Quickly - Nurturing Creativity - Week 20

Not much time to write much today. Just wanted to finally get my weekly creativity card posted. BUT -- will have pictures probably tomorrow. Definitely by the weekend. Doing a lot of making stuff but busy shopping, lunching and watching paint dry....literally. We did some sun-printing yesterday and decided that it needed A LOT of supervision (lol) so we sat outside on a beautiful day, with iced tea and some chai chocolate from Gena and watched the sunprints dry! What a life!!!!!

Now for my card this week......

Fire Your Critic!!

OK, I fired mine years ago but have to admit he keeps popping up! (also, wonder why I always consider my critic a "he"......hmmmm.....) Anyway, I wish I didn't listen to him but sometimes I do. Every wonder why you can hear positive input all day and then receive one negative comment and the thing you remember at the end of the day is the one negative one. Why are we so ready to believe the negative and doubt the positive.

Here's to all of us firing our critics and clinging more to the many many positives that come our way!!!!

Nuturing Creativity - Week 19

Wow, another week already. Last week just disappeared in a whirlwind of reorganizing, cleaning, dusting, and generally trying to find a place for everything. Let's just say......you don't really want to peek into my garage! But hey, I can still at least park ONE car in there! That's an improvement. I've had the spring cleaning bug for months now but Wil's visit has prompted it into high gear. It has been difficult to keep things straightened up with 3-11 kids here on a regular basis. But they are learning to pick up after themselves (even the 2 and 3 year olds!). For the older kids......if I find stuff scattered where it shouldn't be.....it goes in the trash. You won't believe what a motivation that is!

Wil arrives on Wednesday. Given past experiences....I'm sure I'll have creative stuff to post later this week!!!

OK, so now for my creativity card for this week......

Recipe Book

At first I wasn't really thrilled about this book. It is generally a journal of images, etc. just because you like them. Something to inspire me in the cold days when no ideas are rattling around in this noggin' of mine. I keep many different journals of projects, pages, ideas, etc. But I do have a really cool little accordian book a friend sent me from China. I'm beginning to put stuff in there "just because". It is a bit different to make a journal/book of things just because I like them or feel like a certain color one day. Only problem I've found so far is that the paper is not watercolor friendly! So....I'll have to figure out another method for marking my pages and expanding on them. I'll think of something I'm sure.

In my unending quest to share unique (and often unusual) art, here is the latest one for you enjoyment - and perhaps inspiration!!

Nuturing Creativity - Week 18

Haven't posted much to look at lately. Getting everything ready for "company" in 10 days!!! My friend Wil is coming to visit me from the Netherlands for a months!!!! Can you say PLAY DAYS?????? Wheeeeee! I say "company" in quotes because she is more like wonderful family than "company".

We have TONS of fun together and I am so looking forward to experimenting and playing in the studio, and going to garage sales, and shopping of course!

My Nurturing Creativity card for this week is:

Add Comfort

The idea is to have things around you that make you feel special while you are creative. I have my big comfy chair, my tea pot and lots of different kinds of tea, and a studio full of fun stuff to play with! This week is not difficult for me at all. My studio is my oasis and my sanctuary. I keep it pretty well stocked with things that inspire me!