It's a Middle School Wrap

The first Middle School Open House was a such big hit! We had a great time together and what a gift it was to be able to spend so much time together in creative play! 

We started off with some fun drawing. We taped up paper onto the wall put on some fun music and let loose with oil pastels. The girls were encouraged to pick a color they loved and just scribble and get their energy onto the page. Whatever felt good was what we did. 

We had a little fun mixing it up. They got to use their non dominant hand for a while, experiment with mixing by using a white oil pastel and they even got brave and added a color they thought was "ugly." It was fun to try out new things and just be surprised at what happened. 

After a quick snack break we brought out the paints. They got to use juicy tempera paints on big sheets of poster board taped up on the wall. Anything goes in Freedom Art and the girls had fun playing with all the different brushes and rollers and we even had fun with some stencils. 

I always like to add a little positivity to the creative process so we sat down and made some mind maps. The girls put their names in the middle and started writing all their positive qualities around. the center.  They helped each other think of things they were good at or things they liked about each other. Then we thought of some people we admired and their qualities that we aspired for ourselves and added that in. 

Once their mind maps were done I let them loose on some magazines and had them tear out any pictures that reminded them of themselves or their traits they wrote on the paper and they got busy gluing them onto the page. It was so fun and everyone's was unique. 

It was an amazing way to spend my Saturday. The girls had so much fun and said they wanted to come back tomorrow. One of the girls said she wished my studio was her bedroom because it felt so great in there. 

 I loved  it too. It was so fun to just let loose and have fun. We danced, we played, we laughed and we joked around. They uplifted me and left me feeling energized.  I can't wait for the next one!

How to Have an Awesome Art Party

What a great night! I could not be happier about the outcome of my first open house at The Creative Healing Studio! So many great people came out and had fun doodling, painting, and drawing. 

 Food was set out and drinks were prepared. 

Everyone had a chance to create a collaboration on a big piece of paper. 

I was so happy to have a great group of kids too.

Hours of doodling and painting left some fantastic art and gave the studio so much great energy.

The doodle table was a favorite of many.

In fact, the fun continued after midnight!

 And I even got some men in on the fun. 

Thank you to everyone who came out. My first Freedom Art Class is this Thursday and I am offering a 50% discount to all first timers who have signed up for my newsletter. You can sign up here and you get my free ebook, Take Back Your Life with Freedom Art™.

Is Time Passing You By?

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Reprinted from 2009

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Sitting in my office this afternoon I looked out my window at the tree in my front yard. My pumpkin colored wall framed the brilliant orange and red leaves. In the moment that I looked up, my breath was taken away. There was such beauty there with the deep orange and crimson colored leaves. Right here in the middle of the suburbs with the mini vans whizzing by.

The funny thing is that I am sure that tree has been that color for days now and in my rush to get everything done and to be everywhere I need to be, I never “saw” it. It got me thinking about all of the beauty that I’ve been missing as the days speed by in the life of the ever hectic mom.

How many days have gone by where I’ve missed the sparkle of the sun shining through my window for that brief moment in the middle of the day? When was the last time I really listened to the buzzing of the bees as they go about their busy work in my garden? I can’t remember the last time I took time out of my life to just go for a walk in the woods and breathe in the fresh air and admire the beauty of nature.

Then it really hit me. What else had I been missing? The greatest beauty of any mom’s day…the beauty of a child’s smile or their light hearted giggle? Have I truly taken time to savor all of those moments that occur spontaneously throughout the day? Do I give my children single pointed focus when they are speaking to me? Do I genuinely look at them; see them for who they are? How often do I savor my sweet boys, engulf myself in their scent and just be with them in the moment?

I have a 17 year old son who is graduating high school in January. As it seems every wise and “mature” parent will tell you, the time flies by. I can’t believe that he is a young man and no longer wants to cuddle and snuggle with me. I know I have had many beautiful moments with him and all of my boys and I want more. I don’t want to miss them.

As a mom of five boys I am acutely aware of how busy life can be and how much there is to get done in one day. I am deciding today to schedule in cuddle time, snuggle time and lovin’ time with my boys just as I do dentist appointments and grocery shopping. I am committing to practice giving my children my undivided attention. No more reading my email while they are talking to me or doing something else while they are trying to tell me a story.

I invite you to join me in this experiment to see how differently your days play out. I am willing to bet that not only will it bring you joy and happiness but it will affect your children in a powerful way. They will not only feel the love that you have for them but they will be learning how to be in the moment themselves.

As I sat here typing, my youngest son Aidan just came up to me and climbed into my lap. I immediately stopped what I was doing, wrapped my arms around him and began the automatic mommy rock. In that moment, I was overcome with the love that is always available for me but that I don’t always take the time to feel. It brought a tear to my eye. In about 60 seconds it was over. He jumped off and ran off to finish his homework. I looked up at that autumn tree and sent it a wave of gratitude for allowing me to see its beauty and the beauty that is all around me.

Personalized Journal for Girls

Remeber back in March when I told you about the journal I made for my friend Carrie? Well she has 2 beautiful daughters who were wanting to get creative too so I made each of them a journal.

This one was made for her youngest daughter Calli.

And this one was for her oldest daughter Skylar.

I've never met these girls but I went onto their mom's facebook page to look at pictures of them and I also checked out their pinterest pages to get an idea of who they are. I'm guessing I was able to intuitively connect with them as well because I've been told they are perfect for each of them. The colors, the subject matter, everything. Yay! It always feels good to make others happy!

I can't wait to see what they do in them!

Lessons at the Art Festival

A beautiful painting displayed at the Fort Myers Art Fest

For years I shut down my creative side. I decided to be a mom and to put my kids first and do everything for them and be everything for them. As I'm sure you know, I have 5 boys and a husband who all play sports. They have pretty much tried them all. When they aren't playing sports we are talking about sports or watching sports. It's a big sports household.

There never seemed to be enough room for my interests...OK, that's wrong...I never made it a priority so therefore there wasn't enough time for it. For the most part my kids didn't even know how much I loved art. It's really strange the things we do.

When I decided to go back to the thing I loved I began sharing it with my kids and I was pleasantly surprised that they were open to it. They enjoyed looking at art, talking about it and creating it. My youngest son Aidan really jumped on board. He decided that he was an artist and started drawing like crazy.

Exploring the techniques used in the paintings was great fun with the kids.

So this year when we went on our vacation I noticed that there was an art show going on and I decided that I wanted to go and I wanted to bring the kids too. This may seem like the obvious thing to do as a family but you have to understand that in the past my husband may have come along with me and we would have left the kids home thinking they would be bored and uninterested. In fact, I had to tell my husband twice that yes, I wanted the kids to come.

It was a BIG show. There were tents as far as the eye could see and then there were more around the corner. My dad and step mom joined us too. It was hot and holy cow was it crowded. I immediately got uptight. My internal voice started going off, "Oh my gosh, they are going to hate this. They are going to get bored. It's going to take too long. I'm the only one who likes this and I'm going to make everyone suffer."

This is something I do to myself so even when people are doing things for me I have so much inner chatter that I don't allow myself to enjoy it. I rush through, I think about everyone but myself and I leave feeling very unfulfilled. Well not this time!

Professional chalk painters creating works of art on the street

I caught myself and I said, "NO! Not today! I am going to enjoy this for me!" I set off and my sons were right there with me. We stopped in all the booths that drew our attention. We looked at the brush strokes, the techniques, the use of color and the innovative creations these artists were sharing with us.

I was surprised at how into it my son Aidan was. He wanted to stop at every booth and look through the bins of prints. He spent more time in some of them then even I wanted to. I watched as his brow crinkled while he was in serious thought analyzing the art. I watched him take pictures of the things that inspired him and I introduced him to some of the artists so he could learn how they made their creations.

The funniest thing was having him look at the prices. There was no real sticker shock for him. He saw a small glass paperweight that cost $40 and he said, "$40? That's not very much for this." Ha, here I was thinking $40? Too much! I love the innocence and love he brought to art fest.

A beautiful work of art that will be gone in a few hours.

I am proud of the fact that I have embraced who I truly am and shared that with my children because I think it is making them better. They are being exposed to parts of the world that can make them richer, more whole people. It is giving them the opportunity to know all the parts of who they are and uncover talents they may not have known they have.

It's funny, my son came home from school one day and said he stood up and shared that his favorite thing to do was to draw. He said one of the little girls said he couldn't be an artist because he was a wrestler. I explained to him that a lot of people have beliefs that if you are smart you can't be athletic or if you are athletic you can't be artistic. I told him that it's all a lie. That he can be anything he wants to be and that the cool thing is he is good at all of it so he could be any combination he wanted.

Having a little fun decorating piggy banks

Do you think he would have had the opportunity to learn this lesson if his mom was hiding away, afraid to be who she is? Do you think he would know anything about the arts or the joy he experiences if his mom hadn't shared her passion and encouraged him to explore? Maybe, but more likely not.

It's sad to say that my older children didn't get that mom. They got the mom who didn't know who she was, who didn't embrace her passion, and didn't share her love and dreams with them. Are they wonderful? Yes! Might they have turned out differently? Definitely! But I take solace in the fact that they are getting to watch me bloom now with adult eyes and I feel like they are still able to learn lessons from it.

I was watching Anerican Idol last night and there was a woman who made it to Hollywood and she asked Jennifer Lopez for advice because for years people were telling her that she couldn't do it because she had kids. Jennifer told her in no uncertain terms that she could do it and she could always make it work and that her kids would be better for it.

THE KIDS WILL BE BETTER FOR IT!

To all you moms out there, let that sink in. Following your dreams and passions does not make you a selfish mom. It makes you a mom that is an inspiration to her kids. It makes your children learn how to believe in their dreams and follow their passions and isn't that what we want most of all for our children?

Dream on my friends!

Embracing Silly and Goofy!

Back in January I did a Soul Retrieval process with a wonderful woman named Lisa Dieken. It was quite a powerful process. I wrote about it briefly in a prior post. I didn't give too many details about the actual process but instead linked it to the fact that I had chosen Abundance for my word of the year.

Recently I've been having all these messages come up for me about having fun, playing, loosening up, and embracing my inner child. It seems no matter what I set my intention for in the beginning of a Soul Art process, I end up coming back to--have fun!

My silly little artwork above is yet another example of this. It's goofy and fun and written right on it is the message to Dance and have fun. You would never know my intention for this piece was to allow my creativity to flow for a serious project I am working on.

I'm feeling a bit goofy and silly lately too. I'm singing even more in the car, dancing around the house, embarrassing my kids with my crazy sounds and ridiculous singing and saying goofy things.

So what does all of this have to do with my Soul Retrieval? It really does tie in...let me explain. During my journey Lisa told me she saw a younger me playing on the playground. I could see the event taking place in my mind, the young little Michelle stooping down and drawing with chalk on the pavement.

She called to her and asked her to come home. The little girl started to come closer but then decided that she wasn't quite done playing and she took off back into the playground. Lisa said she hadn't ever seen that happen before. I saw that little girl jumping, skipping, swinging and playing while we waited for her to finish. As I watched her play I was brought to tears because I realized it was something that I had forgotten how to do. Playing and having fun seemed so foreign to me and I felt the ache deep down inside.

It got me to thinking that by bringing that little girl home (yes, she eventually finished her fun and made her way over to us) who knows how to play and have fun I've really woken something up inside of me and I'm slowly learning to integrate that part of who I am. It's becoming more and more of who I am and I like it.

So to honor my silly little creature's advice, I would like to leave you with one of my current favorite "dance and have fun" songs. I encourage you to crank it up, let loose and have a good time! Woo hoo!

Summer Fun With the Kids

Remember back at the end of June when I talked about going out in nature and spending time playing with my kids? I was going to hit a few local hot spots for nature and I had it all planned out. Remember?

Well guess what. Here we are at the end of July and there has been no nature for us. Nope, nada, zilch, zero! Time just seemed to get away from me. The weather has been crazy. Most days have been unbearably hot and when it cooled off a bit it was because we had some severe thunderstorms rolling through.

Even when the weather was good, we were busy with Dr. appointments, orthodontist appointments, daily baseball games and there were just days where we just watched the time slip by. It's crazy how that can happen even when I have it on my calendar each week.


Guess what? It's over! I hit Mother Nature with my 2 youngest boys and it was great. We stopped off at the Fox River after a Dr. appointment yesterday. Yay! We did it!

We walked along the shore exploring the bugs,

the trees,





and the plants.

We talked, we walked arm and arm. I taught them things about life and nature and of course composition and taking unique photographs.

It was one of the best days I had this summer. I was in the moment with them. They were in the moment with me. I loved hearing the excitement in Aidan's voice with each new bug he discovered as much as I loved watching Liam walk gently through the grass being careful not to let a bug land anywhere on his body.


The thing is that they loved it. We didn't DO anything. There was no plan, there was nothing that had to get done. We were just walking, talking, and observing. Liam must have told me about 7 times how much he liked it. He pulled my arm around him as we walked and when it was over and we piled back into the car Aidan was the first to say, "Thanks Mom." What can be better than that?

I Miss You Guys!

It's been so strange not connecting with all my cyber friends! Summer has taken over my life even though I swore it wouldn't. It's been go-go-go with no time for much of anything. I haven't even created a piece of art since the last day of school.

But you know, I'm OK with it. I was talking about it with my friend last week and I've been thinking about it since then. What I said to her really is ringing true for me. I'm OK with everything. I'm not feeling pressured to be anywhere other than where I am. If that is at a baseball game or the third doctor's appointment for the week, it's fine.

I have time. I have all the time in the world. I can take care of my family right now and get back to art and blogging and connecting in cyber world when the time is right. I know you guys will all still be here waiting for me.

Even though my Google reader has over 1,000 blog posts I haven't read yet, I will get to them. They're not going anywhere but my kids are growing up everyday and they need me right now and I need them.

I'm guessing I have one more week of craziness and then I think I will find a bit of a lull and I can already tell you that I will be looking for a creative outlet. Something to get me back into the creative groove and to connect with my soul again. It will be lovely.

Until then I plan on taking complete joy in watching Cody win his baseball tournament, nursing Devin back to health after his oral surgery, celebrating Aidan's 9th birthday, watching Liam's confidence and joy grow on his new baseball team, helping Dallas make a plan for his future and celebrating my 15th wedding anniversary with the best husband in the world!

What are you taking joy in this summer?

Kiddie Art

Since I've been spending so much of my time with my kids this week and haven't gotten much time for my own art I thought I would share a few pieces that my children created in art class.

Their school puts all of their art on this website called Artsonia so they can be shared with friends and family. You can even buy things like mugs, mousepads, and magnets with the artwork on them. It's really great.

The first picture was created by my 8 year old, Aidan. It is a sea monster.

This one is also a sea monster scene and was created by my 10 year old, Liam.

And finally here is a haunted house by Aidan. Perfect for the recent Holiday.

I just love children's art. It is so colorful, simple, and free. There is an essence that we tend to lose as we become adults. They aren't as controlled by the negative voices in their head. They just play and have fun and put it on the paper and you can sense it. And it works! I love it!