i shine my light brightly

i wasn't feeling too well yesterday hence my affirmation card and photo for the week being a day late this week. i woke up this morning with my throat on fire. it hurt to swallow and i also lost my voice....well, i could talk to some degree but listening to chalk screeching on a blackboard would have been more pleasing to the ears.


MANTRA MONDAY

i shine my light brightly and bask in its warmth and glow. even in dark times, i have the choice to focus on shining my light brightly from within because i know this will help the dark times to pass more quickly.
acrylics on 5"x3½" CANSON acrylic paper
© serena lewis
click on any image to enlarge



PHOTO A WEEK MONDAY

due to being cooped up inside this past week because of all the rain and flooding in brisbane, i really don't have too much to show for my photo this week. i did feel in the mood to do some decorating in my room so i put this tarnished silver tray together with some coloured glass bottles and some shells.


NEWSFLASH - i've started KNITTING!!!
i felt inspired when i came across this post over on rhonda jean's blog. so i've started knitting squares which will eventually become a bed rug. of course, there is no way it will be finished for this winter considering our winter begins on june 1st but....just maybe....i will have it finished for next winter. i haven't knitted for something like ten years so it feels good to be back in the saddle again. maybe you would like to knit-along too?!


LOVE, LIGHT AND PEACE

tassel head people completed

...and here they are

click on any image to enlarge
i'm happy with how they turned out and i enjoyed the technique of gluing and wrapping the embroidery cotton around the pieces. thanks, ro.

they started out from this

you may notice that the red hooded character ended up being a raggedy doll character instead...that's just what i felt drawn to do.

on another note, thanks to some torrential rain, our drought of ten years in south east queensland has been officially declared OVER!!! it didn't come without costs though. one poor man lost his life when gale-force winds picked up an awning from somewhere and sent it crashing through his office window yesterday. there was severe flooding in many suburbs and some areas were classified as disaster zones. luckily, we live in a suburb that was safe from the flooding though there was a lot of water on the roads and very strong winds with the heavy rain made for dangerous road conditions. yesterday was definitely a day for spending indoors. today, the rain eased though i'm not sure if there is still more to come.
for now, staying warm and dry
love, light and peace to you all

emotional guidance

MANTRA MONDAY

our emotional guidance system can be a very useful tool if we choose to actually pay heed to it. you know what i'm talking about. for example - you make the choice to ignore your gut instinct and still go out with that certain guy only to regret it later because he ended up breaking your heart. you look back afterwards and realise that all the signs were there. you also realise that your emotional guidance system had been actively warning you about those signs right from the get-go......why didn't you listen?!

this same scenario can play over many different situations in our lives. the trick is to pay heed to what our gut instincts are telling us. trust that our emotional guidance system will lead the way. it is never wrong. when we are on the right path, we know and feel that inner sense of peace and joy within.

my affirmaton card for this week reflects this message. when faced with making decisions, your emotional guidance system can help....just calm your mind and reflect on the situation at hand...then note which choice feels right to you on an inner level. learn to follow your instincts.

acrylics on 5"x3½" CANSON acrylic paper© serena lewisclick on any image to enlarge

MONDAY'S PHOTO OF THE WEEK

i snapped this photo after dropping aaron at school on friday. ibis make for quite a sight as they are large birds and group together in numbers. my point and shoot camera doesn't have a big zoom on it so this was the best i could do without scaring them away.

ibis near the local creek bed

i thought this pic was really cute so just had to post it too
sleepyheads

love, light and peace

a bit of play in the studio with tassel heads

some time ago, ro gave our email group another technique to play with, however, mine has been on the back-burner for some time now. this technique involved decorating some wooden spindles or wooden tassel heads. the key for this technique was to attach some embroidery cotton/floss to the pieces, among embellishments, beads, decoupage and/or painting. no set structure.....it's all about just letting the creativity flow and going with our own ideas.

i made a start today and, while looking at a couple of the bare wood pieces, i could see a distinct hooded cape shape in the wood grain so i thought i'd go with it.

here's where i'm at so far. still a ways to go but i'm having a lot of fun playing....
in progress - acrylic paint, beads and embroidery cotton/flossclick on image to enlarge

finding stillness...mother's day...and centipedes!!!!

i hope you all had a fabulous and memorable mother's day!!!

MANTRA MONDAY

i must admit that since i was sick with the flu a week ago, i haven't felt like doing much of anything....not even my daily meditation. i'm still not 100% although i'm feeling much better now to what i was...so...i thought i would paint my card this week with an affirmation that will hopefully encourage me to get back into my daily meditation. i embrace the stillness within. when i meditate, i usually focus on the breath because, when focusing on the breath, there is no room for thoughts which are a distraction. i find this a great method and it helps me to find the stillness within.

acrylics on 5"x3½" CANSON acrylic paper© serena lewisclick on any image to enlarge

those of you who have followed my blog for some time will know that i'm a devotee of eckhart tolle's philosophies which embrace the power of now.

an excerpt from his book, a new earth -
becoming conscious of stillness whenever we encounter it in our lives will connect us with the formless and timeless dimension within ourselves, that which is beyond thought, beyond ego. being aware of stillness means to be still. to be still is to be conscious without thought.

i really like the sound of that but know that you don't have to necessarily meditate to find stillness in your life. it's really all about awareness and acceptance of what is....being truly present, conscious and aware, in each moment.

MONDAY'S PHOTO A WEEK

i had a wonderful mother's day yesterday! the kids were all here, i had prepared a lovely buffet style lunch followed by cheesecake topped with freshly whipped cream and passionfruit for dessert. DELICIOUS!

the boys played on the playstation for a short time in the late afternoon while michelle and i chatted about creative stuff

i told the kids i didn't want any gifts but they ignored me
aaron made his cards for me and, of course, i will cherish them.don't ya just love his rendition of me??!!!

michelle graced me with one of her beautiful paintings which i'm absolutely thrilled about. i had been secretly hoping that i would, one day, own a piece of her artwork and now.....I DO!!! YAY!!!

i was also given the 'twilight' DVD from reece.

mum and dad were supposed to come for the afternoon but they ended up at the hospital instead. poor mum had some pretty severe pain in her right, upper rib area which the doctors were thinking may have been a blood clot...luckily, she was given the all clear on that score. after numerous tests, she was sent home but will need to go back for another check within the next three months. i did get to see mum for mother's day though as she and dad called in on the way home from the hospital .

OH, just one more thing.....out of interest, i was rudely awakened in the middle of the night by a CENTIPEDE crawling on my HAND!!!! SCREAM!!! no, i didn't get a pic because.....well, i became a stark, raving lunatic when i realised what it was....EWWWWWWWWW!!!!! it was disposed of rather quickly so i didn't even think of getting a pic....until after the fact.

well, that about wraps it up for today's post......
love, light and peace

better late than never, right?!

i apologise, in advance, for the long post

yesterday was one of those days where i relished the art of just kicking back and doing nothing. well, i did do some laundry in the morning and i did make two large pots of soup in the late afternoon...one was corned beef and vegetable, the other was cabbage and bacon. the corned beef and vegetable soup has been a family favourite for many years, however, i've been making mostly vegetable soups for myself since i stopped eating meat five years ago. yesterday, i thought i'd try this cabbage soup recipe that i found over on bumblevee's cooking blog and it was absolutely delicious!!! thanks, bumblevee!! i used vegetarian bacon, omitted the sausage altogether and used vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. i also chose to add the optional choices of corn and milk. i'm having it again for dinner tonight with some fresh bread and i can hardly wait....YUMMY!!! soups are just perfect right now with our cooler weather making an entrance....winter is only weeks away.

today, i started teaching class again after a six month break. prior to that, i had been teaching for five years but, in the latter years, had reached a point where i did not look forward to the weekly art lessons at all. i'd had three students at different times who really made teaching difficult with their negative attitudes. they wanted instant results with no effort and made negative comments continuously when i tried to teach them even the simplest of techniques and skills. i truly wondered why on earth they would even be in an art class if they had no interest in actually learning anything. as time went on, instead of looking forward to teaching classes, i was stressing over them and dreading their arrival each week. i guess a stronger person would have coped better but i just don't deal well with negativity in my life and i found it suffocating. i finally made the decision to stop teaching altogether as i felt like i'd lost all confidence as a teacher.

that said, i must admit that i thoroughly enjoyed teaching barbara again today. the six month break must have been just what i needed to release all the emotional 'baggage' from dealing with those negative-minded students. barbara was thrilled to be back too even though it is a temporary arrangement. i will continue to teach until barb finishes her current project though i think she is secretly hoping i will just continue on teaching regardless......time will tell, i guess. barbara has been a loyal and eager student over the past five years and, today, it reminded me of old times. barbara was my first student for two years before i ventured into teaching other classes and workshops. she also witnessed a lot of the negativity i had to deal with in classes and i was very appreciative that she was there for me. i am already looking forward to next week's class.

MANTRA MONDAY

i was talking to michelle earlier this afternoon and, at that stage, I still had not done my mantra monday card. i was debating whether or not to just leave it for this week but a part of me didn't like that idea. i thought about how, lately, i've been feeling on a high despite battling flu and the usual daily dramas. i truly am enjoying just being. so i quickly painted this card up to reflect that feeling. my heart soars in the joy of being. i used one of my 'soul coaching' canvas pieces for inspiration which you can see in the right column of this blog.

acrylics on 5"x3½" CANSON acrylic paper© serena lewisclick on any image to enlarge

MONDAY PHOTO OF THE WEEK
i found this little guy peeking out from inside a leaf which he appears to have made his home

worth clicking to enlarge this one as you will see the reflective light in his eyes

once a month, cody enjoys (yeah, right!) salon treatment in our laundry room. here are pics of him at various stages of his pampering...though he would probably prefer to call it torture. he truly hates his bath-time and, when he sees the preparations under way, he cowers down hoping he's invisible to us. bless his little heart.

after the shampoo and conditioning

hair-drying


PLEASE....tell me it's over!!!


the treat at the end makes it all worthwhile
cody is super fast when it comes to food.....hehehe

sharing his ordeal with the neighbour's dog


....and that about catches me up for this week

love, light and peace