Inspiration: The Creative Mama

I love Monday mornings. With it comes the promise of potential. The beginning of something wonderful. After a brutally busy weekend, I was delighted to learn of something new and exciting to start my week.

Inspiration can be found anywhere but I have to say that I have become a huge fan of the recent "COLLECTIVES". What are they? Groups of brilliant, positive, inclusive and inspiring women who combine their talents and energy and share their talent with the rest of us.

I have been a quiet observer of WishStudio, Shutter Sisters, Write.Click.Scrapbook for quite some time now. Each member has rich, challenging, rewarding and meaningful lives, but when they come together, it becomes something even more special.

A little while ago I was unreasonably disappointed when Angie Warren decided to close the Creative Mama. Lately there's been a bit of buzz. Was it coming back?

It is, it is, it has!

Now I'm equally unreasonably excited that Angie Warren is back. Not just back, but back with friends. Ridiculously talented and inspiring friends.

Do yourself a favour, click HERE.

Once you're there, click on every single link you see. Be sure not to be sipping your morning coffee as when you take in all of the beauty and ideas you might just hurt yourself!

Happy, happy me today.

I'm off to read ... and dream.

Props to Swirly Girl

Swirly Girl Mosaic found on Flickr

Over the last few months I have become a huge fan of Swirly Girl aka Christine Mason Miller. I recently ordered, inhaled and thoroughly enjoyed Ordinary Sparkling Moments, her self-published book aptly subtitled: Reflections on success and contentment.

She is accessible, genuine and thoughtful. She's had her fair share of kicks in the pants and has pulled herself up, dusted herself off and is around to tell the tale, or not really, but what she does is offer her perspective as a result of the tale. She's the kind of woman I greatly admire: strong and kind; generous and thoughtful; opinionated and curious.

Today, I was reminded again that she has published an essay on Skirt.com which you can find: here. Do you have those moments? When your reaction is the complete opposite of your circumstance? Those perfect moments suspended in time?

Her writing is so engaging. She brings you right in with her words. Always, at the end you are faced with oodles of thought provoking questions.

Wow. Someone on my list of those to meet ... someday.

Her Morning Elegance

This I found on Karen's Chookooloonks blog this morning. I can't even tell you how much I'm in love with my Google Reader. So much delicious stuff out there in the blog world and so much of it I find waiting for me each morning!

This is incredibly creative, all of it, music, lyrics, video, all of it:

Get Validated

I found this on Cathy Zielske's Bits&Pieces blog this morning and it is brilliant! If you have a spare 16+ minutes today, you have to watch, you won't regret one second:

Threshold to 2009

I was over visiting the ever-talented, but oh so ill, inspiration at Ink On My Fingers and on it she had a link to life-coach Laura Neff's site.

I realize that 2009 started on January 1, but with tomorrow being the first day of school, I really feel that I have not yet met the start of my calendar year. I look forward to spending the upcoming week spending some time focusing on me and the direction of my life from here onward. I expect 2009 to be filled with change and a bit of upheaval - which is why my "one little word" for the year is balance since there will be plenty of it required to make it through the next 361 days.

On the Laura Neff site, she proposes that you don't leave 2008 without asking:

1. How is where you are in life today different from where you were last December?

2. How are you different today, internally, than you were a year ago?
3. Of all you've experienced in the past year, what are you the most proud of?
4. What did you shy away from in 2008 that you wish you'd gone for?
5. What did you learn about yourself this year?
6. Who impacted your life the most this past year?
7. What are the most important lessons you learned in 2008 that you want to be conscious of in 2009?

8. What are you being called to next in your personal growth?

9. If you could create three things in your life the coming year, what would they be?
10. What parts of yourself will you need to call upon to create those three things with wild success in 2009?
(This was, of course, posted on her blog a month ago! But instead of waiting until next December, I'll just start late - as much as the idea of late makes me cringe more than a little!)

I think these questions are brilliant! Thought provoking and intended to provide insight. I love when I find something to mull. Not only that, but imagine the scrapbook pages, blog entries and journal entries can be inspired by these ten questions. Brilliant.

Toot Toot: DYL Comments

I have been a member over at Big Picture Scrapbooking forever. I've taken at least a dozen courses and uploaded some of my assignments. It never occurred to me that people could leave you comments - or that you could leave comments for people!

Yes, I'm living under a rock.

So, you remember my front page for the Design Your Life course I'm taking? Well, I uploaded the work to the class gallery and here are the comments:

stephaniej 10/02/2008		The flourishes you have at the side and bottom of the layout are awesome - very nice artistic touch. Love the ribbon wrapped around your "L" too!
Scrappygram 10/02/2008		I really like this layout. Nice job!
photoaddict55 10/02/2008		love the burnt edges and the placements of your photos. I like your style hope I can develop a style too!!!
scrappinkristy 10/01/2008		I love the photo of you. I like seeing your face, great smile!
churchlady 10/01/2008		I drawn to that left corner square - love those rough edges!
Alissa103 10/01/2008		very nice! I love the stamping :)
tigsnbitz 10/01/2008		I LOVE your layout. the colors, and the small photos of your children are fantastic. You don't need to learn to design, you need to teach! : )

Thank you for all of your words of support, and I'm thrilled to have found all of these others. The timing is perfect. Just when I'm wondering if this is something I should continue to persue I get the boost I need.

You're the best!

My Vision Board

I went onto Facebook a few weeks ago and there was a little notice about making Vision Boards. Now this is something I find fascinating and believe in completely. I truly believe that whatever you put out there into the universe comes back ... maybe not in the way you've planned, but it does.

Now, there are plenty of nay-sayers and poo-pooers out there. That's all fine and your prerogative. At the same time, there are a few of you who have asked me questions about what is actually on my vision board.

So, let me explain, starting clockwise from the upper left corner:

Zip Line: how cool would that be?
Wind Tunnel: I've always wanted to fly, but I'm really not interested in jumping out of a plane. This would be a brilliant alternative.
Books: I do love reading, but truly I want to write. Write a lot. I have fodder for many, many tomes. I love people watching and I have met some doozies. Though I find biographies far more fascinating, it's probably best to stick with fiction :)
Nude: I used to have a body. A spectacular body. Lean and athletic. Louis met and married a good version, but he never met the spectacular version. I'd like a spectacular-for-44 version! The nude serves a second purpose: I've been thinking about taking sculpting. I've been researching courses and there is one that starts in September.
Brushes & Pallet: In order to be a less-than-mediocre artist I believe you have to be yourself. I am a work in progress. I do believe, though, I am starting to come into my own and can start to paint again. I am not the girl who used to paint. I am the woman, wife, friend, sister, mother of four that has earned everything she expresses - in word and on canvas.
Get Published: Self explanatory, I hope!
Camera Lens: I love to take photos. I would like to be a bit better than a snapshot taker. I have a good eye. I want to train it. Then I want to use it. I want to be the best photographer I've ever known.
Peony: Specifically, white peony. My most favourite flower in the world. Followed by a white cabbage rose. I want to plant a garden. I want a beautiful garden in which I can sit, read, listen to the birds and the bugs, drink tea or a glass of wine. I want to create a plan and build a garden.
Cap & Degree: My greatest wish for all four of my children, for a whole host of reasons. Just please let it be something they love, and let me remember that it's their decision, not mine.
Pot of Gold: Every currency is measured against gold. So, bring me a pot of it!
Urquhart Castle: On Loch Ness. Scotland. Breathtaking. I dream of going back.
Rome: I've been studying Rome since my dad bought me a huge picture book when I was in grade 5. I would so love to go.
Morocco: North Africa is fascinating to me. Love the food. Curious about the people and the culture, the sounds, the sights. All of it.
Kayak: how fun would that be! I would so love to go on a trip and go kayaking with the kids.
Dragonboat: my reward for weight loss? I'll be able to join the Appleby Dragon Boat team next summer. It was so much fun to take their photos all through the season.

So, there is my Vision Board. As of this moment. It is subject to change!

Dara Torres

Have you been watching the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials?

In swimming, one more American record fell on final night when Dara Torres (Los Angeles, Calif.) lowered her own mark in the 50m freestyle. Torres qualified in her second individual event with the win with a time of 24.25 seconds.

Dara Torres is 41.

Wow.