holy cow yesterday was a LONG day! I got a new video camera because my old one.. just stopped working about a week ago.. and couldn't be fixed.. so got a new one just the exact model and brand as my last one.. but obviously a year newer. WELL i edit everything in Imovie for my blog, my classes, etc.. and apparently this new model isn't compatible with Imovie.. and so all the videos I took and segments I did for the april mixed media kit video.. AND all of my workshop videos to date, Art and I have done for the Living Canvas.. couldn't be edited or read on the mac!! I was freaking out.. lol.. cause I did NOT have time to redo 15 plus hours of video.. I really wanted to cry. Well FINALLY around 10:00 pm last night we were able to convert them using a program we downloaded and wahoo!!! it worked! So yeah.. I was supposed to have this uploaded yesterday.. but alas.. didn't work out that way! Lol
I did a set of three canvases.. that are designed to sit on a shelf or a wall together.. 6x6 in size..
This month's kit includes a paper pad from Studio Calico, Modeling paste (texture magic) from Delta, Paint from DecoArt, Wood Veneer Butterflies from Studio Calico, Kaleidoscope Stencil from DecoArt, Alphabet stickers from Dear Lizzy, and a border punch from American Crafts. (which by the way, i have gotten a few email about people worried that they can't use the punch without buying the big punch it fits into.. but I ASSURE you.. you can.. you will see how in the video.. just use your hands lol)
I wanted a super soft palette for this, so kept in the blue , cream and wood tones. Seriously love how it turned out..
I am really into butterflies lately.. because butterflies represent change.. which is a GOOD thing. (you will hear me talk a lot about them and use them in my Living Canvas Workshop :)
anyhow! turned out super fun! AND YES we do have more of these LISTED in our Shop! check it out..
Before I post the video.. I ALSO wanted to tell you that on MONDAY.. I am doing a BIG sale on all of my She Art Products.. including my line from Pink Paislee, My line from Unity stamps AND i brought in a new exclusive line of paints from DecoARt that match my SHe Art line.. PLUS new Faber Castell Big Brush Pens.. (a NEW BRIGHTS SET!!) that match it too! So monday I will have a fun video showing you how to make a she girl canvas with all of those products.. and have a big 2 day sale on it too! We ordered lots in.. to accommodate the sale! Just a heads up in-case you wanted to order some.. wait until monday.. to save some money :)
Anyhow! I hope you have a SUPER fabulous Day! It's Thursday! :) wahoo!
oh happy beautiful MONDAY friends! holy cow it was in the 80's over the weekend and is again today.. I am having a VERY hard time staying in this dang chair.. want to be outside doing something to ejoy this weather before it goes back to 50 and cold and rainy(this is VERy unseasonably warm for us! lol)
had a great week last week and weekend. been working hard on getting alot of the videos done for the Living Canvas workshop, did an actual art day with Art McCracken and his entire family.. teaching them how to create a mixed media canvas! (the boys did their own art and the girls make a she art girl!)
spending time with my family
(my goofballs below playing around in my dad's old airport bus he used to take them to movies in)..
and playing cards and having a BBQ this weekend with my brothers and sisters who were in town!
lots of fun memories made last week.
So now it's monday and I leave in ONE week for Sweden and Germany to go teach Mixed media to those wonderful women over there! Can't WAIT!! So this week is going to be full of so many things.. getting more videos done for the workshop, finishing my April Mixed Media kit video.. (oh it turned out so cute!! Just need to edit it and will post wednesday!!) and also getting the website ready for the 1st.. since I will be gone, getting all the NEW products we have ordered for the store listed.. oh cow. there is a lot. lol
so I guess I better get cracking..
AND since today is monday.. as you know we have been showing a sneak peek each week of my upcoming workshop, Your Living Canvas. This week is week 3.. Vision!
Alot of us.. INCLUDING me.. have a tag line or a motto that we "refer to" or live by.. Mine is on my blog header.. DO what matters most. While this is a great START to having a vision.. a vision is much more than that. A vision is a statement or words or paragraphs of what we call our "non-negotiables" in life. In the way we live our life, in what we want out of it, in how we are with others, in our beliefs.. in our souls. I have many "non-negotiables".. some of them include the following..
my family comes first.. in everything.
these are a few others.. always always treat others with kindness.. and give the benefit of the doubt.
Be okay with YOU and love your imperfections.. beauty is NOT whats on the outside..
these are just a few of them.. I will share many many more of my own in the workshop.. but this the vision statement I have for my life and to be honest as I learn and grow and change and have new experiences.. things are added to my vision statement.. my non negotiables and sometime they change. Which is okay.. but I make sure that when I live my day to day life and are faced with making decision, i refer back to that mission statement to go to. Okay.. so I don't always REFER to it first. I have moments of weakness.. lots of them.. when i make poor decisions and vere of the path.. but then mend the mistake and hop right back on that vision and move forward.
So with that being said.. week 3 is all about creating a vision statement. Finding and listing out your non-negoationables.. and then putting them into an art journal and canvas to refer back to again and again.. and make changes if needs be! And we will help you do that!
So here is a sneak peek VIDEO of week 3!! For more info on this workshop starting in May.. you can check this link here!
Okay so if you know me well.. I DO not balance my life well. I actually have really good balance when it comes to standing on my head, doing yoga poses (i don't actually do yoga, but it's fun to see if you can do the poses and think you are cool because you can. lol).. anyhow totally off track.
So while I have good balance. I don't or haven't I guess I should say balance my life very well. I have this creative spirit where when my heart gets a hold of an idea.. it just runs with it and EVERYTHING else falls to the way side.. until I realize my laundry hasn't been done in a month or my kids pants look like high waters because they outgrew them months ago. Or that my blog hasn't been posted on in almost two weeks!! Yes not good balance. lol
HOWEVER one of the things I learned when working with Art.. was to FIND balance.. and what that means for ME. ANd why it's important and WHY it is good for me and for life and how actually when I have balance in my life i am so much more productive and happy and present.
so what does this all have to do with anything? Well as I mentioned LAST week on THIS BLOG POST.. i am debuting each month for the next five weeks.. a sneak peek of each of the weeks of my upcoming workshop: Your living Canvas.. with my friendArt McCracken. Week 2 is all about.. you guessed it.. Balance and the Six F's. I will let the video tell you more about that and what it has meant for me.
Again.. I am seriously so passionate about this workshop! I SURE hope you join me in it!!
AHH this is an awesome week.. can I just tell you? Loved spending time in California with the family.. had a WONDERFUL surprise from my dear friend shea.. who saw that we were in Newport on Easter weekend and on the spur of the moment.. invited us (all 8 of us) to her own families easter dinner and celebration! I think our kids doubled what they already had coming! lol but seriously so gracious and SOO just what we needed!! THANK YOU SHEA!! (and Robert and Debbie!)
People kept asking us what we plans we had for California.. and honestly we had NONE. each day we would wake up and say.. okay what sounds fun today? The kids mainly loved playing in the pool and then we spent a day at the beach. But all in all it was just some serious laid back family bonding time!
Anyhow.. today I wanted to share with you a Behind the Art Video I did for Somerset Studios! Its a She ARt girl.. which if you know.. I haven't really ever done a video about those.. mainly because I also have a workshop that teaches them.. but it's a fun little video and maybe if you are on the fence of whether or not you should take She ARt.. this might give you the extra bit of confidence you need to take it! :)
AND speaking of workshops! I need to announce the winners of the 5 people who won access to my newest workshop.. Your Living Canvas! Totally spaced all of that from last week! AND also we have already started the pre-course facebook group page for those of you who have signed up! Remember that you have access to that right now! :) yeah! PLUS you still have the Payment Option plan to pay in two equal payments.. you can read all about it HERE.
ALSO A HUGE Question I KEEP GETTING asked about this course.. IS THERE ART INSTRUCTION AND PROJECTS INCLUDED IN THIS COURSE?
the asnwer is YES!!!! Of course!!! lol..
each week you will not only be taught a fun new art technique that is not taught in any of my other workshops, BUT we will also take what we have learned from that week's exercise and put it into either an art journal, on canvas or another project. EACH week will have it's own separate art techniques and projects. SO LOTS AND LOTS Of art :)
This week marks exactly 6 weeks to the start of my new online class for 2012.. Your Living Canvas.
It's also my biggest class to date (6 weeks!!!) and my most meaningful class yet.
Althought the class is 6 weeks.. it includes a FULL YEAR ACCESS TO THE WORKSHOP! So even if you can't start right when we are.. you have a FULL year to work on it!
ALSO each week you will not only be taught a fun new art technique that is not taught in any of my other workshops, BUT we will also take what we have learned from that week's exercise and put it into either an art journal, on canvas or another project. EACH week will have it's own separate art techniques and projects. SO LOTS AND LOTS Of art :)
But more importantly it includes life lessons about Creating a Living Canvas. one that you are proud of and one that speaks to you.
How to have balance in your life and simplify.. and BE present with those you are with.
It also helps you find passion and purpose in your life and living a life (creating a canvas) you can be proud of.
This course is very personal to me because I have actually done the exercises myself and it changed my life. It changed the way I looked at life and appreciated what I have and help me feel passionate about what I want to do. Doing what matters most.
So while I have been filming and preparing for this course.. I also thought it would be fun for the next 6 weeks to do sneak peek videos of each of the weeks for the course! I TRULY TRULY think this a must class for anyone who is looking for direction or passion or purpose in your life. This content is all based on the written content taught by Art McCracken.. a life and business coach. I know it will help because it helped me. ANd I am the most stubborn yet driven person I know lol.. and it totally reigned me back in and made me think about what was truly important.. and what my life meant to me and what I wanted and needed out of life. A sense of coming home.. if you will
Of course through the workshop I also share with you my OWN personal stories.. and what I learned and how I applied it to every part of my life. My personal life, my relationships.. my business.. everything. THIS is a very personal course for me and my journey
Anyhow.. So I really wanted to give you a feel for what this class is all about. So each week for the next 6 weeks I will post a sneak peek video of the 6 different weeks of the course. ALSO remember that this course is currently $20 off until April 15th.. and then goes up to the regular price after that.. so now is a GREAT time to get signed up! ALSO for those of you that sign up early.. we have started a facebook group page (if you have already signed up.. you will receive an email on wednesday with info on how to join).. and each Art and I will be posting pre-course challenges to get you ready for the course. some will be simple journaling exercises.. and some will be art exercises.. its going to be fun! We really want you to get the most out of this class!!
ALSO so many of you have asked about an Payment Plan option.. to break down the payments into two equal parts.. and we listened and so here you go!! Simply use the option below to sign up for that option. . This option is ONLY available until April 20th.. as the class must be paid in full before the class starts May 21st.
For that optoin click on the link Below!
(no longer available)
So enough talk.. here is a sneak peek of week one: Your story..
ALSO remember if you haven't seen the "Main" sneak peek video.. you can watch that HERE and also read all about the course and each week HERE..
Last week Ben and I headed to Sunny California for a work trip and i have to say.. i didn't even mind that we were inside working from 6 am until 9 pm at night.. it was still so nice to wake up to warm! The last day of our trip we drove down to Newport Beach and soaked in the sun and just literally hung out at the beach all day until our flight left that night. Didn't even have our swimsuits.. just hung out and watched the waves in our jeans and shorts. The sun felt SOO good!! We got home late monday night and have been spending the week playing catchup (I left my laptop on the counter at home.. so came home to over 900 emails.. but honestly with the schedule we were working in California, don't think I would have been able to even stay on top of them.. we were exhausted at the end of each DAY and my eyes closed the minute I hit the pillow each night).
I can't wait to tell you about WHAT we were doing in California.. but I am SWORN to secrecy for another few months.. but when I can.. you BET I will be shouting it from the rooftops!! can't wait!! lol.. seriously fun and amazing experience! But so glad to be home again.. missed my kids!
This week Ben, Art and I have been filming some short sneak peek videos for my upcoming class Your Living Canvas..
If you read my last blog post, you know this workshop is a HUGE workshop for me! 6 weeks!! And it's probably one of the most meaningful and soul searching workshops I have ever done. I mean I KNOW It is. Is so dear to my heart! So I really wanted to give every one a taste of whats in store for it.. so starting next tuesday I will be posting on one sneak peek a week.. one for each week of the workshop.. of what's in store! I am super excited about it. AND Art and I were talking all this week about how we REALLY want to get people started now.. preparing for the workshop because it is so deep and meaningful.. and we want to make sure everyone come prepared for it.. we started a private facebook group for those who have already joined and starting next wednesday we will be posting pre-course challenges and fun art exercises to get you ready and prepared for the course! So as soon as you sign up for the workshop, you will be invited to that group and can start in the fun! I have never put so much thought and detail into a workshop before.. but I want this course to be everything it can be! Full of life changing experiences, Moments of clarity.. new art techniques you learn, and fun messy play.. all into one. AHH! super excited about this course!! if you want to learn more about it.. you can read last week's post.. OR click here!Wednesday is when the facebook group page starts! AND remember if you sign up before April 15th.. you receive $20 off the original price!
Okay.. SO speaking of classes.. there are TWO must do classes you need to sign up for this spring.. (besides joining me in the Living Canvas workshop).. If you have ever taken any of Margie Romney-Alsett's Spark Courses before (she did a Spark your Christmas and Spark your Valentines class).. you KNOW they are full of amazing glittery, vintage fun projects to make for your home for the holidays. Well she has another class out.. called Spark your Spring!!
This class is FULL of awesome goodness for Spring Fun!
of course done in always Fabulous Margie style.. (her attention to detail is CRAZY!!!)
I'm loving her branch with the doily flowers on it! So freaking cute!!!
It's a 3 day workshop filled with home decor, papercrafts, gift ideas, kids crafts..even altered clothing ideas! Crazy! and it's $19.00 bucks! seriously! You have to check Spark your Spring out..
The SECOND class I thinK EVERYONE should take.. comes from one of the most business savvy.. creative people i KNOW! Jeanne Oliver..a dear friend of mine.. has announced a new course called Building a Creativley Made Bussiness.
If you are a creative person (which I KNOW You all are) and have been wondering how to take your creative dreams and make them into something that you can do for a living as well.. SHE can show you how. This course is all about taking those artsy endeavors and turning them into something more! ANd doing it with Balance and grace. THIS COURSE IS TRULY going to be a great course to take!! I know so many of you email me and ask me what to do with your canvases, or how to do an etsy store.. etc.. this is the course for you!! YOU NEED To take it!!
If you want to learn more about this course.. Jeanne has done a sneak peek video of this course too!! YOU can watch it here.. Creatively Made Bussiness Video
OR you can sign up on her website and learn more too.. HERE
So there you go.. two actually THREE awesome classes for Spring.. totally different and all absolutely worth your time!!
Oh and one more thing.. that I think would be TOTALLy worth your time.. my friend Art (who is doing the Living Canvas workshop with me) posted this challenge this week.. on his facebook page.. and I SERIOUSLY am taking it.. I won't spoil what it is..but i encourse each of you to do it too! I have done this before a long time ago and remember how it affected my life. I have a huge need to do it again.. and so this weekend plan on writing one..
So.. you are going to think I am crazy.. but we are headed out of town AGAIN.. this time with our kids! Last week was our spring break and since ben and I had to be in California for work.. we decided to pull our kids out of school for a few days and head to someplace warm (since we woke up to SNOW this morning?? Hello and happy easter??) We haven't told them yet.. it's been hard keeping a secret all week.. but today at noon we are heading to school to grab them all for a fun family road trip back to California.. just sitting on the beach, swimming in the ocean (or the pool).. nothing fancy.. just some seriously needed family bonding time. These last few months have been a bit crazy for our family.. really crazy and we have just felt the need to give some major attention to our kids.. let them know how much they mean to us and they are important to us.. Part of my new resolution of being PRESENT and having BALANCE (which you will learn about in the New Living Canvas workshop).
So once again we are headed out of town.. for a few days.. AND guess what? THIS time I am leaving my laptop at home on PURPOSE. no work will be done on this trip!! I'm going to make sure my kids know it is ALL about them! Im truly going to be PRESENT. But I will be back here tuesday (or wednesday.. you never know with me lol) to show you another sneak peek of this workshop!!) and next week I also have a fun Behind the Art post for you as well. OH HEY!! one more thing! so many of you wanted the exclusive SHe ARt Faber Castell Pen Setsthat we offered a couple of weeks ago that match my New She Art Line with Pink Paislee..
they sold out super fast.. but guess what? THEY ARE BACK IN STOCK!! yeah!! and we have also brought back in stock KasierCrafts Doily Rubons and a bunch more of my favorite KasierCraft Rubons! So check out the Scarlet Lime Shop for that!
anyhow.. ENJOY your friday... ENJOY your Easter weekend!! Make it ALL about family this weekend.. BE PRESENT!!! :) Happy Friday!
So you may or may not know.. but I still haven't done my own personal workshop for 2012.. I have done three collaborative classes with other AMAZING artist where I was more of the "guest" in the workshop.. but not where Its been my own personal heart and art I was sharing. Well.. it is FINALLY here..and I have to admit.. it has awakened my passion for teaching through my art! We actually will be taking this journey together as I share with you some of the life changing content that inspired me to do this workshop, much of which was introduced to me by a amazing friend of mine, Art McCracken, a couple of months ago. YOu will get to know more about him and what he has brought to this workshop as it goes in.. but here is part of my story..
Last year was a whirlwind of good things for Me. I had a goal to really put myself out there and do what's in my heart with my art and it that dream and goal quickly and unbelievabley became a reality! I had 7 online classes, I had features and articles in many of my favorite magazines, I signed a licencing contract with an agent which presented some awesome opportunities, we started our mixed media store and mixed media kit club for Scarlet Lime, AND i launched my own product line for mixed media art as well. It was a CRAZy crazy year! oh and did I mention I was blessed to be able to travel and teach my art at events all over the world? Seriously crazy I tell you. I was truly blessed.
I worked hard, I spent a lot of sleepless nights, and days away from my family to make it happen, but i did make it happen. As awesome as it all appeared to be, by the end of the year I was exhausted and KNEW that if I continued on this path alot of the things I loved and the reasons why I had originally started down this path of sharing my art.. would soon be lost. I needed to refocus. I needed balance, I needed purpose. I needed a vision that was just for me. I needed help. Luckily enough.. I started working with an awesome friend of my husband and mine, Art(who i mentioned above and btw go find him and friend him on facebook.. let's make him feel welcome to our art community lol)
Art is a life and business coach and also a motivational speaker on how to do better and be better. He helps individuals and business really define what they want out of their business and out of life. What TRULY makes them happy. What things they are willing to sacrifice for their business or way of life and which things they are not. Which things are important and which things.. while may be amazing opportunities or paths we could take, at the end of the day.. aren't what is going to bring us joy and happiness and focus to our life. It couldn't have come at a better time. I had already sat down and made a list for 2012 of ALL the new adventures I wanted to take on.. ways to grow my business and expand and just leap into more things. I was ready to tell him all the things I wanted to do and have him help me figure out how to get them done! What I found when working with him.. is that TRULY the only thing I needed to do to be happy was to simplify. To be Present with what I was doing, To DO what I loved most. What I believed at the end of the day, made the most difference. I started out working with him for to help me figure out how to achieve more in my life, but ended up realizing that what I had right in front of me, was exactly what I already wanted and if I cultivated that and put my time and energy into just that, I would find happiness and fulfilment and joy! ANDI would have more time to spend with my family and friends and doing what mattered most.
I also realized what I wanted for myself personally.. in my in my art journey and what I was willing to give up for it and what i am absolutely NOT. I learned how to re-focus and create a living canvas, that I could be proud of and happy with at the end of the day. I gained a clarity and peace and passion and drive. Working with Art has been a life changing experience and through it all, I just knew I wanted to take what I had learned and share it with all of you! I knew that there are so many of us on life's path, not sure which road we should be taking.. in our relationships, in our jobs, in our personal identities! I wanted to create a workshop that helped you define those things and through the process create beautiful art as well!
I can't wait to share all of my journey and experience with you, in this new course.. that I am SUPER excited to bring this workshop to you! Each week's lessons in this workshop will be based off Art's excersizes in helping to create ou rliving canvas. I will also share my experience with each lesson and how it has helped me and what I have done to apply them into my life. Then we will take everything we have learned and create messy fun art journals and canvases and vision boards.. so we have something to look back to to remind us and motivate us to stay on our new path! I can't wait!
Sooooo.. enough talk.. I want to introduce to you to my newest online workshop starting this May.. and a sneak peek video of what's in store.. I TRULY hope you join me!
Your Living Canvas
a 6 week online workshop!
(with FULL One year access to the WORKSHOP!!)
We all have a story to tell... one that we live and paint and breath everyday... through our heartaches and trials, joys and celebrations, insecurities and moments of clarity. What story are we telling now and what story do we have yet to create? At the end of the day, it's our living canvas that will tell our story.
In this six week course we will help you discover that through art, messy play, techniques, journaling and soul searching exercises... you will be able to create your canvas by design not by default.
Each week we will talk about specific ways to create your canvas. We will focus on those things that will help you creating a canvas that has purpose.. one that you can be passionate about and one that at the end of the day you can be proud of. THIS will be your living canvas.
ALSO each week you will not only be taught a fun new art technique that is not taught in any of my other workshops, BUT we will also take what we have learned from that week's exercise and put it into either an art journal, on canvas or another project. EACH week will have it's own separate art techniques and projects. SO LOTS AND LOTS Of art :)
Here is a little sneak peek of what this class is all about..
AND dont forget to post below.. because I will be giving away 5 spots into this workshop! I will draw the winners later this week!
SNEAK PEEK VIDEO!!!
*********************
This workshop as I said, is a six week workshop.. and is broken down into 6 areas of focus
week 1: telling your story
week 2:The six F's.. finding balance in the everday
week 3: Your Vision Board
week 4: The 80/2 Rule
week 5: Being Present
week 6: The Three P's... purpose, Passion and being proud.
Each week we will have soul searching excises and journaling that will help you grow and define your living canvas, then we will take those things we are learning and put them into art. Through art journaling, on canvases, on our vision boards.. things that we can see each day to remind us of the canvas we want to create!
This class starts May 21st!! I hope you join me in this workshop! This is such a huge adventure for me.. it's my biggest workshop EVER, and its the most passionate one yet. I have been struggling over the last year to figure out what I want my living canvas to be and I KNOW that through doing this class.. it has helped me re-focus and remember what is important and what brings me joy. It has reminded me to do what matters most. I also know that doing this class again with you.. and for you.. I will grow and continue to learn even more!
Can't wait to share my heart with you! Excited for you to take this journey with me and for you to create your own living canvas!
This class will be a work at your own pace class.. where you can come in a watch the videos and read the content anytime night or day. AND this class will be available for an entire year to access.. so plenty of time to really take your time in doing this class the right way!
This six week workshop is $109.00 and I KNOW that is more than my usual classes.. but I promise you the 6 weeks will be SO worth it! And it will be something you will never regret doing!
Hey friends! So as promised.. posting today the project I did using the March mixed media kit!
This kit included almost my entire new product line with Pink Paislee.. my She Art line! Everything except the doodle rubons.. but those were include in our main kit this month.. along with the 12x12 papers. if you weren't able to get either of this kits on subs.. We WILL have them in the store NOW along with all of the products that you can purchase separately! So if you need 10 doodle rubons like me.. you can get them!! lol
Anyhow.. SO excited about this line and this kit! OH and guess what? watch the video because we also have an exclusive SHe Art Pen Pack from Faber Castell too! with new shades of colors than you can get from the current Design Memory Craft line! Those are also available in the store.. I have listed the entire She Art Line in it's own Category in the store under my name.. Christy tomlinson Designs (where you can find all of my products including the my stamps as well) So look for that NOW! wahoo!
So here is the project I made using this month's kit and you are going to die at out easy this was.. TRULY how easy..
ALL of these shapes are included in the die-cut bits and pieces pack from my new line! so you can just decopauge.. shade, texture and walla!
Anyhow.. can't wait to show you the video!
So remember.. EVEN If you didn't get the mixed media kit this month.. we have a few left in our store AND we also sell all of the components separately..
So I have been promising this post for two weeks now.. lol okay seriously get your act together christy. Promise friends.. right now I am simply doing my best :) good news that today I woke up with such a huge feeling of peace and clarity and soo looking forward Plan B.. and all the exciting and wonderful experiences it will bring! I have made huge plans to simplify my life over the next few weeks.. and focus on really what matter most to me. I can't wait to share with you how and WHY am i doing this.. I have a big announcement for next week.. a new on-line class inspired by something and someone totally unexpected. My first personal online class of the year.. a big 6 week workshop full of self discovery, art and creating your living canvas. I don't think I have been this excited about something in SO SO long. Not just excitement but passion.. PASSION For it. It's making my head spin with creative thoughts all day and all night long and has been the HUGE catalyst for me to take some giant steps that I am making in my creative path, with my relationships and my personal inner soul. EEK!! can't wait to share! I will be posting about that next monday and tuesday. First introducing you to the person who pushed me into this big change.. and then announcing the class behind (and guess what? I will also be announcing my first retreat.. my own retreat very soon.. that will happen this fall based on this class but so much more. that will be filled with art, growth, inner strength, friendship, campfires and more. I can NOT WAIT! and I am keeping it very small, to only 15 or so ladies.. it's going to be very intimate and we will all stay together in the beautiful mountains. Dang I can't wait! lol)
Okay.. so back to the subject.. holy cow I can get so sidetracked fast with talking about that. I told some of the ladies about it at inspired and seriously I was in tears I was so excited for it. It truly is going to be something that will change the way you live your life. Your Living canvas.. through art.
So speaking of art.. as you know a few weeks ago I was at Donna Downey's Studio (a dear friend of mine)..
in North Carolina and attended one of THE most.. if not THE most amazing event I have ever taught at. Infact it's kinda what has sparked this interest for my own personal retreat. Honestly because when I teach.. I REALLY want to teach. I want to connect and share and really bare my creative soul with others. You can't do that at big events where 40 students at a time come in for 2 hours.. and are hurrying to finish a project and then leave and then next 40 students come in. You just can't. But when you get to share an entire weekend with the same 20 beautiful ladies..
and teach and work with them and spend time with them and take your time telling your story and showing them techniques.. it just TRULY fills my creative soul! Donna was an amazing host and her studio was so stinking cool.
Her store was jammed packed with stuff I had to buy. lol.. but she also made it so personal and special for everyone. I had been to donna's big events before but never made my way to her actual store and studio where she does personal classes. So it was my first time there.
LOVED how bright and cheerful it was!
Loved the way her store was set up.
I also loved her classroom and that she had available to all the students a huge array of products that they could use. It was awesome. We both brought gifts for each of the students.. and made sure they were packaged just so.. with personal thank you notes and personalized albums to keep their art in. It was so fun puttting them together.
I also loved how we team taught.. I would teach some, then she would teach some. and I have to say the tag part.. where we just taught techniques on tags.. was probably my favorite part! LOVE showing people new things and just letting them play. That was super fun.
Of course i also taught to full projects.. a she art girl.. FULL of dimension.. we played with clay, wire, chipboard, modeling paste, sprays, stamps, gels, glass beads, inks, glass, utee,.. you name it we used it!
We also made an 8x8 canvas that was built as a quilt with glass tiles and a faux soldering technique on it. then of course the 20 or so tags they made..
Plus donna's art journals part..
PLUS their own canvas that they created and made their own using all the techniques and products they learned about during the weekend.
It was by far creative overload! lol
LOVED IT!!
oh did i mention the food? um hello.. donna's mom seriously ROCKED!
it was soo good and packaged adorable! She had the best coleslaw this side of the atlantic ocean! (so pretty much the best coleslaw ever..lol)
AND if that wasn't enough.. two nights for dinner Donna picked everyone up in a stretch limo..
and took us all to dinner in private restaurants set up just for us.
Seriously cool. Donna you truly rock!
(ps. thanks Kelly Luna for some of these pics! you rock!)
I can't wait to go back and teach.. I have decided to cut back on teaching this year.. to be home more. But that is one thing that I know I will go back to because I LOVE the format and love that I got to get to know those women in such a personal level. Can't wait for my own retreat this fall and to be able to connect again. Can't WAIT!!
anyhow.. thanks for letting me share!
Our kits shipped out this week for the Scarlet Lime Mixed media Kit club! So I will be posting the video using this month's kit this week.. either wednesday or thursday! watch for that!
okay.. last week didn't go quite as I had planned it.. wanted to do a post on Donna's amazing event.. but that will happen later next week.
Yesterday launched a really big workshop for me.. with Junelle Jacobson and i have to say this class. wow. well besides it being one of the biggest classes we have done (content wise there are i believe over 25videos in week one ALONE lol).. it also has been one of the most inspiring for me because just like you I am learning. So last week was crazy busy making sure everything was perfect and ready for that class.. plus catching up.. getting back to over 1400 emails.. ordering hundreds of products that were out of stock for the store... ordering kit club products, kitting kit club products.. two magazine articles to be written.. doing licencing stuff.. you name it.. it's all on back order if you will and trying to be 'restocked" in my normal daily life. That doesn't include just being a mom.. my religious obligations, being a wife.. doing housework. Catching up on the everyday of normal mom life. I tell you I am spent. I am sure my friends think I am dead for sure! lol..
Anyhow.. a couple of weeks ago a friend of mine sent me this quote she saw posted on facebook. My life has took an unexpected turn over the last month.. and not just in the way of me "working" and deciding what is most important to me.. or my health.. but some other pretty big life struggles... personal life struggles have come into my life. Things I truly thought I would never be going through and yet.. here I am. And it seemed like just not ONE thing happened but a bunch of things all at once. Constantly changing my reality and my perception of what normal is and would should be for me. I was seriously starting to feel down.. starting to do the "why me".. or "poor me" and how can I go on!!?? lol
and this quote just seriously.. kicked my butt back into reality and what I truly believe.. and that is EVERYTHING happens for a reason and is to build character and in the end makes us stronger and better and more compassionate. So i want to share this simple quote with you today.. and leave you with this thought.. that no matter what.. there is always good in the bad... always a way to look up.. always a way to have the glass half full instead of half empty.. we just need to decide which person we are going to be.
Here is the quote..
*********************
Plan B
Life is all about how you handle Plan B.
Plan A is always my first choice. You know, the one where everything works out to be happily every after. But more often than not, I find myself dealing with the upside-down, inside-out version. Where nothing goes as it should. It's the point that the real test of my character comes in..
Do I sink, or do I swim? do I wallow in self pity and play the victim, or simply shift gears and make the best of my situation? The choice is all mine...
life is all about how you handle Plan B.
(Suzy Toronto)
Think about your plan b and how to make the BEST of your situation.. I am challenging you.. and Myself to as well. I know I will be better, stronger and happier for it.
