Homegrown Hospitality

Reflections of 2014

My 2014 was jam packed with traveling, teaching, journaling, learning, focusing, celebrating, reconnecting, slowing down, saying no, staying open, choosing, dreaming, failing, balancing, dropping, growing, stretching and transforming. 

2014 was a good year because it was a good year.

Yes it had bumps, bruises, forks in the road, terrible moments and heartbreaking situations but it had equally wonderful times, celebrations, random acts of crazy and everything that comes in-between.

I guess because I am growing older (& wiser) I am learning to embrace and accept each day as it comes and to make lemonade out of the lemons that drop from the tree once in awhile.  I am also recognizing that time is going by faster,

Way faster.

Way too fast and that is why it is most important to get a recipe to make lemonade. I know this all sounds a little cliche' but really, any day that is a new day is a good day.

Of course there will be those days BUT when they come, it all has to do with how firmly your roots are planted to be able to handle and manage those days.  For me, I know that I have to eat well, sleep well, physically move daily and stay aligned with God to deal with anything.

Actually to deal with everything.

If any one of those things are off center then when a gust of life blows in, I crumble.

yep.

Let me remind you that I am human and admit that I am not always aligned.  I get busy, I get out of whack, off tract, out of focus and off my axis and it is ugly.  I KNOW what I need to do but don't always do it. 

ugh. When I am mishandling my personal, physical and/or spiritual life, crap happens and that is the very moment that I know that I have got to refocus, realign, readjust and get myself back on tract.  It is something I MUST do everyday (sometimes several times a day.)

Am I babbling or do you totally get it?

Here it is.  

When I am deeply rooted, aligned, well fed and rested, well then, all is well (even when it isn't) I am prepared and ready to handle take the occasional gust of wind and the storms that come with life.  I can say all of that with confidence now because 2014 was my year of "transforming" 

What I learned is that I don't do the "transforming" but that I open up and allow God to do the transforming. I learned that on February 15, 2014 (and the reason I remember that is because I wrote it down in my Documented Life Planner.)

The process of being transformed has changed my disposition, the way I work, the way I react, respond and because it is a lifelong process, I will fall, I will fail and I will forget. BUT I will NOT let it stop my progression.  Like anything else, I will learn from the hiccups, get up, brush off (okay, maybe cry a little) and then keep on going.  It is sorta like a new peace that I have learned. Yay!

But again, there are those moments where I just want to punch someone, spit on someone or just cry under the sheets.  That does happen (okay, NOT the spitting) but I do not let it overcome me or ruin anything.

2014 and Transform have been very good for me and as I head straight into a new year, I will not choose a new word but continue to stay OPEN to what is to come (and THAT is part of transforming)

Thank you for always hanging on with me, celebrating with me, high fiving with me, forgiving me, understanding me and accepting me.  I am grateful, thankful and blessed by you and I look forward to a wildly creative journey with you in 2015. 

The Documented Life Project 2015

In January 2014, I chose the word TRANSFORM as my word for the year just as our church was starting a new series called TRANSFORMED.

Right around the same time I also bought my very first Moleskine and jumped into The Documented Life Journal Project with both feet.  

I decided to document my walk through transforming and as corny as it may sound, it really changed my life.  

Later in the same month, 3 of the 5 and I collided in an aisle at CHA and pulled out our journals.  
I believe that was the moment I told Lorraine that I had secretly named myself the 6th in the Art To The 5th group.  Now almost 365 days later it is almost time to start a new journal in my most very favorite Art Journal with a lineup of amazing artists.

My word for 2015 will continue to be Transform: OPEN and I am looking forward to documenting my creative life with all 10,000 of  you. 

Part of my DLP 2014 journey was to not only remind myself but remind You that...

and that documenting our loves, our lives, our failures, our celebrations and our art is so very important.  I am ready to express the same things with paint, ink and whatever those lovelies have up their creative sleeve!

I am so flattered, blessed and excited to be on the Documented Life Planner/Art To The 5th journey with you and look forward to seeing you along the way.  Please always remember that if you happen to be in one of my classes, bring your journals. I love to share mine and I would love to see yours.

Oh friends, 2015 is going to be HUGE in some many ways and I am glad we are on the journey together.

In addition to the new DLP creative art journal, I announced yesterday that I am also planning to continue on with a 2015 Moleskine to organize/record and document my life and it is called DOCUMENTED FAITH.  I presented my plan to my 5 DLP friends and they gave me their blessing.  THAT is transforming in itself and is the way we should all work together.

Unfortunately, we live in a world that is constantly competing against everything and I believe with all of my heart that we are being used as an example that we all can work, support, promote and encourage each other. It is an answer to a long time pray of mine and I am looking forward to an amazing, creative, faith, love, documented 2015.

 

The Documented Life Project Week 25 & 26

I have said it before and will continue to say that this project, The Documented Life Project has become my most favorite "hobby."  It is not just a planner, but a memory keeper, a scrapbook and a place that holds all of the things I know just sometimes forget to remember.

Here is a look at how I finished up my Week 25:

I was surprised with a little Anniversary get away this past weekend and as soon as we got home, I added in the room key, door hanger and lots of little index photos of our weekend. So many of you ask how I print the index prints and this is how my printer/computer works:

• I open the file that holds my photos and I highlight all of the photos I want to print.
• I right click and choose "print" (which takes me to a new screen that shows all of the print options.
• I place a 8 1/2" x 11 piece of photo paper into my printer and change the "paper size" on the screen.
• I am given options to choose what size photos I want to print (i.e. 1-8x10, 2-5x7, etc) and I scroll down to the last option which is "contact sheet" and I print away.

The prompt for Week 26 was to use a verse or quote and because it is the week of our wedding anniversary, I chose 1 Cor. 13 but printed out The Message version. I had not read it in this version before and liked what it said.  I printed straight onto a piece of my painted paper and attached it to my flap.  Then I added a heart and some little "bad scallops" and smiled. Hope you are documenting the little things because sometimes they are the best things.

Documented Life Week 25

This marks the beginning of the 25th week of The Documented Life Project.  Not only do I love to look through my own planner/journal, I love that every class I teach when I share about the project there is always have at least two students that have their journals with them.

This weeks challenge is to add hearts to your flap.

um, duh this has me all over it and really took no longer than 20 minutes from start to finish.  Here is what I did:

• I covered my flap using a scrap of painted paper and then adhered several hearts cut from  another scrap of painted paper. 

• Using Americana Spice Pink Acrylic paint and my pointer finger, I smeared pink paint (yes, pink!) here and there around the hearts :

• Then I used Americana White Wash and repeated the process: 

 

 

• I added depth and shadow to the hearts using the Black Soot Distress Marker and a little Matte Medium to help blend it in and seal it :

• I added a phrase and called it done :

• Related articles

Documented Life Project Guest Artist

The Documented Life Project

Documented Life Project Week One

The Return of the Bad Blogger - Part 1

 

The Documented Life Project

Today I am sharing some of my pages from the Moleskin Planner that I am using for The Documented Life Project and now also for the Lighter & Lighter 100 Day Project.  Not only do I use this planner for those mentioned projects, it also holds my "Notes to Self", little reminders of ordinary things that I want to remember, BIG DREAM moments, bible verses, quotes and a little this, that and the other.

The thing I love most about the DLP is that wherever I travel to in the US there is always someone in one of my classes that is also doing the project and we can share our journals (except for when I went to North Carolina and did not bring mine, dang it!)  The other thing that I love is that you can be consistently inspired by what the Fab Five are doing every week and create based on what they have done and still feel completely okay to create just the way you create.

YAY!

The supplies I use for my project are VERY SIMPLE.  Typically I have a Papermate Felt tip pen, a Fine Tip Sharpie and a Zig Writer in Platinum for the shadows on my lettering. I also have a little stash of letter stickers, a pad of clear stickers from Me & My Big Ideas, some of my own painted paper, words and phrases cut from old books and a photos.  I print out "index" prints and wallet sized prints to add to each weeks pages.  Oh and Project life cards and a glue stick!

Here is a closer look at some of my pages:  This is last weeks pages. It is also when I started to incorporate the 100 Days of Lighter & Lighter (after talking with Melody and then reading the blog post she wrote.) 

I have not been adding as many "tip ins" because I have seen how big and fat some of the the planners are getting and I want to be able to continue to carry my book with me.  When I have lots of stuff to add from any specific week (Like all of the luggage tags and paperwork from my lost luggage during my recent Oklahoma trip) then I add in a tip in:  What is a "Tip In?" it is an additional flap you add onto your page to create extra space.  This is a look at one of the weeks where I had added a flap: 

Here is a quick little how to on adding a "tip In" to your planner.

Spotlight Artitst

To see more of my planner you can check out these posts:

Documented Life Project Pages

Take a little time each day to document some of your everyday life, you will be glad you did!

TGIF

Thanking God for today, for the ending moments of a Sinus infection, for good books, forecasted weather in the 80's, a crazy messy day of paint and paper and whatever else comes my way...Oh, and the return of doodle lists..Download yours by clicking the link > Download 31414
Happy Friday!

The Return of the Bad Blogger - Part Two

In my spare time (that is a funny statement!) and in several of my 2014 classes I am painting and making a BIG HUGE MESS. Personally, I think it is really good for the creative soul.  Start with a clean space, make a really big mess and make really cool art and then clean it all up and start again.

I know not everyone feels or thinks the same way and some of you have expressed the wish to just purchase the finished product from my really big mess so I have listed a few Original Art Paper Kits (not prints or copies) in my Etsy shop. 
In addition to getting a pack of original papers, you also get a linkity link link link to a private tutorial on how I create a few things using my Art Papers.  You can check out the kit here.  I am kinda excited about these papers because I am mixing them with some "other things" and I am loving to outcome. (details of "other things" will be shared in a few months)

Now, speaking of really big messes and classes, I am heading to San Jose in a few weeks and plan to make just as big of mess as I do here at home! I believe there are a few seats in each of the 3 classes open and invite you to join us.

I am also using bits and pieces of Art Papers in my Documented Life Project Journal.
and speaking of the Documented Life Project Journal...that will be part three...to be continued!
 

Working Together

Just like any industry, things can get political. This includes the industry I work in.  Now, I know that there are contracts, confidentially agreements and guidelines to follow, but sometimes I feel like Rodney King when he said "Can't we all just get along?"  Maybe he is not the best person to quote but it is the statement he made.

Thing is, I know people have to make a living, hey, I have to do that, too.  I get that as artists, we have to protect our work, designs and concepts BUT it doesn't mean we can't work together for the greater cause, the bigger picture.

We need to share.

We need to inspire.

We need to encourage.

We need to create. While I am excited to tell you that I too have lots of new things coming out in the coming year, I am also equally excited to be able to create with like minded souls that simply LOVE to create.  I want to be part of a community that reminds others that working together is the best way to work.  That is exactly why I joined in the group, Document Life Project and let me add, the creative dynamo's who created this exciting creative journey did not ask me to write anything about this project.   Truth is, I only know one of these girls, Lorraine Bell.  Years ago, we sat on the floor of a hotel room floor during CHA and it was one of "those" moments where we connected while sharing our stories. 

I mentioned the other day about learning BIG and little things along the way and this is one of the most important messages I want to relay:

 I truly believe that we all need can work create together without having ulterior motives. 

I know not everyone thinks that way, in fact I would be willing to bet that most don't, but I do and I feel very confident to say that to anyone who would challenge me.  I have received an AMAZING amount of  joy from teaching, meeting and creating with women all over the country and for that I am blessed.  Blessed to do what I love for a living but equally blessed to be part of a new blooming creative community that feels the same way.

Like you, I want to explore creatively with others, be inspired to try different things, be an encouragement to those who may need it and just create.  I believe it will make me a better teacher and a better artist and I invite you to join in. To read more, check out these blogs:

Robin-Marie

Lorraine Bell

Rae Missigman

Sandi Keene

 See you on the journey...