Energize Your Creativity has a New Look!

Hi Creative Friends,

Well, Energize Your Creativity has a new look. I have been playing with the new blogger draft set up and I have to say it is pretty cool. I don't have everything in order yet but if you are using blogger and I know that a lot of the blogs I follow are, you are in for a treat.

It's kinda like rearranging your furniture too. You get to move everything around and change your backgrounds at a whim. If you have lusted after a three coloumn blog, you can have it easily! There is a section where you can select the layout and even adjust with a sliding scale how wide you want your columns to be. How cool is that.

I'll write more tomorrow but I have to go push some more furniture around!

More Alice and Wonderland

My first time to participate in a swap was a wonderful success for me. Maggi at Just Add Glitter and Stir cooked up this little Alice and Wonderland party and I had the most amazing swap-mate, Amy at Adventures of A Disney Land Nut.Everything Amy did was fantastic. Even the wrapping paper was delightful! Look how much stuff!The little card soldier is so cute, plus don't you so want this button of the Red Queen?Amy read my blathering about how tea is good for you and she sent me my own little Alice inspired tea party. I even have coasters! And the tea is organic which is really the only kind to drink if you want to get the health benefits it provides!If that wasn't enough, check out Amy's artwork! Amy loves everything Disney and you can't beat Disney's other version of Alice in Wonderland. Isn't this the cutest collage?I love how the little glittery bushes stick out over the edges.Then after everything else, Amy sends this elegant rose hair beret handmade for me and my Red Queen's hair! I am so wearing this. In fact, my friend is going to see the movie today and I am going for an encore! If you haven't seen the movie, do yourself a huge treat and see it on the big screen in 3D.

Meanwhile, I'm late for my own tea party. Must dash! Hugs to Amy and Maggi! You ladies rock! To Amy: My most amazed and delighted thanks!

Alice in Wonderland Swap

Hi Creative Friends, (& Spoiler Alert Amy)

I signed up for an Alice in Wonderland Swap sponsored by Maggi over at Just Add Glitter and Stir.

My swap partner was Amy at ScrappyCupCake and her favorite character is Alice. She should be getting it in the mail tomorrow. I sure hope she likes it. I wrote her a note and I will tell you guys that my *^%$@#*~ printer croaked on me and I didn't get to print out the Alice images I wanted to. So my project is more Wonderland than Alice.

Amy lives very close to Disney Land as you will see when you visit her blog and she loves to go often (like every weekend when she isn't recovering from food poisoning!)I debated forever on putting Amy in Disney Land on the box, but since the swap was about Wonderland, it won out.Amy likes to scrapbook so I hope she will use this project to put her own stamp of magic on it.

I am in love with Shakespeare's (Purse, That Is)

My Shakespeare purse that is! I won this purse made by the Mixed-media Artist, Halle Gustafson from www.halleshobbies.blogspot.comduring the One World One Heart Blogging event. Thank you Halle! You are a creative genius! It is the coolest! What a brilliant idea and what a great job she did making it. The former book was the complete works of Shakespeare. I can't wait to show it off when I go to tea next week with a bunch of artist friends.

Thank you Halle.

Done Trumps Perfect Every Time!

You can't tell it by looking at my house. (I have two cats who shed cat hair in clumps that turn into these odd ethereal tumbleweeds. I'm wondering if you can knit with cat hair?)

You wouldn't know it by looking at my nails. (Why is it that I have my most brilliant painting brainstorms when I am getting my nails done only to rush back home to get gesso in the crevices of my newly clipped cuticles.)

You can't tell it by looking at my art room. (I collect stuff to use in my work and I've never seen an art supply I didn't need to own.)

But in spite of appearances, I am a closet perfectionist.

Where my perfectionism shows up most is in starting or finishing a creative project.
My perfectionist thinking is this:

I will never do (my art/creative project/business/whatever) good enough, so why begin? OR

My project is never going to look/sound/taste/work/make money like I imagined, so why finish?

Perfectionism blocks creativity and is a real self-esteem buzz kill. (Not that I often have a self-esteem buzz, but I just liked thinking that somebody somewhere does.)

I have heard this advice and I want to pass it on because it has helped me a lot.

Done trumps perfect every time.

If I wait until I consider my art perfect then my story may never get written, my artwork never get finished, or my cat hair scarf never knitted.

"Done" is good enough.
"Done" recognizes that I am a perfectly fallible human being and I am allowed to make perfectly fallible stuff.
"Done" allows me to do better next time, not be locked in paralysis.
"Done" lets me be glad I actually started or finished something I said I was going to do which entitles me to a possible self-esteem buzz.

Bad News/Good News One World One Heart Report

Hi Creative Friends,

The bad news is that the One World One Heart is over. I will miss all the activity and adventures on the other blogs and my own.

Thank you to all of you who landed here, however briefly to leave a comment, and to those of you who did, I promise to eventually find every last one of you and visit your blog as well. Thank you also to my new followers. I feel honored that you want to see more of what goes on here. I hope I have touched base with each of you so you know that I am aware of our connection.

I would love to publicly thank Lisa Swifka of A Whimsical Bohemian for putting this all together again this year. It is such a wonderful treat and such a fabulous way to meet new bloggers that I hope that by the time it comes around again next year, she will have forgotten how bleary-eyed busy this time is for her and do it again. You rock Lisa!

The good news is that we have a winner here at Energize Your Creativity!

The winner of these little paintings is: Mia Jacobs from Concord California.

They will be winging their way via the U.S. Postal Magic Carpet. I hope to let them fly by Friday.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentines Day!
On a day when we celebrate love and passion, I think it is well and good to celebrate the ones we love. Sometimes couples need to be reminded that they are intentionally together.

So in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I want to make a proposal on bended knee. After the cards are exchanged, the candies poked on the underside to find out which ones has the best centers and the flowers are put into your favorite vase, why not take a time out to think about love in a different way?

I am not proposing that you share your thoughts with your honey. This is just between me and you. I am proposing giving yourself a Valentine of self-love and self-care. Today may not be the day you launch into a program of taking better care of yourself, but just for a minute will you allow yourself a thought that sometimes next week, you are going to schedule in some one on one time for yourself.

One of the hardest things on my daily list of things to do is to consciously practice a little self-care, self-nurturing for myself. If I do something specifically for me, I usually feel guilty about it. If I take time away from my husband, I feel strangely odd, even if it is something I am certain he would rather refrain from doing. (Fabric shopping comes to mind.) My mother is in her 70’s and is just now slowing down long enough to allow herself to gracefully take a nap in the middle of the day. Some days she even accomplishes this guilt free.

Then there is the fear of being perceived as selfish. Were you taught to be a good little girl and share and to not be selfish? Self-care is not about being selfish. If we are burning the candle at both ends, how can we share our light with our families?

Being selfish was almost as bad as bragging. I know we don’t brag here in blogland, but to me it is so refreshing to visit someone’s blog and there is a picture of a wonderful piece of artwork that someone has posted that says, “Hey look what I did!” I love that.

I know that self-care is hard and I don’t want this post to make anyone feel bad for not getting it done. Not beating myself up for not doing more is one way I can I can give myself a break. Self-acceptance is self-care. When I make peace with where I am, it is easier to move forward a little at a time. I read somewhere to not let doing what you can’t do stop you from doing what you can do. Just because you can’t send yourself to a week-long retreat shouldn’t stop you from taking yourself to a nice lunch with a good book for company.

I would be remiss if I didn’t say that I believe that creativity is a form of self-care and self-nurture. Doing what you love is a way to say to all the internal voices (and some external ones) that you are here on this earth and what you do has meaning. Your creativity is self-love self-expressed. I heart more of that.

Positivity

A while back I read a book called, Positivity: Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and Thrive by Barbara Fredrickson. I liked the book. It explains about a new psychology called positivity.

But this guy explains it here so much better. He describes how happiness relates to greater performance, productivity, health, energy, and success rates. Happiness is a pre-cursor to success, rather than merely the result. Tasks performed when happy are performed at a higher level.

I know this is a lot of video, but if you are interested in greater creativity, you might be as fascinated by this stuff as I am!

Let me know what you think about these ideas. Thanks, Diana

Technical Difficulties


Tonight was the first of a series of teleclasses that I conducted about creativity. If you read my blog at all, you've seen me mention it at least fifty thousand times.

I did just about every thing wrong. The one sweet woman who showed up on the call, that I connected with right away, patiently listened to me go on and on until she finally got to ask a question, and I stupidly pressed the wrong button on the controls and cut her off mid-sentence. And like that, the connection was lost.

I don't know what to say except, I am truly sorry. I won't say her name because she may not want to be associated with this whole fiasco, but I hope that she will see this and accept my apology.

Technology is both my friend and my enemy. I don't know why I thought I could managed the controls of the conference calling system when I cannot turn on the television at my house. It takes two remotes and the grasp of a sequence of button pushing I can never seem to get the hang of. So evidently, my operating system is to just start punching until something happens.

Have you ever tried to set the clock on your car radio? My husband can do it driving down the road. He's the one who cleverly set up the two remote system so I never get to make a tv program selection.

To tell the truth, I live in a state of technical difficulty and tonight it caught up with me. I would like to atone for my misdeeds to the Gods of Technology, but I'm afraid of pushing the wrong button.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Talkin' To Me?


Yes you. Does Your Art Have a Big But? I'm not pointing any fingers you understand. I'm just asking.

The word but is such a small word that causes such big problems, and it is dangerous to the health and joy of your creativity. Here are a few examples:

But I'm too old to start now.
But I'm not creative enough.
But I'm too busy.
But I didn't go to art school or had a show, so I'm not really an artist.
But I haven't been published, so I'm not really a writer.
But I can't do that kind of art, someone is already doing it.
But I have no imagination.
But there's too much competition.
But I'm not smart enough.
But it's too late.
But it's too hard.

I have just recently read a quote, "If you really want something, you'll find a way and if you really don't, you'll find an excuse." Ouch.

But you don't understand. Yes, I do.

Big Buts come from your internal critic. (I am trying so hard not to call it ButtHead.) Most of what it spews is trash talking lies. It wants to control us and keep us along a straight and narrow path created by programming from the past. If you don't know or notice that this is garbage, you will react and respond to the "buts" as if they are real.

If you'd like to hear more. Join me on Wednesday at 7:00 for the first of a six-part series on the subject. Its free. Sign up here.

Visiting the Past

Hello Creative Friends,

I have been slaving over a hot computer working on my series of free workshops, "Does Your Art Have a Big But?," and I have been traveling a bit down the rabbit hole of my creative past. I can't get away from Alice in Wonderland references because I just signed up for that Swap Meet at Just Add Glitter and Stir and it is still in my head.

When I look back, I know that I know that I have changed for the better when it comes to living a creative life.

I used to:


  • Believe that I had to suffer for my art. (Suffering is optional today.)

  • Believe that everyone else was an authority on my art. (I had no say.)

  • Believe that being a picture framer was as close as I should get to painting pictures. (I really was a picture framer in a past life, just grateful to get to be around some art.)

  • Believe that art was spelled with a capital A and I am not on the A-list. (Now I know a lot of A-rtists and they are just people too. A-mazing!)

  • Believe that I had nothing to say or write about that anyone wanted to hear. (You know, that could be true, but it shouldn't keep me from saying it.)

You get the idea. I have had twisted ideas about me and my art and slowly they are untangling from my twisted beliefs that I swallowed whole.

It is refreshing to see that I don't think like that person I once was. I do want to honor her for starting me down the path to creativity anyway in spite of her fear and mistaken beliefs.

Now, back to work. I hope some of you will join me for this new series, beginning at 7:00 p.m. CST on Wednesday night. You can sign up here.

You're Late for a Very Important Date

There is nothing like the challenge of a swap to get your creative juices going. Just Add Glitter and Stir is having an art swap to celebrate the opening of the upcoming movie, Alice and Wonderland. Very cool. You have to have to sign up by midnight Sunday, so get hopping and don't be late.

I have never done a swap, so woohoo, this should be fun. Won't you join me?

Happy February!


These roses were at a wedding shower for my daughter, Christy, so I thought they were very appropriate for a post celebrating February. I do love February. It is still cold and yucky outside and I have plenty excuses to not venture out into the world as much as I should.

Most of all it is the time of making Valentines and today I have on my list to go get a few supplies to add to the ones I already have. I say this every year, that I wish I would get my act together in time to have a Valentine Making Party. Invite a few friends over, drag out all my stuff and glue and glitter until our hearts content. Of course there would be punch or wine and cupcakes and chocolate.

We would all have a great big sugar rush and leave smelling like chocolate.

Ok, so why not do this online? Does someone know of a Valentines party I don't know about? If so tell me if I can horn in. If not, maybe I need to throw one! In the mean time, I am off to the craft store.

Radio Buzz

Hi Creative Friends,

Today I was interviewed by Anja Weiland, a delightful person, on BlogTalkRadio. Her show and her business is called "The Intuitive Path." We talked about creativity and energy techniques. It was my first interview. Maybe ever.
Wait a minute, do job interviews count? Man, don't you hate those? I guess except when you need a job. Well, now that I think about it, I have always been grateful to get an interview when I needed a job. But I digress.

I knew about this interview for a week and I had been thrilled that I was not freaking out ahead of time;however twenty minutes before hand, I am reading over my notes and I look at the clock and instead of butterflies, I had buzz saws in my stomach.

You have understand, I have done large quantities of both EFT and Zpoint on the issue of speaking in public and I have had blessed relief. I have been able to calmly do poetry readings, read my other written work in public, facilitate groups and argue with the guy from my internet service provider. I am a different person than I used to be.

So why did the buzz saws crank up if I have done so much energy work? I think because this was a different aspect of the same old problem. Like facets on a jewel, there are many sides of an issue. When I did the energy techniques, I was focused on reading my novel to my writing class. Never once did it ever occur to me that I might one day be on the radio. Why would I treat myself for that?

After all this rambling I am doing here, the point I am trying to make is that when you tap or cue the first time for an issue, you may not know what you are missing and that's ok. You'll find out eventually and you just repeat the process and move on.

I did one sloppy round of EFT for "this fear," and "this fear," was gone. G-O-N-E. I was able to finish my notes, make my call into the show and enjoy myself. I do admit to a bit of adrenaline rush just as the show got started, but I think that was excitement.

The title of the radio show, "How to Unleash Your Creativity through Energy Techniques," was appropriate for me today because the outcome would have been very different if I had not practiced what I preached.

By the way, the recording of the show is in the right hand column. Give it a listen.

Have a creative day!
Hug, Diana

Creativity for a Cause

Hello Creative Friends,

I usually have no difficulty not posting a post while the One World One Heart Event is going on, but I visited VintageBella tonight in a bleary eyed state and what I read amazed me.

A group of mostly women got together and made 100 quilts and 70 no pin diapers for Haitian orphans. They did this in 5 days. Can you imagine?

These women did not let a big but stand in their way!

I love it when a group of creative women get together with a plan and determination. You ladies (and your men and kiddy helpers) R O C K!

Stop by Vintage Bella for just a minute and let them know you think so too.

Hugs, Diana

Jan 28, update. Hi, Just a note to tell you that Heather of Vintage Bella, left a comment on the post letting us know more about how this group managed to accomplish such a task. Be sure to read it too.

One World One Heart Giveaway Is Here!

Photo
Welcome One World One Heart Friends! Enter here!
Come on in and make yourself comfortable. We will be traveling first class Oriental rug, to a land far far away. I have vacuumed all the kitty hair off just for you!We have a long way to go and a short time to get there. (There is a song in there somewhere.) So we are going to resort to a little magic. Stare right into the photo below and feel the wind on your face as we float easily along.Our destination is just up ahead.I know you must be tired and need a little nourishment, so get the hair out of your eyes and pour yourself something strong. Relax.After shopping at the market and a spa day, it's time to return back to reality.As we unpack our bags, I have found these little paintings to remember all the exotic houses we flew over.On February 15,I will gladly award these to a weary traveler who leaves a comment. I have so enjoyed our trip together! I hope you visit often.
Hugs, Diana Meade
P.S. I am hosting a free workshop series for artists that you can read about on the following post.

Does Your Art Have a Big But?

Hi Creative Friends,
Does your art have a big but?

You know what I mean.
"I wanna spend time doing my art, but..."
"I wanna take that class, but..."
"I wanna convert the spare bedroom to a studio, but..."
"I'd like to learn the macarena, but..."

I have just created a free six-weeks teleclass series called, Does Your Art Have a Big But?

You are invited! Here's the skinny:

It is every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. CST But don't let the whole six-weeks thing put you off. You don't have to commit to all six weeks. Drop by for one call or all of them.

February 10, 2010 Week 1- I want to do my art, But…
February 17, 2010 Week 2- Nothing distracts me from my art, But…
February 24, 2010 Week 3- Art isn’t supposed to be perfect, But…
March 03, 2010 Week 4- I’m a brave artist, But…
March 10, 2010 Week 5- I’m usually okay with criticism, But…
March 17, 2010 Week 6- Art is always a priority, But…

In this series, we will discuss ways to get our buts out of the way of doing our art.

Art avoidance is a serious threat to living a creative life. Just knowing that art avoidance exists is the first step.

Come for one discussion or all six. Each one will be on a different way that we use a but to stop us in our tracks from doing what we love or doing the next thing we need to be doing to enlarge our art.

Won't you join me? You only have to sign up once to be eligible for all the calls. And if you can't make it I have decided to record the call and send it to you via email afterward. You can sign up hereat the bottom of the page of my website under the tab, free stuff at www.Energize-Your-Creativity.com

Don't forget, it's free. Now you can't say, "But, I don't have the money!" ;-)
And it's recorded. You can listen when you have the time. Now you can't say, "But, I don't have the time.

I look forward to meeting you on the call.

Have a creative day!
Hugs, Diana

Folders to Help The Organizing Go Easier

Hi Creative Friends,
I started making these file folders last year and I never really finished them like I wanted to, but I thought I would show them anyway. I have hoarded them and only use them for "special" paperwork like some of my poetry.
Since it is that time of year for purging files, I thought making some of these might make the paper work more bearable. You can buy these kinds of decorated folders now, but I like these that I threw together. I hope you do too.

Here are some examples of the ones I made using some photocopies of old botanicals and pages out of an old book I bought at a garage sale. You can use any prints that might make you happy on a day you have to do office work. They might make paying bills or filing your taxes more palatable. (Well, maybe if you used old dollars bills glued to them!) You will need:

  • photocopies of prints. I used copies of old botanicals.
  • pages torn or cut from an old book
  • file folders
  • Design Master (For Flowers Only brand - Raffia color) translucent spray paint for aging the printed pages from the book. Or use your favorite method for aging. This is fast so I've adopted it.
  • spray adhesive
  • scissors and an exact-o knife
  • self-healing cutting mat
  • water color pencils and paint brush with water
    • Directions
  1. Cut or tear pages from an old book.
  2. Use translucent spray paint (Design Master Raffia) to age pages or use your favorite technique.
  3. Tear pages into smaller pieces and turn over with unpainted side up. Spray with spray adhesive

4. Glue torn pages to the folder any which way.
5. Cut out print with exact o knife and scissors. Age down print if you like, but I like the contrast of bright print on the aged pages.
6. Glue to folder. Add writing, sayings, ribbon: embellish to your heart's content.7. Use water color pencils to outline botanical to give it a shadow, then use damp paint brush to feather out shadow. This gives depth to print and almost makes it stand out from the page.
8. Now find something special to put into them and ~Enjoy~
Have a creative day!
Hugs, Diana