Thursday {Treasury}

Hi everyone! How has your day been? I have to be honest with you all I don't really have the time to do this post today. That's why it's so late. I'm so busy working on this exhibition but if I don't post it today, tomorrow won't exactly be better so I have just had to make time.

So today, as I said, has been another busy day working on work for the exhibition. I can't believe it is a WEEK till the day that I hang my work and 9 days till the open night!!! Ahhhh!! But, I'm not exactly behind on the work or anything, I just need to make sure that I keep up at this pace so that I won't end up falling behind. You have to prepare for the worse sometimes don't you? (although I don't really like having that kind of negative attitude, I suppose it's more about being practical really)
I've had so many different meetings and appointments scattered through out my days this week as well that it's made me feel like I haven't got any real work done. Today was the first solid day I've had all this week and I feel like it has been a productive day so that is good at least. I was actually starting to get really inspired in the last hour of work this evening just before himself rang me to say he was outside ( we had planned to go for a walk in the park when he got in from work) and I would have loved to get back to my desk for a few hours when we got back but because he gets up super early (5am ish) he goes to bed a baby-time (10pm) and so because my art desk is in our bedroom I never get to work that late. However, that may all be about to change in the very near future but that is another day, another post.

Anyway, even with my limited time I did manage to assemble a treasury because after all it is Thursday. The show must go on. Let's be havin' it...

This week is all about wire. I am seriously digging wire lately, I just can't get enough of the stuff. I want to add it to every project I do but I have to be careful not to over do it at the same time. Now, although I can't reveal any pictures of the artwork that I have been creating for this upcoming exhibition until after it closes I can tell you that there are a few wire elements included in my work and it has been SO much fun working with it.

I was inspired to make this treasury from a project that I pinned on, wait for it, you guessed it, Pinterest (the website that is slowly ruining my life)

pinterest

Now, you all know Pinterest I'm sure, there are like 100 million crafty project on there everyday and I do pin a lot of them but honestly have little or no intention of carrying them out, realistically. But something about this project really called to me, which is funny really because I don't do sculpture. At all. I never have. I remember having to do a clay sculpture in art class at school and hating it. I made a complete mess of it because I'm not really that good at manipulating a whole piece into how I want it. I can manipulate parts of things, or sculpt pieces on a smaller scale but I have never gravitated towards anything that resembles sculpture. Ever. Except for this. I mean, I would call this a sculpture of sorts, wouldn't you? Anyway, what I'm trying to say in not so many words is that I love it! And I want to try it and I plan to.....Just as soon as this exhibition open night is over. 

Oh..how my life will be so different after the open night right? All the free time I will have, all the many projects I can try, all the yummy food I can cook and books I'll read and movies I'll watch.

YEAH RIGHT!! As if. I keep talking as if once I get over this open night I am gonna have a easy breezy time but of course I won't haha...I'll need to start working on something else after that. 

Ugh, being a grown up.

However, if I do make this wire tree thingy, which is highly likely I will admit because of my new found love for wire (and I have a bit of a thing for beads too so it's a win win really) I will post pics of it etc etc. 

And maybe you will give it a go, or perhaps you will look at wire differently now and try to incorporate it into your own projects in the future whatever they may be. Please please PRETTY PLEASE leave me a comment if you wish to and also if you do end up making something inspired from this treasury or any of my other treasuries for that matter do not hesitate to email me a few photos and I will display them on my blog. Proudly ;)

Thanks for letting me ramble on 

Take care + get creative

Ciara

xoxo

Mixed Media Art Tip #1

Re-use unwanted canvases

I picked up this canvas in a £1 shop because for it's shape and size, to buy new and unused it would have been a lot more expensive. I knew, because of the type of art that I create, I could re-use this canvas and no one would ever know that there used to be another image underneath.

As you can see I have applied a generous coat of gesso to the entire canvas and although the original image is showing through faintly, that will not be a problem when I start to use it for whatever I decide to use it for because it will be covered up completely with paper, paint, maybe more gesso etc.

This is a win win situation for me because (like any artist and any business person for that matter) I am always trying to find ways to cut my costs without compromising my artwork and I am also very interested in trying to reduce waste in the art community.

So, have a dig around your charity shops, home decor shops, Pound shops etc. Start comparing prices and use your imagination, start thinking about the possibilities. 

Ciara

xoxo

10 Things You Didn't Know About Me...

1. I played a rat in a production of the Pied Piper of Hamelin when I was in primary school.

2. The feeling of my fingernails bending or scraping against something makes me feel very unwell and uneasy.

3. I used to read 'The Babysitter Club' books as a pre-teen and because it brought me so much nostalgic joy when I came across a copy of one of the books in a charity shop recently I couldn't leave it there. It now sits proudly on my bookshelf.

4. I will only cook with Olive Oil, preferably Extra Virgin.

5. As a young child, at bedtime I would get my Mam to confirm to me that there was indeed "no robbers in Ireland". Of course I believed her!

6. I used to be part of a young writers group while at school and some of our work was published in a book and read out on local radio.

7. I trained myself to like marmalade because it was something that I just wanted to like. I despised it as a child but now I love it!

8. The first concert I ever went to was the boy band Five. My Mam took me and we bought a green foam hand. The most recent concert I've been to was Duran Duran. I took my Mam this time round and she touched Simon Le Bon's arm and squealed.

9. Until recently I thought when people said 'para-phrasing' they were saying 'power-phrasing'.

10. I am happier while being by the sea. I feel a little suffocated in the city I live in now because it is land-locked but luckily our apartment overlooks a river and that helps a little. However, when I visit home I take a good long look at the sea the day before I leave.

Take care

Ciara

xoxo

Exhibition Details + Thursday {Treasury}

Hi everyone!

As I said in the last post, I am going to be putting on an exhibition of my art work soon and I want to take this time to give the full details.

The exhibition is called "Awaken" - art for the lost and found, an exhibition of my mixed media canvases and it will be held in The Montgomery Hall, Surrey Street, Sheffield, S1 2LG. The opening night is on the 7th of September and it is in association with Light Night which is a fantastic event that is being run by Art in the Park. Light Night is a city wide event that gives professional and emerging artists a platform to exhibit their art form. It runs from 4pm - 9.30pm and during that time there is a lot planned for the night already such as workshops, performances, showcases, exhibitions and much more. I am extremely excited to be part of it and I just CAN'T wait for the night to arrive, it's like Christmas for me!! lol!

The venue asked me to exhibit my work for 7 weeks in total so if you miss Light Night and can't make the opening night for any reason don't work, you have until the 28th of October to go and see my exhibition. The Montgomery Hall is open from 9am till 4pm Monday - Friday (unless there is some other event on of course)

I am over the moon, floating on air, thrilled to bits, whatever way you want to put it, about being asked to extend my exhibition longer than just the original date of  Light Night. Having my own art exhibition has always been a dream of mine, it is something that I dreamt about as a child even, a very young child. And now here it is, it is finally happening for me. Not everyone gets the opportunity to say "my life long dream has come true" I mean when I think about that for a minute I get emotional! It's a miracle! I am so so so lucky. I am lucky but I did work hard for it and I still work hard for it, I have a lot of work to do leading up to the night of course. I put myself out there and I think that is a brave thing to do as well so I am grateful that I have the strength and the courage to do that, to follow my dreams. That is what I mean by luck I think.

So anyway, I hope you all get to come to the opening night (did I mention you are all invited) I will be there and so you may have the opportunity to ask me any questions you have about the artwork or anything else about my creative process/journey you would like to know. There will probably be refreshments etc, you know the drill. Hope to see you there!

On another note, it's time for Thursday Treasury...

You know the colours of Neapolitan ice cream? Well those colours are the essence of those gorgeous, fluffy colours. If colours were tangible, these colours would be clouds, or at the very least candy floss. This treasury is a last attempt to celebrate the beauty of Summer before the seasons change again.

You can find out all you need to know about this treasury here which includes the relevant shops and sellers.
My inspiration for this treasury came from a photo in a home decor magazine that I like to flick through every now and then. Of course I cut it out and stuck it in my colour inspiration journal.

I hope you enjoy this treasury and perhaps are inspired by it in some way. If so, do share with me what you end up creating, you know I love to see what others get up to.

Thanks once again for letting me share this events and little goings-ons in my life with you.
I'll be back soon.

Take care

Ciara
xoxo

Good Monday Morning

 Monday again, start of a new week, a fresh start for us all...I am gonna be SUPER busy this week (and the next) because I can finally announce that I will be putting on my first solo exhibition on the 7th September!! It's called "Awaken - art for the lost and found" and it is being held at The Montgomery Hall, Surrey Street, Sheffield but I will write up a separate blog post with all the information later this week. But for now...I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!! I just want to squeal!!
But obviously that also means I have a LOT of work to do in between now and then. I have been working a lot in my journals lately, getting prepared for the big day.

As always, I find that my journals really help to get the creative process going and also helps me to clear my mind of all the fuss and then after I complete a page or 2, I can get down to business.

However, it's not all work around here, I did get some time to relax this weekend, and boy did I relax lol! As a matter of fact apart from doing a shift in the pub on Saturday night, relaxing is pretty much all I did this weekend!! We ate yummy food including an amazing Crock Pot dessert I found a recipe for on Pinterest (my two best friends of course, Crock Pot + Pinterest)

pinterest

Have you tried it? I urge you to! Mine didn't quite turn out like that, mine was all brown like chocolate when it came out, and it wasn't really like cookie-ish (if you know what I mean) it was more cake like but it was still amazing and topped with vanilla ice cream it made the perfect accompaniment to Training Day. Nothing wrong with a bit of Denzel and a chocolate dessert on a Sunday evening, what do you say? Lol! 

I also got around to doing a bit more of a crochet blanket I have been working on too

Nearly there now! Won't be long till I will be snuggling up with that on a winter's night :) Anyway as we both know, I really REALLY need to get to work now. Thanks for letting me share, I hope you all had a nice, relaxing weekend and have a great, productive, successful Monday because I know I will.

Blessings,

Ciara

xoxo

Completed Canvas + Thursday Treasury

Good morning lovelies! How are you all this beautiful morning?
I have finished the positivity canvas that I was working on for our living room and as promised I have some pictures to share with you.

As you can see I created a full collage using just positive words that I clipped out of magazines. It took a bit of work to get all the words to fit in right, there was some overlapping and adjustments that had to be made along the way but eventually I got a fit that I worked well. I used my home made Mod Podge to adhere the paper to canvas (as I do with most of my work) but on reflection I should have used a drier glue to stick the works to the canvas first, such as spray glue or maybe even Pritt Stick would have worked, and then I could have gone over the entire thing with the Mod Podge as this would have prevented the wrinkling and bubbling that I got on some of the paper. But hey, I'm happy with how it turned out. It's just for me anyway and I know that most of the time, the way art turns out is never a mistake or accident, it is exactly how it was meant to be. So it is not proudly displayed on out living room wall, above our sofa where I can see it every day and get a blast of positivity from it! Such a blessing.

Also...... 

It's Thursday, which means it's Thursday Treasury time. Did you think I had forgotten?! 

In keeping with the theme of today (and everyday from now on!) this weeks treasury is inspired by positivity

You can find out all you need to know about this treasury including sellers details here.

As I said before, it's obvious where the inspiration for this treasury came from this week. I sort of did the whole this backwards this week didn't I? Change is good though.

As always I hope you are inspired by this week's treasury and get creating. I particularly like the 'affirmation tiles', the minute I seen them I could feel the inspiration sparks flying lol! 

If you do get creative on the back of this treasury, or for any reason really I'd love to see what you come up with so feel free to send me photos or link me to a blog or social page of yours.

Have a great day!

Ciara

xoxo 

Don't Worry I Am Alive!

Hi everyone!

Don't worry, I am still alive lol! I have been such a bad-egg abandoning my blog and my lovely readers lately, I do apologise. Things hadn't quite got back to normal after my holidays, until today. When we got back (it was a Wednesday) I decided that I wouldn't go back to work until the Monday so I had been pottering around the house, unpacking, giving it a bit of a Spring clean (in Summer), re-organising etc. Myself and himself had brought quite a few of our belongings back to Sheffield from Ireland with us this time such as books, cds, home decor items, a stereo, a lamp and so I wanted to spend some time finding a nice neat home for them all because in an apartment as small as ours if you don't find the right place for something almost immediately it will become CLUTTER. Not something anyone needs in their life.
I also picked up some extra shifts in the Irish bar that I help out in at the weekend and so between working there and then enjoying spending time at home the time kinda flew! And before I knew it, it was Monday, yesterday, but I didn't get to blog then either cause I was in town, at the post office, and some other kinda boring stuff. I thought to myself this morning "If I don't post today, all my lovely readers are gonna find someone else to follow!" So here I am, just letting you all know that I am alive and kicking and ready to get back in action. Ready for some new creative adventures and experiences. I am completely refreshed from my break at home and I am ready for whatever creative inspirational journey life is going to take me on this season ;) So excited! Are you?

I have a lot coming up in the next few months and I will be sharing it all with you as we go along. I have an important meeting this afternoon so depending on how that goes I might be sharing some info on here in the next few days. But as for now I thought it might be fun to share a little sneak at a project I am working on JUST FOR ME!

I spend a few hours over the last few days flicking through old magazines, picking out positive, empowering words and collecting them in a little box. I picked words like 'SUCCESS', 'LOVE', 'CELEBRATION', 'EXCITING' and much more. 

I am now in the process of filling an entire canvas from corner to corner in these words for a quirky, original piece of artwork for our living room area. It will add a much needed splash of colour to the room and it will also be a whole bunch of positivity staring me straight in the face everyday so that I can never get down!! 

I will admit this isn't my original idea, I pinned it on Pinterest a while ago and decided now was the right time to give it ago. It's just a little fun project. This one from Pinterest seems to be full of random words but I always wanted to fill mine with positive, uplifting words but you really could do anything at all, I think these would make great presents aswell.

pinterest

I am almost finished this project, I am sure I will finish it by the end of today so I will be sure to share the finished result :) 

Other than that I think that is all my news for today my lovelies. I have a nice evening planned with the girls so I am really looking forward to a catch up and a chin wag. What are you up to this evening?

Blessings

Ciara

xoxo