Category Archives: Self Improvement

Getting Back to Art!

Good evening!

I have spent a portion of this evening getting back to the art! I have really been pressuring myself to do a great job, so needless to say, it really hasn’t been going too well! So, today, I came home from work early – I think I have a double ear infection – not fun, thank you very much!! Anyway, I spent a little time actually sitting in my art studio and actually painting, with no pressure, no real thinking other than just playing. That is the way it outta be. So, other than my ears still hurting, I am feeling pretty FAN-TAB-U-LOUS!!

Also, this evening my sis, and two of her kids came over this evening to go swimming with Jason. I had to miss out because of my ears, but before they went the kids had let me take pictures of them so that I can use their pictures later on to practice my drawing skills. I am teaching myself, for the most part! I thought I would share two of those pictures with you tonight!

This is my niece, Megan! She is my little girly-girl who is also very good at soccer! I am very proud of her, and she is absolutely beautiful!!! 😉  She was very patient with me and let me take something like 10 different pictures of her in different head tilts and angles!! She is going to be very fun to learn to draw with!

Here is my nephew, Morgan! He is so serious in this picture, as soon as I snapped this pic, he turns my camera to see the himself, and he says, “Did you get my muscles?” He is just soooo funny!! But I am so thankful that he was willing to hold still for a few minutes just so I could take his picture.  What an awesome kid!!

Before I leave for the evening, I just wanted to give a big thank you to my sweetie, who very patiently cut a bunch of wood (the pic at the top of this post is some of what he cut for me)  for me so that I have some practice canvases for my art. He is just so supportive, and I am still in awe that I am so lucky to have been gifted a man such as WONDERFUL as him!! Thank you, Baby!! I will work very hard to make you proud!!

Anyway, I should have some ACTUAL art to share you with you tomorrow, I can’t wait!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

Chunky Dunker’s!

Good evening!

Welcome to another lovely evening of Chunky Dunker’s!

Chunky Dunkers is a weekly weight loss/get fit support group that meet here online every Wednesday evening to get the opportunity to comment, and cheer each other as you each go through your journey to get fit and healthy!!! We will discuss hints, tips, and ideas on losing weight, staying motivated, and achieving your fitness goals, whether that is to lose 5 pounds, to do 10 sit-ups, or just incorporate some healthy habits into your daily life!!

As always, everyone and anyone is welcome to join us, so please feel free to chime in on our conversation in the comment section above, or you are welcome to quietly follow along, whichever you prefer. I look forward to hearing about all of your successes!

This week, I thought I would share 10 swaps that will help make you get fit goals a little bit easier…

  1. Swap out your daily snack with a piece of your favorite fruit.  Save calories and guilt.
  2. Swap one of your daily side dishes for a veggie. Every little but helps.
  3. Swap your high carb breakfast with eggs. The protein with stick with you longer helping you feel full longer.
  4. Swap out pretzels and chips for some unsalted nuts. These are chock full of good-for-you-fats.
  5. Swap one meal each day with a huge salad, loaded with colorful veggies, lean protein, a handful of nuts and maybe some beans.
  6. Swap solid fats like butter or shortening, with olive or canola oil. Your heart will thank you for it!
  7. Swap red meat for more lean cuts of meat like chicken/turkey breast, and fish.
  8. Stop drinking your calories. Water is your friend.
  9. When you first wake up in the morning, spend at least 5 minutes doing some gentle stretches to wake up your body.
  10. Spend at least 1/2 an hour outside EVERY day. Fresh air, sunshine, and exercise will all help you feel more relaxed, and it will help you use up any extra calories you might be holding onto.

I hope that these 10 ideas help you, I know that I don’t always stick to these, but I think I will make a concerted effort to follow all 10 of these for the next 7 days. I will let you know how it goes!

Have a FABULOUS evening! 🙂

Freaking Out!

Good evening!
After having such a FABULOUS creativity inspired weekend, and quite honestly a really good day at work today, I had EVERY intention of coming home and diving head first into getting some more work on my budding creative business done.

BUT…

apparently I have decided that I first need to FREAK OUT before I make any true headway this evening!

GAAACK!!

I have let my negative inner voice get to me so badly that now I am near paralyzed with fear!

I am not sure what to do!

I don’t want to make the wrong decision!

HEE! HEE! HOOO!

HEE! HEE! HOOO!

Ok, now that THAT is out of the way… I KNOW that everything is going to be ok! I just have to

STOP FREAKIN” OUT!!!

You know, Kelly Rae has been talking about this since almost day one of our class. She says we all have our fears, it doesn’t matter where in the process you are – we are all  going to be afraid of SOMETHING!! You have to acknowledge your fear, thank it for looking out for you, give it a time-out and do the thing your gut tells you to do anyway!!

Ok, I hear you, I am going to feel the fear and do it anyway! You see, I have been trying to decide what to name my business, which also means that I have to decide what I am going to re-name my blog, my professional Facebook page, Flickr account, Twitter, etc, etc, etc! Your business name is a VERY BIG DEAL!! Once your reputation is established, it could be VERY expensive to go through the process of completely revamping your name!! So, I really want to take the time to get it right on the first go around!

I have a couple of ideas in my head, and some thoughts on all my choices, but I just really can’t decide! As I hear myself say all of this, I am not sure why I feel like I have to decide this right this second. Hmmmm…good question, self! Very intuitive of you!! I think I am going to make sure that I have  a mini journal next to my bed, and jot down any ideas that come to mind. I will know the right one when I hear it. It will just feel right!!

Crisis averted!!

WHEW!!

That was a close one!

I am sure that my sweetie was on standby with a small plate of dark chocolates, and foot massage chaser in case I was about to go to FULL MELTDOWN MODE!!!

Have I told you I really LOVE THAT MAN!?!?!?! 😉

Anyway, now that my freak out has passed, my official plan for the evening is to spend some time “Arting” up in my art studio, and do some more class reading – I am ALMOST caught up, so I have got to keep on keeping on!!

Thank you for hanging with me during my time of “crisis”!! If only ALL crisis blew over so smoothly!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!

A Weekend of Artist Mentality!

Good evening!
I have literally spent ALL weekend, in artist mode!!! I am sure my husband must be thinking that I am MIA or something!! This weekend has been such an inspiring weekend, and I am feeling WILDLY validated by my new artist community friends that have been commenting like crazy and cheering me on from all over the world!

I FINALLY feel like…

I have found my calling.
I have found my artist medium.
I am finding  my courage.
I am finding my voice.
I might even have found ME!

Before I spend the rest of my weekend totally and completely focused on spending some quality time with my sweetie (I really am married to the GREATEST MAN – Thank you, Love!!!), I really wanted to show you a few of the projects I have been working on this afternoon!

This one is the only project I have actually finished this evening. I used decorative papers, ink, acrylic, and polymer clay to make this piece. I am calling this one, “Mamma’s Lessons for a Happy Life”.

These next two projects are still works in process. This first one, so far is acrylic paint and ink. I am not sure where I am going with this one yet, but this is a much different color palette than I am used to, but I am playing with textures on this piece.

This one is also a work in process, and this one is made, so far, with decorative paper, crackle medium, cardboard, ink, and polymer clay.

and finally…

This is not a piece in itself, but more of an experiment that I tried today, that I really fell in love with, and that is creating words from metal stamps and polymer clay. I LOVE using words in my art, and this is such a fun way to do it, I am very happy with the way these turned out.

Anyway, I am back to my regular, non-creative  full-time job tomorrow, but I have to confess that I will probably have a hard time concentrating knowing that I have got so much that I still want to create back in my art studio!! I will have to be patient!!

IT WILL BE WORTH IT!!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 🙂

Motivational Quote of the Day!

Here is your motivational quote for today!

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous ? Actually, who are you not to be ? Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
~Marianne Williamson

Have a FABULOUS afternoon!! ;-)

Putting it Out There!

Good afternoon!

As some of you may know, I am very HAPPILY taking a creative online course called Flying Lessons, which is a course offered by Kelly Rae Roberts.

 I am taking one small step at a time to turn my passion for creating art into my career. I have done a few things already, including updated my header for my blog, as you might have noticed from above. However, this next step might be one of the hardest for me.

I know I have shared some of my art, sporadically and somewhat hesitantly, over the course of the past six months, but tonight, I want to share all of my scribblings, doodles, and art projects, with the intention of letting the universe know, that I am an artist. 

WOW! That is incredibly hard to say, but
I am an artist.

I want to focus my energies on investing time on my talent. I want to take the necessary steps to focus, and learn more skills so that I can continue to put my art out into the world. My goal in doing this is to encourage women to live their lives authentically, with dignity, and pride, and if in some small way I can encourage and motivate someone to do something they might not have done, or try something they might not have tried, or even smile when they otherwise would not have, then I will have done what I was put on this earth to do.

So without further ado, here is my art:

Ok, so the good, the bad, the ugly,the  gorgeous, the fabulous, and even the huh’s??  have all been shared!

They have now all been OFFICIALLY sent out into the UNIVERSE!!!

Officially!!!

Whew! Ok, that wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be! Whew – again!! 😉

 I totally need a break, my bravery muscles have thoroughly been exercised for the day!!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening!

Motivational Quote of the Day!

Here is your motivational quote for today!

“”Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it is good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art”
~Andy Warhol

Thank you to my new friend, ‘Duchess’ Deborah Velasquez for sharing this AMAZING quote!!

Have a FABULOUS afternoon!! ;-)

Sunday Scribbling!

SUNDAY SCRIBBLINGS
suggests the topic ‘Forward’.
LOOKING FORWARD
What is life, but looking forward?
The past is past, what’s done is done.
All that’s left is upward, onward.
Where will you go?
Who will you be?
What will you do?
What will you see?
Life is fleeting,
Time proceeding,
Looking back will not reward
The only progress is forward.
Have a FABULOUS evening!