Colored Rice: How to make my 3 year old's favorite sensory table activity

My kids love playing in the sensory table! I often have to think outside the box for new ideas on what to put in my sensory table. Some things just make sense, rice, beans, corn...

AWESOME things happen when we give kids open-ended material to play with! My kids play with the colored rice a ton more than if I were to just give them plain rice. Thier imaginations run wild, sometimes the rice is a habitat, other times it's a birthday cake or a secret ingredient to solving a crime, it's so fun to see what they come up with!

Here is how you make Colored Rice (1 cup) I like to do this 4 times with 4 different colors of Rice
In a quart size bag:
Take 1 Cup of Rice (4 parts)
1/4 Cup of rubbing alcohol, or vinegar (1 part)
add food coloring, or if you have it liquid watercolor (my favorite way to die rice)
The knead the color around in the closed bag, once all the rice is colored lay out the colored rice on a pan.  Let the rice dry for about 6-12 hours, I did mine in the morning and by the afternoon it was dry and ready to go.

I did have each color of rice in a bag for each color for longer than I thought, then I let them play with all the colors together and that was entertaining a bit more, now we just have Rainbow rice and it's so fun to play with!

This is such a great book That has great ideas, to do with young kids

Here is how you make Colored Rice (1 cup) I like to do this 4 times with 4 different colors of Rice
In a quart size bag:
Take 1 Cup of Rice (4 parts)
1/4 Cup of rubbing alcohol, or vinegar (1 part)
add food coloring, or if you have it liquid watercolor (my favorite way to die rice)
The knead the color around in the closed bag, once all the rice is colored lay out the colored rice on a pan.  Let the rice dry for about 6-12 hours, I did mine in the morning and by the afternoon it was dry and ready to go.

I did have each color of rice in a bag for each color for longer than I thought, then I let them play with all the colors together and that was entertaining a bit more, now we just have Rainbow rice and it's so fun to play with!

What are you born to do?"

Knowing what you are meant to do on this earth is key to your happiness.

It is in that quote by Mark Twain: "the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why" I wanted to share with you why I believe Mark Twain is right.

Motherhood is important, and about 2 years ago I know I was born to teach my family and those around me. I believe that I was also blessed with some artistic skills....

Here is part of my journey into the creating and art world:

 I thought that Art is for people that had nothing better to do, and as a young mom, I thought I had other important things to do, I watch a ton of tv... it was my block and a good excuse that I used to not create. I was so miserable. That misery started to seep into me and I became an angry wife and a controlling mother. I was a natural disaster waiting to happen, I was to my breaking point. How could I go on without art in my life?

Watercolor is so important to me. I woke up this morning feeling so blessed that I have made Art part of my life, and my family's life again. There was a time when I pushed art out of my life and I was miserable, COMPLETLY MISERABLE.

It was on that day about a year ago that I was walking Barbie (my adorable rat terrier) around a lake by where I live that I thought if the world was on my side if the universe was on my side I would be a painter, not just a painter, a watercolorist. So I spent the next year dedicating time to paint. It's always a thrill to put the first brush stroke on that really nice white paper. It gives me a peace in my heart that makes me feel like all is right in the world.

Playing with color is a great warm up for any artist,, make it fun!

When I decided to work with water based mediums. I haven't looked back. For every bad painting, and yes I have a whole cabinet that is full of paintings that will never see the light of day, I have learned. Those paintings that seem all right to share with others, I make into cards. and then the couple ones that I love have made it into frames. 

 I made this watercolor dream a reality with one early morning at a time, one brush stroke at a time, one trip to a local art store at a time. 

So how, how did I make this work with my family and my crazy life? Here are some tips that I have found worthwhile:

Anna Mason gave 5 great blocks we use to avoid making Art... I love them all so taking her council has helped me ten fold.

ALL ART IS A PROCESS! I can't shout this enough.WE needed to be gentle with ourselves, just because you are painting and haven't touched your love of creating art since you were young (for me it was watercolor and it was years since I picked up a watercolor pallet up.)

AND 

layering shapes always bring out my inner artist.

Don't' Compare to others: Every Artist that I love had to create in their own unique way, we are all made different we all have our unique style, we can't paint like anyone else except the way we paint. Even if you do a paint along with me type painting uses all the same brushes, and pigments, it's still going to come out different. 

So in the real world how, How do I fit "creating" into my busy life?

I have a routine and I stick to it, I make creating a priority, I do the best I can, and I let my kids have fun with me in the process. I wish there was an easy button, and the best easy button for a toddler is sometimes tv. Although I have a 2-hour tv limit.  

Creating art is always a trade off, I could give all my time to my kids and secretly die a bit inside because I need to create or let them play. Heaven knows we have enough toys for them to be occupied... I need my time, they need time to play by themselves, so that is when I create, those unstructured time. Sometimes I need a whole day or a whole afternoon. Nothing is more therapeutic than painting for fun and try to learn something in an afternoon while my kids are playing. Afterward, I usually have to spend a day cleaning... but totally worth the creating time. 

There is a trade-off to happiness in our house it looks like this:

Happy Creating!

If you are wanting to start watercolor this class that Angela has is a great one, it's helped me motivate me to try new subjects. Like trees, which I am super excited to share with you in a future blog post!

This class helped me realize that painting is a process that brings the painting to life!

By clicking and buying this class you are supporting my blog.

Asking myself this ONE question changed EVERYTHING for me!

Happiness is something we deprive ourselves when we have Toxic Perfection.

It is my hope that with this post that I can help you understand what Toxic Perfection is and how we can let ourselves be happier.

What am I talking about? Toxic Perfection is when we have to have everything perfect, whatever we do has to be as clean or as perfect as possible, It's not good enough untill________.

My friends in almost all artform, we must let go, the painting is done before it's "done" The bookan author Writes simply ends, and goes onto the next thing, it's simply done. I love what Jackson Pollock says about his painting The painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through.  

Julia Cameron in the Artist's way asks this simple question: What would I do if I didn't have to do it perfectly?
Answer: A great deal more than I am.

My answer to this great big elephant in the room question was: to paint, more specifically watercolor. But I will look completely ridiculous trying to paint, that is for real artists and I am a crafter I told myself.

The universe is usually on our side, not long after thinking that I would paint if I didn't have to do it perfectly, a friend mentioned that there are some watercolor classes online I will send you a coupon code for 1/2 off of your first class. I haven't looked back since that day. It's hard to actually go and do, our family art room was my classroom. I told myself to learn and grow. Part of producing art was to make lots of mistakes! So I did!

limited pallet I started with. 

You see when we decide that our perfectionism is a great excuse for not doing anything, we deprive ourselves of our personal growth. I have learned to understand that I need art in my life, almost as if it were air to my creative soul.

I was able to learn about artists and their lifestyle, interact with other students that love watercolor as much as I do. The excuse of I am not really good went away and I was left with: I am committed, now what? If I am skilled or not, it doesn't matter, what matters is Do I like what I am Creating?

Perfectionism has a way to make everything we make look "bad" that is not art, that is called being blocked. Perfectionism deprives us of the joy that comes from just practicing and playing around.

This month is World Watercolor month, and as I was looking at all the entries for Angela's Fehr watercolor challenge I have completely been blown away from all the talented beginners that never posted their work, some are just beautiful works of art. I wonder if we were all a bit more forgiving of our mistakes just how beautiful the world could be?  I want to leave you with this thought: Do not fear mistakes: There are none. ~Miles Davis

This week if you are wanting to try and watercolor Angela has a great challenge for us!
This week's challenge: Summer scenes. What view says "summer" to you? What is your view in the summer?

How to enter: Post your painting inspired by the challenge here: One entry per user per challenge prompt. This is to encourage you to paint at your own pace, whether fast or slow.

This is a perfect week to try a landscape! If you are timid about trying a landscape like I am (not my strongest skill in watercolor) check out Composing Landscape class, you will be glad you did! Angela's teaching style is so encouraging, and her knowledge of watercolor gives me the motivation to paint every day! Clicking on this link lets you get 20% off the class!  

Rural Iowa skyscape 

Last week was a fun challenge, it was on skies and I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on painting skies thanks to Angela's classes. 

By clicking on  the links, and purchasing a class you are supporting my blog

STOP WHAT YOUR DOING AND BUY THIS BOOK!!!

I was on Amazon and they have my most favorite book on sale for 1.99! The Kindle book price is $1.99

  
(affiliated link)

EEEKKK!!! This book changed my life, and I refer back to this book a lot! it's seriously worth your time to read! If you are at all creative or you lost yourself as being a mom, or a dad, and something is really missing in your life, this book is a way to jump start your life again. Seriously It's life changing for the better. I started blogging and watercolor on a regular because of this book, I got my life back and it's full of joy thanks to the help of this book. Julia Cameron is a brilliant Author and it's one of those books that can really help you learn how to use creativity to bless your life and those around you!

Not sure about this book, here are some of my favorite blog posts that the book has inspired me!

If any of my readers have read or "done" this book please let me know! Let me know what your favorite chapter was, or the most challenging thing you had to overcome from "reading" this book?



 
(affiliated link)

Art Journal Autograph book

Before our trip a nice a clean Autograph book

We were blessed to be able to go to Walt Disney World. So for 5 months, I was preparing for this week long dream come true!

Part of this planning was an autograph book. I knew that I wanted something that was personal, and creative. While I was watching an Art Journal class on CreativeBug I knew that I could make an art journal for our trip for autographs, it's a perfect fit for Autograph books!

Here are some of my tips, and How I made it work.

First, you need a good sturdy BOOK, The book I picked out was great until the last day, and it seemed to fall apart. So Get a bound book that can take getting altered. I like the mixed media sketchbooks for that purpose.





I love that art journals have no "rules" as it should be. So be free, when I was creating this journal/autograph book I wasn't thinking too much about the other pages I started in the middle and thought about the mood I wanted, I wanted each page to feel fun and bright and light hearted.

With the mood in mind I found stencils and away I went, I thought about color choices for each stencil and I decided that some pages needed to be simple and others had more saturated pigment than others, I wanted variety and texture on the pages so I used some liquid watercolors in a spray bottle which are super fun to play with!!!!

Other stencils I traced and then colored in the design, and also for some I used a blending technique to blend. Really I just wanted the whole book to feel carefree and bright, so I didn't fuss too much over the "art" of it, I spent most of my thoughts on the negitive parts asking questions like: Is there enough room for an autograph? Does the color work? is the color to saturated, You know all those silly questions you would ask if you were desinging something for someone.

For some non stenciled pages, I picked 3-4 watercolors and used brush strokes to make the page burst with colors, or used a light wash to bring out desing elements.
Not all the pages are showne in this post, I had 22 pages to create on, the perfect amount

Once the pages were painted on, I then had a pile of what I call "recycle art" Art that you don't want to throw away becuase you learned something from it, or you were messing around on some scratch paper and you really like how it turned out... Yep I used them in the book. I cut the art to size and added it to the pages with washi Tape, making it a flap to the page.  A cherished memory happend from my"recyled art" my daughter and I were getting Repunzell's autograph and she didn't want to sign on the flower that I wanted her to autograph on, she was like it's too nice to sign on top of it, that painting deserves to go in a frame, I assured her that it was just a pracitice one, and that she deserves this spot becuase after all my daughter and I love her! It was a special memory that I will cherish.

I chose washi tape that worked with the over all "feel" to match the washi tape to the book I used color theroy to govern my choice, that's all, nothing too fancy about it. If the color worked then it was good to go on.

Next I chose some journaling tags and stickers. I love going to Tuesday Mornings! While I was there in the winter I picked up a pack of cardstock stickers from Basic Grey (one of my all time favorite paper crafting designers) and knew that the stickers would be fun and bright for my addiction, I mean paper craft hoppy. Since I had like 10 sheets of the same stickers I didn't have to feel so stingy with the stickers and used them as accents to the Art Journal Autograph book! The stickers made the whole book look unified when before it looked like an art journal.

What do you think? have you used an art journal as a autograph book before? While we were at Cinderella's Royal Table Jasmin said to me, YOU GOT TO SELL THESE I have never seen anything like this before! So there you go, maybe I will start a new trend, I mean after all mixed media and art journals are so trendy right now, that it makes sense to turn your art journal into an autograph book right?

Artists dates preserve your family in this time of chaos!

I love Artist's dates! What you have no clue what I am talking about? Let me explain:

Artists dates for my family and I are simple, you could say that they are more like mommy dates, and they are... but for me, as an artist, it has more meaning to it, it feeds my soul with creativity and culture that helps bring my inner artist out to play. The goal of the Artist's Date is to let the kids and myself have fun and experience new views and ideas about our world.

julia Cameron in her book "The Artist's Way" describes an Artist's Date as a key tool in recovering our creativity. Simply put an Artist's Date "is a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist. In its most primary form, the artist date is an excursion, a play date that you preplan and defend again all interlopers." The benefits of Artist's Dates are numerous but one of our favorites is that Artist's Date feeds our creative well of images which inspire us in immeasurable ways!


Visit a festival, I took my kids to the Des Moines Art Festival and 6 months later they still talk about it. We made so many memories in that afternoon!

Go to a local candy store we like Rocket Fizz in Ankeny IA and get our children's favorite candy, CAN WE SAY JELLY Belly?

Go see a movie with popcorn and candy, I love it when our local theater in town would play the oldie kid movies that I grew up with like ET or Willy Wonka, or my favorite to watch in the theater with my daughter was The Sound of Music, it was truly the best Artist Date that I had with her in a while.

WAVE POOL or any pool, but for me, a wave pool is like heaven on earth!

Make a recipe together, it's usually from the PBS kids cookbook that I love! A good Smore or a superhero lunch date will work wonders for your inner artist!

Play in the sandbox with bare feet
Painting sticks and rocks, check out my blog post about painting sticks  I like this book for inspirations

Botanical Garden, or butterfly garden


Zoo trip, and lunch at the park outside of the zoo

Listen to different music and talk about what you like, I like to introduce my kids to silly 60's songs, Jazz, Classical, and Broadway music.

Plan a trip (research it with youtube, and books) Planning our Walt Disney Vacation had been really entertaining during supper, It made my inner artist come out, and I felt my soul lighter when the day was weighing on me.

Tulip Time in Pella taking a trip to a town nearby that has an educational or cultural feel is always worth the drive, Pella Iowa is one of my favorite places to visit.

Visiting a Greenhouse, we are blessed that we have a beautiful one that is in our School District that has a huge variety of plants, all kinds.

Visit a planetarium, (ok this is really just a trip to the science center) but every time we watch a show in the planetarium I feel elated by imagery and I always come back learning something new!

 I could go on and on, but really an Artist Date with children is an easy way to learn and see the world from a different perspective. An artist date with your kids should help your soul feel lighter and happier. I love seasonal artist's dates, like visiting the pumpkin patch during October, I mean how often are we likely go down that big slide without a screaming elated 7yr old? You start to feel young and carefree! I am so glad I implement this into our family's life, I hope that you can see value in this easy way to help preserve the happiness of raising a family like I have done.

As always I have someone else in the blogosphere that mentions the same thing, check her out:

Mellisa Taylor at Imagination Soup has a great list of ideas and ideas that work for families. (perfect Family Home Evening ideas.)


For other information on Artists Dates, I have a great post on taking time out for yourself here

Your boys are missing out on this!

Monster trucks? Markers? painter's Tape? and some paper.... Yes! I made art monster truck jam. It was a fun activity that my boys really enjoyed!

It's been in the works for awhile, I just needed some white paper on a roll, (butcher paper) I got mine from staples for about $10, The monster Trucks came from the Hot Wheel section at Target, and we had markers that I had bought during back to school season for like $.30

The prep:
Tape a good length of paper to the floor, I think our paper was about 3 feet long

Tape your kid's color choice of marker to a monster truck using painters tape, we found three trucks, so we used red, blue, and black. I loved using the pipsqueaks markers, they are shorter than regular markers, making it the perfect size for the monster truck, We also used regular markers, it's not a big deal to use either.

I used washable markers, so if the trucks did go off the paper it was an easy to clean up.

Afterward, use this paper as wrapping paper! or cut it up into shapes and use it as collage art!

My savings tip for this activity, buy extra school supplies late July, you will be glad you did, I always buy like 5-7 more packages or markers and crayons. They make some nice unexpected gifts, for example, your daughter was invited to 7 other girls birthday parties for this school year, (those presents can get really expensive,) pair some markers and crayons to a nice activity book, you have a perfect present for the birthday girl/boy!

Watercolor poppies are the Spring Card of 2017

I LOVE PAINTING and STAMPING flowers cards, so When these poppies from Stampendous came out I had to have them.  I came across them at my local paper craft store at Memory Bounds and snatched them... I started early in the morning to stamp they ( I made about 10 cards) turned out amazing!

The fun was in the creating, and decision making, do I want to do a resist embossing or just a watercolor, or maybe I wanted to layer the flowers? What I absolutely loved about all the different ways to create with this stamp set was that it came with a stencil so I used the stencil as a mask to get some really neat effects! (coming later in a different post.)

Then after the stamping session the next morning I watercolored the cards, I used a small percent of pigment from my Gansai Tambi and Stary colors to color the flowers,

For the watercolor I mixed the starry color White gold in with the Gansai Tambi cobalt watercolor with lots of water, I wanted a light and dreamy feel to the flower. on the background, I also just painted the white gold for some added shimmer.

then I assembled the card with a bit of pop dots, this card turned into one of my favorite cards that I had given to a wife that has her husband in a hospital.


at the bottom I made a happy mistake and used some Washi Tape, I love how the washi tape anchored my card to make such a stunning finishing touched! (washi tape was found at Michaels in the best value recollection washi tape tube.)

On a side note about this stamp set, it came with a stencil for masking, I fussy cut the flowers and leaves out.


My quick Desing tip: I like to use Washi Tape that adds a design Element to the beauty of the card. I knew I didn't want floral WT. I wanted something that complements the card.
  To compliment a floral design add a geometric pattern.

If you are looking to add some watercolor to your card making I would suggest taking this class at Craftsy or Yao Chang's class at Creativebug, both are excellent recourses to help with your watercolor.

Here is a review for the watercolor card class from Craftsy I posted a little bit ago.


Some links contain affiliate links, when you make a purchase through one of these links you are supporting me and my blog.

6 ways to feel peaceful in any situations

 Got Chaos? I have some small and simple ways that I have personally felt peace on a daily basis. These ideas can really help ground you and help you feel more freedom from earth's care. The experiences I have shared has also helped my artist come out to play and create.

Walk by yourself. Walking helps the brain digest stress, I love my walks. I am happier for it. All I need is a good 30-minute walk,.  I get to walk around a pond every morning, or if it's one of those days that I need to get "lost" in my thoughts the trail by my house is a great one to escape into my thoughts. 

A clean house helps bring peace and happiness. I "shine" my sink almost daily it brings me peace.

Cleaning your living area. I strongly believe that a clean house is conducive to a more peaceful life. I hate cleaning but I can feel more peace once my house is organized. With that said I balance organized chaos and a clutter free house very well. Also if you are a creature of habit or routine, staying on a cleaning routine helps a ton, and it's in those times that I can feel peace.

Letting go of control. For me there was nothing more important than letting go of that control, I felt free and almost like my soul was going to burst with goodness. What do I mean by control? It could mean that you came to your aha moment about that life isn't about you (it's about your kids.)

I tell myself, not my circus, not my monkeys I try really hard to not let others bother me, including what they are doing or are not doing. Which then leads me too...

Let your people help you: Yes we all want to be self-sufficient. and not "need" any help, I am talking about your family members. Let your husband help load the dishwasher, fold the clothes. We can't and shouldn't be able to do it alone. If you need help ask! You are cultivating a relationship with each and every family member, let them feel like they are part of your loving and caring family, even when they give you that laser soul crushing stare.  

Change your environment. Your environment plays a huge part of what and how you feel. I like an analogy about a fish tank, there is a crucial ph level that all fish need to have, if you go over or under that ph level they can not thrive. Same thing with us, there is a level of tolerance that we can thrive in. Is our environment something that we can thrive in. If not change it.

DO SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF I am a huge advocate for mental health. I know that if we don't take care of ourselves we are more likely to get in a funk, or even worse get into a depression. I know I sound dramatic, and maybe it is, but doing something small for yourself isn't being selfish.

captain's living quarters during the Civil War

I like to think about this analogy: When there is a war, the leadership: (captains) have a better living quarters than the soldiers, why? because they need that space to think, make the right decisions, how can they when they didn't have a good night's sleep, and not taking care of themselves.  We need to do that for ourselves. I believe it's not being selfish it's having foresight for what's to come.  For me personally, I need a good 3 hours of creative time a day to feel peace and calmness in my life. Those three hours are my time to help me be the best mother I can be. I get that time in the morning before school, and after bedtime.  

Do you have anything that brings you peace with a house full of children? I would love to know your secrets and ideas!

Happy creating a peaceful self! 

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!

Doing this 10 minutes every day for 2 weeks changed my whole life!

Spring flower interpretation from 2/2017

Wait! What? Really doing this small thing for two weeks really will change my whole life? Y-E-S! Without a doubt it will, and I am not the only one that thinks this, just search for the power of Affirmations. Ok, I rest my case. Here is a good article.

My experience: and it's transforming me into something amazing:

I remember a good friend said, maybe you need to do some affirmations, tell yourself you are good and better than you think. Hoey stuff I said, that's for people that have real problems, I don't have that issue.

Later that year, or in that same season of my life, I told myself, Hey: you really need to love yourself and learn how to become who god wants you to be.

Spring flower interpretation

All good stories of my life starts at the mall::  I was in Barnes and Noble and the book was right there as if it was placed in my way for just me! The Artists Way, I was familiar with it, my college professor swore by it, and recommended it to me personally. I was too good for it back when I knew it all. This time I bought the life changing book, and started the 12-week program the next day.

Week one is about feeling safe, and you start to feel safe by letting your own mind heal from all the negative junk that is holding you back from becoming who you and god want you to be.


How do you start to become better you ask? You do that by Affirmations. Yes, the ones where you say something nice about yourself, not just once but 30 times a day for two weeks.

Is it crazy talk? You do it and decide, your life will change! You, my dear friend, will be happier for it, and your family will notice a difference.

I know what you are going to say: I totally have control of my mind and thoughts, I don't need to tell myself that I am awesome, I sorta already know that.

wild rose interpretation, Windsor & Newton wc, round brush 14
  

What Affirmations do for you is changing what you think too how you think...

Here is a small exercise to do:

List me something you love about yourself, be detailed, don't skimp.
Was it easy? Did you know right way what you would say to yourself?  NO right? why, because you need to change the way you think. It's that simple.

Ok, now tell me something that you don't like about yourself...
(Really? you have something that fast?) isn't that funny?

We are so negative to ourselves it's horrible. Just plain horrible!

Inspired by the hymn lead kindly light From my sketchbook

Affirmations really are the antidote to kindness.

To be very transparent

My affirmations from the Artists Way
(I picked three out of the 20 she provided)
1 .My creativity always leads me to truth and love.
2. There is a divine plan of goodness for me and my work
3. I am willing to let God create through me

Last year my three affirmations were:
1. I am allowed to nurture my artist
2. I use my creativity to heal myself and those around me
3. Don't be afraid to use my creativity to bless others, because of my creativity I am serving my Father in Heaven.

I can't tell you how many times I would send a small piece of creativity to a friend, or someone I was thinking off, (like a teacher, a friend.) It brightened up their day and made them feel happier. One of my mantras now is:

Go to bed feeling like the world is a better place because of you. (Even if you demanded time alone in your studio to work on your art while it could have been a family day.)

Try it, write three affirmations, then for two weeks. Write them down ten times each, I usually do it in one sitting but you can do it throughout the day. It will change your life, or at least your perspective!

Need some ideas: I listed some good links
For the visual learners
For mothers on a side note, this is a great post to read!
For the family, I really like number 8 on the list....

Do you have a good Affirmation that works really well for you? I would love to hear it!

A free tool that changed my life

Morning pages saved my life!

I love how I feel after a 3-page writing session, it's my crack if I were a drug addict.

Here are some of the reason's why I love writing

I get to the other side of things, You may ask, what is the other side? It's when something isn't sitting right with you, maybe it was a thought that you just can't get out of your head, or maybe it was words that someone said that didn't sit well with you, maybe it's an idea that is wonderful but you have no idea how to implement that idea. Simply put you get all your frustrations on a page and then realize the real meaning behind why you feel the way you do. It's life changing, I think the world would be a better place if everyone took 30 minutes a day or even 30 mins. twice a week to get to the other side of things.

I often go back and re-read my morning pages and highlight ideas that I want to remember.

Writing helps you dream. It gets dreams out of your brain and into a place that you can see what you are thinking. I may never get to have my dream blog that I want, but at least I can dream and write about it in my morning pages. Morning pages can give me hope and faith in my dreams. It's a place to dream up the craziest dreams. I remember writing about 9 months ago about wanting to just go do Disney world, and how that won't happen, a powerful thing happened: 9 months later we surprised our children at Christmas that we are going to Disney World, and I can't wait... Dreaming is a powerful thing, and writing it out is even more powerful.

I plan, I explore other ideas, and just like that as if it were truly a magical experience, I get ideas, thoughts to problems that can be solved, an a-hah a hah moment, a way to deal with whatever issue I am facing. Recently my two sons are boycotting everything I make for them, words were exchanged by DH and I, I cried, and felt miserable for two days, After writing about it on the third morning, I figured out what to do... (spoilers for an upcoming blog post.)

Sometimes When writing I stare at a blank page, I know what I have to write about it, but it doesn't make it any easier. You see I have pride, lots of it, and I know that when I start writing my pride goes away and I am left feeling vulnerable. Yup, that's why it took me 3 days to write about the meal issue in our house. It happens every time but I am better off, and can usually get to the root of the problem with problem-solving strategies.

I can vent, seriously no one likes to hear me vent, I save that for my morning pages while venting I take stock of my emotions, and it's almost like a therapy, I can validate my feelings, and my injustice and then get to the other side of it. And it feels really good to just say what I want to say without hurting someone. Most often I can offend my family because I didn't have tact, I really like to tell it like it is, and I have hurt the ones I love the most with unkind words. Since I don't plan on sharing these morning pages with anyone in the near feature I  can be as tactful as I would like. (although I do hope that my children will get a good laugh when they are older and read them.)

some of the journals I have kept. Nothing spactacular!

Writing helps you heal! Mental abuse and other Abuse doesn't go away just by writing, but writing it out, can manage some of the hurt and pain that comes from the abuse.  There are days when I feel like I am just like my parents (mentally abusive.) I know I am not, but that ghost of the Nursery is real and it's enough to drive anyone crazy, Especially me. I don't like talking about it, I feel like no one can relate to me, so I write about it. Sometimes at the end of the writing session my soul feels nourished and free. It doesn't change the fact that it happened but by perspective has changed, and so has my soul, Writing helps me feel grounded to the world that I have created with my loving husband.


When you are in the healing process your sense of self is altered a bit, Writing helps you feel grounded, and have a sense of who you really are, Last year I wrote five affirmations to help me become more creative and find joy in my artistic talents, I wrote out five of the affirmations 3 times each day, for two weeks, It changed my life. If you are feeling less than your best, try it, you may be amazed at what comes next.  Try it, This is a great way to start journaling. I remember thinking to myself, I probably even wrote it before I wrote my affirmations for the day; with a thought like "this isn't really going to work, this is a waste of time". Maybe it was until the last couple days when I mentally saw my thoughts change to: I am glad I painted today, I really am able to bless the world by using my artistic talents! (one of my affirmations I wrote down 3 times for two weeks.)

I would love to know:  Do you journal? Does writing prompts help you? I love reading comments, please comment below!

Realistic flowers in watercolors step by step

By now you know that I love watercolor and flowers, I can't get enough during the winter months in the midwest. So when I found out that Realistic Watercolor Step by Step Craftsy class was only $10 I snagged it before I even thought twice about it. I am glad I did!

I used mostly Lemon yellow, Permanent rose, crimson red, and ultramarine blue for most of the flower, with a size 5 round and 1 round brush, for the veins I used a script brush. I opted out using white gouache for highlights. Next time I think I will try it with the white gouache. All the supplies I picked up at my local Micheaels store.

As you know I am all about the process of art, not the end result, If it makes me happy, and I enjoy it, then it's a win. This painting was fun to create,  I can't wait to try this process with other flowers.

blending colors 

Stippling and other blending techniques taught by Anna Mason

Although this class is a paint-along class, It's more than just the techniques, Anna teaches about color harmony, and uses only a handful of hues to create a beautiful painting. She teaches about how to add texture, and how to paint as if you are growing or creating this flower from nature, which I enjoyed the process of creating each petal. Most of the first lesson is filled with great ideas for warm ups when you start your painting session. I enjoyed the professionalism that she gave and all the great tips. You don't have to be a seasoned watercolorist to take this class, I really wish I would have taken this class earlier, as I believe that she teaches so much more than just painting a flower. 

Project I painted from Painting realistic flower Craftsy Class

This painting turned out beautiful that I plan to hang this flower in my house for everyone to see, I really loved the process of painting this flower, it wasn't stressful, and it was a fun class. I like you could make other floral paintings from this class, You could paint any botanical picture with the knowledge and skills you develop from this class.

I am an affiliate with Craftsy, any Craftsy link you click on will help my blog!