A Mandala for January

On Saturday night Lucy and I drove to Holly's house for a Mandala and Moonlodge. We don't do it very often, but it is always right when we do. See the three previous Mandala's we have made here, here and here.

I had suggested we cut up magazines, a bit like the decoupage activity we did last Samhain (see here). And given that Paul and I are fanatical about cycling and triathlon.. We have A LOT of magazines floating around! Perfect!

The key to a successful Mandala is brain food... ahem..! Doesn't hurt though, right!

Then take two of your friends, and distract them.. (Lucy, take heart! I am publishing a photo of you where you aren't hot and sweaty!! Ha ha x x)

 With the shenanigans of a rather cute kitten, called Pebbles..

Then once everyone is suitably comfortable, begin your Mandala:

Given that we were cutting up magazines and gluing them to a circular surface (paper) the premise of the Mandala was rather lost, but its surely all in the making, so lets over look that!

The task we set was to create something feminine out of a few rather masculine cycling and tri magazines..

I could waffle on about my portion, talking about the feminine in cycling, enjoying being one of the few female riders at predominantly male sportives.. But the truth is I really struggled!! I could not relax into the activity and I looked through magazine after magazine without inspiration and I was feeling more pressured as Lucy and Holly created their designs out of the same magazines with relative ease. So in the end I stuck with what I felt comfortable with. Cycling!

And actually it does fit. So the other two stuck to the brief and created something feminine out of the predominantly masculine magazines, but still my portion fits in.  I feel like there is a hidden lesson there.. something glaring at me.. I like to cycle.. I like to be feminine.. It also seems to suggest that I can't think about anything but cycling at the moment, even when withdrawing from events.. Inspiring (in the end!) as ever!

Thank you for hosting Holls x x