Change...

This is something that the world tells us to do, yet no one allows you to do.

Think on that for a minute...

On that note, I have just completed my Chakra Class. SO AMAZING!!! I'm telling you, go to lacyyoung.com and look at her stuff! She's a miracle worker!! I've never felt better!!!

The terrifying part of this is change. We all work ourselves into a rut, and DAMN is that rut comfy. It's easy to just chill, and change is terrifying all on its own. Then you bring friends and family into it.

Now don't get me wrong, I love both my friends and my family, but it's always the people you love who make it difficult to change. Which makes sense, I mean it's scary to think that you might lose a friend because they are going through all of these changes, and in the end you end up having nothing in common. I've felt this way, and I'm sure others have too, but this is no reason not to try change on!

"Not my circus, not my monkeys." It's easier said then done, ignoring the potentially hurtful things that people say to you when you tell them "I have to meditate today" or something along those lines. BUT!! If you stand tall and stick to your guns (metaphorically speaking of course:P), people will either learn to adjust to the new you and respect you for trying to better your life, or they'll leave. This is the hurtful and terrifying part. Having to let go of a friend you may have had for life, but just isn't liking the new you. If you are loving who you are (and you'd better believe it feels wonderful!!!) then you should let them go. It's doing all of your hard work a dis-service.

I'm still on the verge of climbing out of the rut I've dug myself into, but I can feel little things changing, very slowly. Starting with eating better! I ACTUALLY look at ingredients now, and made myself the deal that if I can't read it, or I don't understand it, back on the shelf you go!!! I've always been a huge fan of stuff made from scratch anyways. Also a HUGE fan of organic food!! ...OK so I may have gone a lil bit hippy... You know what though! I'm totally OK with that! I'm not a vegetarian by any means, but I'm more cognizant of what I'm eating and where it came from.

That said, I'm also REALLY happy!!! Going through all of the Chakra's in my body, I found that almost every one was blocked and affecting my energy flow negatively. I've slowly worked through them and eased out some of the kinks and blocks, but still have a long way to go. But the most important thing is that I'm happy! I saw my life before for what it was, didn't really like it (or myself for that matter), and decided that something had to give.

Change is SUPER hard and SUPER scary, but if it's the right change and it makes you feel like you're floating on sunshine, then just go with it!! You are entitled to feel happy and to do things just for you, and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise!!

Well, sorry for the looonnnggg absence, but I've been doing a lot of introspection lately and there are really only 24 hours in a day (and I was on vacation IN THE MOUNTAINS!!!! The core of my soul:P). Hopefully I'll be writing more frequently now (I will be, don't worry), and we'll continue on our crazy ride of creativity together!!

Ciao for now!!!

Photoshoot!!

Goood morning everyone!!

 

As I slowly make my way to work via a slowly rolling bus that was 4 minutes late when it picked me up, I have already come to terms with the fact that I'll probably be late for work today:P Oh well!!! Then I realized that it's been quite a while since I've written a blog post, and that's just not ok!!

So, I'll start with what I finally managed to work up the courage to do last night, and since you're all wonderfully smart people who read my title for today's post, you can more than likely guess what that is. I finally got the guts to stop stalling, gather up all my works, and just take some freaking pictures already!!

 

I do, unfortunately, live in a city, but in a super old part with lots of trees, and my back yard is completely river rock (it's a dog issue, don't ask:P). So when I finally decided to take pictures myself, with my lil camera phone, I found plenty of places to snap a few shots! I even made an appearance in a couple of them:P But it was insanely bright out so I had my sunglasses on:P

 

The point is, even though I am by NO means a professional, or even semi-professional photographer (I don't even own an actual camera!), I went out there and got shit done!! Instead of stalling and waiting for my pal who IS a semi-pro photographer to be available, and then waiting for us both to be available at the same time (we're both insanely busy) I just went out and did it!

 

You know how much it cost me? NOTHING!!! I just took some, in my opinion, half decent pics that just need a lil bit of editing, for absolutely free. I just arranged my products in a way I thought looked kinda cool and artsy fartsy, and went for it!!

 

And, after some minimal editing, I will be sending these pics off to two stores (possibly more, I keep finding them) who I just reached out to. That's right, they didn't find me, I found them. I'm starting to realize that nothing happens in life without you first asking a question, and forcing your way in:P

 

That's right!! I'm breaking and entering my way into the art scene!! Who's with me?!?!

Hallelujah for the Internet!!

Thank God for the Internet!!! Without it I might not have (or it would have taken me a LOT longer) gotten up the courage to email a few boutiques I know of that display local artists works. The emailing itself wasn't as terrifying as I thought it would be, but the fact that I got replies sent the blood pressure RIGHT UP!!!!

 

Then my imposter complex kicked in hardcore!! I mean yeah, my work is ok, but not store worthy!! Who do you think you are?!? To be honest, I'm still fighting with them. Etsy was one thing; you just post your stuff and people chose what they want. With this, one is a consignment store and the other one buys the works outright!! I'm terrified!!

 

But you know what? One thing is really shining through for me: I'd rather be sitting here terrified trying to get a hold of my friend who said she'd do my photographs then sitting here wondering what it would be like to have people who I don't know actually buy something I made!!

 

It'll either be amazing, or absolutely soul crushing... When you think about it, this isn't that much different from when I was applying at Farmers Markets. It just seems bigger because this is kind of the next step I guess...

 

Either way, I'm terrified yet excited. But either way, gotta keep on moving up at the  only reckless pace I know.

 

Keep on keeping on and taking the big risks!! Ciao for now!!! (btw, all items below are for sale :P)

I Got Nothin'

Hello all!! 41st post!! ...alright I'll stop counting now...

 

Anyways, something interesting happened to me today. I didn't really want to do ANYTHING! Like nothing creative!

 

BUT! I've been reading a book called "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield. AMAZING by the way!! But this lack of drive kind of made me think of this book... It's basically about fighting through a "lack of inspiration" or as he calls it "The Resistance" and doing the work anyways.

 

So I decided to give it a try! This is something I have NEVER done before!! At least not mindfully thinking about it. It was totally weird. At first all I could think about was the million things I have to do at home (there really aren't that many, I made a list the other day and it's no where near as bad as I'm making it out to be:P), or about how instead of writing, maybe I should be drawing, or reading because I have books due back at the library in the near future.

 

Long story short, the muses were not with me. At first that is. A little background to what I'm doing these days (guess I haven't done this in a while!!), is that I'm trying to write a short, literary non-fiction story for a local magazine contest. I'm also trying to come up with new things to draw/sketch out, and I'm trying a thing where I'm pulling it ALL from memory (or many memories of different places all squashed together) and making a scenery drawing. I ADORE drawing scenery. I've gone from a few photo's lately, and it's not the same... Totally different actually, but I'm trying to only look at the horizons and different angles, not the picture itself.

 

Whew!! That was an off-rant and not really where I wanted to go with this. Anyways!! I finally sat down and forced myself to write. Little more background, I love writing, but I hate actually doing it if that makes any sense... I'm complex like that:P So I forced myself to pick up my pen (it looks like a syringe and needle:P) and made myself write for my whole break (15 minutes). It wasn't one of those "never let your pen stop moving things." No, I even set my pen down at times to try and remember exactly what happened. It's a hilarious story, but it happened way back in 2012, so I'm a little fuzzy on all the details.

 

What did I find with this quick little writing exercise? Well, once some of the kinks worked out (def going to be doing some heavy editing in some parts), things actually started to flow. I actually started to get my groove of semi-formal writing back (I consider this informal:P). The weirdest thing I found was that it was actually pretty fun. I guess it's kind of like running for me, I really do enjoy it, but finding time for it and getting my butt out the door is really the hard part.

 

So where does "The War of Art" come in on all of this? Well, I probably never would have tried this little exercise out if I hadn't been reading it (I'm about 2/3 of the way done) and probably wasted time on my phone for the whole 15 minutes of my break. CRAZY PANTS!!

 

If you're looking for an amazing read, I would highly suggest it, along with a bunch of audio books I'm listening to right now (I can't read while I type at work so I just listen).

 

Anyways, have a good one!! Talk soon!!

And the Race is ON!!

CHARGE!!!! FULL SPEED AHEAD!!!

It's now crunch time and things are getting hectic and stressful!! And because I'm me, I just keep adding onto my already heaping plate:P It's like at the restaurant Mongo's, you load up your bowl until you're pretty much spilling oil all over the floor and have a small food pyramid waiting to be cooked. Such is my life!! But what the heck have I done now? Well! Let me tell you!

So, as all of you now know, I am in a program called Style School. This is it's last week, so you think I'd be relieved right? WRONG!! Our last project for the program is called Craftivism! I've linked in a complete description, so I won't bore you with all the details. Basically, we have to make an uplifting craft (ie. a painting with the message "You are worth it!") and at the same time we will all leave our own craft in our own home town in fitting rooms, etc. AHH!!! I just did a To Do list that NEEDS to be done before this Saturday, and even that is daunting!! Plus I want to finish up on cleaning up my house.

So!! The race is on!! The drop for my inspiring craft is either Saturday or Sunday (unsure yet which), and Sunday is a VERY hard deadline!! Thankfully, I pretty much just have to tie together some loose ends for Sunday (however loose they may be), and I'm still very much undecided about what kind of craft I would like to do. A painting obviously, but the canvases I bought eons ago are for acrylic painting and I've mostly been doing watercolour lately... Hmm... You know what! I think I'm going to stick with my gut and just go acrylic!! I may be less experienced with it but who really cares right?! It's the thought that counts on something like this. The perfectionist in me may disagree, but she needs to realize that there just aren't enough hours in the day!

Anyways, I'll be VERY busy for a while now, but my next post will be coming out on Saturday (insert ominous music here), so hopefully you'll only have to deal with one more post about all this insanity:P

Have a good one!!!


I even added to this list... Ugh...

Recaculating....

Technology... Always recalculating, always rethinking... Not that I can complain. I mean, without it I wouldn't be able to blog, or check my phone compulsively every 5 minutes while my computer is once again recalculating...

Full circle here right? ...maybe... Lost my train of thought there...

Oh wait!! Got it back!! Basically where I was going with that was that I use technology at work daily. I come in, I log on, and I'm givin' 'er for the day. 8-4 for the most part.

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE my job! I'm very happy here! But I'm just the type to wonder... What else is there? Yes, the grass may not always be greener on the other side, but what if sometimes it is? There's got to be more out there than getting up, going to work, coming home, and going to bed right?

WELL! That's what I'm trying to find out! As a multipotentialite/renaissance soul, that whole concept gives me heart palpations. Just the thought of doing the same thing day in day out until I die is enough to send me screaming in the other direction. Which is why I'm starting this looming/sewing/art business-type-thingy I've got going on here. I want to see if there is more out there. If there is life beyond a job. If I can work from home, sleep late, and work later without having to leave the comfort of my own back yard. Nothing beats a try right?

When I think about this on a grand scale, my previous little worries about posters and signage and all that other menial crap really doesn't matter. On a whole, I'm trying something new! I'm trying to see if there's life out there, and I'm jjjuuusssttt starting to get my feet wet. And DAMN!!! That water is cold!! I have a feeling that it'll get colder before it gets any warmer!

But, because I am the way I am, before I've even begun letting that water warm up just a titch, I've got my eyes wide open exploring new opportunities! That's right, this summer of markets hasn't even started yet and I'm already looking past it to see where the winds might take me. I kind of feel like Pocahontas... Oh darn, now I'm singing too!

Anyways, ciao for now!!!

Courtesy of Google Images

Follow the Signs!!!

Follow the signs!! Read the signs!! ...make the signs...

Thus we have my dilemma of the week(s). I need to make some signs. Not super fancy signs, but just some signs. What do I need these for? My Farmer's Market!!

Holy Moly!! I started to plan out all of the small details this past week and never realized that I would need signs for:
-The Business (Me:P)
-Prices
-Cash Only

Then I need a cash float for change, a table (DONE!!), lawn chairs (DONE!!), table cloth (Dollarama), and the list goes on... And it's REALLY starting to keep me up...

Well... It was... As with many of my posts I started on one day and am finishing on another. I started this one on a stressy Friday, and am ending it on an exhausted Monday... Zzz...

I didn't actuallt have to play slow pitch this weekend (Saturday I was a spare so they let me take off because it was my 5 year wedding anniversary, and Sunday we were rained out), so I actually got a lot accomplished! ...or it feels like I did... Only time will tell... 

I have effectively not only moved ALL my clothes from the inlaws to our house, but I have sorted through them and now have 2 LARGE bins to donate to the Salvation Army, with 1 more small pile of shirts to go through! I'm so excited!! 

Plus, most of my old tshirts that I couldn't bear to part with, O'm going to turn into a "Tshirt Quilt" by cutting out all the logos (mostly band shirts and my cheeky old ones), sewing them together, and adding a backing. SUPER excited for that!! You know, in all the spare time I have:P

On top of wading through my closet, I also managed to finish up all the write-ups for the MAHTA newsletter, and, since we have such an amazing Office Assistant, was able to just pass off the word document for her to make all pretty and format and junk. I do enjoy doing all that, but at the moment I have neither the time nor the resources to get into that cat fight! So, I typed and articled my lil heart out and VOILA!! We have content!!

I then, right before bed, started to work out a price chart for my products for the summer... It's a LOT harder then you would think!! My Inner Critic was not being very nice. Kept telling me that people won't pay for my crap... But you know what? I think that if I tough it out enough, I think people will like what I have to say!! ...maybe... We'll see!!

Anyways, I've been telling people left, right, and center about the Farmer's Market, and a lot of them are family, so hopefully I get a few pity buys at the most:)

I haven't really done much in the way of production of content this weekend, but this week will for sure be crunch time! EEP!! 

I've also come to a decision on how often I'm going to he doing these blog posts! Even if it's just a short post with a couple pics, you can expect something from me every two days!! I've decided that if I can't make time for something I love every other day, then what kind of life am I living right?!? 

Ciao for now!!!!

What was I doing?

Question of my life... What was I doing? Where was I? In case you haven't noticed already, I'm a semi absentminded person. The old saying "You'd lose your head if it wasn't attached totally applies to me:P

But what does this have to do with my creative journey? Well, as I mentioned in my last post, Farmer's Market time is getting REALLY close... Like super close... So I'm kinda going into overdrive trying make up some content, and figure out exactly what I'm going to do.

I would really like to make some business cards, but 1. they're expensive and 2. I don't know about the rest of you, but I have about a million business cards in my wallet that I haven't even looked at. That's just my current wallet. An interesting tip I picked up from Tara Swiger's podcast (see previous post) was to have a notebook and take other people's email addresses or phone numbers. This was a very interesting concept to me, and, not going to lie, completely blew my mind!! Then I've effectively placed myself in the drivers seat, and I won't be refreshing my phone all day to see if anyone wanted to email me back! Super exciting idea! Another was not to stare awkwardly at people when they are checking out your wares. This may seem like a no brainer, but nothing annoys me more than people either staring at me when I'm trying to look at something, or trying to hard to sell me something. Urgh...

Anyways, that's not all I'm starting to peg down. I also need some kind of signage... This one is keeping me up nights. I don't really have the funds for a professionally made poster, but I also don't want it to look cheap and tacky... Maybe I'll grab some of my papercraft supplies from my inlaws this weekend (if I have time... Ugh...) and make it up. I'm thinking a posterboard is all that I need, and then just decorate it with my name and products and such... I dunno... I'll figure something out:)

The thing that, without a doubt, is stressing me out the most is the fact that I have to provide a table! Isn't that silly!! That and having a cash float! Also silly! I have loads of change kicking around home, I guess it's the bigger bills I'm stressing about... I'll have to ask my mom! She's done loads of silent auctions and this sort of thing. And the table!! Pretty sure I know some people with a portable table that I could borrow for the summer. Or even part of the summer. Hmm...

Leaving the totally stressed out line of thinking, things are shaping up!! Still an introvert living in an extrovert's world!!

And I'm going to do something that I've NEVER done before on this blog... I'm NOT going to add a picture:P Mainly because I haven't taken any new ones since yesterday of my Farmer's Market content:)

Have a good one!!

A Brave New World

Good morning!!!

Has anyone read this book? It's terrible, don't do it. I had to read it in high school and I don't even think that I finished it. It's the expression I love. Trying something new? It's a brave new world!!!

This has kind of been my motto throughout all throughout the last 6 months. It's a brave new world!! Countless times I have stepped out of my comfort zone and, mostly, been rewarded. I took another HUGE step yesterday, by actually wearing what I'm making. That's right, I wore my yellow scarf I made as a head wrap. It looked awesome!! I was terrified to leave the house, but it looked awesome!!

Which is leading me to want to work even harder (and get more wool) because yeah, this is something that people would actually want to wear, and they're versatile!! LOVE IT!!

My big thing is that I keep running out of my product... Aka yarn!! It's kind of mind blowing how much yarn this thing eats up!! A normal size ball will only last for 1 product for a not very wide scarf/headband/whatever my heart can think of.

I've also been pretty busy on the sketching front!! The only thing that I really took away from the critique I went to was to slow down. So, I'm taking my time now and adding in (at least I think I am) a little more small details. It's HARD!!! I rush through everything naturally, so slowing down is almost physically painful for me!! But I have done it, and as a result, my pics are looking better then ever! It's pretty exciting!

Other than that I'm pretty much just continuing to rock out in style school. There's something super fulfilling about dressing to your personality. I mean, to an extent I've always kinda done it, but not really, and DEFINITELY not at work!

Until next time (I promise to have a more food for thoughtish post:P)

Zzz...

Yes, my title is a snore. That is the approximate energy level I am operating on today... Maybe I'm getting sick? I'm also kinda bummed out that this time last year (even though I'm pretty sure I was near death) I was packing it up to go to the Rocky Mountains... This year I plan on sleeping. Such is my life :P

So, I just posted yesterday. What the heck could I have done since then?? Anything super interesting? Did I just post to complain about how tired I am? No and no:P I didn't do anything amazing last night. I mean, I planned out some merchandise stuff for MAHTA, and some of the things that I'd like to cover in the next newsletter (to be decided tomorrow night, another meeting... Ugh...). No, that's not really what I think is interesting right now.

This morning, after checking my email box, facebook, etc., I decided to check my spam box. There I found an email from Tara Swiger (I had signed up for her newsletter a while ago and had forgotten about it), with a little gem in it. Craft Sale's for Introverts. It's like it was meant for me!

Back story, I am a ridiculously introverted person, and being around people for any amount of time completely drains my energy. I'm also incredibly outgoing (or try to be), but I get no energy whatsoever from being around people, and I HATE reasoning things out out loud. HATE it. I'd rather talk to people through email or text message than actually call them or seek them out. This has been problematic in the past, but I've kind of come to accept it as just me.

Apparently there are other people out there who are introverts who are trying to somewhat do the same thing as me. Who knew!! In her podcast she has multiple tips for introverts stuck in an extrovert world of business. HALLELUJAH!! I was so drawn in to what she was saying I even took notes on it for this summer.

It's not easy being an introvert in an extroverts world.

PS. This was supposed to be published on the 19th, but apparently I hit save instead of publish:P OOPS!!!!

Flyin by the Seat of my Pants

HOLY MOLY IT'S WEDNESDAY!!! Tonight is literally the only night I'll have at home to myself, and that's only because I cancelled an event I was supposed to go to... UGH...

So, what have I been doing?? Well, Monday night was my first ever art critique... Ugh... Everyone was super nice, but I feel like I'm still digesting everything... When I said that everything that I had done so far was self taught, it was almost discounted... Like I should go and take some classes right now... If I wanted to take classes I would have by now, I just don't have time. Another suggestion was to join a group. Yeah, this might be fun, but right now I really prefer to work on my skills by myself... Ugh... Just been bugging me ya know:P

Anyways, so that was Monday night and my first ever professional critique. Not too sure if I'd do another. I didn't get home until pretty late on Monday, but as a huge bonus I didn't work until noon yesterday (Tuesday) so I got to sleep off a bit of my unhappiness with life recently.

Now, Monday was also the official start of my Style School, and our power song outfit challenge. This is basically listening to a pre-selected song and picking out an outfit that goes with it. This has really been stoking me up all week and I've really been having fun with it. On Monday the song was Katy Perry's "Roar", to which I responded with my beloved orange top and some semi-shimmery black pants. I REALLY wasn't feeling it at all to be honest. I was SUPER worried about my crit that evening, but whatevs right:P Yesterday, however, I dawned the most colourful outfit I've worn in a lllooonnnggg time! It was super fun! And super weird. I'm not used to giving what I wear more than a once over to make sure there's no terrible stains on it.

Today, however, I had some real fun with it! The song was "I Will Survive," which some of you may or may not know, is sung by a talking pug named Frank on Men in Black 2. My natural reaction to this song? Suit up MIB style!! So much fun!! There's a pic of it down below:P

This whole clothing thing is a whole new side of creative that I haven't even begun to explore! I'm having a real hoot! Who knew right? This was totally something out of left field that I wanted to try out, not  expecting all this. We are also doing exercises to find out what's inside (true personality) so that it can match the outside. First off we had to petition family and friends to come up with three words that best describe us. The response was amazing!! I made a wordcloud for a pump up:P

Anyways, I'm having a super time experiencing and playing with this new type of creativity:) Now to plan my Born to be Wild outfit for tomorrow:D

Men in Black style... With bare feet:P

Feeling Colourful!!

What others think of me:P

Garfield had the Right Idea

Ugh... Monday... First Monday back at work...

First off, I feel the need to apologize for my lack of internet presence over the last week. I've been having a blast on a staycation, and today is my first day back at work.

So, how did my first Monday start? It started with me forgetting to turn my alarm back on, so I woke up at the time I was supposed to catch the bus... Yay me!! Anyways, stole my hubby's truck and made it to work on time, only to fight through a mountain of emails and tasks that have been compiling.

Anyways, enough negative! I had a fantastic week off!! I got some weaving done, got some painting done, sent off my application for a Farmer's Market, and overall just recharged a lil bit. It was fantastic (minus the previously mentioned spaz attack with the sewing machine).

I also played Slow Pitch for the first time in... The better part of a decade I would have to say... It was SUPER fun, and I'm playing with a great group of peeps. However, and I don't know if I've mentioned this yet or not, I have a REALLY hard time going back to something that I used to be good at when I was younger and finding that I now suck. Harsh right? I would never in a million years think that way about anyone else. I would applaud them for trying and being brave enough to get back into it. Me though? NOPE! In my perfectionists mind I have to be equally good, or better than, I used to be. No matter how long it's been since I last did it.

Horse riding is another example of this. When I was in high school I was pretty darn good at it. I was winning ribbons and taking names. But I was also riding multiple times a week, and the Bank of Parents was still open for business. Now that I'm an adult with actual bills, priorities, and family (fur family counts too!), I actually have financial constraints. So, I rode less and less, and eventually stopped. Last summer I decided that I would try a new type of riding (I used to show in hunter/jumper), endurance riding, with a friend of mine. She even let me borrow her horse in exchange for helping out around the barn.

The result? Disaster. For some reason, my brain was expecting me to hop right back in the saddle and be able to ride for hours on end, after not riding at all for a couple of years. The horse I was riding was also a spooky Arabian, and though very sweet, she seemed to think that the world was conspiring against her. Now, back in the day this was no issue. Hell, I learned how to ride on a VERY SIMILAR spooky Arabian who's greatest ambition in the world was to buck me off (sometimes rodeo style). I had developed quite a deep seat, and horses were very hard-pressed getting me off. This was what my brain was expecting; something my poor body could no longer deliver.

The first time I fell off, I had a complete meltdown (the fact that I was changing anti-depressants at the time did NOT help matters). The second time, I hadn't quite recovered from my first meltdown and dissolved into tears of frustration again. The third time, I gave up and walked my horse the remaining 10km of the event. I was done. My mind couldn't wrap my head around the fact that my body could no longer deliver to the impossible standards of a cocky 18 year old.

The same thing (minus the multiple melt-downs) happened at Slow Pitch. I was writing cheques my body couldn't cash. Growing up I played quite often (my Mom was super into it so I naturally practiced lots), so I wasn't half bad. I had never really played competitively before, but this is a beer league, so no biggie. Right?

Well, after being unable to manage nothing better then a bunt, and being totally winded after running the bases (with a break at each one), something dawned on me. I'M NOT 18 ANYMORE!! Not to mention the fact that the most physical thing I've done all winter is climbing stairs and walking 2 blocks twice a day. The hardest thing about all of this? Letting myself be ok with it! Letting myself know that I'll get better as the summer goes on and not to worry about it. This isn't the Olympics, and as long as I'm having fun who gives a bibble?

I mean, yeah, my legs were killing me by the end of the night, and the day after I was given a cruel reminder that I do in fact have abdominal muscles. And thigh muscles. And calf muscles. And muscles in my arms. OWWWW!!! Moving for the next couple days was not that much fun. But I did it. And I'll do it again this week (and this weekend, we have a tournament...).

The moral of my random rantings (that isn't entirely creative, but for sure applies to it), it's OK to suck at something that you used to be good at! The skills will come back if you give them time, and NO ONE is holding you to anywhere near the standards you're holding yourself to. Not-a-one!! Give yourself room to grow and you will, and you'll probably come out better then you were before!

Anyways, enough preaching for one day!! :P Hopefully my next post will be a lil more creative-based, but the moral applies to creativity as well, so close enough. :)

My pretty new glove :)

Back in the Saddle

Alright world, I am back!!! What have I been doing lately? Reading and defunking It's been great!!

 

But, I figured that I shouldn't be too neglectful or people will stop looking...

So!! Here I am again!! My Farmers Market papers are all filled out and waiting to be sent, my summer has been totally planned out (with pretty much no weekends free), and I've been playing with my loom, but I am quickly running out of yarn... So, to Wally World I go!!

 

Anyways, I haven't been doing too terribly much creatively lately, but I have been doing some business planning and scoping out a few things. First off, I have realized that there are absolutely NO professional pictures of me anywhere in the world. My solution? Hit up google and try to find a cheaper photographer that would be able to take some better portraits and headshots of me for my business page/everything business related.

 

I have also been researching how to take better pictures on my phone, because after talking to a couple photographers, they do not run cheap!! At the moment I really don't have any additional income to put towards that, so back to Dr Google I have gone! Turns out my ole Samsung Galaxy can actually take half decent pictures, which at this point, is really all I need.

 

I also did a reach out to some of my Facebook friends to see if anyone would be willing to style some of my wears for me (woven belts, etc.). I have a few bites!! Yay!! ...which also means I really have to start weaving hardcore... Thank God I have the next week off!! I think I'm going to be pretty busy with a lot of things!!

 

So, all of this is in the name of trying to grow my name and what I will be selling. Getting up to speed on the content is really the hard part. Ugh... But hey, at least it's with stuff that I genuinely enjoy doing!! Yay!! I'm also thinking of getting a Get to Work Book day planner to REALLY get myself organized. I also may have a journal/day planner fetish... Not my fault, they're just all so pretty!!!

 

Anyways!! Now that my darn Newsletter is done (for now...), I should have a bit more time on my hands to actually get to work on some of this stuff!!

 

TTFN, Ta ta for now!!

Newsletter Hell

So... I have officially forgotten how much work newsletters are... I've put in about 6 hours this weekend and I'm still not done... Ugh...

 

This reminds me that, while I absolutely love to write, editing it into a newsletter format is NOT my favourite thing to do. Ugh... Trying to get a hold of people for things is also super not overly fun...

 

HOWEVER!! The weekend was not a total hair-pulling newsletter fiasco, I also finally got off my ass and painted!!! Yay!!! This does require a little back story though!

 

So, last Friday it was pouring rain... My bus stop is about a 10 minute walk from work, down a sidewalk that is RIGHT beside a very battered road (I'm doing a photo-series on this, stay tuned), so there's puddles EVERYWHERE. Now, most motorists where I live either can't drive well, or are complete jerks, so, not only was I battling puddles on the sidewalk, drivers were constantly splashing me. I was also only wearing a hoodie and my runners (my rubber boots cut off the circulation to my legs, and it wasn't raining when I left home in the morning half asleep). The only thing I really had going for me was the fact that I had an umbrella. But, if any of you live on the bald prairies in the spring, it was windy as sin so my umbrella kept blowing inside out; not much help.

 

At this point, understandably I think, I was soaked and incredibly cranky. Oh! It was also pretty much the only day last week that I didn't drive to work, and it was the only day last week that we had a torrential downpour. So, completely soaked and incredibly cranky, my mind turned to what I had to get done this weekend. I had been wanting to paint for WEEKS (as mentioned in previous posts), and since water was currently the bane of my existence, I decided I was going to paint a puddle with watercolour. I have never used watercolour as an adult. When I was super young we had little watercolour kits we would mess around with, but that was probably 20 years ago...

 

Raise Your Hand Say Yes right? So for accountability purposes, I put it up on Facebook for all my family and friends to see. Not too sure about the rest of the world, but this is super scary for me. I don't normally let people know when I'm doing creative things. Up on Facebook it went, my sweeping declaration that I was going to paint a puddle with watercolour paints. BAM!!

 

Well, true to form I put it off, and put it off, and put it off some more. Even though it was something a really wanted to try. Finally, after looking at my art kit thing (got it at Micheals a couple years ago, first time I've actually used it:P) for a couple hours, I found my multimedia sketchbook, got a lil glass of water, and went to town. What did I find out? I LOVE watercolour!! It's super fun and easy to mix colours right on the page. My technique leaves much to be desired, and if I didn't point out the fact that it's a puddle I think most people would have thought that it was a blue blob surrounded by brown with some blue lines on it (it was still raining when I was painting, so more rain seemed apt), but it's still something I'm super duper proud of. For my first try, I had fun!!

 

Now, because I very seldom do things halfway, not only did I tell the people of Facebook that I was going to do this, I actually POSTED IT on facebook (and instagram, but I do that with all my doodles and trials so I'm used to that). The reaction? Quite a few likes and some real support. What did I think was going to happen? The absolute worse thing possibly imaginable, because that's just how I roll. Hi there Inner Critic! How are you doing? Guess what? I just totes outsmarted you, and I plan to do it again in the future!

 

So, maybe doing something absolutely terrifying and new isn't such a bad thing. I now truly believe that everyone should do it:)

 

Peace out Monday!!!

Fuzzy like Dryer Lint

Hello all!

 

I can say that now because (at least it looks like) people are actually reading!! Yay!! You make my year!!

 

I think it's going to be one of those days... You know the ones where your brain is almost too fuzzy to think, and where you have so much stuff to do you kind of want to lay down and take a nap?

 

Turns out making a to do list just ratcheted up my blood pressure even more... Go figure.

I started this post yesterday (got too busy to finish it :P), but since then I'm feeling a bit better!! I mean my brain is still fuzzy as hell, and I was going to take a picture of some dryer lint last night, but I didn't get home from my meeting until super late so yeah... No dryer lint from my copious laundry pile today... Maybe I can find a pic online... Yeah, I'll do that!

Anyways, like I was saying, feeling a lil bit better today! Got my newsletter all sorted out, so that should be OK in the next couple of days, and I think I may have tacked down my summer schedule and figured out the markets I would like to go in.

The stressy stressy part is now making the content... All while trying to make up clothing/fix rushed clothing for the MLHS (Manitoba Living History Society)... Some of it by hand... Ugh... Thank God I have a week off coming up!! I will probably be doing nothing but weaving and sewing and painting and drawing... Maybe I should enlist some free help... Hmm...

But anyways, after raiding my parents basement for material that my mom doesn't want anymore/won't use I think my larders are pretty well stocked for a sewing frenzy!! I just need to get some more crazy colourful thread and I'll be all set to go!! ...and maybe some more material, I have an addiction and I'm willing to admit it, just not ready to deal with it yet...

It's the painting/colouring book front that I'm concerned a lil more about, since this is the area that I'm the least experienced in and I kind of have no clue what to do/charge for it. I'm thinking that I'll start with a super low price to start out, then slowly raise them over the summer if people buy them... That's painting out of the way, but with the colouring books I'll have to make up my costs because they'll have to be done by a professional printer... Hmm... I guess the first thing to do would be to get quotes... I don't really want to do it if it's going to cost me $20 to print for a book that I can only sell for maybe $10, because at this point I'm thinking that as long as I can cover my costs I'm pretty well donating my time spent on any projects I'm doing. At least until people start to notice me and are willing to buy at the higher prices. But we'll see I guess!

I wouldn't mind taking a class on drawing etc., but really, who has the time!! CLAH!!! ...if you don't watch Jimmy Fallon that means "cackle like a hen"... Yes, I'm a nerd and proud to admit it!!!

Anyways, until next time (which will hopefully be soon, and hopefully I'll have something more interesting to say or a new project I've finished), TTFN, ta ta for now!!!

Image Courtesy of Google Images

Haha!! See, I found one :P

Spring?? Where did you go??

I walked to work this morning in a parka, toque and mitts... It's April... Not that this is uncommon in the great frozen North, but still. Come on, enough already!

Alright, rant done moving into actual content now :)

So, I've been kind of away from the whole Social Media from a couple of days now, been feeling kinda bummed out and stressed. Why? Well, I kind of figured it out yesterday when I was telling a friend how tired I am. She told me that she hardly slept last night, and I agreed yes, I don't sleep super great. Then I started adding up all of the things I'm currently doing/just finished/are coming up... It was exhausting just writing it! Anyways, here they are in their glory:

• Marketing Director for the Manitoba Animal Health Technologists Association Board (having to meet multiple deadlines in the next couple weeks)
• Company Softball team
• Active Member of the Manitoba Living Historical Society
• Just finished a very intensive Certified Insurance Professional course
• Filling in applications and making content for Farmer's Markets for this summer (most are due by 3/30/16)
• Doing an application for an Artist Mentoring Program
• Just applied for a new position at work

Whew... Oh and plus trying to have a life at home too with my hubby and dogs... Wow... So yeah, needless to say I'm going to be making up a to do list today with deadlines for everything!

Anyways, on the brighter side of life, I might be having a few guest posts in the next little while on here! I'm super excited about that! I'll also probably (hopefully) be doing some guest posts on some other blogs as well hoping to get a lil foot traffic around here, and just because I love to write.

Speaking of writing, the first Letter to the Editor I submitted to a big local paper has been PUBLISHED!!!!! Mine is the first letter in the link. Operation Bombard Local Papers with Letters to the Editor until they give me a Job is well underway!! Yay!! On the writing side of things, I'm also starting to brainstorm ideas for a literary non-fiction (writing in 3rd person, not super great at that) to submit to another magazine competition. It's kind of ironic that I was so worried about how I would write two short fictions, when now I'm having even more trouble writing a non-fiction. But hey, once I start things kind of just write themselves.

I'm also working on my weaving. I'm now on creation #3 and loving every minute of it! I REALLY need to get some new and fun yarn though... I need more vibrant colours and different textures for my weavables!!

Well, that's all for now!! Things are looking up for the moment, even though it's cold as sin outside!!

 

PS - This is what I got from Starbucks today to warm up! Yay for winning work draws!! 

Monday Blues...

So, I have had an interesting and eventful weekend... I managed to get Friday off for "studying." Then, I got my reply from the scholarship I had applied for to go to a meditation retreat in Seattle in a couple weeks... No dice, and after looking into prices found that it's a little too much money to spoon out right now... So needless to say I spent most of my weekend in a bit of a funk amd as a result didn't really do too much crafty stuff.

However! I managed to drag my mopey ass over to Chapters and Micheals and got 2 new journals and a sketch pad. That helped considerably😜 I still haven't written in them, but it'll come😜

I'm also continuing on with my looming experiments, which are going REALLY well! When I was at Micheals I was also browsing through the yarn, but my will power held out and I didn't buy anything! Yay! There's lots of different thicknesses and textures that I can't wait to try out on my loom. And, of course, the bright colours. So many bright colours! I may have drooled a lil bit!

I also have plans for the sketchbook (other than the obvious sketching). I'm planning on trying to make an adult coulouring book (or kid if I can't make it intricate enough), and do a trial run with it at farmers markets this summer and see if anyone buys it😊 Pretty excited about that actually! Just have to get started now! Probably on lunch tomorrow (felt sick as death today). The bus ride blogging is also not really helping😜

I digress! The journals I have no plans for, but to add to my intricate collection of journals and maybe try art journalling... I should probably try to do some actual journaling too... Hmm...

I also REALLY want to start painting with my acrylics. Previously I took a couple classes on actual lifelike landscapes, but I think I kinda want to try abstract? Maybe? Look out for it on Instagram! @renaissance_renegade

Although I'm pretty bummed about not getting to go to Seattle, things are actually looking up for me😊 My next entry I'm going to be touching on being called an artist for the first time!! ...I'm mostly writing it down here so I don't forget...

Until tomorrow!!! ...probably...