Red Thread Circles

 In this week's Creative Resilience class with Cindy Jacobs , the quality / trait explored is Courage.  In the 8 classes, we use our journals for insights, then move on to  Soul Collage and Mixed media to  craft cards.  Courage  (central image - Leah P Kolidas) My Courage Ally invites me to: Stand strong Stay grounded and do my daily practices Speak the truth Maintain vigilance  Bathe in the water of life Remember starlight Cindy included 'Wonder Woman' amongst a group of images we could print and use. One sister included WW on card, and spoke of her lariat of Truth, and Bracelets symbolizing freedom from shackles.  Wonder Woman first appeared in 1941, during WWII, and 'was originally depicted fighting the fascist/Axis forces and supervillains.'  Thank you WW, for your oh-so  Timely appearance! Her symbols include Greek Golden eagle  Lasso of Hestia (lie/truth detector) Steel Braclets - freedom from shackles  Tiara - serves a...

  Last week I joined  Cindy Jacobs 's playshop, combining S oulCollage® Expressive Arts, and Intentional Creativity, to explore ways to support our Word of the Year . Cindy loves making and using little cards for inspiration and reminders, and I enjoyed her tips and tricks.  We created a  S oulCollage®  Visionary archetype or Neter card, and began a dozen Mixed media cards (3×4") - we will add to both decks each month over the year. (Neter is a word used by the Egyptians for cosmic beings and qualities) Visionary Neter For the little deck of Visionary qualities, I used stencils and Gel medium on Mixed media paper for texture, colored using neocolor 2 crayons, sealed with medium, and glued the sheets to junk mail Flyers, and painted the backs.  After cutting out a dozen cards, I  painted the edges with metallic acrylic, and made a couple of bookmarks and smaller cards from the scraps.  Cards in process There are so many ways to create cards!  ...

  A few weeks ago, I crafted a card in a Word of the Year playshop with my friend Kathleen.... and I'm excited to join our own  Cindy Jacobs  in a year long journey to  energize our Words, using Soul Collage™ and Intentional Creativity! (Here's a SoulCollage card I made in 2010!) Queen bee During each of our monthly classes, we'll use creative processes to gain further insights into working with our Words, and keep the energy of our intentions alive.  In our first session this Friday, we'll explore the theme of our ’inner Visionary’  creating and 'meeting' a Soul Collage™ Visionary card. Time will be allotted for Journaling, and crafting background papers for several Mixed Media visionary cards. Cindy has chosen a Word of the Year for 14 years, and loves using creative processes to explore and  activate  her words! This is a great way to set your intention for what you'd like to accomplish and gain clarity. Each 3 hour session is offered on a p...

  We had a great Circle yesterday, with 2 hosts and 15 guests joining, sharing insights and creativity!  My inquiry was, 'what guides you? What's your inner Compass?' We   drew inspiration from this practice of Bonnie Smith Whitehouse, which I've been following most days. January 23 RT Creatives Studies have found what we already *knew* -that doing a creative practice early in the day stimulates our body's production of the 'feel-good' neurotransmitter dopamine, and is uplifting. Inner peace and self-awareness requires cultivation.  Drawing and filling a circle is a sweet way to take Tea with the Muse, and tend our inner gardens. Take a moment to center, pour a cuppa, light a candle, tug your Red Thread Work on paper, canvas, your Smashbook / art journal, or on a card Use a template to draw a circle (coaster, small cup, ... Options: Invite insights for the day Put 'scary things' inside a circle and form up the boundary Metacognative drawing  Neurogr...

  It's almost time for our February offering - Resetting the space of your Living Altar - a reset with a creative sizzle!  Last year, my virtual friend  Katy  from our  Intentional Creativity  community invited me to co-host the month long challenge, this will be the second year I'm helping facilitate.  You can join our Facebook group  here Red Thread At the end of a workshop, our IC teacher  Shiloh  issued this invitation:  " I would love for you to finish your painting if you haven’t, and then to clean your studio. Reset your altars. Make new room for the sprouts to come up through the ashes. You need space and time to see what’s coming up and what wants to be shared and prepared for...." Whatever your space and projects, giving time and attention to a reset often inspires us, and gives access to new ideas and insights.  Begun in 2020, the Reset group description reads,  "think of this, what if your whole home was ...

  For Several years, my friend Kathleen has offered a Word of the Year Playshop at our church in January. In 2023 my  word was Weave , and in 2024, Balance (Kauliki)  Kathleen generally offers a more linear approach - using Dictionaries and Thesauri, after a quick review and release of any 'baggage' from the year just past, and then we decorated an Arrow .... This year , she invited a friend who facilitates SoulCollage (tm) to join us, and we chose images! Both Kathleen and Deandra brought a bunch of images from magazines, cards and calendars, and laid them out on several tables,  for us to gather from.  Card size is general 5×7" or 5x8" and we could choose from several colours of mat board for our background . Other materials included an index card, glue sticks and scissors.  My workstation We did a quick year review and release, then choose images, and started to fine tune and arrange them. After we'd glued the images, we paired up, and one of the dyad a...

 ᎤᎵᎮᎵᏍᏗ  ᎢᏤ  ᎠᏕᏘᏱᏍᎬᎢ   U-li-he-lis-di  i-tse  a-de-ti-yi-s-gv-i / happy new year! What's on your creative table in 2025? For 2024, our pastor Erika Marksbury got a grant to use Bonnie Smith Whitehouse 's lovely book, Seasons of Wonder, for inspiration and focus. The grant covered copies of the book for the congregation, plus supplies for our monthly Makers Meetings and funds for field trips; and we met in small groups for monthly discussion.  I really enjoy Bonnie's approach of interweaving gathering as a circle (!!), sharing creativity, connecting with nature, each other and the Divine. I've ordered her Kickstart Creativity  cards. In the introduction, Bonnie quotes Steven Charleston ,  ' It is all a circle, the ancestors said -- an endless circle within a circle. The drum is a circle.  The dance ground is a circle. The earth is a circle.  There is no us or them, no top or bottom, no beginning or end, no lines of division -- o...