The Creative Mumpreneur

Hello friends,
I want to share with you some knowledge about a dear friend of mine~Kerryanne from http://www.shabbyartboutique.blogspot.com/ who has just published a book on how to start up a business from our hobbies.
Kerryanne is celebrating twenty years of running a creative business so has heaps of fabulous idea, and knows all the lurks and perks of being in business with this new e-book.

I can vouch for Kerryanne who I've known on a professional and personal level for about twelve years.

Kerryanne covers everything in this book from business ideas to setting up and running a business as well as coping with running a household and still look after our children & Hubby's.

You can also check out Kerryanne's website at http://woodberrydesigns.com.au/ for other patterns and gorgeous gifts that she makes.

Please take the time to pop on over and say G'day~you won't be dissapointed.

Take care,

Creative hugs,

Anna

I'm back with some journaling pages

Hi blogging buddies,

I'm back to show you some journal pages I've been working on.

I've had lots going on in my life at the moment and journaling has helped heal the pain and pressure of life at the moment.

I've tried to bring lots of colour into my life with bright pages.

                                             And some Positives

Take care, Creative hugs,
Anna

Life, Live, Love, Learn.

Hey blogging buddies,
I know I've been a very slack blogging buddy lately.
Life is just whooshing by with lots of hiccups and not much ART happening.

My dear friend of forty years finally gave up her fight last Saturday after twenty long months of terminal cancer. She was way too young to pass away at the age of 61yrs. May she rest in peace.

Then just a couple of days later my Best friend lost her Mum.  We have her funeral to attend tomorrow.
With all this sadness around it tends to zap the creative side of me.
I've had some really angry moments and its definitely helped to journal about it all however most of it's scribbled words about my feelings.

I've also had an x-ray and Ultrasound of my arm and to my surprise I have Tennis elbow and Golfers elbow.
Hm, no wonder my arm is very sore. Some times worse than others and even flushing the toilet gives me pain that radiates from my elbow.
Anyway I'm not in a hurry to have that injection so I'll continue with the other holistic medications for the time being.

Opps, sorry to complain~I intend to get my back into the swing of things real soon and pop on by.
Creative hugs,
Anna

Just me

Hello friends,
Life is just rolling along here for me.
I don't know whats happened to my time management skills, they flew out the window some time ago.
Not much time to CREATE, make ART or blogging these days.

I have a dear friend of 40 years in her final days of life.  She has been strongly battling terminal cancer for 20 months, trying all the treatments without success.
Such very sad times for her dear hubby, family and friends.
It's very hard to function normally with my friend constantly on my mind from the time my eyes open until sleep comes at night.

I've also had a niggly, painful left elbow (yes, I'm a lefty) for a few months.
I decided I'd better see the Dr about three weeks ago who diagnosed 'Medial Epicondylitis' (Golfers Elbow)
No, I don't play golf~ha ha, It's a bit like Tennis elbow but on the inside of your arm.
The Dr suggested rest and to come back in six weeks for an injection of Anesthetic and Cortisone. Hm, That's scary. He told me of the dangers if the injection is inserted in the wrong place.
Well the rest is a bit hard when I live in a house full of men and my stupid elbow is getting worse.
Small things like wiping the bench, cutting vegetables and using the mouse on my computer gives me pain.
I've tried TENS machine and physio exercises with not much help.  Next week I'm seeing a remedial masseur and trying essentials oils.  Any suggestions please let me know...

Take care and let the ones you love know how deeply you love them and what they mean to you!
Hugs,
Anna

Hello friends, Where do my days go? 

 Just a little bit of what I've been up to!

Journal pages

Hey blogging friends, I know it's been a while since I've posted and I haven't been around to visit you all.

I've been busy with my Mum here from interstate.  We've been catching up, seeing Doctors, Specialists and Dentist.

I thought I'd show you a few Journal pages that I've achieved recently.  Not much time for anything else.

That's one thing I love about Journaling, I'm still creating and can come and go into my studio as I please without fussing too much!

This journal is made by me with scrap postcards, chipboard and other junk mail that I've painted in Gesso then covered with whatever I please.

This page has stamping, washes of colour and the flower is a napkin.

You know how napkins come in three ply~well the 2nd and 3rd ply can be stuck onto an A4 page with removable tape, cut down to size and put through your printer. Great idea for larger pieces of writing.

I'm a messy writer, so I love this idea.

For this piece I painted the background in Jo Sonja-Blackberry, Used a Stencil and Smoked Pearl and cut creative words from Kaisercraft, Chapter One Collection.

Have you done a tortoiseshell background using Isocol~rubbing Alcohol Antiseptic?

I started with a wash of Jo Sonja Pacific Blue, while still wet I splattered the Isocol over the paint which leaves the lighter circles. Dry and continue in the same manner with Colbolt Blue Hue then Pthalo Blue letting dry between colours. I then splattered Silver using a damp tooth brush and added my writing with a Silver Sharpie.

This background effect can be done in any colour combination.

Creative Hugs, Anna

Welcome, Donation paintings for Good Cause

Hello, I'd like to welcome all the new & older followers and I hope you enjoy your visit at my blogspot.

Have you heard of FGM, Female Genital Mutilation?

I'll tell you a bit about it at the end of this post but firstly enjoy these paintings that I've painted for the cause.

 This was the first steps on this canvas. Lots of different texture paste techniques and blocking in colour.

 Then I added some warm colours of Gold Oxide, Cadmium Scarlett and Rich Gold over the Dry texture paste.

 I changed the Gold Oxide colour because it just blended into the painting.  I also added Gold Leafing for her head band and top of her dress.

 Here is a close up picture of the right hand side of the painting. I added a real earing for added dimension.

 The finished Canvas is 16 X 20 inches

 Here is the first step of another canvas with a bright sky and grass land. The sky is painted with Cadmium Yellow Mid, Cadmium Orange and Cadmium Scarlet.

 The tree trunk, branches and roof's of huts are in Burnt Umber. I then used Texture Paste in a down ward motion for the roofs and horizontal motion for the walls of the huts.

 Here is a close up of the finished hut with shading and highlights painted on it.

Final photo of finished piece!

Over the past few years we have had quite a few new Australians move into our area and neighbourhood. 
I recently read an editorial in our local newspaper about an Afrcian community worker who is raising funds and  fighting to stop FGM. This lady is from Somaliland and was circumcised at the age of seven years.  She is now 49 yrs old and still has horrific memories of the torture.
Some key facts from WHO(World Health Organization)
An estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide are currently living with these consequences. 
In Africa an estimated 92 million girls from the age of 10 and above have undergone FGM.
FGM comprises procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genetalia or other injury to the female organs for non medical reasons.
Some people are so poor and circumcision is killing a lot of young people.  They think if a girl is not curcumcised she'll stay unmarried and become a prostitute. 
This lady from Somaliland is raising funds to distribute hospital goods, health news and teach men and woman why they should not practise female genital mutilation.
So, you can see I've painted this pictures to donate for a good cause!
Until next post-take care,
Creative hugs,
Anna

Giveaway Winners

Hello Blogging buddies,

Ohh, what a lot of fun it is to have a Giveaway and share my passions!

Thank you everyone that entered and played along with me.

I used True Random Number Generator - Congratulations, second prize goes to Suzy from http://suziqusthreadworks.blogspot.com/

 And first prize goes to Lee at http://artfulleedesigned.blogspot.com/

Ladies, please let me know your snail mail address and I'll pop these in the post straight away.
Now back to the studio to finish a couple of pieces I'm donating to a good cause.
More about that in my next post.
Creative hugs,
Anna

Pisa and 100 Post Giveaway

Hey Blogging buddies, Thanks for visiting!

Here is my latest painting "Leaning Tower of Pisa" I've painted this piece from a photo I took nearly six years ago while in Italy.  I used Jo Sonja acrylic paints and glazed over in Archival Oil paints.

Someday I hope to get back to Italy.

The Italian paper on the background is compliments of http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/

If you're not a follower of Karen's, do yourself a favour and join in with over 11,000 other followers.

In my last post I was telling you how my 100 th post is coming up, well here it is! 
So I'm having a Giveaway, actually I've decided to have a 1st and 2nd prize giveaway.
I also asked 'what would you like as a giveaway' and three bloggers responded with an answer of something fabric.

I've incorporated Fabric and Art with a Journal.
This is second prize.

 Inside the journal.
The pages are 4.5 x 6 inches.

 Inside the front and back cover there are pockets for  collected bits and pieces.

 This little fabric bag 4.5 " X 6" also goes with second prize.

This 1st prize bag would be suitable for a make-up bag or pencil case. It's 9" X 6" in size.

 This larger journal is also for the first prize giveaway.
It's still in the making, however I'm sure it will be finished in plenty of time to post to the winner of my giveaway.

 Some of the inside pages. Oops, I've forgotten which generous blogger I got these gorgeous pictures from.

Do you know Suzy like I know Suzy oh, oh, oh

Suzy from http://suziqusthreadworks.blogspot.com/

is very talented, creative and generous.

It's because I was in Awe of Suzy's work that I made these Journals.  Suzy has been very patient and helpful with advice while I attempted to make my first fabric journals.

If you need some inspiration, pop on over to visit Suzy.

There are just a couple of things to do if you want to participate to win one of these giveaways~

1. Leave a comment and contact details if you are

(non-reply blogger)

2. Make sure you are a follower

3. Share this Giveaway post with friends and let me know.

I'll do the 'Random number' draw on 5th July 2011

Creative hugs, Anna

Latest Journal Pages

Hello blogging buddies,

Lovely to be here and post again. 

It seems further apart each time I'm here posting.

Wow, I just noticed I'm nearly at 100 posts! 

I'll have to celebrate some how (maybe a giveaway) what do you think?

Would you like a painting or something hand sewn by me? Please feel free to leave me a comment and consider each one.

I thought I'd show you my latest journal pages.

Not all have writing on them yet.

 Some textured background rolled on using Jo Sonja Kleister Medium and Texture Paste. While wet I pressed clear stamps into it. Then I gathered some leaves from my backyard, sponged them with paint and pressed onto my page.

This page is actually left over paint on a stencil from the next page.

I love this saying~it was sent to me during the week by dear friend. 

 This page is quite Mish Mash.  Reading back, that's exactly how I was feeling at the time.
 

 The background on this page was Gesso, then water colour pencils, washed out with a paint brush.
Then stencilled with paint over the top.  Oh, I'm terrible at taking step by step photo's.

This has textured rice paper for the background then some napkins over the top.  Both of these were applied using Artelier Impasto Gel.

I've then stamped and painted on some details.

This page was painted with Jade and Warm White then has coloured Texture Paste and lots of different stencils (some have a touch of sand), then dry brushed over the top using Jo Sonja Pearl White.

This was left over paint on stencils and a Minnie Mister used with water and Rich Gold around the stencil.
Just playing around.
Have a fabulously creative weekend,
Hugs,
Anna