Monks and Mystics and Archetypes - Oh My!

 Coming Up for Air (Stacy Wills, 2014)

collage on mat board

Cowabunga! (Stacy Wills, 2014)

collage on mat board

I am currently enrolled in an online Advent retreat (Birthing the Holy:  Advent & Christmas Retreat with Monks, Mystics and Archetypes)  through Abbey of the Arts.  In our work with archetypes, one of the creative exercises offered is the making of  SoulCollage cards.  Here are the two I've made thus far.  "Coming Up for Air" correlates with St. Hildegard of Bingen and the Visionary archetype, while "Cowabunga" is inspired by Brendan the Navigator and the Pilgrim archetype. Each card holds a powerful message for me, particularly at this point in my life.  SoulCollage is a very intuitive process, and you just never know what or who might show up!  

Getting a Jump on Next Year's Ornaments

Prisms (Stacy Wills, 2013)

alcohol ink on beveled prisms

December has been a full month - far more busy than I thought it would be....but even in the midst of all the busyness, the creative itch must still be scratched!  I salvaged these beveled prisms from an old art deco chandelier and wondered if they might work as suitable substrates for alcohol ink.    I really like the way  the first two turned out, and I've got plans to make more...I'm thinking these would make good Christmas ornaments for next year.   Happy Holidays!

Feelin' Merry and Bright

I've spent the better part of the last two days making 

these alcohol ink on porcelain Christmas ornaments.

If you could see my ink-stained fingers, you'd know

it was a labor of love!

I was a teenager the last time I got crafty at Christmas 

and made  ornaments - salt dough ornaments to be exact.  I still have one or

two that have survived the years well enough to  make it onto our tree.

It took awhile to figure out the best way to do these,

but I finally got a pretty good system going.  The

hardest part was waiting for them to dry so I could

really tell if these were going to be "tree-worthy."

Once they were dry, I gave them a protective coat of varnish.

 I love the way my ornaments turned out so much

that  I'm already thinking about what I can do next year!

 I'll be taking these to a holiday market our

neighborhood is having tomorrow afternoon.

Hopefully, some will find their way onto 

someone else's Christmas tree!