SelfLove365, Year 2, Day 245: (attract)

When I think I’m not being successful, I’m not.
When I feel small, I am.
When I feel unworthy, this is my experience of life.

I know this, and have been choosing these things, and pretending that this is out of my control, as if I haven’t made my life with my thoughts, my behaviours, and my way of being in the world.

I’m finally beginning to see out of this fog, to know that I can choose success, and be successful.
I can feel big, and be so.
I can feel worthy, and bring worthiness into my life.

I attract to my life the things that I want, that I think, and that I do.

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The Waldorf Faire

Whew! What an exhausting weekend! It is hard work to stay all smiles, and talk to people for 7 hours straight (after a day of setting up), especially for an introvert! I was pretty wiped about 2 hours in, but hopefully it wasn’t too obvious.

The day went well, although there are things I will change for next year, for sure. I sold all ten copies of Journal It!, one painting, and lots of cards, pins and magnets. I would love to sell more paintings, but I think my display needs to be more open, more accessible, so people can step right up to the art. Half the time, I didn’t think people noticed the paintings behind me, because of all the things I had to look at on the table! All in all, it was a fun day, and I was happy with it.

I was very happy to sell this painting to Denise. Thank you, Denise!

My friend Yvonne and her felting-partner had a beautiful table with lots of little hand-felted critters, with skating ponds, an igloo, trees, the works. It was stunning.

I still have plenty of magnets, paintings, and cards available. I also painted a mirror and a lazy Susan, both of which I love. I may decide to keep the mirror, but for now, it is available and perfect for the young girl in your life!

Magnets

I just finished a batch of magnets to sell at the Waldorf Faire in November. I’m already starting to sell off this batch, though, so another one is under way. Happy news about the magnets: I finally figured out the whole varnish thing. I have had problems in the past with the varnish reacting with the ink I use to write with, but I finally figured out how to avoid that. It was so simple, I don’t know why I never thought of it before! I just needed a layer of acrylic medium before applying the Varithane! Glad that is solved.

If you see any that you would like, I can create a special etsy listing for you (as long as I haven’t already sold it…).

Gratitude Tuesday

Today I am grateful for:

• Spending the weekend with my Dad. My Dad visits often, and we always have fun. This time we played “Bang” and my Dad was the dealer.


My hubby (lookin’ good in a suit) with my Dad!

• 3 more sleeps until my brother is here for a visit! Can’t wait.
• That we feel all that we do, and we aren’t like the people in “The Giver” by Lois Lowry (which I am reading right now – great book, by the way).

 

Thoughts on Teaching

Why did I post this photo of a varnish-troubled magnet? Read on…

Tomorrow I will be teaching my second painting class ever. I have been mulling over how the first one went, what I would do differently, how it made me feel, and I want to get it out of my head, onto the blog (mostly so I can attempt to make sense of it, and also to stop thinking about it all the time).  I’m worried this may come out sort of discombobulated. I don’t consider myself much of a writer (as I’ve mentioned before), but I’ll do my best(-ish… I’m not going to try TOO hard. This isn’t English class, after all. I had a huge crush on my Grade 11 English teacher, by the way. But, I digress.).

I should probably mention what brought me to teaching in the first place. To start, the word “teaching” came up during an art/dance/writing exercise during a Core Connexion workshop. I swiftly wrote it off as unimportant, but it kept popping up in my thoughts. Then, a few weeks ago during my coaching session with Nancy, I realized that I want to have more fun. During the process of figuring out what that meant, “teaching” popped into my head again. I tend to allow these “pop-ups” and express them, because in my experience, even if I don’t know what it means, it will lead me somewhere that I need to go. So I said it. After discussing it a bit, Nancy dared me to advertise for a painting class the following week. Meanwhile, my gremlins were “having a feast” (Nancy’s words, and totally appropriate!), giving me all kinds of reasons why this couldn’t and wouldn’t work. I ignored them and took the dare!

Had Nancy not dared me, I probably would have taken about 2 years before even considering teaching. I would have had to read all the books, paint for at least a year to get the experience, take a few workshops – my perfectionist part/gremlin wanted to hold me back, to keep me from having fun!

One of the things that usually keeps me from starting anything is the unknown. Should I invite just kids or just adults, or mix it up? How much do I charge? What kind of supplies do I need? How will I set it up in my home? Should I paint with them? In the past, I would never have started without knowing. I took this on as an experiment, and I have to say, I am enjoying this! I like that I am making mistakes and figuring out how to make the classes better by learning from them. Here are some of the things I have learned so far (in point form, because I make more sense that way):

• I initially offered the class to parents and children at our school, but I now know that I would like to keep them in separate classes.
• Starting with dancing was a good idea, but not a fast song! I am not sure why I didn’t think of that, since we would never start that way even at a dance class.

• Yes, I should be painting with everyone, because then I’ll have more fun!
• Everyone’s imagery is different, and everyone works at a different pace. I can allow for that and learn to surrender to their process as much as I want them to surrender to it.
• If I’m not sure what to do at any point (for me last week it was how to encourage people to keep painting, even when they say they are finished), just allow it to pass for the time being until I either think of something, or learn more about it after the class so that I know for next time!
• Teachers are students! BIG TIME!!

So, back to the magnet. First of all, the message on it is an ongoing affirmation of mine. It underlies everything I do. I want to believe this to my core. Secondly, yes, I made a whole batch of these and the varnish cracked on almost all of them. I’ve had a similar problem in the past, but never that bad. I finally contacted my friend and painting conservator, Bonnie Rimer (we were in the same year at Queen’s University, both in art conservation) for some ideas. She had a crapload (oops, sorry, is that a no-no on blogs? Well, it’s how I talk) of ideas, and it made me realize that I am approaching this painting class the same way I am trying to figure out what caused the cracking of the magnet. I make mistakes, I get frustrated by my mistakes (more or less, usually less these days), I educate myself, and make things even better next time. And I have fun doing it.

Magnets and Pins!

These are the magnets and pins that I worked on in December – custom orders from five different people. I had fun making them – I really like when people have ideas for what they want to see on my magnets. And art. With the art it is a little harder to customize exactly the way a person wants it, but luckily most people just give me an idea of the colours they like and the words they want, and then I run with it. To me, custom art doesn’t have the magic and spontaneity that other pieces have. They are close, and perhaps I am the only one who notices it, but they are more like “work” and a little less like “art”. I don’t find this to be true of the magnets, since I am always searching for new words to put on them, so I am happy to have input!

On a totally different topic, I’ve eaten about 10 of our freshly baked lemon honey drop cookies. Okay, maybe more. Who’s counting? As long as there are enough for the kids tomorrow, it’s fine!! I finished reading “Women, Food and God” by Geneen Roth. It would probably be a great book for some, but I didn’t learn a whole lot that I didn’t already know.  I’d recommend it to anyone sick of dieting or wanting a different relationship with food, but there is nothing earth-shattering about it. I’ve just started “Room” by Emma Donoghue. It’s got me hooked already – I think that’s mostly because it is written from the point of view of a just-turned-5-year old boy, and I have a boy who is almost 5. The relationship (as he sees it) with his mother is so touching and I can just sense it will get heart-wrenching…

Vote for Me!!

Please vote for my “I love cake” magnet here!!!

Thanks! I am almost in the lead!

Fun at the Waldorf Faire

My first craft show at the Waldorf Faire was a success! My mom was there and helped me set up on Friday, stayed with me all day Saturday and helped me dismantle it all. What a lot of work! Thanks, Ma!! I am so glad she was there experience it with me!

I sold over 70 magnets, some pins, cards, the lazy susan, 3 frames, and a painting, plus got a commission for another painting! My daughters sold half of their dolls, too! I loved being able to talk to so many people that I know. One girl from the school came back to the table three times (and bought something each time!).

I was surrounded by great people – Michelle and Alecia (selling belt buckles), Colleen (knitwear and jewelery), and Darcy from the Alberta Etsy team was right behind me! I look forward to doing it again next year!

Etsy Treasury

One of my magnets is featured in a Treasury!

Sundara Stitches

My magnets are featured on the Sundara Stitches website. Her yarn is great – my mom has purchased many beautiful skeins. You can get one free with a yarn purchase, or check out my magnets on my etsy site.