Finishing February

The lovely holiday is finished.  They have such colourful rosy grosbeaks in Ontario.  The hoar frost was amazing.

The 'puter is back from its spa and seems kinda cranky but it needs to have an attitude check as that is as good as it gets!  lol

I finished the No Compromise Decorating book and I have already been doing my decorating with 'out of the box' thinking and just need to translate some of that to my mixed media approach.  Lynette Jennings, the author, suggests getting to know your space and and your style.  This is an ongoing evolution that is part of life but sometimes it is good to stop and take stock of where one is.  "Your taste, what your eye sees as beauty, has a self-coordinating effect once you edit out the things you don't like."  Then sort, prioritize, rearrange, and recolour.  It is already there but the clutter creates confusion and the uglies will pull you/compromise you where you do not want to go. Your home is a collage of things you love, arranged comfortably and you do that to your own sensibilities.
So-
1) go with the flow (traffic patterns)
2) analyze how you live (remove the names of the rooms on the floor plan)
3) find where your very most favourite spot is and decorate from there (sofa corner with a window view)
4) realize that what you luv may not be feasible but it should be what you like, truly like  (luv modern but not neat)

I already switched my small dining room into a sitting room with no couch.  The living room is our dining room and the master bed room is the sewing room.  The kitchen is now under the spotlight!  De cluttering is happening and grouping similar things/colours is enlightening.

I now need to stop compromising with my art and apply these excellent principles to it!  

My class on Getting Started is up to date.  I finished the basics of gelli printing.  That is a LOT of fun.  I added paint, I subtracted paint.  I got layers happening but I think the biggest aha! was on the intentional gelli printing.

 I need to get better at it and the mono printing itself is very serendipitous but I liked it.  The left page is the painty paper shapes laid on a spare page.  The centre is my gelli printed paper with some layers on it.  The right paper is a catch all and the cut shapes are laid on it and can be collaged on.  :)

We are waiting on the contractor for the go ahead on the front rooms.  So our thoughts are turning to the kitchen.  A visit to the new IKEA in the city sparked all kinds of dialogue!  I want it pretty and 'he who cooks' wants to know where all the pots are going!  lol  

I had an aha! moment a week ago.  Life is far too short to stress over the past.  Reconcile and move on.  So this wedding quilt is a promise to be met and finished as best as I can make it.  After chatting with my DD we will go with the floral and the new green and asap!  I have one more month to complete my goals for the finish a long.  The dreaded coveralls are hemmed and it will be full steam ahead!

The light is going so perhaps I'll post the calendar journal another day.

February is finished and I am marching purposefully into the final month of winter!