Share the Joy Thursday - Give it wings…

It is a snowy day today. Our first since October so no complaints here.

In fact, I am a little joyful about it, as I have no where I have to be,

and other than some house work,

nothing I have to do !

I am still trying to get back into the swing of working in my art journal more often.

I have to admit that while the paper in this meaty Moleskine Watercolor journal is delicious,

the size of it (81/2 X 11 or 8X1/2 X 22 full page spreads)

is a little intimidating, even to the fearless paint slapper in me !

I decided to do a few pages sliced up into sections…

three per page.

I also wanted to make use of some of the stamps I have been buying but never using…

Believe it or not, this funky winged pen stamp is from Michael’s $1.50 bin !

As is this gorgeous butterfly stamp.

I bought this Invoke Arts “Art Queen” stamp from the awesome Absolutely Everything store in Topsfield, Mass., way back when but it had never been used until today !

I like Stazon ink, since it doesn’t run with watercolors…

Rather than think too much, I just stamped them wherever, one in each section, as a jumping off place.

The pens and wings looked like a body to me.

I added a head, cut out from an old dictionary page.

I added some color with Twinking H2O’s.

While I was painting her, I was thinking about what kind of angel she was,

and what would she would be writing…

Love note…? Messages of kindness…?

I added in some printed words in little boxes with wings.

And then a little phrase to bring it together, written by hand with my dip pen.

Okay so she isn’t anything fancy or really profound,

but

I took the time to play and experiment.

And now, I am taking the time to share it.

That brings JOY to my artist heart !

As do these next sections in my journal, ready for me to play with when the time comes around again.

I hope you are finding many little things that bring you to a joyful place, Beautiful Ones.

Happy Thursday !

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Meri and the gang have more joy to share here.

Slapping some paint down !

FINALLY !

A little art !

Today, my to-do list includes a post office run, the grocery store, the Pet food store,

plus I think it would be a good idea if I took the time to make myself presentable to head out on all those errands, ie :  shower and blow dry my hair.

But I decided it was all going to wait !

Wait until I had taken some time to get some art out of me and onto a page.

I wasn’t even sure what would come, I was feeling so rusty !

But no expectations other than filling the page resulted in this.

The red flowers remind me of these red and white placemats we used to have when we were kids.

Vinyl ones with a design by the artist Eva Zeisel.

I remember her simple “Eva” signature on them.

She passed way at the age of 105 in December.

Maybe her design spirit was visiting me a little as I played ?

Whatever spirits were there to play with me, it sure felt good to take this hour for myself, for some therapy, if you will.

This week has be a little wonky, hormonally, emotionally and physically.

I suppose that makes sense for January, if I think about it.

But I need to get back into the practice of art making to help maintain some better balance when these wonky times hit !

Well, the arty part of me feels a little more satisfied.

Off to fulfill my other duties !

Happy Wednesday, Beautiful Ones !

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PS : It was nice to have Miss Pumpkin in the studio with me while I was playing.

She is still adjusting slowly to the other cats…okay, she hates them!!!

But she lets the big white pooch hang out beside her, no problem !

She knows the sweetest heart in the house, I guess.

Meow, meow, meow, woof woof, from here !

What color is gratitude ?

Sunday morning.

The Queen of Arts Studio and the Rock Fairy have had a busy business week so I was working on getting some trays of rocks painted so I could have some rock inventory on hand.

Painting the Rock My World rocks in their nice bright colors is actually my least favorite part about the whole Rock Fairy process.

It is kind of monotonous.

The repetitive movement puts a lot of strain on my beat up right shoulder.

I have even considered not painting the rocks anymore and leaving them in their natural state.

But people have expressed to me how much they love the colors.

So I do them in big batches, a different color on each tray.

Usually while I sponge the paint on the rocks, I listen to music to help the time pass faster.

But today, I decided to just enjoy the quiet of the Sunday morning vibe.

Instead of losing myself in the tunes,

I let the quiet fill me up.

I started to make a list of all the things I am grateful for, just like on of the meditations we do at my class on Monday nights.

The list was very, very long today.

The holidays were sweet…

My home and marriage feel oh so cozy…

I have such great friends that I love dearly.

My family loves one another really well, in spite of how very different we are.

I got a “new to me” car this week that makes me feel so special and cared for when I drive it.

(2010 Nissan Rogue in Wicked Black )

My writer-lady friend, Patti Digh launched her new fabulous 37 Days.com website this week with an awesome Live Stream cupcake party.

My rocks are a special part of it, with our new “Your Daily Rock” feature there…

I feel like I am doing a lot of things that I am meant to be doing on this planet, and it feels oh so good.

It is giving me strength and courage to face some of the things I want to do less of and/or improve on.

The word of the year I chose, LIVE, seems to be just the right one at this time.

Living this one precious life as fully as I can each day.

With gratitude.

Always.

Have a cozy Sunday evening, Beautiful Ones.

Cheers !

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The sweet, little 2012 Word of the Year Rock in a Box is still available in the Queen of Arts Studio Etsy shop.

LIVE from the Queen of Arts Studio

I have chosen my Word of the Year for 2012.

The word is LIVE.

I love that it can be used both as LIVE, as in “I will LIVE for today”,

and

as LIVE, “LIVE from Manchester, It’s Kim, the Rock Fairy/Queen of Arts !”

I have to admit that choosing a word was not a sweet, meditative contemplation thing for me this year.

In fact, it was kind of more in response to how intimidated I was feeling by all the incredibly deep thought and soul searching some of my friends in Blogland were doing to begin their 2012 off right and to choose their important Word of the Year.

I think I am in a place where I want to spend a lot less time thinking and planning how I am going to Live this one precious life, and instead get on with the actually Living I want to do.

So the word LIVE feels like a really good fit.

While my  word was percolating, I also thought about how I would want to have my word on a Rock My World rock with “Live” on it for me, and how I have painted rocks for friends in the past with their own Word of the Year on them as a keepsake gift.

And then, I came up with this sweet little box idea :

This small white ceramic box comes from a local craft store.

I added the painted paper flower and the 2012 under a coat of Glossy Accents to create a cute dimensional decoration on the lid

and here we have a lovely place to keep your 2012 Word of the Year Rock !

I also made a second design with a sun.

I have made these sweet things available in the Etsy shop and I would love to send you

your very own customized

2012 Word of the Year Rock Rock in a Box keepsake.

For the month of January, I will be including some extra Rock My World rocks in every package I send out, so you will have your own Word rock in its pretty box and also a few other rock love messages to share.

Also, if the box isn’t your thing, but you would like to have a Rock My World Rock with your Word of the Year on it, the bag of 13 rocks are also available in the shop and I will customize them as you want me to.

Along with enjoying the rocks, you can be glad to know that part of the profits I make from selling the Rock My World Rocks always goes to being able to donate, ship and offer the rocks for free to charitable causes to use for their fund raising efforts.

Here’s hoping that 2012 is full of lots of juicy LIVING for all of us !

Big Love, Beautiful Ones !

Happy New Year’s Eve !

Well, the New Year is upon us.

I have to say that I haven’t reviewed 2011 to see what I have learned.

Nor have I had a deep thought time about what I wish to focus on in 2012.

I am kind of living in the moment right now.

And man, does it feel good.

Enjoying the down time with my husband being home.

Primping the castle a little bit here and there.

Soaking up the furry kid love.

I am excited about ringing in the New Year at our house, with our friends, Lois and Mike, at our Fondue Dinner/Games Night Celebration.

The time for contemplation will come later in January, I think.

But for now,

in this very moment,

I am so very grateful for this sweet life full of beauty and love that I am living.

So here’s to this New Year’s Eve Day, Beautiful Ones,

and may the New Year bring us all much, much more good Being !

Cheers and big Love !

Share the Joy of Christmas !

My Christmas visit back home to Canada was full of incredible moments of joy !

I received a beautiful gift from my friend Suzanne who gave the Chica-dog a cozy and fun place to stay over the weekend.

I sat in an old wooden church lit with candles and sang along with Christmas hymns and carols with all the joy in my heart.

I got to watch the joy of the kiddos opening gifts from Santa, and others who love them to bits !

I got to see my beautiful 20 year old niece, Jessica, shine so brightly with the glow of her first real love.

I witnessed a family come together in action, patience and kindness when the amazingly beautiful 13 pound rib roast almost hit the floor and the cooking juices spilled all over the kitchen.

I, as always when I go home, felt the joy of how beautiful my family is and how we love each other so well, in spite of our differences and our imperfections.

I felt the peace of having my life partner, my best friend and my Love beside me through it all, appreciating and soaking in the joy himself.

I even witnessed a little Christmas miracle when my frozen windshield washer fluid that had been stuck for two days, started to flow just after I had silently prayed it would, and exactly when I so needed it to on the slush-filled highway!

And the sweetest of all the joy-filled moments and my most memorable gift of Christmas 2011 was given to me my this little guy who eats from my sister Kristina’s bird feeder in the gorgeous cedar in her front yard :

This precious little creature trusted me enough to land in my hand and eat sunflower seeds from my finger tips!

I cannot tell you how thrilled, touched and awed I was by this simple moment.

It is going to live in my heart forever, I think.

This joyous Christmas time reminded me once more that when you start to notice and celebrate the small moments of joy in your life, they increase exponentially ! They really do !

And what could be sweeter than a life full of JOY to share ?

I wish you beautiful moments of joy and celebration, my Friends.

Big, big love !

 

More joy at Meri’s Musings…

Haiku My Heart–A Joyful Wish

In Joy, I wish you

Love, Light, Peace in all seasons,

And for all of time.

Merry Christmas, Beautiful Ones !

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More Haiku and Holiday Love at recuerda mi corazon.