Entries from: December 2012

Creative Every Day Check-In: December 31 – January 6

December 31st, 2012, Comments (16)

This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.

Join in the Challenge: You can sign-up for the 2013 Challenge here!

Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 12/31/12 - 1/6/13.

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) or flickr image 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 unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (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.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.

You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter or Instagram you can use the hashtag #CED2013!

Theme: The (totally optional) theme for December is Celebrate. You can read more about the optional theme here. January's totally optional theme is Dark, which you read more about here.

Happy Creating!

Creative Every Day Theme for January: Dark

December 30th, 2012, Comments (23)


At the end of each month I will announce the totally optional theme for the following month. For the month of January 2013, the theme will be Dark

As always, this month's theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge is totally optional. Use it if it inspires you, continue being creative every day in your own way if it doesn't, or do something in between. You can sign up for the 2013 Creative Every Day Challenge anytime. More info can be found here and the sign-up page is here.

I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month on the blog to help keep you inspired. You can use the posts here for jumping off points or interpret the theme in your own creative way. If you need some suggestions, here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:

  • *Start with a dark surface, by drawing or painting on black paper or a black canvas.
  • *Work with shadows in your writing or art.
  • *Take time to imagine in a dark space or just close your eyes. Or work by candlelight!
  • *Work in deeper, darker shades.
  • *Focus your creations on the night sky.
  • *During the darker, colder months, I like to get crafty and decorate. What craftiness could you get up to this month?
  • I also love to fill the colder months with warm soups, are there any warm, comforting meals you'd like to try out?

How to use the CED themes:

If you're feeling creatively stuck or blocked at any point during the month, use the theme as a source of inspiration to get you moving. Feel free to focus on the theme in your creative activities for the entire month or as much as you'd like.

Using the theme is entirely optional for CED participants. Use it if it inspires you, ignore it if it doesn't. I'll be sharing posts throughout the month around the theme (among other things) to get you thinking about how to incorporate it into your life. I'd love to hear how you use the theme in your creative world.

And have fun with it!

Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift. ― Mary Oliver

p.s. The art above is adapted from Ophelia available here.

Creative Every Day Check-In: December 24 – 30

December 24th, 2012, Comments (11)

Sorry for the delay today, folks. If you celebrate Christmas, I hope you and yours have a magical holiday! This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.

Join in the Challenge: You can now sign-up for the 2013 Challenge here!

Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 12/24/12 - 12/30/12.

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) or flickr image 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 unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (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.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.

You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter or Instagram you can use the hashtag #CED2012!

Theme: The (totally optional) theme for December is Celebrate. You can read more about the optional theme here.

Happy Creating!

Celebrating the Holidays and Other Good Stuff

December 19th, 2012, Comments (3)

Something about the holiday season makes me feel crafty. I am not particularly good at crafts because I'm a bit sloppy, but whatever, I'm diving in! This year, it's been fun making some crafts with Annabelle's help, like these salt dough handprint ornaments that I made of her hand and one each for two of her buddies. I found the instructions here. They're a little warped, but with some acrylic paint and ribbon, I think they came out kind of cute!

I'd also like to say a big thank you to folks for spreading the word about the 20 Little Lights print, which I'm selling to raise funds for the Sandy Hook School Support Fund. I've been touched both by the kind words of those who were moved by the image and by the print sales. Thank you! I was really affected by the tragedy, as were so many and I felt the need to do something. Even if it was a small something.

I've loved some of the other "small somethings" people have been up to. I saw via Facebook and Instagram that people are committing to doing 26 acts of kindness to honor the 26 lives lost that day. What an awesome idea! If you're on instagram, check out the hashtag #26acts to see what other people are doing.

I also saw via Facebook, that my friend Suzi Banks Baum had joined up with a group called The World Needs More Pie to bring free pie to the people of Newtown, Connecticut yesterday. How awesome is that?

It's always nice to see how people can come together and do beautiful, kind things in the world. It makes a difference.

20 Little Lights

December 17th, 2012, Comments (5)

Along with many people around the world, I was devastated by the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut last week. Especially now, as a parent, I can't imagine the pain those affected must be going through.

The evening of the tragedy, I sat down and painted this piece, 20 Little Lights, honoring the 20 children whose lives were cut short. My heart goes out to the children and brave adults whose lives were taken that day and the family, friends, and community they left behind.

I will be offering prints of this piece for sale, with all proceeds going to the Sandy Hook School Support Fund (run by the United Way.) If you're so inclined, you can purchase a print here.

Creative Every Day Check-In: December 17 – 23

December 17th, 2012, Comments (11)

This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.

Join in the Challenge: You can now sign-up for the 2013 Challenge here!

Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 12/17/12 - 12/23/12.

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) or flickr image 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 unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (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.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.

You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter or Instagram you can use the hashtag #CED2012!

Theme: The (totally optional) theme for December is Celebrate. You can read more about the optional theme here.

Happy Creating!

Celebrating the Body, Your 2012, and 2013!

December 12th, 2012, Comments (2)

Leonie Dawson is spectacular. Really. Love her.

Back in 2010, I did this video interview with her about her yearly workbook and planner and we also talked about the body because that was the Creative Every Day monthly theme at the time. It's a silly interview with lots of laughs and some cat bombs from two of my kitties. The sound doesn't match our mouths in the beginning for some reason, but it gets better. I think it's worth listening to because I know body issues come up a lot around this time of year!

One thing I like about Leonie's planner is that she has pages for celebrating all you've accomplished in the previous year (and sometimes it's easy to forget all you've accomplished in the last 12 months) and then lots of room to celebrate all you want to accomplish in the next year. It's important to do both!

Before you move on to 2013, take a moment to go through your year. If you have a blog, that can be a good way to look back, or look back through your digital photos. Look back at the risks you took, the people you met, the places you traveled to, the things (big and small) that you created, the people you touched, and the laughs you had. Make a list of some or all of these things and take a moment (or longer) to acknowledge and celebrate your year.

And if you'd like some extra help with the celebrations and planning, check out Leonie's beautiful planner and have a blast filling it out!

Celebrating the Holidays

December 11th, 2012, Comments (3)

I'd like to get into the holiday spirit with Annabelle and do some crafty stuff this year. Trying to contain the mess is a challenge! I do like how these ornaments came out though. A friend saw the idea on pinterest (I think) and I copied her, so I don't know where the idea originated from, but it's cute and simple and a nice craft to do with little ones.

I bought some plain red ornaments (some matte, some shiny) and then painted Annabelle's hand with white tempera paint (non-toxic). I pressed her hand on the bottom of the ornament, then repainted and did a few few more ornaments. (Be sure to have some extra ornaments, they won't all come out great.)

After cleaning up Annabelle and letting the ornaments dry, I used permanent markers to draw in the snowmen details and write Annabelle's name and the year. Sorry for the spoiler, grandparents! :-)

Now when Annabelle sees them, she says, "hand!" and puts her hand up against them. It'll be a nice memory of how small her little hands once were!

Creative Every Day Check-In: December 10 – 16

December 10th, 2012, Comments (7)

This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.

Join in the Challenge: You can now sign-up for the 2013 Challenge here!

Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 12/10/12 - 12/16/12.

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) or flickr image 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 unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (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.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.

You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter or Instagram you can use the hashtag #CED2012!

Theme: The (totally optional) theme for December is Celebrate. You can read more about the optional theme here.

Happy Creating!

Celebrating a Small Works Show and Traveling Waves

December 8th, 2012, Comments (2)


Tonight from 6 - 10 pm at The Whole 9 Gallery in Culver City, is an opening for a Small Works show, which will feature several pieces of my art. If you're in the area, check it out! My piece, Storyteller, is in the bottom right corner of the invite above.

Another thing to celebrate, my painting, Whale Dreams on the cover of a cd of meditative music, which you can purchase a hard copy of here or find on iTunes or cdbaby.