Tidbits...

I've done this type of post before and since things are bit busy in my neck of the woods, I thought I'd post another version...

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Outside the window: the sun is out, though the air is cold - Winter weather has finally arrived...

I am wearing: brown and burgundy colors and a necklace I purchased from this Etsy seller during the summer; I'd love to purchase her newest version of it...

I am hoping: for an amazing, fabulous opportunity that will bring the things that makes this Creative Beast happy: energetic people, fun, creativity and enough money to be comfortable, instead worrying as I've been doing lately...

On my mind: how I'll be able to access the Big Dreams Small Wonders class hosted by Louise Gale I'm participating in next year in January; maybe the fabulous opportunity will help to solve that puzzle!

 

I'm Creating: a mess in my home as I sort through everything to clean and clear my space for a fresh start in 2011...

 

Plans for the rest of the week: getting gifts for my dear boyfriend who has a birthday in December, as well as Christmas; working on more pages and the covers for my dream journal; getting prepared for the holiday season ahead...

 

Grateful for: quality time spent with my dear boyfriend during the previous holiday weekend; winning a blog giveaway HERE; getting some sales at my other etsy shop; getting my day planner for 2011 on sale HERE...

 

 

 bits and bobs of my Grandma Betty's tools and trims makes a lovely image...

 

 Isn't it interesting to see how so many tidbits can create a pleasing whole?

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 What are some things you're hoping or creating today? I'd love to hear about them =-)

My No Clothes Challenge Ends TODAY!

It's official!

My No Clothes Challenge ends TODAY!

I did it - 365 days of going without any new or used clothes, hats, handbags and shoes...YAY!!

As of today, I can run out and buy clothes, hats, handbags or shoes of any kind if I want!!

Oh, wait...

Actually, I can't because I no longer have any money for that due to the pay-cut from my job...

...but that didn't stop me from starting to keep my eyes open for a few new items ;)

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I feel ready for a bit of a newer look - maybe it's because I've turned 45 and I want a few new clothes to reflect the new things that have happened in my life since last year...though I will be honest and say that seeing those women at last week's brunch did put some ideas of looking a bit more fabulous into my head!

I've felt this way before and I now realize that I may be feeling this way again because my work life is really lacking in some of the things that make this Creative Beast sing a happy tune - primarily, interaction with FUN PEOPLE!

No wonder the words FUN and CREATIVE keep coming up in my vision boards for a new job/opportunity!

 

I'm looking for some happy artistic people to be around...

 

Yep, CREATIVE and FUN is the recurring theme around here...

There's an old saying: 

"Dress for the job you want, not the job you have"

If I begin to dress in a more fun, creative and colorful style, will that bring some fun, creative and colorful opportunities my way with some fun, creative and colorful people for company??

I'll let you know as I begin to search out some great new items to begin a fun and colorful look for the upcoming year...though, I can say I already have a few items that can be used for this new look - HATS:

A cocktail hat I designed and made to show my Celtic spirit...

can you believe this hat is made of PAPER?!? This colorful favorite was found at The Gap...

a fun, pink pouf I knitted with chunky yarn...

I love burgundy and this hat and hand bag are favorites for Fall and Winter...

Do you use clothing to give yourself a lift of the spirits? Do you have any favorite items that bring some fun and joy to your day when you wear them? I'd love to know what they are!

Dreaming of Opportunities...and some Gratitude

In a previous post I mentioned that many of the amazing things that have occurred in the past year were not things I ever dreamed of but opportunities I acted upon, which leads me to think that perhaps I should abandon the 'dream' of finding a better 'job' and focus instead on seeing the opportunities when they arise...

When I posed the question on preferring dreams or opportunities, Kathryn left a  great response:

"dreams to me, are just longings, yearning for something to happen...opportunities seem more action based, making solid plans and goals to achieve what we truly want for ourselves. I think we all need a bit of both"

YES!! It reminds me of a quote I once saw and try to keep in mind often:

Luck is what happens when Preparation meets Opportunity

Those opportunities from last year were not planned for or dreamed of, but I was prepared enough to recognize the opportunities when they came my way and prepared enough to be able to create and act on them...

a mash-up of vision board/journal page for November...

I've been playing with some of the techniques presented in the Journal Your Dreams workshop that took place last week and created a vision board/journal page to represent my dreams of more opportunities to come my way -  just barely in time for making the Full Moon Vision Board time-line...

"possibilities are blooming"...

These new techniques have been great fun to play with and I'm getting more comfortable with the concept of 'journaling', as I move forward with these new techniques and I realize that it's okay to work in 'metaphors'...

metaphorical money = financial abundance that will come with OPPORTUNITIES...

I used to have play money to use but I couldn't find it in my home so I decided to create a "money metaphor" image for my page/board - I like how it turned out!!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the United States and I'm lucky to have a long holiday weekend. Unfortunately, I may not have much access to a computer so things may be a bit quiet here until next week. In the meantime, here is bit of what I'm thankful for:

 an "attitude of gratitude" to the Universe for providing future OPPORTUNITIES that will bring FINANCIAL ABUNDANCE =-)

I'm grateful for my friends, blogging and otherwise, near and far...

I'm grateful for my dear boyfriend...

I'm grateful to have an amazing Life Coach in my life...

I'm grateful to have the ability to create with my hands and to see the fruits of my labor...

I'm grateful to have a roof over my head and food to eat...

Do you have anything you're grateful for today? Is there someone you're grateful to have in your life? Why not tell them? You can have your own Attitude of Gratitude Day! =-)

I Know, Comparison is NOT Good...

..but every once in awhile, I catch myself doing it...

I did it this past weekend and have been doing it for almost a week...here's what is going on:

Last week I got a voice-mail on my phone from an old acquaintance that I have not spoken with for sometime now because, when I'm in her presence, I find myself seeing the vast differences in our lives and it's sometimes hard for me to keep from comparing myself to her, even though I know I will never be in her shoes nor do I want to be. However, she is someone who owns a few home properties and here in LA, that is quite an accomplishment, especially for a single woman...but that ownership does not come without some pitfalls which is one of many reasons I'm okay with not wanting to be in those shoes...

 

birthday roses from last year given to me from my dear boyfriend...

At the time, it was getting hard to listen to the strange paranoia that began to creep into her conversations and her fear of "losing everything", though it couldn't have been further from the actual reality of her life. This is when I realized that perhaps I may have outgrown the relationship, but just getting the voicemail this week reminded me of how far I am from property owning or even of being able to afford to even rent a house instead of an apartment and it began to get under my skin...

I know...I shouldn't be comparing myself to others, but I did. =-(

more beautiful roses, just because he knew I wanted them, from my dear boyfriend...

The other instance was this past weekend. I attended a lovely brunch specially hosted for volunteers to a fundraiser which I contributed some artwork for, so I was invited to the brunch. I was looking forward to seeing a friend or two there, which I did, and I met some great creative folks as well.

This brunch was hosted in a beautiful home in a very wealthy neighborhood with an actual waterfall spilling into the pool in the backyard - very posh! There were also some women who were tall and lean and wearing beautiful garments from Anthropologie, which reminded me that I can neither afford nor currently fit into such beautiful clothing and it began to get under my skin...

I know...I shouldn't be comparing myself to others, but I did. =-(

After the brunch I was with my dear boyfriend when the sadness of my situation began to creep in and when I told him what was bothering me he assured me that I looked fantastic for that brunch* and he agreed that my property owning acquaintance has problems of her own that are of her own making and it got me making one other comparision that was a good one for me to make:

I have the best boyfriend a gal could have.

 Yes, my dear boyfriend is special and one-of-a-kind!

I know...I shouldn't be comparing myself to others, but I did! ;)
 

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I was reading today from blog buddy Kat of I Saw You Dancing and her two posts this week resonated for me. I've been feeling a great deal of sadness lately, for numerous things including the Comparison Game I played this week, as well as certain situations I've written about before, so when I read her proposal:

Perhaps it's time that we developed a new way of accounting for ourselves: one that lays all of our daily micro-achievements on the table and celebrates us for the generous and loving souls we are doing our best to be. 

I can tell you that this was a reminder I really needed to hear and I couldn't have said it better myself if I tried...

Oops...am I comparing myself to others?!? ;)

I think Kat has a great point and I'm going to try to find that new way of accounting so I can feel great in the presence of others that I THINK have things better than me, though I'm sure it's all equal, one way or another...

If I figure out that new method of accounting, I'll be sure to share it with you here!!

How do you keep from playing the Comparison Game?? Have you figured out a new method of accounting that helps you see how amazing you really are? I'd love to hear how you do it =-)

* - isn't my dear boyfriend the best?!?

Post Birthday Wrap-up...

I just have to begin by saying this...

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

I had many wonderful birthday wishes sent my way, in so many forms from a special birthday song to many messages sent through the internet one way or another. It's been a great way to start my 45th year of Life.

My actual day began with a little painting...

There was a new technique from the Journal Your Dreams workshop I wanted to try out - wax resist. The only thing was, I didn't have any wax crayons handy so I had to use some red tailor's wax instead! I drew some spirals on my postcard watercolor paper tablet, then played with water and color...

Then I had to get ready to meet up with my dear boyfriend to go to the movies. The workshop class for the day was going to cover some ideas for photography but I wouldn't have the chance to check into the blog class unless we stopped at the Apple store where we were headed, but I thought I'd try to snap a few shots from the car, just to play with. Here are a few that I might use for my dream journal...

 

I like the expansive sky and bright light of this one...

 

You can just make out a hint of a path being created here - a nice 'metaphor' picture perhaps...

 

 

There is some great plant life where I live, no doubt about it...

We went to see the animated film "Megamind", which was great fun! My sweetie thinks we should have some t-shirts made of this 'poster' in the film...though I'm sure there are already t-shirts made of this somewhere!

Very fun and funny! I highly recommend seeing this film!

For awhile I was hoping we might be the only ones in the theater for this film!! This is how things looked when we arrived for our seats...

My sweetie indulging my request for a picture of a nearly empty theater - he is wearing the 3-D glasses we needed for the film ;)

Eventually, a few other folks came along to enjoy some laughs watching a funny film and a good time was had by all!

Luckily, we did make a stop in the Apple store where I could play with the i-pad and my sweetie showed me how the video camera works in the Mac laptops. Here is one picture I took while playing...

This could be a double-whammy image - a Mac Book and me in "Paris"! Two dreams close to my heart!!

I was able to take a quick peek in the workshop blog for the Journal Your Dreams workshop so I wouldn't be too far behind when I was able to have more time the next day to read things more thoroughly. It seems some of my car photos can be used at some point for some 'dreamscapes' later...

There was time spent in the Anthropologie shop, then time for lunch and one of my favorite sandwiches from the menu of Monsieur Marcel. On the way home, we stopped at a local art supply store where a few oil pastels were purchased (with help from my sweetie!) to play with later, then the rest of the evening was spent quietly with my dear boyfriend...All in all it was a a great day! I don't think I could have dreamed up a better day if I'd tried, which got me thinking...

Many of the amazing things that happened for me this past year were not dreamed of in any way:

• An art exhibit
• My art published in two books
• Two Etsy shops in one year
• Another Artful Journey Retreat for 2011...

...but my biggest dream of leaving my workplace has not yet happened...hmmmm...

Maybe I should let go of that 'dream' and instead wait to see what opportunity presents itself that will inevitably get me out of my workplace?

It's getting my brain thinking that perhaps OPPORTUNITY might be a word for the year in 2011??

What do you prefer - Dreams or Opportunities? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter =-)

Merry (Un)Birthday to YOU!

It's my birthday today and I turn 45 today - can you believe it??!?

How did I get from here...
 

I believe this was taken at age 6 months...the love of pink began early!

...to here??

This was taken in Spring 2009

My, time flies!

It's been quite a year since the last birthday and I want to celebrate by offering my dear blog readers a special treat...

Starting today until Sunday November 21, I'm offering a special blog reader discount on ordering my Basics Affirmation Cards at my Creative Beast Etsy shop. For orders of 5 or more sets, the price will be $15 for each set, (instead of $20) making a discount of 25% off! Here's how it will work:

Stop by my Etsy shop HERE and convo me that you're interested in ordering 5 or more sets of cards. Let me know you're a blog reader by entering the code MERRY UN-BIRTHDAY DISCOUNT in the message, along with the total quantity of your order and I will create a reserved listing with the quantity and total purchase cost for you.

As a bonus, for orders of 5 or more affirmation cards it will be a flat shipping fee of $4 for all US orders and $6 dollars for international shipping!

I want to offer this deal to you, dear blog reader, because I love my handmade Basics Affirmation Cards and I believe they make a wonderful gift since each set is hand made by yours truly...you can treat yourself and your friends to a heartfelt and soulful gift, which you all deserve for being amazing, brave and creative!

The sooner you submit an order, the sooner I can send them to you in time for gift-giving =-)

This offer is only for YOU dear blog reader!! It will not be made available to the general public... 

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Thank you all for stopping by and reading my blog as I continue my journey as an emerging artist! It means so much to me to know that I am no longer traveling alone on this road...

A big day tomorrow...

Yes, it's a big day tomorrow...for me anyway since it's my 45th birthday!

I must be sure to include some fun and tasty cake in my day tomorrow ;)

There's so much going on right now:

I am taking the day off from work and spending it with my dear boyfriend to see a movie and have a favorite lunch at Monsieur Marcel located at the Farmers Market in Los Angeles - I can't wait!

I'm participating in the Journal Your Dreams Workshop hosted by Amelia Critchlow at 101 Bird Tales and I'll be heading home soon to test out some new watercolor techniques that she presented today...

Artful Journal Classmate and blog buddy Louise Gale has announced her upcoming e-course that will incorporate vision board techniques for manifesting your dreams/goals; I'm planning on joining in...

I've been adding some items to my Etsy shop and to the Grandma Betty's Legacy Etsy shop...

I'm cleaning/clearing out my clothes closets in the hopes that beautiful, amazingly designed clothes can come my way...when my No Clothes Challenge ends next Thursday!

And I've got a special treat for you, dear blog reader, to celebrate my birthday, so stay tuned!!

Weekend Adventure in Santa Barbara

Hello everyone! Thanks for your wonderful comments on my last post and for your well wishes on my trip to Santa Barbara - it was a fun adventure!!

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It's been a while since I've taken a road trip on my own...since the Artful Journey Retreat actually! It was fun to drive to Santa Barbara and meet up with Scorpio Soul Sistah and amazing jewelry artist, Gwynnie B. We went to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art since neither of us had been there before and here is a little sampling of what we saw there...

Marc Chagall...

John Singer Sargent...

This sculpture by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux titled "The Spirit of the Dance" - I was captivated by this piece!

It's a little blurry but I love Vincent Van Gogh and I hadn't seen this painting before....

Amazing Asian Art and statues...

These figures were nearly life sized and VERY impressive...

...very impressive also was the fact that these nearly life sized sculptures were carved from wood, a favorite material of mine...

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch of Indian food, saw beautiful works of art and photography and spent a some time in a favorite store, Anthropologie. It was a great way to kick off our birthday celebrations! And we will certainly be planning another meet-up for the future...

This week is going to be a full one and I'm excited about my birthday and turning 45 - it's been quite a year since last year and filled with amazing experiences I had not anticipated. To celebrate these achievements with you all, I'll be offering a little discount on ordering The Basics Affirmation Cards from my etsy shop, so stay tuned for the details on that...

Thank you all so much for reading my blog and for following along my journey, which is really a journey for us all as we reveal the amazing artists that we are to the world at large!

What I'm up to...

It's been a hectic week for me but I'm trying to keep up with Art Every Day Month! Here is what I've been up to this past week:

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I gave you a sneak peek to my Stitched Postcard Swap project and here it is again...

Incorporating the theme of HOME in the composition in more ways than one...

And here is a little more progress on it...

A little stitching is added since it IS a stitched postcard swap ;)

This close up is a bit blurry, but you can make out the details just the same...

I'm not sure I should post the final image since it has yet to be sent off, so I may wait for the final reveal next week. In the meantime, here is something else I've been working on...

I've been searching through my stash of old hardback books to find just the right covers to create a special journal for the Journal Your Dreams Workshop but I didn't have anything that was calling to me so I went to a favorite used book store knowing they would have lots of old hardbacks and I wasn't disappointed. Under the paper cover of this book about salmon fishing was a lovely color that I think will make a lovely base for book covers...

I brought it home with me for the low price of $2!! I then proceeded to remove the pages...

The color in this image is lot more accurate than the previous photos - it feels like a 'dreamy' color to work with

So far, I've removed the pages but kept the spine intact - I'm not sure if it will stay that way or if I'll cut it in two, but I'm leaning toward cutting it in two...

an empty book, but not for long!

As you can see, never a dull day in the Creative Play-Space!!

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My birthday is next week as well as the birthday of a good friend, Artful Journey Sister and Scorpio Soul Sistah, Gwynnie of Gwynnie B Designs. We are meeting up in Santa Barbara tomorrow to begin our week long celebrations and I can't wait to see her! We'll be visiting the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, which neither of us have seen, so it's going to be an adventure...I am really looking forward to this day of friendship and art =-)

What projects or adventures are you indulging in this weekend? I'd love to hear about them!

 

Roses...

My dear boyfriend was kind enough to buy me some lovely roses at the Farmers Market over the weekend. I took home a small bouquet of pink buds, cut the stems before putting them in water, then promptly went out for the evening and stayed with him at his place!

When I returned home on Monday night, this is what was waiting for me...

I love pink roses!

I took the day off on Tuesday to take care of some much needed business and was so happy to have the roses keeping me company for the day!

This particular bloom has me captivated...

I like lots of flowers such as hydrangeas, star gazer lilies, dahlias and peonies, but my favorites are blush pink roses when I can find them =-)

What are some of YOUR favorites flowers?? I'd love to learn about some new varieties if you know of any!

Featured in an Etsy treasury today...

...was an item from my Grandma Betty's Legacy etsy shop! You can see the treasury here and view the item on my etsy site here...

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In other creative news...here are some things I've been up to in the past week...

 

In process...

 

...to nearly complete...

The beginning of another project...

 

 ...that is slowly coming together - can you guess what this project is? =-)

Next week is the start of the Journal Your Dreams workshop conducted by Amelia Critchlow of 101 Bird Tales blog and there's still time to join in the fun!! I think I've found some old book covers to use for my journal - now I just need some more watercolor paper to make a few pages for it...

I hope you are enjoying an abundance of creativity today!!

200!

It's 200 blog posts today at The Creative Beast and to celebrate I have a little something to share with you all..

A blog button!

With a LOT of help from my dear boyfriend, we have created a blog button that you can add to your blog and show the world that YOU are a Creative Beast! You can find the necessary elements to add the html code onto your blog in the sidebar to the right - have fun with it!

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I can't believe this is 200 posts already...my, how time flies when you are busy being creative!! I've mentioned what I'll be up to this month and I've found one more thing to add to the list...

It's Art Every Day Month at Creative Every Day. I found out about this annual challenge through Jen Lee's blog last year and I've had it tucked into a corner of my memory all year since then. I wasn't sure I would be able to participate this year but then I realized that I have already been making art every day so far, and since I've got lots of art-making taking place this month, why not add this to the list?!?

I've been working on my postcard for the swap this week and on a page for one of my existing retreat art books, as well as searching through my stash of old hardbound books to find covers for the Journal Your Dreams workshop...also, my sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project arrived and I've begun to paint a few pages for backgrounds in it - WHEW!

Yes, I've been fulfilling one of my words for this year: art-FULL creativity!!

I'll share pictures of the work in progress next week...

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Thank you all for visiting and reading this blog - it's going to be an art-FULL month with projects-in-process and another giveaway, so I hope you'll continue to stay tuned!!

Goodbye Blogtoberfest, Hello Giveaway Winner!

Hello everyone! Thank you all for your comments on my last post! I've been working on keeping up the positive outlook and your comments have been so helpful in keeping my spirits up - with so many wonderful folks in my corner, things have just got to change for the better soon =-)!

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I can't believe it's November and Blogtoberfest has come to an end. It was great to find a few new bloggers and it was a challenge to post everyday but I did it!

Many, many thanks to Tinniegirl, our "Hostess with the Mostest", for hosting this wonderful event for another year, and many thanks to Curly Pops, for coordinating all the fabulous giveaways at her site.

Many thanks to those of you who stopped by to participate in my giveaways this past month! I'll be having a few more giveaways in the upcoming weeks, so keep your eyes peeled for them...

In the meantime, here is the winner of last week's knitting themed giveaway, with help from my dear boyfriend who pulled the name out of a hat:

Faith Hope & Cherrytea!

Congratulations! Be sure to contact me with your mailing address so I can send off the goodies by the end of the week...

books, yarn, needles and some lovely mitts for Faith Hope & Cherrytea...

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October has been quite a month of blogging so I'll be taking a break this week, but my next post is my 200th blog post and I've got a little surprise for you all to celebrate. I hope you'll stop by to celebrate this momentous occasion!!

This month is going to be full of activity for me because I've signed up for a few great projects:

• I signed on for round two of the Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap - I can't wait to see what everyone creates this time around!
• I'm joining in the Sketchbook Project!! I'll be sharing my progress on it until I mail it off to be postmarked by January 15, 2011
• I'm doing the "Journal Your Dreams" online workshop offered by Amelia at 101 Bird Tales - I'm very excited about this project because it comes the week of my 45th birthday! I mentioned doing a big vision board for my "personal new year" and Amelia's online workshop will be perfect! If you want to join the workshop, check out her site HERE...

I'll be joined by Louise Gale who is planning an e-course on making vision boards at her site soon. She's also starting the Creative Color Challenge Ornament Swap this week and I'm planning on joining in the fun...

Yes, November is going to be a busy month!

I hope you have a great week of fun and creativity!!