Reflections, gratitude and a Giveaway!

If you are a regular reader of my blog, welcome back after a bit of a hiatus. If you are a new reader, welcome. Gratitude is the main theme of my blog, I aim to be in a constant state of gratitude, to live each day with an underlying attitude of gratitude, grateful for every day and each experience. In previous blog posts, I have spoken at length about why I do this and my daily practices that help keep me in this mindset.

I always like to take a moment every day and reflect on what is in my present moment that I am grateful for. When life's challenges invariably come up, I always try to balance the negative with acknowledging those people, circumstances and experiences that I have to be grateful for. So, to this end, today marks a day of reflection and immense gratitude, as well as my contribution to paying it forward and expressing my gratitude to others.

Today I reflect on all of the experiences I have had over the past 12 months and longer, all the new people I have met and all of the interactions with my friends and family.

This year held so much with the most significant, a month long adventure with my beloved, to the UK and France, experiencing different cultures, visiting beautiful castles and chateaux, learning so much about their history and way of life. We basked in the warmth of the British and French people, always welcoming, only to happy to show us another part of their beautiful countries. We lived in a 6th floor Paris apartment, imbibed with the locals in Paris at sidewalk cafes and ate pizza while sipping on wine by the banks of the river Seine, wandered through the Louvre, took in a sunset over Paris from halfway up the Eiffel tower and generally soaked up the Parisian culture. We drove from the bottom tip of England to the north of Scotland, immersed ourselves in the history of Kings and Queens, took in the spectacular scenery of the Scottish highlands, visited all the stone Circles I could and followed the Outlander trail.

Art wise, this year was so very fulfilling, my continuing art journal classes with a fantastic group of ladies, my foray into the world of You Tubing, and a continuing daily practice of Lunchtime Art Time. Acceptance in my local councils, Emerging Artists exhibition was a highlight and just last month, being accepted to hold month long exhibition in the Council Chambers at the end of next year means a busy but exciting 2016.

Last night I celebrated with my family and closest friends, sharing stories, laughing over old photos, and reflecting on our time together. All in all I consider myself blessed, lucky to live in such a beautiful country, surrounded by people that have and still enrich my life in so many ways. I am lucky to have made connections with people all over this vast planet and, while some I may never meet face to face, still share a bond and friendships that I cherish.

Today I turn 50 and what better way is there to celebrate than to give presents.

So to that end I am having giveaway today as a thank you to everyone who has taken time to sit and read my ramblings, as a way to spread the love and share positive energy, as a prompt for everyone to sit and reflect on what is important.

All you have to do is tell me what you are grateful for today. Leave a comment and in a few days I will draw a winner and send them something arty

****Thanks to everyone who entered, the giveaway is now closed but if you would still like to tell me your grateful thoughts please feel free to comment.***

thank you for your presence

Namaste

Lee
 

30 Days of Gratitude - my guest post

I have some exciting news today - I'm guest posting over here at Your Heart Makes a Difference blog for their 30 days of Gratitude. I have added a badge on the right hand side so you can easily find your way there each time you visit me so please drop by and visit and show this lovely blog some love.

It's been a busy couple of weeks here and I haven't had much time to really dig my teeth into any of my art projects ,but Louise's 30 Days of Gratitude has prompted me to make a little Gratitude journal and keep up with it for the month of November and then beyond. I was fortunate enough to participate in a dreamboard workshop with Louise when she was visiting Australia some time ago and I love everything she does on her blog. She is a beautiful soul and I am grateful for our connection.

If you are a long time reader of my blog you will know that Gratitude is a BIG part of my life. Being in a state of gratitude has changed my outlook on life keeps the positive energy flowing through me and those around me. This outpouring of gratitude that seems to happen each year in November concentrates that positive energy and spreads around the world. It has been a long held belief that the earth energy as a whole is changed when there is a global outpouring of positive energy and by sharing our gratitude this month it is sure to have an impact, which hopefully is ongoing.

Today I am sharing my thoughts on my gratitude practice in my guest post but I really encourage you to  follow the whole 30 days on the blog. Louise has wonderful prompts everyday to get us all in an 'Attitude of Gratitude'.

 

 My little Gratitude journal was inspired by the greeting card journal made by Jennibellie. Here is the link to her tutorial on her blog and there are links in her blogpost to her youtube videos showing you how to make one. I made my with a a little box  that I had lying around and now I have started collecting old coffee sachet boxes and my cereal boxes to make more journals.

I used plain kitchen twine to bind it with and then plaited the ends. I really like the way it looks and it is small enough to have beside my bed to record my grateful lists, thoughts and ponderings.

For the pages I used pieces of white and black cardstock and also some offcuts of watercolour paper.  I even have a little pocket on the inside front cover that I have tucked in the printed list for Louise's 30 days of Gratitude. 

Yesterday was Melbourne Cup day and the weather was glorious so I sat outside and doodled on the front cover with my collection of Gelly Roll Pens, my Signo pens and my glitter pens. What a lovely way to spend the afternoon. 

I enjoyed making this one so much that I also made one out of a cereal box. More photos and a info on that in a later post.

So, what is on your Gratitude list today? My 5 things that I am grateful today for are:-

** the sun shining brightly heralding the forthcoming summer months **
** my health **
** my friends who listen to me when I am down and always cheer me up **
** this beautiful land that I live in, the lucky country **
** my family safely tucked in their beds tonight **

Day 30 - Gratefulness

I try to remember to take a moment each day to recognise what I am grateful for. Each day I try to recognise something that I haven't during that week. Gratefulness is an integral part of my life. For me it is the difference between the glass being half full or half empty. With a daily practice of gratitude, the glass is always half full. Whenever I am faced with a challenge I always look for a positive, no matter how small. It may be that the positive thing out of a situation is that I have learned a valuable lesson. It may be a wonderful new, although scary opportunity opening up. It may be recognising and acknowledging a relationship that soothes my soul.

I have many mantras that I say to myself in any given situation so when people ask for a favourite it is hard for me to pick one. One of my all time favourites is

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change" 

 

This phrase opens up possibilities, it helps me take stock and reframe how I am looking at the situation, how I can turn it into a positive, how i can make something even more. Effy wrote about reframing a while ago. If I can locate it I will update this with a link.

I'll start today with being grateful for belonging to such a great art community, on and offline, for being able to interact with so many wonderful, inspirational people that may never have crossed my path if not for this community and my passion for the creative. They inspire me everyday.

Friendship seems to be the recurring theme of my posts this month.

 Apart from my family, my friends are my lifeblood, they are the rocks in my hard places, they are the glue that binds my worlds together, they are the paint on my page, they are the words in my books I read. They are there in my times of need and they are there for a laugh and a nice relaxing cuppa. They "get" me and they don't judge me. They accept me for me and I am eternally grateful for their presence. I only hope that I am as good a friend to them as they are to me.

Each day, take time to recognise all that you have to be grateful for in that moment. Start with the obvious but try to go a bit deeper, look for things that you hadn't noticed before. See the little things that mean so much, from the clean air that we breathe, to the fresh water coming out of the tap.  Be grateful for the mundane, the routine, the normal. Be grateful for each and every experience you have because they are all a part of the beautiful mosaic that you are.

Namaste

Lee

Day 25 - inspiration, sharing and gratefulness

I teach art journal classes once a month at a local scrapbook shop. I teach because I love sharing, I teach because I want everyone to experience the joy I feel when I art journal. I teach because I love the people I meet. I teach because it's fun. If there is one thing that I strive for when I teach an art journal or art class, it is that I want to inspire people. I want to inspire them to try something new, I want to inspire them to spend time in their art space, I want to inspire them to express themselves more fully through art in all its forms. The greatest joy for me, when teaching, is seeing that smile on a students face when they realise they can do something they thought previously out of reach, that blissful smile when they finish an art journal spread or painting and they are thoroughly happy with, that smile when a breakthrough happens, when confidence grows, when senses are awakened.

Yesterday I was guest speaker at a local art society and I was invited to share my thoughts, knowledge and passion for art journaling. I was speaking to a group that 98% had never heard of or tried art journaling. They were so open to new possibilities that the 1 1/2 hours flew by. At the beginning (while I was setting up my display of my art journals and things I have made with art journaling, like cards, bookmarks, etc), during and at the end of my talk I had such positive feedback that I was smiling from ear to ear. I was ecstatic to see sparks of creativity igniting. To be told that I was an inspiration was so gratifying.

I am humbled.

So, in the tradition of paying it forward, backwards and upside down, I'd like to share with you my greatest inspirations over the last few years as I ventured into art journaling and the evolving of my paintings.

Kerryanne English from Shabby Art Boutique - A good friend of mine introduced me to Kerryanne via the blog world and told me of an online intro to art journal class that Kerryanne was running. We signed up, not knowing what this art form was but it sounded like fun. After the first lesson I was hooked. I loved Kerryannes approach to making it simple, creative and fun. I loved the way she taught me that you only need 15minutes to art journal, if that is all the time you have. 

 Paula Philips aka Journal Artista - Paula was one of the first art journalers that I found on you tube and I fast became a fan of her videos and her blog. I love Paula's approach, the fun that she has with her art journaling and the grungy style of her pages. When I was able I loved connecting with Paula via her online streaming. Alas now the time zones don't coincide so I have to be content with replays.

Effy Wild and the Glitterhood - I've taken a number of classes with Effy and am currently enjoying the Book of Days. I love Effy's no nonsense approach, her honesty, her forthrightness and fearlessness she brings to every page. Effy has taught me to embrace me own inner turtle, which I frequently have to do with my work/family/art balance constantly being tested. I have learned so much from Effy about how to dig real deep in an art journal spread and create beautiful works of art that are intimate to me yet able to be share. Effy's strength of character is a constant source of inspiration to me when i am overwhelmed.

Tracy Verdugo- I took a workshop with Tracy last year and it changed my whole view of my art. It changed the way i approached the canvas, it changed the way I approached the whole creative process. I finally feel as if I have developed my own style of painting that is me, expressed on a canvas. Tracy's style of teaching is so encouraging, confidence building and nurturing and I hope to be attending Tracey's workshop in Melbourne next year. Tracy gave me the confidence to truly express 'me' on the canvas.

Tamara LaPorte - my first class on faces was with Tam. The way that Tam talks to you, steers you in the right direction while encouraging your own style to come through in your faces is fantastic.

My tribes, my friends, my art class buddies - I am not one to have a many friends on Facebook just for the number on my screen. I have always been a close circle of friends kind of girl and I am forever grateful to those that I am lucky enough to call my friends in my art circles. They are a constant source of encouragement, support, fun and inspiration to me.

Please go and show my friends some love and see why they are such an inspiration to me

Namaste
Lee