Frugal Paint Tip

I needed to finish off the sides of my mosaic mandalas so I brought one of them to Home Depot and had them match up the paint with my thin-set. I bought the color sample and it only cost me $2.99. What a deal!

Mosaic Mandala 4

I am alive! My body is healthy, vibrant and full of life. I love life!

I find this mandala delicious. When I finished it I couldn't stop going back into the room to look at it as it dried. I loved it so. It's funny because I'm not a big fan of green so I was surprised at how much I liked it.

The materials used here are Italian smalti, glass gems, metallic vitreous tiles, millefiori, and 24k gold tiles. Yes, I used gold. I know you can't see it because I actually put them in upside down. The cool thing about the gold is that it is placed on top of this beautiful aqua glass and when used upside down the gold shimmers through the glass and creates a brilliant color. You can see it between the glass gems.

I'm having so much fun with these!

Mosaic Mandala 3

I embrace nature and ground myself. I spend time just being among the trees, the grasses, the flowers, the birds, and the animals.

This mandala is made with matte porcelain tiles. They are earthy and seemed to fit the affirmation perfectly. There are several shades of green and brown to go along with the stones.

This is a bit of a departure from the vibrant colors and sparkling glass I used in the previous mandalas. My boys really like this one. I guess it might be considered more masculine. I find it comforting and simple.

Staying in the Present

Today is my son Cody's last day of high school. He is graduating on Saturday. I can't believe the day is here. You know you're old when you start saying things like this. Oh well, older and wiser I like to think.

Last week I had a bit of a meltdown. I started sending my daily gratitude list to my friend Carrie and before I knew it I was crying and then sobbing. I was longing for the days when he was his cute little self all chubby and loving. Running after me looking for me to pick him up and hug and kiss him. These days I am running after him trying to get him to LET me hug and kiss him.

Of course I know that this is all in perfect order. He is doing what he is supposed to be doing. He is turning into a man. I am happy about that and I am excited to see what life has in store for him. He is quite a charmer and as I like to tell him he has a horse shoe planted up his ass so I am sure it will be interesting.

For all of you moms who still have little kids at home, go now and cuddle with your babies. Shower them with hugs and kisses and tickle their little necks. Smell their sweet scent and see their eyes light up when they see you. Enjoy every moment you can, even the tough ones because I promise you, there will come a day when you will be wondering where the time went, how it went so fast and where your sweet little baby went. Such is the nature of life.

For those of you moms who are like me, watching your beloved child grow up and move on, I send you my love. I wish for you to be in the moment and enjoying each second just as it is, not for what it once was. I wish for you the strength and the courage to set them free and for the ability to keep them close to your heart at the same time. I wish for you a fresh beginning right where you are right now filled with loving memories from the past and the possibility to create new ones.

If my desire to say in the present moment wasn't strong enough, Cody just came in and told me he was voted all conference on his baseball team! Now that's a great memory being made right now. I'm so proud of him.

Mosaic Mandala 2

I live in the flow of the Universe. I trust that everything comes to me for my greatest good.

Here is my second mandala I made. It evokes the ocean with the blue tiles and the seashells. The materials used are iridescent vitreous tiles, stained glass, painted glass tiles, glass gems and seashells.

I find it so fascinating how the mood of the mandala follows along with the message of the affirmation. I'm having so much fun. Stay tuned for more!

Healing Mosaic Mandalas

I am still exploring and learning from my Mosaic Soul Art. It is such a difficult thing to put into words. I can tell you that the intention for this piece had to do with my physical body and allowing it to heal and be at its optimum health.

As I stood back and looked at it I had this feeling that the amorphous shapes were not healthy. They felt to me like little monsters floating around. It's funny because even trying to write it I can't quite articulate it and "monsters floating around" doesn't really express the feeling I got but it is simple and will suffice.

Anyway, there were these small mandalas that were peppered around the piece and I felt like these were my little soldiers going off to battle. They were the good guys!

I had this overwhelming urge to make more of them. I have a TON of 6x6 squares of MDF that I cut for another project and never used. I knew they would be perfect.

I grabbed one and wrote this:

I take back my power! My body is under my control and I choose health!

Then I spread some thin-set over the affirmation and began creating.


I put one of my river stones that I decorated in the center. From there I used some red and orange smalti (Italian glass) and some thinner tiles that I put on their sides for texture. I added some millifiore, some red mirror and some 24k gold tiles. Viola, my first healing mosaic mandala.

I love it! It felt so good to make and I could feel the power in it. I couldn't stop there. I kept making them and making them, each with their own positive affirmation.

I only wish photography did mosaics justice. You can't appreciate the beauty of the materials. The red mirror shows up flat in the photo but in person it reflects the light so beautifully as does the scrumptious gold tiles. Can you tell I love it?!

I will show you more of them next week. I love them all so much so I want to share them with you. Have a great weekend!

Defining Success

I was watching Oprah yesterday. It was the show with Ralph Lauren. What an interesting man with an interesting story. The thing about him that really struck me was how much of a family man he is. Here is a man that runs a billion dollar empire, who takes great pride in making the best and doing the best in his company yet he still managed to be home for dinner and play with his children on the weekends. You could feel the love and respect his family had for him.

In stark contrast one of my favorite blogging artists recently wrote a post about how difficult it is to be an artist and to be successful at it. The long hours 7 days a week with no vacations, the obligations, the deadlines, the rushing, and the pressure were all given as examples of this.

One of the things I believe in when it comes to being a holistic health coach is that food is important but oftentimes it becomes secondary and the other areas of life are the primary foods. We are fed by the quality of our lives. The relationships, the environment we live in, our careers, our spirituality, etc. When those things are going well food is of less importance.

When we are out of balance oftentimes we turn to food to fill us up. We reach for the sugary treats, caffeine, and salty treats. When our lives are filled with passion, excitement, and love we can forget to eat...that's secondary food.

When I work with my clients I don't just tell them how to eat (in fact, I don't tell them at all but that's a whole other post), I look deeper and help them to find balance, to find passion, to love themselves and to put themselves on their priority list. In the beginning they resist. "How will everything get done?" they ask or "I couldn't possible do that!" they tell me. I push them just a tiny bit out of their comfort zone and they begin to get it. They feel different, they're happier and more fulfilled.

When looking at your career, I guess the question you have to ask yourself is, "How do you define success?" Is success simply how much money you make, how much power you have, or how well known you are? Or is it that you are living a life that brings you joy, that fills you up, that is balanced with family, friends, career, health, AND financial security?

There will be people that say it can't be done. You can't have it all and I say don't listen! I know people who have done it. I've seen how they structure their lives, how they prioritize, how they stay connected to their spirit and still manage to be successful. Are they as successful as Ralph Lauren? No, but Ralph Lauren is and he seems to have it figured out.

So I ask you, what is your definition of success and where are you on your path to finding it?