Project 365

       I've been thinking about trying it again for a while now, but it's been so cold I knew I wouldn't make it past a week. I started one in April 2010 - I did really well and made it to day 292 and then my camera broke =/ of course... SO CLOSE! But anyways, I've been wanting to try again but either I was working wayy too much or it was winter and winter is a terrible time for me to start anything. So; now April is here and it's [supposed] to get warm eventually... so bam, I'm starting it today.

And so here is Day 1: sugar cookies 

we made for Izzy to take to school for her share day. 

Her's were actually frosted yellow with each kids initial piped onto it in blue =P

WISH ME LUCK!

                 Also; rather than posting every day - I'll just post once a week with that weeks photos! I'm so excited!

And; of course if you decide to try it yourself now or later; check out Project 365 Survival Guide - which I wrote while doing it the first time!

OMGOMGOMG! "Featured Heartist"

       Ever get a compliment where you just feel like you might not be able to breathe? That's exactly what just happened to me!  There aren't even words, even after a few hours of staring at this, there still aren't words! I'm so incredibly blown away and feel so honored right now ❤❤❤ 

       It's not even April Fools Day! Anyways; I got this from #deviantHEART, an amazing group on devinatART.com. If you're on dA and you're not part of this group, you should seriously reconsider and click on that link up there and hit join!

Amtrak Residency

       If you're a writer and even just moderately like trains; this may adjust some of your life dreams as well. I read about this a couple weeks ago but didn't really get a chance to write about it. Since I'm finally sitting down for a few minutes; I have to share this with you.
       If you're an active writer on twitter, you may have seen the hashtag #AmtrakResidency, or at least I hope you have. If not perhaps you saw one or two articles such as:

• Amtrak to Offer Writers Residency Program from huffingtonpost.com
• Inside Amtrack's (Absolutely Awesome) Plan to Give Free Rides to Writers from TheWire.com
• Amtrak launches writers residency after authors request from latimes.com

       Okay; enough linking... for now; what am I talking about? I'm talking about taking a free to cheap trip on Amtrak for the pure and sole purpose of writing. If you're even the slightest bit like me you'll understand right now that a new writing atmosphere can be one of the greatest things/places your literary self finds. Not only does it offer peace and change; but an absolutely awesome life experience to go with some pen to paper action [or fingers to keys, whichever].
       NYC Writer Uses Twitter to Land the Best Workspace Ever when writer Jessica Gross tweeted Amtrak for residency trip for her writing; given that, Amtrak has just begun a residency for up to 24 writers to take long distance trains to work on their writing and will include accommodations of a sleeper car perfectly set for writers.
       If all of that sounds good to you, now is your chance to apply for one of these residencies

#DrawingAlongMarch

       I finally went out and got a sketchbook yesterday, I was uploading a sketch to twitter with the hashtag #drawing and the suggestion #DrawingAlongMarch popped up, which seemed like perfect timing. When I clicked the hashtag everything came up in Spanish so with the help of some translation I found out what #DrawingAlongMarch is, and discovered something even more wonderful beneath the surface!

        First of all; what is #DrawingAlongMarch? Translated straight from this gonzoo page:

"Beyond creating a single virtual meeting point , ' Drawing Along March ' aims to encourage the creativity of Spanish society , ignoring for a minute the issues and concerns of everyday life . " The main thing is having a good time . I think people should draw more . And reading, knitting , writing or cooking . Things that help us to disconnect from the world and be a little happier. All that activity must seek to fill us , "says Marta." We are all creative in varying degrees . In addition , spending five minutes a day to do a scribble we can find much better. It is a moment to unwind, to have focus , discover our capabilities ...are all advantages ! "Added Gemma continuing with the main idea of ​​your partner. Losing the fear is to face a blank sheet is one of the main goals pursued this cyber meeting.There are no restrictions to join the project . Both girls have this very clear paragraph , like all previous structuring the initiative : " Any person , animal or thing can participate. The idea is to make a drawing a day, no matter the technique, while you devote , if you color it , or if it's a doodle done in thirty seconds. It just has to be related to the proposed topic , "explained ."

        So while I'm not Spanish and I'm not terribly good at drawing something stood out "It's a moment to unwind, to have focus, discover..." these words struck out to me, this is what art is, should be.

Each day does have a theme to go along with; which I don't know Spanish well enough and I know the translate isn't translating it all correctly based on what I do know, so if you can translate it, awesome! If not; the idea is still amazingly wonderful ❤❤❤ I'm definitely gonna give it a try myself (=

An Acrylic Adventure.

       First; a few words.
What I Know About Painting
1. you use paint

What I Don't Know About Painting
1. everything not listed above.

       I think this was probably one of the most peaceful, relaxing things I've done in a really long time. It was so nice to just sit there and paint, it's like my mind stopped wandering, worrying,analyzing and thinking about things and allowed me to just exist where I was.

 

2014 Positivity Project

        I recently posted a journal on my deviantART page about depression, the powers of positive thinking and not being alone. After that I started thinking of ways we as people could help promote and spread positivity throughout the world and among our peers; with this I came up with a new project.
        Currently I am hosting the project through tumblr at 2014 Positivity Project and on deviantART collecting them in this folder. Maybe after some time if it grows enough I will branch it out to other media sites; but for now these two are all I'm doing... now a bit about the project:

The 5 W's

❤ What? The whole point of this project is to spread positivity through photographing inspirational/positive/motivational/uplifting quotes written on paper
❤ When? NOW! You can do one once a month, week, day or just once. However many times you want to do it! My goal is to collect 365 quotes by the end of 2014. If you do one let me know by commenting here, deviantART, tumblr or email me.
❤ Why? To spread and promote positivity through inspiration and art.
❤ Who? Everyone!
❤Where? Everywhere, Earth.

Other Info...

❤ Do they have to be hand written? They can be typed, I suggest hand written because it adds a personal touch, but honestly as long as you're doing it that's totally fine with me.
❤ What do I do with them? Other than posting it online for us to share; you can do whatever you want with the pieces of paper. I'm going to leave mine in random places for people [i.e. the library, school, work, stores, the park, etc.]

100 Love Letters Project

100 Love Letters Project is a project where we write love letters to strangers and place them in random places to be found by said strangers.

When: 14th, February, 2014

Where: Everywhere, Earth

Why: To spread positivity by spreading love, hope and inspiration to people we don't even know and my never meet!

How: Write your love letter[s] and place them in whatever locations you choose: library, school, work, the park, a store, etc.

Some tips:

• Don't write who you are, leave in anonymous!
• Make it positive and upbeat; what would you want to read in a random letter written to you?
• Make it stand out; a special color, ink, drawings, etc. Something that will grab a persons attention. Maybe write something like "Hi Stranger" or "Yes, this is for you!". 

Find the event & join in on

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artist's block - break it!

    The recurring question “how do I break this artist's block”, we’ve all hit that wall where we just can’t find a way to get anything out, and if we do it’s just rubbish we can hardly bare to admit we created. There are many causes of artist’s block, and luckily many cures!

     Sometimes we're not inspired, this is probably the hardest to overcome because you can't always just make yourself get up and go get inspired. Another reason people hit this block is because they're just bored with what they're doing. Below are a few ways to break either of those causes, use one method, use four whatever you want and whatever it takes. You can get through it.

• Take a break; seriously. This is my first suggestion give yourself a little bit to think, relax, rejuvenate and simply be blocked for a minute, hour or a day or two. Unless you’re in some rush to get it done take advantage of this step. Sometimes your brain just needs a minute to cool down before it powers back up and gets going again.
• Prompts: prompts come in many forms from themes, words/phrases, examples, visual pieces, music etc. They are used to inspire you and make you think about how to represent or respond to the given prompt. [you can google [art type i.e. writing, photography, etc.] prompts or you can use your own.
• Try something new: Think of something you haven’t done/tried before. Then go forth and find a tutorial and give it a try, you’ll create something from that tutorial AND maybe you’ll get inspired to use the method/style in a different way with something else.
• Previous Ideas/Art:
• in my opinion everybody should keep an inspiration journal [writing journal, thought journal, whatever you choose to call it]. We’ve all had those moments where we’re in class, at work, walking our dog, showering, whatever and we have a brilliant idea! Write it down, write it on your hand, write it in the steam on the mirror, write it on a scrap of paper just write it down. And when you get the chance add it to your journal [I do recommend keeping this on you, but it’s up to you. I also know people who keep their ideas in their phone notes because it’s easier to carry your phone then remember a journal] When you get a block, go back to this list and find stuff on there to start, work on or whatever.
• another option is to go back to an old piece of work; think of the ways you improve it and do again, branch off [start a series, make it bigger or even get an entirely new idea!]
• Start a project: Project 365, 52 week project, a monthly themed challenge [NaNoWriMo, 30 Days of Photos, 30 days, 30 sketches], even make one up! Make a goal/challenge to get yourself creating something, anything. It doesn’t have to be fantastic, it has to break that barrier between you and your inspiration. 
• Believe in yourself: if you believe you're never going to create art again, you're probably not. If you keep thinking it's only going to suck, it probably will. Believe in  yourself and your art! Take compliments! Let your head grow! Improve, grow and strive. You'll get through this block, we all have 

SUMMARY 
   ☆ Take a break
   ☆ Give prompts a go [music, words/phrases, visual, etc.]
   ☆ Try new methods/styles/techniques/etc.
   ☆ Go back to old ideas/art and try them [again]
   ☆ Start a project [daily, weekly, month long, etc.]
   ☆ Believe in Yourself

*** This is an older article I had written on deviantART in 2010, while updating my old posts/journals/articles, I decided to share some of them here. Maybe you'll find them useful as well ♥ ***

Penguin Nails

       I really have nothing special to say about them, other than they're pretty freaking awesome! *dances*

2014 Resolutions

         I don't usually make new years resolutions since I don't believe the changing of a year will actually inspire me to change my life [for example; turning 20, that inspired me to start thinking & changing some things]. But anyhow; this year I decided to make a few resolutions... and here they go

★ Improve relationships and promote positivity in life [& "break-up" with anyone who brings only negativity]
★ De-clutter my life both physically, emotionally & mentally.
★ Work towards goals on my 101 things in 1,001 days project
★ Since my best friend is getting married this year; get in better shape so I can rock that dress even better
★ Improve my photography, complete my Glory-Be-Project & try new styles/medias
★ Be more regularly active on deviantART

❅101 things in 1,001 days ❅

         101 things in 1,001 days is pretty simple; you make 101 goals to complete within 1,001 days [approx. 2.75 years] you can find out more by reading Day Zero Project [about]. I started mine the first of this year, which means it will end on the 28.September.2016. That amount of time is more realistic in changing my life than 1 year.
         I'm not gonna list all 1,001 one things but they range from things I want to do with with my kids, art, my life and other bits and pieces of dreams and aspirations.

☮My Goal in Life ☮

         My ultimate life goal is simple; to find peace and happiness in every day and promote positivity in my childrens lives, my life and that of strangers. To be a good person and teach my children to be good people. I want simple things. I don't dream of greatness nor do I hope for a huge house on a lake. I just want to find my bliss and share it with my children & my love.

 ☕ If You're Reading This ☕

★ Do you have any resolutions [for 2014 or otherwise]?
★ What would you consider your life goal to be?
★Feel free to share any goals, beliefs or anything else ❤ I would love to hear your ideas, thoughts & goals!

If Only For A Second

IF ONLY FOR A SECOND
20 cancer patients participated in a unique makeover experience.
They were invited to a studio. Their hair and makeup were completely redone.

During the transformation, they were asked to keep their eyes shut.
A photographer then immortalized the moment they opened their eyes.

This discovery allowed them to forget their illness, IF ONLY FOR A SECOND.

This is seriously one of the most beautiful and amazing things I've seen. Definitely grab some tissue!