Friday, January 18, 2019

How was I creative this week?

Friday is usually my day off from work. Usually, I spend most of the day cleaning, running errands or being creative (in that order). Although I love my part-time job (ELL IA at local elementary school), I love creating things. I dabble in watercolor, acrylic painting, paper mache, sewing, baking, writing, reading. Well, you get the picture. I like to do it ALL. I believe I am a lifelong learner. Always on the lookout to learn a new skill. Sometimes, I wish I could just master one skill. Instead, "I am a Jack of all trades and a master of none." Kinda sad (insert sad emoji). Anyways, trying and learning new things makes me happy. And that's the point. I create in little bits "here" and "there". Creativity is not always easy to see. For example, I sometimes find myself daydreaming of the little bird chirping outside of my window. "What could he be saying?" "Is he warning his friends of a cat lurking by?" "Or is he shouting God's praises for the beautiful sunny, clear day?" My imagination goes wild. Possibly, an idea for a picture book -wink, wink. Here are some of the things that kept me creative this week:
Baked Chocolate sweet bread
sketching a picture of my father-in-laws dog. Still a work in progress.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Too Subscribe or Not to Subscribe

Currently, I am in love with my monthly art subscription to "Lets Make Art". For $35.00 per subscription, I receive watercolor paper, paints and instructions on painting 4-5 paintings. The kit also includes a blank watercolor postcard, stamped and addressed to a family/person. The idea of the postcard, "lets make art matter," is to paint for someone who could use a little encouragement. I love this part of the kit. And, don't worry if you don't know what to paint. Sarah, owner of Lets make Art, has videos and lIVE facebook paintings to follow along. I have learned so much and get giddy with excitement every time I see a "lets make art" box on my front door. There are many subcriptions in just about any area of interest. So go ahead, and get creative! Here is a sample of some of my watercolor paintings and "Lets make art matter" postcards:

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

New Year- New Beginnings 2019

Every new years eve for the last 20+ years, our family (hubby and girls) have been writing goals, prayers, dreams, etc. for the upcoming year. It is one of my favorite family traditions that we have. We recycle old Christmas cards where we write what we would love to accomplish for the year. We then place them in a Christmas box and store until the following year. It is always exciting to see what we have accomplished or what prayers the Lord has answered. Sometimes, I am disappointed that I didn't accomplish certain goals (i.e. loose weight, haha). However, I usually carry-on goals to the new year in hopes of finally accomplishing them (i.e. lost 25 lbs in 2016-woohoo!) Last year, one of my goals was to participate in Tara Lazar's Storystorm 30-day writing idea challenge and submit a picture book manuscript. I started the challenge, but only wrote 2-weeks worth of ideas, insert sad face. But, because I don't give up that easy, I am participating in the challenge once again. I'm happy to report, I have one full week of writing story ideas.