Be Here Now.

For those of you who follow me on Instagram (I LOVE Instagram! Come on over and follow me!) you know that I am in the process of getting an art studio...well, OK, my husband is in the process of making me an art studio. Hee hee.

I have always wanted my own art studio. My husband has spent the last two years toiling away in the basement to create an awesome space for my boys so I decided it was my turn. The idea is to turn my living room and dining room into my space.

The hardest part is running the electric for overhead lights and putting up a wall to give me some much needed privacy. I got a glass door for the entryway to allow light to pour through. I am so excited to see it when it is up.

As you can see, things are in a bit of disarray. I will spare you what the dining room on the right looks like. OMG, it is piled with stuff. Needless to say, this makes it rather difficult to access my paints and my art supplies. So I have been crocheting...A LOT.

At first I was kind of disappointed in myself. I love crocheting and it is a big part of my life but this was my year to paint and to create and it hasn't really happened.

But then I looked around and realized that there is no way I can really give myself to the creative process 100% at this point. It is the reality that is my life right now so why beat myself up? What good does that do?

And I surrendered to where I am and I focused on what I can do and how I want to feel and let me tell you, it has been wonderful. I have enjoyed myself so much this month. I have created so many fun pieces and I have shared my work with people all over the world and it feels good.

I think that it is so easy to get caught up in the idea of what we "should" be doing and allowing that critical voice inside to run rampant on our hearts. We want to DO everything and BE everyone but sometimes that is just not possible.

I encourage you to be where you are right now. Don't wish for something different. Stay in the moment and work with what you've got. Make THIS moment the best it can be. Focus on how you can be your best RIGHT NOW and see how things shift.

xo
Michelle

Midwest Beauty

 As I mentioned in my Embrace Winter post, I have spent a great many years of my life wishing I lived somewhere else. From the first time I traveled to Hawaii I thought for sure that was the place for me.Then I just KNEW I had to live in Northern California! That was the place for me!

I even tried out a few places in my mind...Costa Rica...Asheville, NC,... Tennessee... the all sounded so great. Anywhere had to be better than the MIDWEST!

When I started shifting my perspective and changing the way I looked at things I suddenly started seeing beauty all around me. Even in my own boring backyard. 

The colors of the sky are of course my absolute favorite . Blue, purple, orange, yellow and pink...oh, it's so divine!

 .

Waking up early enough to see the full moon shining above as the sun rises is like a precious gift. 

Even the stark and desolate mood of a white landscape has begun to appeal to me. 

It is truly Midwest Beauty. 

I'd love to hear how shifting your perspective has changed things for you. 

Vision Pages

My very first pages in my new 2015 journal are vision pages. I wanted to keep it simple and just create a vision for what I want 2015 to feel like. 

 As I browsed through some magazines I really kept the thought of how I want to FEEL. That is an important part of the process. When you can zone into your feelings you end up with something very powerful. 

 As you can see from the pages, I have quite a few different feelings going on. There is the serenity and spiritual connection from the beauty of nature, the alive and vibrancy of green veggies, the sassiness and confidence exuded from the ladies. 

This picture of the boy in boxing gloves doesn't quite seem to fit but I assure you, it is one of the most powerful parts for me. 

I had decided to write just a little bit around each photo to express what it was that I was wanting and here is what I wrote about this boy:

I want to live with the gentle innocence of a child, the strength of a fighter and the confidence of an Ali. 

Whoo, love it!

 Have you created any vision pages for how you want your 2015 to feel?

I invite you to DO IT!

xo

Michelle

2015 Art Journal

 I am organizationally challenged. I have like to think it is because my creative brain is firing so fast and furious that organization takes a back seat. I've tried many different ways to organize my ideas and my art and I have found that the K.I.S.S technique holds true for me.

Look at all those beautiful notebooks above. I went out and purchased all of them with the great idea that I would put all business ideas in one notebook, all blog ideas in another, all notes from things I learned in a third and so on.

One day I was on a Skype call with my awesome friend Kristi and I told her how I had misplaced the notes from our last talk in one of my notebooks. I had no idea what notebook it was in or where it was. She suggested I find a basket to keep them all in. Great idea! I did it and it really has helped.

But I have come to find out that I am an all in one kind of girl. I need to have one notebook to keep all my stuff in so I know where it is.

Here is what I have incorporated into my life:

Bullet Journal

I started a bullet journal last year and I absolutely love it! It makes keeping everything so organized. I use it for my to do lists, shopping, menu planning and general note taking. It is really for running the household.

I got a small journal that I can bring with me in my purse and at any moment I can write down anything and everything I need. Here are some of the pages from my bullet journal.

 One Art Journal

 


There are some amazing journals out there. I have some really nice mixed media ones that have thick pages and hold the paint really well. But, if I'm being honest, I have to tell you that my favorite journal is a cheap, student grade journal I get at Michael's Craft Store.

The pages are thin and they buckle with paint. Sometimes what I write shines through on the other side and sometimes I have to glue two pages together but I have to tell you I love it. As you can see, my old journal was well loved which just adds to the charm as far as I'm concerned.

It's a simple, non intimidating place to play and have fun. I don't have to worry about messing anything up. I can put everything in there...collage, paint, writing, crayon drawings, sketches...it all goes in the same journal. Easy peasy!

OK, I must confess, I still have a few of those spiral notebooks lying around because who doesn't need a spiral notebook?!

I would love to know how you organize your life and your art.

Embrace Wnter

I posted this picture on Instagram yesterday and it got me thinking about my Embrace Winter campaign and how it got started. I decided to go back into 2013 and find my original post that I wrote when I was in Inner Alignment Mandalas. This was written for our Winter Harmony series. I hope you enjoy it!

For most of my life I have not been a fan of winter! Even as a kid I was the one who walked a half a block to go sledding and decided it was too cold and I would be better off just going home.

Living in the Midwest where the winters can be brutal, I always felt like a fish out of water and the majority of this unrest happened in the winter months. Of course I never had a problem with it until the holidays ended and true, boring winter set in.

I tried to come up with ways to escape the darkness and the cold by going on vacation to Florida, Hawaii, and California and while that worked for the time I was there, I would inevitably come back and feel even more miserable then when I left!

I would whine and complain about my plight in life. Poor me! How could I stand to be living in this dark, cold, windy, God forsaken place when there were parts of the world that were so warm and beautiful?! I'm surprised my husband didn't want to muzzle me and lock me up until spring.

And then I decided ENOUGH! I had enough of the pity party I was throwing for myself every year. I had enough of the whining and complaining and the constant uneasiness that took over my world for a good portion of the year.

I launched my "Embrace Winter" campaign. It was a small campaign since I was the only person in it but it was the beginning of my attitude shift.

I started using the affirmation, "I embrace winter" every chance I got. I had pictures printed with that phrase on them and posted them up around my house.

I started looking out my window at the beautiful sunsets that could only be seen in the winter months. Because the sun was so low on the horizon the colors were even more vibrant.

I noticed that the same low riding rays of sunshine could reach into my house and warm it up, making it feel warm and cozy.

I gave up trying to eat salads that made me feel icky when it was cold and embraced the Ayurvedic tradition of eating with the seasons. I ate more cooked, warm, heavy foods and I felt so grounded and warmed from the inside.

I drank more tea and took more baths.

I purchased a full length parka, hat, gloves and super warm boots and I bundled up every time I ventured out.

I stopped ruining the autumn months with my negative attitude. While Mother Nature was putting on a beautiful show, I wasn't present enough to notice. I was always going into the future and dreading winter before it even got here.

I started being grateful for everything!

The dreary gray days,

the thousands of geese that swarmed my yard with their noise that was loud enough to wake us up,

the snow on the branches,

 the fog as it froze on the trees,

the laughter of my children as they played in the snow.

I realized that as is everything in life, my disdain for winter was not about what was happening around me, but how I was reacting to it on the INSIDE.

As I shifted my focus I could begin to see things with new eyes.

I noticed the beauty in the stark landscapes.

I saw the patterns the wind left in the snow.

I felt the silence of a blistery winter day.

By changing my thoughts on the INSIDE I opened up a whole new world.

I am happier...

I am more content...

I am grateful...

I have a deeper relationship with myself...

I have lost my yearning to escape where I am...

And it all started with a shift in my thinking.

Gram Inspired Off the Hook

When I was a little girl my grandma was my absolute favorite adult. She was Australian and lived 6 months Down Under and 6 months with us. Every year I couldn't wait for her to arrive after such a long absence. We would all drive to the airport, park the car and take the long walk through O’Hare Airport. I always knew we were getting close when I saw the enormous hanging globe that was suspended from the ceiling. It was such an exciting trip.

Back then we were allowed all the way up to the gate to wait for arrivals. There were no security lines or barriers. We just walked right up to the gate and waited. I remember feeling like I might jump out of my skin when people started to file out of the plane.

My grandma always made a statement when she walked off the plane. She was dressed to the T’s and walked with confidence and a little strut. I can still see her clearly walking toward me with her fashionable gray jumpsuit, fuchsia scarf, bag and pumps. She was put together.

It was always so joyous when she arrived and I knew that the next 6 months I would have someone to play with and to take care of me. We played cards endlessly. She loved her Canasta and taught me how to juggle the enormous handful of cards. I was never alone when she was visiting and I loved that.

One year I remember she tried to teach me how to knit. I was a willing student and sat for hours with my needles. I can still hear her voice with her Australian accent,  “knit one, purl two.” I remember feeling a bit frustrated trying to knit and it wasn't long before I retired my needles and went on to new things. 

Last year my grandma passed away. She was 92 years old. She wasn't sick but she was tired and decided she was ready to go. She refused to eat and about a week later she left us. I was thrown for a loop. I was not prepared to lose her. I hadn't said all I needed to say and I felt this deep hole in my life.

I painted it out and I journaled it out and I cried and I spoke to her and I did all the things I could do to heal. And then one day I decided I wanted to knit something. Knitting reminded me of her and I thought it would be a nice connection to her spirit.

I wasn't really prepared to knit with actual needles so I went out and bought myself a knitting loom and made a scarf. It was cute but it needed something more so I started researching how I could put a nice little scallop edge on it and I didn't even realize I was teaching myself how to crochet.

There is something magical about crocheting. It is soothing and meditative and pretty darn addicting. Pretty soon I had yarn and crocheted items everywhere. I made blankets, scarves, fingerless gloves, hats, and baby blankets that I have no idea who I am giving them to. And every stitch of those items connected me back to my Gram.

In my quest to live my passion and share it with you here on The Creative Healing Studio I have to honor my love of crocheting and honor my beloved Gram.

I am excited to offer a new series titled Off the Hook where I will share with you all things crochet!  So excited!

xo

Michelle

Intention Stones

I have never been good at making resolutions. Like most people I pick something that sounds really good and do it for about a week and then move on. I do believe that is how most health clubs stay in business. ;o)

But a few years ago I heard about the Word of the Year concept and I was intrigued. I liked the idea of one word flavoring my entire year so I decided to give it a try. Let me tell you, it was life changing! I was really surprised that the word stuck with me all the way to the end of the year and even more surprised about the things I learned about myself and the world around me through the lens of that word. It changed everything for me.

Last year I didn't pick a word of the year. I was disenfranchised and lost and couldn't even muster up the strength to care about it so I let it go. I can't say I had a bad year or that I didn't learn anything about myself because of course I did but there was something missing.

• I missed having a touchstone that could remind me what I wanted and keep me moving in that direction.
• I missed having the lens of my word to view the world through to help me see with clarity.
• I missed the a-ha moments when I was able to understand my life in a deeper way.
• I missed the excitement of synchronicity when events seemed to line up to bring me closer to an understanding of my word.
• I missed having a word of the year!

So I have decided to bring it back into my life for 2015.

It's not always easy choosing a word and this year it took me quite a while to figure out what I wanted. My awesome friend Carrie Saba has a workbook that really is amazing to help you zero in on how you want to feel and how to choose a word that aligns with your desires. I worked through it and was really close.

I whipped out my trusty thesaurus and lo and behold my word popped out at me. I knew it was right. It was like a bolt of electricity ran through me and lit me up.

YES!

My word of the year for 2015 is

And let me tell you why. The definition of the word encompasses everything I am looking for and the synonyms give even more depth and clarity.

Def: a successful, flourishing, and thriving condition especially in financial respects. Good fortune.

syn: bed of roses, abundance, expansion, fortune, growth, success, the good life, well being, accomplishment, arrival, easy, plenty, thriving.

It makes my heart skip a beat!

When I was thinking about the Word of the Year and what I missed about it, "touchstone" popped into my mind and I knew instantly that I wanted to create an intention stone to carry with me and inspire me throughout the year.

Of course I had to crochet a little pouch to tuck it away safely.

It's my little personal talisman that combines so much of what  who I am...mandalas, intention and crochet...all rolled into one cute little package.

I got so excited that I knew I wanted to share with all of you and send you a personalized stone with your Word of the Year on it.

As you can see I have quite a few stones ready to be personalized. Each one is unique. Some are big and some are smaller and I will intuitively choose the stone that fits you and your intention. They stones are sealed so you can rub them all year long. Each stone also comes with it's own little crochet pouch made of an earthy wool blend yarn.

I am so excited to pour my energy into making

you the perfect stone for 2015. 

The cost is $20 per stone which includes shipping (in the continental US). For shipping outside the US, additional shipping will be required.

Email me to reserve your stone today!

xo
Michelle

Happy New Year!

Here we are entering a new year. This time of the year always feels exciting. No matter what happened in the previous year we get a do over. I love it.

This year I am especially excited to usher in a new era for The Creative Healing Studio. I have spent the last year on a sort of sabbatical. I really had lost my way. I needed time away to figure out more deeply who I am and what I am here to do.

I spent the last 5 months deeply immersed in Connie Solera's Ignite Program. I dove deep into myself, my beliefs and my creativity. I learned so much about what I love, what I am good at and how I can combine them to create offerings that will uplift, transform, and inspire the women in my circle.

I've updated my website with a new look that I am really excited about and I have some exciting new offerings coming up. I would like to invite you to come over and check it out.

Most of all I want to wish you a happy new year. May 2015 be everything you hoped it would be!!

xo
Michelle