18 Artists dates to inspire and make you happier

I mentioned in my earlier posts by taking care of yourself you can feel more peace. Here are some of my ways that have helped me become a more secure and happier person:

My pal Julia Cameron over at the Artists way and I call them Artists dates. to give you a brief explanation of artists dates: You and your inner artist's brainchild go out on a date weekly. Alone if possible, if not then take your kids along with you or sometimes you can take your Dear Husband with. It's a tool to help you to become an amazing mother, artist, spouse, friend, you name it, it will transform you!

Some of my favorite artist's dates I have shown lots of resistance too like I am too old for this or that's not for me right now... those have been my favorite ones:

Wave pool, just being in the sun energized me to make a series of paintings with just blue hues

Making cupcakes for NO REASON! (that was awesome I gave the cupcakes away to my daughter's 2nd grader's teachers, they LOVED THEM!) and here is another one that I posted about

Dancing with our disco lights at home to retro Disney soundtracks!

Watching an inspiring movie about other artist's I really like Walt Before Mickey. It was the best!

Look through magazines and cutting out whatever made me go OOH, I like that and making a poster of that and putting it on a poster board and then hanging it up for you to see all the time for a week!

Here are some of my dates with myself.

Going for a sunrise walk on a trail (one of my favorite)

Listening to a classical album and driving in the country

Planting tulips in the fall for a beautiful surprise in the spring

Taking a cooking class, and cooking the new recipes. Craftsy has a bunch of them, they always have one sale

Thrift store shopping (give yourself a 5$ or so limit.)

Making something that isn't in a fine art form  like at Creativebug like paper flowers
Fall in love with creativity at Creativebug I also love Lisa Congdon, she is pretty awesome!

FriendsDay, a whole day or afternoon where you and your BFF can just talk! those are my favorite!

I also have a running list of things I would like to do if I had a sitter (grandma) on hand on the weekends or in the evening.

Temple/Church worship (with husband is nice too)
visit a local farmers market (can't wait till spring)
visit the rose garden by the art center in the summer
Canning something (jelly and pizza sauce are my favorite, I do this with kids too, but it's fun by yourself.)
Sightsee and take pictures

A trip to the dollar store with a $5 budget to spend on just you... I like stickers and a helium balloon! Then I visit the scrapbooking store that is in town and get my eye candy fix.

A great example of how Artists dates can change your life came from a scheduled artists date about a year ago:

My love for paper flowers came from an artist date, I thought what if, I used my cameo to use up some of this horrible paper someone gave me and made it look like a flower? It worked and now I love them and hope that someday it can become a way to make some fun money.

My experience with artists dates have made me see the goodness in the world again and gave me proof that God really does want us to be happy!


I love them so much that I am in the works of posting An Artists date with kids post to come soon!