I will get your Rock My World Rocks and a few other little treats off to you asap.
Thank you all for your wonderful comments and compliments about my blog. I really filled my heart to know that so many people appreciate what I do here. Being a blogger really has enriched my life a great deal and the connections I have made with people are the real reason for that !
Thank you again and now on to the next 300 posts...
I have finally found the exercise that I can do and really enjoy.
The best thing about the class is that you can be at any fitness level, any physical shape and have as little coordination as I do and still get a wonderful work out.
The teacher, Chris, provided an atmosphere of safety and trust that let me just let go and dance my little heart out. I didn't worry about what was jiggling or how I looked. I was just getting into the rhythm and the movement and being in touch with my own body.
And man, did I sweat !
And laugh...
And even shed a tear at the very end, when we were doing our final delightful relaxation time.
Shed a tear because it just felt so to be in a place free of judgement, to be present in the moment, and to be free to be myself.
What a gift...
I tried to find a video showing the Yoga Dance style we did but there wasn't too much out there...makes sense I guess - part of keeping it safe, maybe ?
Anyway, you can check this one out to get a little idea of the flavor.
If you can find this kind of exercise near you, you should go for it !!!! So much fun !
Of course such a great experience had to inspire some art work in the old art journal.
Here's what developed this morning....
I had this magazine image (from Oprah mag.) that showed some of the beautiful feeling movement I experienced last night.
I copied the image on my ink jet printer, carefully cut it out and put it down on my page with gel medium.
It was actually on a two page spread. I also cut her beautiful hair off as I knew that I would want to add my own in with ink or paint or whatever later...
Then I painted some watered down gesso over the figure. I like to keep the details of the face and the hands visible through the gesso as I am not so great a drawing these in. The lines seen through the gesso help guide me a bit.
Adding in more paint, some ink pen work, some white Elmer Paint pen details, some flowers done with acrylics and turquoise hand made paper, and a whole lot of Kim to it, I ended up with this two page spread. (click to enlarge)
Here is a detail of the girl. She doesn't look anything like the initial figure I started with but the body and the turn of the head are the same.
At one point in our class last night, Chris had us dancing with scarves. The dress on my dancing lady reminds me of that.
When was the last time you really danced like no one was watching ?
It has been a really long time for me.
But now I can say...
"Well, as a matter of fact, just yesterday !"
And I may just do it again tomorrow !!!!
If you feel like giving some dancing like no one is watching a try, you could try it to this song called "Thank You For This Day" by Karen Drucker that I heard last night. It has such a great rhythm to it...
BTW - Leah at Creative Everyday is continuing her wonderful job motivating us to be creative in whatever way makes out heart sing in 2010. Her theme for this month - body ! Let's get moving, Creative Ones !
Happy Saturday Morning to everyone ! Just a short post to announce the winner of my One Year Blogaversary give-away. The Hubby used the old Random Number Generator last night and it chose Lucky Number 13 ! Kind of appropriate since it was Friday the 13th !
And our winner is the lovely, supportive and oh so talented
JerriAnn's comment about what she has learned from blogging is the following :
"The number one lesson I've learned through blogging -- we are all connected. And how cool is it that we've made friends not just all over the USA but all over the world?"
I think JerriAnn and I connected through the monthly GPP Street Team Crusade Challenges. Sometimes it is hard to believe that this all started only a year ago ! I do know that JerriAnn is always there for me in Blogland, leaving comments that make me laugh or make me feel genuine encouraged and appreciated. She always makes me feel connected, and I know that many others appreciate her presence as much as I do.
Yay for JerriAnn ! Send me an email with your address, Sweet Thang, and I will put the finishing touches on your Queen of Arts Package of Love and have it off to you asap !
Thanks to everyone for all the sweet Blogaversary wishes. I am so very happy to be a part of this Blogland community. It gives me so much, everyday ! Cheers !
Welcome to the month of December ! I am still feeling like this season is rushing me on big time, but it is gradually getting a bit better. I am good as long as I keep things going at my own pace and avoid giving into the crazy mad dash towards .... towards I don't know what, but it sure seems like the world is in a hurry to get there...
Anyhow, this weekend was a great girlfriend time. My friend Suzanne was here from Thursday night until yesterday morning and we had a good mix of girlie/arty things going on, like usual.
Suzanne is an artist too. She says she is more of an art technician but she does have a fantastic eye that she doesn't always give herself credit for. She does beautiful stain glass pieces, sews wonderfully and has also gotten into the fiber arts, felting her heart out all over the place. I asked her for a felt scarf for my birthday back in October but she suggested that we make it together this weekend and that's what we did !
Friday afternoon, after the crazy morning crowds, we headed to a wool and yarn shop Suzanne found nearby and bought some gorgeous wool fibers. Saturday am we started the designing process. After about 4 hours of wet felting, rolling the fibers into felt, and at least a pound of candy to keep us going, my beautiful 6 ft long felt scarf was done ! Check it out :
The colors in these pretty crappy photos read more blue than the turquoise the scarf really is (damn flash, no sunlight for photos in NH today !) but it is just beautiful and oh so cozy ! I love how the flowers turned out so watercolor-ish and also how the synthetic wool fibers for the stems added such great texture ! Thanks again, so much, Suzy ! I love it !!!
I also did some needle felting as Suzy rolled our scarf-sushi for a few hours. I used a foam (washed) ball of Chica's and created this cute felt bowl, perfect for your change :
your jewelry :
or your rocks :
and it's even cuter with a twin !
Not only that but it won't break into a million pieces if you drop it on your tile floor ! Guess what a few of my friends may be getting for Xmas ?
And now an important announcement :
The cutest Computer Geek in the land has chosen and
the Winner of the 100th Post Give-Away is :
Lesley at the Funky Art Queen !!! Yay !!! Lesley chose the "Diva" magnets from my Etsy shop as her prize, wanting a couple for herself and to share the others with her "diva" friends ! Cool , huh ? Lesley, send me your snail mail address at queen-of-arts@comcast.net and I will send you off your prize asap !
Thank you so much for all the wonderful congratulations and encouragement in your comments ! It means so very much too me. This blog and my fantastic blog community are often my bright sunshine on a cloudy day, and for that I am truly grateful !
Let's go forth and conquer December !!! Happy Monday !
