Words i wish i wrote
Natasha Bedingfield performing Unwritten
Felt like dancing…
Have a happy Monday, live your PASSION!
ode’ to my studio
Ode to my STUDIO…
Little room that greets me
always smiles
even when I leave you dirty or alone
even when I leave you dirty or alone
always welcomes me home
Little room that inspires
full of wonder
unfinished works
already done in my mind
already done in my mind
Little room that loves
never judges
holds me close
I’m the one you love most
You were created just for me!
I know she’s messy right now.
Supplies spread all over,
Unfinished works, sleeping but not forgotten.
But she let’s me play and get messy. Here is where I express myself and make mistakes.
Never thought i could find all that in a room!
Next Tuesday i am offering a TRU GODDESS Workshop to 12 creative Goddesses. In this workshop we will be using a variety of mixed media techniques to create a inspirational dream board. This is such a creative way of goal setting! Putting your dreams on canvas is a powerful exercise and I’m so excited see the hearts desire of these awesome women.
What is your hearts desire?? Make a dream board and set it by your bedside or on your bathroom sink. Give you dreams life and room to grow.
I would love to link up with you and see your Goddess Dream Board!
I’m hooking up with Jen over at JRU STUDIO http://www.studiojru.com/ today. Stop over and take a peek into Jen’s studio. She is full of energy! Other creative spaces will be found there and it’s a inspiring place to be on Fridays!
May you have a blessed weekend!
Typography?!
If you have been reading my blog, it didn’t take you long to figure out that I can’t spell! I know…a blogger that can’t spell! But I can’t and I depend on spellcheck to catch my mistakes. Often times this is like depending on mapquest, not 100% accurate! So I have been humbled
many times as I’ll read over a published post of mine, only to find I had misspelled something. CRAP!
What’s really ironic is I use the written word in my artwork. So I’m a blogger who can’t spell AND uses words in her artwork.
Not sure if I’m brave or just plain dumb but in this case ignorence is bliss.
What’s wrong with this picture?
CHEERIES?? What! Did I really write CHEERIES?! CRAP!
Now what?
Came up with this solution and sold these pieces first thing at the next art show I did. Had to laugh! Luckily the client laughed too after sharing my mistake. So glad they didn’t demand their money back.
Recently I learned that using words in art is called TYPOGRAPHY.
- ty·pog·ra·phy
n. pl. ty·pog·ra·phies
1.
a. The art and technique of printing with movable type.
b. The composition of printed material from movable type.
2. The arrangement and appearance of printed matter.
Wow, didn’t know there was a name for this. So now I’m a Mixed Media Typography Artist.
So fancy!:)
I decided I would’nt hit “spellcheck” today, thought you would enjoy a good laugh.
I have a fun themed art project to share with you on Friday so stop over and visit! xo
No words, just JOY!
AWWWWWWWWWW! The Art Retreat! No words, just JOY and Gratitude!
Take a peek…
Flew into Sacramento and stayed Downtown for the night. Gorgeous city.
Lake Tahoe Baby!! Sunset the first night.
Just some of the art supplies…delish!
Lot’s of late nights spent connecting, creating, and DANCING! The poor neighbors! Sorry no photos of this.
Hiking on the first day. Aspens just starting to change color.
WOW! How did we end up here? Fallen Leaf Lake. Thanks God:)
Hiking on the second day.
Ended up witnessing the annual salmon run, unbelievable! Thanks again God!
Last sunset on last night.
On the last night we were also blessed to witness a RAINBOW!
A RAINBOW!!
Our creative endeavours!
We all worked on collaborative pieces to take home. It was so cool to see each person contribute their talent. This was mine. It will be cherished!
“””””””””””
We came, we laughed, we cried, we shared, and we connected!
We were fearless!
We were blessed!
Amazing True Women in My Life
I hope this post finds you healthy, happy and blessed!
It feels like forever since I’ve had a free hour to catch up with you. Sorry I haven’t had the time to keep my blog fresh or check in on any of you to see what’s been shakin’. But… I’ve had some great things happening so don’t give up on me just yet.
On the personal side of my life I’ve been healthy and happy. Even with struggles (and Lord knows I have them), by the grace of God, I still feel blessed. To top it off I lost 10 pounds, yeah me because I worked for that 10 pounds! This is so new to me, this peace. All the glory goes to Him because it really is so unlike me to feel peace in all things. Last weekend I was able to really spend some time alone with God as I attended the TRUE WOMAN CONFERENCE http://www.truewoman.com/?id=990 in downtown Indianapolis Indiana. It was an inspirational weekend, filled with 7000 amazing women. The next conference is in Fort Worth TX, Oct. 14th-16th and I would highly recommend going if you need to be REVIVED! I took pictures but for some odd reason most of them are gone, not anywhere on my camera!
Here’s a couple of salvaged shots…
I won’t soon forget my date weekend with God, He treated me like a princess:)
It has even sparked a trip that I’ll be taking with my daughter to a PURITY CONFERENCE http://www.reviveourhearts.com/pih/ in November . It’s in Tampa and it’s being held on her birthday weekend . I can’t think of a better gift to give a 10 year old and my husband looks at it as an investment in her future. We gotta let our girls stay young for as long as they are young! It saddens me deeply to see what our culture is doing to our youth, but that’s another rant to be left for another time.
Speaking of youth and rantings…my husband and I have recently become the Youth Leaders at our Church!! It is such a blessing for us to work with these amazing teens each week. They are truly incredible kids with a strong love for God and we are so inspired to watch God work through them. This is a labor of love for us and my husband doesn’t even complain that we will have to miss the Colts play on Sundays. Now that’s love!
On the art side of things, I’m plugging away and trying to find time to be in my studio more. Seems like the only time I can get in there is if I have a show coming up. Shown is some recent work I made before a show I did two weekends ago. This art show did not make for the highest sales this season, but I made some amazing contacts and some cool opportunities are starting to take shape. I look forward to sharing this with you when I know more.
Speaking of cool opportunities…(man this blog post is practically writing itself) I have been invited to an Art Retreat in Lake Tahoe by my sweet friend BEV from http://myawakenedheart.blogspot.com/. Bev is an amazing lady with a great love of God and I am so excited she invited me. Two of my dearest, artsy girlfriends here from Indy will be making the trip with me. Again, amazing women! They inspire me, encourage me, believe in me and I love them to pieces. As Bev puts it “it will be 4 days of art, girl time, great food and wine, and music”. AND Lake Tahoe! When I get home I will get back to blogging more often but you probably won’t hear from me for a week or so. I’ll be thinking about you with a piant brush in one hand and a glass of vino in the other!
God has truly blessed me with many beautiful friendships, a precious daughter, and a supportive mother. I’m so grateful for these amazing, true women in my life. Say a prayer today for the TRUE WOMEN IN YOUR LIFE! My God allow us to be a truly amazing woman, radiating His love like the sun.
Dare to Share Tip #4
I apologize for taking so long getting this post out! Last week I received a healthy dose of how to prioritize my life, using those same priorities I’ve mentioned in previous posts. I can’t help but think I may have been tested because it sure felt that way. I hope I passed! Unfortunately blogging, among a few other things had to take a back seat. I realize, yet once again, that I just can’t do it all. Which brings me to this last tip on what I’ve done to grow my business. It is by far the biggest challenge for me, even though it has had the greatest results in my life and business.
Tip # 4 Dare to BELIEVE!
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!
IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU!
TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE!
Been there…did that…didn’t work!
The single best thing I have done to grow my business is turning the wheel over to God and letting Him drive. I had to invite God into my art, my marketing plan, and my feelings of not being good enough. AND as if that wasn’t hard enough, I’ve had to learn to move in God’s time, patiently trusting him in the speed He was taking me. I’ve had to turn my life over to Him, trusting Him to know better and do better than what I think I want for myself. As I’ve said, God gives us our gifts for a reason, but these gifts are given only to Glorify Him…not Glorify us!
To be honest, I struggle to give over all control to God and trust Him. Talking with some dear friends today, we agreed that this has to be the biggest challenge in growing our faith. As a Mom, I can’t help but think how crushed I would be if my children told me they didn’t trust me. I could even handle it better if they said they didn’t love me anymore, because I know that wouldn’t be the truth. But not trust me! That would cut to the bone. I wonder how our Lord must feel when we don’t trust. Is it because trust is something earned, not given? Is it because trust is more easily broken than love? Sometimes it seems we can give our love easier than our trust, shouldn’t that be the other way around?
I don’t have the answers but through God’s Holy word He tells us:
For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.
Jeremiah 29:11
Thank you for letting me share my heart today and for allowing me to speak my truth in these Dare to Share posts for my business and life. May your heart always be open to God’s will and trusting that He has a great plan just for you.
Words i wish i wrote
Praise God for all His mercy and love!
Praise God for the undeserved favor He gives us all each day.
You are my portion Lord and you will always be enough.
Dare to Share Tip #3
Tip #3 Dare To Promote Yourself
This, by far has been one of my biggest giants!! As an artist who is creating authentically, promoting yourself just feels YUCKY!! To me it feels like “here’s my heart, go ahead and pick it apart”. And people do and always will. If your an artist, of any kind…writer, musician, actor, expect this and save your self lots of time spent in the corner curled up in the fetal position. Some people are gonna love ya, some are gonna Not love ya! And thank God, that allows us all the opportunity to be artist.
As you all have probably seen by now, my motto is work smarter not harder. Same holds true for marketing and promoting. Early on I killed myself and my spirit by trying to be everywhere, all the time. This didn’t work for me and I had to get in touch with my priorities:
GOD, FAMILY (which includes maintaining my household), FRIENDS, and if there is anything left, MY ART WORK. At first it was really hard to stay focused on those things, then it became my freedom.
Here is what I do to market my artwork. PLEASE if you know of an easier way(sure you do)tell us!! Make all our lives easier. I do not have all the answers, just what I’m doing to simplify my life. We all want to take the path of least resistance and in this case we should. Allows us more time in the studio, playing outside with the kids, holding hands with our honeys, and living life in the moment.
My Website
I found BLUdomain through a friend who is a photographer. We were both starting out in our business and felt like we needed a website to be successful. I found and bought a terrible template from a company that had no customer service and you literally had to be a graphic designer to figure out how to use this template. I spent weeks trying to learn about mega tags and nonsense just to build this generic looking site that offered very little. I also spent $700!! Meanwhile my girlfriend found a host and template that allowed her to build her site in about 6 hours and she was live in 24hrs. She spent $100! Ok, definitely a dare to learn moment for me. Do you need a website to be a successful artist? No. But for me it has really taken my business to a new level. Without even trying, I have been featured in varies publications, invited to different art shows, and given myself a home base for my business. Even with the few pieces I have for sale on there right now, I still have a portfolio for clients to see. This has helped me get into several shows that I was supposed to be juried into through ZAPP applications https://www.zapplication.org/index.php without being a member of ZAPP. For several reasons I refuse to do ZAPP, call me a snob but I’m a girl with boundaries.
My Marketing Printer
How I love me some VISTA PRINTS!! Good quality, good prices, good turnaround time, and good customer service. Maybe I’ve been lucky , but they have been great for my business. They have come along way since I started with them in 2007 and at the rate they are going I expect them to only get better.
My blog
There are MANY free websites to help you decorate your blog. I really like this one because they have a great selection and it’s an easy site to navigate.
And as you already know, I use blogger for my host. They make my life easy, love that!
Networking Groups
Again, there are a ton. Personally I network in groups that i enjoy. I participate, when I can, in varies on line groups that include Facebook, The Incrowd (an Indiana Etsy group), Create by Faith, and Fishers Handmade (another local Etsy group). I have found that Etsy forums are a great way to learn more about how to grow your business and gain awesome feedback.I also network with some of you, my blog family. I really don’t care for the word network, I think of it more as connecting. So connect with people you WANT to connect with otherwise it becomes a chore.
Host workshops
I currently work with my city to give workshops in Mixed Media/Collage. Connecting with your Chamber of Commerce is a great place to start if you are looking to do the same. Also, I would recommend networking with local art galleries and boutiques to see if they are interested in offering workshops in your medium. I enjoy workshops because it allows me the pleasure of seeing beautiful people create beautiful art!!
Moving forward in my business, I’m in the process of adding three things that I believe will promote my work and grow my business.
-
Adding Prints to my line
(said I never would! eating my words)
-
Learning Photoshop
(yes, still trying to find the time to learn this software!! Anya…HELP)
-
Adding a wholesale line
( this will be a huge step for me, but I believe, today anyway, that this is the direction God is leading me)
Unfortunately marketing and self promotion is just a huge part of selling our work. Not the fun part, but key to growing your business. If you don’t think your worth promoting neither will anyone else! So let your freak flag wave and sell it baby!
I hope you have a blessed weekend.
I look forward next week to sharing a final and most benefical tip for growing my business.
xo
Words i Wish i Wrote
Be back Friday with another Dare to Share tip for growing your business.
Thinking of you. May God bless you today.
xo
Dare to Share Tip #2
Tip #2 Dare to become DESERVING!
When I first decided I wanted to try and sell my artwork, it was a scary time for me. Putting my heART out there for all the world to see was not easy and I was more or less a ‘closet artist’.
Literally a ‘closet artist’, here is my first work space.
Ok, now that I’m totally exposed…look at it!! This was the place I came to get inspired and create! Shameful. When I couldn’t stand to work in the dungeon anymore, I started to drag my stuff upstairs to the kitchen table. This was good for awhile, but every time i started to get into a piece I would have to pack it up and make dinner ,so needless to say this was not ideal either.
It took me a long time to feel deserving of a space all my own, a whole room i could call mine.
I turned the guest room into MY OWN REAL LIFE STUDIO!! It seemed silly to have a room that guest stayed in maybe 12 nights a year while I was lugging my stuff all over the house trying to find a sunny place to create in. And I’m sad to say that i didn’t do this until Jan 2010, over 2 years after I stared selling my work. CRAZYNESS! But honestly there was this part of me that just didn’t feel like i deserved that space for myself. When I really asked myself why i wasn’t deserving of a space to create in, nothing came. It wasn’t about entitlement, it was about working hard and moving forward. It is a blessing to me every time I walk in that room. It is a shame that I allowed myself to sit in the dark for so long, down in the dungeon. By becoming deservinging of that sunlight I allowed my dream to grow.
If you are an artist, do you have a space in your heart and home for your dream to grow? It doesn’t have to be a whole room, but maybe it should be. How often do you use that formal dining room or guest room? You might have a sunny corner in the office or family room that is waiting for just for you.
You deserve that and God gave you your gift for a reason.
xo