For today…

It’s Monday, October 21, 2013.

Outside my window... it’s beautiful and sunny, though a little crisp this morning. This is the view from my art journaling position.

I am thinking...that is was a good thing that FB was kind of down this morning so I could concentrate on working in my journal rather than getting distracted by random posts there.

I am thankful...for the creative juices that seem full up right now. I just have to sit down at my work table, and let whatever comes spill out. Love that !

In the kitchen...the clean dishwasher dishes and my grocery list are calling me but the studio feels better!

I am wearing...skinny jeans, a navy tunic t-shirt, pink scarf and cerise Chucks. Chica is wearing her pink collar and checking for squirrels.

I am creating... art journal pages from ink blobs, letting the shapes tell me what they want to be. When these two figures came to be, it reminded me of this dear quote from Ram Dass.

“We’re all just walking each other home.”

How beautiful an image is that?

I am wondering… if you have seen this video ?

It made me cry. It made me remember that Art is Love and Love is Art. It made me want to go and look at a stranger in a new way. There are no strangers, really, are there ? We are all in this together…

One of my favorite things...is stitching randomly as I watch tv at night.

This is a rust stained piece of cotton gauze that I am slowly working on right now…

Letting these shapes speak to me too…

I am going...to have to go grocery shopping in a bit. The fridge is pretty bare. Then, I think a walk in this glorious Fall color will be a must. And maybe some leaf raking too.

 
I am looking forward to...David’s birthday coming up (October 31st, my Halloween Baby !) and also a girls party up at my sister Kristina’s house in a few weeks. It will mean a reunion with an old friend that I haven’t seen in 8 years ! Time goes so fast ! Looking forward to seeing you, Tracy !

Around the house...there seems to be a thousand things to do to get the house ready for the season that shall not be named, and not a lot of energy to do those things !

I am learning…that even baby steps count. Gotta remember that !

Let’s keep putting on foot in front of the other, Beautiful Ones!

Glad to be on the journey with you.

Happy Monday !

Haiku my Heart–Around and Around We go…

(Kate, August 2012, Hampton Beach, NH)

 

Around and around,

This merry-go-round of Life.

Enjoy the sweet ride.

 

**********

This week has been filled with such joy for me!

Having my sister Kristina, her hubby John, big brother Thomas and little chickie Katie here has been wonderful ! We have had very full days in the best possible ways.

At the same time as I have been BEing where I am and soaking it all in,

part of me has been with friends who have been facing life’s hardest kinds of challenges,

sending prayers, and keeping my Heart light shining as brightly as I can for them.

Another part of me has been wishing so strongly that I could take their fears and pain away, and bring them to where I have been this week,

and keep us all there forever !

It doesn’t work that way,

no matter how much this big loving Heart of mine wishes for it!

So, instead, I do the other important Heart job to the best of my ability.

I live in a space of gratitude,

and celebrate exactly where I am on this precious, bittersweet ride called Life.

From this place of gratitude and Love,

I wish you the happiest of Fridays, Beautiful Ones !

 

For more beautiful heart and haiku sharing, visit recuerda mi corazon.

GPP Street Team Crusade # 61–Restraining Order

Well, I had to join in !

I did so under the wire, but just in time.

The awesome and incredibly talented Michelle Ward is hosting the last of her fine Green Pepper Press Street Team Crusades and I had to take part.

In the past, I used to do these great prompts every month.

They inspired my journal pages and also connected me to a great community of artists all over the globe. Michelle would link us all on the GPP Street Team blog, and we could visit one another, see how each artist had interpreted the great prompts and get feedback on our own entries from the other Crusaders.

I don’t have any excuses as to why I stopped doing the Crusades. Life just changed things…

But when I read that Michelle was ending the project after 61 months worth of projects, I wanted to join in one last time and pay a little homage to something that brought me many treasures over the years.

Crusade # 61 is entitled “Restraining Order” and our prompt was to create a journal page while focusing on avoiding clutter or overfilling the page and paying attention to composition a little more. Trying to leave some space, some open air for the eye to rest a little.

I knew I wanted to do a bit of a self-portrait piece for my art journal.

This week, the question of what “success” is came up several times in conversation and in thought.

I realized that to some people on the outside, I may not seem conventionally “successful”.

Upon some pondering though, I actually concluded that to my own sense of what is success is measured by, I am a very successful person.

I believe success should be measured by how close you are to achieving the goals of your Heart & Soul, and not so much what society or your bank account may reflect.

My Heart and Soul goals are to love strongly and fiercely and to make a difference in the world in my own little way.

I do this.

Most days, I do this very, very well !

When I go to bed at night and I can say, “Today, I loved. Today, I was loved back. Today, I saw beauty. Today, I created a bit of beauty of my own.” When I can say those things, that has been a good day !

A successful day.

A successful life lived.

For my minimal journal page, I created a colorful background with spray inks, Golden fluid acrylics and Twinkle H2O watercolors.

Then I took a copy of a photo of myself and trimmed it with some decorative deckle edged scissors.

I added a piece of torn piece of ledger paper to the center of the page, tapped down with some polka dot Smashbook paper tape.

I stamped my phrase out with rubber alphabet stamps on some white tape.

It reads : “I live a simple little life.”

I think the simple composition works well with the message of this page.

It was a challenge for me to keep it this simple. I wanted to add more pen work, etc or maybe some scribble, maybe use some stencils to add more to the background, etc

but in the end, I love how it turned out.

I live a simple ordinary extraordinary little big successful sweet life.

And for that I am extremely grateful.

 

**********************

As I contribute this post for the final GPP Street Team Crusades, I am also grateful for the wonderful treats that this project has brought me.

I made so many awesome artist blog friends through the Crusades.

I got to “know” Michelle and her fabulous heart, and contribute to some amazing projects offering special help to the community that she has lead.

I also learned the value of creating art work and sharing it with other artists, the best kind of audience and the best kind of support for the creative process.

So thank you, Michelle, for all the things you have contributed to the on-line art blog community ! You Rock, Lady !!!

And thank you to my fellow Crusaders who have shared their art and their hearts along the way ! Keep on rocking it, Crusaders !

Determine Your Living…

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.
Khalil Gibran

**********************

So I have finally finished my November entry for Nicola’s book in our Sistahhood of the Traveling Sketchbook project.

Life happened while we were all making plans. But now, we are all trying hard to get our swap back on track.

Thinking back to November from January was harder than it should have been,

but there was a lot of living in between, I think.

This piece does represent how I felt in November when the last of the brilliant Fall leaves were gone and the bare branches I would be looking at for the next 6 months were exposed.

The crow is bringing her the message that winter is on its way and the time for nesting is here.

It also shows how I am still feeling as we live in January; that desire to bundle up against the barren elements is still very present.

I imagine that under her cloak is all the color needed to fill her up and keep her well until Spring.

The second spread includes the photo that inspired the pages,

taken back in November, when the branches went bare…

I have to say I am a little sad that these pages are in Nicola’s book, and not in my own journal.

It will be hard to bundle them up and send them on their way.

***********

This week is going to be all about friends and being there for one another, in the good and the bad.

Tomorrow, I head up north again. One of my dear friend’s lost her Dad last week and I am heading up to be there at the visitation and the funeral, and to give her some extra big loving as she faces this sad, sad loss.

I called some other friends when I found out I would be making an unexpected trip to Montreal. Now, I will be sleeping in 4 different places between Tuesday and Saturday, and seeing quite a few of my favorite non-family peeps back home. Of course, I will squeeze in a big hugging session with my Mom, as well. Putting out love and getting some of that rich medicine back as well.

David will keep the home fires burning and the furry kids well while the Rogue-y and I head out on the highway.

Life is a bittersweet journey, isn’t it, Beautiful Ones ?

But I am grateful everyday to be traveling it…

Big Love !

Daily Poetry…

Today on the amazing blog 3X3X365,

South Bend, IN

(aka Kathryn Schuth)

wrote

“What is our daily poetry?”

The idea of our daily life as poetry, as art, struck a cord deep inside me.

As did that idea that we have choice in the kind of poetry we choose to write each day.

Will it be full of “fine” or not so fine whine?

Will it be full of “Oh, poor me!” or “I can’t”s?

Or will it be full of the long list of blessings we can count ?

Of beauties we have around us ?

Of the many ways that LOVE fills us up ?

Oh, that choice, that responsibility isn’t always easy !

In fact, some days, it is incredibly hard.

But life will go by whether we create the art we want to live or not.

So what poetry will you choose to write today, Beautiful Ones ?

<3 <3 <3<3<3

I will share a little bit of mine…

(art journal page ‘ “Plan ? What Plan?”)

What I chose to see in the vast quantity of maple seeds covering the back deck…

The last marigolds from the pot of annuals I have yet to empty on the back deck, tucked into my favorite rock vase.

They all fit together beautifully somehow, don’t they ?

Poetry I set up on my desk to remind me of my work today…

And if you need just a little more inspiration to tap into your own beautiful strength and courage, please read my dear, dear friend Rebecca’s post today. It brought tears of joy to this brave heart.

Light and love,

and happy creating !

It is good to hang upside down from trees !

 So yesterday, David and I had a adventure with an opossum. An opossum got stuck in our outdoor garbage can while going after chicken bones in there.

Not our opossum – this image of an opossum playing ‘possum courtesy of Google .

The thing about an opossum is that they play possum, or fake being dead when they get scared.

Did you know that it is an involuntary comatose-type state caused by extreme fear ?

Well, we learned this the hard way !

Instead of telling you the whole long and quite funny story, just know that it involved  a squealing wife calling her husband at work to tell him there was a dead something in the garbage can, 6 hours of the possum playing dead in said garbage can, as the wife was too scared and grossed out to do anything about it, and both of us realizing that the damn thing was still alive when  it ran from the garbage can straight into the bottom of the garbage bag that David was trying to dispose of the body with, while he was holding it !!!

We were both relieved that he was alive in the end, but finding out that he wasn’t dead scared the be-jesus out of us both !!

Having had this bizarre adventure (We live in a city. A small city yes, but a CITY none the less !), I just had to check on what the meaning of the opossum is in Native American Animal Medicine.

Here is some of what I found :

"I AM OPOSSUM. I bring this message from all of my kinfolk to all of you: IT'S GOOD TO HANG UPSIDE DOWN IN TREES! The world looks completely different from that perspective, and considering the way the world has been going, it might be advantageous for humans to turn things upside down a bit, shake them up as it were, and move in a different direction.
"Ah, I see that you had not suspected me of having a dry wit, but among my people, my sense of humor is legendary. Are you not aware that I am continuously grinning, especially when laying low - you call it playing 'possum'; rolling over; playing dead. These are merely diversions so that the predators of the world will not consider me of interest or a challenge. I suggest that you imitate my strategy when danger is upon you. I will help you attain long life, for the one who tries to forestall a fight, rather than battling his way through, will live longer - less stress - and of course, there is always the more accomplished opponent. Have a happy life. Viva l'opossum!” -Cie Simurro for Wisdom Magazine

So it looks like that opossum may have had some valuable information for me from the universe. My message seems to be that I should keep on looking at the world in my sometimes “different from the crowd” perspective, and keep myself safe from the predators of the world by having the ultimate trust that life will bring me where I need to go, without any major actions needed by me.

I appreciate this kind of confirmation that the choices I have been making lately to Be or hang out in my own life are the right ones. And knowing that the universe will bring me to where I need to go without that “battling through” way of thinking is also very comforting. It makes me feel like I am on the right track.

So little stinky possum, I am glad we all made it out of this experience relatively intact, and I am grateful that you bravely came to give me my message.

Now stay the F*** out of the garbage !!!

Happy Wednesday, Beautiful Ones !

Monday Morning Messages…

Message #1

No Excuses !

Not even a very bad hair morning !

Listen to the voice that says “Put on Your Shoes and Walk !!!!”

 

Message #2

Especially that big SUCKY one inside your own head !

Tell he/she to f-off ! This is your one precious life !

 

Message #3

If I am not broken, then nothing needs fixing.

I have everything I need right in this very moment to live the life I want to live.

 

Message #4

Love is everywhere.

Have it for yourself.

You are totally and completely worthy of it !

 

These important messages were brought to you by

The Color RED

and the Number THREE.

Happy Monday, Beautiful Ones.

Letting Go of the Have-to’s

In the essay “Close the Board Room Closet”, in the book Life is a Verb, Patti Digh shares the day her head exploded because of the length of her to-do list.

She also shares how writer Toni Morrison, who had experienced a similar head explosion herself,  realized that what it all came down to was not the entire list, but “what you have to do or die !”.

For Morrison, that was raise her children and write. For Patti, I am sure it is something similar to that.

Well, for me,

the what I have to do or die is pretty simple too.

I need to love my peeps really deeply.

And I need to create.

 

(All photos from my new Sony Cybershot 10XZoom, 14.1 megapixel point and shoot – an early  pressie for my upcoming birthday from the sweet Man I love !  Dig the panorama !)

(Hampton Beach, NH – The Rock Fairy needed some supplies.)

(Our side porch with fall mums on a perfect Fall day.  )

(Furry kids Little Boo, Chica Lulu, and Azzy-Cat)

So I made the decision to quit my part time job at the Halloween store at the end of this week.

I kinda hated it, you see.

Not only that, but it was making me feel like I had no choice but to to say no to some great creative opportunities because I didn’t have the time, energy or inspiration left to create with !

I was saying no to what is so important to me  in order to make a few bucks to help out our budget at a job I hated!

That stopped me in my tracks !

I let go of the have-to.

(Thanks to my cheerleaders, Mom and David, who supported me all the way through !)

Since letting go, I have received a few orders for my arty stuff that will end up paying me almost the same as what I would make in a few weeks of work at the store.

I have had the chance to complete another piece of art for possible publication.

And the best thing of all ?

I feel like an Artist again.

I am freer, more energized and more inspired than I have been in quite a long while !

I am including this story here for a few reasons.

One is so that I will remember when I come down to the have-to’s or the real want to’s of life, I need to have faith in what my heart and soul really want to do !

And also because I want to encourage you, Beautiful Ones, to think about that list of

have-to’s that you feel like you have to hold on to.

Are there any of them that you could let go of and free your self up for the things you need to do or die ?

If you are afraid, I so completely get it.

But do it anyway.

Live your one precious life, Beautiful Ones, and know

that the universe is conspiring in your favor.

When You Were Two...

So spend some time with a two year old if you can.

It is so very helpful in learning how to live in the moment.

That's what "Baave" and I did this past weekend.

Of course the two year old who we got to be with is pretty damn special !

Brilliant, funny, cute as a button, and check out her fashion sense !

She is also a fantastic teacher.

She taught Uncle Dave that the sillier you are, the funner it is to get the job done,

like completing the plain old puzzle.

(The hilarious giggles from these two were amazing !)

WonderKate also reminds us that if we know what we need, we should make sure to ask for it, and also make sure we get it !

Like nap time for example.

For a perfect nap, make sure you have a doo-doo (a cozy blankie)

A ba-ba (bottle with warmed milk)

A tou-tou (a soft stuffed animal - little brown bear in Kate's case)

And of course a Dada ! (A Daddy, or a Mommy or a "Pimmy"(as Kate calls me) in a pinch)

Yup, that Katie-Girl is pretty great at reminding us

to be present and count our sweet blessings everyday...

Oh, and also how the perfect footwear can make an outfit...

(I want these rain boots in my size !)

"Baave" and "Pimmy" are so thankful for the sweet time

and the wonderful lessons we shared with you and your cozy family

on this spring weekend in 2010, Little Wise One.

We love you !

"Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems." -

Rainer Maria Rilke

****************************************

Things are feeling a little dry around the studio right now.

You know dry, like toast with no jam (love that line from the father in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding") !

I am doing journal pages, and enjoying the process but they feel a little flat and uninspired.

I am thinking I need some time with other artists to inspire me or a class to learn something new to add to my usual bag of tricks...

Part of me knows that a dry spell is normal for me...but like any artist, I kind of worry about it lasting too long...

I am looking around and keeping my artist's mind open to the possibilities...

In the mean time...little bits of art to go and add to the branches until the real color arrives !

tree tags - fronts

quotes on the back (for the tag on far right)

( back quote for the middle flower tag)

(back quote on tag on the left)

The tags are covered with packing tape so will hopefully stand up to the damp out there.

It has finally stopped raining though it is still very grey.

At least it will be nice for a tree decorating, tag photographing and rock dropping walk...

Let's go, Cheeks...

Happy Wednesday, Beautiful Ones.