Goodbye 2014, Goodbye Blog

What a year 2014 was!

 When I filled out this workbook on 31 December  2013

I couldn't imagine that I was in for some serious magic in 2014.

(you can find the workbook for 2015 here).

Not that my life has changed so much on the outside:

same Hubby, same children

(Carolina liked to nap and I liked to photograph her)

(so thankful that everybody was healthy and happy this year),

same house

(got massively decluttered),

same vegan life

(even though Hubby learned to cook),

same yoga job.

Great travels.

But then,

there was my word for 2014.

*create*

I sewed and knitted only a tiny bit this year.

Mostly I painted.

An avalanche.

One little day at a time,

sometimes only a couple of minutes a day.

And now,

at the end of the year,

I have a portfolio to show on my new website:

www.cathringressieker.com

I painted, got addicted to art e-courses

and also learned some Photoshop and Illustrator skills.

I will have an art exhibition 

at a place where I teach yoga in January.

Some of my paintings will be published

in Alena Hennessy's new book " A Year of Painting".

A word of the year is a very powerful tool.

A direction, a calling.

So I would like to say Goodbye

 to this miraculous year

and I have one more thing to announce:

This is my last post here,

this blog also gets decluttered.

From tomorrow,

1.1.15,

you can find musings from my pink studio over there:

https://cathringressieker.wordpress.com/

Thanks for reading my blog over the last four years. 

I wish you a happy New Year

and really hope to see you again in 2015.

 

Love and Light, 

Cathrin

Pink Moment of the Week

Clara had her birthday this week.

At her party she climbed up to new heights.

We love you.

Buttons before Christmas

We are all so busy these last before Christmas, aren't we?

So I'll give you just a little glimpse 

into my this year's meagre Christmas production:

These buttons will be sewn on

and then I will have at least one handmade Christmas present.

Better than nothing.

Clara Crafts

Clara was very busy last week with the knitting loom.

St. Nicholas' bags for everybody!

Pink Moment of the Week

This week we celebrated Carolina's third birthday.

And how it turned out at the end of this busy party day it also became the birthday of Carolina's and Clara's new cousin. My sister was due with her first baby actually a couple of days later, but how many babys really care about their due date? - statistically about 4 percent. I quickly knit up this little baby hat (it is this pattern here) with wool my mother once gave me for Carolina and finished it right on time (what can be quicker then a newborn baby hat) to send it out to my little niece. Aunts do things like that.

Pink Moment of the Week

Day 365 of my year-long photo project,

see here, if you like.

And also coming to its end, the MATS online course,
in the final week the assignment was to design a hyper-lush zipper pouch,
where I used some photographs from our recent holiday on Gran Canaria.

Agar Agar Prints

Today I would like to share a recent crafty discovery of mine - Gelli Printing or you could also call it monoprinting with a gelli plate. That means that you need a special printing plate for this technique, which you could buy not quite on the same cheap side here or better make your own one. I found this recipe online and being a vegan I find the idea of gelatine very repulsive and substituted it with the same amount of agar agar (which is an algae) which worked out great.

There is so much room for experimentation with gelli printing.

And I have just started - 

there really is an addictive factor in it.

The girls find it fun too and like watching and assisting.

 

These prints will come in very handy soon.

Pink Moment of the Week

A collage for this week's assignment in MATS.

We were supposed to create an abstract collage for a 25-45 year old female, using limited colours (in my case pink, red and neutrals) and collected items. Plus including words, floral and geometrical motifs. Would I buy it?

Pink Moment of the Week

Do you know Suzanis? I didn't before this week's assignment in MATS. They are embroidered patterns from Uzbekistan. They served as inspiration for designing plates. Here are mine:

Wherever I am, pink travels with me.

Pink Moment of the Week

Actually lots and lots of moments (around midnight),

practicing my newly acquired fabric pattern making skills:

Made in Lilla Rogers e-Course Make Art That Sells,
under the theme "root vegetables and vintage casseroles".

Falling Leaves

The wine leaves turning red are my favourite plants in our garden in autumn. 

There is so much beauty and radience in those colours 

and they captivate me every time I pass by 

(and go to the compost). 

All through September and October I watch this spectacle, 

which is now nearly over.

My latest play with surface pattern design

(I am just taking this incredibly fabulous

e-course Pattern Camp with Jessica Swift at the moment)

made those wine leaves come back to life on the computer screen:

So this is my first-ever pattern design
(it is a straight tossed repeat to use the designer lingo) 

and I couldn't be more proud.
There is still a lot to learn,
but combining drawing, painting and new computer skills couldn't be more fun.

Thank you leaves for your inspiration.

Pink Moment of the Week

Can there ever be a painting without pink?

Pink Moment of the Week

a new painting:

Pink Moments of Thailand

It's been four weeks already since we came back from Thailand,

and now I found the time to show you these:

a wall in our first hotel room

Bangkok taxis

or better a bike?

tickets for the Royal Palace 

on the train to Hua Hin

new hat

such beautiful flowers!

Ko Tao Island

yes, these are eggs!

at a restaurant

fresh pomegranate juice

having fun with Mama ...

... and Papa!

water sports on Ko Tao

no sports

bying (and eating) loads of tropical fruit every day

temple time on Ko Samui

fancy pink hair, Blythe?

Pink Moment of the Week

My little pink camera broke this week ...

... and got an upgraded replacement.

Pink Moment of the Week

Back at home.

Back to painting.

Pink Moment of the Week

Off to the tropics!

With new pink sunglasses.