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Hello !

Those of you who are following me on Twitter know that I was planning some giveaways for my birthday. Yes, I’m like that: I receive so I give back.

BUT I didn’t receive yet some of the awesome stuff I wanted to offer, that’s why I’m doing later than planned.

For this first giveaway, I chose the new book Dawn Devries Sokol called “Doodle Diary, Art journaling for girls“. It targets girls from 8 years old to…..

The size of the book is perfect to go in your handbag.
Each page is colourful and contains a doodling/writing prompt to get you started. I just love it !

Dawn created herself each and every single page of her book. You can see the texture, the brush strokes, her fabulous typo… It will definitely spark your creativity. And why not going out of the diary and take some of the ideas to work on your own art journal ?

You could think this book is only designed for young girls but trust me: it’s also awesome for adults and teens !

This page goes very well with my ritual of listing every night 5 things that made me happy during my day.

Sing your song, paste the picture of your favorite singer/band, write your favourite lyrics: whatever you want 😀

I think this spread is my favourite one in all the journal. I love the fact that not all of the pages contain a prompt, just having a painted background allows you to cover it in what you want, what it inspires you.

Forget the rule saying we shouldn’t write on a book: it’s made for writing, painting, decorating it !!!

So… do you want to win a copy of this fantastic book (if you already own it, I’m sure you’ll find someone to offer it to, won’t you ?) ?
Let me a comment here on the blog to tell me what excites you the most about doodling.

The contest will end on Tueday (September 28th) at Midnight pacific time. The winner will be chosen via random.org so you all have a chance to win !

Another giveaway will be poster next week ♥

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.

This week was awesome semaine fut géniale ! Some worries but the goal of Gratitude Friday is to clear this out and focus on all the positivity we received during the week.

First of all, thank you so much to people who thought of me last monday for my 25th birthday. I must confess I wasn’t waiting for so much love and it was a very very pleasant surprise. It touched my heart. My day was just perfect.
This ring is the gift from my mom. It’s made of silver and turquoise, handmade in Tibet. It’s full of symbols and when I look at it, I see wind, sun, clouds, waves, two lotus flowers, the shape of it is like a shield around the middle finger of my right hand…

Thank you for the pretty obvious sign I received this week regarding the path I have to follow regarding Healing. I know it’ll only be the beginning, that I will step away from it, take what i need and modify it (if i can say so), but I have to start somewhere and it will be with this.

Thank you for the unexpected spot that broke free the day of my birthday for the two-day workshop Jesse Reno will teach via Ruby Dog’s Art House. And for the ease with which I find the stuff I needed for it. I must confess i’m totally freaked out because it’s not my birth language, that Jesse Reno is kind of imposant via video so I can’t imagine what it will be “for real”. But I know it’s going to be awesome !

Thank you to Raymond, some will understand.

Thank you for September because most of the tv shows I love are back; my husband is not that happy about it though because he can’t play video games as much as he’d like to (we only have one tv).

Thank you for this big project Connie put together and for the 20 persons involved in the “21 secrets” workshop. Can’t wait for October 1st !

I’m so happy that Netflix is finally here in Canada. I hope all movies and tv shows will be available soon. We’ll be able to see all the season of Lost etc. We can’t go to the movie, so the movie comes to us 😀

Thank you for the after-school facility for Grenouille and for all the educators. She does not want to come back home anymore because she loves it so much there…

Thank you for all the hope brought in my life regarding my projects and our shared projects.

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]

I must admit that I really really like this spread in my Art Journal. I enjoy what emotions it brings in me.
Why ? I have to confess you something… unfortunately, making a journal page (especially when it’s a spread) takes me usually at least two days to finish (when I use paint etc even more). Because I never get the possibility to stay on it for a straight amount of time; I have to let it and come back to it later (that’s the mama life, I guess). It’s very frustrating. But… I know it’s just a question of time, so I go with it.

This one was thought, sketched and colour during the same day. What an achievement for me ! Moreover, I dedicate this page to my Soul-Sister Cocotte, she should know why 😉

Again this time, it came from a song (you’ll begin to think that only songs inspire me. I promise it’s not the case).
Indeed, I already have a theme in mind but didn’t know what to do with it exactly. I wanted a woman, tall, confident. And the chorus of a song came in my mind. This was it.

As usual, click on the pictures to enlarge them. Here it what it says (if my handwriting is not very clear):

“Life’s a game but it’s not fair
I break the rules so I don’t care
So I keep doin’ my own thing
Walkin’ tall against the rain
Victory’s within the mile
Almost there, don’t give up now”

This is perfectly my vision and what I currently feel: I am like the bamboo in the storm, I bend but I don’t break, I feel the rain and the wind but they don’t affect me to the core.
You can see Life as a perpetual fight in which you’re eventually the loser (because of Death, or you can decide to live it by staying strong no matter what obstacles are put on your road. I don’t say it’s easy, because it’s obviously not. But it’s a matter of perspective. And of will. And of perseverance. And of determination.

Our life directly results from how we consider it.

Media used: fluid acrylic paint, watersoluble crayons (Neocolor II by Caran d’Ache) & twinkling h2o

First of all, I want to thank you from the deep bottom of my heart for all the awesome and lovely birthday wishes you sent me yesterday; like I said on my Facebook , I felt like a rock star 😉
Thank you Thank you Thank you ♡♡♡

You know what makes me happy ? Touching lightly my journal pages to find the greasy sensation of oil pastels, the cracks, the fabric sometimes… all the texture at the tip of my fingers makes me happy. I also like going through it to notice the progress made since this first page I created after waking up from a non-pleasant dream I had in a mid-july night of 2008, to the last one affirming my trust to the Universe in August 2010.
About one hundred of pages (multiplied by 2 because it’s done on both sides), it’s kind of a lot of me in there…

Here is a glimpse of it in video (but I have to confess that the size of this made very hard to record it… I apologize in advance for any nauseous sensation you can feel because of movement while watching it. You can always pause to see a page better):

As you know, I already started my new art journal and am loving it despite all its imperfections.

Today is the big day: I turn 25 year old. You may think I’m still a baby. In some parts it may be true.

And it’s funny because yesterday, we were in the car when my husband told the girl that in the french time zone, my birthday would be one day earlier. And I watched at the clock: it was exactly the moment of my birth, 25 years later. Exactly. What synchronicity ! They all sang me a “Happy birthday” in the car and fill my heart with joy. Now that we live thousands mile from where we were born, my Koala and me (born at night) have two birthdays with the time difference 😉

25 is a big thing for me. I realized why while writing my not-written-in-the-morning-pages: Past 25, you change your age range in the polls; you’re kind of officially an adult. And strangely, I like being now 25.

I look back at what I have accomplished during this quarter of century: I moved 7,905km from where my home was. I found and married my SoulMate. I gave birth to two wonderful girls. I discovered I actually am an Artist. I built friendships that resisted years. I met my father once. I discovered I am an Healer in some way.

It’s not that much but for me, it’s huge. Because I thought I was nothing and was absolutely certain I didn’t deserved to be loved.

Here is a list of what I dream to achieve during the next 25 years (no specific order):

• Own the house of our dreams
• Watch an aurora borealis
• Travel the World (Japan, Australia/New-Zealand, Bali, South America, French Guyana to see the land of my ancestors, India, Mongolia, Canada of course…)
• Renew our wedding vows
• Sell at least one of my artwork
• Go in a spiritual retreat
• Attend Teesha Moore’s JournalFest (or ArtFest)
• Meet The Tribe ladies around a camp fire in Costa Rica (or somewhere else)
• Publish my book and take a picture of it on the shelf of a bookstore where it’s for sale
• Meet my half-brothers
• Help people to find and trust their Inner Voice(s)
• Meet the whales
• Hug my friend Paola and tell her face to face that everything is gonna be alright
• Hug my friend Alice and tell her face to face that the light is everywhere, even in moments of doubt
• Create a Wish Tree in our garden
• Be in constant touch with my Higher Self
• Road trip along the West Coast (From Vancouver to Los Angeles for example)
• Attend one of CHA show (winter or summer, i don’t really care currently)
• Buy a house to my mom
• Create a Circle of Women, gathered around Art & Self-Development matters in Vancouver area
• Write everyday 3 free writing pages (or at least 750 words), take care of the pages safely to keep track
• Learn and pass a healing certification/diploma
• Pass the Fine Arts certificate program from Emily Carr institute of art + design of Vancouver
• Attend a live show of a medium (may it be Alice Kara, Lisa Williams, John Holland or someone else)
• Be a teacher of an online class

• … to be continued