Reminder: Juicy Soul Retreat - Sunday July 28, 2013

 Soul Scribble by Soul Pancake

If I could have a bullhorn for the whole world to hear I would stay...
CREATE MORE

It expands your sense of play, freedom and joy.

Make an appointment to play ...

Join us for the Juicy Soul Retreat - July 28, 2013
where we play and create in community.

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Weekly Sketch Book Journal Pages

This week I'm inspired by Jenny Doh's Peace, Love, & Art blog post where I got reconnected to the joy of working on faces. When I started my art business many moons ago, I started with faces of women as goddesses. It is still something I enjoy creating but in the last year I stopped creating faces. I just lost interest in the subject and moved on to other things. This week I am inspired to return to faces in my weekly journal pages. Here is my basic starting point then I add color and texture to move it to the next level.  Let's see what happens!

It's the end of the week and boy did I struggled with these faces. Early in the week, I had a vision of finding delight and inspiration in each image. I looked forward to creating a new expression for each face. I was even going to swing out creatively and try some abstract touches like Jenny Doh's faces. 

The honeymoon was over on July 2 when I worked on July 2 and the frame work for July 5th.  Nothing seemed to work.

I didn't like the paint I was using, 

I didn't have the right brushes for the size of each image. 

I couldn't find a juicy enough pen to write over the acrylic. 

The faces looked warped or mean.

I was cranky and ready to scrap the whole thing. My thoughts went to ... " I could cover the whole thing with gesso and starting over."..but I didn't. 

Then I remembered ... I've been here before.

I forgot how the creative process looks when we try something new. 

I forgot how we  might judge ourselves too harshly when we are trying a new process

I forgot how comparing yourself to others or having specific expectations can block our own creative expression.

I forgot...I remembered and then I let go

It's just paint and ink on paper. 

It's just for me (and you ;))

By week's end, I was getting into the groove and surrendering to my creative style. I even started to like some of the faces. July 4th and 6th are my favorites.

Follow me on Instagram at reddragonflystudio #weeklyartjournal

Everything In It's Place..Linen Closet Shelf

Earlier this year I created a Vision Board for 2013.  It included lots of images of my ideal living environment. As I studied the images to get to the essence of what I wanted it boiled down to this. 

"Everything in its place and
a place for everything"

I'm always looking for new ways to organize my space and make it a more functional as well as beautiful. I want it to feel like a luxurious Five Star retreat. 

So today I took on my bathroom linen closet. Just the shelf with the towels. I was inspired by Alejandra's Home Organizing Videos on Youtube.  She is so inspiring about organizing I got excited about tackling a few areas of my house.  I started to look for spaces in my home to implement her techniques. 

I was particularly inspired by her "How to fold towels" Video and I wanted to try it right away.  I never really payed attention to how I folded towels before watching the video but the result is really cool. 

So here is my newly folded towel shelf in my linen closet.

Happy 4th of July and keep your pets safe.

Happy 4th of July!

Last year we liberated this our sweet little baby dog, Dexter, from the Santa Cruz ASPCA. We learned that a lot of dogs are put to sleep around the July 4th because the fireworks scare many dogs and shelters often get too full to keep them all. 

So this 4th of July,,,

• Keep your dogs indoors so they won't be scared by the fireworks.
• Make a donation of money or goods to the ASPCA in your local area.
  (Call them for their wish list items)
• If you have been contemplating adopting a pet,
  this would be a great time to step up your search.

Have a wonderful and safe holiday!

Julie,  Andy & Dexter

Daiso Art Supply Haul: Drain Covers

Drain Covers make great Stencils.

I found these drain covers at Daiso. There are 20+ in a pack and they are fabric on one side and plastic on another. The fabric portion is adhesive so I will be able to use the actual stencil in my journal. Just peel and stick!

 Here are the stencils. I got two different patterns.

 Here I've sprayed a bit of Dylusions Ink through the stencil.

Here is the result. I like how some of the dots bleed a bit. That was due to the fact that the stencil was thin, curved and didn't lay flat on the page. Think next time I can  remove the backing and stick the stencil directly to the page to get a cleaner impression.

I might even try cutting the stencil to get different patterns.

Weekly Sketch Book Journal

 Here is the begining of a new week. I created this back ground with acrylic spray paints. Its hard to see in the photo but the texture is bubbly and has a bit of a shine.

I created the areas for the days of the week with vintage papers I found at a flea market. This was someone's short story. I love giving new life to items that might never be used or tossed out. Everytime I use these pages I think of the original author. There work is still being appreciated, even if is not in the original way they may have intended.

Now I've added some dates and a bit of doodling.
We will see how this progresses this week.

 
This week I spent more time on my story pages than on my daily pages. I had fun choosing a word to focus on in the day then choosing some supporting words that summed up that day.

 
This was a quote came across this week that totally resonated with where I am right now.

“Everything changes when you start to emit your own frequency rather than absorbing the frequencies around you, when you start imprinting your intent on the universe rather than receiving an imprint from existence.”

― Barbara Marciniak

 This page came out of me wanting to use this face I cut out from a magazine a while back. It has been on my mood board for a year. This week the image just called to me. I watched Oprah's Super Soul Sunday today and India Arie was being interviewed.  India shared the one bit of advice Dr. Maya Angelou shared with her..."Be Your Truth". Embody your truth. Listen to your inner voice. Center yourself in what you know for sure. Wise words in the face of all that is happening in the world right now.

My Declaration of Self-Care

I was invited to contribute a blog for The Declaration of You’s BlogLovin’ Tour, which I’m thrilled to participate in alongside over 100+ other creative bloggers. The Declaration of You will be published by North Light Craft Books this summer, with readers getting all the permission they’ve craved to step passionately into their lives, discover how they and their gifts are unique and uncover what they are meant to do! 

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{ SELF- CARE }
How I use self-care to prevent and deal with stress

When I was asked to write about Self-Care to support the launch of ‘The Declaration of You’, I wanted to share about spa retreats, manicures, meditation workshops and yoga classes. All of those self-pampering activities that I love so much. But, when I thought about it more I wanted to share about how self-care has been the cornerstone of what keeps me  balanced, mentally and physically. Hopefully you'll take some inspiration from my journey and learn that self-care provides the power to self-sooth, self-honor and reflect.  It stops me from expecting other people to make me happy and puts the power squarely in my hands.  When I practice self-care, on a regular basis, I am naturally creative and open to new possibilities. I'm also able to move on after a stressful encounter.

I hate to admit it, but my biggest teacher for self-care has been navigating through various stressful situations. I've learned what works and doesn't work.  I've been able to implement what works over time. I now have a variety of methods that work for me that I can use at the drop of a hat. As life goes on, issues start to have less of an impact because I get over them faster. Life is more peaceful and joy-filled.



I've learned to use stressful experiences as opportunities to discover new self-care strategies

Recently I was on a leisurely walk with my dog, Dexter,  when I had an encounter with a neighbor.  As I was walking my dog, I could hear this neighbor walking and yelling at her two small dogs. My instinct told me to create distance between us, so I kept walking and maintaining a good distance.

Dexter stopped to do what dogs do and I was waiting for him to finish, when suddenly I heard the woman scream from across the parking lot...."Would you walk your dog faster! You're taking your sweet time. I've been trying to hold my dogs back."   I told her I was picking up after my dog and she could walk in another direction.  Before I knew it, she was racing toward me with her dogs, yelling at them and cursing at me. We exchanged angry words and I walked Dexter away from her dogs to another area to play.

After we played for a while, I started to walk home.  In the distance, I spotted the same woman returning to the area with her dogs.  She crossed the street and disappeared behind some tall hedges.  I continued to walk and to my surprise, she was sitting behind the hedges waiting for me with her dogs.  More angry words where exchanged and she even attempted to follow me home.

When I returned home, I was upset and clearly shaken. The situation was over but I was still feeling the effects. I kept thinking about it. I kept experiencing the emotions as I thought about it. I noticed that I was not sleeping well. This is where knowing how to exercise some Self-care comes in handy..

I know I'm not at peace when I keep thinking about a situation over and over again

I have a regular practice of journaling and part of what journaling provides, is a way for me to slow down my thought processes and get connected with my feelings.  From there, I can access what feelings need to be soothed, nurtured or balanced through self-care. 

In this situation, my journaling time exposed my need to know I was safe and I did not do anything to deserve that, so I went to the safest place I know ...my tribe - Andy (my personal hero), Debra (my neighbor),  Marcia and Jennifer ( my sister friends). After talking to them, I felt better, but I was still feeling a bit restricted. One of my self-care strategies is to spend time in nature. It gives me a sense of peace and freedom so I took Dexter to a few beautiful parks and sat with my bare feet in the grass.  I felt lighter but I was still waking up thinking about the incident, so I implemented another self-care strategy, a workout and swim at my gym. Suddenly I found myself laughing about the situation and that was it, I was free.

Self-care can restore peace mentally and physically

From this place I was clear enough to determine if there are any actions I needed to take to resolve the situation.  In this case, I could see this woman was probably just an angry person and I was just in her cross hairs that day. It was more important for me the let the situation go than to keep it alive by pursuing actions against her. 

{ Self-Care is a practice that is perfected over time }

• Practicing self-care on a regular basis will give you access to peace, creativity and new possibilities
• Self-care can give you access to your intuition to help you avoid potentially stressful situations.
• Recognizing when you are stressed is key to determine when you need to implement some self-care strategies.
• You may need to implement a few different self-care strategies to restore peace both mentally and physically.
• Things happen in life and stressers do come up but if you practice self-care you'll know how to self-sooth so you can restore your inner peace and have a clear mind to make decisions.

{ My Favorite Self-Care Strategies }

• Art Journaling : Allows me to get out of my head and into my heart
• Talking with Friends : Talking with friends I trust helps me feel safe and supported
• Walks in Nature: Nature grounds me, leaving me feeling peaceful and free
• Physical Exercise: Exercise and working up a sweat helps me get out any residual toxic feelings in my body 
• Music : I am so inspired by music and I keep a number of Pandora stations organized to help me get in to a relaxed or creative mood. 
• Space Clearing: If I feel overwhelmed I feel better when I clear my environment of clutter and make it special by adding flowers or burning scented candles.

{ Let's Share Self-Care Strategies! }

• Join us for The Declaration of You’s Facebook party this
  Friday, June 28 at 9:30-10a PST/11:30a-12p CST/12:30-1p EST.
  We’ll be chatting LIVE about SELF-CARE over at facebook.com/TheDeclarationOfYou.
  Hope to see you there!
• Talk to me! Comment below and let me know some of you're favorite Self-Care strategies.

The Art of the Beautiful "No"

I have seen beautiful art with the word "YES" in big, bold, colorful calligraphy.   It always reminds me to say "Yes" to life, opportunities and abundance.   It's a reminder to invite all that is true, positive and divinely ordained into my life.  But what about "No".  What about what I'm not going to stand for in my life? What about saying "No" to make room for what is really important?  Where is the beautiful "No"?

I've never seen anything like a beautiful "No" so I made one to remind me that a "No"  can be graceful and beautiful.

Here's my list of graceful "No" statements:

• No
• No Thank you
• No, Not this time
• No, that doesn't work for me
• No, I have another commitment (commitments to myself count)