From Chaos Comes Happiness

So, I am renewing. Day by day. For those of you who read my last post, and those who commented with such love and support . . . I thank you. I am ok. I promise. Day by day. I've started, by spending more time outside. Getting out of the house, breathing in some fresh air (now that my allergies are more under control), getting away from the telephone and all the other things that give me anxiety and taking in the beautiful life around. I've gone on about four bike rides since my last post. Not very long ones. But long enough to close my eyes and feel the cool breeze on my face. Long enough to clear my mind and listen to the birds flying by. Long enough to get away from all the anxiety for a bit. I've also stopped eating bread. I'm trying. Again. Day by day. I had pasta last night  . . . couldn't help myself. But haven't had bread in a few days. That's a good thing. And, I'm taking pictures again . . . a lot of them. Right now, they are primarily...

Oh, my friends . . . I love creating something new. And now that I have finally finished organizing my studio space in our home, I was eager to get in there and get my hands on a new project. This one . . . is AWESOME (if I do say so myself), and I can't wait to share it with you. Have I told you how much I love Instagram? If you are a Facebook friend of mine, you already have a pretty good idea how much I love it based on the photos I share. If you aren't familiar with it,  Instagram  "is an online photo-sharing and social networking service that enables its users to take a picture, apply a digital filter to it, and share it on a variety of social networking services, including its own and other leading sites such as Facebook or Twitter." (source: Wikipedia) Aside from all of that (and please know I am not affiliated with Instagram) I absolutely love how the program conforms your photo to a square shape, and offers a variety of different camera filters a...

Phil took Katie out to the bus stop this morning. He is in town this whole week, and it is amazing how calm my soul is because of that. While he'll be leaving for the office during the day, at least each night he is home with us. Yes, life is good. Today he came back into the house after seeing Kate off to school, and said that the frost was just beautiful on our rose bushes. He grabbed the camera, and snatched some photos of it. I love my husbands photos. He could be a professional photographer. Have I ever told you that before? The modern age of iPhone camera (and the convenience of it all) has often taken the place of our usual digital camera, so I feel like we've gotten a little bit away from the really skilled photos we've had in the past. But when he has the camera . . . beautiful things happen. Here is a shot of the roses this morning . . .   I played with it, a bit, in photoshop. But after taking a second look, the unedited version above (as you see i...

Ok, maybe not a thousand photos. But, more than one . . . for sure. In the middle of life right now, I am taking part in a cool project called "101010 - 10 women, 10 businesses, 10 questions ". It was born out of an e-course by Kelly Rae Roberts that I took in 2010, and it consists of 10 women from this course answering 10 questions about their business. It's been a great process for me . . .  remembering what was important to me when starting my little creative adventure, and getting me back in line with my dreams for my business. Starting May 1st, I will be participating in the project. I'll be reminding you about it here, and sharing the link where you can go to see what my answers are to some questions like "What color describes your business?" and "What do you need to STOP DOING in your business?" It's going to be fun to see how my fellow artists have answered them, too. So, as I was preparing my materials for the project, I de...

 Feeling a little pensive today. So much to do. But not feeling like doing much of anything. The excitement of my creative biz has temporarily stalled, as I have discovered some copyright issues with the scrapbook paper I am using in my art work.  I will need to recreate 20 of the pieces I've put my heart and soul into, in order to sell them on Etsy. My own carelessness . . . I clearly should have thought about it before. But, that's what happens when starting something new that you have no idea about.  Makes me question myself.  And I don't like that.  The laundry is done. The girls are growing, evolving, and thriving, just as should be. PG returned home last night from another business trip,  and I've only discovered that the next couple of months will be much of the same (his traveling.)   And I am here.  I d...

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. -Albert Einstein Last night, Ella told PG she wished he was a little boy, so she "could teach him how to blow bubbles and show him her Pokemon cards." She is an amazing soul, this sweet little girl. Where, dear friends, will your imagination take you today?

So, I'm feeling better, my friends. I escaped life for a few days and traveled up north with my girls to visit their Daddy. Milwaukee, Wisconsin was our home . . . away from T.V's, phones, neighbors, family, everything. It was . . . . lovely. Just us. We spent a whole day at an indoor water park (avoiding the rain and heat), and I fell asleep at poolside while lounging in a comfy chair - mouth wide open - for about an hour. I haven't been as relaxed as this in weeks. PG laughed when I finally woke - I can imagine the other guests had quite a chuckle as well. But, it was good. Really good. And I woke up feeling a bit like my old self again. Again, a thanks to all of you, for the kind kind words on my post Monday. My blog has certainly become my land of release - and often feel like I dump my bah-humbugness on you, my faithful friends. I want you to know that your supportive comments pick me up when I am down, and bring such comfort to m...

I know I've told you that I'm going to The Creative Connection event in September. I'm SO excited about this conference - and can't wait to be surrounded with amazingly creative women from all over this country.  In addition to hearing some amazing keynote presentations from the likes of Cristina Ferrare , Becky Higgins , Karen Walrond , and my personal idol Kelly Rae Roberts , I have signed up for a number of cool creative TCC Handmade Classes that I am so looking forward to. I mean, I am taking a class with THE Stacy Julian and another class with art journal guru Melody Ross . Seriously!!! Pinch me . . . . I must be dreaming! A whole three days of rubbing elbows with women who are making a living with their art, their words, their blogs, and their lives. That's pretty powerful, inspiring stuff. Another class I signed up for during this TCC Event is "Photography to Boost Your Creative Voice."   If you are a long-time reader of my blog,...

Did I ever tell you that my Ella is a budding photographer? Yep, she sure is. I have my very own Annie Liebovitz on my hands, I do, I do. Her fascination with the camera started such a long time ago, and is probably a direct result of her father (PG) always putting a camera in her face to capture her dimples and smile. She'd smile for the photo, then beg for the camera and an opportunity to take her own pictures. So, we passed on Katie's little Fisher Price camera and let her go at it. . . . . . except, the Fisher Price camera was WAY TOO easy for Ella. There is no challenge in this camera - no zoom - no flash - nothing. Just click and go. Which is probably perfect for a number of children out there, but not for Ella. So, we found ourselves letting her use our "GROWN UP" camera. Probably not the best idea, but one that we felt we had no choice but to do. I mean, imagine what the world would be like if Monet  or Van Gogh 's mothers never handed them a p...