The Outter Limits

After 4 years of writing this blog, I know I starting repeat myself on several topics.  I like to think of it as uncovering more layers.
I've been reflecting, again on limited thinking and behaviors I have. We all have them.  I get impatient with mine and I'm working to open this up and get past them.
Why?  Well, simply stated limited thoughts...well, limit us.  
Imagine  any animal who for all of it's life only saw the vastness of the wide open spaces.  The earth and the sky and everything it has to offer them.   Then imagine that animal being scooped up and put in a small cage.  Angry, you bet they are angry.  I would be too. 
Now imagine that you are that animal and the cage is the limiting thoughts and behaviors.  Angry, I would say you might be.  At very least depressed and defeated.

I'm not talking about not having a focus or a vision for life.  That will open you up, because if you are focused you'll more than likely do whatever it takes to create your vision.
I'm talking about not seeing the vastness and the openness of life and allowing it to flow to you.

Here's my example.  I have costumed many shows in my life.  After 30 plus years and I don't know how many shows, many over 100, I've attempting to distance myself for costuming.  I'm picky.  A good friend and wonderful person in my life is directing his first professional production of Romeo and Juliet.  I'm doing the costumes.  This friend and I talked vision. Very simple...Period costumes, as much as I can do on the budget.  With that freedom, I was off and running.  Allowing my creativity to flow and all good things, the show is going to be a parade of outstanding lush rich costumes, that are well under budget.  I've costumed 3 other productions of R&J and can't remember when I have felt the freedom and the vastness of what this world has to offer in creativity, fun and joy.  All of this has spilled over into other areas of my life.

Lesson here.  Stay open.  Have an idea of how you want things to play out, and then forget it and go with the flow.  For me this is a summer "road trip" like no other.

Until next week....create to feel great!

24 projects complete! 28 to go!

This week's project is a little taste of what I'm working on.   It is Juliet's gown.  I decided to make her an under gown with hand embroidery in the bodice.  I think I'm off to a good start here.

Rock On!

This is a simple post.  This week I completed the project of creating or

recreating one of Jimi Hendrix's jackets.  At first, this project was a blessing that quickly turned into a pain in the butt, due to my fear.  Embracing where I was at...this project sailed along.  With every stitch, and there were a ton of hand stitches, I was able to look at how I allowed fear to kick me.  Will it happen again, more than likely yes...fear will get to me, but I'll recover fast, trust myself and my talents, my inner knowing sooner and without doubt.  That's a marvelous break through.

And with that lesson in my mind it is time to move forward.
Time to rock on life...fearlessly!  I wish you the same.
Until next week...create to feel great!

23 projects complete! 29 to go!

Griping Fear

The last couple of weeks I've been working around the power of fear.  I have several huge creative projects that are on deadlines.  I usually love that sort of thing.  A couple of months ago my day-job boss asked me if I would be willing to create a birthday present for his good friend's birthday in June.
He wanted a copy of the military jacket that Jimi Hendrix was famous for wearing.  It is a simple design with tons and tons of sewn on gold braid.  I agreed to the project thinking I had plenty of time.
I ordered all the materials.  Downloaded photos of the project from all angles, emailed Hendrix fans and people who knew him.  I did all this in good time.  The materials arrived and along came fear.
The more I looked at the photos the more I told myself I couldn't do this.  But I had to.  I had spent my bosses money and he was planning on this.  

I know through my years of dealing with fear that one of the best ways to just get rolling.  Push past it.  Ignore what it has to say, because it is of no value.  Just go!  This what I did.   As I did the hours of hand sewing to complete the jacket and vest, I had time to reflect.

Allowing fear to play and have it's day, really brought a new meaning to the phrase "crippled with fear."  Fear stops everything.  Fear may seem like a comfortable place to be, but it messes with everything.  It threw me out of the flow. The moment.   The price of allowing fear to have it's place in my life is way too high.  It's not comfortable.  It makes me ill and stressed.
I've put other things on hold in my life that will back up and cause more stress.  All because I allowed this thing to take hold. 
As I'm doing the finishing work on this project (I'm getting close and I will meet the deadline) i'm working to really understand that I have been given a valuable lesson here and I hope I remember and learned well so I don't have to repeat it.  Trust myself.  My inner knowing and the big one...fear is useless and doesn't serve me.  When I go into that place, the quicker I pedal out of there the better.
Forward movement is the only way.  As my Grandma would say..."Do something.  Anything.  Even if you discover later that it is wrong."


Until next week... create to feel great!

22 projects complete! 30 to go!

So this week's project...the Jimi Hendrix vest.    It's a very close copy.

When The Teacher Appears

 I have always wanted chickens, but I just can't, for a couple of reasons.  They only lay eggs for about three years.  After that, they hang out like teenagers on summer break for up to ten years.  That's okay.  The biggest reason is it would kill me to go out in my yard and see that some other animal had gotten to the hens. I also know they get ill fairy easy. Those reasons would kill me at my heart.

My next door neighbor has chickens.  She doesn't care for eggs, so I get some from time to time.
She travels a lot and I get to take care of them.  I'm chicken aunt.  I love it.  These chickens are so entertaining and smart.  They know me and run to greet me when I'm out in my yard.

This week, the neighbor on the other side of the hens, complained.  A tall fence was built to keep the ladies out of my yard (they have NEVER gone into the complaining neighbor's yard, they can't).
I was crushed.  The hens were crushed.

Yesterday morning, the biggest and smartest of the hens, I call her Janet, was in my yard.  The day before, I had seen her pacing the fence.  She was pacing with intent.  I now know she was making her plan.  She didn't jump the mesh fence, she crawled under it.  I didn't see it, but I saw the tell tale marks of her feats.

That hen inspires me.  She teaches me things I've never thought a chicken could or would.  My lesson this time from dear Janet is this.  If there is something you want. Be it a dust bath and slugs in the neighbor's yard or whatever you want to make your life great, make a plan and follow through.
Once Janet met her goal, she never looked happier and she cooed as she kicked dust around her big red body.  She was proud.  She also left me an egg.  (Always express gratitude.)
Now that's one powerful bird.  Thing is.  We all have that power to get what we want for a good life.
If one small hen can do it...What's stopping us?
Until next week...create to feel great!

21 projects complete! 31 to go!

More Homesteading... I made butter!  So easy  and so good!
I don't think I can ever just buy butter again.   This butter is so sweet and fresh tasting.
I used heavy cream in my blender.  Got it past whipped cream, until I saw butter milk.  Rinsed it in cold tap water until it ran clear and added a bit of salt.   Butter magic!

A Page From The Silver Linings Playbook

Whew! What a week!  Almost everyone I talked to or encountered this week, had some complaint or some big crisis that came into their lives.  My week was full of stress and challenging. 
MickeyGrrrl's health took a dip, she's still hanging in.  My part-time office job was full of time sensitive projects.  It seemed like one thing after another.
It is a positive attitude coupled with my ability to create things, however small, saved my day.  In all the junk that was going on, I found small moments of bliss and relaxation.  I reached out to folks with talk of creativity and encouraging them to discover what their art is. 

On Friday, I rented the movie, The Silver Linings Playbook.  I really liked the movie and it's message of a positive attitude.  The movie's characters were so human, so flawed.  It was a perfect choice for the week I had.  MickeyGrrrl was by my side watching.

Life happens.  Sometimes it is good happenings.  Sometimes it is less than wonderful happenings. We all stand at choice to find and seek the silver lining any all of it.

Here's to creating a truly great week.

Until next week...create to feel great!
20 projects complete!  32 to go!


This week's project was to help out my boss... a fabric screen to keep his cats out of the living room and stop them from ruining the hard wood floors.

Still Figuring This One Out

This week I read and heard from several sources that the number one dream/life killer is negativity.
Yes.  This I know.  Yet what I'm still attempting to figure out is why then is there so much negativity?  Why do we gravitate to it like bees to honey?  What is it about negativity that makes it so attractive?  Why do would we ever want to kill our dreams and life with it?

Here's some of the conclusions/ my answers I'm still working on, but are my food for thought on this.
Negativity is easy.  If we stew in negativity, we don't have to do or want to do anything else.  No one really and honestly gets annoyed at negativity, because we find it so attractive. Misery loves company. So, if you are in a funk, folks sometimes will almost celebrate with you.  How sad, but I've seen it time and time again.
Here's what I do know, folks who are moving forward in their lives no matter at what pace, have little tolerance for negativity.  They usually pick up their pace to move away from it.  This why it is important to engage your creativity to assist you in moving away from negativity.  Because as attractive as negativity may be to all of us.  Creativity is even more attractive.  We are truly drawn to the creativity process, be it your own or someone else's.

Suggestion instead of allowing negativity to kill your dreams/life, allow creativity to help you build the boat (in whatever shape or form) to paddle away from it, and into the beautiful light of life.
Just a suggestion.

Until next week...create to feel great!

19 projects complete! 43 to go!

This week's project is an art doll for a swap-bot challenge.  We had to use a sewing pattern, a flower, a pen or pencil, and pieces of jewelry to create something.  I came up with an art doll.  Broadside said it looks like I'm watching way too much RuPaul's Drag Race.  Maybe, but my partner who received the doll loved it.

Full Embrace

I did a craft fair this week, and besides making a ton of fun money, my table was in a corner with two of the most creative women I've ever met. It was a small fair with only a handful of vendors.
It was a sunny day, buying traffic was light.  The three of us made the most sales (really the only sales).  Shopper kept stopping by and saying that the corner was alive with high energy, they had to stop by and see what was what.
I believe that folks were attracted the positive creative energy.   It was more than they could resist.
The lesson I learned from these two creative women was to fully embrace who you are and then find a way to fully express it in the world, and think of how it serves others.  Simple yes.  Easy, well no.
That is only because we get scared.  We start to think what others think of us is more important than what we think of our selves.  That mind set is not only deadly for artist, but for anyone wanting to live a full rich life.
Embrace who you are.  I have often said love is joyful acceptance.  Embrace, Accept,Express.   It really is that simple.  Try it for a week and see what happens.

Until next week...create to feel great!

18 projects complete!  44 to go

This week...I made sausages with casings.  I attempted to take photos, but they really didn't look that good, but they taste fabulous!  More homesteading...
I also got my additional raised beds built, filled and planted.  Stay tune for more adventures in Homesteading.