Winner & Play!

This is my REACH page from last week. I love everything about it.

I love the background colors, the gorgeous blues and golds and purples.  It' so funny because I never planned it this way...it just happened.

That is how I create best...when I don't go into it with any kind of expectation...I just start putting stuff on paper. It's like magic when I get something I truly love.

These stars represent "reaching to the sky" to me. It was the perfect spot to put this silly photo of me from last summer.

If you look closely....

I wanted to remind myself that at the time I made this page I DO have confidence in me!

The journaling spot in the middle lists everything I am reaching for in my life. These two pages were a blast to create...everything just came easy.

But then as I began working on my wheels from our last assignment...well...those didn't turn out anything like I had planned. Oh, I LOVE the journaling on them...the steps I need to take to make my dreams real. But....the art part of them?

Hideous! Seriously.

Soooo....I won't be showing them here. I know I want to do something I can look at daily so I am redoing. And that's okay. Isn't  that what art is all about? Growing and trying new things?

Sorta like this new hair-do of mine. I am still not certain I like it.....

But I did want a change....so last week I reached down deep and just took the plunge.

*sigh*

It is taking time to style it the way I envision....


Enough of that....LOL. We have another assignment and we have a WINNER from Week 2!!

The Winner is....

COLORFUL HEART!!!!

Congratulations! Please email me your addy:)  les262@embarqmail.com


On to Week 3 Assignment #2:

So you created your Creative Dreams Wheel and thought about small steps/micromovements you can take to make your dreams a reality. Didn't you find this a "freeing" exercise? I know I did. Whenever I get my thoughts and ideas down on paper...it opens up my mind and all of a sudden I can think more clearly. It's almost like the weight of self-doubt vanishes when you have written a plan on how you can make that dream come true.

It's time to let go once again this weekend. Let's get unstuck...I believe it's one of the best times to think about my dreams. When I'm in the flow of creating it allows my mind to wander...

During my studio time yesterday I realized I am putting waaaay to much thought into my pages. So much that it's stressing me out. I found myself frozen as I looked at the white, blank pages.

This weekend I want you to play in your journals. Take your dreams, a favorite quote, a new technique you have been wanting to try, anything to help you get unstuck!! And hey, even if you're not stuck like me...this will give you a chance to grow and learn:)

This quote hangs on my office wall...

"Not everything you create will be a masterpiece, but you get out there and you try and sometimes it really happens.  The other times you're just stretching your soul."  Maya Andgelou






One more thing....Week 3's PRIZE!

A set of awesome alpha stamps.

A mini scrapbook 

A piece of my Brave Art

Just leave me a comment in this post for your chance to win!!!

Thank you for being here, girls. I appreciate each of you so much:)

Week 3-Wheel of Dreams

It's already Week 3!  I am really enjoying our time together...seeing your work, reading your comments and visiting many of your blogs has inspired me on so many levels.

This week's Word is....

DO

to perform (an act, duty, role, etc.)

2.

to execute (a piece or amount of work)

3.

to accomplish; finish; complete

4.

to put forth; exert: Do your best.

5.

to be the cause of (good, harm, credit, etc.); bring about;effect.

Think about your questions from last week...specifically your answers to What lights me up? Are you doing enough of those things to fill your heart ? To make YOU happy...mind, body and soul?  Here's my list...

*Inspiring others

*meeting new people

*teaching others art, writing

*spending time with my family

*writing and sharing uplifting ideas

Look at your list and ask yourself...what one thing can I do TODAY that lights me up? 


I mean surely we can do something, right? We all lead busy, hectic lives....but if we take just a few minutes out of each day....those minutes will add up and before we know it our dreams are coming true. We are happy and fulfilled...mind, body and soul.

Author and Artist  SARK calls these baby steps "micromovements".

"Creative Dreams can get stuck inside our heads, in drawers, inside computers, and in closets. We are all filled with fabulous ideas and descriptions relating to our dreams...however we know that some of what leads to a dream fulfilled may be tedious, mundane, boring, or just really  time-consuming. If you are a practicing procrastinator, perfectionist, avoider, busy or whatever....then micromovements are for you."

These words are so encouraging to me. I remember the first time I read through her book "Make Your Creative Dreams Real"...when I read about her "micromovements" I thought...I CAN do this! My dreams no longer seemed so out of reach.

SARK...

"A micromovement  is a very tiny action that anyone can take toward some part of his or her creative dream. It's 5 seconds to 5 minutes in length. You write it down, along with a date and time for completion. You will feel energized and may want to continue for longer than 5 minutes. O r you may work for a minute or two then decide to take a nap."


Here are a few of her Micromovement ideas...


1. Creative Dream is to write a novel
    Micromovement: Sunday at 2 PM I will turn on my computer and create a file called "Novel".


2. Creative dream is to travel to Europe and paint.
     Micromovement: Call Val at 3 PM on Sunday about her friend living in Italy painting.




Here is what MY Micromovements look like.


1.  Creative Dream: To have a successful Blog filled with women from around the world sharing their art, words and life with me.
      Micromovement: Sunday afternoon gather my creative idea books, my journal and pens and make a list of 10 ways to grow my blog creatively.


2. Dream: Run a marathon with my son in January 2013
    Micromovement: Take out my calendar and plan my power walks for the week.


Are you getting the idea?




SARK sums up micromovements like this...


Micromovements continue to support my creative dreams. I have learned that it uses more energy to resist or avoid taking action than it does to make a micromovement. Every creative dream I've made real exists because of hundreds or thousands of mircromovements."

Can you imagine how much your life will change if you begin implementing this simple exercise into your life?
I BELIEVE it's the difference between living in the light or letting the darkness of "what could have been" take over and consume you.


This week will change your life!! I promise once you DO these Micromovements {no matter how big or how small} your  life will change. 


It will.


So let's have some fun shall we??


Your Assignment is to create a Micromovement Wheel. It's easy and will look pretty sweet in your Smash Book or Art Journal.


Here are  a few simple steps to create your wheel.


*Draw or paint or cut-out a large circle {it should take up most of page}
*In the center of the circle or wheel draw a circle large enough to write the words "Creative Dream" {then add your Dream}
*Make lines or spokes inside the circle {like a pie slice} 
*Make as many lines/spokes as you want
*Fill in each "slice" with a micromovement 


Example...


*In the center of my wheel it says "Creative Dream": Host an art retreat 
*In my slices I will write things like...
     Call Mozingo and ask about renting cabins
      Make a list of all possible places to have retreat
      Send an email to everyone I know that may be interested
      Ask my local art shop if they want to sponsor/help me out
      Research art retreats within a 500 mile radius


Are you getting the idea??


Art it up anyway you want with chipboard, stickers, paint, sparkles, flowers...however you choose. I will be posting mine on Tuesday:)



Okay...so remember...look at your What lights you up list...pick out one or two that really speak to you then decide on what Micromovements you can begin doing today. Create your Wheel then transfer those answers onto your wheel. You are all set!




Let me know how you are doing!!!


See you Tuesday with our Week 2 Winner:)

I am Reaching...

I really enjoyed answering questions from our last assignment...I believe these 5 questions are the most important we can ask ourselves when we're trying to find our way. Here are a few of my answers...

1. What lights me up?
    *inspiring others
    *meeting new people
    *writing, teaching, creating

2. When I do these things I lose track of time...
    *writing
    *scrapping/painting/collaging
    *Making goals

3. When I was young I wanted to be...
    *I wanted to move to New York City and act on Broadway
    *Write a book, play or screen play
    *Cover a Presidential campaign and be lead television announcer at a Presidential Convention

4. Who do I want to be now...
    *well-known blogger
    *Host art retreats at a beautiful home in the woods...Soul Collage....
    *I want to be a regular contributor to a national blog/magazine

5. 25 jobs I could see myself doing...
    *radio announcer
    *speech teacher/coach
    *station manager at radio station
    *nurses aid
    *television announcer
    *Art and writing workshop teacher
    *speaker
    magazine writer
    *syndicated columnist


I get excited just writing all these things down...so many possibilities.


I hope your week is going good. My husband and I have been thrown yet another curve ball. For those of you that have been reading my blog for awhile...you know what a rough couple of months I have had. I was soooo confident all this stuff was behind us...but yesterday it came back to haunt to me, making me sick and sooo worried. I am not ready to share all the details but it involves someone so very dear to us. The choices this person is making is breaking my husband and I's heart, making it extremely hard to think about anything else.

However...

I woke up this morning determined not to get in the low place I was just 1 month ago. No...I BELIEVE I can get through this. I know it may require me to REACH deep down inside of me to find the courage I need...but I can do this.

My Brave Art-2011

Enjoy the rest of your week. I love your work in the FB group...each of you inspires me to try new things and to keep on living my dreams. Thank you so much:)

I am looking forward to Week 3:)

See you on FB, girls!!

Mind. Body. Soul-Week 2/Lesson 2

How are you coming along, girls? Remember you are NEVER, EVER behind. Just jump right in and begin:) I had some time to finish my "stained glass" quote...here it is.

As you can see I chose to only take a few words from the quote..."Light from within" and

True Beauty.

 I painted colored squares to represent all the colors in stained glass. The black letters are old foam stamps from Making Memories.

So this week we are "reaching" deep inside ourselves so we can bring out into the world all that we truly want to do.

It's never easy to do that is it? Remember our quote from SARK Monday?

"We are all filled with wonders. Somewhere inside, you know this, even if you haven't made it real yet."


You know what you want. You know what lights you up and makes your tummy do flip flops.


You know.

And like I said in Monday's post...we just gotta jump in and start living!

Assignment Two:

Let's take some time and write. Writing is soooo very good for the soul. Whenever I am stuck in my life...nothing works at getting me unstuck like putting my thoughts and feelings down on paper {or the computer screen}

Our lives improve only when we take chances – and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves. - Walter Anderson 

1. What lights you up? 

2. What kinds of things can you be doing then before you know an hour or 2 has passed and you go...what?? How did that happen?

3. What did you want to be when you grew up?

4. Who do you want to be NOW that you are grown up?

5. Make a list of 25 jobs you could see yourself in. I know, at first 25 seems like a big number...but just see where it goes...you may be surprised.

By answering these questions honestly and really listening to your heart...you may be a bit scared at what you find out. I mean it's never easy to leave our comfort zone...yet, when we truly listen...we almost always end up being a bit uncomfortable. Change is never easy but it's the only way we can grow.

The human voice can never reach the distance that is covered by the still small voice of conscience.

Mahatma Gandhi

**You can answer these in your notebooks or your art journals...and you can even journal them in an artsy way. You do what feels right!

Remember our prize from last week??

Well, the collage I was going to give away with it is going to my daughter, Em. She had a fit when she saw that it was in the give away pile:) Soooo I switched it with this one...

I adore this piece and I just know JOYCE will, too!! Joyce from "My Pure Joy" has won our Week One Drawing!! Send me your addy please:) You can just FB me...

Speaking of prizes here is Week Two!!!

So many goodies here...lace, journaling cards, notecards....

a cute "hello" stamp and a piece of my Brave Art.

"I am Enough" Be sure and leave me a comment in THIS post only for your chance to WIN!! I use Random Generator to pick the winner.


Our Facebook group keeps growing. I appreciate all the new people this week. Don't worry about being behind. Just go at your own pace. Every assignment will be put on my Blog permanently at the end of 6 weeks.

One more thing. This afternoon I enjoyed Rascal Flatts while working on my assignment from Monday...to just LET GO and create.

So far this is what I have. Not finished yet...just going with it and see what happens.

I am leaving you with something to think about from Benjamin Franklin...


Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.

Week Two-Mind.Body.Soul.

Welcome to Week 2, girls!! We are now over 100 women strong and growing daily...I can hardly believe it! Thank you for joining me on this journey as we become stronger Mind, Body and Soul.

So last week we got a taste of what it feels like to Believe in ourselves. Maybe you're like me and just needed a gentle reminder or maybe you really, truly can't seem to find one good thing about yourself you  Believe in. Whichever one you are....I hope last week gave you a chance to stop and think about those things. My wish is that each one of us is stronger, more confident and ready to reach our full potential by the end of 6 weeks.

Our Word for this week is

REACH

To make a movement or effort as if to touch or seize something.


I love this part of the definition..."to touch or seize something."


What  are you trying to seize? What is it that when you listen to your heart you want to seize?

I love the artist SARK. I love her passion for life and art and making dreams come true. I love her child-like enthusiasm and the simplicity of her books.

SARK

This is SARK. She looks just like you and me. A normal, wonderful, wild woman...who is living her creative dreams with passion and gusto!

This is just one of her 11 books...

This book is filled to the brim with whimsical drawings, words and creative games to feed our creative life. I highly reccomend it.

On page 81 she shares a few little sentences that just might help you Believe you can even though you are convinced you cannot.

"We are all filled with wonders. Somewhere inside, you know this, even if you haven't made it real yet. The knowledge can give you courage to let these wonders be seen. What else gives you courage? I think that courage is activated by...EVIDENCE. Something that we tried that worked and we can see it. But what gives us courage to try it in the first place? I am often asked how I got the courage to go from being a "starving artist" to being a "successful artist". I'm convinced that this courage was already inside me, and it got activated by things that I tried with absolutely no courage to start with."

Oh my goodness....don't you just love that? She's telling us we just gotta jump in and do it. Feet first...no thinking, none of this "I will start when I get better at_________."Does this sound like you?  I know hundreds of times throughout my life I have missed opportunities to learn and grow and live my dreams because I told myself I wasn't ready. 

SARK ends that paragraph with this profound statement...

"I didn't try new things with courage and confidence, but rather with will and determination. The courage grew as I saw the evidence."

Can I  let you in on a little secret? This is exactly where I am today. I can't tell you how many times I wrote in my journal "This is the year I will write my first e-course!" Each year would pass and no e-course was ever written. I would sit back and watch as other of my blog friends were offering challenges and classes...but not me. I kept telling myself I just didn't have the experince everyone else had. The real truth was this...I was scared. I'm still scared. Scared out of my wits actually. Yet, here I am...reaching out to all of you with my words...sharing my heart and watching myself gain more and more confidence everyday.

Everytime we say NO to a dream of ours we are telling ourselves we don't BELIEVE. We don't think we have what it takes to live that dream. 

I have a BIG dream to run my third marathon in January 2013 with my son at Disney World. This dream of mine seems nearly impossible.  Ten years ago I trained hard and finished two marathons. Not only was I younger then but I was in a much better place both physically. However, after reading SARK'S words I know now what I need to do. I just gotta train. I gotta walk more and more miles each week. Eventually I must build up to jogging then log at least one long run a week. Each positive step I take in the next 10 months will make me stronger and like SARK says, will give me the courage I need to finish 26.2 miles with my son. 

While working on her book SARK said she would go on evening walks everynight. During one of these walks she met a 70 year old painter, Roy. They began discussing dreams and said this to her..."I hope you tell them it's all about letting loose the wonders inside."

Girls...it is TIME! It is TIME to let loose the wonders inside of YOU! It's time to REACH inside your heart and your soul and just GO!!

We are limitless...we really are. We are full of love and passion and creativity and joy. Our hearts know no bounds. So why then are we holding back??

Our assignment today is LET GO! Take out your art journal, your paints or crayons, markers or paper. Buttons, ribbon...what is speaking to you at the moment. Put on your favorite music, movie or nothing at all. Now just create. No thinking allowed. Just put brush to paper. Mod Podge magazine clippings or other images on your pages. Do what your heart is telling you to do. Let Go and Have fun!

*You can make this either a one or two page spread in your journal.

"We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out."  -Ray Bradbury

When Things Go Good....

I am getting a kick out of seeing your artwork, girls. Talking and interacting with each other, too. Thank you again for joining me on this journey of self-discovery and art. Each of you inspires me!


This week has been such a strange one for me.  Along with losing our computer, our garbage disposal up and died, our car battery won't stay charged { we have had to jump it 3 times in the past 24 hours} and my husband had to purchase a new battery for his cell phone. Good grief!

I have also been going through one of those "I have nothing to wear and I hate my hair" phases. Ever go through that? So not fun. Seriously...nothing worse than looking at yourself in the mirror and not liking what you see. So for the past couple of days all I've been doing is filling my mind with lots of negative self-talk. How's that working me? Not so good.

Wellllll....all of this has made me really think about our Word for this week...BELIEVE. Here I was asking you to ask yourselves what you Believe about you and I was Believing nothing but yuck about myself. When we think yucky thoughts, girls...we begin Believing our thoughts. It gets harder and harder to Believe anything good about ourselves.  No wonder our dreams get put on hold, right?

So then I thought about what I do when I am feeling confident and strong and I Believe I can reach my goals and live my dreams. What kinds of things am I doing?




*I am wearing what I love and doing my hair and putting perfume on
 
When we make the effort to fix ourselves up for the day we are saying  "I am important. I have goals to reach today. I have a life to live. I don't have time to sit on the couch and watch TV and feel sorry for myself."
 
*I am eating healthy, clean foods

  When we take care of ourselves with good, whole foods we are saying "I love myself enough to take care of myself."


*I am taking daily walks

  Daily exercise gets our blood pumping, it's a great stress reliever and I come up with some of my best ideas when I'm moving!


*I am catching up with dear friends, laughing and sharing my heart.

  Friends help me unwind and listen to my dreams and my fears. They help me put my life in perspective. Nothing like a friend!!


*I am taking time with my family to rest and unwind

  I love my family more than anything! I feel safe when I am with them. They can make us forget about our worries. They lift us up and love us no matter what.


*I am kind to myself and forgive myself when I don't get everything done


  Girls...we must stop being so hard on ourselves!! Let's start BELIEVING that we are enough and that what we accomplish everyday is enough!!!



Your last assignment for our first week is to think about what things you are doing when you Believe in yourself 100%. Make a list. Keep it close. Refer to it when those "yuck" thoughts creep in

A few things...

*Some of you have asked if you can use ONE journal. Yes. Remember...this is your class...you can decide what feels right for you.

*I will be posting the Art Journal ideas TODAY. Lots of photos of pages, tips and links for Art Journaling. This will be a PERMANENT page on Words of Me!!

Thank you so much for being here!!!

Art Assignments for Day 2

 If you've been following along in our FB group then you know all about my computer issues. Ugh!  My poor computer gave up. Ka-put, bye-bye, see ya' later.  We, on the other hand will be nothing like my silly old computer. No we won't. We will keep perservering and moving forward no matter how hard it gets. Right, girls?

 It is so fun seeing you all in the FB group. I love how a few of you have shared uplfiting messages and photos with us...and it is wonderful to see you all talking. That is my intention with the group...you guys rock.

So what did you think of our first class assignment? Those were pretty big questions weren't they? I mean when we really stop to think about what we really, truly believe about ourselves it can be frightening. Hopefully you jotted down a mix of both good and bad. For example I understand I I have a huge procrastination problem...but on the other hand I believe I am a very good communicator and love sharing with others.

Today's assignment should be a super fun one for you! We are gonna get out the paint, the stencils, glue, pens, stickers...whatever you feel like and create a couple of art journal pages.

My desk

Our theme for these pages is "She Believed She Could". When we believe in our abilities, girls...we can be as successful as we set out to be.

It's not who you are 

that holds you back, 

it's who you think

 you're not.  

~Author Unknown 

Be sure and reference your questions from yesterday and decide what positive answers you want to be on your pages. Nothing negative goes here! List your goals, dreams, any ideas you want to Believe you can accomplish this year {and beyond}. 

So with that theme in mind you can set out to create in your journals. Remember you have one notebook for your writings, assignment questions and anything else you wish to put in it. Your art journals should be the one that either has unlined pages OR your SMASH book. Again....these are guidelines...you us what you want:) 

Okay...open your journals to the first page. We will be using that page and the inside cover page. Look at photo above for example.

I realize many of you have never art journaled before. Soooo, look for my special "Page" up top with a crash course in art journaling...that should be up very soon:)

Take your favorite 2 or 3 colors and begin painting. I used watercolor for my background...

You'll want to use colors you like for this...we want everything about these pages to uplift and inspire us to "Believe We Can"!

Add a few stencils, texture, whatever you fancy.

Flower stencil

Many of my art journal pages have an old-fashioned girl on them. You can find these images all over the Web for FREE. I found hundreds of these styles last year at a yard sale for less than a dollar! It was my lucky day for sure.  Magic Moonlight Images is an excellent resource for FREE vintage images. While we talking about this...I know there's lots of blog talk about how these vintage ladies have been over used. That may be so but I happen to adore them...and since this is my own, private journal...I think I'll keep them in there:) USE WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY!

After I added the sweet girl I printed our theme  and Mod Podged it to her dress. The clock is chipboard I had in my stash and reminds me I need to use my time wisely so I can achieve what I what  in my life. The heart is by Making Memories...it seemed like the ideal spot to list what I want to make happen in the next year. 

Here is my finished 2-page spread...

Various elements helped me express what my heart was saying. After everything was down I took acrylic paint, stenciled a bit over everything and added a few more swipes of paint. 

I will be sharing more of this in the Page at the top of my blog...lots of ideas and photos to inspire you!

There are so many ways you can create this page...

*use one or two Words in bold so you can see at a glance what you want to bring into your life.

*use images to support your dreams...butterflies, birds, hearts...anything that encourages you to Believe You Can

*Use magazine images, photos of yourself or no images at all.

Here are a few more ideas I have created in the past...

This is a 2 page spread I did last October to honor my 45th Birthday. Along with images I Mod Podged phrases and quotes throughout to inspire me.

This is my Personal Manifesto canvas from January of this year. The goal here was to showcase Words I wanted to bring into my life for 2012. I love everything about this piece...the colors, the images and the words. 

Our last assignment  for this week is take the quote below and create a journal page with it....

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,

 but when the darkness sets in 

their true beauty is revealed

 only if there is light from within.  

~Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Remember what I said yesterday? What if this is as good as it gets? Do we just stop living? Do we end up bitter old women? Really think about this quote...it's easy, peasy to sparkle and shine when everything is good. But oh when things go bad...do we become mean and nasty and vindictive. Or do we radiate a peace  and light from within?

I think there's lots of good imagery in this quote and can't wait to show you my pages.

Girls, you are all awesome. You are all beautiful, caring souls. Thank you for letting me share my heart with you. This is giving me such joy to share.

Oh....I almost forgot! Each week I'll have a little something to give away! Hooray!! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment in THIS POST. I will be sharing more later in the week...but only THIS POST is an entry in the drawing...here's what you will win!

*a Believe canvas created by me

*various ribbons and lace

*5 notecards to use in your journals or mail to a friend

*one butterfly stamp

Pretty awesome right?? You didn't know there would be prizes...but I LOVE to give stuff away!!

See you on FB!!:) Keep on sharing...oh and feel free to share YOUR pages with us!!!

Oh and one more thing...these are the last assignments for the week. However there will be more blog posts...just not assignments...and our next assignment will be Monday...Week 2.