sketchbook entry - hematite ankh

we had another lovely winter's day today. brad and i did a bit of shopping in the morning and then we ate lunch while watching another smallville episode. i'm looking forward to watching season eight...according to brad, it will be released for sale next month.

i did this quick sketch in the afternoon
i've had this hematite ankh for years now and i love it!
it feels so cool and smooth to the touch
graphite & micron pigma pen in A5 sketchbook
click on image to enlarge

love, light and peace

MANTRA MONDAY - albeit a little late

we often carry the burdens of our past with us on a daily basis unaware that we have the power to simply let go and make a fresh, new start at any time. our burdens are not what identify us though we often use them for that purpose. all we ever really have is this present moment...right here, right now as our past exists only in our memories and our future is yet to happen. our thoughts and actions in each present moment are what define us.

acrylics on 5"x3½" on CANSON 300gsm acrylic paper
© serena lewis
click on image to enlarge

i chose to paint a phoenix for my mantra card this week as a reminder that, at any moment, i have the power to let go of any emotional baggage i'm carrying and make a fresh, new start. it truly is that easy. if you find it hard to do this then it usually means you are still holding onto something that you think defines who you are. let it go and practise focusing in each present moment and you will find that your life will become a more joyful and freeing experience.

love, light and peace

MONDAY PHOTO-A-WEEK

kookaburras quite often make nests in large termite mounds that can be found high up in trees. it just so happens that we have one of these termite mounds in the tree right behind our back fence and, each morning, i've been watching this kookaburra going in and out of the nest/termite mound. as far as i know, kookaburras usually nest in september which is our spring so maybe it is just setting up house for now.

kookaburras are native to australia and are the largest bird in the kingfisher family. they are one of my top three favourite birds.....the other two being fairy wrens and the pelicans.

click on any image to enlarge

going in


peeking out


leaving the nest
aaron took this one


this is a painting i did of a kookaburra about four years ago
acrylics on 16"x12" gallery-wrapped canvas

love, light and peace

nature sketches and progress on desk make-over

a quick sketch of treasures we found after aaron and i went for a nature walk this morning

pigma micron pen and coloured pencil in A5 sketchbook
click on any image to enlarge

this is aaron's sketch
i love when we sketch together!

coloured pencil & felt pen in A4 sketchbook

------------------------------------------------
i have been busy painting the desk the past couple of days

here it is prepped and ready for the first coats of paint
i had to wait two hours between each re-coat


and here it is painted in white and blue


i still need to paint a design on the door that hides the drawers area of the desk


and also the wooden stool

i hope to have more progress pics to show over the coming days

love, light and peace

mantra monday and photo-a-week

MANTRA MONDAY

well, this is a first for a while.....i actually have my mantra card ready for the monday posting. YAY! the trip to the lake yesterday was just what i needed to ground and refresh my spirit. i love walking in nature or sitting by the beach just taking in nature's beauty....it's times like these where i feel totally connected....so this reflects in my mantra/affirmation card today -

i am in harmony with nature
acrylics on 5"x3½" CANSON acrylic paper
© serena lewis
click on any image to enlarge


MONDAY'S PHOTO-A-WEEK

some more pics from our trip to forest lake yesterday



an aussie native commonly known as old man banksia

ducks

this jumping spider shared our picnic rug

and that's all for today, folks

i'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's monday photos

love, light and peace

sacred life sunday

image courtesy of ying ho cheng on flickr

today was a beautiful, clear winter's day!

so brad, aaron, cody and i went for a drive out to forest lake where we had a wonderfully relaxing time. the glistening of the sunlight on the water, the various bird calls, the gentle breezes rustling through the trees....a perfect setting!

click on any image to enlarge




more photos of the lake tomorrow when i post for monday's photo-a-week

today, i am grateful for -

• the beautiful clear day


• the company of my kids and my dog


• mother nature


• my car - tilly


• my digital camera


• my blog friends


• nourishing food


• a warm bed

love, light and peace

flus and eye inflammation

a very quick sketch today
graphite, pigma micron pen & coloured pencil
in A5 sketchbook
click on image to enlarge

it's that time of year when colds and flu are prevalent here and mothers are in high demand. reece was off sick with flu today and aaron was off from school with an inflammation in the corner of his right eye. it looks like the beginning of a stye though hasn't worsened any. i've been using a soaked teabag to soothe it and so far, so good. i took reece to the doctor to see if he needed any further treatment than the over-the-counter flu medication he's been using.

needless to say i didn't get to tackle the desk today.....but then,

tomorrow is another day

tools and appliances

yesterday, i made a start on refurbishing the desk in my room. i guess it was to be expected since i bought new bedding on monday though i've had this desk in my sights for a few months now. it has seen quite a few changes over the years....as a matter of fact, i posted about those changes here. the last change was where i covered the top surface with fabric - a bad move, i'm afraid. i didn't realise how hard it would be to keep the fabric clean and it got to the point where the desk surface just looked plain grotty. so...i'm giving the desk a new coat of paint this time around. it's all prepped and ready for the first lick of paint.

one of the everyday matters challenges was to draw a favourite tool and i got to thinking that my long-nosed pliars really do get a good work-out around here. in this case, i used them to pull out the staples holding the fabric in place on the desk but they have come in handy on numerous other occasions....even for jewellery repairs. yep...i would highly recommend long-nosed pliars for every toolbox.
what's your favourite tool?

graphite and micron pigma pen in A5 sketchbook
click on image to enlarge


and today, i decided to draw a favourite appliance that i can not be without.
my electric jug is my best buddy! graphite and micron pigma pen in A5 sketchbook
click on image to enlarge

tomorrow, i hope to start on painting the desk

what are your plans?

MONDAY PHOTO-A-WEEK....a little late

sorry, i'm a day late with my photos this week. to be honest, i was stumped for subject matter. we didn't go on any country drives or do anything that interesting, so today, i decided to just take some snaps around the house

you click on any image for a larger view

the new bedding i bought for my room yesterday

i love blues and greens together and, after visiting this blog, i was inspired to re-decorate my room.....yet again. the previous quilt was a deep sea blue and the accessories still blend well with the new bedding. i just need to add a couple of accessories in that bright green and then i can decide on an accent colour. i've read that, when choosing a colour scheme for decorating, there should be around 70% of the main colour, 20% of the complimentary colour, and 10% of the accent colour. this apparently gives a nice balance.

here is one of michelle's beautiful prints. i LOVE it!

notice the blues and greens again? i'm feeling drawn to these colours at the moment. i'm thinking of painting the frame something other than black so that it compliments the print more.
what would you suggest?

a pic of aaron's knitting
i'm so pleased with how well he is doing


speaking of aaron, i thought i'd show a pic of his standard winter dress

this photo of aaron was taken late this afternoon when the cold of the evening had already set in. due to our sub-tropical climate, our homes aren't generally central-heated so i was wearing my uggs, a long skirt, a long-sleeved shirt plus a warm jacket.....not aaron. his idea of warm was the knitted socks and beanie his grandma made for him, plus shorts. i just can't get him to rug up in winter. yes, he does feel the cold but he has always hated the contricted feeling of shirts no matter how loose they are on him. he'd much rather have a blanket draped over his shoulders.

and lastly, my shadow and constant companion, cody
he follows me everywhere, from room to room and is never far from my side.

zentangle & favourite childhood toy/doll

the past few days have been nice but strange

we dropped aaron over to michelle's and alex's place for a few days on wednesday and it's been soooooooo quiet without him here at home. of course, the fact that reece is also away at this time only adds to the strange quietness that we are unfamiliar with. they both arrive back home tomorrow (sunday) and, even though i have missed them terribly, i'm sure i'll be craving the quieter moments before too long. lol

anywho, i did this zentangle last night whilst watching smallville with brad.

micron pigma pen in 5"x5" sketchbook
click on any image to enlarge

i've been slowly filling the sketchbooks i started when i was a member of the everyday matters group. each week, they would give a topic for members to sketch. as i joined the group later on, i had numbered the pages of three sketchbooks for all the previous sketch topics so that i would eventually get caught up. even though i'm no longer a member, i do hope to fill in all the tasks eventually.

the topic for the sketch i did today was to draw a favourite childhood toy/doll.

bess has been with me ever since i was nine months old

pigma micron pen, graphite and coloured pencilin A5 sketchbook

an excerpt from a previous post about bess, just in case you missed it -bess was made in england and has the word 'RODDY' imprinted at the back of her head. she is 17" in height. i did a little research a while ago and it seems 'RODDY' dolls were made in the 1950's and are now classified as 'vintage'. she has a hard, plastic body with a soft vinyl/rubber head.....when you squeeze her head, she squeaks. she has sleepy eyes too which means they close when you lie her down and open when you stand her up. she's lost a bit of hair around the forehead and her tootsies are a little worse for wear too. you see, when i was still just a toddler, one of our german shepherd dogs decided to try and eat bess. thankfully, she was saved from the jaws of death just in the nick of time. to be honest, i really don't know what it is about bess that i loved so much to have kept her close to me all these years.....i mean, check out that garish yellow hair!!! i know i had much prettier dolls that have come and gone yet bess has always remained the constant in my life.

she is now very special to me
do you have an object or toy from childhood that you now hold dear to your heart?

love, light and peace

full moon earth healing and mantra card

i have recently joined robyn's full moon earth healing circle with the collective aim to help heal the earth through our monthly rituals which are carried out on the night of a full moon. last night, there was a full moon in our night sky so i braved the cold and went outside to sit under the pergola. i lit the candle (pictured below) as the start to my ritual and then i stared up at the full moon and invoked its magic to help heal the earth.

i meditated on this for around ten minutes before the cold winter breezes got the better of me.
after saying a silent prayer of thanks, i headed back inside, feeling happy that i had contributed my energies to healing the earth.

the full moon earth healing ritual also inspired my mantra card for this week.
the full moon is believed to enhance psychic powers and abilities. it is helpful in all forms of magic and enhances power where it is needed most.

so my affirmation this week is -
i am confident in my abilities
may this encourage me to be an instrument in the earth's healing
acrylics on 5"x3½" CANSON acrylic paper
© serena lewis
click on any image to enlarge


if you are interested in joining our full moon earth healing circle, click here to read more about it.

love, light and peace

MONDAY PHOTO-A-WEEK

on sunday we went for a nice country drive.
it was a beautiful, clear day though we could still feel the winter chill on the breeze.

we ended up at one of our favourite spots -
burgess park at christmas creek.

a pic of aaron down by the creek

click on any image to enlarge

bradley, cody and beau


it was the perfect spot for beau to crack the whip
without having to worry about disturbing neighbours
it is very loud!


and, of course, boys will be boys


my favourite tree - queensland bottle tree


a part of the australian countryside
which can be quite treacherous in areas
not to mention being home to some of the deadliest snakes in the world


by late afternoon, dark clouds started setting in but
thankfully, no rain followed


and by the time we arrived home an hour later
we were able to watch a glorious sunset from the front of our house

all in all, we had a fabulous sunday despite feeling very tired by the time we got home

i hope you had some special moments during your weekend too?
feel free to share what you did in the comments link

love, light and peace

i'm officially a great-aunt for the first time......

....as well as my daughter, michelle, while her brothers are now great-uncles! YAY!!!

it may sound complicated but really, it's not....long story short....MY younger brother married my first husband's daughter. This put my kids on the same relative status as me being that my brother's now ex-wife is the blood half-sister to MY kids. she and my brother had two daughters which made me and my kids aunts and uncles.
and yesterday (july 1st),
our niece gave birth to a baby boy.

meet tristan james who weighed in at 5 lb 11oz

he's adorable!!!

this also means that my parents are great-grandparents for the first time.
here they are with sarah and her beautiful baby


aaron with sarah and the new addition to our family


and me with baby tristan


how blessed we are

love, light and peace