Sharing My Creative Week

Weekly Round Up for the 2nd Week of August 2022

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How is your August going? I have been feeling good, if not a bit antsy from time to time. Do you ever feel like you are supposed to be somewhere doing something but you don’t know where or what? I have been feeling that way a bit this past week so I’m trying to spend more time doing and less time lost in my head.

Here’s a bit of what I have been doing:

My First Create with Me Art Journaling Session

I had so much fun playing in my art journal with no goal in mind other than to play in my art journal. If you would like some virtual company to have a play with your journal you can watch the video and read the blog post here.

This Week in Flowers (and Pumpkins)
I am so grateful for the bouquets that I am still able to cut from the garden. I also share with you my pride and joy-PUMPKINS! Something I have been trying to successfully grow for years. You can see all the photos in the blog post here.

Weekly Podcasts
I also recorded a new podcast for this week where I am chatting about creative living. If you fancy a chat for about 20 minutes or so why not make your self a cup of your favorite beverage (iced tea? I love unsweetened iced tea this time of year) and join me here.

Letters for Creatives
I am also sending out my letters to creatives today. If you like the idea of a weekly email meant only to be inspiring to my fellow creatives you can sign up here.

Book Club
I decided to make my Book Club posts monthly and plan to share them the first week of every month. I wasn’t reading fast enough so I thought I might not have enough content to share each week. Unless of course I shared with you all the books I have added to my TBR (To Be Read) list! Of course after deciding that I finished 2 books this week so maybe I would have had something to share. Still, I’ll stick with once a month and see how it goes.

Not shared specifically on the blog but I have a fun video with painted papers coming on my YouTube channel on Monday. I admit to being nervous and excited to get my channel going again. I am taking small steps and will be sharing weekly there but every video that goes on YouTube can also be found on Dilettante TV here on the site so no worries if you aren’t hanging out on YT.

I finished painting an old sofa table for the studio. I started it last Friday and was able to give it a second coat this week and set it all up Wednesday. I am so happy with how it looks (you can see the before and after below) along with how my vintage typewriter looks on it.

    

I have a piece going in my art journal about birds. I was inspired after watching this video
on Sandi Hester’s YT channel (thank you Laura Bray for sharing her channel with me!). I just loved how she painted her birds (and the automotive brushes she was using-so I had to order some!)

I have been working off and on with birds the past few months and on Saturday we took a trip to our local used book store and I picked up an Encyclopedia on birds (along with some other books I’m hoping to use in collage). The page is sitting on my desk in my studio and as I came in to work today I was inspired to add some collage to it so that’s just what I did. It’s still a work in progress but I’ll be sure to share it with you when it’s all done.

I do hope you have had some time for your creativity this week. Please let me know what you have been working on-I would love to hear!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Summer Solitude, Art & Flowers

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I am sitting with freshly painting nails writing to you. It’s late evening-a moment shy of 11pm-and the house is silent.

My family has gone on a little adventure with extended family and I am left home with the furry kids and a silent house.
This is my second time at home alone for several days in just 2 months. Before May I think it was a good 6 or 7 years since I had the house to myself and then it had only been for the day.

I have lots to share of my current creative projects along with some book club updates but I will save that for another day.

Over the 4th of July long weekend I picked some rhubarb from the garden and along with some purchased strawberries made my husband’s favorite rhubarb and strawberry crumble. I halved the sugar recommended and I believe even the butter and it was still absolutely delicious. My oldest was expressing an interest in photography so I asked her to snap a photo for the blog. She agreed as long as I gave her credit 🙂 I am also sharing a few of my favorite photos she took around the garden.

Photo Credit Abbie

I have a fun story about these Day Lillies. When I was young there was a spot in down we used to drive by and these flowers grew in a large number there and I just loved them. I didn’t know their name but anytime I saw them I just knew I wanted to have them someday.

They appeared in my yard-and I don’t remember how-and now they grow everywhere! I have since learned they are known as “Ditch Lillies” and it would seem that I have attracted them in an abundance! Still they are beautiful.

Photo Credit Abbie

And another favorite are the Elderberries. Last year was my first year growing them and they did so well. I made Elderberry syrup from them and am looking forward to doing the same this year. They have taken over their little corner of the garden so they will be pruned back in the fall otherwise I fear they may take over 🙂 They are so pretty (and useful!)

Photo Credit Abbie

I also cut some flowers to bring indoors. It’s one of my favorite things to do in the summer-to cut flowers and place them in repurposed glass jars all over the house. The snapdragons were purchased (although I did start some from seed) and while their flowers are beautiful the purchased ones are short and stocky and didn’t last in the vases at all.

The rest of the garden is starting to come into flower though and I was able to cut my first sunflower of the year today (you can see it in the photo below). This particular sunflower is one of 2 volunteers that somehow grew in the pathway of my flower garden. If I am honest they are in less than an idea spot but I just couldn’t bring myself to uproot them so they will enjoy the summer just where they are.

I also decided to really embrace decorating my home. I have been letting that go a bit and it’s something I love. I decided to start with seasonal decor for my mantel and have 2 more items I am waiting on but they all looked so pretty with the sunflower, bachelor buttons, zinnia and celosia.

And then of course there is art making. It began with a nice clean out of my creative corner. DH moved his desk out and we moved our rabbit Frank in. The best part is Frank’s cage sits under a large desk and with the purchase of shelving I now have a lot more storage for my supplies along with a drying area which was something I really needed.

I cleaned out my rolling carts too. I didn’t have them set up very practically and so I made sure I moved out anything I wasn’t using and put my most used (and loved) items on the top shelves and they are so much more functional-not to mention they look so much better.

I have started sewing a t-shirt but am procrastinating on attempting the v-neck so it’s been sitting aside for me to be in the right frame of mind to learn this new technique. I have been taking part in Carla Sonheim’s collage class and really enjoying it. You can still sign up for the course for lifetime access I believe.

I’m working on embroidering a few pieces of clothing and cannot wait to share them with you. I really want to make more of my own clothes but as I am still working on the sewing skills I felt it would just as fun to make some of my clothing my own. I love embroidery and love that I can sit in the evening with it while we watch a little TV before bed.

I’ve started making some journals and some sticker sheets. I would love to open up a little shop but have been procrastinating there as well. I love making things and I especially love the idea of making stickers since I use them so much but I always seem to determine they aren’t good enough and that’s where it ends. Do you find it hard to make things for others? My eye is always so much more critical that way.

Lastly I have started a collage painting of our home. I am trying out a combination of a class I am taking on Skillshare (this is an affiliate link and you make a purchase using this link I earn a small commission) along with some of my own ideas and of course I will share with you when it’s done.

What have you been working on this summer? I would love to hear! You can always comment down below or message me directly.

Wishing you a lovely day.

Until next time…

-Michele aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Painting Faces

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How are you? I have been working through with the help of some art making. This weekend the weather was a little gray and between puttering in the garden (and bringing in some cut flowers to place in bud vases around the house) I made some art.

I have been working on a theme of small ladies that I would love to turn into stickers. I do love stickers and adding them to journal pages or in memory keeping. I am still fine tuning them. I love how they look as sketches but when I start painting them I feel like they are loosing a little something. Maybe I should try them all in colored pencils?

I am also working on a little paper clay decoration for Father’s Day. I am hoping I can get it done in time-I have been doing a bit here and there as I can. The inspiration came from Sarah Hand’s new book “A Happy Book of Little Gifts to Make” (that’s an affiliate link and if you make a purchase I receive a small commission but it doesn’t cost you any more).
With any luck I can finish it up in time and share some photos with you.

I was also flipping through one of my larger sketchbooks. I don’t know about you but there are certain sketchbooks or art journals I just connect with. It has very little to do with the book itself and I think more to do with how I have created in it so far. If I have been free and having fun just playing with materials I tend to really, really love the book. This is one of those journals. Usually, once I realize that I love the book I suddenly put all this pressure on myself to “keep it going.”
It feels a little like learning to ride a bike-once you realized you are doing it you fall over?

In flipping through this journal I came across I piece I had done a while back that I absolutely loved. I mean, really loved. I just connected with her so much and I am sure it had to do with how I felt creating her. I remember when she was done and I shared her with my family they just smiled and said it was nice. They didn’t quite share my enthusiasm. Art is like that though isn’t it? It can feel like the entire Universe aligned and offered you clarity and then another person can see it and just shrug. Art is so very personal.

I get it-it’s not as if she is a fabulous execution of a face. Still, she meant something to me and flipping back through the journal and seeing her I felt it all over again.

I also felt the call to make another one (and maybe more than one). This time however I felt a little nervous. Afraid I was putting pressure to create the same feeling I had when I made the one above. (I named her “Babette” by the way)
Instead, I picked a background page that had my favorite colors mixed in it and it and just started playing.

Can I say I love her even more?

 

I also love this photo with my messy desk. I took it just to make sure I captured her and instantly knew this would be a part of a post I wanted to share with you.

I am pretty sure this journal is going to be filled with similar girls. I love the two-page spread and there is just something about each of them that speaks something to me.

I hope you like this little peak into what I have been creating over the weekend. I would love to hear what you have been making or creating. Please share in the comments below.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

 

 

 

Getting Ready for a Mini Creative Retreat

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Happy Monday. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and maybe even got some creative time in.

I have been having a tough few weeks. I am struggling with the whole family/life/creativity balance and sometimes it feels a lot more like drowning than balance. On Sunday the hubby took the kids to visit with his parents and I had the house to myself. It was a beautiful spring day, the house was clean and I was able to dig into some creativity and some creative corner cleaning and I thought it would be fun to share a little update with you.

First I want to share with you my first foray into Paper Mache! I know it’s hard to believe but I have no memory of having ever done this before in my life. I have wanted to do it forever but just never got around to it. I think some of the things I read seemed a lot more challenging and it put me off trying it. The truth is-it’s so much fun!

I had ordered Sarah Hand’s book a while back which lead me to her website and then to her online class. I purchased the class and have been watching it over and over working on my ideas for my character and the other day it came to me-a bird with a sunhat!

I have some more plans for this girl to show up in other projects and I’ll be sure to share them with you when I do. For now I just have the base all done and dry and then I need to give it a quick sand and add the paint-something I think I am going to save for my Mini Creative Retreat.

If you are interested in paper mache and a unique project I highly recommend Sarah’s class. It’s really fun and I love her approach.

While I was waiting for my characters to dry I decided to start a much needed creative corner clean-out. We have a built-in hutch in our room which was holding just a miss-match of items so I went through and cleared it out. I also did a big recycle of cardboard and junk mail I was keeping to use in projects. I still have lots to use but it was time to get rid of the hoard.

As you can see I had project baskets (and boxes) and just things tossed everywhere! This is behind our door so it’s usually out of sight which I think is why I let it get so cluttered. The printer is even in the mess of stuff.

And this is how it looks now! It feels so much cleaner and I was even able to get some things off the floor in my creative corner (the giant bag of foam for starters). Now I have everything organized and yet I can still see what I have. I am very visual and if I don’t have my supplies and projects out in front of me I forget I have them. I also need to move things around after a bit because things tend to blend together and I don’t notice them. Like hiding in plain sight.

I also tackled my desk which was full of stuff from a recent project. It didn’t take long at all and I was so happy with the results I couldn’t wait to sit down and create something. I am thinking of going back to putting down paper on my desk to catch all my drips. I stopped doing it because I have such a small space to work on it seemed that I was running out of dry spots on the paper to actually do work on. I might give it a shot again though because I love having the paper to use in backgrounds and mixed media.

This little clean up inspired me to make this a regular habit. I don’t know about you but I always feel so inspired when I am cleaning and “finding” all these supplies. I might just make a mini clean up a regular part of my creative practice.

What about you? Do you like all your supplies hidden away so your space is neat and tidy or do you need to see things? I would love to hear!

This week I am hoping to work on the shelves and the cabinet above the desk along with my sewing cart. I’ll be sure to share more pics when they are done.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Weekly Doodles #2: Video

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I am back today with another weekly doodle session. I am not sure if I will do this every week-consistency and routine is not a virtue of mine. I am however, enjoying the challenge of making little sketches of what I have been up to in the week.

Art shows us so much. It highlights the voices in our heads-sometimes the critical ones that whisper, “you aren’t going to share that are you?” I try to remind this voice that creativity is what we love and what we share not perfection.

This week I am greatly inspired by artist Mindy Lacefield. She does wonderful sketchbook pages adding stickers, washi and pulling them all together with color. I keep that in mind a bit here as I play with some of my newer materials and blend in a few stickers and some her washi.

This week we picked up groceries-including some really yummy french bread.  I went for a few drives in my minivan which I loved, worked in my garden and my 2 youngest had a blast sledding down the giant mulch pile we had delivered in our driveway. I also took part in a zoom call for Mindy’s sticker club which was just so much fun that I had to draw a little sticker book. I also ordered some goodies for Easter so I added a little Easter basket as well.

I colored everything in and had lots of fun with the colors. I would love to tell you that I have a pink minivan but I do not. White however wasn’t really something I could color so I added some whimsy and painted my van my favorite color.

The same is true for my garden fence-it is not pink although I am thinking a pink fence would look beautiful-what do you think? I also don’t have an arbor-yet but it’s in the works for this year.

Have you done any doodling of your week? Having fun and not worrying about it being an exact representation can really make your art so much more enjoyable and interesting. I would love to hear what you are working on.

This week I decided to film my little process and share with you. I sped everything up and added some music so if you have a few minutes why not pull out some of your favorite art supplies and play along?

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Little and Often: Sharing My Creative Week

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I am sitting with a cup of coffee as the snow and ice fall outside. My oldest two are enjoying their video games and my youngest is happily pushing her dolls around in her Hello Kitty carriage while simultaneously sneaking candy.

I was able to enjoy a decent amount of creative time this week and to spend it in my favorite way-little bits of time through out the day. Embracing my natural self, the person I truly am seems to be a longer process than I had thought it would be. Realizing all of the ways I have limited, trimmed, scolded or adopted things that really have nothing to do with me seems to be a process I don’t imagine I will ever be done with. Even as I write this I hear voices whispering their beliefs and criticisms of what I am saying. Recognizing what’s truth and what’s not is a practice I am learning to be gentle with so I can see it and then just let it go.

I have been reclaiming my creative time too.  Letting it be time spent being creative without expecting anything other than time enjoyed being creative. It’s a subtle switch but one that releases me into my creativity and allows me to play and enjoy my time in my little creative world.

Little and often is my favorite way to be in the world. I am not a project person-someone who likes to clear a day to dig in, upset and resettle something. I like to pick, doing a bit here and a bit there as I move through out a day consisting of little or no plans other than to eat and sleep at some point.

It’s a different way to exist in a world that has times for everything. A time we should be in bed and a time we should wake up. A time we should accomplish certain things and a time when those things should come to an end. I releasing myself from the burden of “shoulds” and of time as much as I can manage. I have long thought about letting go of clocks all together, perhaps even dates and days of the week all together. To focus more on just being and experiencing life rather than rushing towards a destination.

As with anything it starts small. It starts with releasing expectations around the easier places, the safe places like my creative corner. To allow myself and my creativity to be with one another without the expectation of more or tainting the experience by a judgment for what it should look like or result in the end.

I hope you are able to find some gentle time with your creativity. To meet it happily and with no other goal than to enjoy each other’s company. I hope as you move into the weekend you are able to do so with a gentle disregard for time and to focus rather on the being in the now.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante