WOW!

Queen of Dreams
We are all the Queens of our own Dreams...

Dearest BLOG readers aka sweet sister friends,

I am BEYOND excited this morning. Last night, I was up very late trying to get my ETSY store FINALLY up and running... I fell onto my pillow completely exhausted and unable to get the html out of my head. I was also feeling scared. I was out there in cyberspace...my heart wide open, open for all of the uglies to creep in...doubt, rejection, fear, what are you doing???

I woke upthis morning , got my son ready for school...turned on my computer...and noticed...I had sold an ORIGINAL painting!!! I could NOT believe it!!! I danced in my kitchen...I sold it to a wonderful woman overseas... I just experienced a MONDO BEYODO!!! The Universe is saying YES...I AM SO HAPPY!!!!

This is REALLY happening! I have waited so long to have my very own ETSY store and I wanted you to be the first to know about it. Just click on the shop button tab at the top of my BLOG. I plan to upload three more originals by the end of the day along with more goodies tomorrow. Happy day to all of you!

PS. I also sold three originals at the ART show I exhibited on Women's Day. Just found out yesterday...Thank-you Universe! :)

P.S.S. More about the new name tomorrow: Her painted word...

A Stranger with a Message

What a difference a day makes! Thank-you all so much for your well wishes. I am feeling SO much better and I have been keeping myself very busy again.

Have you ever met a complete stranger and felt like he was sent to you for a reason? He or she was a messenger with words that you needed to hear? (again...for the third time...)
Well, that happened to me yesterday. While I was waiting for a friend at a cafe, I met a complete stranger, an entrepreneur, a person with passion. After talking for a while and telling him about myself, he insisted that I call his friend, his bff who was competing in a Toastmasters competition the next day. He told me that I should check it out and that I should really give it a try....hmmm...

Later that day, I realized, that this was not the first time I was "encouraged" to attend a Toastmasters meeting...Two other times that I can recall, (at twenty years old and just last year) I was strongly encouraged to go...I never did attend. I was always just "too busy". What Mondo Beyondo is reminding me, is that I need to listen to these invitations and suggestions...Maybe the Universe knows something I don't...yet. Maybe it's time I listen.

So, on Monday, I plan to make that call...who knows where it can lead me?

What messages have you denied yourself from hearing? What do you know you should do because you have heard it more than once?

Here's a new painting. My new favorite so far!

Gifts From the Ground...

So, I have caught a bug that has wiped me out. I have only been able to sit in bed and read and surf the blog world. It is hard for me to be down and out for the count, unable to move to my usual pace of life. Sometimes you just have to surrender and ride the wave. While my ears hurt and my sinus pressure continues, I am looking forward to creating again.

I wanted to share more little forest friends that I have collected the last couple of years. I already showed you my little lady on the swing that I bought to remind me to have more fun. Here are two more.

This little lady caught my eye. I was going through a huge life change and was looking forward to a better time, the future. When I shared my thoughts with Maia the artist, she said I should see it rather as a way to look within. I smiled and understood. I bought it on the spot.

Last year I purchased this one.

How could I resist this mother and son?

Her attention to detail is impeccable. Her respect for Mother Nature is intoxicating. She is like a real life fairy and I am SO HAPPY to tell you that she is NOW online! Sometimes being sick has its perks. It gives you time to research. This is where you can find her now: A Forest Friend.

Pay her a visit and you will be inspired by what she creates with gifts from Mother Earth. When I am able to be vertical again I will be taking a walk in the forest to be inspired by all the treasures that surround us.


PS. The craft show she often attends starts tomorrow in my city. There just might be another one I can't live without. I need to eat my chicken soup today.

Happy Spring! Happy exploring! Happy! xo

Modern Fairytales...

I am very inspired by the beautiful artwork found in Children's books. There is a wonderful French bookstore here that brings in many books from France. I found one a couple of years ago called: Les Amants Papillons. It's a story of forbidden LOVE. A daughter was promised to another man's son but her heart belonged to another. In the end they turn into butterflies so they could be together. It's a spin on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The pictures are breathtaking! SO much so that I did the unthinkable and I cut the pictures out of the book and framed them above our bed. I feel like my bedroom has become a modern fairytale, a place where dreams are encouraged and LOVE is abundant.

Other books I have fallen in total LOVE with are Cyrano and l'enfant silence.

I needed my bedroom to be a refuge. A place that reflected who I was and things that mattered. Here are more pictures that give you a glimpse of the room.


I found this painting at a second hand store for 9.99$. It was my best score so far...It even has the red velvet at the back of the painting...I just adore this.

My Buddha...how he brings me peace...

This is my side table. I always have at least two books going at once. Becoming Jane Eyre and Her Fearful Symmetry are the fiction books I'm reading right now. That little woman swinging on the vine is made by a women in Ontario. She's not online (I wish). Everything she makes is found from nature. She uses acorns for the heads and makes the clothing... I bought her to remind me to have more fun!!! I have two other of her pieces that I will post later this week.

Me and my baby.
This was such a magical time in my life.
This is when my heart started beating on the outside of my chest.
This is when Owen started to wear my heart.

Our bedrooms need to be a peaceful place where we refuel and dream those big dreams while we sleep. Let yourself think outside the box and create a space that is meaningful for you. Who cares what the latest fads are. Let it represent just how special you are. xo

Closer...

This post is dedicated to the little child within all of us. The little child that was hurt and unable to defend her heart. The part of us that still remains broken under layers of tape and band aids. The part that has been covered up by years of "Oh ya, it's all better now, enough already, it's over". The part that continues to make you believe that you are not totally deserving of happiness and for your dreams to soar...

What I have learned is that this little girl still needs LOVE. She needs to be told she deserves good things to happen in her life. She is worthy of everything good. She is LOVED unconditionally. She has every right to fly towards her happy place and sit among her dreams. The nest that holds her truest desires where she knows she needs to let them go and believe they will fly...She knows she needs to silence the monster, the one called self-worth that continues to question if she REALLY deserves this? She wants to believe it with all her might. She is getting closer. Closer.

Trust

Here's a new painting. It's called trust.

Trust the gifts God gave you. She wants you to use them.
You need to share them with the world.
It's time.

Clearing the clutter, cleansing the soul...

These are the bookcases in our living room.
Books rank up there with my ABSOLUTE favorite things...
I have been wanting to organize them by colour for a couple of years now...
SO worth the effort.
It's like looking at a box of crayola crayons all day long...

I'm still on the organization band wagon...I am being more cut throat this year about letting go. I think this is a good sign... I remember when my husband Steve was overseas for six months at a time, I would redecorate the whole house...I would repaint every single room, sometimes twice. This was one of my coping mechanisms...He never knew what to expect when he returned home...

Well times, they are a changing...I am now cleansing my surroundings to feel more present, not to escape the present. This purging is getting me closer to the dreams I desire for myself and my family. With every sweater, magazine and toy I toss into the giveaway box, I realize I'm getting closer to the core of who I am and what I truly desire. We all have things we have been holding onto for years...Let this be the year you let it go. Make room for what you REALLY want and what you really deserve. TOSS IT, you will make room for something SO much better!

Just ten minutes...

I went to bed last night feeling pretty angry about what I saw on the news...A young man of 35 years old beaten by two teens, his wallet stolen. The man who was beaten was just coming back from a concert and was heading back to his girlfriend's house. He was visiting Australia from Canada. This man was also wheelchair bound. I was disgusted and furious...I told myself that I just wanted ten minutes in a room with those two punks...just ten minutes...

I can't even imagine the humiliation and powerlessness this man felt as he was being thrown from his wheelchair and beat with a metal bar. It was all captured on tape because it happened in an elevator. He is undergoing surgery today for head trauma.

Just ten minutes...

I woke up this morning to get my son ready for school. His Dad is away this week and ever since he left, my son Owen has been using his extra wheelchair to get around in the house. He has been in it for three days. He transfers from his bed to the chair and wheels into the kitchen to eat his breakfast. He even gets dressed in the chair making it very difficult and challenging for him. I have asked him what it's all about? He told me he wants to know what it's like for his Dad to get around. He's says that now that he's away, he needs to be the man of the house and take over. My son is seven. The wheelchair sits by the front door, waiting for him to return home.

It is because of my son that I am able to open my heart and choose LOVE rather than hate. It is because of his compassion that I am able to choose LOVE and try to understand the kind of pain these two boys are in to be able to hurt another human being in that way. It is because of my son that I choose LOVE and have hope for a better tomorrow, a future where people respect each other.

I painted this today. It's a picture of me. I painted it to remind me

to choose LOVE the way my son does. Even when, especially when it is hard.

Embrace New Beginnings...

A self-pic from Sunday. I decided to put this up because I have so many pictures of me where I am wearing the smile but not truly happy...just wearing it for the camera. In this picture, I AM HAPPY and I wanted to share it and honor this happy girl!

SO here I am still riding the wave from the ARTful journey and my first ever ART show and READING. This has been a FABULOUS time in my life...a wondrous time with so many new beginnings...I have also started the MONDO Beyondo Dream e-course which is allowing me to continue this momentum. I want to stay true to my creative life and dream bigger dreams...


It has been unusually warm and sunny around here. The snow has almost melted away which is UNBELIEVABLE in this part of Canada. I am enjoying the warm sun against my arms, dropping the heavy weight of my winter jacket and stuffy boots. I am feeling the need to purge all the layers that don't serve me anymore, not just the heavy clothes. I have been in CLEANING MODE! Obsessing over organizing and purging. Maybe it's because I feel my life is finally starting to reflect my dreams... What ever does not serve me just has to go. I'm making room for more good stuff. I'm making room for new experiences and more moments of BLISS... I think this is the year I let go ALL of my Martha Stewart Magazines...Sorry Martha, but it's time.

What are you holding onto that really doesn't serve you anymore? Purge these items that are cluttering your way towards a more authentic you... Make room for your dreams...Give them a place to be seen and heard. Embrace New Beginnings...

Here is one of my latest paintings. xo

Outside my comfort zone...

Yesterday was a BIG day! It was the first time I had my paintings on display for people to see. I was beyond nervous! I felt so vulnerable...It's so much safer when you are painting in your studio... I realized that I am not a good "smoosher" when I'm nervous. I just wanted to sit back, sip my wine and eat my cheese...


Four of my canvases... Shero, Blue is not Everyone's Color, Truth and Explore: Journey Within



Two more of my canvases tucked in between the people: Collector of Pretty Things, Tree.


Here is my seven year old son Owen checking out his Mama's ART. For me, this was the best part of the day. The fact that my son was there to take part in such a special day. He has never seen me do my thing like this... Showing my ART and reading my story was teaching him that you can do this Owen...you can achieve whatever your heart desires. I told him I was nervous, but that I did it anyway.


Here I am standing on a chair reading from my story "A New Normal". This part was even more terrifying, but in the end, extremely empowering. There I was, reading aloud my words that had been sitting in my body, written on the page, for a room full of people to hear. My heart and my soul-EXPOSED! Healing transpired. It felt AMAZING! In this moment, I was sure, positive, that God wanted me to be on that chair at that exact moment. I had that moment so few experience...the knowingness: THIS is what I am supposed to do!

I was not prepared for the feedback. The kind words from complete strangers...There was a diverse group of people from every age group. Many of them congratulated me on the reading and told me how it resonated for them. One woman especially approached me and thanked me. She lost a son at 11 years old from cancer. Our stories so completely different on the surface but my words allowed her to connect to that place inside that felt real. She later wrote, encouraging me to continue writing because she wanted to read my stories. She said my writing was amazing! I still have not processed it all. I am just so grateful that I remained open to these possibilities and said YES even though I just wanted to say no.

If this was not enough, I even sold some paintings... Going out of my comfort zone was exactly what I needed to move forward on this creative journey. Today, I need to clean my house! Happy International Women's Day. Do something outside your comfort zone...trust me, you won't regret it. You just might get the answers you always wanted! xo

You can tell the truth...

This is the space in my petit studio I have carved out to write my book. I am surrounded by books on the written word. Books that inspire me to keep going. One of my favorites is Writing Down the Bones by Nathalie Goldberg. If you have a yearning to write, read this book. I re-read certain sections often..." I write because there are stories that people have forgotten to tell, because I am a woman trying to stand up in my life. I write because to form a word with your lips and tongue or think a thing and then dare to write it down so you can never take it back is the most powerful thing I know. I am trying to come alive, to find the distances in my own recess and bring them forward and give them color and form." Like my need to express myself through paint and color, I am equally called to the written word. Writing has always helped me through the difficulties and the challenges I have experienced in my life. Like ART, writing has helped me heal on so many levels.

At the ART Retreat I went to, we had "Hope Notes" sitting on the tables. We were told that the note that was sitting in our bowl was indeed the note intended for us, especially if we thought it was NOT the note we wanted. My note was: "You can tell the truth". This little note was so powerful because I believe it was again a nudge from above to keep going, to finish my book, giving me persmission to tell the truth.

I put that note on one of my collaged pages. So every time I feel that doubt, I can look at this note and remind myself of what I need to finish.

We all have a story, we have several. What story should you share with the world? What truth do you need to tell?

LEAP!

Here are two paintings I have finished out of seven since returning home from the ART retreat. I'm having so much fun...

The first painting is called: Explore: journey within. This is to remind me to "check in" with myself, and "journey within". Life has been so fast paced lately I need to make a conscious effort to take some time to do nothing...this is very hard for me.

The second painting is a tribute to all the Sheros out there! International Women's Day is fast approaching and I wanted to aknowledge this very special day. To all the Sheros in my life: I LOVE YOU and celebrate you!

Speaking of International Women's Day...I am SO excited to announce that I will be part of a collaboration of women displaying their artwork for the month of March. This event is called:
By Her Hand, Visual Art by Women about Women

I will be displaying six of my pieces, four of which I painted before the retreat. The other two are displayed above. This is the FIRST time I am outing myself as an....artist. Still so difficult to say...I am BEYOND excited to have this opportunity.

I have also been asked to read a selection from my writing to share at the opening. I was not going to agree to this...fear, fear, fear...but in the end, I felt like it was a huge embrace from the Universe, trust, trust, trust, encouraging me to TOTALLY step out of my comfort zone. Reading in public is one thing, but reading from your own work that you have been labouring over for the last two years and sharing it with a room full of people is absolutely terrifying and exhilarating! I have decided to read the first three pages of the first short story from my collection I hope to publish...What a day for this girl! It has been wonderfully uncomfortable.

Dreams do come true after all...one step at a time. One leap of faith after hundreds of nudges...LEAP! (That was my word during the meditation we did during the SOUL journalling exercise. I would say this is a GIANT LEAP for me.) Feeling so grateful tonight and trusting the journey.