Entries from: October 2009

Trick or Treats

October 31st, 2009, Comments (12)

hydrangea

This week in The Joy Diet, which I'm reading with Jamie Ridler's book group, the focus is on treats or how you reward yourself. When I thought about it at first, I felt like I've been fairly good at treating myself. But when I looked more closely this week, I realized I'm good at treating myself in some ways more than others.

For example, I'm good at treating myself through distasteful tasks and finding small ways to make my day more enjoyable. For example, I love saving the Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Podcast for when I clean the kitchen. I've been using enjoyable listening to make chores more fun since I was a teenager when I listened to musicals on my headphones (back when we used tape cassettes.) I still do this sort of thing with music, podcasts, or audiobooks while doing un-fun things like cleaning the litter and also with very fun things like making art. I love hearing a good story.

Earlier this week I upped the treat factor by asking some folks on Twitter for podcast recommendations. It was suggested I check out The Moth, Radiolab, Speaking of Faith, and some others, which I downloaded episodes of and scattered them throughout my day to make various tasks more fun.

Yesterday, I treated myself to some beautiful hydrangeas (see above), a bribe for going to the grocery store. Ok, so I seem to bribe myself a lot. A trick and a treat? But what I'm not always great at doing is treating myself as a celebration or just because. Thinking about little ways to treat myself well throughout the week was a great reminder though and I was grateful for that. I've got to keep that up as I dive into the busy month of Art Every Day which starts up tomorrow. Wee! Super excited!

As we wind up, this month of connection, I'm noticing how much I love to connect with folks online through places like Twitter, this blog, and the many challenges that pop up throughout the blogopshere. It's a beautiful thing. I'll be talking more about connections in an interview with Anne Paris, author of Standing at Water's Edge: Moving Past Fear, Blocks, and Pitfalls to Discover the Power of Creative Immersion, which will be posted later this week.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Connecting with My Inner Domestic Goddess

October 29th, 2009, Comments (13)

connect souppot

All the hustle and bustle of setting up in our new home has brought out my inner domestic goddess. Sometimes I'm not sure she exists. I've never been one for baking cookies or sewing curtains. I mean, I love cookies (mmm, cookies) and sewing appeals to me, but it's not been in my repertoire. The hubster enjoys cooking more than I do.

But I do have these sparks of domestic bliss. Like last week, when I pulled out this pretty blue dutch oven, found a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa, and spent an afternoon laboring over a pot of soup (it's a Mexican chicken soup.) I mean, really, look at this masterpiece! Hehe.

connect soup

Shnazzy, right? I know Martha Stewart won't be calling anytime soon (even though I was cooking in one of her pots), but I was rather proud of myself.

We've been spending a lot of time setting up the house as well. You'd think with my art skills, I'd be a great decorator, but the two things do not necessarily overlap. I'm a bit spatially challenged and find all this arranging and selecting of furnishings to be mind-boggling. But we're slowly getting things together. It's beginning to feel more homey.

And ok, I'll admit it, it's been kinda fun embracing my inner Domestic Goddess. She's not so bad. I do love freshly cleaned sheets, the look of white bowls stacked in the cupboards, and my little collection of teapots. And I'm enjoying cooking in the new kitchen (sometimes.)

My studio space is starting to come together thankfully. Books are on the shelf, art supplies are unpacked. Closet shelves are installed. I'm ready to go for Art Every Day Month!

What have you been connecting with during this month of connection?

Art Every Day Month is Right Around the Corner!

October 27th, 2009, Comments (58)

aedmlogored

Oo, la, la! Art Every Day Month is right around the corner! I've been busy putting the final touches on the Art Every Day Month Survival Guide and I'm so thrilled to be sharing it. I'm also super excited to jump into the Art Every Day Month process, creating and sharing my work every day, and connecting with the wonderful creative folks who join in.

The Creative Every Day Challenge and Art Every Day Month overlap a bit, although I think of AEDM as a more intense process as it only lasts for one month. But in both cases, I define art broadly, so if you want to create in one medium that's great, if you want to mix it up with different kinds of creating, that's fabulous too! And for both challenges, I consider art to be anything you can create, whether that be painting, sculpting, dance, knitting, cooking, jewelry-making, doodling, etc...

Because I love to work in mixed-media and 2-D art, that's where my focus will be. Some days I'll finish a whole piece and other days I'll work on a piece in progress. Every day, I'll be posting my work on my blo, but you can feel free to post your work in whatever way you'd like. I make the challenge low-pressure (and guilt-free) because my ultimate goal is to bring more creativity into my life and the life of others and I want everyone to feel welcome to join in and play!

The list of participants is now up in the sidebar, under the list of CED participants. I will continue to add people as they sign up (so if you find this after November 1st, you're still welcome to join in!)

So, are you ready? Do you want to play too? Simply let me know how you'd like to be listed in the list of participants. You don't need to have a blog. I can list your name (first and last name or first and last initial), a blog, or a flickr account. You can let me know you want to sign up by leaving a comment or popping me an email.

Every day I will have a Mr. Linky widget where you can link to a blog post or Flickr image of that day's creation. Not sure what a Mr. Linky widget is? Here's a snapshot of what it looks like:

widget

Don't try to use this one, it's just a picture of what it looks like. You can see an active one on yesterday's Creative Every Day Challenge Check-in post, which I have up every Monday.

You can also post images in the Art Every Day Month Flickr group! You can read even more about AEDM and its history here.

Want to join in, but feel like you need some extra support? Then check out the Art Every Day Month Survival Guide, which is a series of 30 emails sent to you, one for each day of November. Each email is filled with art, writing, prompts, and inspiration to help give you those little extra nudges to keep you going and give you ideas on how to easily fill each day of November with art-making fun. You can get all the details and purchase a Survival Guide right here.

aedm survivalguide 300

For Creative Every Day Challenge participants, Art Every Day Month will be the theme for next month as that's all I'm going to be able to focus on! But as always, the themes are always optional, so you can continue participating and doing your own thing. Or if you aren't participating in AEDM, you can play with the idea of a daily practice in your creations for the month. 

Creative Every Day Challenge Check-In: Oct. 26 – Nov. 1

October 26th, 2009, Comments (23)

Ced2009Welcome, Creative Every Day Challenge participants! 

This weekly post is a place for CED participants to share their creative activities.

Ways to share: Leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a post (or posts) about your creative activities during the days of 10/26/09 - 11/1/09.

The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.)

You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to.

Join in the Challenge: To find out more about the Creative Every Day Challenge check out the details here.

If you want to sign up to be a part of the challenge, leave a comment on this post or email me to let me know. When you contact me, please let me know how you'd like to be listed in the list of participants, which resides in the right sidebar (I can list you as your name or as a link to a blog if you have one. A blog is not required to participate!) Please email or comment to let me know you're participating before you start posting links in the comments or on the "Mr. Linky" widget.

Theme: The (totally optional) theme for October is connect. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month. You can find out more about how you can use the inspiration theme here.

Happy Creating!

"Find what brings you joy and go there. That is your place to create, to move with the spirit, for the Muse lingers near the home of our joy." —Jan Phillips

Update: Sorry this was up late today! I'm not sure what happened to the original post, but I re-posted and here it is now!

And the envelope please…

October 23rd, 2009, Comments (14)

Woo! It was pretty wild having three giveaways this week, but I hope you enjoyed it! I used a random number generator to select the winners of the first two giveaways for Goddess Leonie's Divine Dreaming Meditation Kit and my Art Every Day Month Survival Guide.

Although the contest for the Survival Guide is closed, you can still sign up for Art Every Day Month anytime by letting me know how you'd like to be listed in the list of participants (which will be up in my sidebar next week.) Just let me know if you'd like to be listed as your name (first and last or first and last initial), a blog, or a flickr account and I'll add you!

And, the giveaway for Andrea's Creativity Kit is open til Monday, so you can still enter by leaving a comment on Thursday's post!

And now, without further ado, the winners!

leonie dream

The winner of Goddess Leonie's Divine Dreaming Meditation Kit is: Lucy of Mixed Medium Musings. Congrats, Lucy!

aedm survivalguide 300

And the winner of my Art Every Day Month Survival Guide is Vicki of Faint Heart Art. Congrats, Vicki!!

I'll be emailing the winners to let them know. Thanks to everyone who played along. I hope you all have a wonderfully creative weekend!

Giveaway! Making Friends with Creativity Toolkit from Andrea Schroeder

October 22nd, 2009, Comments (85)

Goodie gumdrops, this week of giveaways has been fun!

Today, Andrea Shroeder, from the blog ABCcreativity.com, is offering 3 of her fabulous "making friends with creativity" toolkits!! To win, just leave a comment and I'll post the winners on Monday. So what does a creativity toolkit contain?

A creativity toolkit contains the magic, inspiration and possibility of a creativity workshop in a downloadable e-kit. The first creativity toolkit is called "making friends with creativity". this kit will support you in:

*exploring your creative energy
*dissolving your creative blocks/fears
*deepening your connection with your creative spirit
*receiving new messages, insights, ideas and inspiration from your creative spirit

andrea creativitykit

Connecting with your creative spirit is connecting with your:

*intuition
*uniqueness
*wisdom
*imagination
*beauty

As you strengthen and develop your friendship with your creativity you can draw on it in all aspects of your life.

You are a creative being.

There is no limit to what you can create.

::::

Good luck everyone! Winners of my Art Every Day Month Survival Guide and Goddess Leonie's Divine Dreaming Meditation Kit will be announced tomorrow (Friday) and you can check back in on Monday to see who the 3 lucky winners of Andrea's Making Friends with Creativity Toolkit are!

UPDATE: The winners are: Bobbie, Kerry, and Laurie. Congrats!! I've emailed the winners to let them know. Thanks to everyone for playing! And thanks again to Andrea for generously offering her kits for a giveaway here. It was fun!

Hooray, Another Giveaway! AEDM Survival Guide

October 21st, 2009, Comments (61)

Art Every Day Month

aedmlogored

I'm getting all giddy about Art Every Day Month which starts in less than two weeks! This will be year number 7 for me and although it's always a challenge, I get so much out of it. I love the art I create when I push through those moments when I don't think I'm in the mood. And I especially love the community that forms in the process of AEDM, the creative people I meet, and the connections that come from it. It's a beautiful thing. 

In case you're concerned that you'll start the challenge and fall flat, let me assure you that this is a low-pressure challenge. If you miss a day (or a week), you can just brush yourself off and get back to it. I'm also considering art in the broadest sense, so one day you might make a drawing, the next might be a fantastic meal, the next could be a piece of jewelry. Or you might focus on a project or one medium for the month. It's up to you!

I'll have a Mr. Linky widget here every day during November, so that folks can share links to their blogs or Flickr. And speaking of Flickr, there's a new .

aedm survivalguide 300

The Survival Guide

This year, I'm thrilled to be offering The Art Every Day Month Survival Guide as an option for folks who are planning to do Art Every Day Month and would like a little extra support, encouragement, and inspiration along the way. The Survival Guide is delivered in a daily email throughout the month with a mix of writing, art, prompts, links, and a weekly audio recording.

The Giveaway!

Today, I'm offering a free copy of the Art Every Day Month Survival Guide! Just leave a comment and I'll select a winner on Friday.

If you've already purchased a copy of the Survival Guide or if you purchase one before Friday, you can still enter the giveaway and if you win, you can choose a print from my shop and I'll mail it to you! Sweetness!

Update: The winner has been announced here, but you can still join in Art Every Day Month anytime by letting me know how you'd like to be listed in the list of participants. You can be listed as your name (first and last or first and last initial), a blog, or a flickr account and I'll add you to the list which will be up in my sidebar next week.

Giveaway! Goddess Leonie’s Divine Dreaming Meditation Kit

October 20th, 2009, Comments (56)

Ooo goodie! I'm super excited to be offering some fun giveaways this week! First up, is the Divine Dreaming Meditation Kit from the gorgeous Goddess Leonie. Simply leave a comment on this post and I'll randomly choose a name on Friday, October 23rd to win their very own kit!

leonie dream

The Divine Dreaming Meditation Kit is a downloadable kit with two Divine Dreaming meditation mp3s and a Goddess Guide to Sweet Slumber e-book. The kit was created to help you get to sleep easier and have more amazing dreams... perfect if you don't always get the sweet slumber you need, or some inspiring, healing dreams!

I've had the pleasure of listening to the mp3s and I highly recommend the Divine Dreaming Meditation for those who have busy thoughts when they’re trying to wind down before sleep. It really helped me set the right tone for an evening of beautiful dreams. Leonie’s voice is magic! Listening to the meditation, I felt softly held and supported, as I slipped smoothly into the dreamtime. I loved the meditation and will be using it again and again.

Update: The winner has been announced here. Thanks for playing everyone!

Creative Every Day Challenge Check-In: October 19 – 25

October 19th, 2009, Comments (25)

Ced2009Welcome, Creative Every Day Challenge participants! 

This weekly post is a place for CED participants to share their creative activities.

Ways to share: Leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a post (or posts) about your creative activities during the days of 10/19/09 - 10/25/09.

The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.)

You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to.

Join in the Challenge: To find out more about the Creative Every Day Challenge check out the details here.

If you want to sign up to be a part of the challenge, leave a comment on this post or email me to let me know. When you contact me, please let me know how you'd like to be listed in the list of participants, which resides in the right sidebar (I can list you as your name or as a link to a blog if you have one. A blog is not required to participate!) Please email or comment to let me know you're participating before you start posting links in the comments or on the "Mr. Linky" widget.

Theme: The (totally optional) theme for October is connect. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month. You can find out more about how you can use the inspiration theme here.

Happy Creating!

Not all of us are painters but we are all artists. Each time we fit things together we are creating - whether it is to make a loaf of bread, a child, a day. ~Corita Kent

Connecting with Your Creativity

October 18th, 2009, Comments (17)

butterflytreeatg
butterfly tree

This week's chapter of The Joy Diet, which I'm reading with Jamie Ridler's book group, was about creativity. Creativity! Yes, you think I'd be all over this like fudge on a sundae, right? Well, yes, I do love me some creativity talk, but his was a fairly quiet week for me.

It's interesting, but a lot of people reading the book are having strong reactions to it. While this has not been my favorite Martha Beck book, I'm still getting things out of it. I think for a lot of people, the book is going too fast, there's too much information, it's asking too much. And I do hear that. It is a lot to process and a lot to consider doing each and every day. I think part of the reason, I'm not having an adverse reaction to the book is because I'm holding it very lightly.

Perhaps I'll get less out of the process by doing this, but I've got a lot going on at the moment, and the only way I can do this book right now is to take on what's helpful and leave the rest. I play with the suggestions, incorporating them into my days as I see fit. If I don't do it perfectly, I'm not going to worry about it. Stress-free-book-clubbing.

There are books I've read where I've done every exercise and followed along with nearly every suggestion, as I've done in past readings of The Artist's Way, for example. And there are others that I've read without doing any of the exercises. This book is somewhere in the middle for me. I'm doing some exercises, leaving others behind without a second thought. It feels just right for me right now.

This week I've used the creativity prompts in small and subtle ways. Whenever I'd remember, I'd check in with myself about what I was desiring in that moment and then I'd think up a few creative ways to move in the direction of what I wanted. What I liked about doing this, was that it helped me to get playful with how I can get what I want and it helped me move from desire into action.

Ok, this is a super small example, but small is good too. I checked in with myself at one point this week about what I was desiring in that moment. What instantly came to mind was that I was super cold and I really wanted to be warmer. The funny thing is, that if I hadn't checked in, I might not have done much about the fact that I was cold. I might have just blown it off and kept going. Just checking in was a good thing for me. So then I thought, "Ok, I want to be warm. What are some creative ways I could get warm?" And I started to list off ideas in my head: I could put on fuzzy socks, I could put on an extra layer, I could do jumping jacks, I could drink hot chocolate, I could do some work around the house to get myself moving and feel warmer, I could take a hot shower, I could make soup or tea or hot cider, I could cuddle up with kitties under the blankets, I could turn up the heat, I could fly back to Florida, I could put on leg warmers and dance to 80's music, etc...

Beyond the fact that making this list was kinda fun and a bit silly at times, it did get me to to come up with some solid ideas to get warm and I acted on a few and felt much better. Was this desire a deep one? No. But it was great practice and I used the process later in the week to figure out how to take action on a deeper desire to work on a writing project that I was procrastinating on. By coming up with creative ways to get started, I found a fun way to get moving on it again.

How do you connect with your creativity? What creative ways can you move towards your desires, both small and large?