Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Grid layout

I'm trying to study what it is about pleasing design that is pleasing. In this layout, I notice the grid ... I also like text as one of the components of a collage. And I'm learning from Polyvore that the text doesn't have to be vintage. Plain old modern handwriting looks great too and more contemporary...(altho on this layout, you can't really see since it's so small ... which works too)
Princess..
Princess.. - by juliette one (busy) on Polyvore.com

Polyvore brown palette

BEING HAPPY
Being happy...
Being happy... - by juliette one (busy) on Polyvore.com
and more from this same designer
La natura intorno a me..
La natura intorno a me.. - by juliette one (busy) on Polyvore.com
Summer love
Summer love - by juliette one (busy) on Polyvore.com
Eternity
Eternity - by juliette one (busy) on Polyvore.com
Princess..
Princess.. - by juliette one (busy) on Polyvore.com

Monday, March 30, 2009

Reiki Class Tomorrow

Location: North Community Service Center
Dates: Tuesdays, March 31st & April 7th
Time: 5:30 – 9:30pm
Facilitator: Susan Lockwood

Polyvor

Yikes... this could get addictive!!! Polyvore is a free, easy-to-use web-based application for mixing and matching images from anywhere on the web. It is also a vibrant community of creative people. Polyvore lets you create sets composed of individual images using a drag and drop editor. After you have created a set, you can publish and share it.
Salt in the Snow
Salt in the Snow - by Carology eats danger on Polyvore.com
determination & joy
determination & joy - by *Heather Thomas on Polyvore.com
Fly Away
Fly Away - by HuTcHy ♥Taking ICON Requests♥ on Polyvore.com
Cold As You
Cold As You - by ℓiσn.&.the.ℓαмb ♥ [quel garçon?] on Polyvore.com
One more day, just one more
One more day, just one more - by Carology eats danger on Polyvore.com
live life on the edge
live life on the edge - by LadyInkஜ on Polyvore.com
.ℓa ℓa ℓies. [PART 7]
.ℓa ℓa ℓies. [PART 7] - by ℓiσn.&.the.ℓαмb ♥ [quel garçon?] on Polyvore.com
Dance with your heart
Dance with your heart - by Lauren T on Polyvore.com

No More Anemia

I just got a call from Dr. A's office and the result of my blood test earlier today shows I have normal levels of hemoglobin and hemocrit. Good news.

Mothers

Juliana sent this, saying "I thought this was good, but I deleted out all the moralizing messages. I think the age range should go quite a bit higher with more messages as women age to 75, 85 and maybe beyond. Looks like we are in the past tense at 65!" ... Juliana
The Images of Mother
4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!
8 YEARS - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!
12 YEARS - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.
14 YEARS - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.
16 YEARS - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.
18 YEARS - That old woman? She's way out of date!
25 YEARS - Well, she might know a little bit about it!
35 YEARS - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.
45 YEARS - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?
65 YEARS - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

My reply ... Hi Juliana. I liked this a lot. It made me reflect on my own continued connection to my mother. The other day, I was talking to my brother and I don't know what exactly I said, but he replied "That's exactly the way mom would have said that" (evidentally I was using a figure of speech that was uniquely hers and that I've woven into my vocabulary)... I would feel very good indeed about my growth as a human being if I felt I had woven more of my mother into my own personality. I hope that happens over time.

Randal Plowman "Once Removed"

Randel Plowman's show, "Once Removed" is opening in Cincinatti... I like his work...

"Perfume"

Last night we watch "Perfume" about "an obsessive French perfumer with a highly developed olfactory sense and an all-consuming drive to capture the essence of love eventually resorts to murder in his quest to find the key ingredient for his recipe". Very strange and graphic. Slow-moving. I fell asleep early. B. watched it all. I wouldn't recommend it.

"Connect" by Edward Hallowell

I'm heading to the library to return a stack of books, incl. Connect: 12 Vital Ties That Open Your Heart, Lengthen Your Life, and Deepen Your Soul by Edward M. Hallowell. Interesting. Hallowell urges readers to "make time for connectedness," which he alternately defines as having person-to-person interaction or being involved with something greater than oneself. He identifies "Twelve Points of Connection" (marriage, family, friends, work, beauty, the past, nature, pets, ideas and information, institutions, religious concerns, and self-knowledge) that can supply this grounding. Though a healthy individual need not be connected to all of these points, Hallowell asserts that some meaningful connection is required to promote longevity and personal happiness.

Interview with Eric Maisel

Eric Maisel, a coach for creative people, and an author of many books helping folk to be creative. In this interview, he talks about how you don't "FIND" meaning in life, you "MAKE" meaning. Very interesting.

Idea: Personal Historian

Hmmmm. An interesting idea ... to become a "Personal Historian" I need to look more closely at their website: Association of Personal Historians.

Personal Historian Collage Blog Party

You're invited to a "blog Party" on Friday, April 17, to be hosted by Carla Passino, a personal historian and member of the Association of Personal Historians who helps people preserve memories using artwork. While most personal historians write or edit memoirs or compile video or photo archives for their clients, Carla uses artwork to capture stories, creating collages that combine meaningful photographs, images and text to tell a client's story. You can learn more at her website Leafdays.com.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Seena Frost: Radio Interview


Listen to this wonderful interview with Seena Frost and "Soul Collage". You need to go farther down on the page to find the download of this radio interview. And along the way are other interviews that I'd like to listen to when I get a chance.

Soul Collage

Laura Bolster writes about her experience with SoulCollage, after taking a class taught by Suzie Wolfer. She says "The process, a rather magical one, connected deeply with my intuition."

SoulCollage® created by Seena Frost is an inward exploration seeking personal wisdom. Bolster writes "While some go to church seeking wisdom and some go to nature, with soul collage, you go to your studio." She says "You might start the process by asking yourself a question seeking direction, wisdom, or insight, such as “Who is the one within myself that creates a daily life and routine that I love, feel vital in, and grateful for?” As an artist you often create your own structures, your own routines, and your own deadlines. No institution, boss, or schedule necessarily carves out your daily routines. It’s a question which continues to beg an answer in my life.

After the collage was finished, Bolster studied it and reflected in her journal: "I am the one who smiles at the simple beauties and the one who finds marvelous curves in the calla lily folds. I am the one who loves the riches of burnt crimson and the intricately woven Japanese tapestries. I am also the one who recognizes that the slow, methodical, and steady pace of the tortoise is wise and the one who accomplishes the race. I am the one who remembers to peer out the window gazing at the falling orange leaves and who cups her hands in a graceful gesture to accept the world’s many and abundant gifts. I am the one who has deep and abiding wisdom and whose eyes are piercing."

Learned Optimism by Martin Selegman

"Habits of thinking need not be forever. One of the most significant findings in psychology in the last twenty years is that individuals can choose the way they think." ~ Martin Seligman from Learned Optimism

"I can ‘learn' optimism?!?"
Yes, according to psychologist Dr. Martin Seligman, past President of the APA, visionary behind the Positive Psychology movement and one of the leading psychologists in the world, has spent the last three and a half decades researching the influence of optimism on our lives. Much of his work is presented in his book Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life.

Soul Portal Paintings

...from "Soul Portal Paintings" by Lila Starr... find them blog

Project: Reiki Journal

Reiki Journal uses book board, handmade paper, polymr clay. Instructions by Colleen Benelli, a Reiki master who also teaches "Soul Collage", by the way, and is based in Sandy, Oregon.

She offers a soul collage workshop $495 resident, $295 commuter for Fri5pm-Sun3pm. Ouch of the price. I like the idea of doing a self-created workshop with a few kindred spirits.

Soul Collage by Seena Frost

This card was created by Seena Frost, the originator of "Soul Collage". This card is from the "Companion" suit, representing the second chakra, the place of creativity. Here are Sheila's words regarding this card: I am the one in whom creativity and color are inextricably combined. I am the one who desires to express my creativity in expressions of peace. I am the one whose creativity is flowering and bearing
fruit.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

HowTo Make Hardcover Book

Great youtube on how to make a hardcover book with 8 signatures and 3 tapes. And this one (in Dutch) shows another version using a press

Into The Deep Blue Me

Into the Deep Blue Me is the very cool daily art journal for Arteefaque: (är'tə-fākt'), the inspiration behind Blissfully Art Journaling, an awesome yahoo group all about doing daily entries in an art journal. Arteefaque is the most "daily" of all the members.

About this entry, she writes "Prompt: WORDS: I agonised about what words I love the best or word or sequence of words. Then I supposed that this is journaling with art and I came up with own: Beautiful Colours. The sequence renders peace, happiness and a fair amount of joy no matter what the colours. This example: tryng out beautiful colours. Materials: Atelier Acrylic paint and a PITT pen, digital words.

Project 365

I love the idea of doing one photograph a day. What a great way to generate and maintain momentum on a project. I Can Only Imagine blogs one artist's daily photo project. She says "I'm not a photographer, but I think I secretly want to try to be one. This project really appealed to me as I have begun to like to have to do something artful daily. Even if it is one part pertaining to the overall project. The photo requirement for each day is wide open. It can be anything, especially the ordinary! Just a snippet of your life everyday. Your likes, your loves, your hates, your pet peeves, etc. Totally fun and spontanious."

Her first entry reads "This project begins with the most special person in my life. My Hero... My Life.. My love".

(Finished pieces measure 8" x 4")

MixedMediaArtLinks Yahoo Group

Just joined: MixedMediaArtLinks: described as "a comprehensive listings of links to ATC's, Fabric Art, Images to Print, Art Dolls, Found Object Art, Altered Art, Artsy Paper Dolls, Book Making, Bottle Cap Art, Altered Tins, Polymer Clay, Collage, Outsider Art, Altered Books, Artsy Fonts, Free Stuff, Game Piece Art, Altered Playing Cards, Art Jewelry, Bead Making, Journaling, Paper Making, Tag Art, Galleries, Project Sites, Technique Sites". We'll see.
Self Portrait by Laura

Scrappin for Alzheimers

Scappin for Alzheimers is a scrapbooking project that is meant to encourage conversation, connecting and reminiscence with a person with dementia. Having a hands-on project helps to open lines of communication, giving everyone something to do and also takes any pressure to perform away from the person with dementia.

This is not just finishing a scrapbook; but rather, doing a scrapbook for grandfather. It is a different motivation. Later, the scrapbook can be used as a reminiscence tool with the person with dementia. And it will always be remembered as the handy-work of the loved one with dementia. One family video-taped the scrappin’ experience as a keepsake.

Many persons in the early stages of dementia are still able to reminisce. Reminiscence is a way for people to share stories and feelings about their past. Scrappin’ sets the stage. There are big misunderstandings about reminiscing. Often people are concerned because people with dementia don’t remember things correctly. However, this doesn’t matter. You may also find that persons with dementia talk as if they are living in the past. That is fine too. The point is that they have the opportunity to talk about things important to them, not that they get it right. In this case, the scrapbook project is not a historical product; it is an interaction piece.

One concern people have about reminiscing is that persons with dementia retell the same story, over and over again. But all of us must remember that it’s not about us. It’s about the person with Alzheimer’s disease – the world’s most boring disease for the person affected. We accept repetition and focus on the loved one’s current retelling – as if it were the first time we heard that same story. It is her story and telling it over again may make her just as happy as the first time she told it. Reminiscing is an opportunity for all caregivers to do a simple thing - listen. Scrappin’ for Alzheimer’s invites us to do that.

Even a visiting relative or neighbor – who doesn’t know how to communicate with the person with Alzheimer’s – can be coached on scrapbooking. Its like working a puzzle. Anyone can pick up where they left off. Scappin’ encourages more people to spend more time with the person with dementia.

As important as it is for us to remember to listen to the person with dementia, it will be just as important for us to talk to her she can no longer speak. But it's been shown that the person with dementia in an assisted care setting, who is more talkative, is the one who gets talked to the most. Scrappin’ for Alzheimer’s is about conversation and is a means of increased interaction and social engagement for the person with dementia.

The type of conversation you have with the person with dementia depends on the level of dementia. Some with less advanced dementia are much more likely to reminisce, but talking to a person with advanced dementia requires more skills. It may involve no words at all - a different kind of “conversation.” It’s called “sharing the moment.”

It’s important that caregivers talk to the person they are caring for. Scrapbooking and life story-telling can be a catalyst for conversation. Having a conversation with a person with dementia can be frustrating, but if we shift our expectation of the conversation, the process will become easier. Don’t expect it to always make sense. The goal of conversation with the person with dementia is to engage them in whatever way possible. The person with dementia will engage in conversation differently. Scrappin’ can help.

Depending on the type of brain damage they have, some people with dementia cannot speak but can understand what is being said to them. Others cannot understand what is being said to them but can speak. Some people cannot speak or understand. So, we cannot assume people with dementia cannot understand just because they cannot speak. Never stop trying to communicate with the person with dementia. Never underestimate what she understands and never say anything in her presence you wouldn’t want her to understand. In spite of all their language losses, people with dementia are good at understanding your body language, tone of voice, gestures and facial expressions. This skill continues almost to the end.

Legacy Project

The Legacy Project is an organized way to collect, save, and store a family tree with historical information and stories, photographs, audio and video recordings, articles, and documents of significant life events and achievements. It is a practical way of capturing a family’s history filled with its memories and the precious events that represent an individual’s—along with a family’s—life story. It is a way to capture a person’s history, thoughts, hopes, dreams and wishes and what those will mean to a future generation.

The goals of The Legacy Project are to give a family a clearer understanding of the meaning of their life history, love and interrelationships, and to create a record that will exemplify the significance of the family’s life story. Through personal and family interviews, via the videotaped family history, one can have a permanent life record of memories that can have great significance for future generations.
Read The 5 Steps to Creating Your Legacy Project.

A great project for the whole family and a way to share precious memories down through the generations is with a heritage scrapbook.
Learn more here.

Digital Scrapbook for Dementia

Here it is, the middle of the night, and I can't sleep, my mind is going round and round about how I might help to build a scrapbook for my friend, Sally, who has Alzheimer's Disease. The other day, I brought my pooch Daisy over for a visit, and wow did that open up the lines of communication. At one point, Sally held Daisy's face up to her own and said "I love you. I love you. I love you" over and over. As nice as it was that Daisy was able to help Sally express her love, I wondered how we could find a way for her to say "I love you" to her own grandchildren, in the midst of fading memory.

Thinking of some sort of scrapbook, I started to search, finding an article, What worked for me, in the UK Times Online by Said Dajani, media manager for the UK's Alzheimer’s Society. Dajani came up with the idea of a digital DVD scrapbook to collect photos, videos and music for people with dementia and their caregivers, an idea that won a Microsoft DesignIT competition, including £15,000 for development work and access to Microsoft’s web developers. Dajani says "Reminiscence therapy is an established technique designed to help people with dementia by stimulating memories through activities and conversation."

Dajani and his group has already conducted focus groups with people with dementia and their caregivers and found that both groups liked the idea of family members populating the scrapbook, exporting it to DVD, and then showing the DVD to care home staff, to help staff gain an understanding of the person behind the condition.

They plan to use existing websites such as Facebook and Flickr to gather content. They also need to work out a way to include music, which is so helpful in the recollection of memories.

"The scrapbook idea is dear to my heart,” says Bruce Bovill, whose wife Janice has dementia. When Janice moved into a care home in 2001, Bovill plastered the walls of her room with photos of their life together. “I did it mostly for me,” he says. But he believes that it has affected the way staff care for his wife.

Bovill says that professional caregivers will be one of the main groups to benefit from the digital scrapbook. He says “They see people at the worst stages of their illness,” Instead of seeing people for their sometimes strange behaviours, the scrapbook would “engineer a change in the way you see them”. He says that the scrapbook would need to be easy to use as potential users could range from grandchildren to elderly spouses. He says he is "keen to test it out."

"Scrapbooks and memory boxes have been in use and promoted by us for a number of years." writes Sharon Edens, Nottingham, UK. "They can improve the quality of life for those living with dementia and their caregivers and families."

With a scrapbook, families can do more than come and sit; they can use the photos and memories to stimulate conversation. Although it may appear to be a one-sided conversation, it really does improve the quality of life for the person with dementia. She says "memory boxes can be as small as a shoe box or as big as a you want, as long as those items within are significant to the person living with the dementia and stimulate communication."

Friday, March 27, 2009

That Artist Woman

That Artist Woman Chronicles of a Developing Artist

3 More by Laura

Earthworks II Series ...
Small piece about a 9 x 13 size matted and framed.
I'm selling them for 95.00 a piece in her shop.
There are 7 all together,

Lonecrow Art

I love this collage by Laura Lein-Svencner a hand papermaker and collage artist from Illinois. Her blog is Lonecrow Art.


Red Rock- final mat and frame 24 x 24

Red Sky

Quote for Today

I have noticed that the people who are late are often so much jollier than
the people who have to wait for them.
- E. V. Lucas

Part of being sane, is being a little bit crazy.
- Janet Long

"It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are."
- e.e. cummings

50 Birds

50 Birds is a "coloring book" with line drawings of 50 different birds (alongside painted versions of the same images). Looks like an excellent clipart resource for adding bird images to collages ... and also a neat "coloring book" activity to try with my dementia patients.


Collage A Day

A Collage a Day is Randel Plowman's ongoing project of creating and posting a new 4" x 4" collage every day. I so love his work.

Inspires me to play with (brainstorming...keeping unique to local area) windsurfing, sailing, sails, kiting, kites, fish, seashells, leaves, chairs, sheet music, trigonometry, geometry, old textbooks, vintage airflight diagrams, 50 state birds, bicycling, anatomy, reflexology parts, sign language, "to mom for everything", "wireless transmission", "cell phone", "text message", "the greatest dad (and other greeting card stmts), French phrases, oldie song titles/lyrics, classics sontata names, composers, names of foreign songs, astronomy, empty nest, literature, poetry, poets, writers, classic book titles...

Weight of the World


Air Pocket



Windy Day

The Studio Garden

I came across Christine Adolf's blog The Studio Garden I love this painting of the 4 flowers.


... and her cute idea for easy Valentine cards...