Weekend Art Play

Here are some of the post cards I am having a blast making for the swap that IHanna is holding. We got our addresses yesterday. I will have cards going to the Netherlands, Poland and Singapore as well as to various places in Canada and the US.! How cool is that !

These cards will have to be covered with some packing tape, I think. I am worried about threads getting caught in the mail machines...

I love how these have turned out.

To make these five I glued my sewn painted papers and collage elements onto cardstock postcards.

For the other five I have to do, I want to use the Claudine Hellmuth Sticky Back Canvas that I picked up at Absolutely Everything the last time I was there.

I still have a few days to finish up the rest of them.

This is the latest page in my journal. It is called "Send in the Clowns".

I had actually done a sketch of this in my book last fall but never got around to doing anything with it. I only have about 4 or 5 pages left in my present journal until it is complete.

I wasn't sure if I was just going to glue or paint over the drawing of these three but I ended up just going for it. I like how the page turned out.

The hatted folks were supposed to be clowns but now kind of remind me of the gnome in my favorite commerical on tv :

I think of it as Suzanne, Me and Nathalie,who all have Cabin Fever and are anxious for our trip to Mexico in March...

"Da-da-da-deedee- dee-dee....

I need to get out of here ! "

David and I are kind of having a Superbowl Party for two without the football.

Neither one of us are football fans but

we just got a new 42 inch flat screen tv.

We picked up a brick oven pizza from Bertucci's,

I have a good bottle of wine chilling

and we are going to watch a movie and just check into the game every now and then for the commercials. ;)

Maybe I will see my friend the gnome, and sing along.

Hope you have a cozy Sunday night planned !

Big love to you, Beautiful Ones !

I Am So Worthy !!!!

My lastest art journal page - "I AM WORTHY"

Inspired by the Heart Your Art Campaign

on my friend Melissa's blog, a magickal meliss

Isn't it wonderful how when you have an issue that you are working with, the Universe brings you lessons and tools and experiences to help you do the "work" ?

My friend Melissa has a project called the "Heart Your Art Campaign"going on for the month of February on her blog. It is a great undertaking, with her own writings about how to get to the point where you really love your art, and love yourself for that matter, as well as interviews with other artists and ways for you to join in the conversation.

Melissa asked me to do an interview for her project but I had to decline as I have just enough on my plate right now and I am really working on balancing my own needs and my need to please or get recognition from outside. I am playing along though and encouraging Meissa to just go for it and see where the whole thing takes her. What are friends for if not to support one another, right ? ;)

The first day of the project, Melissa had a post about feeling our own "worthyness", and how to get there. She spoke about the importance of healing the past, letting go of those gremlin voices that have become a part of us over our lives, the ones that yell "You are not good enough!" .

Wanting to participate with Melissa, I created the journal page above. But of course, life had a deeper lesson for me, and sent me the journal exercise as just one of the tools I would use to really examine my own feelings of self-worth and my enemy, self-doubt this week.

I even ended up having a good cry over a long ago childhood memory, possibly the one that started the whole lifelong feeling that I wasn't good enough. Another little chunk of that big hurt healed and let go of !

It just blows me away that whatever inspiration and vehicle you need to move forward and to try and better yourself is always provided for you if you are open-minded and open-hearted enough to look around you ! Oh and then to pick up those tools and try them out, of course ! I guess that is why they call it "doing the work".

Anyway, I am just so grateful for my friends, in Blogland and in the Real world, for all the inspiration and wonderful support that they provide ! My life is fuller and richer in more ways than I could ever count because of those dear connections.

(Take a look at my side bar to see some other wonderful projects that some of my friends are sharing ! Maybe the tools and the lessons that you need are right there for you too !)

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...