A Creative New Year to you!

Happy New Year to you from me!

My new year has been a bit late starting.

I was fortunate enough to be away on the Big Island with family and friends over the holidays. While my intentions for goal setting and lots of productive time, writing, soul-searching and creating art were a top priority, reality got in the way and it was replaced with lots of meal making and carting kids around to hot surf spots.

Oh woe is me:)

So here I am starting the New Year with no set plan in motion, but instead a feeling of gratitude and contentment. I would say that is a good start to any year!

I spent my spare time painting and cutting paper into shapes inspired by all the crazy, tropical foliage surrounding me. I played with some different textures and colours and I experimented with their placement.

I will admit to running out of medium to glue it all down, but  soon discovered that I loved the freedom of being able to move it all around.

I had more than one moment of frustration as the wind blew it all away..

I think I could be very happy playing with bright colors and designing this way everyday. I love that feeling of excitement that comes with the discovery of something new, a new idea, new colours…anything new.

These will all be made into prints for art licensing soon.

I am excited about the new year, but here I sit, almost 2 weeks in to the new year, with no set plan of action written down. I have lots of ideas and goals for this year, but right now they are flying around with no accountability whatsoever.

My plan for this week is to take a half hour out daily to reflect and get these intentions in action. There is no time like the present. Just start!

A little pep talk from me to you.

Sharing with you a few resources that I always find helpful to help start me on my way:

Word of the Year – created by Christine Kane

New Years Revolution  – created by Do What You Love

Wishing you health, happiness and lots of creativity in 2016!

xoxo

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Lessons Learned in my Creative Life ~ 2014

Sitting here surrounded by paper.Step by step instructions on how to improve Me. Things I have accomplished.Things I want to accomplish, Things I need to change. Things I need to do..

I love this process of delving deep into my life and assessing what needs to change in order to move forward. I am very good at assessing, not so good at doing. I cannot lie..change is exhausting.

When I look back at 2014 in all its glory..and failures, I can’t help but notice that a lot of my behaviour is still the same. I still need to change my daily habits in order to move forward.

In a nutshell – I think I need to get out of my comfort zone.

Oh, how I love my comfort zone…Nothing that a few glasses of wine can’t tell you.

It will take more than one sitting to figure out my plan of action. I have been jotting things down over the past months, but a plan needs to be formulated in order to execute.

Today, instead of sharing my deepest, darkest fears, I will share some lessons learned in 2014.

Lessons learned..

1. Learning – I love learning, I love new things and I love starting. Unfortunately, while these are all positive, they sometimes lead me astray. I need to focus on one thing at a time. I have too many ideas and I want to get them all down at once. I end up doing a lot of everything. I am good at lots of things, I am not great at one thing. I need to be great at one thing.

2. Focus – explore a theme in its entirety. Make a game plan and follow it through. In art and In life.No more willy nilly half efforts trying to learn handlettering or skate skiing. A commitment is in order.

3. Art – Motifs need to be clean and concise. They need to be read well. All of your art needs to come across loud and clear. Your style, your colours and your brand. In the world of art licensing this art also needs to be commercial. So while I have my style and some quirkiness mixed in, I still need it to be sellable.

4. Opportunity – Sitting here and waiting for people to knock on my door will not have people knocking down my door. I need to be proactive, show my work and actually do some of my own door knocking.

5. Show up everyday – show up, start, create. It may not be great, but all work leads to something. No art is ever wasted. Practice makes better. recognize when rest is needed, but otherwise forge onwards.

6. Time – there is enough time in the day to do it all, it just takes some planning. Map out your day and divide your work into do-able time slots. Concentrate on one task. Prioritize what is most important – do it. Then move onto the next task with a feeling of accomplishment.

7. Uninterrupted workflow – My best work comes with no distractions. Blocks of time creating with no pings, tweets or wandering thoughts. I have tried the Pomodoro technique, tweaking it to be my own. I find these small segments of time useful for starting projects that I am feeling a bit stuck in.

8.  Personal projects – A fun, personal project, be it a daily sketch or a painting a day, with the right hash tag, can get you lots of leverage.Share your work!

9. Agent – I think this was the best decision for me this year. I love the challenge of working to a brief. I love the feedback and  love  the variety of creating from home decor down to digital greetings. They also introduced my work to a whole cast of others that I wouldn’t have had the time to search out. Art licensing is a slow process, but I have faith that it works for those who persevere.

10. Website/blog – keep it updated. I cringe when I look up and know that mine is so out of date. It is YOU! It is your story. Keep it current. (sorry…promise to prioritize this one..)

So, here I sit mapping out my game plan. I have my fingers crossed that I am working in the right direction and doing the right thing. Feeling a wee bit nervous, but knowing in my heart that it is time to move up and onwards.

I have included a few online resources which I pop in to help me on my way. I take what works for me from both and combine them to make it my own.

Christine Kane   Word Of The Year

Do What You Love  New Years Revolution

Write everything down. Share it with your friends and creative partners. Shout it out loud!

Nothing like the world holding you accountable for it all.

Be honest. Have fun.

The Little White Book of Surface Pattern Designers

Its live! The Little White Book of Surface Pattern Designers is here.

Eighty, talented designers from all over the world. One online, visual directory for all your  surface pattern design needs.

I love this concept created by Gill Eggleston of Pattern Addict. She had each of us create an Efuto (more on those here…) Each envelope was  stylishly created by the designer with all of our contact info and then curated by Gill into a wonderful, online directory. A great way to find new design talent!

It’s a pleasure to see ~ a designer directory with some beautiful content and contact info too!

Look out for a Second edition launching in March!

Like  The Little White Book of Surface Pattern Designers Facebook page. (You will have to sign in under your  own name and search it)

For more info on The Little White Book of Surface Pattern Designers please contact Gill at info@findnewdesigners.com

My entry:

Life continues on here in snowy Whistler. I have to say that 2013 has had no shortage of fun. We have travelled to another ski resort-it’s very refreshing to ski somewhere else.My son had two podium finishes in his freestyle skiing competition.yay! We have had more guests and have more to come. I am also super excited about my girls ski week here in February.I will be sure to include apres ski boot dancing pics here on my blog for your viewing pleasure!

It’s been super busy!

Starting to get a wee bit concerned about all of those New Year Words I am striving to live by. Need to get cracking on all of my goals for this year!

How are yours coming along?

Cheers!

Inspired by ~ my word{s} for the year

I am not sure if this is a good way to start the new year but I am re-posting {gasp} I am re-posting my own post mind you!

I am blogging over at Tigerprints new youblog and wanted to share my love for the word of the year to all so doing a bit of double duty here. If you have a moment, please go and have a look~ designers worldwide having their say on design.We have just started, but I have a feeling it’s going to be great.

I would also like to share this with my Fly-Tribe group who are doing their annual word of the year blog hop. Its always interesting to read what words are inspiring others. Have a look here to join in!

So without further rambling, here it is ~ my 2013 {pstt..it will be bright and shiny!} post.

Blank slate of endless possibility

It’s that time of the year where, amongst all of the holiday chaos,I feel the excitement and need for new beginnings. A new start and with that some new year resolutions. The typical resolutions come to mind ~ eat less and better, exercise more, go to bed earlier….

Unfortunately, none of these resolutions really excite me on my quest to become a better me.. and, in typical fashion, by mid January I fall into my old habits.

 

A few years ago I was introduced to Christine Kanes word of the year. I love this  concept and thought I would share it with you in hope that you may like it too.

The premise is simple – one word that encompasses your intentions for the year. One word that brings you clarity, a word that will attract what you want, regardless of the how.

A word that contains energy, images and meaning, A word that your heart and soul gets excited about

 I am ignoring the how and concentrating on the what and why of my resolutions.I am concentrating on possibility and opportunity. A belief that what I wish to happen, will happen.. (It probably wouldn’t hurt for me to cross my fingers as well)

This process may sound a bit daunting. A feeling I can attest to as I sit here surrounded by words! Do not fear ~ she has a very handy worksheet here to help you on your way.

I have always had difficulty coming up with one word so over the years I have created a collage of relevant words that all resonate with me. These words are designed to capture the essence of all that I hope to accomplish in the upcoming year. They help to serve as gentle reminders. I keep them close at hand,ready to reflect upon, as I go about my daily life.

Wishing you lots of good health and happiness this new year.

Make it your year to shine bright!

Inspired by…my words

My words for 2012

I couldn’t pick just one!

There are three areas of my life that I want to concentrate on this year.

Body ~ Mind ~ Soul

Unfortunately I couldn’t come up with one word that encompassed the big picture. Connection was close, clarity would have been better.I was in search of a word that would tie it all together and make it as one since these areas of my life are so closely entwined. If one falters, so do the others..

It was then that I decided to come up with a number of words and create a collage of relevant words just for me. While I quite like my collage of words, I would prefer one word so all suggestions are welcome. I know it will come to me eventually.

I have created this on the first page of my spanky new 2012 journal.Soon to be filled with notes,tidbits of inspiration, quotes, goals to accomplish, lots of writing…LIFE!
It is close at hand, ready to be viewed when needed. My goal now is to break the areas of my life into smaller subsections and smaller goals.

Body ~ health, fitness, diet

Mind ~ creative curiosity,knowledge,clarity

Soul ~ spirituality,family, community

The process….I am still working on it…

Stream of consciousness writing. Discovering words that resonate with me. Words that have meaning in my day to day life.A plan of action. This is the year to tie up all of the loose ends I have created.

Lots of blank pages. Lots of art and writing to come…

Solvitur Ambulando ~ “it is solved by walking”

Stretch your body, stretch your mind, stretch your soul.

Whatever you think you can do, or believe you can do, begin it, because action has magic, grace and power in it~ Goethe

Happy New Year,my friends! I wish you all a sparkly, brand new,blank slate of endless possibility! xox

P.S. Still curious about this “word of the year” exercise? Go and check out these crazy, creative womens blogs here. They have lots to say and are always full of great ideas. While you are there also check out the new Fly Tribe blog (thank you Rae!) Keep your eye out for it!

Inspired by…a new year

Is it ever going to end?

The New Year is almost here…Thank god!  My tune has changed during the past week. I need everyone out of this town. I have had a blast, but I need some normalcy back in my life. I need to eat some vegetables.Drink more water.Do some laundry. Sleep.

I need one of those double sided door mats. Welcome on one side – Go Away on the other. My favorite card of the season..Love our guests…this is how we roll..

Its hard not getting caught up in everyone elses vacation. I always try to stop and remember that living here on a daily basis is my reality, but when everyone else is having so much fun… I get caught up in their energy and want to join in.

Reminder to self – I am not on a 24/7 vacation…

Reality hit hard yesterday when I sauntered home from Apres after a very long fun-filled afternoon of dancing in my ski boots. I had a smile on my face for 6 hours. Lost my voice somewhere along the way..

Was lucky enough to stumble upon this though! I took a break from the dance floor  and wandered around. Found this at the Whistler Village Art Gallery in the Four Seasons. Beautiful artwork by Tinyan Chan.   I can’t stop thinking about it. I may have to go back for another visit.

Today has been glorious.. The house is empty except for the dog and I. We are on the couch in front of the fire. The snow is falling….

Played with my camera. Read some Julia.Spend some time hanging with my fly tribe girls.Wrote about my goals and aspirations for 2012….Worked on my word for the year.

Still do not have my word of the year.

I can’t come up with just one.

So I have decided to let it go and come up with my own game plan….

Will post when I am finished!

I am looking forward to hearing your word of the year…and holding you accountable!

Wishing all of you a fantastic, awe-inspiring new year! I have so enjoyed the last 5 months of blogging and my time with all of you. I really love and appreciate the group of like-minded souls I have met.

Thank you so much for all of your comments, suggestions, advice and good old camaraderie.

Cheers to 2012!

Look who is still hanging around!!

Inspired by…words

Fun. Fun. Fun.

…the craziness continues…

The rest of winter here in Whistler will be full on. No complaints from me. I love the energy around here. I also love knowing I can cozy up in my home or hit the Xcountry trails to get away from it all …

2012 is knocking on the door.I’ve got the lights off, pretending I am not home. I am so not prepared.

Everything in my life tends to slide in December. Endless guests, too much socializing and way too many activities.  I am always left feeling a bit sideways.

January is the perfect month to change it up. I am already craving a bit of fresh and new..

The time is NOW…the new year is here.

New beginnings are important to me. A chance to reassess all that life has brought my way.

Keep it…trash it. Love it…leave it. Change it…

the possibilities are endless...

I love them so much that I actually plan two beginnings/year. January and September.
January for obvious reasons. September because it’s a new season, a new school year and finally some peace and quiet after a busy summer.

I think we all deserve a second chance…. I need as many chances as I can get to change things up around here.

One of my favorite  assessment tools to help create awareness is Christine Kane’s “Word of the Year Discovery Tool”.

Christine Kane.  Mentor to Women Who are Changing the World. She is president and founder of Uplevel You. A course inspiring the growth and empowerment of entrepreneurs and creatives. She is a rock start! No, seriously she is an accomplished folk singer and song writer.I receive her monthly newsletter and she has definitely shared some valuable words of wisdom with me.

Go here to have Christine send you your very own personal worksheets to download.

Can you think of one word that encompasses all that you would like to be? A word that resonates with you. A gentle reminder of things you would like to accomplish.One that inspires you to go forward to reach the next step…

My 2011 words…I may have got a bit carried away. You are only supposed to choose one!

Give the worksheets a try..you wont be disappointed!