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Monthly Archive for: ‘December, 2011’

What 2011 taught me.

I know, I know… yet another post on the blogosphere about the end of the year. But I’ve been thinking a lot about this year already coming to an end, what I experienced (good and bad), about what I learned during the past twelve months.

It seems like yesterday I was making my plans for 2011. Did I meet all my goals (and there were not plenty of them!) ? No. I’m okay with it though. Because I learned A LOT this year.

Thanks to Goddess Leonie 2012 workbook and planner, I realize that I have made some big accomplishments (in my opinion):

I opened my Etsy shop, Inner Worlds, pushed firmly but kindly by my Fearless painting guru and friend Connie. It was a huge step for me. Showing the world i was actually there, asking for money in exchange of my art (i do still struggle with this sometimes, to be honest). And i made over 20 sales (may not seem like a good number for you, but I was sure not to sell a thing when I started!).

In february, I followed my gut and the idea of a personal project I simply called “365-selfportraits challenge“, i started it in march. And it taught me to see me differently, to gain perspective on how I perceive myself. Even if i did not fulfill it, I so love self-portraiture that i may start it over in 2012. I want to do it for my girls and will ask them if they are interested.
I may do a more general 365-picture a year in 2012, I don’t know yet…

I learned that there is growth in very bad health news. That despite what people think, positive thinking and Reiki do help. Even with cancer.
I am now a Practical Reiki Master and I am fully engaged in my healing learning process, helping anyone who kindly ask.

2011 taught me to trust deeply, without a doubt, that everything is okay and will get better and better.

I learned to give my friendship, sometimes to give it back. Despite how hurt I could have been. To give second chances. But there won’t be third chances though.

I learned that miracles DO exist. Now, the missing pieces in my family tree are coming together. It feels good not to be a secret ghost anymore.

I followed my guts, asked the Universe, and received. This is how I went to Seattle, twice, to attend workshops in Teesha Moore’s Artfest Annex. The first was from Teesha herself, this is how I finally met two online friends: Violette and Kym. Both were true life-changing experiences. I bloomed as an artist.

This painting was done during Flora Bowley’s workshop and means a lot to me. I look at wondering how on Earth I could have painted it. Me. It is now hung on our wall, so I see it everytime I open the door.

Lots of my personal symbols. My heart is in there. Even with any Nixie lol

I just love the imperfections that fill it, me the perfectionist Virgo…

I am kinda back to writing, my first love. This book is still nesting in me, words wanting to go out but struggling because I keep them safely inside. I know I should not. And may 2012 be the year when they finally go out. For now, I am just sharing the stories my Nixies are whispering to me while I am giving birth to them.

2011 was tough. But eye and heart opening. And this is with a big THANK YOU that I let this year go to welcome 2012 in a few hours now.

I wish you all a wonderful new year.

Gratitude Friday 12/16/2011, thank you for the rest

Gratitude Friday is a weekly ritual I started in order to focus on all the small and big positive things that happened during my week. I invite you to join me, you’ll see how much being thankful can change your life. If you want to know more about it, read my introduction post.

Hello !

Christmas will be there in a week. My girls are both in vacation today. Baking cookies is planned, and we bought our first gingerbread house kit to create together.

This week, I am thankful for:

  • Mom is here to celebrate with us. The last two years it was just the four of us.
  • I will be able to rest, not to stress over what to cook for Grenouille’s lunches at school, neither to hurry in the morning to get her ready for the schoolbus.
  • Goddess Leonie’s 2012 workbook + planner I printed and put in a binder, to review for you. It looks amazing and I feel like it could change positively a lot of things for the year to come.
  • My husband and I celebrated our 8th dating anniversary. We went to see Hugo and have dinner together. It feels good to be just the two of us sometimes. It feels good to have mom around.
  • I am in a creative groove. I love the Nixies that are emerging. I paint again just for the joy of it.
  • I am creating my first Brown Nixie and you have no idea how happy it makes me. For a lot of reasons.
  • The pain is not that bad this week. And I sleep again almost normally.
  • My Nixies cards are flying all over the world to their new homes. And twice it was moms who ordered them for their daughters. Makes my heart sing.
  • The questioning about what I do. About my life purpose. And the answers at those questions.
  • My family saying “you smell good” even if I don’t have any perfume on, it happened a lot this week, strangely.
  • The excitement of my girs regarding Christmas. I love them both so much.
  • I art journaled again and oh my goddess it feels good.
  • I sent my December edition of Inner Whispers. Not all the subscribers have read it apparently, but it’s ok. I created an archive page (see the horizontal sidebar, titled Inner Whispers), you can read the previous editions (and the current one).
  • I am listing lots of new art prints in the shop. And I have a 15% off prints ! So it’s time to get your dose of Nixies before Christmas. Enter PRINTS15 at checkout.

If you wrote your Gratitude Friday on your blog, don’t forget to enter your NAME and URL below so I’m notified and can come to read you (you can also join by commenting this post):
[linkme]

Wishcasting Wednesday: What is my deepest wish ?

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I know it’s been a very long time since my last participation in Jamie’s Wishcasting Wednesday. I won’t tell fake excuses. But today felt like the good day to wish upon a star.

It is the end of the year. Already. It may sound like a cliché but I like December to reflect on the progress I have made, and to think of what I want the year to come to bring me, to look like. Even if I do love the surprises put on my road by the Universe, it adds a bit of fun don’t you think ?

Today, my deepest wish is to know that women feel empowered by the Nixies I create. I wish to send them everywhere in the world, I wish that people feel a connection with the messages of their stories. I wish to grow and expand and finally soar as an artist.

I wish to finally feel like I belong in this artistic community, that I am not an impostor.

I wish to continue to enjoy every step of the way. To love each of the Nixie that comes to life. I wish to deeply trust that I am doing the right thing. That it is not a mistake again. That this is more than just another hobby.

Journaling your (he)art out, my 21 Secrets class

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Hello Hello !

How was your week-end ?It may sound weird but usually, I enjoy Mondays. Just because they imply a new week, filled with possibilities.

I am so happy to announce you my workshop title and description for the 21 Secrets playground that will happen in 2012. And I was in awe with all my camarades’ workshops: it will be fantabulous. A lot of media, healing and techniques, a pure diversity. It makes me feel even more blessed to be part of it.

Here are all the 21 descriptions:

GET LOST
Aimee Myers Dolich
Unfamiliar places, both emotional and geographic, snap us out of our identities and comfort zones. The unknown sharpens our senses and brings us directly in touch with the moment, pushing us into spaces that are ripe for self-discovery. In this workshop, we’ll lose our way (and find our way back) through a playful series of journal workouts including maps, lists, brainstorms, stories, and other journeys of the imagination. Now come on — let’s get lost!
CHILD’S PLAY WORKSHOP PART 2
Alma Stoller
I am delighted to be a part of 21 SECRETS again. We had a blast last year, and this year, we are set for another wonderful learning and creative experience.
In this workshop, we will continue to explore and play with everyday items to create richly textured journal pages and canvases. In this 5 video workshop, I will show you numerous ways to create intricate patterns, one-of-a-kind surface designs, and unique journal pages using various children’s toys, recycled materials, basic art supplies and found objects. You do not need expensive  art supplies to create art. I have a ton of ideas to share with you to help and inspire you to get experienced student.
WORD PLAY
Christine Mason Miller

 

In this workshop I am going to share some of my favorite techniques of incorporating words and text into mixed media creations. I will demonstrate and discuss the way I use rubber stamps, vintage books, and old letters to add poetic, thought-art journal pages and collage pieces on wood.

 

THE ART OF TEXTURE
Christy Tomlinson
Texture is all around us and I can’t help but love all that texture has for us to explore. In this workshop I will teach you some of my favorite techniques for creating texture in my art journal.. techniques will include the use of modeling paste, fibers, beads and more!
FLOW
Connie Hozvicka

 

Stop thinking so much about it!! Our juiciest Art comes when we embrace our mistakes and just go with the flow! In this workshop weʼll paint FEARLESS™, have fun, and stop the exhausting search for our Artistic style/voice—weʼll just go with the flow!
PERSONAL ACTS OF KINDNESS
Dale Anne Potter
The world around us sometimes tries to take us out of our POSITIVE, HAPPY, JOYFUL place.  We can succumb to those contrasts OR we can manifest some POSITIVES from them.  One way to do that, is to be kinder to ourselves.  In this workshop, we will create ART and send ourselves some of those POSITIVES.
We will make 7 postcards that we can mail to ourselves over a week – on a week that we NEED them. Once home, they can be put into a book ( mini – album) that we construct.  The book will be made with pockets for you to pull out your postcards to see and a simple accordion binding.


 

TAMING THE CRITIC
Diana Trout
Scary? Not. My techniques for getting in touch with your critic are pretty amiable. Heʼs not going anywhere so letʼs get to know him! Iʼll encourage you to move quickly, outrunning your critical left brain.
Think storms of words, lines, papers and color and a comfort in imperfect (gasp!) journal pages. Games and prompts will help you locate that critic-free space within. That power gives you the strength to begin a communication.
INTUITIVE PAINTED LAYERS
Dina Wakley
The only way to get a layered look is to do the layering work. With this workshop, I will show you how to paint intuitive layers. Intuitive layers come when you free yourself from any concept of a finished product. You start painting, then you step back and observe. You listen. You let the journal tell you what to do next. We will start our pages with abstracts–painted pages full of color, shapes, movement, and energy. Then we’ll examine the abstracts and let them speak to us. We’ll spot images in our layers and discover hidden meanings and messages. We’ll add even more layers and techniques to let those images come alive! By the end of the process, you’ll have dozens of layers on your pages, and you will have participated in a creative process that will free your soul to new ideas. Take a deep breath, and see what happens when you create intuitively!
WISDOM CIRCLES
Dion Dior

 

The word “Mandala” is a Sanskrit word meaning “Circle”, they are an iconic part of human culture well known for their calming effect on the mind and body. The creative process of making mandalas is an ancient form of meditation and healing that is deeply calming and insightful. In “Wisdom Circles”, we use myth and legend to infuse the art of creating mandalas within the pages of our journals. Through visualization, reflection and instruction we create aour own beautiful, deeply personal, and symbolic mandalas.
15 MINUTES TO SANITY
Gina Rossi Armfield
Give me 15 mins a day and a few supplies and I will have you filling your journals. Ever sit down and think – Where do I begin?  Well, lets put an end to that!  Do you take photos of everything and not know what to do with them?  Do you collect magazines?  Are you an eye candy junkie?  I will show you what to do with all of those images to create a journaling technique that fits your own voice and style!
FROLICAHOLIC (aka DRAW HAPPY 2)
Jane Davenport

Turn “I donʼt know what to draw” into ” I need a bigger journal!”. Drawing is a great tool for untangling and expressing every emotion from the heaviest burden to floating-way-above-cloud-nine. But you have to get that infernal inner-critic behind bars, to allow your natural drawing talent the security and confidence to roam freely. In Frolicaholic we learn to love our lines!

WONDERFUL WATERCOLOR
Julie Fei-Fan Balzer
I love watercolor!  Itʼs inexpensive, easy to clean up, and enormously versatile.  Iʼll be sharing five different ways to use watercolor in your art journal: shadowing, stamping, stencil printing, and two techniques for creating backgrounds.  These are easy techniques that I use constantly.  I hope theyʼll become a part of your artistic repertoire too!

 

THE ART-BODY JOURNAL
Karin Bartimole
Using your body as inspiration, we will redefine the art journal to create a healing process that will help transform and deepen your relationship with your body. Whether it’s a trauma, an illness, or a discomfort with some physical characteristic of oneself, most everyone has some challenge in the relationship they have with their one lifetime companion – their own body. A division within keeps us from attaining our full potential. This journaling process will encourage a shifting of old perceptions and limitations trapped within the boundaries of flesh to unite body and spirit as one.
LET’S GET INTO SHAPE — COLLAGE LIKE THE DIVA, THE COLLAGE DIVA
Kathryn Antyr
I ‘m excited to share with you my favorite medium, collage. I’m often asked “How do you assemble a collage so the random objects look like they were meant to be together?” We will pull out scissors, glue sticks, and magazines and our play will focus on one design element, shape. I’ll share some key principles that will get you piecing together new works of art. In this workshop, you’ll get a dozen prompts to choose from as you experiment with your collages. Are you ready to get into shape?
CHANNEL IT GIRL
Kelly Barton
channeling our stories we will
throw them down by flinging
some paint, creating a colorful
piece, containing a bit of ourself.
it is simply about using our
inner self to allow the creative
process

a creative spread.

using a quick simple way to get
your thoughts out and a creative
flow going.  using a book spread
or just a simple sheet of water
color paper. to make a page
the beauty of this is that
later new pages can be added
as your stories come later.

channeling it girl is all about getting
those juices moving and opening
up the flow, allowing yourself to play.

THE SHORT ATTENTION SPAN ART JOURNAL
Ken Robert
Wow, art journaling sounds great, but you’re a creative bumble bee.  You buzz about your life, zipping from one thing to another.  You like to dabble in this and dabble in that.  One day you feel like painting.  One day you feel like writing. One day you feel like working on seven kinds of paper.  One day you feel like you might have ADD.
A blog could be just the thing you need to bring all your lovely distractions together in one place.
Learn how to use Tumblr, or any blogging service for that matter, to create your very own short
attention span art journal, the kind you can add to a little at a time for as long as your attention
will hold.
CREDIT CARD FLOWERS
Martha Lever
In this fun class we will use cut-up credit cards to create flowers! My husband tells me to feel free to cut up any credit card in my wallet— but, of course, any credit car or key card will work! (I donʼt advise you to use your active ones!) I will show you how I cut mine into several shapes to create flowers, leaves and stems. We will also discuss briefly one of the most important concepts in any painting… value. I wonʼt bog you down with a value study but we certainly donʼt want any hokey paintings and a painting without light, medium and dark values will certainly fit into the hokey category. So, get ready to create fun flowers in your journal, on a stretched canvas and for just about anything else you can think of. All from a little credit card.
JOURNALING OUR (HE)ART OUT
Nolwenn Petitbois
In Journaling our (HE)art out, we will be using the symbol of the heart, this shape we know since weʼre little kids, and make it tell what is actually inside ours. Put it out on paper. The fears, the shames, the doubts. And make it something beautiful we can look at afterwards if we want as a reminder that we can always shift the negative thoughts into something awesome that would help us heal.

 

THE PRACTICE OF SELF-AWARENESS THROUGH VISUAL JOURNALING
Traci Bunkers
People are so used to the daily grind, of trying to get everything done, just getting from one day to the next, that they frequently function on auto-pilot. Because of this, they are fairly out of touch with their feelings and with themselves–not thinking about how they feel, just going where life takes them and then wondering later how they got there. Itʼs time to stop. Itʼs time to look within and gain some self-awareness.
No matter if you are new to visual journaling or a seasoned pro, this workshop will help you to broaden your self-awareness and to become more in-tune with yourself through working in your journal. Iʼll guide you with some inner journaling tactics that have helped me gain better understanding of myself. Through the magic of video, you can watch me create a journal page from start to finish using these same exercises and techniques. Although I feel the process of
working in the journal is more important than the finished journal page, Iʼll also show you some of the mixed-media techniques that I used to create the visual layers and textures of my journal pages.
This class is for everyone. No writing or art experience necessary–Just a willingness to be open
to creative and personal exploration!
JOURNAL QUEST™
Tracie Hanson
Do you dare step into an artistic adventure of the heart?
Do you dream of discovering whatʼs hidden within?
During JournalQuest™, youʼll encounter exotic creatures, ancient artifacts, meaningful symbols and lore . . . the stuff of legend!   It was there all the time, buried deep and waiting to excavated by you.  Join the journey.

 

ALTERNATIVE LIVES
Zom Osborne
Have you ever fantasized about living another life? We donʼt have to be unhappy in our lives to wonder what it would be like to have a different one. We all have sides to ourselves that we havenʼt lived out. Did you want to be a famous singer? An athlete? Live in the time of the pharaohs? You can explore any life you can imagine in your art journal — without leaving behind the one you already have. To do this, I will introduce writing prompts to get us imagining. Then we will use various  collage, painting and drawing techniques to enter and explore our alternative life.

 

To learn more about the Artists teaching at 21 SECRETS go HERE.

 

The third annual 21 SECRETS
will go on sale Monday, January 2nd & officially open on Sunday, April 1st!
Still at the super low price of $59.
All 21 workshops will be available and open 24 hours a day from April 1, 2012- January 1, 2013.
Sign up for the Dirty Footprints Studio newsletter to be the first to know!

Gratitude Friday 12/02/2011, Thank you for new experiences

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Gratitude Friday is a weekly ritual I started in order to focus on all the small and big positive things that happened during my week. I invite you to join me, you’ll see how much being thankful can change your life. If you want to know more about it, read my introduction post.

Hello !

So, how was your week ? Not too stuffed from the rests of Thanksgiving ? ;0)

I am still in a fibro flare so… I apologize for making it a quickie one. Again.

This week, I am thankful for:

  • Experiencing new techniques in my artwork, playing around, being fearless about the outcome, and loving the Nixie that is being born.
  • Having my mom around while this flare up seems to be neverending. I don’t know yet how I will do without her when she’ll go back to France.
  • Music.
  • Friends.
  • My sister, we are getting to know each other slowly.
  • Having food in my plate several times a day.
  • Love I give. Love I receive.
  • A dear angel bought a Nixie Subscription, I know you will be reading it: thank you dearly.
  • The new ritual I started yesterday with my friend Anu, Paving our Path.
  • My Nixies cards are going all over the World. It makes me so happy.
  • I am excited to announce my 21 Secrets’ class title and description next Monday !
  • It’s almost my Husband’s birthday and I love celebrating him.
  • Crying while writing my Nixies stories is a good sign, a sign that I am on the right track with it. This is what happened with Annya (and Misty, I will present her soon).

Sending you all warm love.

If you wrote your Gratitude Friday on your blog, don’t forget to enter your NAME and URL below so I’m notified and can come to read you (you can also join by commenting this post):
[linkme]