pod series (via Stencil Girl products). I thought it was appropriate for my intentions for this year; getting back to the core of things, approaching things with the end in mind, not getting distracted and keeping track of my mission for this year so I can achieve all my big goals. A pod, too, is nature’s little carry-all. It contains a family of seeds waiting to germinate. Some will thrive, others will try very hard to be manifest, but will perish. But that’s okay. That will be my symbol for 2015. (More on that next entry).

I have no idea what Donna’s other creative prompts will include but I’m grateful, for once, for the time delay. Last Wednesday the video was live at 9pm (Brisbane time). That gave me time to watch the video, gather all the supplies and set the work space for Thursday. I think this method will work out nicely!

It’s not too late to join in, so if you reckon this looks okay, CLICK HERE

I hope your holy break was a peaceful one, or at the very least you got some peace from it!

“Life is a long journey : the starting point is the fear , the end point is love.” (Paulo Coelho) [with thanks to my translator Laurel Shimer]

xx Giovanna