Coffee Thoughts...

The left overs are put away...if not already devoured, which is the case in our house...They just don't seem to stay around long...but soup will be made today!!! And now it is upon us....The Christmas season...I for one give in to some of the "commercial" aspects of it...I did go out and do the shopping frenzy on Black Friday (not so much for the "door busters" but for the feel of the holiday season...like a gun being shot off at the beginning of a race!!) But, this year, now that I have that out of the way, I am going to wrap myself around the spirit of hope for the holidays...I have decided that my tree will be decorated in stars with messages of peace...hope...love...faith on them ...I will be making stars with messages as gifts to give for others also...This has been a very trying year for me in a great many ways...It has also been a year of learning and growing...of discovery and love...this year has been unlike others in that I have listened intently to my inner voice more...I have discovered strength that I did not have...and love that was locked away...I have found a way to continue forward even in the face of not knowing where I am headed at times or what is around the next corner...This season, of giving will be as homemade and as simple as I can make it...It will be filled with as much laughter and love as possible...and I will smile and sing as much as my heart will allow me to....This year I will be present...I will not be concerned with presents!! This year, I will rejoice in the life that I have...I will dream of the things that can be...and I will honor all that touch me...This year, I will be present...no pressure...no worries...no troubles...(and of course....a lot of coffee!!)
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

Happy Thanksgiving...

From my house to yours....

Wishing all the most bountiful Thanksgiving season...May you and yours be surrounded by the love and wonder of life...
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

Today, as I was driving there were hundreds of crows on the lawn in front of a building...they were in trees...on the lawn...flying about....what a sight to see...and this came into my head...

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free.

Blackbird fly Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird fly Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

Artfully Yours,
Pattie

Acts Of Kindness...

This list was gifted to me....Now, I pay it forward to YOU....Try one every day...I am starting with number 10 for the date...and going forward till the end of the month....Or make your own list....Acts of Kindness....they are beautiful things from the inside out...

(http://www.daretobeanangel.com/)
ACTS OF KINDNESS
"I expect to pass through life but once.
If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing
I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or
neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. " ~ William Penn

You Can Make Your Own Life Better by Doing One or Two of
These Simple Acts of Kindness Every Week:
1. Write a note of appreciation to your mail and newspaper carriers.
2. Compliment a stranger, with sincerity and a smile.
3. If you know someone in financial difficulty, anonymously mail them $5,
$10 or $20.
4. Look for anything that can be put away, fixed or picked up.
...(put shopping carts away, pick up some trash, fix something that's fallen
over ...etc.)
5. Give a lottery ticket to a stranger.
6. Volunteer your time at a charitable organization.
7. Write a note to management about an individual who has treated you nicely
while doing their job.
...(a waiter or waitress, grocery clerk, sales person, mechanic ...etc)
8. Buy something for a stranger from their Amazon.com Wishlist.
9. Cut an article out of the newspaper that would interest a friend and mail
it to them.
10. Leave 'Have a Nice Day' stickers for a receptionist or front desk.
11. Clean up gravestones at a local cemetery.
12. When you go out to dinner, order a dessert to go and give it to a
neighbor.
13. Send a card to someone in the military overseas.
14. Start a conversation with a co-worker that you don't know.
15. Tutor a child in your neighborhood.
16. Put change in the slots of a row of vending machines.
17. Visit a nursing home and spend time with a person who doesn't get
visitors.
18. Put an item you no longer need on Craig's List Free Spot for your
community.
19. Leave something for someone at an area where it might be most used.
....(a book in reading area, an umbrella near door on rainy day, a few
magazines at an airport ...etc.)
20. Pay for the toll charge of the car behind you.
21. Drop off a toy or game at a hospital or a homeless shelter.
22. Get some groceries for a financially-

struggling family.
23. Mow someone's lawn, rake their leaves or shovel their snow.
24. Get a picture you have taken of a friend and send it to them with a note
recalling when it was taken.
25. Offer to baby sit for free.
26. Offer to change the oil, filter or the like for a "non car" person....
27. Take flowers to a hospital ward and give them to someone who hasn't had
visitors lately.
28. Volunteer to read to children at the library.
29. When you fill up a click card for free coffee, free gift, or whatever,
give the card to a stranger.
30. Make a CD of your favorite songs and give it to a friend.

This the season to be full of grace and gratitude...
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

Coffee Thoughts...

Daylight savings time!! HA! So I am really up at 5:30 instead of the usual 6:30...So I did a little painting and drank a pot of coffee before my usual hour...And now I will start my day! HA! Got to love daylight savings time that throws you completely out of whack for a couple days...I love how they say you get an extra hour of sleep!! Who are they that say that and do they live in my house?! I hope you did better than I did with your sleep!!
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

Oh so HONORED...

These 2 magazines by Stampington and Company hit the newsstands by the end of the month! I am honored once again to be within the pages of both of these magazines....In Altered Couture I have a jacket that I painted, for my sister, and I have a 2 page HOW TO article on altering a pair of clogs by painting them. In Art Doll Quarterly I have a quick HOW TO on some canvas Santa's that I have been making as gifts for years...
I am always so honored to be among the talented artists that grace the pages of these publications....not to mention that fact that I love sharing my art and my HOW TO with all...
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

Coffee Thoughts...

So once again...I am here with the last cup of coffee from the pot this morning....Should I make another pot?!?! No...I think I will continue to ride on the caffine buzz that is already here!!
I did this small 5 by 7 altered painting and gave it to my friend Jill as a house warming present...She loves coffee too!!
Today, I have decided to clean my studio!! This is pretty funny actually, because even when I clean it...it does not appear to others to be clean...well...because I have to much stuff!! Stuff that I will probably never use (but can't part with) stuff that I don't even know I have (because it is shoved into every nook and cranny around here)...and stuff that I have started but never finished (perhaps I lost the moment) and stuff that I scribble on papers...notes...thoughts...(things that perhaps I might use..might not use...have no idea what I was talking about in the first place when I reread or look at the scribble!!) I certainly hope that there are other creatives' out there just like me...Collectors of thoughts...collectors of dreams...collectors of "stuff"....
Today, as I start to clean...first the desk...as I can not even see the top of it anymore I am singing! Now believe me when I tell you that no one is ever going to pay good money to hear me sing...but sing I do...I sing in the car...I sing in the tub...I sing when I am alone...and I sing when there are others around that ask me to "please stop singing"!! But it helps me...It helps me get moving..it helps me feel better...it is an easy and fun thing to do!! So today, as I do this cleaning I sing....I sing old Beatles songs that bring me back to my youth...I sing songs that have meaning to me...I sing....And I realize that people have been doing this since the beginning of time...and even though I may be a very bad singer...I will continue doing it today...because when you have a song in your heart you certainly can have a whip cream and cherry kind of day!! (even if you are cleaning!!)
Artfully Yours,
Pattie
PS: What song can you sing today or hum that will make you feel incredibly good???

Natures Beauty...

I was sent this beautiful bouquet of Star Lilies by someone I love and who loves me....Natures true beauties...There is something about them that I am drawn to...the color...the design of the petals...the intoxicating aroma they put forth. Nature's beauties...for me to enjoy the length they stay with me...filling my house with the aroma of love. Such a simple pleasure to see the beauty of nature...especially as it is fall and the beautiful leaves with their majestic colors fall to the ground and cover the earth with a blanket of green and orange...red and gold. The sky streaked with pink at night as it comes early....the morning frost appearing to announce the coming of winter...But inside my house...inside I smell spring...I see beauty... I believe in growth... I have hope..and I know and feel love.
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

Coffee Thoughts...

It is late...and I probably shouldn't be drinking coffee so late....but AHHHHH the comfort it brings me when I am stressed...It is the warmth...the wrapping my hands around the cup...the aroma...the familiarity of it....
I have been under a lot of stress lately....but I am trying to remember small lessons I have learned over the years to UNDRESS that stress....So tonight....I am thinking of Laughter...I am finding moments that make me smile and giggle....I am finding thoughts that make me laugh out loud...and I am laughing at my messy studio as I type this....Laughter is good for us. It brings oxygen to our bodies and creates a space where there are no worries....it releases the tension we hold in our muscles...When you are laughing you can't feel stress because you are actually using your brain to focus on the physical act of laughing...and we all know that brain of ours can't do two things at once!! Heck, there are days, I can't even walk and chew gum at the same time!!!!
Laughing can be easy....just look in the mirror and make a silly face...you know the kind I mean, stick your tongue out and place your thumbs in your ears and wiggle your fingers (when was the last time you did that?!?!?) probably to long ago....Laughter can heal you...(they have written books on the subject) And the best thing about laughter is that it is FREE...I have a friend, who teaches Laughter Yoga...If you have never had the opportunity to join in a class look it up on the net...if you don't live near Goddess, and find one in your area...TRY IT...you might like it...and I guarantee you will laugh....Find ways to laugh...ham it up...tell jokes...get a bottle of bubbles...and LAUGH...it simply makes you feel better!!! To that I say...VERY GOOD...VERY GOOD...VERY GOOD INDEED!!! (laughing as I type!!)
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

Coffee Thoughts...

I am on my second cup of coffee this morning...my rituals of the morning somewhat completed except for ONE....one very important one...I will turn down the ringer on the phone (I usually turn it off, but cannot do that this morning)...and I will sink down into a tub of hot water!! I will let out a sigh of relief as I slide down the back of the tub and allow myself to melt into the comfort of the heat that surrounds me. I am always so aware of the old commericals that said...
"CALGON TAKE ME AWAY" (showing my age here...but it was for a bath water softener where a woman is stressed out and slips into her bath tub...(claw foot bath tub) with a huge smile on her face!!) This bath routine (I am one who does it both in the morning and at night) allows everything to go away...Sometimes I add candles...oils...a glass of wine (only at night) a cup of coffee (morning routine) music. This is MY TIME....this is where I strip off the world...this is where I can dream, but not think...this is where I can be emotional and cry to the fullest...or just enjoy the treat of solitude. This is a place where I can totally be ME....A bath for me is a totally spiritual thing...a warm connection...As I get ready to begin the rest of my day....I will pour a cup of fresh coffee (cup 3...yes....I drink a pot in the morning all by myself!!) I will draw my bath...and sink down in the tub and dream....It's a beautiful thing!!!
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

PS: When was the last time you pampered yourself with a bath?

Coffee Thoughts...

This morning I am having thoughts about blogging and journaling. For years I kept journals... they started as a young girl... More of a "DEAR DIARY" ...at an age when who you liked and if he looked at you was the MOST important things of life...then went on into my teens of frustrations with parents...friends...boyfriends...early 20's gave way to a sense of truth, but still covering up my hearts answers...then they stopped as I raised my children (giving away to baby books, especially for the first child!!) Journaling has once again become popular...you can take classes and workshops and read books about journaling...and I actually got back into it about 10 or so years ago. I had read the book SIMPLE ABUNDANCE by Sarah Ban Breathnach which was when I found a different sort of journal writing...A writing that was for me...my questions...my answers...my feelings...A space and a place that was mine alone. Over the years my journaling has changed...I started adding art but the most important thing I found was I started listening to my soul...to my heart...to my gut...to ME. I found it a way of talking to myself...once I got past the whining part of life...I found it a way to bring peace to myself...to bring happiness to the front of my life...Once I figured out the blogging...it has become a different sort of journaling...I still keep my private journal...I have my affirmation journal...I even have what I call the "blue funk" journal where I can whine to my hearts content on some days...but what this journaling has done is bring me to this place I am now...where no matter what is happening in my life I have a private place (or public place!!) where I can allow me to just be with full permission. So today, if you don't journal...if you think you can't journal...you might want to try it....You don't have to have a fancy notebook..you don't have to do art...just write...write on anything...write about anything...write 1 line...write 20 lines...do it when you wake up..do it before you go to bed...do it at the kitchen table after everyone is asleep ..don't worry if you spell things wrong...don't think about your writing...this is for you...this is a way of getting whatever is stuck in your head and your heart...out...try it with a cup of coffee...you just might find you like it!!
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

Coffee Thoughts...

Today as I wait to go to some important appointments I am feeling a need to put my attitude on gratitude!! This is not really a difficult thing to do if you set your mind to it....It requires willingness on your part, but it doesn't have to be to hard. Just find something to be grateful for...Just one thing... doesn't have to be huge...I am finding it doesn't matter what it is..could be just that you got out of bed...could be that your feet hit the floor...or the sun is shining...a good cup of coffee (one of my favorites!!) and as simple as breathing....And then look of one more thing to be grateful for...and one more after that...soon your list will grow...If you write them down in a journal...on a piece of paper...heck, on the back of an envelope you will find a peace starts to come over you....simple...things that we over look everyday...a child's sweet laughter...a song on the radio that brings back great memories....ice cream....a rainy day (so that you can curl up on the sofa and watch a movie without guilt!) What I am aware of with this gratitude list is that no matter what I am going through...no matter what seems to be troubling me...this gratitude list far out numbers every thing else....Start a chain for yourself....start with one thing you can be grateful for...breathe....add another...breathe again...add another....breathe...Soon you will start to feel a sense of peace...a sense of calm...a sense of strength...It is an amazing thing, because you soon find out that you can face head on whatever you feel is causing your stress....
I for one am going to have my next cup of coffee....and breathe deeply as I start my process of gratitude.
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

Coffee Thoughts...

I know I usually list the 5 things I am grateful for on Sunday, but today, I am having coffee thoughts instead....Although I am grateful for more than 5 things today I am prompted to write about something else as I am drinking my 3rd cup of Joe!!
I have been taught that crying is a sign of weakness...that one must be strong for not only yourself but for others...So today, I ask you....when was the last time you had a good cry?? I don't mean the silent kind...I mean a good all out sobbing....the kind with the nose-running cry?
And why is it that we allow our self to believe that something terrible is going to happen if we let go and do this???
Now, some of us only cry at funerals...some of us cry at happy moments (weddings..births) ..some of us cry at commericals and movies...but it has come to my attention this morning that crying is a very cleansing thing! For one thing it removes pollutants from our body (yes, there have been studies done about this!!...and they have found that we let loose different chemicals for the different emotions that cause us to cry...but real tears contain a level of toxic substances that the body is eliminating through crying) It is a way to get rid of the "junk"...
I think most people don't show unpleasant emotions...we are somehow programmed to "put on a good face"...don't let anyone know that things might NOT be as rosy as they appear on the outside.
I for one happen to cry a little more when given that I can expose myself to a stranger...they really don't know me so they do not have the ability to judge me as being weak or strong...I also tend to cry if I have had a cocktail or two.... Letting down my defenses...(not always the best thing, but it does happen to the BEST of us)
Crying can be both isolating and liberating....but I am finding and reminding myself that it is a good thing to do...a healthy thing to do because you are being true to your self...it is a normal thing to do and a natural thing to do....So I am refusing to feel shameful or weak or remorseful...
It is an important part to finding ways to bring us peace in our life...its a stress reducer and it actually...scientifically has been found to be good for you....
So, if you need one...go ahead...grab the kleenex and have yourself a good cleansing cry...before...after or even during your cup of coffee.
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

Regain Peace

I have not drawn a card from any of my many decks of meditation cards in a very long time. This morning I was called to do that...I shuffle the cards...play a little 50 card pick up by spreading them on the floor...close my eyes...and allow my hand to skim the surface of the cards...usually I get a very warm feeling on the palm of my hand and that is the one I pick up...and today, was no exception....This card is a perfect card for me today. With many stressful things going on around me I have not truly been focusing on myself...my energy levels have been going to others...Today, I am reminded as I study this card to let peace flow through me. To repeat the words of peace...purity...hope...love...tenderness...Often times when we are in the middle of something that is stressful we try to find a way to control it...Control is something that we cannot do...we have no control over what is going on with others...we really have no control of so many things...Today, I am willing to give up my need to have control over what is going on around me....I set my mind in a different direction...I set my intention to look at the peace that I can feel in order to better serve myself and others....I set my life back into a motion that is familiar to me by listening with strength to my messages....Today, I am grateful that my message was to draw a card...A card that leads me back to my center....A card that allows me to envision a softness of life...A card that allows me to feel peace. Today...I breathe a deeper breath...I breathe life back into myself...
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

PS: Can you find a way to regain some peace in your life today???

Believe in Yourself...

Believing in yourself is not just for you, it's for every person
who has touched your life in a significant way, and for every person
your life will touch the same way...five minutes from now, or five
centuries from now." ~ Jaye Miller

This quote came across my mailbox via my friend Cheryl....and hit a cord with me....Hope it does the same for you....Thanks to all who have touched my life...especially at this moment I am surrounded by love and gratitude...
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

Reminder...

This is just a gentle reminder that the PINK ARTIST DRAWING is going on....the fabulous things about this drawing are:

1. The money is going to a cause that has touched each and everyone of us and will help to find a cure for our daughters...our grand-daughters...our sisters....WOMEN!
2. You don't have to donate a lot of money or be the highest bidder to win a prize!!
3. Fabulous first prize...and fabulous other prizes!!
4. You are giving something from your heart to someone else!

Please take a run over and visit Monica...and all of us who had a artistic hand in this!!
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

5 Things I am grateful for today

As I sit here this morning and listen to the quiet I am reminded to write the 5 things I am grateful for today....Because today is a beautiful day!!

1. Being able to witness the beauty of nature...the wonderful plants and growth that is both beautiful and new to my eyes.

2. Not leaving to many words un-said....being able to comfortably say all that needs to be said.

3. Watching as a little one tells adults to "say your sorry" ..."you have to love each other" ...simple words that one should not loose sight of.

4. Having my son here not only for my birthday celebration, but to come and visit and laugh and remind me of having fun!!! (he lives out of town)

5. Getting back into the creative mode....(you know when that block happens...and the lull comes in and then...one day...BAM!)

My wish is that you take a moment today and discover 5 things you are grateful for....and let me add a 6th...ALL WHO ENTER HERE TODAY!!!
Artfully yours,
Pattie

Coffee Thoughts...

I receive a newsletter from Robert Glenn and this one was so good that I had to pass it along...
RULES TO LIVE BY !!!

What a remarkable clearing house this twice-weekly letter is. After that last one about building a factory, this old factory computer was backed up with creative folks who positively get off on the factory life. Almost no one disagreed with me. This could be a bad thing. Truckloads of related items that came in as well. Louise Nel Phillips deposited John Cage's "Rules for Students and Teachers." Here they are:

1 Find a place you trust, and then try trusting it for awhile.
2 General duties of a student--pull everything out of your teacher; pull everything out of your fellow students.
3 General duties of a teacher--pull everything out of your students.
4 Consider everything an experiment.
5 Be self-disciplined--this means finding someone wise or smart and choosing to follow them. To be disciplined is to follow in a good way. To be self-disciplined is to follow in a better way.
6 Nothing is a mistake. There's no win and no fail, there's only make.
7 The only rule is work. If you work it will lead to something. It's the people who do all of the work all of the time who eventually catch on to things.
8 Don't try to create and analyze at the same time. They're different processes.
9 Be happy whenever you can manage it. Enjoy yourself. It's lighter than you think.
10 Break rules. Even your own rules. Leave plenty of room for X quantities.

John Cage (1912-1992) was a composer, print maker, performance artist, writer, philosopher, editor, teacher, mushroom expert, collaborator and poet. Fact is, John Cage had a lot of fun in his factory. Considered one of the most influential composers of the twentieth century, he produced works with one note, no notes, notes by chance, and a noted organ composition that takes 639 years to play.

Thinking about the life and "happenings" of John Cage, it's not difficult to see that joy, imagination and brilliance flow from factories. "Life," he said, "is a workshop."

To receive letters from Robert Glenn...go here and sign up!! Always inspirational!
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

FLY...

This is a beautiful necklace that my friend Brenda Bliss made for me for my birthday!! Now, to say that I am a lucky girl is somewhat of an understatement when it comes to my friends. I am blessed to have such good friends in my life...friends who have supported me over the years, who have counseled me..who have consoled me...who have cheered me on and cheered me up!! Brenda is one of those friends...I met Brenda some 4 years ago at a retreat...and we have been building our friendship since then...She is a fabulous artist (although she doesn't give herself enough credit for that!!! just like most of us!!) but most of all she has a heart that is HUGE...she gives of herself without thought...She is one of my tribe...Thank you Brenda!!! You know what the heart and wings mean to me!!
I am sure you have a friend out there like this...pick up the phone today and give a shout to them...let them know how much they touch your heart and your life.
Artfully Yours,
Pattie

Saturday...coffee thought..

As I sit and drink my coffee this morning in the studio and see the things that I am working on...I realize that no matter what I am following my bliss...I am doing what makes my heart SING...
I allow myself the time to create (even if it means I sleep a little less!!) Because I have come to realize....I know no other way to live my life!!
And YOU....are you following your bliss??

Follow your bliss. If you do follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and they open the doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and dont be afraid... and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be. If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else.
~ Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) ~
ARTFULLY YOURS,
Pattie