16 DAYS Activism against Women and Child abuse

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PAINE- please ABUSE IS NO EXCUSE

Hi to all those who visit and revisit my blog.
2012 has gone by so quickly it has left me spinning. I had this amazing feeling in January that something really good was going to happen this year and some wonderful things have happened, but I am still expecting more. I used to journal on my blogs quite a bit and share all the interesting things that I was doing on a fairly regular basis, but due to all the different things I am involved in, one by one I had to create new blogs and separate the various things that will interest different people.

This blog is no longer going to be about my recovery or anything to do with abuse I have created a separate blog for those of you who are looking for help and are not interested in what painting I did last week, or where my children are flitting off to on holiday.

http://abuseisnoexcuse.blogspot.com/ I will be posting information on the blog as and when I find information for you and will share some of your stories if you let me. So if you need to be amongst people who understand fully what domestic violence, child abuse, depression and suicide are all about pop over the that blog and we will always be there to try and help.

This blog will eventually become a magazine with all kinds of interesting things for anyone who wants to just drop by and see what I am up to. I have a few more blogs which I have also separated to be more specialized and specific.

If you would like to see more of my blogs here is a list of them.
Abuse is no excuse. Is for anyone who wants to understand domestic violence or needs help.
Peace of Art. Is where you will find all my digital art.
Caryl Park My art work in oils, water colour and mixed media.
Passion for Pewter Says it all. I love doing pewter and I will be posting patterns here for everyone
Coming soon a new blog for ALL JOURNAL LOVERS.

Ciao for now.
Caryl

So Sorry !

I feel like such a creap. It has been a while since I was here, just been really busy with a whole lot lately which I will be able to share fairly soon I hope, all going well. I am working on a new product for retail outlets, which is very exciting. I am sure you will love it.
This blog was started for people who visit my website to see how my progress has been since my divorce... shew can you believe it was 6 years ago! Well that part of my life is so far behind me now that I barely think about those days anymore, so it's all good.
There are still people who contact me from my website www.abuseisnoexcuse.co.za and it sadens me to hear everyone's stories, but I am always here to encourage and share when ever it is needed.
So, for now please pop in now and again to see what I am up to. Hope you are all well and that life is being kind to you.

Cirque du Soleil

Stamps

Every day that I can take my art to new places, is an awesome day. I have been doing Zentangles and doodles for quite a while now and recently I came across the work of Mary Vogel Lozinak. I will find a link to her etsy shop, her work is really excellent and very funny. Mary's work reminded me of some of my own so I sent some of mine for her to see as I didn't think it was worth posting on Facebook or on my blog. Well guess what, she introduced me to a company who makes stamps and they want to make some of mine. Woohoo. I am not making more and more while I sit and watch TV and it fun to think that soon they will be stamps available to anyone who wants them. I will post a link when that happens, in the mean time this is some of my work. I hope you find them as funny as I do!

If you would like to see more of my blogs here is a list of them.
Abuse is no excuse.
Peace of Art. Is where you will find all my digital art.
Caryl Park     My art work in oils, water colour and mixed media.
Passion for Pewter  Says it all. I love doing pewter and I will be posting patterns here for everyone.

I have a new blog that is coming soon which I am very excited about so keep watching this space.

Life Coach

I am half way through my Life Coaching course and loving it. I deal with so many people who come out of abusive relationships that I wanted to do even more than just helping them survive. I want to take them even further and higher than they have ever been before. Anything is possible when the desire and willingness is strong enough.
NLP Life Coaching.

POST TRAUMATIC STRESS

Thank goodness PTSD is a thing of the past for me. It was an incredibly long journey and to tell you the truth I did reach a point when I thought there absolutely is NO cure. Thankfully I was wrong. I suffered with the disorder for 10 years, I spent a fortune on therapy and my condition just became worse.
Margaret has given me a link which I want to share, perhaps if you are suffering with any of the symptoms this site may be able to help. I am also going to be discussing ALL the different modalities of treatment I went through and my oppinions about them individually.
If you would like to read about the healing process you can go to my PAINE blog.

Nancy -All Pulped Out

If you are into any kind of digital work you will really enjoy Nancy's blog. Go take a peek at some of here work she is incredibly talented.

Textures with Nancy

Thank you Nancy for showcasing some of the fun we all had with your textures. If anyone would like to see more of my own digital work they will find it here Caryl's Hear Art

Frustration Continues!

I know... change is always necessary, but I don't like it one bit! The changes made to the new blog are making it so difficult to see where all my friends have gone. I am going to have to spend some time trying to learn how this all works again. Can anyone out there help me to find all the people whose blogs I have been following for so long. I am mad mad mad!

What the heck is this?

How does one go to dashboard from here which is where I follow all my favourite blogs... this is new!

Pewter workshops

Double click for a larger view of the information. More information about Pewter classes can be found on my Passion for Pewter blog.

Handwriting analyst

Why would anyone want to have their handwriting analysed? Aside from handwriting being used for forensic work, human resources, diagnostics for mental illness etc it is a wonderful tool to discover more about yourself. Analysing handwriting is a science and not a crystal ball. Should you wish to have your handwriting analysed please contact me on Facebook or the email address on my website www.abuseisnoexcuse.co.za

Ouch !

This is what happens when you dig around in your eyeball for a contact lens. I scratched my eye with out even realising it until it went septic. I am sure it is going to be fine, just finding it hard to be on my computer with an eye that won't stop watering.

Club 6

Thank you so much to Club 6 who have selected PAINE - please ABUSE IS NO EXCUSE as the recipients of their fund raising this year. This morning we had a breakfast which was absolutely awesome, intimate and very special.Women really can achieve anything they want when they put their minds to it. I will be posting some photo's soon of the event... keep watching.

Altered Journals

I have been buying Sommerset Studio magazines for many years and have come to know a lot of the artists who submit their work. Their work is unique and so are they. Many of these artists are now friends on Facebook. I wasn't sure what to do with the magazines because they are quite expensive, so I thought this was a wonderful way to recycle their work and make my own journals with their art.
Each page gives credit to the artist who did the original work.

During the Easter weekend 2011 my family and I went to Clarens a lovely little town in the midlands, a short distance away from Lesotho. I made a journal for that weekend and spent some wonderful bonding time with my grand daughter painting various scenes and memorobilia in the journal. These are some of the pages before I had written in them.

Journal Pages

 

 

 

 

 

I have been making a whole bunch of journal pages so that when I am in the mood all I do is grab a page and start writing. Sometimes I will add a prompt word and wait for just the right day to journal on that particular subject. Once my pages are full only then do I bind them into the cover.

My Love of Journals

When I was a young girl, like many other women I am sure, I kept a diary, but I did find it boring recording the daily events, what sports matches I was playing in, or who I had a fight with, or who I fancied at school, so my diaries transformed into journals instead. My first journal was a scrapbook journal, writing about the places I was going, the people I was meeting and keeping all the little bits and pieces reminding me of the occasions when I had so much fun.
Over the years my journals became more personal and included drawings, cuttings from magazines and anything that would express the way I was feeling. I have kept journals for almost 40 years and still have most of them. Don't ask me how I have managed to keep them with the amount of moving I have done over the years, but perhaps they became as important to me as photo albums so I took special care of them I don't know, but I am glad I still have them.
When my 3rd marriage came to an end in 2005 I buried myself in my journals it was the only place that I felt safe, where I could hide, explode, weep, reminisce about the past that had been so painful for me. I was seeing a therapist at the time, but I was so deeply depressed I didn't have the energy to talk. I needed help but I was exhausted from talking. One day I gave my journals to my therapist and asked her to read them, which she did and as a result she encouraged me to write my book... the rest is history as they say.
I have seen many therapists over the years and could never have done without their wisdom and support, but I wouldn't be where I am today if it were not for my journals and my art either. The three of us became firm friends - therapy, art, writing.
For a long time I have been wanting to share not only some of my own journals but also the journals of other artists that I have enjoyed, either for their content, art, style of writing, creativity, inspiration or what ever.
There are many famous celebrities who journal Oprah probably being the most well known with her Gratitude journals but there are many more and I try my best to buy them for my own collection. I will share some of those too in the weeks to come.

Liz-Borromini Steel

Liz-Borromini Steel

Liz is an architect so I am never going to be surprised at her beautiful work. I have been following her for a long time and she can also be found on Facebook.  I love loose style of drawing and of course her drawings of buildings and bridges is simply breath taking. I seldom read what she writes about because I feel as if I am being nosey, but when I do it is obvious that she is a very committed Christian and spreading His love through her work is wonderful.

Soul Cards - Touch Drawings

Anyone who truly knows me will know that I am a soul person and I am fascinated with people who have learned to connect with their own soul and are willing to share what they have learned. I find this art form so interesting. I began making Soul Collages about two years ago and I find it relaxing but also fascinating what comes out of the subconscious.

Deborah Koff Chapin

Treat yourself by visiting Deborah's site it could change your life.

Hello again....

                           Andrew van der Merwe is a beach Calligrapher who lives in Cape Town.

Oh wow, as you can see I haven't been around for a while and there is so much to catch up where do I start? Well first of all I need to explain that I had an internet contract with a company who ripped me off badly so I had to wait for the contract to end before changing my service provider. It has also been a quick start to the year planning all the things that need to get done this year. My pewter classes came to an abrupt end when some of my students left to go over seas and others became ill and weren't able to come to the classes anymore, so I have had to think of new ways to make a living.
The organisation is really taking off now and I have been invited to speak and do a book signing at a breakfast at the end of the month. We have lots of plans for the future which I will share as we go along, but for now we are on a major fund raising drive, so if you feel led to dig into your pockets we won't say no. But as always I always enjoy sharing the things I love. I found these pictures on the internet the other day, are they not just incredible?

Please come over for tea.

More about Pewter and workshops 

Good Bye to 2011 which in my case was the worst year I have ever had in my entire life and I am pleased to see the end of it. Roll on 2012 which I know is going to be great. I have lots planned and for the first time in 6 years the sky is blue and I can hear birds singing in my garden. 

I am so thankful to all the artist friends I have met on the internet over the past 6 years. I have become close to quite a few of you, sending private emails and chatting on Facebook, I don't know how I would have survived with out all of you. Art has always been my passion and sharing through what I love has been an amazing experience. I have done several on line courses which was wonderfully therapeutic as there were times I couldn't step outside of my front door. Plagued with Post Traumatic Stress the only place I could feel safe was my home, so the internet was the only connection I had with the outside world, for months at a time. You have all inspired me with your art work and the stories you have shared about your own lives, happy times and sad. I just want to say thank you to all of you.
Since you can't really come over for tea I would like to offer some give aways.
I love all kinds of art, but as a Pewter teacher I would like to offer a pewter art piece to any one who follows my blog or features me on theirs right up until 14th February... with lots of love from Me.
This blog was always intended to help other people heal and I hope those people who visit from my website will see... Happiness comes to all those who earnestly seek it.