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The 2025 Mandala Calendar is READY!

by | Sep 16, 2024 | Ideas

71 noted days to celebrate life!

YES! the 2025 Calendar is printed and ready to roll. This one was fun in a lot of ways. I have worked in some new “days” to celebrate, based on my own ideas … so these are not generally known in the bigger world. Only those who get the calendar will be able to celebrate things like: “Trust Your Inner Wisdom” day, or “Creativity Unlimited” day. And of course, you don’t want to miss “Brilliant Intuition” day.

All in all, this is a beautiful, inspiring and very useful calendar to keep you on track for the whole year!

You can order it HERE

THE LATEST FROM THE STUDIO … three things are coming together …

Over the summer, while I was taking time to ponder, play and experiment with my creative work, I discovered a couple of things that really intrigued me. Mosaics (on paper), and Mono Printing.

I am now playing with how to combine those two things with my mandala work. Here are a couple of things that have come about so far.

From the quiet and slowness of summer to the busyness and “get-to-it” of September!

Here we are, steaming toward the last quarter of the year, and all the things that it brings.

I am enjoying the shift that happened for me over the summer, I feel much more open to new directions in my creative life.

I am making more time for play and experimenting, and sometimes the surprises are so delightful, other times things just look like mush. That’s okay, I am rolling with it all.

It is in the first while of trying something new that you think you will never get it. I watch lots of videos on technique, and then I go into the studio and do it my way, based on that knowledge.

This is the best of the creative life, I have to say. Seeing where you mind takes you. Playing. Exploring! I highly recommend being lousy at something for awhile, but sticking to it until you start to see the shift. I just keep showing up. 

Wishing you oodles of creative energy and play.

New offering from the correspondent in me …

by | Jul 29, 2024 | Ideas

in case anyone wants to have a new desktop image … this is my gift to you!

Oh dear, I really have become a sporatic blogger, haven’t I?

Yes, months of busyness and then of a sudden slowdown. Being in yet another stretch of change … or between where I am and where I might end up. 
This is the life of a creative being. And then there’s summer! Or as I have referred to it in the past,
Chaos Season. 

Summer, since I have been a self-employed person (a long time!), has always been a time of uncertainty for me. Schedules evaporate for everyone as they shuffle off on holidays. Meanwhile, I am still working, which I love, but there is so much less work to be had in the summer months. 

This year I switched my outlook completely. I decided to embrace the slowdown of work, to let me mind empty and rest. To make mental room for something new. 

I was meant to be part of a fabulous show this past weekend, and I had to step out of it a few weeks back. I had nothing. No new work to show, no stamina to be in the presence of people for three days. I was done. 

This showed me where I was really at. The only answer was to stop thinking I was meant to produce anything, and instead just putter and muse. 

Well, I have to say, the change has served me well. And although I still don’t know what the change is for my work and art, I do know that I have opened myself up to something, and that feels GOOD!

A new mandala, from an old mandala. 

The base of this mandala has been in the studio for months. It was all gold lines on a black background.
A Flower of Life design. 
The design appealed to me, since part of the challenge was to get it as perfect as possible …
which looks easy, but isn’t as simple as all that. 

The other day, I had this idea about the layers of life. The generational and the ancestral, and friendships of all kinds. 

I was thinking about those who are in my life and those who have left this life. 

Then I picked up the canvas and just started to explore how to represent that in layers. 

This is what I eneded up with … and I must say, it’s not like anything I have done before, and I love it. 

THE LATEST FROM THE STUDIO … Get Ready to Write!

I have been dancing around the idea of printed note cards for a very long time, but nothing seemed just right … until now.

Another of those “quiet moment” brainwaves …. to combine mandala designs with words in a different way.

I have created 6 so far, each with a different mandala and words. They are blank inside.

After the design came the printing, and a choice of stock to put them on. I was inspired to use a premium stock with a “felt” finish …. which is smooth to the touch, soft and quite luxurious! The stock took the whole concept of the cards up several notches.

The cards are 5.25″ square and come with the envelope.

The stock is 30% recycled content and is made using 100% windpower! I love that.

They are now vailable through my shop in a set of 6,
and will be avaiable shortly in Nanaimo and Bowser, BC as single cards.

GO TO SHOP

More than halfway through the year and all I can say is, there have been some really signigicant highs and lows. 
My ability to adapt to them seems to be pretty good right now, and for that I am so very, very thankful. 

house of appleton continues on in a quieter way right now … see my earlier notes on summer 😉
However, it will roar back in the fall, I am sure. 

It has also been my great pleasure to do book design work for my friend and fellow publisher, Diana Hayes at Raven Chapbooks, Salt Spring Island, BC  www.ravenchapbooks.ca 
Diana and I share a reverence for book publishing, so when we work together it feels so lovely and seamless, as though we have been doing it for YEARS! I love that and cherish the connection we have. 

There are other things that are bubbling up on my creative/art side … but much too soon to share. I am still in the experimental/development stage with it all. 

So, for August, as I continue to embrace this “forced” slow down/quiet time, I am going to tend to things that I don’t get to when life/work get busy. One of those things will be to upgrade my computer (scary) and get all things electronic and paper organzied. Hmmmm a month won’t be long enough, but it will be a really good start!

Wishing you joy in all ways possible. 

The year started with a rush … and it’s been busy ever since!

by | Apr 2, 2024 | Ideas

“combine passion + purpose for a joyful life”
perfectly describes the first quarter of my 2024

The busyness of the year has me feeling so grateful and blessed. 

I am not sure how long since I’ve felt as “in the zone” as I do now. The flow of really good design projects and teaching opportunities is brilliant,
my desire to do more feels solid. Things feel new to me, and I am very grateful for this.

NEW from house of appleton …

Well, it seems about time that I put into writing and images, the process of how I create a mandala. And now I have done it. A 24 page book that starts right at the beginning of setting up your page to the last finishing details. 
It is done based on exactly how I have been drawing mandalas since 2005. 

Since it is easiest for me to teach a 6/12 section mandala, the kind I do mostly, that is what this is based on.

The tools you will need are quite simple, and are listed in the book.

What’s Inside …

Essential Tools
Setting up Your Mandala
Creating Six Equal Sides
Setting the Stage for Your Design
Keeping Your Drawing Symmetrical
You Can Always Add and Subtract
A Little About Pleasing Colour
The Tools I Use Everyday
You’ve Done it. You Have Created a Mandala!

I invite you to read more about mandala basis HERE

You may order a copy using the same link.

Since the inception of house of appleton last year, book design in a variety of forms has taken a big spot in my work world. 

So far this year, I have been asked to design a couple of books for another independent publisher, and it looks like a group of poets might get me to design their book.

Each book project has been unbelievably joyful. Some days it truly does feel like my grandfather Appleton is standing right here, cheering me on!

As well as book design, I have been doing some social media postings for Salish Sea Market, in Bowser … a shop that is near and dear to my heart. Having worked in the store for a few years, doing many different tasks, I have a good grasp on how to present the wonderfulness of it to the larger world. Doing it online is different than in the shop, but I feel as though my contribution is an important one.  I am grateful to maintain this connection. 

In March I was asked to facilitate a workshop to show others the health benefits of drawing mandalas … of which there are many! 

It was offered through the Cowichan Valley Arts Council, and funded by the Vancouver Island Health Authority. I offered one of many workshops on ART & WELLNESS … in an effort to introduce people to healthy ways to feel grounded and calmer in a turbulent world. 

In April, I will again facilitate a mandala workshop, but this time for Youth. I am looking forward to this, because as you might have guessed, I think sharing mandalas with as many people as possible is sort of my mission in life. 

That, and producing really, really good looking books!

May April bring much joy and connection to your world!

And here we are … in 2024!

by | Jan 2, 2024 | Ideas

Here is the first image of the 2024 calendar.
Just click to download and add to your desktop! Enjoy.

The new calendar is on the wall, and the year has begun!

And we’re off … stepping intentionally and boldly into this year.

For weeks I have been feeling this sense of hopefulness in me, with no understanding of why. I have stopped questioning things when this happens, I just know to go with it.

I am sure it is because 2023 saw the birth of house of appleton, and I was blessed to have the chance to work with 5 great poets to produce their books. For three of them, it was their first book, but not their last!

NEW from house of appleton …

2023 closed with the arrival of andrea bird’s stunning new collection of art and poetry
ART/iculate: a light in the dark

This represents a portion of andrea’s journey of dying.

It is poignant and beautiful in every way.
It is not sad, but rather heart-opening.

Here are some interior shots of the beautiful art andrea created as a commission piece. She has taken detail shots and each poem is accompanied by a piece. 
Below is the excerpt from andrea’s description, which appears on the back cover. 

I invite you to read more about andrea’s book HERE

You may order a copy using the same link.

Frances

The first piece of furniture or accessory pictured in my 2024 calendar.

All the furniture I have painted over the years has had a name.

They have sort of named themselves. This table is Frances. 

I loved her and wanted to keep her,
but alas, she was destined for
another home. 

The other day, a friend told me she was going to pick a word for the year. This is something I used to do quite regularly, but have fallen out of the habit. But, when she mentioned it, I remembered how powerful it is to have a word that you sort of “filter” things through, so I think ia am going to establish a word to work with.

The word that came to mind when I woke up this morning is, CONSIDER … and here is the derivation of it:

consider (v.)

late 14c., “to fix the mind upon for careful examination, meditate upon,” also “view attentively, scrutinize; not to be negligent of,” from Old French considerer (13c.) “reflect on, consider, study,” from Latin considerare “to look at closely, observe,” probably literally “to observe the stars,” from assimilated form of com “with, together” + sidus (genitive sideris) “heavenly body, star, constellation”.

That last part fits nicely into how I feel about what the stars tell us about this world we are in.  What do the bodies beyond our touch have to teach us?

Hmmmm. Much to consider in this!
Wishing everyone a year filled with wisdom from within.

The Bento Box Post Cards are finally ready for the world …

by | Nov 16, 2023 | Ideas

The letter writer in me can’t stop finding ways to send REAL mail!

Introducing a new addition to the Bento Box family … POST CARDS!

This comes out of my friend Elaine sending me all sorts of handmade post cards over the last few months, and realizing this is a wonderful way to brighten up someone’s day!

So, here they are. They come 4 to a pack, which is enough to entice you I hope. 

Each one is your own blank canvas, and unlike the usual post card, this one folds, so that your message is actually not immediately visible. It also gives you more room to write and more room to create any sort of art you want. 

Here are a few examples, just to give you an idea … but the possibilities are truly endless. 

Just like the Bento Box Letters!

You can order them through my little shop: HERE

Blessing Plaques …

Born out of my desire to shift energies in as many spaces as possible, these plaques, although small (2.5″ x 8″), hold a powerful amount of peace and grounding.

I am currently taking orders, as each one is custom created.

There are 5 colours to choose from: Red, Blue, Violet, Green and Natural (not shown)

If you are interested,
please drop me a line. 

Price: $30.00 each plus shipping. 

Only peace. Always.

~sarah