May 31, 2009

It has been several weeks since I last did a journal page....Life sometimes just has a way with getting in the way!! LOL.....and although doing the journal page probably would of allowed some insight into what I could be doing...should be doing...would be doing instead of being in the middle of twists and turns....I tried to work things out the best I could ... now realizing that perhaps if I had just journaled the path would of been shorter....So today, I got up early...the morning songs outside of the birds and sweetness of the day allowed me to change my attitude...along with paint and pens....allowed me to sip the sweetness as I carefully removed the spiked top of the soul vitamins of that sweetness....Sometimes, you just have to be aware of the goodness despite the chaos....sometimes you just have to allow the bubbles of joy to float and burst around you...sometimes it is just the singing of the birds...the freshness of the air....the opening of the paint that can change your attitude from failure to success....Leaning a lesson today as this month comes to a close...
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

Fast Forward...7%

I usually delete FW's that come to my mailbox....mostly because my good husband has so many bells and whistles on this machine that nothing opens up.....BUT....this one came through from 4 different people yesterday....I had to sit up and notice the subject matter 7%...but alas, I am still not one to FW to others....so I post it here....You can copy and send as you choose or just enjoy the words written by this 90 year old....wisdom comes whenever we choose to let it!
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio "To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written." My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more: 1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good. 2. When in doubt, just take the next small step. 3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. 4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch. 5. Pay off your credit cards every month. 6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree. 7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone. 8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it. 9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck. 10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile. 11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present. 12. It's OK to let your children see you cry. 13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about. 14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it. 15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks. 16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind. 17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful. 18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger. 19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else. 20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer. 21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special. 22. Over prepare, then go with the flow. 23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple. 24. The most important sex organ is the brain. 25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you. 26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?' 27. Always choose life. 28. Forgive everyone everything. 29. What other people think of you is none of your business. 30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time. 31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change. 32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does. 33. Believe in miracles. 34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do. 35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now. 36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young. 37. Your children get only one childhood. 38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved. 39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere. 40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's,we'd grab ours back. 41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need. 42. The best is yet to come. 43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up. 44. Yield. 45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Its estimated 93% won't forward this. If you are one of the 7% who will, forward this with the title '7%'.

I'm in the 7%.

Remember that I will always share my spoon with you!

Friends are the family that we choose for ourselves.

For The Women in my Circle...

When I was little, I used to believe in the concept of one best friend, And then I started to become a woman. And then I found out that if you allow your heart to open up, God would show you the best in many friends.

One friend is needed when you're going through things with your man. Another friend is needed when you're going through things with your mom. Another will sit beside you in the bleachers as you delight in your children and their activities. Another when you want to shop, share, heal, hurt, joke, or just be. One friend will say, 'Let's cry together,' Another , 'Let's fight together,' Another , 'Let's walk away together.'

One friend will meet your spiritual need, Another your shoe fetish, Another your love for movies, Another will be with you in your season of confusion, Another will be your clarifier, Another the wind beneath your wings.

But whatever their assignment in your life, On whatever the occasion, On whatever the day, Or wherever you need them to meet you with their gym shoes on and hair pulled back, Or to hold you back from making a complete fool of yourself .... Those are your best friends.

It may all be wrapped up in one woman, But for many, it's wrapped up in several... One from 7th grade, One from high school, Several from the college years, A couple from old jobs, On some days your mother, On some days your neighbor, On others, your sisters, And on some days, your daughters.

Thanks for being in my circle.

Sunday Coffee Talk....

I got up early...really early...to be alone for a moment or two with a "POT" of coffee!! (it is one of those mornings where a cup just won't do!!) and I sat down to read A Hand Made Life Zine that came in the mail yesterday, that I have the great pleasure of having an article in.....This Zine is put out by the lovely Robin Olson Mayberry, whom I have been in several swaps with and was blessed when she asked me to write for her zine.....Amazing to me that there are so many wonderfully creatives out there and someone is drawn enough to me and my work that they would single me out to do something like this....It is the sweetest Zine....filled with wonderful articles by different artist....Jim Dubois...Amanda Jolley....Dawn Rice...and of course Robin Olson Mayberry...
A Handmade Life...Issue 4: Creative Community is affordable and filled with inspiration plus!! Give yourself a treat....to order the Zine visit Robin at her etsy site Alchemy studios ...when it arrives pour yourself a cup of....and ENJOY! I have this morning....and it has been wonderful! Thank you Robin...for all your hard work and loving heart!
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

May 14, 2009

After taking time off to enjoy a VACATION....I fast forward to today....I readily admit, that I did not do my journal while away! Sometimes you just REALLY have to take time off for good behavior...but I am trying to get back into the swing of things today...I toast today to the REAL...real coffee...real paint...real pens...REALITY! And I sip the soul vitamin of safe travels down a U-TURN that I have been thrown...bursting the bubbles of FEAR from that turn one at a time....One of the prompts today talked about trash....but I did not do that one the way it was written, instead I was focused on how much trash people just left lying around at the vacation spot...thinking well, I suppose they hire someone to pick it up...but it was senseless trash...gum stuck under tables (I hate that especially if it is fresh gum that gets stuck to my clothes...when a napkin is readily available) and speaking of napkins...why let them fall on the ground and leave them there...pick the darn things up and throw them away....senseless trash...soda and beer cans left on the side of bushes...why? Lazy? Thoughtless?....I always have a small plastic bag in my purse for just such things if a trash can is not close....SIMPLE! OK...OFF my soap box!
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

May 3, 2009

As usual I have been keeping up with my journal pages...HOWEVER...I have been watching my little love for several days and he keeps me SO BUSY!! PLUS....I am getting ready to take a trip to Disney World with the husband and the little love....Today, as I did my page I was drinking out of my favorite cup...A cup that was purchased at Starbucks one Christmas...with the words LOVE...LIVE...WISH written all over it....and so I toasted the day with that cup....Taking this vacation is going to be wonderful...but it has been a long time since I traveled with a 4 year old...So I will take a little sip of the NO FEAR each day!!...I have been alone in the studio for at least 1/2 of the day today.....and realize the difference between being alone and being lonely....and I find solitude in the silence...and what it brings to me....
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

PS: SEE YOU IN 10 DAYS!!