Home Again, Home Again...

It looked like this in La Conception last Tuesday when Kate and I went for a little walk.

Not ideal for a photo shoot with the snow falling directly towards us...

Or weird camera settings by the Auntie,

But I have to say, I was happy when I saw this one later !

Happy Queen ! Looking like an Es-Kim-O, like my parents used to call me when I was a little kid. ;)

I got home last night after a week away up North. Spent time with both Sisters and brothers-in-law, all the nieces and nephews, the Mommy, old and constant dear friend Suzy and new and wonderful Montreal/blogland friend, Kim (The Bodhi Chicklet). It was a nice trip, in spite of the frigid, I mean frigid Montreal weather. Don't miss that but I do miss the warmth of the sweet, big hearts of my peeps up there.

Some busy stuff here for the beginning of the week...art work to be completed, scanned and sent off for possible publication (shhhh...it's a secret until it is decided...), a Queenly photo shoot to be the subject of an illustration class assignment by my artist friend Nick, art to be made for a DIY Post Card Swap for IHanna, not to mention Meditation Monday and YogaDance Tuesday... oh yeah, AND catching up with Blogpals and visiting One World One Heart participants...

Phew... Life is busy but good. Just trying to keep the focus on the living and being present and not just the do, do, doing...

Off to shower and then spend some quality time with my sweet Man who I missed a lot...

Happy Sunday, Beautiful Ones...go be HOMe for awhile...

One World One Heart 2010

It is once more time for

the mega-lovefest,

magical carpet ride called

One World, One Heart !

Started in 2007 by the magical Lisa Swifka of A Whimsical Bohemian

One World, One Heart

is an international blogging event

that has bloggers from all over visiting one another,

spreading the love and

offering awesome giveaways to their visitors,

all in the spirit of connection and love for one another !

The Queen of Arts is all about spreading the love where ever she can

so this event is right up my alley !

Welcome to The Queen of Arts blog and to the wonderful event that is OWOH !

I participated last year for the first time,

and I had so much fun visiting so many new blogs

and meeting some wonderful blogpals along the way !

I was also privileged enough to win some lovely prizes from other blogger's giveaways.

All in all it is one Magical Ride !

So for this year's giveaway, I have 4 items up for grabs.

I have two of my Love Birds, stuffed with a hint of lavender and finished with lovely beaded tails,

perfect for hanging in a window or from your car mirror.

One of the giveaway birds is pink...

and the second one is a purple batik...

The third giveaway item is this beaded necklace with the "patience" bamboo tile pendant

in tones of amber. The necklace is 18 inches long.

The final giveaway item will be a little bag full of my Rock My World rocks.

I include thirteen rocks in each ribbon tied bag,

along with a little card that explains the Rock My World Project.

In order to be eligible to win one of these four prizes you must :

1) have a blog (it is a blog event after all !)

2) leave a comment on this post and

include an email address or a link to your blog,

so you can be notified if you win.

(if no link or address is included in your comment, I will have to choose another winner for the OWOH prize.)

This event runs from January 25th through February 15th, 2010.

I will close the comment entries on February 14th, at 9pm Eastern Time in order to choose my giveaway winners.

I will notify the winners on their blogs or via email on February 15, 2010 !!!

Thank you so much for visiting and I hope you have a sweet ride on the One World, One Heart Magical Carpet !

Big Love to All !

I Found My Key !

Crow Messenger,

what message are you carrying for me

when you fly over my house with your murder,

each evening at dusk ?

For the last few days, I have been a little trapped by my "crazy brain".

That is when my head spins with analyzing thoughts,

"why" thoughts, "you are not doing enough" thoughts,

"you are doing this wrong" thoughts,

or even stupid, unreal but scary

"catastrophic" thoughts.

It has been a while since I got stuck in that trap.

It took me a little while to remember that I have the key to unlock the trap.

I have it in me all the time.

I just some times forget to use it !

So this morning when the thought trap tried to get me with those crazy brain thoughts

like

"What are you doing with your life?",

"Look at what others are doing. You are not as good as them!"

or

"What are you going to BE for the rest of your life????",

I finally remembered and picked up the key !

Know what, Kimbo, You already BE !

BE in this moment.

LIVE your life today.

Do what you LOVE.

And that is enough.

That is more than enough.

That is all you have to do.

Stop thinking...

Just BE...

Man, it feels good to be free of that trap!

(weird but true - a crow just flew over my house cawing its heart out as I typed these words! I guess he was glad that I finally got the message. ;) )

This Friday for the Queen means beading some sweet birds that will be flying off to a special friend on Monday. Later a nice walk with that Chica-dog and the camera (and a happy face on my exercise calendar). A Saturday with the hubby and then I am headed off to the Great White North for a week for a good long peeps fix. That is what I will BE up too. ;)

I hope you can BE happy this Friday, Beautiful Ones !

Thankfulness Thursday - This Man...

I am thankful each and every day of my life for

this man...

He is my soft place to land (his shoulder is the very best place in the universe for me!).

He is my partner in life.

He takes such good care of me and allows me to take care of him.

He shares his hopes and dreams and fears and joys with me.

He shares his wonderful loving heart with me every day.

He is kind, and generous, open-minded and open-hearted.

He is brilliant.

He is proud, tenacious, hard-working, and a really good guy.

He is my best friend.

My playmate.

My cheerleader.

My harbor in a storm.

My sweet, tender, hunka hunka, burning love...

I am so proud of all that he is and all that he brings to the world.

I am grateful everyday that we have been brought together

to walk this journey through life.

I am grateful for all he has taught me about love and loving.

I am grateful for this man...

and he will forever have my heart.

I love you, David.

Go here and see what some other great people

are doing to express their own weekly gratitude.

Heart Aches...

(an oldie but a goodie - art journal page - Jan.2008)

My heart is just aching today...

I wish we could just go and scoop every last one of them up and bring them to safety.

Make them feel loved.

Give them hope.

Who am I to despair,

when my life is so perfectly okay today?

The only answer that feels adequate

to the millions of buzzing questions that fill my head,

as I try to figure out what to do with the "bad" stuff,

is

love.

It is what gets me through...

It is my noun and verb today...

It is the answer to my every question...

love...

I will keep breathing love...

because that is what I know for sure...

Love to you, Beautiful Ones...

You Light Up My Life...

So I did the page in my art journal on Friday night that I just love :

(art journal page - 01/09/10 - A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood)

(click to enlarge)

I loved it so much that I had to take pictures of it immediately,

in spite of the darkness in the studio.

(left page)

Normally, I hate pictures with a flash so much, so I light a candle to see what I would get.

(right page)

And I have to admit, this one is pretty cool ! Check out the lick of flame on my picture...

I printed this photo of myself onto a transparency so the shine of the plastic picked up the reflection of the flame in this cool way.

On Saturday, I got a huge treat in the mail.

Cosmo was curious about it too !

In my envelope that came as a total and complete surprise to me

from my wonderful Blogland Friend, Paula (Little Scraps of Magic) in Virginia,

were these two packages and this amazing card :

(the card reads " Ever notice how "What the Hell", is always the right decision?").

Inside the card, Paula said that she saw these items in Ellicott City on an outing with her man, and she knew they belonged to me ! How cool is that ? I love thinking that this wonderful woman is out on an art adventure with her hubby, and I pop into her head ! Even though we have never met in person ! I am just so touched by that, I can't tell you !

So check out what is in the packages (love the paper and leather rope they are wrapped in my the way - going to use those somewhere else, for sure !)

Look at these gorgeous tags! All embossed with gold and with lovely ribbons going through them ! Love 'em !

And then, the piece de resistance, check out this amazing charm !!!!

It is not just perfect ???? I love it so very much ! The humor of it makes me laugh, the artistry of it pleases my eye and the thought behind it, well, that just fills me with joy !

Thank you so much, Paula. You have made me feel special and loved with your thoughtful gift. Thank you, my friend.

So this is what it looks like outside of my window of the Martin Luther King Day, January 18th, 2010.

The good news is that David is off and he is excited about using his snow blower today.

(Boys and their toys ! Have to say that I appreciate his love for this toy very much !)

I have an order for 15 brightly colored stuffed birdies, so I will be painting their sweet faces on and beading them up today.

And I think I have to agree with my buddy, Azzy.

He thinks that hanging out in the studio and watching the snow fall is the perfect way to spend this third Monday in January...

Smart kitty...

Happy Monday, Beautiful Ones !

Let Life Flow...

Going

today.

Trying to

Thankful, always for friends, old and new,

(Chica and Baron from my walk with my friend Colleen)

and art, especially art that comes from the heart .

( My ATC for Kind over Matter Blogaversary Swap).

Time to love on myself a little bit.

Giving out love,

and prayers,

and focusing on the "details in the fabric"

takes a lot of energy,

doesn't it ?

Going to cherish myself so I have more to give out...

We tend to think being hard on

ourselves will make us strong.

But it is cherishing ourselves

that gives us strength.
- Julia Cameron

and keep on remembering that

giving yourself

Happy Friday, Beautiful Ones. Go give yourself some loving now !

Thankfulness Thursday - Compassion

(art journal page - Prayers for Haiti - 01/13/10)

Today, I am so filled with gratitude.

I am grateful for all I have, from the cozy shelter I live in,

to the running water I use to wash my hands,

to the food on my plate,

and every other thing I am so fortunate to come in contact with each day.

I am also so very grateful that my dear, dear, loved ones

are all safe and sound today.

That I can pick up the phone and hear their voices,

and tell them I love them,

and be heard.

And on this day, when the world is so full of sorrow, strife, and devastation,

I am so grateful for our ability to show compassion and love to one another.

The outpouring of love, and prayer and whatever help each one of us is capable of

for the people of Haiti and so many others in the world,

gives me hope

and makes me grateful

that I am here

to witness it

and to participate in it

in whatever way

I can.

And when I forget, and start to feel overwhelmed, inadequate, or helpless, I turn back to this quote from Edward Everett Hale, that helped me so much yesterday :

"I am only one.

But I am one.

I cannot do everything

but I can do something.

And I will not let

what I cannot do

interfere with what

I can do."

and get back to doing what I can...

(you can go here to see some ways that you can show your gratitude for all that you have today...)

Weekly Gratitude

Story Time - The Queen Takes A Walk...

So the Queen (what is with the crow's feet in this shot ??!)

and her loyal and beautiful servant,

went out on a mild wintry day to see what they could see.

The Queen was hoping to find inspiration for her art...

and past experiences had shown her that Nature

is always quick to supply an abundance of that...

As the walk went on, the queen came up on sight that puzzled her...

Was this another person's attempt to make art ?

Upon closer inspection, it seemed that this was less about art and more about marking of territories...

but the Queen with her own artist eye, thought the sight was kind of cool anyway.

She walked on...

And then at the very end of the walk,

the Queen spotted a plaque on a bench right in front of her royal vehicle,

and there the Queen found her inspiration,

not just for her art,

but also for her Heart.

The Queen knew that her path was good...

and that she was doing the work she needed to do.

And knowing that she too, would be remembered for it when her reign was over,

was all the inspiration she needed.


The truest greatness lies in being kind, the truest wisdom in a happy mind.
- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Happy Tuesday, Beautiful Ones.