week 45 - my planner

week 45 - how important are the opinions of others about you and/or your art?

it is so hard to let opinions and negative comments roll off my back.  i think personal remarks are the hardest to shake.  most things about ourselves are hard to change.  my gram use to always say, "you can't change the spots on a leopard".  it's true.

it is easier to let go of critics about my art, but not at first.  i remember one time i had a community art teacher tell me that my art was whimsical and i would never be able to sell my art.  i was crushed.  those words haunted me for a long time.  i eventually was able to let go of her opinion of my work.  i have come to the realization that my art is for me and if anyone else likes it then that is icing on the cake.

i had a revalation when i realized that everything is subjective.  depending on the time or circumstance every one's opinion would be different.  i can't please every one all of the time.  it's an impossible goal.  so i please myself.  it has been a pretty liberating concept for me. 

what about you - how important are other people's opinions of you?

the roc nicholas rubber stamp design team

artwork by cathy parmelee

today the roc nicholas rubber stamp design team piece is brought to you by cathy parmelee.  i love how cathy has used my stamps; the bunny, capture the magic, and the bird lady's body.  adorable!
cathy has been on my design for a long time and sadly, today is her last month with us.  she will be missed.  thanks for all you did cathy!

to see these rubber stamps, or my whole line of stamps sold through stampotique.com please click here.

week 44 - my planner

week 44 prompt - who is the real you?

for those of you who may not really know me you might be surprised to learn that i'm a little bit crazy.  but i am.  my life is sort of nothing short of an episode or ten of "i love lucy".  my husband is often found just shaking his head.  i'm always thinking.  i always have an idea.  you should see how pale my husband's face gets when he heres, "hey, i have an idea".  it is a real balancing act for me to stay present and focused.  i live with rose colored glasses in an idealistic world swirling with thoughts and ideas.  the truth is there aren't enough hours in the day to get a portion of them done. 

what about you - who is the real you?

the roc nicholas rubber stamp design team post

today the roc nicholas rubber stamp design team piece is brought to use by karen hayselden.  isn't this halloween piece "spook-tacular"?!?!!  karen used my screaming bunny to create this fabulous piece. to see more about this, or more of karen's work please head on over to her blog by clicking here.

to see my rubber stamps, sold through stampotique.com please click here.

a peek inside my planner

just a spread in my personal planner for this year.

if you build it they will come.....

 my husband is such a hard worker.  he was out building a little pond for us today. 

it is much smaller than our 10 x 20 foot pond we had when we lived in pennsylvania

but it does bring back wonderful memories of that pond.  we had so much nature

to watch at that pond.  i really did love it.  it took us 7 weeks to build that one but it was all dug by hand.  we really didn't have any idea what we were doing at the time,  but some how through our ignorance, the pond when finished, really looked like it had been there forever.  it was beautiful.

this pond took only an afternoon for todd to put in, and it is now ready to be filled 

with water.   we will be faced with a challenge of landscaping around it however,

because our water softener dumps into the ground there and it is very saline.

that is one reason we are putting in a little raised pond, because the plants keep

dying that we plant there.   we have three ledges inside the pond for pond plants so i think

those will be safe at least.  once the water stabilizes we will look for fish.   i am excited to see 

some little swimmers once again.

week 43 - my planner

week 43 prompt - what is your favorite hobby?

it should come as NO surprise that my favorite hobby is art.  i love art journaling -  everything about art journaling!  i think i love printing, fonting, making letters, what ever you want to call it.  when i first make a journal and start it i am always saying to myself, "geesh, that looks terrible!"  but in the end when it's all filled with photos, doodling, collage, and bits and bobs, i just love it.  it's all in the process from start to finish.  there is a lesson in there for me on so many levels.

so what about you - what's your favorite hobby?

making envelopes

i recently bought some notecards but they came with plain white envelopes.  i decided to jazz it up a bit and drew this bird.  maybe you will be the one who finds it in your mailbox.

the roc nicholas rubber stamp design team post

today the roc nicholas rubber stamp design team post is brought to you by samantha read.  she's created a "spooktacular" piece using my blessed skellie rubber stamp.  to see more about this piece of art, or more of sam's work, fly on over to her blog by clicking here.

to see my rubber stamp line sold through stampotique.com please click here.

tumble fish studio's new release

marsha, aka tumble fish studio, has a new release over at mischief circus.  this journal page was created using all imagery from this little moment digital sheets.  go check it out - you know you wanna!

announcing my newest design team members

it is with great pleasure that i announce two new design team members to the roc nicholas rubber stamp design team.  i hope you'll give a warm welcome to gemma maggs and sue waters.  i am positive we will see some creative and unique pieces of art using my rubber stamps over the coming months.

gemma

gemma is welsh born, but resides in york, england with her fiancé and one poodle.  her profession is a criminologist and tries to keep up with the latest findings, and she is a huge fan of crime fiction.  she is self employed and works from home but states her art room is her retreat.  she finds great relaxation when she is in there.  gemma says she tries to craft everyday, even if it something small like coloring in stamped images while she watches tv. 

gemma’s other love, besides family, is crafting.  she adores stamping, mixed media, altered art, art journaling and anything else remotely crafty.  she jokes, “if it stands still long enough, it will be painted, sprayed with inks and glued!”
gemma admits she has always been crafty and was encouraged as a child to try all sorts of things.  she credits her love of creating to her mother and grandmother.  she can be found attending as many arts and crafts workshops as she can go to.  she feels she has picked up a lot of new techniques that she can use and feels this has been her greatest learning tool.
gemma started her rubber stamping collection as a teenager.  she is fond of christmas and began her obsession with rubber stamping by making christmas cards for friends and family.  she loves how versatile stamps are, as well as how varied they are in their styles.  she loves to create backgrounds with stamps because it gives such depth and texture to her work.

her favorite “go to” item when stamping is her black archival ink pad.  she loves it because it is waterproof and permanent.  her latest obsession is colored pencils and her favorite brand is faber cast ell polychromes, followed by car an d’ache pablo pencils.   she has a fondness for gelatos, texture paste and crackle paste when used with stencils or to add dimension to an area.

gemma states, “Inspiration is all around us. I've taken photographs of old doors with cracked paint, and rusty hinges just because I loved the worn look. You will find something that inspires you wherever you look.  Books, magazines and websites are great for inspiration and when you put your own ideas with it, you sometimes get something fabulous!  I've met a lot of very good friends through our love of craft/art, and we all draw inspiration from one another.  We all share our knowledge with lots of good ideas thrown in.”   
gemma feels her biggest accomplishment to day has been being accepted to the roc nicholas rubber stamp design team.  she says, “I'm so excited to begin this journey, and am looking forward to seeing where it takes me. I'm so happy, I feel like a kid at Christmas..!

sue

sue lives in land o’ lakes, florida, just 30 miles north of where she was born in dunedin.  sue  is proud to be a native of florida and states, “ my mom’s family helped to settle dunedin in the 1860’s and my dad helped to settle palm harbor/tarpon springs in the 1860’s.”   she is married to the love of her life for nearly 27 years.  sue reports, “ we don’t have kids, but (we) have a fur-daughter cat named savannah.  she is an old lady now, at 90 in human years, so she sleeps a lot but she is our baby!”  after many years in retail sue is now a homemaker.
in her spare time, sue loves to cook, do mixed media, art journaling, card making and scrapbooking.  she recently renewed an old love of sewing.  she admits to being arty for as long as she can remember.  she says her style has evolved over the years.  she admits, “ i pick and choose who’s style i like and incorporate them into my own art.”  sue’s greatest learning tool has been to embrace her imperfections.  she has learned to say “it’s ok” even if it doesn’t meet her idea of perfect.

sue adores rubber stamps because they are so varied.  she likes how you can find cute stamps, realistic stamps, or weird stamps, and this makes the possibilities endless.  she jokes, “ all you need is a large back account to support your habit!”  she likes to mix and match stamps and put her own spin on what ever she is making.

sue finds inspiration on pinterest, blogs, everyday life and her own ideas.  she admits that she is a huge tim holts fan.  she can’t live without her tim holtz distress inks, but also loves cyan reavely’s delusions spray inks and paint, and dina wakely’s heavy body acrylic paints.  sue says she loves sharpies, colored pens, prismacolor pencils, and caran d’ache neocolors.

sue makes time to do art every day.  she tells people, “ it’s what helps keep me sane. or as sane as i can be!”  she feels her greatest accomplishment to date is being part of the roc nicholas rubber stamp design team. 
 

week 42 - my planner

week 42 prompt - what is one word that seems to best describe what you've been doing this year?

it seems this year i've been doing a lot of searching.  searching for missing art supplies, searching for  healthy recipes, searching for natural choices that aid in better health, etc.   all these things, except art supplies in a messy art room,  are easy to find if you google them.   but on a deeper level, a spiritual level, i've been searching my soul for all kinds of things.  no, not my faith, that is never lost.  never.  but for a deeper meaning of life.  how can i be more present in other people's lives?  how can i be more of a blessing and of service to others?  how can i be kinder and more loving?  those answers come easy to some.  why, yes, even i understand actions that allow that, but there are times when i am tired, or don't feel well, or just feel a bit selfish of my time, that i don't always go out of my way to do what maybe i should do.  i do my best on my most days, but there are days i am sure i fall short.  so i continue on in my prayers to ask for guidance to have god guide me where i need to be.  and some days he even leads me to a lost art supply. 

making envelopes and stationary

i've always enjoyed writing letters and sending happy mail.  i still am pretty faithful about it to this day.  i love making envelopes and homemade stationary.

being a faith filled person i like to include little reminders in my art.

here are two of the trifold pieces of stationary i'm currently working on.  they are works in progress and not quite finished yet.

when you open it up you can see it creates three sections.  i cut paper to fit each of the sections and used washi tape to secure them at the top.

i stamped lines on the backside of the paper to double my writing space in each section.  i have about 5 i am currently working on, but these two were the furtherest along in the process.

i hope you find some inspiration in this and will send someone you love a piece of happy mail.  i know they'd love it!

 

another peek....

i'm still working ahead on my 2016 biblical planner.  i love drawing and doodling in it.  i'm excited for next to roll around to fill it up.

a glimpse into my planner from this year

i thought i would share a glimpse into my planner i'm using this year gets filled up.  i love adding photos with my happy printer.  i'm so happy i bought that printer!  it makes the perfect sized photos for me. 

planner prep

i'm having a blast working on ahead on my 2016 planner.  i've been sharing some of my work in this planner all along this year.  here is another snippet of some of my work in it.

week 41 daily journal

week 41 prompt - are you true to yourself or do you try to please others?

this week's prompt was brought about by finding myself in a situation of trying to please someone and ignoring my own needs and desires.  i admit it.  i've been a people pleaser my whole life.  the older i get the more i realize i'm a people too!  i am teaching myself to say no.  i can say no sometimes without too much thought having to go into the decision.  but then there are other times i go back and forth on whether or not to say no or to do it.  i have a strong desire to want to be such a good person that i struggle with whether or not saying no is a good or bad thing.

part of me believes that you do have to be true to yourself, because at the end of the day, you have to find your own joy and happiness within yourself.  it's important to find a balance in life that is healthy on all levels - physically, spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally.  i am still learning to say no to meet all that criteria.

what about you?  do you try to please others more than you please yourself?

 

the roc nicholas design team post

today the roc nicholas design team post is brought to you by corrie herriman.  she has used quite a few of my rubber stamps to create this beautiful artwork.  she used one of my latest released stamps, ellie, as well as heart vine, unleash yourself and just be u.

to see more of corrie's work, go over to her blog by clicking here.

to see the stamps corrie used to create this piece, as well as all my other rubber stamps, please click here.