Stepping Out Challenge - Day 26 - Gratitude's Pt 2

Welcome to today's post, where I will be sharing about the Gratitude's Series

Today I am going to be talking about the second part of the Gratitude's series.  If you are new to the blog post check out Day 2

Listen to the Podcast

Thank you for joining me today, it is amazing to think about where all the time has gone.  We are going to get right back into looking at gratitude's and how to get started.  When you think about your life and the things that you have achieved, how does that make you feel?  Do you feel a sense of achievement or not having done enough?

I believe that we are here for a purpose.  We have a unique ‘mission’ that we need to get on with, that can impact and those around us and ultimately the world.  We have to recognise that we had some help and we didn’t get to this point on our own.  Along side this we are able to do some things without even giving them much thought, discounting them as basic, but if you didn’t have them you would not feel they were basic.

Yesterday I touched on examples of people whose circumstances mean that they have to have assistance to live their day to day life.  Someone somewhere in the world has woken up having to use an oxygen tank, or have to always go down a checklist before they can leave the house, because their life depends on it.  When we think of all the things we take for granted it can change your perception about the things you currently are able to enjoy.  What are you going to do with them?

Spending time in Barbados and in London when we were small, we have experienced power cuts, water outages and it is only at those times do you really value having a normal service.  On a day to day basis we just expect everything to work smoothly and you really don't pay them any mind.  You leave a light on here and there and you run the water for a bit longer than need to, but when its cut off and you have to ration the bottles of water it becomes precious even to do the the simple things.  Your perspective changes when you don’t have.

I think we have to operate our 'attitude of gratitude' and each day think of 3 things that you are grateful for, you will definitely see a shift in how you approach things.  

Why not get a journal and write down these 3 things daily and really give them thought.  Let me know how you get on and what came up for you and what changes you might be making. 

Tomorrow I will share the I Love You Today Series.  I hope during this month you find some time to challenge, be creative and stretch yourself.

Why not join me each day for the rest of October as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life. 

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, it is never too late to start! The main thing is to take one step at a time and do something that you find interesting.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Ps:  If you are on a budget and would like to check out some supplies/books at a discounted price, check out one of the links below:

Adorn it - http://bit.ly/AdorAT18

Dollar Tree - http://bit.ly/DolAT18

Blick - http://bit.ly/Blick18

Book Outlet - http://bit.ly/BOOKAT18

Stampington - http://bit.ly/STAAT18

C& T Publishing -  http://bit.ly/CNTPAT18

Dover - http://bit.ly/DOVPAT18

Craftsy Kits - http://bit.ly/CrafAT18

Amazon Store -  https://www.amazon.com/shop/realityarts

Stepping Out Challenge - Day 25 - Gratitude's

Welcome to today's post, In which I will be talking about gratitude

Listen to the Podcast

Gratitude’s

The gratitude’s Challenge came about after listening to a motivational speaker online, he talked about gratitude and for us to think about what we were grateful for in our life.  He also mentioned the idea of writing them down, and meditating on them daily.  

I started to think of all the things that blessed me, that I know I take for granted, each and every day.  Some of the things would make an impact if they weren’t available to me so I thought about some of these things and began to take note of them.  Some of these things involve areas of our lives that we pay no mind, practical things, creativity, and my studio space.

What are the things that you are grateful for, we can become complacent not only about the what we have but the things that we don’t pay much mind to as it an automatic function, but would greatly affect us if we didn’t have it, like the air we breathe and the beating of our heart.  Someone has woken up with a faulty pacemaker, or has to use an oxygen tank.  Some have awoken and no longer have their sight or hearing, and now have that to deal with.  We can take our health for granted, not looking after our bodies, but wanting to be free from pain.

For years I was convinced there was a problem with my knees, I couldn’t bend down without being in some sort of pain, the doctor offered an anti-inflammatory which was a temporary fix, that I didn’t want to take and be dependent on.  When I started exercising and lost weight the pains disappeared, I had been causing the pain myself through not taking care of my health and then taking for granted what I had.

The challenge was necessary for me, as it allowed me to reconnect with all that was important in my life, not only physical and material things but relationships, and the things we take for granted around us, such as feeling the breeze on my skin, hearing the sound of the waves, the birds, the morning sunshine and much more.

What do you need to take stock of, as you consider the things that you have been taking for granted?

Tomorrow I will look at ways you can incorporate a practice of gratitude into your life.

Tomorrow I will share the second part of Gratitude's series.  I hope during this month you find some time to challenge, be creative and stretch yourself.

Why not join me each day for the rest of October as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life. 

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, it is never too late to start! The main thing is to take one step at a time and do something that you find interesting.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Ps:  If you are on a budget and would like to check out some  supplies/books at a discounted price, check out one of the links below:

Adorn it - bit.ly/AdorAT18 

Dollar Tree - bit.ly/DolAT18 

Blick - bit.ly/Blick18 

Book Outlet - bit.ly/BOOKAT18 

Stampington - bit.ly/STAAT18 

C& T Publishing - bit.ly/CNTPAT18 

Dover - bit.ly/DOVPAT18 

Craftsy Kits - bit.ly/CrafAT18 

Amazon Store - 

www.amazon.com/shop/realityarts

Stepping Out Challenge - Day 24 - Creating in Faith Pt 2

Welcome to today's post, I will be sharing part 2 with the Creating in Faith Series.

Listen to the Podcast

Thank you for coming back to today's Podcast. Yesterday I shared about how the ‘Creating in Faith’ prayer month started and was initially hosted by Artist Mika Diaz. I had really enjoyed taking part, and we connected as artists and friends which was great. Mika has a very clear and informative style of teaching, and is very giving, a lot went into all the courses that she runs online.  I also many years later was blessed to meet Mika and her beautiful family in Virginia.

When we completed the month on Creating in Faith I was asked by Mika if I wanted to continue and lead the sessions myself. It was something that I never thought of doing and I was very unsure that I had a strong enough voice to do it.  But there was a part of me that wanted to stretch myself and take the challenge.  Whilst I had a very different voice, I felt equally I had something that I could share, I couldn’t say no, as I am all about taking myself out of my comfort zones so I said yes!

It became almost like a meditative practice for me, I would take an encouraging word and scripture and see what it meant for me and what insights I would be able to bring, and also do a creative project. In the beginning I found it quite a challenge, whilst it was new to me I had to remember also that there are many who would participate silently so you weren’t going to get much feedback from some.

 There were times where I wondered if I really had anything more to share but I kept going. But gradually realised as I widened it and shared it on my blog and received encouraging comments from artists around the world that it was blessing others as well. You also have to develop a thick skin for the times when no one comments, it is alright because you showed up and that is all that matters.

The way I continued Creating in Faith was to develop a creative project along side. I created Bookmark pocket holders that you could put your prayers and thoughts in and at the end of a period you could bind it together as a journal, but you could also look back over the year to see which prayers had been answered.

I continued to lead the project for over a year and a half and it is great to look back and see the progress that I have made, the confidence in my writing, and being consistent in sharing and showing up, and best of all the creative bookmark pockets that I had created. I remembered how insecure I had felt in the beginning, but these feelings are all part of the experience and I am preparing for a season when I will be able to bring together all the things that I have been learning over time which is making me into the artist I have become and yet to become..

When you put your mind to it you can achieve some amazing things. Some things you create for a different reason, and the Creating in Faith was one of them as I read back some of the posts I am surprized how some of the reflections then have helped me even now, but I wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t been asked and accepted the challenge.

So what are you going to do with the time you have left? What projects have you been asked to do that you need to step up and say yes to.

What are the steps you are willing to take, will you show up for you and step out of the comfort zone, shake things up and really surprise yourself at how much you have within you. It all starts with a step, then another and before you know it you are further than you thought possible.

Tomorrow I will share the Gratitude Series.  I hope during this month you find some time to challenge, be creative and stretch yourself.

Why not join me each day for the rest of October as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life. 

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, it is never too late to start! The main thing is to take one step at a time and do something that you find interesting.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Ps:  If you are on a budget and would like to check out some  supplies/books at a discounted price, check out one of the links below:

Adorn it - http://bit.ly/AdorAT18

Dollar Tree - http://bit.ly/DolAT18

Blick - http://bit.ly/Blick18

Book Outlet - http://bit.ly/BOOKAT18

Stampington - http://bit.ly/STAAT18

C& T Publishing -  http://bit.ly/CNTPAT18

Dover - http://bit.ly/DOVPAT18

Craftsy Kits - http://bit.ly/CrafAT18

Amazon Store -  https://www.amazon.com/shop/realityarts

Stepping Out Challenge - Day 23 - Creating in Faith

Welcome and thank you for joining me today.  Today we will be checking out the Creating In Faith Series

Listen to the Podcast

Creating in Faith

Creating in Faith was a challenge that came out of an online gathering brought together by artist I met online called Mika Diaz. She was doing a Prayer Journal journey during the month of March where we looked at a daily scripture with a gathering of artists and sharing her thoughts and we would also journal what the scripture meant for us.

I had not used my art journal in this way before, and realised that sharing my faith using my creativity was something that I really enjoyed, and it had been relatively new to me. But each day that passed I became more confident preparing my pages and seeing what came up for me as I meditated on the scriptures.

I was able to explore many thoughts, questions, dreams and desires within my journal and working alongside a group of other people all at different levels in their creative and spiritual walk was encouraging. Not everyone shared their pages and that was alright, you were able to share a comment or just say what the scripture meant for you - if you wanted to. 

30 Day Prayer Journal - is what you want it to be

I think there is a strong connection between the spiritual and the creative practice. Some of us don’t even realise that connection, and I think that you can delve into it even more when you get into the habit of playing with your supplies.

 When you are hung up about how to use materials or what to create you can get in the way of opening up your spiritual practice. Several years ago I decided to let go of what I thought I should create and focus on what wanted to be created. As part of my spiritual creative practice I prepare by using play within my studio. 

 I always give time to playing with supplies, and exploring, being curious, cause the learning comes when you least expect. I use play to prepare backgrounds sometimes working with what I have to hand or other times selecting specific things that I feel like working with on the background, sometimes they get used and sometimes not.

Mixed Media Art - 30 Day Prayer Journal

From the background that I create I will see what images want to be represented or that I can see within the background, and that’s essentially how I start my art, whether it be in an art journal, clay figure or wall hanging. It calls on you to get to know your supplies, and in the same way that you might say write in your journal each morning, which I do, spending time daily seeing which ways you can use your materials is essential.

That said have you tried Bible Journaling, or do you use an altered journal to express yourself in.  How have you developed your meditative spiritual creative practice. It would be great to hear from you.  Check back tomorrow how the course progressed for me 

Tomorrow I will share the second part from my Creating in Faith series I hope during this month you find some time to challenge, be creative and stretch yourself.

Why not join me each day for the rest of October as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life. 

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, it is never too late to start! The main thing is to take one step at a time and do something that you find interesting.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Ps:  If you are on a budget and would like to check out some  supplies/books at a discounted price, check out one of the links below:

Adorn it - http://bit.ly/AdorAT18

Dollar Tree - http://bit.ly/DolAT18

Blick - http://bit.ly/Blick18

Book Outlet - http://bit.ly/BOOKAT18

Stampington - http://bit.ly/STAAT18

C& T Publishing -  http://bit.ly/CNTPAT18

Dover - http://bit.ly/DOVPAT18

Craftsy Kits - http://bit.ly/CrafAT18

Amazon Store -  https://www.amazon.com/shop/realityarts

Bible Journaling

Stepping Out Challenge - Day 22, 52 Weeks of Colour Pt 2

Today we will look at Part 2 of the 52 Weeks of Colour and Inspiration.

Welcome to today's post, I am taking part in a 31 day blog challenge where I post everyday in October.  I love creating challenges for myself and joining ones by others.  My challenge for the rest of the month is to reflect on some of the series I created for myself and inspiration that I have taken away.

Listen to the Podcast

Welcome to todays post. I am going to be talking about a series called 52 Weeks of Colour and Inspiration. 

Not one to shy away from a challenge I constantly push myself to show up on a daily basis to work on my creative practice and reflect on how far I have come.  It is really useful to spend the time getting to know yourself better through your craft and seeing if there are any areas that you can push the boundaries even further, whether it is trying new materials, using your materials in an unusual way and just playing and mastering your craft.  

When I decided part way though the challenge to write longer reflections I thought back to the challenge that I did on Day 17 & 18 for the 100 words minimum per day.  I had days where I couldn’t think of anything to write much less than 100 words, but I was present and got it done.  

It showed me that the work that I had done writing 100 word challenge put me in the perfect place not to be overwhelmed by writing and there wasn’t any one standing around saying it wasn’t perfect or I shouldn’t do it as I wasn’t a writer. 

The ‘critic’ did try and get in there every now and again but I did it anyway, feeling the fear and focusing on the one person that might be blessed from what I was doing.  I really enjoyed that particular challenge.  Along with the others that I have worked on I have additional content that I can re-purpose in some way.  There are so many ways in which they can be used, that now I look back I never thought I would be in this particular space

The other thing that I was able to do is practice working on digital images. I came across a number of additional flowers that I had photographed which had been sitting on my computer, they were beautiful and I was inspired by the quotes and scripture as I typed each of them out, there are amazing ways that you can be blessed that you may not have even thought of yourself.

What will you do?

I encourage you to start something different - try some of these ideas:  

• You can start small to begin with say 5 days, just dive in.  Plan what you need to but don’t over think it so that you talk yourself out of doing it.  
• You don’t have to post it online for others to see but if you do you will have a cheering committee who want to see your success and it will keep you accountable.  
• You will clearly see if it is something that you want to keep doing or not but you will also come out of it richer for having tried it.

Tomorrow I will share the challenge I did called Creating in Faith.  I hope during this month you find some time to challenge, be creative and stretch yourself.

Why not join me each day for the rest of October as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life. 

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, it is never too late to start! The main thing is to take one step at a time and do something that you find interesting.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Ps:  If you are on a budget and would like to check out some gardening supplies/books at a discounted price, check out one of the links below:

Amazon suggested gardening books

Adorn it 

Dollar Tree 

Book Outlet 

C&T Publishing 

Craftsy Kits

Stepping Out Challenge - Day 21 - 52 Weeks of Colour & Inspir

Today I am going to be talking about a series on my blog

I did called 52 Weeks of Colour and Inspiration

Welcome to today's post.  If you are new to my blog then I am taking part in a 31 day blog challenge where I post everyday in October.  I love creating challenges for myself and joining ones by others.  My challenge for the rest of the month is to reflect on some of the series I created for myself and inspiration that I have taken away.

Listen to the Podcast

52 Weeks of Colour and Inspiration came directly after the year long challenge 365 Days of Colour.  I enjoyed the first one so much that I wanted to do another one, but not have it be as intensive as the last, it shows you how quickly a year goes by and you need to make sure you decide what you want to do as it is also so easy to waste and not receive a refund for those wasted years.  

I usually find that I approach the challenges one day and want to start the next without any rest, organisation or planning, committing myself to get going and thinking about the time I have just knowing that someone is going to be blessed so it has to be done immediately!

I was able to talk myself out of starting another daily year long project to give up half way as it is quite disheartening and it is easier to think about all that you haven’t done rather than what you achieved in the time.  The weekly challenge gave me a bit of a breather, and as there were additional elements to it I didn't end up feeling overwhelmed.

The challenge consisted of me taking images of flowers that I had photographed and applying new skills by altering the images, sharing a quote, scripture, a word and reflecting on that word that I had chosen to represent that week.  Half way during the year I started to add ‘thoughts for the week’, and it meant that I had to commit to writing.  I would take the word and then write in more detail about what it meant for me.  

Taking part in this challenge got me out of my comfort zone as once I had written and posted the first ‘thought for the week’  then I had to be consistent and think about what it was that I did think and let it be something that would bless the reader.  I was able to give each part of the process more thought and the words that I came up with for each week were ones that I also was able to meditate on for my own life.

Things to Ponder

• When you think about your own life what does committing to a long term project mean for you, 
• what emotions come up, 
• is it something that you find you have some resistance to
• When you think of the process involved can you reflect upon and pick out some nuggets of learning

Tomorrow I will share the second part from my 52 Weeks of Colour and Inspiration, remember to check out the podcasts, where I add a little bit extra.  I hope during this month you find some time to challenge, be creative and stretch yourself.

Why not join me each day for the rest of October as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life. 

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, it is never too late to start! The main thing is to take one step at a time and do something that you find interesting.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Ps:  If you are on a budget and would like to check out some  supplies/books at a discounted price, check out one of the links below:

Adorn it - http://bit.ly/AdorAT18

Dollar Tree - http://bit.ly/DolAT18

Blick - http://bit.ly/Blick18

Book Outlet - http://bit.ly/BOOKAT18

Stampington - http://bit.ly/STAAT18

C& T Publishing -  http://bit.ly/CNTPAT18

Dover - http://bit.ly/DOVPAT18

Craftsy Kits - http://bit.ly/CrafAT18

Amazon Store -  https://www.amazon.com/shop/realityarts

Stepping Out Challenge - Day 20 - Clearing the Clutter Pt 2

Welcome to today's post, I am taking part in a 31 day blog challenge where I post everyday in October.  I love creating challenges for myself and joining ones by others.  My challenge for the rest of the month is to reflect on some of the series I created for myself and inspiration that I have taken away.

Listen to the Podcast

Today I am going to be concluding the Clearing the Clutter Challenge 

Thank you for coming back to todays post.  I think I was very brave to put myself out there - I am a minimalist trapped inside a clutterholic – is there such a thing?  Anyway I like order but I love collecting, and I probably need an assistant (who doesn’t)  I think I’ve become more discerning over what I collect, and am not the sort to collect trinkets  but I guess my treasures, might to some be trinkets.

I decided to start a challenge that would see me go through a number of areas and transform them of clutter.  Right off the bat I had a long list of areas and I was going to do this!!!  Here is my original list of things I wanted to clear:

Here are the areas that I decided to sort out:

1.    Sort the contents of my hand bag/s
2.    Clothes that don’t fit
3.    Tatty un-wearable clothes
4.    Old makeup/products -
5.    Old jewellery – broken pieces
6.    Recycled Paper/Shredding
7.    Old paints/art supplies not used
8.    Shoes
9.    Fabric – vintage and new
10. Paper/card
11. Filing cabinet
12. Ephemera
13. News paper/ Magazine cuttings
14. Computer photos
15. Emails on computer
16. Books on shelves
17. Recycled painted materials
18. Old hand bags not used
19. Poetry to sort – and decide what to do with it
20. Podcasts recorded - edited
21. Rubber Stamps in draws – art supplies
22. Pencils/graphite/charcoals – art supplies
23. Stored frames and unused art material
24. Magazine subscriptions
25. Typing to be done – notes in books on paper
26. Freezer -
27. Garden – weeding/cutting back and pruning
28. My sons room!!!!
29. Garden picking up leaves from palm trees – recycling
30. Photography – art work

The coloured ones are the ones I got done.  One of the things I didn’t factor in was the time each area would take to do, to clear it out and then write about and photo, upload, everything.  Life still went on – I was working in the day then came home.  With this as I looked at it I felt that I had set myself up for failure as each area that I needed to be cleared would take more than one day, depending on how big the task was, so realistically what should have done was choose say 4 areas to focus on rather than 30 and factor in ‘going down memory lane’ or the having a face to face with the ‘resistance’.

When I did the first few days I was quite chuffed with myself.  I had followed the advice of organizers, had 3 bins  - Keep, Chuck, Recycle and vowed to touch things only once. I didn’t factor in how big the emotional attachment would be and this 5 second conversation would play every time I picked something up:

Mind: you can’t get rid of that, do you know how long you’ve had it

Me         yes I know but its not being used for 10 years

Mind     but it might come in handy, we were saving it just in case

Me         yes but just in case might never come

Mind     you know what happened to that other thing you got rid of your dads sewing machine – irreplaceable!!! Can’t get that back now can you???

Me         I have to let the emotional attachment go, I can live with it, I need to clear some space

Mind     but it looks so pretty, do you remember when we brought it

Me         oh yeah, I nearly forgot, wow, it does look lovely doesn’t it

Mind     That’s what I was saying

Me         maybe I’ll just keep this one, but I said that about all the other pieces

Mind     you were right about those as well, you know your so good at this, you’ll find space for them

Me         Ok maybe just this last one

Mind     that’s what I was saying – great minds eh!

That was the conversation that I went through but once I got into the swing of things it got easier and listened less to the emotional attachment voice and struck a balance.

In the end I was able to do 9 areas and rather than beat myself up for not being able to do 30 areas I was pleased that I was able to do the areas that made a bit of an impact.  It is again a lifestyle and not a quick fix.

I continue to have a purge of things on a regular basis, cutting back on the things that no longer serve a purpose or can find a new home. I still have those conversations about how useful the item will be, and its putting one thing continually out of its place that the build up happens, and the place begins to look cluttered.

How do you deal with the ‘Oh I’ll move it in a minute’ and days later 3 other things have joined it?  
Do you have your own Collector’s tale, what kind of things do you collect that you feel you should /could/would get rid of but …….tomorrow, or what tips do you have that has worked for you?  I would love to hear your thoughts

Tomorrow I will share another challenge.  I hope during this month you find some time to challenge, be creative and stretch yourself.

Why not join me each day for the rest of October as we dive into to some exciting challenges and look at ways in which they can impact on your own life. 

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, it is never too late to start! The main thing is to take one step at a time and do something that you find interesting.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Ps:  If you are on a budget and would like to check out some supplies/books at a discounted price, check out one of the links below:

Adorn it - http://bit.ly/AdorAT18

Dollar Tree - http://bit.ly/DolAT18

Blick - http://bit.ly/Blick18

Book Outlet - http://bit.ly/BOOKAT18

Stampington - http://bit.ly/STAAT18

C& T Publishing -  http://bit.ly/CNTPAT18

Dover - http://bit.ly/DOVPAT18

Craftsy Kits - http://bit.ly/CrafAT18

Amazon Store -  https://www.amazon.com/shop/realityarts