Category Archives: Fun

Thoughtful Thursday

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The Art of Feng Shui – Declutter Your Home

With a little more extra time at home these days I’m paying attention to my surroundings more. I’m really noticing how looking at certain things can make you feel.

A few years ago a good friend introduced me to Feng Shui and I thought it was interesting but was very skeptical. The more I looked into it, the more it caught my attention. There are many books on the subject. But a lot of them get too technical and I just wanted a simple place to start. I have a few favorites that I’ll share at the bottom of this post. The main idea is to have good energy flow in your home. “Yes, this is a real thing.”

As we go through life, we collect lots of “stuff.” Whether it’s gifted to us, purchased as I’ll get to it some day, or a memory from a special time in our lives it really starts to accumulate. When too much “stuff” accumulates in our home, energy can stagnate. The funny part is most of this “stuff” we never even use or remember having because it’s simply put in some corner of the house and forgotten.

As I’m walking through my home, I see certain areas where the “stuff” has accumulated and I don’t like how it looks, much less how it feels. So to get the energy flowing again I’m decluttering those areas. I’m working on either giving away the “stuff” in good condition that some one else can use or tossing it. I only keep the what makes me happy.

You can easily get overwhelmed when starting this process, but take small steps. Divide a room into sections. Do one part of a room, then move to the next part and so on. If you have more time, keep going and knock more of it out. But by breaking it down into sections, it makes it more manageable and thereby more doable.

The most important key is to keep things decluttered and organized once you finish a section. It makes you feel good and keeps the positive energy flowing through your home and ultimately through your life.

Where is the energy stagnating in your home?

Photo by Dominika Roseclay on Pexels.com

A few of my favorite books:

  • “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” by Marie Kondo
  • “Clear your Clutter with Feng Shui” by Karen Kingston
  • “Real Life Organizing: Clean and Clutter-Free in 15 Minutes a Day” by Cassandra Aarssen

Words of Wisdom Bookmarks

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I created a handful of original watercolor bookmarks with positive quotes for my Etsy shop:

FlowingWatersArtShop

Each one is unique, no two are alike. They are available for purchase with a portion of the proceeds going to the ASPCA.

Thoughtful Thursday

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THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY

Power of the Mind

I was on my walk/run the other day and completed my best time ever for 2 miles: 24 minutes, 34 seconds. I was ecstatic and amazed at what I accomplished.

When I was little, I suffered from respiratory illness. The word “running” was not in my vocabulary since my lungs could not handle it. I was constantly told “you can’t do it.” I eventually adopted this mindset and when things would get a little tough, I’d give up because I believed everyone was right.

Fast forward to now, I just read the book “Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One”  by Dr. Joe Dispenza. He talked about rewiring your brain to change your body. An idea that sounded impossible but I’ve come to realize is very possible. 

I loved what Dr. Dispenza wrote so much that I’m continuing to read another one of his books titled “Becoming Super Natural: How Common People are Doing the Uncommon.”

I also started meditating this year. I have to say, it seemed odd at first, but the more I practiced, the more I grew to love it. It truly is a wonderful reset!

This morning I went on a walk, and I noticed something. The running segments that I had been doing  were getting longer and easier each time. I also noticed that when I start my running segment my mind switches gears. I go into a kind of meditative state and instead of saying to myself “Oh this is hard, I just have to get to my marker and I can stop.” I now say “This is easy; I got this; no problem.” My focus is no longer on making it from one marker to another, but rather the act of running and the ease of it. This helped me to break my negative thoughts and now I end up running past my markers without realizing it!

I made a decision to silence these negative thoughts because if I can reprogram my mind to make my body stronger (something I was told my whole life wasn’t possible) what else can I achieve? The possibilities are are endless!

What I’ve learned from Dr Dispenza has been mind blowing. I highly recommend you check out his website: drjoedispenza.com and his books. They’re amazing!

What would you like to achieve or change in your life? 

Photo by Maria / Cherry Blossoms, Washington DC

WHOLE HEARTED MIXED MEDIA

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Laly Mille – Whole Hearted Tutorial

This is a quick post I wanted to share you. Laly Mille at LalyMille.com is a vary talented artist in France who creates beautiful art that’s very romantic and dreamy!!! Laly was kind enough to create a FREE mixed media tutorial for her birthday celebration s few weels ago. I encourage you to hop over to her site to and check it out!

This is the painting I created from her tutorial. I had lots of fun. 

Thanks Laly!!!

i believe in magic – Mixed Media

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I created this piece from an online class called Paper Pretty Girls, by Cathy Michaels. The class had been hosted on Creative Workshops which unfortunately has been closed down. So I’m working on getting the last of my classes done while I still have access. 

Cathy Michaels is a very talented artist in Montreal Canada. I’ve taken a few of her online classes over years and have always enjoyed them immensely. She’s awesome! I encourage you to hop over and check out her site at: https://www.cathymichaels.online/.

Thanks for stopping by!

SillierThanSally – Mushroom Tutorial

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I wanted to share a quick post with today. Sally Walsh at SillierThanSally is a super talented artist who creates gorgeous art!!! Sally was kind enough to create a FREE watercolor painting tutorial that you can view on Instagram or Facebook.  Just look her up.

This is the painting I created from her tutorial over the weekend. I had lots of fun. 

Thanks Sally!!!

Attitude Journal Pages

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I am a collector of quotes and really love this one. As with a lot of things these days, your attitude is everything. How you choose to deal with and handle a situation is entirely up to you.

I created these pages in my Strathmore Mixed Media 5.5″ x 8.0″ Visual Journal. I like the pages because they are fairly thick and can handle the paints and pastes well. I started by coating each page with white gesso. Once dry, I lightly painted the background with the Jane Davenport Mermaid Ink Pens and distressed the edges.

Next, I used a wave stencil and applied Golden Fiber Paste. While the paste was drying, I traced and cut a sand dollar using a wooden stencil I found in the craft store. The paper for the sand dollar was made from a piece of background paper I created a few weeks ago and kept in my stash. I glued a piece of vellum to the back of the sand dollar to cover all of the openings in the center. I added detailing to the sand dollar using a white Posca Pen (these are by far, the best white pens I found).

After the paste dried, I used more of the Mermaid Ink Pens to paint the waves but I made the colors bolder on this layer. I couldn’t resist adding Star Dust Stickles to a few of the waves for a little bling.

Last I printed my quote on the computer and glued it to the page. I drew a few birds on the other page, glued my sand dollar in the journal and that was it. These pages are bright and fun and full of texture!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoy creating your journal pages!!

I am what I choose to be

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I’ve been collecting inspiring quotes for some time now. I needed to find a use for them so I thought it would be fun to create journal pages with them. I made these two pages in my 8.5″ x 11″ Strathmore Mixed Media Visual Journal

To start, prep your pages with a coat of white gesso and let it dry.  Pick 3-4 colors of acrylic paint and paint your pages. I painted the background first. Once it was dry I distressed the edges. Next I used a few of the lighter colors of paint to add some fun shapes to background using a bottle cap and a pencil with an eraser. 

When this layer was dry, I used a white Posca pen to draw a few organic doodles. I’ve gone through a lot of white pens trying to find one that worked on various surfaces. Needless to say, the vast majority didn’t work well or just stopped working altogether. The white Posca pen has become my favorite. I’ve had this one for a little over a year and it’s still working great!

The next step in creating these pages was to choose a quote. I chose this quote by Carl Jung, “I am not what has happened to me. I am what I choose to be.” It resonated with me so I printed it on the computer and glued it into the journal. I then outlined each part of the quote with a dark marker. The last step was to add dark green Stickles for a little bling and that was it!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have lots of fun creating your journal pages!!

Art Calms the Mind – Coloring Page

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Welcome! I hope this post finds you well in these changing times. With so much going on I thought it would be fun to create a Free Printable Coloring Page.  You can easily create your own with a few simple steps.

Everyone is an artist! If you can draw a line, squiggly or straight, circles, squares, etc then you’re an artist! Your sketch doesn’t need to be a detailed drawing, just draw whatever makes you happy.  Anything goes.

This page was created on 9″ x 12″ Canson Illustration paper. I started with a light pencil sketch then went over it with a Sakura Micron Pen 03. You can use any type and size of paper. You can even draw your design with a regular ball point pen. The choice is yours. Once you’re done, all you have to do is color it and you’ll have a unique design that’s uniquely you!

Have fun and enjoy!!!

Note: The image was downsized to fit on standard 8.5″ x 11″ paper.

download your free printable here

I used alcohol ink markers to color mine and added a little Stickles for bling. I would love to see your work and post it here. Just email a jpeg of your art to FlowingWatersArt@gmail.com