Positive

I created the above image for my mother who struggles with chronic negativity. It prints perfectly on 4x6 index cards. I am gifting my mother with a small stack of printed cards to place around her house as reminders with the hope that she is willing to embrace the challenge of working to change her thoughts, thus allowing her life to follow suit. I printed out a few for myself as well. I am hoping I succeeded in posting the image above in a format you (dear reader) will be able to save and print in the event you would like a reminder as well. (I chose the colors according to the intended recipient's decor.)

Possibility

I adore old keys. Growing up in ancient houses probably helped spark my adoration of keys as I remember the skeleton keys that went to our locks. Holding one in my hand today is a flashback to the past. A piece of key shaped childhood. Of freedom and fun, play and carefree days.

Antique keys hold so much mystery. They unlock the imagination. Who did they belong to? What secrets did they lock safely away? They represent security.

I was gifted a handful of keys (pic taken via iPad) recently from a lovely friend. I have great hope for their use as the possibilities are endless. I imagine using them in photographs, encaustic art, making a mobile or windchime, something loving and artsy. Instead, they end up hidden away in a drawer. Treasures of their own, ironically locked away for safe keeping, their potential lying stagnant as I cannot bare to part with them. Perhaps it was growing up poor that causes me to hang onto treasure as when I open the drawer that holds my collection, I feel like the richest girl on the block. That alone makes them worth their weight.

Still, it saddens me, this inability to use them. I fear not doing them justice. Not having an art piece turn out good enough. Not having the pictures successfully represent their beauty. It is the "not good enough" part that causes me to keep them locked away. "Not good enough" is not good enough for me anymore.

What a cathartic post! I wasn't expecting it to end this way! What an epiphany! I think I'll take my key collection and proudly display them in a bowl where I will pass them regularly and they can whisper to me and spark my creativity. They will say, "You are good enough! Come play!"

Living With An Open Mind

  This past week has been crazy busy.

This morning was calm and wonderful!

I spent the early hours enjoying a special phone conversation

with an amazing blog friend

who lives an ocean away.

After breakfast with the kids

I drove to a lovely little coffee shop

and spent hours chatting with a friend

whom I have not seen in some time.

 

  What does my morning have to do with the post title

'living with an open mind'?

Let me re-tell my story.

My morning phone call was a gift of a long distance tarot reading.

My coffee was consumed at a Christian coffee house

with an athiest friend

conversing about

politics

parenting

and life in general.

It was an absolutely lovely morning

spent with good friends,

good food, and lovely surroundings.

I would not have been able to experience all that goodness

if not for living with an open mind.

Is your mind open to all the wonderment

and possibilities in the world?

If not, what are you waiting for?

Open up Baby!

The world is waiting!

p.s. If you seek healing in your life, if you would like a tarot reading done, if you desire to read uplifting stories, please visit John at his blog

John The Healing Seed

or his website

Sunchi Healing

Both sites offer a plethora of information.

If you would like information on rates

and/or to seek further guidance

please contact John at

sunchihealing@yahoo.com

John also sells

wisdom art

and

abstract art

while his partner Helen sells clever

animal art.

Can't you just feel the love?

;O)

Happy Weekending!!!!

Guerilla Art-a-flopagus

I finished my final assignment for the class

Experimental Art e-course

Buah ha ha ha!!!

What a flop!

Well, not a total flop.

I met a friend!!!

Like as in... met for the first time ever.

We've been chatting through e-mail.

I found her art at a local gallery.

The owner said she was painfully shy.

Naughty me snooped around the internet.

Found her e-mail address.

Approached her via e-mail.

Told her I am also a self-taught creator and lover of encaustic art.

Explained that I understand her discomfort with meeting new people

but thought perhaps we could be e-mail buddies.

We could learn from each other.

She agreed.

We chat often. Sometimes daily.

For my final assignment in the Experimental Art e-course

I was assigned come up with a guerilla art project.

I decided my theme would be 

Random Acts of Loving Kindness.

I chose some pictures I had taken.

Played with them in photoshop elements.

Added positive affirmations and a little note in the corner

(a gift for you - a gentle reminder).

Due to my physical struggles this past week they were not perfect.

I did what I could. I decided that was enough.

I would send them into the world as is.

The printing cut off a letter, cropped a picture too tight.

Some of the font is too small.

It's the thought that counts, right?

So I asked my e-mail buddy to meet with me.

No uncomfortable-sit-across-the-table-and-stare-at-a-stranger meeting.

An artsy meet-up with a project to keep us busy.

We would be placing my photo cards in a public place.

Little gifts for others to find.

Pretty pictures and positive sayings to brighten their day.

Perhaps they would find the right owner.

Someone who would take it home.

Someone who needed the message.

We decided on the library.

It was uber busy.

I spread the picture cards around.

One on the steps.

One on the bench. 

A book shelf here.

A movie shelf there.

By the computers.

On and on.

We parked our fannies, chatted, and watched.

Most people walked right by.

Some people looked.

A few picked them up but set them back down.

Afraid to take them?

Not understanding they were a gift?

Then.....

along came....

'dum dum dum'

THE LIBRARIAN.

She spotted the cards, walked around picking them up

and proceeded to deposit them in the waste basket!!!!!

Seems she did not find our idea cute in the least.

Litter. Solicitation.

Whaaaaat?

She totally crapped on my random act of kindness.

What a jab. Ouch!

Thank goodness my new friend was with.

We decided to laugh instead of cry.   :)

I picked them out of the garbage.

An afternoon in the library and not a single card adopted.

We left.

We went to a cemetery to take pictures of old headstones.

My camera died after a couple shots.

Luck was not on my side.

Time to call it a day.

I dropped my new friend off at her car.

Thanked her for her help and for a fun afternoon.

I headed off to run some errands and left the pictures in random places as I went, this time with no worries as to whether they would be found or thrown or simply blown away.

After all, it's the thought that counts.

That reminds me.

My surprise for today.

I wanted to send two sets of my 

"Random Act of Loving Kindess"

cards out into the world via my blog.

They're not perfect

but

they're filled with

Loving Kindess!

Possible uses

bookmarks

send via mail anonymously

give to those you love

give to total strangers

stick in library books

stick in random places around town

keep them for yourself.

If interested in receiving a set let me know in a comment.

If there are more than two people I will draw names by Friday.

p.s. Thanks to all my loving friends who sent well wishes this past week. My pain is receding, mind clearing and I am on the upswing. Hugs back atcha!

Reverb - Gift

Reverb prompt:

Gift - This month, gifts and gift-giving can seem inescapable. What’s the most memorable gift, tangible or emotional, you received this year?   I'm no good at picking favorites or the "most" something. Never have been. How can I pick one thing definitively over another? The kids try to play this game with me. "What's your favorite color?" The red of a rose, the white of the snow, the green of moss, the color of my children's eyes. One favorite? "What's your favorite food?" Depends on my mood. Depends if it's dinner, desert, who it's prepared by. And why pick one? There are so many moments in every day. So much good in the world. Why pick? I appreciate every gift I have received this year whether tangible and/or emotional. Every single one. I have had many a memorable moment and emotional high. I refuse to lessen any one over another. I am thankful for every breath I take, every friend I make. I refuse to play favorites.

Cyber Monday

It's here.

The holiday shopping season.

Ugh!

I tried to tell the kids that due to the recent economy crisis

Santa has lost his workshop to foreclosure

and all the elves have left to work with

is glue and toothpicks.

I must use sarcasm entirely too much in this house

as they did not buy one single word of it.

Drat!

That means I need to come up with some Christmas cash!

In honor of Cyber Monday

I have created a sale in my Etsy shop.

Everything in the shop is 20% off

starting today and running through Friday.

I am hoping to get more items listed as the week progresses.

To take advantage of the sale

enter coupon code

YIPPEE

at checkout.

To all my cyber chummies who check out my shop,

Thank You!!!

To the rest,

don't worry.

I still love you too!

;)

Happy Silly Cyber Monday!

Happiness Continued!

When I was very young I kept a diary.

As I grew older, I grew closer to those pages.

They were safe, they were available, they were a dumping ground.

It was a private playground for my adolescent mind.

Filled with happiness, heartbreak, good times and secrets, my diary was my closest friend.

I wrote, I was honest with myself, I was real.

Life became difficult, confusing, scary, downright mean.

I lost trust.

Trust in myself, trust in others.

I grew up real fast.

My beloved diary changed.

It became a possession.

Something to hide. Something of shame.

Re-visiting the pages made me realize how silly I was,

how juvenile my thoughts and feelings were.

How embarrassing and ridiculously silly a child I was.

I burned that diary.

Many decades have gone by.

I have grown. I have learned.

I have mourned for my lost childhood,

my harshness toward myself.

I no longer live in survival mode.

All these years later, I still have an unhealthy addiction to journals/diaries.

Seeing a beautiful journal I would long to own it,

hold it, have a relationship with it.

I would purchase them

desperately wanting to mark the pages

but I could not.

What if I wrecked it?

What if I wrote something stupid?

What if my handwriting sucks?

What if someone reads it?

What if I can't get real due to fear of exposure?

What if...

It was paralyzing.

Many journals were purchased,

many were gifted away.

 (a few of the many journals I have acquired over the years including the one I made!)

I don't tell you this to depress you or sound dreary or pathetic.

Quite the contrary.

I am being reborn!!!

NOW!!!!

Now I turn over a new leaf!!!!

Remember my post from Monday?

I am so excited about my new journal!!!!

I could SCREAM!!!!!!

Keri's book

is all about getting down and dirty with yourself.

Digging into pages, 

being creative,

being real,

having fun!

There are prompts for every page like...
...glue random newspaper page here
...drip something here
...place sticky things here
...fill this page with circles

Her ideas are more on the creative side

than your average wordy journal.

All the better!

That's what I want.

That's what I crave!

Letting it all out.

Being fearless.

Allowing creativity

and honesty

and fun

into every crevice life has to offer.

What a wonderful life tool

this journal will be.

I would use the word homework, but then I probably wouldn't do it!

Exercise?

Nope.

Same reaction.

How about

playground!

Yeah.

That sounds like fun!

My new playground!

I hope to share some playground experiences with you in the future.

After all, that would be good practice in trusting again.

;0)

Oh Happy, Happy Day!!!!

Monday's Happiness

What's making me happy this Monday?

Simple things.

Like this vase.

(and the beautiful age cracks inside)

which I purchased at an antique sale for only

50¢

to hold

these awesome Sharpies©

to start

this book

by Keri Smith

which is a gift I purchased for myself!!!!

(back of book pictured here scribed by me)

which you can find out how to purchase HERE.

I'm terribly excited to have found the book on a recent trip.

I have known of Keri's blog and book
(actually, she has many awesome books)
for some time but try hard to curb

any online charging as it is bad for the budget.  :(

But to run across it in person?

Well, that must be a sign, 

right?

Let's ask Lennon.

He says, "Go for it Baby!"

That's good enough for me!

(more about the book/journal tomorrow... please stay tuned!)

Inspiration

I have a self-discovery partner.

Is that cheating? To have a partner at "self" discovery?

Maybe I should phrase it like this...

A good friend and I are keeping each other inspired and motivated

while simultaneously working on our own self-discovery.

(More wordy and precise, but also more stuffy, no?) 

At any rate, "J" and I are making art dates. Choosing local artistic venues and setting the date. Keeping each other inspired through e-mail. Sharing inspirational links, motivational words.

A few weeks ago, "J" sent me a package in the mail. The package included a card made by a participant of The Very Special Arts Center (Madison, WI) which works with disabled individuals on self-growth through art. Inside the card was a note explaining how "J" had been going through some of her creative books in order to "organize her mind and space" to focus on her goals. In the process, she had found several books she thought fit my path better than hers. 

What a wonderful and lovely surprise it was to receive her package of inspiration!

Yesterday I sent a package in return. I had fallen in love with Mind's Eye Journals we had come across at an art fair we attended a few weeks ago. I mean IN LOVE!!!! They were gorgeous! They were also not in my budget. Being an at-home-mom of four does not often allow for such extravagance. I vowed that some day I would own one. For now, I will settle. 

I went into the dungeon (my basement studio) and dug around a bit. I came up with some raw materials and an idea. I watched YouTube, watched a library video and read a few books on book binding. Then I went to work. I created a journal for "J" and a journal for myself. They are not professional, they are not perfect. They are simply a loving place for each of us to start our journey of self-expression. Words, painting, collage, who knows what the finished journals will hold. 

Each journal is covered with a quote specific to its owner. May they bring us creativity, freedom and peace.

No Time To Post!

Been trying to find time to post lately.
Seems as if all my time is not "mine" lately.
Except for Sunday!!!
I just have to gush over my Mother's Day!
It was The BEST!!!!

This is how it went...
~ received gift of sleeping in until almost 8am (yes, that's major sleeping in to me)
~ breakfast in bed ( bacon, sautéed onion & mushroom over egg w/bacon, sourdough toast, OJ and tea)
~ gifts of kid's homemade art, love letters & Lindt Truffles along w/fresh picked flowers from my teenager and a friggin' KitchenAid Mixer!!!! Cherry Red may I add!!!!!
~ went to my mother's to spend some time and present her gift
~ followed by family time at our awesome public library,
a game of croquet in the backyard while my supper of enchilada's cooked
~ finished the day with a movie

I know!!!! Perfect!!!!! Right?!?!?!?

To: Me From: Me

I did it!
I splurged!
Got a little something for me!

How could I resist?

I love her work, have been a follower of her blog for some time and fell in love with this piece!

~artist: Beth Billups~
her etsy store
her blog
her website

Isn't it marvelous?

I am so absolutely thrilled to own a piece of her work!

The purchase was a gift to myself...
... for inspiration.

To awaken
my creativity
my dreams
my self.

To allow myself
to live
to act

to fly!!!!!!

Waking to Generosity

What a lovely morning I am having.
This morning found me feeling quite queasy. My rummy tum tum has not been well lately. The stress level in my life is partly to blame. Or should I say the way I have been responding to stress is to blame.
I had fear that my ill felt wakening would continue across my day causing a domino affect of yuck throughout. That fear was eased as I sat down to my computer to check in on my fellow bloggers. I was pleasantly surprised by a generous gift.


Patti, a very talented artist and fellow blogger (whom I faithfully follow) has posted a piece of her art and generously given permission for her blog followers to download and use (with the simple request of gifting back to her the credit for the piece).
Check out her blog! It's full of treasure! I bet you'll want to be a follower too! :)

P.S. Picture posted here is 25% of what Patti is offering. Love it? Visit Patti for the real deal :)