Gaining Perspective is a Process

Hello Creative Friends,

I never realized how much the weather must influence my moods until I started staying home (big job layoff) working at my computer while looking out the window at cold gray rain. I live in Houston and we are used to mild winters and sunny days. We pay for these mild winters with sweaty suffering in the summer, so I want my shirtsleeve winter back.

Now that I have talked about the weather long enough to eliminate most readers, I'll get to the point. I am wondering if I was starting to suffer from SAD disorder. (You know, Seasonal something Disorder. I am Too Lazy To Google: called, just now, by me:TLTG, a new disorder where the ignorant are too lazy to learn something they don't know simply by typing in a question in their tool bar, but I digress.)

I woke up bummed, cranky, and feeling sorry for myself. I have been having some business issues that I just can't conquer. I might conquer them if I could throw money at the problem, but I am an out-of-work artist and struggling entrepreneur with limited funds. Evidently, I also was living in fear of the future, a road I seem compelled to go down just like the woman in the movie who stupidly goes into the dark cellar armed with a nice hairdo and a cute figure.

I am not talking true depression. I have a healthy respect for depression. What I am talking about is self-defeating, self-flagellation self-talk. Because I can't solve my problem today, I am a low-life scumbag and the best thing to do about it is admit defeat and crawl into a hole. Oh yeah, and don't use any of the tools you know about to get out of the hole. It's comfy and familiar in here. I've been here before. Lots of room for eating worms.

And then late last night, I was responding to an email to a friend, complaining bitterly about my plight and it hit me. There may be hundreds of thousands of women who would gladly trade their problems for mine; who would sleep in a comfortable bed, not on concrete in fear; who would find their family members safe; who would not be grieving for real loss; who would not be enduring the worst moments of their lives. These women live in Hatti. I felt ashamed of myself.

The self-pity lifted and this morning the sun was shinning. It is a whole new day.

Perspective, Grasshopper, Perspective.

Living the Dream

Hi Creative Friends,

"Those who betray their dream will later deal with the consequences." -Daniel Levinson

I know that compromise is a part of life, but I hope that when my life is near the end, I am not a bitter and sad old woman because I didn't do the things that make my heart soar and make me feel alive.

I know people who still have opportunities to follow their bliss and they don't do it. It is tragic to watch. I think part of the problem is that people wanting to follow their dreams think they have to have the perfect conditions to do what they love, so they wait. They assume that they need clumps of uninterrupted time, unlimited supplies, or no distractions.

And as they wait, hold off, procrastinate, the nudge from the universe passes them by. Not that the universe wouldn't ever nudge them again, it will. It is just that that creativity knocks at doors that are open, not slammed shut.

Ask any mom of a two year old how she gets anything done and she will say she accomplishes tasks in little bits. So why not treat your creative dreams like the precious children they are. Be the mom of a two year old and do what you can when you can. Follow your little dream around and nurture it and allow it to grow.

Don't wait. The best time to start is now. Don't wake up one day and wish you had lived your life differently. There will be consequences.

How To Get Ideas

I just finished a great book called: How to Get Ideas by Jack Foster. It has a bold title, I think, but he follows through with examples, advice and some good ideas on how to get them (ideas, I mean.)

Maybe because he is/was in advertising, he knows more about how to make a book palatable to his readers. I am going to mention another book, called The Care and Feeding of Ideas, a Guide to Encouraging Creativityby James L. Adams. I have tried to read Mr. Adams book but he is an engineer by training and big wig department chair at Stanford University. Bless his heart, I am sure the man is more creative in his little finger than I am all over, but I have opened his book five times and every single time, it makes me want to take a nap. There are math examples and exercises, along with charts and graphs and a diagram about memory and oh, I could go on.

In Mr. Foster's book, there are cute illustrations by Larry Corby that say so much more to me that all the graphs and pie charts in Mr. Adam's book ever could. It is unfair to compare the two books because I haven't read the latter, but will I read it when I can hardly bear to peruse it? Can I get over my eye rolling, heavy sighing indignation at what format I think a book about ideas should look like.

How to Get Ideas is the book for me and you too if you need to help generating ideas fast. I am going to try to get through the other one. Any ideas on how to do that?

It's Not Magic, It Just Feels That Way Sometimes

Emotional Freedom Technique isn't magic, but it can certainly feel that way. People all over the world are making decisions to do something differently this year, this month, this day. Who knows how many will actually succeed with their desires?

I want to give you a step by step method for using EFT to help you accomplish a simple goal. EFT is a kind of practical magic. It only works if you work it. It has worked practically every time I've used it. If you don't know what EFT is, you need to find out before this will make sense. You can find out here.

Decide on your goal: I am going to use a goal about my creativity because I always want help in this area. For our purposes in this post, I'm keeping it simple.

How to decide:
Keep it specific and measurable. (And I say, pick something you might actually do instead of something you "should" do. That's kinda magical in itself.) Instead of, "I want to paint more this year," make it, "I want to complete three painting projects this month." Now we know exactly what we are shooting for and we will know at the end of January if we've succeeded or not. (If you say, I want more money this year and I give you a dollar, boom, you're done, just not very satisfying or probably what you had in mind.)

Make it concrete:
Write it in lipstick on your mirror. Use sticky notes on your computer. Tell your eight year old to bug you. Whatever it takes to be reminded that you now have some action to take.

Take notice:
You are about to encounter Blockhead (your internal critic). He's going to tell you exactly all the reasons you can't accomplish your goal and what statements you will need to tap on.

Use your imagination to see the end result:
In all it's glory, I am imagining how wonderful these three painting projects will be. I will have them done on time and the recipients will absolutely love them. Now my internal critic (and yours) will step to the plate and tell you all the reasons why you (incompetent YOU)will not be able to do as you have imagined. If your Blockhead doesn't have anything negative to say, go do your goal right away or pick a better goal!

Start writing when Blockhead starts talking:
Here's what mine has to say:
You've got too much other work to do to get them done.
People are ungrateful for all the effort it takes to do the project.

  • You hate it when you have to show it to someone else because it's too scary.

  • You don't have a clue what you are going to paint.

  • You never have any good ideas for paintings.

  • You just wing it and waste time and supplies.

  • Why do you bother?

  • Why don't you quit before you waste all that time and have to go buy a gift after all?

Thank you Blockhead for sharing: Now, I have about eight reasons why this goal is a lousy idea and why I could fail at if if I don't eliminate these negative feelings.

Ideally, I will just turn my Blockhead's sharing into EFT statements and tap away the limiting beliefs. That's where it feels like magic. I was feeling this way about painting three projects this month and now, I have eliminated some big stumbling blocks to getting them done. However, this issue of time needs more attention. I can't tap more hours into my day. So how can I handle this?

It is true that I don't have a lot of time. I do have time to watch Gray's Anatomy, I've noticed and there's my Facebook addiction. Ok. So I can choose to use my time differently, but I have feelings about missing Gray's Anatomy. So I tap on that.

Even though, I'd rather be watching Gray's Anatomy than working on painting projects and I'm angry that I can't do both, I choose to spend my time painting first...

Even though, I love Gray's Anatomy, and I'm sad I have to paint while it's on, I choose to enjoy painting...

Even though I resent the recipients of these painting projects for not knowing how I've sacrificed Gray's Anatomy for them, I choose to enjoy the time I spend being creative...

Ooops! That little petty feeling slipped out, didn't it? I love when that happens! I get to eliminate pettiness! Yay.

I think you get the idea.

When I have some clarity without all the noise from Blockhead, I know that I have three very good reasons to paint three projects this month. I want to paint something for my daughter's wedding shower. I owe a birthday gift to a friend who loves my work. I also want to paint a give away for the One World One Heart event. The bottom line is, I love to paint things to give to others. I love it when they are surprised and delighted. I paint. It's what I do.

With EFT, it doesn't have to be such drama. I'd rather get my dose of drama on Gray's Anatomy.

Join Me for a Resolution Revolt

Hi Creative Friends,

I have always been lousy at keeping New Year's Resolutions.

I've tried all manner of methods to make them work. I've

  • written them down on index cards, sticky notes, journals, etc.

  • shared them with others so I could be held accountable

  • shamed, bullied and belittled myself

  • bribed myself with rewards

Most of the time my resolutions were about me trying to force myself to do something I didn't want to or wasn't able to do at anytime of the year. Like January of the New Year was suddenly going to make me more productive, organized, energetic, willing, you name it; the turn of the calendar page was going to do the trick.

Alas. Failure by February...if I lasted that long. Then I get to feel worse.Hey, if New Years Resolutions work for you, I say go for it. But I am all for the easy way out and having some more successes.

So, this year I am creating a Resolution Revolt! Let's resolve not to do more revolting things next year. Why not join me?

Let's resolve to do something fun and creative this year, even if it's a little risky or oddball. Let's resolve to do something we might actually do, not something that we have to bully ourselves into doing.

Let's see...

Would I rather resolve to make my bed every day without fail or eat a Hersey's kiss every day until I am sick of them? Oh wouldn't it feel good to pat myself on the back for eating chocolate?

Would I rather resolve to clean out the gutters or sign up for tango lessons? Now here is a show stopper. Tango lessons sound risky, but for God's sake, not boring or dull or yucky like digging wet sticks and leaves out of the gutter on a Saturday afternoon, my day off.

If Tango lessons aren't your passion, find something that is or could be if you would allow yourself and resolve to do that!

What is one thing that if you decided to do it in the upcoming year would make you smile, feel like a kid again, or interest and entice you?

What creative urge, nudge or idea do you have that you've been toying with that won't go away? Expand on that. Resolve to do that.

I am voting for doing something creative that will make me feel good when I do it and want to do it more as my New Year's Resolution.

How about you?

Merrry Christmas and Happy New Year

Hi Creative Friends,
It's Christmas!

Finally, halls are decked, presents opened, dinner is finished, antacid working. Ahhh, how do you spell relief?

Thanks to all my peeps and my family for all that you are to me. This year has been a real roller coaster ride for me and my family. The night before Christmas Eve, a tornado hit my hometown.

Thankfully, nobody was hurt, but a lot of people had a very different Christmas than they intended. Two of my cousins are not going to be styling hair for a while because there is a hole in the roof of the beauty shop where they work.

I wish my sweet cousins and all the other folks who were affected will be back in the groove in absolute record time.

To all of you, I wish you the happiest of New Year's.

Tis the Season to Be Creative


Hi Creative Friends,

Wow, what a busy time of year. Rod and I were out in traffic today and it is enough to make you want to motor on back home and stay until all the nuts went back to their trees!

I almost forgot to get to this post. I wanted to let every one know about my Blog Talk Radio Show I have started. You can click the little button on the right hand column on this blog and listen to my first show.

I won't rewrite here what I said on the show, but I do want to encourage everyone to notice how much creativity is in the world around us. I am grateful that so many creative people are willing to share theirs with me.

I wish all of you the very best Christmas and an abundant and creative New Year!

Have a Creative Day!
Hugs, Diana

Imagine Easy(ier) Creativity

I like being creative. It is who I am.

Being true to your creative self and your craft can fill you with both exhilaration and misery. I used to paint things that were designed by non painters. It was an evil process.

"Make this item look like something I am imagining. Discern from my rambling description what greenish taupe looks like and no, I don't have time to pick out a paint sample. It's very similar to the one you did for me last year. I'm sure you will remember it once you get started. Can you have that by Wednesday? My client is having a party and I forgot until yesterday that I should have ordered this a month ago."

I, not being the boss, never got to stab the client with my steely knife or my pointy Windsor Newton. Being one of the "dime for a dozen artists" in my town, I knew that if I did as I really wanted to do, I'd serve jail time and three more talented artists would take my place, because everybody knows, there aren't that many jobs where you actually get to paint for a regular paycheck.

My diabolical boss was sure to let me know that someone had been by with their portfolio sniffing around for a gig, but seldom managed to pass along to me the accolades he received for work I'd done on his behalf.

So you see what I mean. Creativity can be a pain in the psyche, not to mention the ego. I always tried to use my creativity for good, but I had dreams of fashioning a voodoo doll for a number of clients and bosses returning the favor of being a pain in the ass. I don't want to not like people, so I never felt good about all the anger I was experiencing and it colored my creative process and not in an artistic way.

I'd like to tell you how I kept my sanity and sense of humor and my job. I starting using Emotional Freedom Technique to help me eliminate my bottled up rage at my situation and my fear of making an expensive mistake that could cause repercussions that I could do without.

EFT is a type of tapping that you do on certain points of your body, similar to acupuncture, only without the needles, while focused on the emotional upset or problem. The tapping process virtually eliminates the distress one feels before beginning the process.

I learned to tap when I knew I had an upcoming meeting with a difficult customer to relieve my agitation or my negative expectations of the outcome of the meeting. Meetings started to go smoother. If I had no opportunity to tap prior to the meeting, I would tap on all the negative emotions I wanted to dissipate and then I would be able to go on with my work instead of ruminating on my despair.

It seems odd that this simple routine can make such a big difference in the life of an artist or any person for that matter, but it can. Once I started using it in my creative life, my whole life got better. I use it almost every day even though I no longer work in the evil empire.

Emotional Freedom Technique is a tool every artist should have in her tool box. I want to share this tool because creativity is hard enough. Creativity should be joyful, not painfully difficult.

Imagine easier creativity; with EFT, it exists.

Commit To Create Challenge Canceled until January 4, 2010

Hi Creative Friends,

There's good news and bad news. The bad news first: The Monday morning Commit to Create Challenge has been canceled until January 4th, 2010.

Now the good news: I am canceling it because my brother is coming for Thanksgiving and he'll be here a week and I want to be sure I leave my days unscheduled, so we can visit, go to the movies, stay up late laughing and whatever mischief we can get into.

Then, just about the time, I could get back to a routine, my mother is having surgery and I need to be with her. Next, comes Christmas, then New Year's and oophs, there we are: January 4, 2010.

Put it on your calendar! We'll get back in the groove in January.

Hugs,
Diana

Have creative day! And the rest of the year for that matter!

Commit To Create Challenge End of Hour 2

Hi Creative Friends,

Oh wow! I so enjoyed my morning. I started writing at this hour and looked up at what felt like five minutes later and it was time to write this post. Time passes fast and easy when you are in the flow of creativity.

I love it when that happens.

My hope for you is that you had that experience as well.

Telling yourself that you are going to do something and actually fulfilling that commitment to yourself is such a great feeling. Too many times, I will let the promises I made to myself slide so that I can do for others. Not that we shouldn't honor our commitments to others, it is just on a list, I am usually at the bottom.

When I do what I say I am going to do on Mondays, I feel energized for the rest of the day. I feel confident and upbeat and ready to do more. It also is a great way to start my week.

So that's me.

Have a creative day,
Hugs,
Diana

Commit To Create Challenge End of Hour 1

Hi Creative Friends,

End of hour 1

How did it go for you? Did you accomplish your goal for the hour? Are you on track?

Mine went well. I did tap on the statements from the first hour but I changed it up a bit. I intend to rewrite those later and post them here.

I am getting some writing done, Baby and it feels good. Cue some James Brown music right here. I feel good. Na na na na na.

See you back here in one fast hour. If you are having challenges, get dear old Blockhead to tell you his or her opinion about the situation and turn the opinions into EFT statements and tap away the negative.

Hugs,
Diana

Commit to Create Challenge 11-16-09 Hour 1

Hi Creative Friends,

Welcome to the Monday Morning Commit to Create Challenge!

Oh how wonderful to be up for a challenge. If you aren't, it's time to learn how you can turn that around using EFT. Check out last week for ways to do just that.

Emotional Freedom Technique can change your attitude from a negative to positive and when you do that you can change the outcome of your creative project.

Maybe you already have a positive attitude. Maybe you are excited, confident, energized already and you think that you don’t need EFT to get going. That may be true, but I would like to make a suggestion to help you stay that way.

How about using these statements while you tap?

* I am excited about my project and I choose to stay that way for the duration to completion of the project.

* I am confident in my abilities to do this project and I choose to stay that way for the duration of this project.

* I am willing to be an instrument in the creation of my vision and I choose to stay that way until the completion of this project.

What is your attitude about what you hope to create today?

My challenge today is to do some writing I need for some classes I want to teach. I am pretty clear about what I want to accomplish today but I am going to use the above statements just to stay on track.

Let's get started and I'll be back at the end of the hour to report in.
Hugs, Diana

Commit To Create Challenge End of Hour 2

Hi Creative Friends,

Whoo Hoo. I can't wait for you to see the photos. I am going to finish up my art table and then post the before and after photos.

I am humbled by this experience. I can't tell you how high my resistance was to doing this work. On a scale of 1 to 10, it was pegging out at 10.

One might argue, "What does cleaning/organizing your art table have to do with creativity?"

Easy answer: Everything! When you see the before photos, ask yourself, "Is this a pleasant place I could spend some time being creative?" Heck no! This cluttered, messy desk is a physical block to me being more creative. My not wanting to address it is an emotional block to not being more creative.

This block ultimately prevents me from being fully self-expressed. I don't play, make, fiddle, doodle, or meander at my desk. I avoid, resist, procrastinate.

If you read my earlier post from today when I began, what presented itself was disgust, petulance, annoyance and a determination to get out of my commitment. Classic creative resistance.

When I listened to my Blockhead, it was painful to discover how hard I can be on myself for being human. Who do I think I am? That seems to be BH's default mantra.
Thankfully I have EFT to help me release these limiting beliefs.

I gotta run. I do feel energized and I want to finish my task. Can't wait until next Monday and see what gets done.

Here is the finished project: Yipee. You can click on the photo to enlarge.

Have a creative day!
Hugs,
Diana Meade

Commit To Create Challenge End of Hour 1

Hi Creative Friends,

It's 10:00 am central standard time

I am just going to do a quick check in.

I have had some good success with cleaning off my art table.

Here are a few blocks that I encountered along the way:

Even though I don't like throwing things away, I deeply and completely love and forgive myself.

Even though I don't want to complete these petty little tasks like putting something exactly where it belongs, I deeply and completely love and forgive myself.

Even though it feels like some things are more important in organizing, that my time is too valuable to put tidbits in containers, I deeply and completely love and forgive myself.

Even though I don't like to follow through to completion, I deeply and completely love and forgive myself.

Reminder phrases:

I've done enough already
You never finish what you start
You don't have enough room for all your crap
You keep bringing stuff in
You don't do anything with what you have
(HELLO, Blockhead!)
You just pretend you are an artist
You haven't done anything creative in months
You are such a looser

(Again, Blockhead thanks for sharing your opinions) (If a real person standing outside of yourself was saying this crap to you, wouldn't you tell them to hit the road? Well, we (you and I) can't ever get rid of Blockhead, but EFT helps turn down the volume on all these lies and poison.

More tapping to do.
And done.

Actually, I feel like going back to my art table. Yay. How did that happen?

Hugs, Diana

Commit To Create Challenge 11-09-09

Hi Creative Friends,

Wow, where did the weekend go? Here I am again for the Commit to Create Challenge.

Today I am a prime candidate for what this exercise is all about. Frankly, I'd rather do something else than what I had committed to myself to do. I could just lie to you guys and you'd never know. Grrr.

Here it is: I have to clean up the dreaded art table. It is a mess. There is no room to work. It has become a dumping ground for stuff that doesn't have a home yet. So here I am dreading it. Hating it. Wanting to go back to bed.


Do you blame me wanting to take a nap rather than facing this mess? Even the cat didn't hang around.

Practice what you preach, honey girl. What is my Blockhead telling me about this project that is influencing all this negativity. Here goes. Take it away Blockhead.

I should already have this done.
If I would put my things away when I finish a project, I wouldn't be in this predicament.

(Excuse me Blockhead, say what you really mean behind these statements.)

You are a lazy slob.
You never finish what you start.
You are so lucky to have a place to create and this is how you treat your space.
You ungrateful wench.
You will never get organized.
Who do you think you are?

Ok, Blockhead, thanks for sharing. I know I've stopped you smack in the middle of your creative flow, but time is running out here.

Well there you have it, boys and girls. Blockhead gets right to the chase with her last zinger, "Who do you think you are?"

If you just want to go clean off your art desk, how are you supposed to fight all this conscious or unconscious thought, feelings, and beliefs rattling around in your head? The line of bull that Blockhead puts out is an amazing tribute to negativity. No wonder, going back to bed is preferable.

Here is my EFT process to eliminate this block.

Even though I am a lazy slob and I will never be organized, I deeply and completely love and forgive myself. (set up phrase)

reminder phrases:

I hate cleaning up
I'll never be organized
I'm a lazy slob
My mother thought so
I never kept my room clean
There must be something wrong with me
You ungrateful girl
Who do you think you are
Why do I have to do this
Why doesn't someone else do this for me
I'll never get it done

Ok, I just tapped those statements out. And a new one popped up.

I feel punished when I have to clean

Even though, I feel like cleaning and organizing is punishment, I deeply and completely love and forgive myself.

You're a bad girl
You are such a lousy housekeeper
If you cared, you would clean
You should be punished
Who do you think you are
I don't want to do it
Sloppiness is my rebellion
You can't make me do it and like it
I'm such a bad girl
I didn't do other bad things
I was really a goodie two shoes
I just kept my room messy to piss you off

Now, I'm getting it. I am mumble mumble years old and I am still trying to aggravate my mother by not cleaning my room.

I don't clean, organize, create a loving space for myself to work in because I am still fighting this fight with my mother. I was such a "good girl" in high school that my only rebellion was to exert some control over my life was to create bedlam in my bedroom. Clothes on the floor, loud music to annoy others, can't find the bed to sleep in; you have the idea.

Ok, it's time to do the thing I committed to do. I have some tapping to finish first, but I already feel more inclined to get busy. Odd? Coincidence?

See you in 45 minutes.

Hugs,
Diana

Letting Go of Resentments

Hi Creative Friends,

I have a friend coming over on Sunday so we can do some art making together. I am excited about the prospect.

My friend Audrey is a genius when it comes to quilting and machine embroidery. She makes beautiful baby quilts that any mother should be thrilled to keep as a treasured heirloom.

She cheerfully gives away these creations despite the hours spent, not to mention the cash she lays out for materials. I've noticed that I always wonder when we do "Show and Tell," if the recipient knows the value of the gift that he or she will receive.

The reason I bring this up is I have given the gift of creativity in the form of handmade items and I have some strong feelings about this issue and would love some feedback from you. Here is an example that was related to me by a woman I met at the Houston Quilt Festival. We were discussing this very topic of giving away our work and she told me this story.

She worked very hard to make all her grandchildren a quilt. To her, it was a legacy she wanted to give to each child as a remembrance of their grandmother's love. During a winter visit to her son's home, she noticed that there was something stuffed in the doggie door to keep the cold air from blowing through. It was one of her quilts that she had made for one of her grandchildren. The woman was devastated that her gift was not valued. I asked the woman what she did and she said, "I stopped making quilts to give away." She was still bitter, years later.

This painful example brings up two contradictory ideas. One is to stop creating for ungrateful recipients. The other is to keep on creating and gifting and let your creation make its way in the world on its own. Finding out that your crocheted tea caddy didn’t fit in with your daughter-in-law’s kitchen décor and landed in her garage sale is tough, but no reason to stop being creative or punish the daughter-in-law, ungrateful wench that she is.

It feels good to joyfully make things for others, but what if the person you made it for isn't as joyful about your creation as you expected her to be? You have several options:

• Be more selective about to whom you present your treasure.
• Ask your potential recipient if she is open to your gift. They have a right to say no to your beer can sculpture.
• Freely give your gift and let go of your expectations of how it should be received.
• Let it go. Don’t harbor resentments if you find out your gift has lived an unappreciated life. The resentments hurt you and harm your relationship with the receiver.
• Put the energy that you’d spend being hurt and resentful to make something new for yourself. You deserve it and you will give it the respect it so deserves.
• At risk of sounding like a broken record, remember to let it go.

If you need help with letting go of resentments, try these EFT statements. You decide what goes in the parenthesis.

The Setup: Tap the karate chop point while saying this statement three times.
Even though I have this resentment about (you say what about), and I really have no interest in letting it go because I am still (you say the feeling: angry, hurt, sad, bitter, grieving), I deeply and completely love and forgive myself for (you say what: giving that gift, loaning that money) that was not appreciated. Repeat this three times while tapping the karate chop point.

Use these reminder statements to tap on the rest of the points beginning at the top of the head:

TOH: This resentment
EB: I did all this work
SE: Nobody knows how much it takes
UE: I gave it my all
UN: And this is the thanks I get
UL: I don’t want to let it go
CB: Nobody cares how much I do
TOH I wish someone would do as much for me
EB: I still feel unappreciated (or whatever you feel)
SE: Why do I persist in being creative?
UE My work must not be very good
UL: I might quit, that would show ‘em
CB: This resentment

Try this EFT for your resentments as related to your own creativity and you will feel the difference a little tapping can make.

I hope you don’t use resentments to stop being creative. It is a huge block that used to take a lot of work to let go. Now with EFT, it is easy to let go of years of resentments in minutes.

Hugs, Diana
Have a creative day!

Reporting In at 11:00 for Commit to Create

Hi Creative Friends,

I have been rocking and rolling since 10:00 on our first ever Commit to Create Challenge. I love it that I made the commitment to do something and it got done! Yaay!

I have been on the Cute and Cool Blog this morning reading her tutorials while I was snagging this relaxing Renoir background. I learned how to leave a link in a comment. Awesome and it worked. You can learn too, here. You can try it out in her comment section to see if it works.

I love Itkupilli, a Finnish designer willing to share her creativity and knowledge with us. She is so generous to make these wonderful, quirky, elegant, intriguing designs that draw you in and make you wonder about the world they came from. She tells stories with her designs.

If you have some time, check out her Etsy shop for her digital products. She has some amazing collage sheets. I like the architectural ones; so dreamy. They make me want to get busy creating. She has lots of catagories to choose from but I warn you, it will be difficult to decide.

Now I am back to finishing updating my blog. I am thrilled that you could join me. Please sign up for next week's Committ to Create Challenge here.

Have a creative day!
Diana

Commit To Create Challenge

Good Morning Creative Friends!

Today is the first morning of of the Commit to Create Challenge! I am very excited to offer this opportunity to get cracking on the first Monday morning in November.

My goals for today's challenge is to redecorate the blog. I need to pack up all the Halloween decorations and stop eating what's left over of the candy.

There are some computer difficulties that I worked on yesterday that ended in frustration so I am going to use some EFT to eliminate that.

I hope you are committed to create something too. I'll see you at 10:00 and report how it is going.

Hugs, Diana