Entries Tagged as: laughter

Happy Holidays!

December 25th, 2009, Comments (13)

Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it and Happy Holidays to those who celebrate in other ways! I just got back from festivities with part of my family and tomorrow we'll resume with another part of the family. On my mini tree, I have an ornament that I made back in pre-school, a reindeer made from clothespins. And I had to snap a picture of it because it fits so well with the recycling theme (and I still adore it after all these years.)

As an interesting side note, my mom tells me that when I was very small, before I knew any bad words, I'd call people clothespins when I got angry with them. As in, "You clothespin!" Hehe. Not sure why clothespins were bad...maybe because they pinched? 

I hope that your holidays continue to be magical. And if you're feeling a bit stressed out, you might try listening to the recording I've linked below. I have one Catholic and one Jewish parent, so I got a kick out of Tama Kieves' hilarious impression of her Jewish mother doing a stress relief meditation. And even if you don't have Jewish family, you'll probably get a giggle out of it too.

I shall return as soon as the festivities end to share the totally optional theme for January for the Creative Every Day Challenge. Exciting!!

Connecting with Your Inner Child

October 15th, 2009, Comments (11)

connect child
 

Oh my goodness, there's nothing like Disney World to bring out your inner child! I've always loved roller coasters and other rides, but I got particularly giddy in all the parks we visited last weekend. Disney does such a great job with their parks.

The hubster got such a kick out of my reaction the rides. I'd laugh and scream louder than anybody, which is kinda funny considering how small and fairly quiet I am. I don't know what it is, but put me on a roller coaster and I go totally bonkers. It's awesome. Hehe.

The whole weekend made me realize that I want more of that kind of silly fun in my life. I've always been a big supporter of play when it comes to creativity. I think it's an important part of learning to let go, experiment, and have fun while you create. But sometimes, you can just go out and enjoy a playful good time.

Some of the ways I get connected with my inner child:

  • *Breaking out the crayons to color outside the lines.
  • *Dance around in my silly print pajamas.
  • *Wear kooky socks.
  • *Play with kids.
  • *Read children's books or see children's movies
  • *Go to amusement parks!
  • *Draw with chalk on the sidewalk
  • *Dress up for Halloween or for no reason at all.
  • *Make up silly songs with the hubster.
  • *Paint with my fingers
  • *Have breakfast for dinner
  • *Have an attack of the giggles
  • *Collect shiny rocks
  • *Wish on stars
  • *Make up bed time stories
  • *Roll around on the floor with the cats
  • *Cut peanut butter sandwiches in to triangle shapes

How bout you? What are some of the ways you connect with your inner child? How can you bring more of that childlike delight into your life? Where do you go to have a fun-goofy-totally-silly-good-time?

Featured Creative Every Day Challenge Participants!

June 12th, 2009, Comments (11)

I love featuring fabulous Creative Every Day Challenge participants here to give you all a glimpse into some of the wonderful things happening in our large group. I hope you enjoy the wonderful creations below!

Sax in the Country

The fabulous photo above is from the incredibly sexy mama, artist, and blogger, Karen Mowrey. Karen was inspired to do her TGI Bench Monday self-portrait with her saxophone, in response to the sound theme this month. This image just kills me. So cool!

Heart Senses by Emily Long

Listen
Close the eyes
Still and listen
Open the senses of the heart
Listen
Smell the green
Washed clean by falling rain
Smell the soil
Warmed by beams of sun
Feel the air caress the skin
Cool shadows
Hot sun
Feel them play across the face
Hear the heartbeat within
Let it slow
Hear it match its rhythm
To the pulsing of the Earth
Taste the love that dwells within
Taste the joy so deep
Listen
Hear the footsteps of the ages
Steps that were, are, and will be yet
Listen
Hear the voice of all that is

The poem above was written by Emily Long of Healing Pages, a blog filled with heartfelt poetry. Emily also recently wrote a poem in response to my painting, Listening, called Listen Deep (which I loved!)

featured sue

The beautiful mandala above is Fairyland Pentagram Mandala by Sue O'Kieffe of the blog, Sacred Circle Mandalas. The colors in this piece sing Spring to me!

featured studiovee

This art journal spread above was created by Verna of the blog, Studio Vee, in response to a prompt from Ali Edwards. It's all about the things that make Verna happy. What a lovely thing to play with in your journal!

Kitty Duet! Last, but certainly not least, I want to point you in the direction of this post from Janice of the blog, Postcards from Wildwood. The post itself is hilarious, but the recording Janice put together in response to the sound theme...oh my, it may just be one of my favorite responses to a Creative Every Day Challenge theme ever!! It's flippin fantastic! So, please go over there straight away and check out Janice and her cat Oliver's earth-shattering duet based on Rossini’s famous Duetto buffo di due gatti (Comic duet for two cats). And then you can come back and thank me for making your day by sending you over there. :-)

Wishing you all a wonderfully creative weekend!

Spring Sale and Lovely Linkage

April 23rd, 2009, Comments (10)

framedprintkeywindow

Special Discount! On May 1st I will be raising prices on my framed prints and original artwork in my online shop, Blue Tree Art Gallery. I let my newsletter subscribers know a few weeks ago and gave them a coupon for 20% off any purchase through May 1st. (You can sign up for my art newsletter here and be entered into a monthly drawing for a free print! Sign up form is in the lower left corner.)

Well, I really wanted to extend a special thank you to my readers here, so I'm going to share the coupon code here too. Feel free to use it for 20% off anything in my art store from now until May 1st. If you've been thinking about grabbing something, now's the time to do it before I bump the prices up!

Here's the code! springsale09

Feel free to share the coupon or pass on a link to this post!!

framedprints

Framed prints (in a 16"x20" wooden frame) are currently $100 and with the coupon code they're only $80! Total steal. Above, you can check out a couple examples of what a couple freshly framed prints look like. (Prints pictured above: Bring Love and Lighthouse.) And below, here's one of my newer prints, Key to Winter, framed and hanging on my studio wall.

framedprintkey2

Lovely Linkage

O.k., I've also got this build up of fabulous stuff to share, so let's just get to it, shall we?

*Rebecca at Difference a Year Makes posted a video of artist, Jonas Gerard that is so fabulous I just had to share it with you. I've seen his videos before and loved the joy with which he works, but I think his style also is a fabulous illustration of the kind of intuitive painting I'm doing in the class I'm taking and it also reminds me of the methods I use in the Art Picnic class. It's all about permission, freedom, and connecting with your intuition. And I also loves how it ties in with the color theme this month, both in how rich and gorgeous his use of color is and also in how he talks about how he chooses his colors and how colors each have their own "vibe." So true! So, do check it out and enjoy the music that goes along with it. And if you're interested in seeing more of Gerard's videos head over here.

* Sometime around the New Year, I stumbled upon the blog of Havi Brooks and quickly became a huge fan of her work. Her writing is honest, deep, and yet accessible. I love how she teaches about both the hard (business biggifying) and the soft (working on your patterns.) She combines this kind of work in a way that really resonates for me. Check out her blog and then check out all the fabulous resouces she offers on her site.

In a couple weeks Havi is teaching a class on how to get fantabulous testimonials without feeling icky about it. I'm going to be taking it! Check out all the details and sign up here.

* This Rounded Corner tool is super handy for making your images all rounded and purty!

* I'm so loving Brene Brown's read through of her book I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn't). She's been doing a weekly podcast around the topic of shame with loads of great links and projects. Very powerful stuff.

* Celebrating crafting failures, the blog CraftFail cracked me up and made me feel a whole lot better about my many crafting blunders.

* The super sweet, Kathryn Antyr (Collage Diva) has a fabulous new blog called True North, which explores finding your direction through art-making. Love it! She's created a really cool Personal Map Making contest with loads of cool prizes. Check out all the details here.

* Janice at Postcards from Wildwood has posted a fantastic Photoshop tutorial that fits so well with the color theme.

Oh, there are so many treasures to explore, but that's probably more than enough for one day! So, enjoy and have a beautifully creative day.

Creating Your Dream Team

March 1st, 2009, Comments (3)

This week's chapter in The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women, which I'm reading with Jamie's book group, talks about creative alliances and partnerships. I liked how A Feminist Wife called it her "dream team." It fits perfectly with the (totally optional) dream theme this month for the Creative Every Day Challenge.

I have used the idea of an imagined dream team before (people living and dead that I could consider personal allies), but it's been awhile since I thought about who I would put on my team. Among those I don't know, I'd love to have SARK as an ally as well as Martha Beck. Both of these women are intelligent, funny, creative, down-to-earth go-getters, and totally inspiring. I admire their honesty and integrity in the telling of their stories, their energy, and their wild success!

Fortunately, I'm lucky to have some wonderful creative alliances with people I already know. I have an awesome coach, a sort of Mastermind group that I meet with regularly, and I enjoy taking classes where I meet other like-minded, creative souls. One of my greatest alliances is with the hubster who is a wonderful champion for me and my bff has always been incredibly supportive.

I've made many creative alliances online (one of the wonderful things about blogging!) and I'm extremely grateful for that. It's been so helpful for a super introverted person like myself, as I can feel connected and respond in a way that feels good to me, without feeling the energy drain that happens for me in crowds of people.

I've been working on asking for help lately and it's definitely been interesting. The act of asking makes me feel a bit vulnerable, but it also gives others the opportunity to help (and people generally love to help others, particularly when it's something they're passionate about.)

Along those lines, I've approached some people I admire about doing interviews for Creative Every Day this year and the response has been wonderful. I'll be posting one of these interviews this week! In the meantime, check out this fabulous interview that Jamie Ridler did with the lovely Goddess Leonie.

The Cat Craziness Continues

February 10th, 2009, Comments (8)

I can't help myself. These cute kitty videos just kill me! The one above gave me a good laugh (don't you wish you knew what they were thinking sometimes?) And then the animated feature below is basically a snapshot of my husband's life. I saw it on Jamie's blog yesterday and sent it immediately to the hubster. We both got a good kick out of it. :-)

More Fun with Words

February 5th, 2009, Comments (5)

Caroline from Caro's Lines posted a link to this neat site where you can spell words with flickr photos. How fun! I used it to spell out my word for 2009:

letter L E30 A p-sf2

Caroline also linked to a great challenge for all you shutterbugs out there. I think it's also another fun way to play with words and creativity! The One Word Project is being put on by the Shutter Sisters blog. Once a month, participants will be given one word to use as the inspiration for a photograph (which you can then post to the group on flickr.) For February, participants are invited to choose their own word. Very cool, eh?

L11 A25 Mobile 013109 085 G9 h-ca2

And now for something completely different...Another way to have good creative fun with words is certainly in a good joke. And I love to laugh. Despite my short stature (I'm 5 feet and a half inch), my laugh is outrageously loud. :-)

Today, a link from A Cup of Jo brought me to this ridiculously funny site, Old Jews Telling Jokes, which I noticed was designed by fellow Creative Every Day Challenge participant, Leah from LeahCreates.com! The Old Jews Telling Jokes site is hilarious (warning, the jokes are all dirty!) perhaps because it reminds me of my joke-loving dad (who is just old enough to qualify for an "old" Jew according to this site...I don't think he'd appreciate that) my dad's brother, and a little bit of the hubster's grandmother (the hubster and I both have one Jewish parent.) I particularly like the joke from the website owner's mom.

Playing with Words in Art

February 3rd, 2009, Comments (13)

sketchbook swap blah I decided to play with words in art last night as I watched some of the Super Bowl with the hubster.

I used a moleskine that I'm drawing in as part of a sketchbook swap and drew in a few pages just to see what might come up if I drew. The first drawing was inspired by the slouchy pose my husband was making at one point in the evening. I imagined the buzz of thoughts running through his head, all leaking out and landing neatly in a nearby fishbowl.

I sometimes enjoy writing what I imagine the figures are thinking about in my art, like I did in my "Subway Stories" paintings, in which I collaged Subway maps and train schedules, painted a subway scene over that in acrylic and then within the figures I drew what I imagined they were thinking about. "Subway Stories: Green Line" is below. (The original is sold, but you can buy prints of it here.) I'm doing a commissioned Subway Stories painting for someone who met their soon to be husband on the train. So sweet. I usually think of art as a way to express what I can't say verbally. I suppose words in art are just another way to tell the story.

subway stories green line

Another page from my sketchbook swap moleskine. More words, this time just the action itself, "jump!" I seem to have a thing for striped tights at the moment.

sketchbook swap jump

Looking for more word inspiration? Well, I've got loads of it!

  • Ms. Dawn Doran from The Knitting Gnome blog emailed to let me know about this cool art and writing collaboration called Spark, art from writing: writing from art. Here are the details from organizer, Amy Souza: The next artistic/literary exchange starts on Feb 13th; ends Feb 22nd. Again, pick 2 days (48 hours) in which to work. They don’t have to be contiguous. You send your inspiration piece to your partner (and Amy) by the 13th; send me finished work by the 22nd/23rd. The theme this time is “hope.” Not sure how it’ll work out, but if you have an inspiration piece that says “hope” to you, send that to your partner. If not, just send her whatever you want. But I’m asking everyone to look at their partner’s work through the lens of “hope.” Again, it’s so vague, you can define it how you want, and if nothing comes to you through that lens then forget it and just let the piece inspire you. You need to let Amy know if you're interested in participating by this Friday, February 6th, by contacting her at or get more info on her site here.
  • Blogger, Writer, and Massage Therapist, Heidi Fischbach is offering A Month of Living Curiously, a month of inspiration and guidance via email sure to spark your creativity through the wonder of words. Check out all the details here!
  • I loved reading the written responses to my painting at Pictures, Poetry, and Prose yesterday! Laura mentioned this in the comments, but I wanted to be sure that everyone knows that she is always accepting submissions from artists. What a wonderful way to collaborate and join the creative energies of visual art and the written word!

Blogtalk Radio and Linkaroos

January 31st, 2009, Comments (5)

So, in the last interview of this week of interviews, tomorrow I'll be chatting with Connie of Dirty Footprints Studio on her brand-spankin-new blogtalk radio program. We'll be on at 11 am EST and you can listen in live, chat during the call, call in with questions, or listen to it later right here! Connie has a wonderful spirit and I'm really looking forward to our chat tomorrow. We may even talk about our mutual love for silly socks! And as a special bonus, you'll get to hear the radio lady with the British accent say, "Blogtalk radio." Heh.

I'm about to dive into some painting and play, but before I do, I want to share some linkaroos with yous:

Cat Crazy

January 13th, 2009, Comments (8)

As the owner of four lovable cats, some might say I'm a bit cat crazy. O.k., plenty of people might say that! Well, either way, I can't help but share some of the great cat stories I see form time to time.

I saw this video on Belle's blog. It features The Cat House on the Kings, a simply amazing no-kill shelter for cats (and some dogs too) in California. What a sweet life these kitties have. I would totally love to hang out there every day. They do such fabulous work, so if you can, do donate a bit to this wonderful non-profit that helps so many kitties find good homes and is home to all those who don't get adopted for whatever reason.

These other bits are just for fun. This next video was discovered through the twittering of divabat. It features a kitty who wanders on to the set of a t.v. meteorologist and gets in on the action. Too cute.

And lastly, a game for your iphone called Mew Mew Tower. I may have to check this one out. I'm not usually a video game person (because I stink at them and get frustrated!), but this one has such a great name. Heh. Yep, I'm cat crazy.