All neat and tidy.

A tidy desk!   This was the 'after picture...  it had reached the point of not having enough room to move, so something had to be done.  So I put a few things away that I wasn't using, it always helps.  Then I had a clean up,  put things where they should be,  even had a blitz with the hand held vac.  Fresh bag in the bin,  card tidied up and put away,  paints put away,  bits and bobs put in bits and bobs box (which now needs a tidy up). Paintbrushes cleaned and put away, pencils sharpened,  scissors cleaned...  a desk to be proud of, until tomorrow!

And this is what I call the overflow!  A table that sits at the right hand side of the desk,  to store paper trimmer, all the plates for the grand calibur, long scissors, some card.  Then after a while more stuff gets bunged on top,  I shall sort it out tomorrow as it is now resembling the tower of Pisa.

Not a good week mood wise or back wise.  The latter is giving me jip,  and it doesn't seem to be easing off.  It also stopped me from going to a workshop today.  I would have gone had it not involved a longish drive,  even the short drive to the supermarket is painful.  Mood wise I've gone down hill,  though today I seem to be back on the up.  I think I over reached myself, had too much planned for a short space of time,  in the end I felt overwhelmed and very anxious.   It also occurred to me that I'd not had any R&R this week, been on the go pretty much.  So just chilled out and did a spot of crafting.

This is the start of an mixed media piece.  I got some canvas board yesterday,  it is easier to stamp on to.  I prepped the background, roughly spread some modelling paste on,  let that dry, then added the paint, white and Payne's grey,  dry brushed it on.  Let that dry,  and started to prep some bits,  I noticed that the modelling paste was also starting to crack nicely, an added bonus!   Got the modroc ready,  and some papers.  No idea what it will look like,  just going with it.

This is my art therapy mandala, number two.  In fact the first one has gone to a good home. I took it into class,  and my mate Sandy loved it, then she asked if she could borrow it for her daughter's first communion, I said that she could.  As the afternoon wore on I knew that the mandala no longer belonged to me but to Sandy's daughter, so I handed it over at the end of the class and Sandy began crying!   The new one is called Burst of Life.  I painted it violet, then dry brushed some silver onto it, trying to work in a sunburst pattern.   I'm using the diamonds again, this time however they are mounted on foamboard, which I patiently cut out!  It is far from finished, but I will leave it for class,  otherwise I'll be on Mandala number 3.

The weather has gone down hill,  it chucked it down yesterday, which didn't help my mood.   Same thing today, and it is definitely cooler.   I just hope it improves soon.   Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and thanks for stopping by.