Carving stamps is one of my favourite things to do. Making stamps of any kind is a blast and you know what you get is what you are looking for because you made it that way. The play of light and dark blues is a perfect setting for these carved stamps. Once one stamp was carved I turned it over and created another on the back. Not as detailed and deep as the original but fun just the same. Value is the word I picked for Life Book this year … to remind me to value myself as much as I value everybody else. That’s not selfish, but self preservation so I can serve those around me and keep on doing it.

This lesson with Kristen Van Valkenburgh took us back to our younger selves when we would just play with absolutely no boundaries, just for the joy of it. I loved just letting go and working on this piece. I at first used a more recent photo and worked with it but I didn’t like what I had created … it wasn’t free enough. I started over with this little photo from my first school years and I was able to be back there again and play.

Lesson 14 of Life Book 2015 brought us Alisa Burke and journaling while in the field using water colours, acrylic paint, pencils and fine line markers. I didn’t concern myself with composition on these pieces but concentrated on the sketches themselves. Drawing mainly with markers rather than a pencil was a challenge. I chose the colours of Prince Edward Island beaches … the deep red/browns of the dunes, green of the grass on the dune tops and the blues and pinks of a sunset/sunrise. It is the beautiful island of Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maude Montgomery.