Category Archives: Positive

Soul Book 2018 #12 – Journal Prompts!

Good afternoon!

I have posted video #12 in my Soul Book Club 2018 Series:

In this video, I shared that I would be adding journaling prompts to my Soul Book, and thought it might be helpful to you to have a way to copy those journaling prompts so that you can use them in your own personal Soul Book.

Those prompts are:

My favorite Sunday ritual is…
If you could go back in time and change one thing from your past, what would it be?
If you could change one thing about your present life, what would it be?
If you could live anywhere you wanted, where would you live?
If you could have dinner with anyone currently alive, who would it be?
What did you read over and over again as a child?
If you could meet any fictional character, who would it be?
The holiday tradition that I most look forward to…
What’s your first memory?
What was your favorite toy?
What was your favorite cartoon?
What is your most vivid memory of the kitchen in your childhood?
What was your favorite subject in school?
Who was your favorite teacher?
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Who was your best friend in elementary school?
Things I always did with my mom when I was little…
Things I always did with my dad when I was small…

You can highlight all of these prompts, and then copy them. Paste them into a new Word document. There you can change the font and the size of the words, to whatever makes you happy! Print them off and you are ready to go!! 🙂

I hope this is helpful to you! If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments section and I would be happy to be of help! 🙂

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Now it is your turn to get creating!

Here is to having some fun!

Creative Rolodex Truth Cards #2!

Good afternoon!

This video has been a long time in coming!

I had gotten a Rolodex while I was working at a hospital a few years ago, and I had no idea what to do with it after our bosses gave us the a-okay to toss them out. I decided there had to be a way to get arty with them, and so I had saved them up (a few of my co-workers gave me theirs), and they have been in my art stash waiting for something to be done with them! Well, last Summer, I finally got out my Rolodex goodies out of the mothballs and I finally started to play with them! Well, for the most part I primarily got jiggy with creating some fun and colorful backgrounds! Something I have had a little bit of practice at.

Today was the day that I finally pulled them out again and decided to take a handful of Rolodex cards out and see them come to completion!

I had an entire mess of my art stash out and at the ready for playing with! I will see if I can list all of the supplies that I actually had used:

UHU Glue Stick
Stabilo Marksall Pencils: green, blue, orange, and brown
A bunch of small pics – most of which were either printed by FreePrints.com or I printed them myself using my Selfie Printer.
Scissors
Fiskars paper cutter
Aleene’s Quick Grab Tacky Glue
Words printed out on regular printer paper, using my home printer
Signo Broad Ink pen; White, and Black
Die cuts
Tim Holtz People cut outs
Washi tape
Hole punch
Mini paper doily

I hope I did not miss anything!

I seriously had such a fun time making these cards. I am seriously considering making this a more frequent visitor in my weekly video catalog!!

I hope that this video has inspired you to go find your own Rolodex (they can be easily found in most thrift stores), and get to playing on your own Creative Rolodex Truth Cards!

As always, if you have any questions, please let me know down in the comments section, I am always happy to be of help! Also, please let me know if you do decide to do a spread like this, what song would you choose to use?

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Now it is your turn to get creating!

Here is to having some fun!

8-Layer Journaling – Session 1!

Good morning!

I am so happy to share a new mini-series of art journal how to videos with you! I am calling this series

8-Layer Journaling

Back in February of 2015, Shannon Green put out a YouTube video series, called Journaling by 5s. It took the fear and guesswork out of art journaling. I would highly recommend you go check that process and her work out…Shannon is truly inspirational!!!

To quickly paraphrase her process is that you create 20 art journaling pages in 5 – 15 minute sessions, by layering 2 pre-determined media types per session.

Shannon’s Session are as follows:

Background – Paint, Ink
Texture – Collage, Recycle
Pattern – Stamps, Stencils
Focal Point – Words, Images
Details – Pen, Pencils

Although, I really do love this process, I modified it pretty early on, because I was nowhere near able to get my sessions completed within the allotted time, which drove me BANANAS! I felt like I would do better if I limited myself to one medium per session, and to limit my use of mediums to only 5 options. For example, for the paint layer, I limit myself to only 5 tubes/bottles/jars/etc of color, to cut down on my need to overthink the process. Doing this allowed me to finally get all 20 pages done within the allotted 15 minutes. SUCCESS!!

I have used this process for creating my Soul Sister Cards,

and for something I like to call Doodling books that I find super fun to play on while I am on an airplane or waiting someplace!! Every time I have done this process the pages end up looking so different from each other, and I am always so amazed at how cool they turn out!!!

So my modified version, which I am calling 8-Layer Journaling is:

Paint
Paper
Washi
Stamps
Stencil
Focal Image
Words
Pen Work

So, with all of the logistics out of the way…let’s get started!

I took 5 sheets of 9″ x 12″ Canson watercolor paper, and I cut them in half both directions so that I ended up with 20 sheets of paper sized 4 1/2″ x 6″.

Now let’s get on to Layer #1

Paint!

I selected 5 colors of Dina Wakley’s Heavy Body Acrylic Paint: Tangerine, Magenta, Lime, Lemon, Turquoise. (I didn’t select any inks or sprays because I don’t have any in my art studio, at the moment.)
I grabbed 2 paint brushes, 1 for the warm colors (tangerine, Magenta, Lemon), and 1 for the cool colors (Lime, Turquoise, Lemon)
Set my timer
and got to playing!!

If you do decide to do this 8-Layer Journaling process with me, I want to highly encourage you to not purchase anything new…use whatever you have in your stash. (This is probably something we could all hear a little bit more of!)

I hope that this is something that you might be inspired to try, and if you do, please share on Instagram #8layerjournaling I would LOVE to see your creations!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know in the comments section! I am always happy to be of help!!

Now it is your turn to get creating!

Here is to having some fun!

Soul Book #6 – 100 Activities!

Good evening!

Today’s Soul Book spread is a list of 100 Activities I would Love to do in 2018.

I had a lot of fun creating the background for this spread. I put on some music and just had at it!!

Materials Used:

Gesso
Schminke watercolors
Acrylic paints
Paint brush
Staz-On inkpad
Circles stamp
Washi tape
Printed title page title and numbers 1-100 on regular printer paper using my computer
Black ink pen

I was surprised by how long it took me to create this list, but I am so glad that I did this.

I thought you might be curious to know what I wrote on my list, so I have provided that here. Maybe you can get some ideas for your own list.

Live at the coast
Hike out in nature
Have an article published in a magazine
Have an Easter Egg hunt
Hula hoop
Twirl in the park
Blow bubbles with friends
Hula dance
Earth all the time (earthing)
Have a meditation practice
Go skinny dipping
Learn to play guitar
Sing with a group of people
Volunteer
Go geode hunting
Pumpkin carving
Run a 5k
Touch my toes
Have a yoga practice
Learn photography
Go on a road trip
Write a book
Have 5k YouTube subscribers
Learn how to do lettering
Have a pen pal
Learn another language
Earn money doing the work I love
Get through B-School
Teach an online class
Coach someone
Coach a team
Have a tea practice
Have an AM routine
Have a PM routine
Have a plan to get out of debt
Sell the condo
Solder jewelry
Make something pretty
Post YouTube videos for 30 days in a row
Do a new YouTube series
Have an electronic-free weekend
Do a puzzle
Watch a movie outdoors
Swing on a swing
Sketch while hanging out a coffee shop
Go for a bike ride
Try a new food at a restaurant
Go to a museum
Go see a play
Play a live musical performance
Tend a garden
Go for a long run
Try aromatherapy
Order takeout from someplace yummy
Spend a day Netflixing
Take a bubble bath
Read a book just for fun
Start your morning pages practice
Take a nap for fun
Live with a capsule wardrobe
Play with the puppies
Take a yoga class
Jump rope
Fly a kite
Learn to draw
Get comfortable drawing faces
Fill a sketchbook
Write a poem
Have a pamper night
Have a girls’ weekend
Use my art stash
Minimize our living expenses
Park in Roseburg for a vacation
Decorate the trailer for Christmas
Learn how to bake in the RV oven
Have a nude photo shoot
Join a march
Stand up for something you believe in
Vote
Send notes for no reason
Bake french bread
Bake a cake
Read in the park under a tree
Have a picnic
Paddle board
Swim in a lake
Dance in the rain
Climb a tree
Catch bees
Smile at a stranger
Sit at a bonfire
Wear sweatpants
Gret dressed for a hot date
Make a mood board
Fix blog and use it
Go to the farmer’s market
Do a paint by number
Color a coloring page
Do an entire cross stitch
Sell your art

Whew! That is a HUGE list!! I hope this gives you some ideas on what you might add to your own list in your Soul Book!

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know in the comments section! I am always happy to be of help!!

Now it is your turn to get creating in your Soul Book!

Here is to having some fun!

Soul Book #5 – Word of the Year!

Good evening!

Tonight’s Soul Book video is me sharing my Word of the Year Soul Book spread.

I really struggled with coming up with a word of the year, I mean there are just so many words that could fit so well, with everything going on in my life. Adventure, brave, journey, transformation, I can go on and on and on.

The word I finally settled on was the word

Embrace

I chose the word embrace because I feel like what I need more than anything right now is to embrace all of the changes and new opportunities coming my way, embrace the authentic me that I am allowing to come out and shine through the facade of “what is expected”, embrace my uniquenesses, my body, this skin that I am in. Embrace embodies what my focus needs to be this year!!!

If you could choose 1 word for this year, what would that word be? Why? I would love you to tell me in the comment section! 🙂

Materials Used:

Gesso
Acrylic paints
Various stencils
Baby wipes
Decorative craft papers
Decorative stickers
Black pen
I printed my word of the year and the definitions (found by Googling “Define Embrace”) off of my computer onto regular printer paper
Black Staz-On inkpad
Various stamps
Gold Signo ink pen
Tag
Medium sized project life card
Hole punch
Corner rounder
Scissors
Glue stick
Black ink pen
Blue Stabilo All pencil

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know in the comments section! I am always happy to be of help!!

Now it is your turn to get creating in your Soul Book!

Here is to having some fun!

Soul Book #4 – Making Space for Book Notes!

Good evening!

One of my favorite ways to use my Soul Book is to use a dedicated spread to take notes out of a really good self-help or inspirational book. The book I am reading right now is called, The 5 Second Rule, and is written by Mel Robbins, and it definitely falls under this category! There are so many juicy nuggets in here, that I know I will want to be able to call upon again! So, before I actually take notes into my Soul Book, I like to make sure that I have a spread decorated for just the purpose of documenting my notes. This will help me locate them again, and it is also a fun way to motivate myself to actually take the notes.

Materials Used:

Gesso
Palette knife
Prima watercolors
2 Intense watercolor pencils
Decorative craft paper
Black pen
I also created and printed a book title on regular printer paper, and I printed a copy of the book cover, that I found doing a google search.

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know in the comments section! I am always happy to be of help!!

Now it is your turn to get creating in your Soul Book!

Here is to having some fun!

Soul Book #3 – Where I am Now vs Where I Want to Be!

Good evening!

Today’s video is about the journal prompts, Where I am now, and where I want to Be!

I found these two journal prompts in my paper stash and as soon as I saw them, I knew I wanted them in my Soul Book. I was sure that they would be a great way to do some self reflection so that I could make some decisions on where to go next!

Before dealing with my journal prompts, I had fun decorating my spread’s background with various mixed-media techniques.

Materials Used:

Dina Wakley heavy body paints
Chevron stamp
Staz-On ink pad
Various arrow stamps
2 different Tim Holtz Distress ink pads
4 different wash tapes
Black Stabilo Marks all pencil
Black ink pen

The thought at the bottom of my page was from my You Are A Badass, page-a-day calendar:

If you’re not where you want to be in life, keep going. Treat yourself like you’re the closest friend you’ve got. Celebrate the magnificent creature you are. Don’t let anyone mess with you and your dreams, least of all yourself.

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know in the comments section! I am always happy to be of help!!

Now it is your turn to get creating in your Soul Book!

Here is to having some fun!

Soul Book 2018 #2 – Soul Book Landing Page!

Good evening!

Today’s Soul Book video is about 3 things, decorating the Soul Book opening landing page, writing a letter to your future self, and creating a vision board translation tip in from last week’s vision board exercise.

The landing page is the very first page you see when you open your Soul Book. This is the area I like to put positive images, thoughts, and things that make me happy, so I can see them as soon as I open my Soul book! I also like to include an envelope on this landing page. In this envelope I put a letter written to my future self, to be opening the first day of next year. This letter is me telling my future self what an awesome year 2018 turned out to be. I love doing this practice, because then when the first day of the next year comes along, I get to open and read the letter and see just how much of my past thoughts actually came to fruition, and what I still need to be working on!

The last thing that I did for this spread was I went back to last week’s vision board, and asked myself a few questions about the type of woman that would lead a life that the photos and words that I selected embodied (AKA me, hopefully)! 🙂 I took the answers to these prompts and created a tip-in that is attached to my Soul Book’s landing page. I chose to do a tip-in because I wanted to be able to see my translation whenever I work on any of my future Soul Book pages, and having this mini page able to be tipped-in or out, will let me do just that!

Materials used:

A sketch book to use as my Soul Book (Here is the link to the one I get every year)
Magazines (I used mostly O magazines, because they are filled with positivity)
Images printed from Pinterest
Tombo permanent adhesive tape strip
Uhu glue stick (my fave)
Stickers
Washi tape
Watercolor paper
Decorative craft paper
Scissors, or course
Envelope with a blank decorative card
Various pens (completely optional, but excellent if you decide to do any doodling around any of your images)

The prompts I used were:

My Soul Book

for

healing, dealing, documenting,

creating, imagining, planning,

doodling, writing, meditating,

brainstorming, organizing, learning,

& anything else my creative little heart desires!

My Personal Vision

In her alone time, she…

With her sweetie, she…

With her soul sisters, she…

In her home, she…

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know in the comments section! I am always happy to be of help!!

Now it is your turn to get creating in your Soul Book!

Here is to having some fun!

Soul Book 2018 #1 – Vision Board

Good morning!

I know I am a bit late in getting this post published – a few weeks late to be exact, but my goal here is to be of service, and I realize that it might be very helpful to those of you who watch my YouTube videos to have a place where you can go to find which supplies I may have used on any of my Soul Book 2018 spreads. I also want to make sure that any prompts that I use are also available for you to use in your own Soul Books as well. Please note, that I do a lot of work to create these ideas, prompts and Soul Book spreads, so I would ask that if you do use any of these, that you please use them for your own personal use only. Thank you!

I decided to start my 2018 Soul Book creating my yearly vision board. I thought this would be a good place to start because I had been in a bit of a creativity rut, and cutting images and words out of magazines seemed like a really easy way to start to get some creative mojo back again.

Materials used:

A sketch book to use as my Soul Book (Here is the link to the one I get every year)
Magazines (I used mostly O magazines, because they are filled with positivity)
Uhu glue stick (my fave)
Scissors, or course
A black pen (completely optional, but excellent if you decide to do any doodling around your vision board images)
A good classic movie (I always create my vision board while having a great movie playing in the background!)

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know in the comments section! I am always happy to be of help!!

Now it is your turn to get creating in your Soul Book!

Here is to having some fun!

A Peaceful Sunday Morning!

beautiful landscape of meadow sunrise

Good morning, Beautiful Creatives!

This morning, at my house, is a very peaceful place to be!

Almost all of the chores are already done, papa is in the kitchen making breakfast, and Gracie and Bitsy are in their bed in the living room playing with one of their favorite stuffed squeaky toys!

Breakfast, in case you are curious, is 1/2 a bagel with cream cheese, 2 scrambled eggs with one slice of bacon in it! That will be followed by some fresh berries!! YUM!

After breakfast, we will all pile into the car and head over to Dutch Brothers to pick up our weekend splurge, which is one of their freezes! But then, we are back to the house, and spending a quality lazy day together!

So far, besides hanging with my little fam at the manse, I know I am going to put a big pot of chili on later this afternoon, which is one of our favorites! That is in honor of the fact that the weather is finally starting to cool down around here, and we can feel our favorite season rolling in…FALL!! I can not wait until the leave starts changing colors – they may have already, I just don’t seem to get out of the house every day to check on their progress! So, for my hubby and I, we are officially back into the season of Hygge!! MY FAVE!!!

For us this means, candles, homey meals, fires in the fireplace, snuggling while watching movies, or reading, under big fuzzy blankets on the sofa, bundled up walks around our neighborhood while holding hands, and pretty much living a quality, but simple life just enjoying each other in the moment! Doesn’t that sound dreamy??? Now you can see why Fall is our favorite time of year!

As I write this, I also stop and think about all of the people in the Southeastern part of this country, and all of the tragedy they are going through, as the States experience one of the worst hurricane seasons in our history. It really breaks my heart! I feel so helpless, and don’t really know what to do to help! So, for now, I pray!

Okay, so I realize that might have come a little bit out of left field, but this is how my brain works…random thoughts pop in and out whenever and wherever they want to. I have made the conscious decision that if this morning journaling session is going to happen, then it has to be real. So there you go…you are welcome! 😉

Anyway, I am hoping that this feeling of peace can last throughout the entirety of my day, I realize that not everyone is so lucky. My heart goes out to you!

Here is to finding a little bit of peace, wherever you may be!