reinvent play

a fun way to jump-start your day

07 Mar 2012

How to Make Collage Artist Trading Cards


I have been obsessed with Artist Trading Cards (ATC) since I began experimenting with making them a few weeks ago. Here’s what I’ve discovered:

  • ATCs are small works of art, measuring 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches. They are about the size of a baseball or playing card.
  • Anybody can produce ATCs.
  • The goal is to trade them at ATC swapping events or by mail ATC swapping exchanges.
  • It does not have to take a lot of time to make these, so they are the perfect art project for busy people!
  • The sky is the limit for what you can use to create an ATC. The only rule is keeping to the size requirement.
  • The ATC movement began in 1996 in Switzerland.
  • Here’s a great link and gallery of ATC’s  and the history: http://www.artist-trading-cards.ch/index.html

Here is a simple step by step of how to make Collage Artist Trading Cards.

Step One:

Select a firm paper, heavy tag board, or cardboard to use for the surface.

Step Two:

Cut the surface you choose to size. I used a paper cutter to cut these ATCs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I chose a variety of fabric covered cardboard, tag board and heavy watercolor paper for making these ATCs.

Step Three:

Assemble your collage!

I have used a lot of different types of materials to get started with the first layer on these collages:

• Pictures and words from magazines

• 3D flowers cut from foam and heavy cardboard

• Monopoly money & play money

• Painted  wood frame

• Jewelry making bits (the moon and the star)

• Printed dragonfly design with text

• Puzzle pieces

• A colored copy of a journal cover I made

• A text design element from collage kit

 

 

Step Four:

Add finishing elements to complete the themes on each collage:

• Words from magazines

• Magnetic Poetry

• Sharpie marker to draw some lines

• More jewelry bits

 

And there you go!

Eight miniature works of art to trade, give as gifts, sell, or use for making one of a kind cards.

Give this fun way of making personal masterpieces a try. I’d love to see what you create!

 

 

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22 Feb 2012

a week of cabin fever insights


Ok, so I took my own advice and spent 15 minutes each day last week collecting one thing each day that made me smile.

Here’s my list from the week:

2/15 : fabulous support from friends at The Art Colony

2/16: saw a snowy owl

2/17: rescued an injured bird

2/18: helped a friend in need

2/19: made an “island” for the kitchen from recycled materials

2/20: made a delicious meal with my sweetie

2/21: went for a run in the sun

2/22: had a fabulous chat with my sister

And in the time it took to record my daily smile moments, I felt things shift inside. Sometimes it really is this simple.

Recycled Kitchen Island

Recycled Kitchen Island

Making Something New

Having something new in my home that I created also really helps me feel like change is in the air. Every time I walk by the new island I made out of material from my old garden shed, I smile. It’s the perfect height, its in the path of the sunny window which means that there is now a place to work that is in the sun, and it didn’t cost a dime.

Making something new is the perfect way to jump-start spring.

How did your week go? Share your thoughts, your pictures, your videos! I’d love to know what you did.

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15 Feb 2012

Reinventing Cabin Fever: Step One


Winter footwear

I choose to live in rural Wisconsin, a part of the United States that dips below freezing for a good stretch of time, usually from November through March. Here in Wisconsin we actually keep track of the number of days the temperatures falls below freezing and the minutes of daylight we lose each day after the autumn equinox.  We are a little crazy about how much we care about these details and carry them into every conversation we have.

By the end of February, after making it through a few too many dark, cold days, many of us are well into experiencing the phenomenon know as “cabin fever”.

For me, it goes something like this:

  • I am tired of dressing in several layers to stay warm, even in my house.
  • I find myself staying under the covers just a little longer each day because it is so warm and cozy there.
  • I am weary of seeing the white powder of road salt on my pants, my boots, my car, my floor mats, my carpet, my garage floor…you get the picture: it’s everywhere.
  • I look at pictures of the summer gardens to remind myself this is real on a daily basis. I make them my computer screensavers.
  • I am tired of the bleak, colorless landscape. I am longing for green grass, bright colors, and trees with leaves and some visual variety.
  • And I am longing to smell something besides gas fumes from passing vehicles. There is precious little to smell in the winter in Wisconsin. Even the fragrant pine trees are dormant and unscented.

For the next few weeks as I navigate the remaining weeks of winter, I will be blogging

Grey days, pretty bird!

about what I do to sustain myself when the season gets to me.

How to sustain yourself through a Wisconsin Winter Step#1: Focus on What’s Right

For one week spend 15 minutes each day recording 1 thing that you experience that delights you right now. You might want to make a recording of these things and post it out on YouTube, or take a quick picture with your camera or phone camera and post it on your Facebook page. You may feel more like making a written or visual journal entry of these observations, maybe even make a quick sketch.  You get to decide the method. Heck, why not try something different each day!

The only rule is that each day in the coming week you spend 15 minutes recording the things that happened that make you smile.

Begin by recording the first thing that comes to mind. This may be as simple as a smile you exchanged with a stranger when you were pumping gas or as grand as a pay raise for the first time in two years. It doesn’t matter what it is so try not to judge what pops in to your mind when you ask yourself what happened today that made you want to smile. Just record what shows up.

The goal is to make the appointment to take the time to keep track of the things you are experiencing that remind you of what is right in the world today. If you get stuck trying to think of something in your 15 minute session, repeat the first thing that comes up. If nothing comes up and you sit in place for 15 minutes, don’t push it. And don’t give up. Pat yourself on the back for keeping the appointment. See what comes in today and try the exercise again tomorrow.

Because your focus will be on noticing what’s going right in your life, you won’t spend as much time noticing what’s driving you crazy. You may actually even start creating little things to celebrate so that you can record them in your daily session. We can get so hung up on what we think is missing or what we find unbearable that we don’t notice what’s present right now, working miracles, helping us reach a little further each day.

This exercise will help you realign your focus. Try it for one week. Think of it as a daily vitamin that will make you stronger in small doses. Tell me what little things delight you. How do you make it through the winter?

Or maybe winter isn’t really a concern for you, but dealing with a cranky co-worker is. How do you make it through a challenge that turns your world into a bleak landscape? Share your tips! Lord knows we need all the inspiration we can get. ; >

 

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18 Jan 2012

Reinvent goal setting: right-size your 2012 goals!


Blackboard with SMART Goals listed

Sustainable ways to achieve goals.

Here we are midway through January, managing our time wisely and making headway toward achieving those goals we jotted down on a cocktail napkin on New Year’s Eve. We know what it takes to manage a project and how to break it down into pieces to create do-able smaller steps. And we are really clear about the benefits of formulating a strategic plan to help keep us on track. Of course we took the time to actually plug this plan into our calendar, to remind and motivate us to keep our eyes on the prize.

Yes, we did all of this. So what happened?

I refer to the second week of the New Year slump as the Goal Setting Tailspin. Here’s what happens: we had all of our ducks in a row, we followed the template for making sure our goals were SMART, we checked and double checked that the goals were in alignment with our overall life plan, we even had a support network lined up.

But somewhere along the line we got derailed. Usually by a situation we had not anticipated. It could be something little, like being disappointed you gained a couple of pounds over the Holidays. Or it could be something big, like getting laid off from your job. It doesn’t really matter what it is that happened, something knocked you off course and now you are trying to get back on track.

Here is a four-step emergency rescue plan for saving your 2012 goals!

  • Make the right goals – the wrong ones will set you up to fail, drain your energy, waste your time and take a toll on your well-being. Do you have the right goals? Take this quiz to find out!
  • http://www.mygoals.com/helpGoalsettingTips.html



  • If a goal appears to be resisting your best efforts, make friends with it. Literally. Sit down with a sheet of paper and have an imaginary conversation with the goal you are longing to meet. Ask some probing questions, like: How can I find a way to do this today in my life just the way it is? and, Is there something I am not understanding? possibly, Is there something you need from me? 
  • Here’s a great link to using imaginary visualization techniques to help achieve goals: http://www.secrets-2-success.com/easy-steps-to-perfect-visualization-exercises/

And in no time at all you will be back on track, moving toward that dream goal with motivation and excitement, re-energized and making tracks.

Tell me what happens for you when you use the four-step emergency rescue plan. Or tell me about your great ideas for achieving your goals. I want to know about what works for you!

Posted in creative self care, creative visualization, fresh start, imagination, intuitive guidance, motivation and tagged , , , | Leave a Comment
08 Jan 2012

How to Make a Paper Collage


Fresh Starts for the New Year

Enjoy this e-book on how to make your own art collage.

Happy New Year!

; >

how to make a collage with paper elements

Posted in collage, creative process, e-book, Fresh Starts, personal art project and tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment
18 Dec 2011
2 Comments

Reinvent Christmas


Reinvent Christmas

Like many of my friends and family, I am often challenged by Christmas and all of what comes with this very BIG DEAL celebration. It’s as if we are put in some kind of gift buying trance where we buzz through the world frantically reeling from one magnificent ultra special close out deal to another, eager to stand in line for hours hoping to get the best price for that must have gift. Black Friday turns in to Cyber Monday, which turns in to Last Minute Holiday Bargain Days, which turns in to a massive amount of credit card debt, all of which leaves us feeling numb and exhausted.

Come Christmas morning all we can do is think about getting back to work to pay for all of the stuff we bought for everyone on our list. We hope they like the gifts we selected for them, and privately worry that more than one of the gifts we gave was somehow lacking. By the day after Christmas we are ready for a nice long nap, secretly hoping we’ll wake up somewhere that feels more like Christmas.

What if we really could wake up on Christmas morning to find our lives suddenly transformed for the better? What if once again we could open our eyes on Christmas morning feeling the way we felt when we rushed out of bed to see what Santa Claus had left us under the tree?

How long has it been since you felt this kind of hope and excitement around the Holidays?

I have a simple little ritual to shake things up if this is how you have been spending your Holiday season. See what happens for you when you explore this playful meditation.

Find some Christmas music you really like and play it so you can hear it easily in a place where you can be alone for half an hour. Sit or lie down and close your eyes. As you listen to the music, imagine yourself getting dressed to join Santa Claus on a magical voyage. Picture yourself putting on all of the perfect warm clothes with a feeling of excitement. YOU are going to be joining Santa as he delivers gifts!

See yourself meeting Santa, saying the things you always wanted to say to him. What does Santa look like up close? How does he smell? When you take his hand as he helps you into his sleigh, do you get goose bumps? Imagine yourself getting into his sleigh, pulling a soft warm blanket over your legs. Feel the excitement rush through your body, as Santa calls to his reindeer, just like in the stories, Are we ready? On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, and Vixen.  On Comet and Cupid and Donner And Blitzen. Are you ready Rudolph? Picture the reindeer standing in front of you, their bodies strapped with sleigh bells, pushing at the reigns, ready to take off.

Feel the rush of adrenaline move through your body as the sleigh lifts off the ground, pushing you back in the seat like when a plane takes off from an airport runway. Imagine you are all warm and cozy in your seat, giggling like a child as you accompany Santa on his rounds delivering toys and gifts to children all over the planet. Santa turns to you and says: This year I have decided to do something a little different. It’s been a tough year. For an extra special gift, I want them to actually get to see me this year! I’m going to wake the children up! I’m going to need a little extra help handing out the gifts, though. Do you think you could help me?  Picture yourself excitedly telling Santa that you think this is a great idea and you are ready to help!

See the faces of the children as they meet the REAL Santa for the first time and he gives them their gifts; hear their squeals of delight. Imagine you can feel the children touching you and thanking you for your generosity as you help Santa hand out the perfect presents to each child you encounter. Feel the excitement in their hands as they reach out to touch you and Santa. Hear these happy children laughing, picture them dancing and playing in the snow, see them ripping wrapping paper off of packages and throwing it everywhere!

Let this magical experience wash over you for as long as you like. Go anywhere you want to see the magic of Christmas making a positive change. Go to see people you know, people you are worried about, people you have not been able to see for a while. Imagine little acts of kindness happening all around you as you listen to the music playing in the background. Stay here until you feel ready to move back to this world.

When you are ready, take a deep breath, exhale, and repeat after me: This or something better is coming for Christmas.

When you’re ready to move out of this meditation, open your eyes. What is the first thing you know you must do in order to create the kind of Christmas you just experienced? What is one thing you can do to make this possible? Now, make a date to actually take action and do this one thing. Write it on the calendar and when the day comes, actually do it.

Share your “aha” moments with me. I would love to know how you are reinventing Christmas this year!

Posted in Christmas magic, creative self care, creative visualization and tagged , , ,
04 Dec 2011
6 Comments

5 Steps to Finding Your Dream Job


I turn on the radio or the television to listen to the latest news only to be reminded once again that we are not making any measurable headway in improving the unemployment rate since the recession of 2008 hit.

I have two options when I hear this:

1) Listen to the stories interviewing people struggling with job loss and all of the other challenges that come with this, like home foreclosure and marriages collapsing under the pressure of too much debt…or…

2) Turn the TV and the radio off and begin creating our own version of how to get through this economic down-turn.

Today I choose door number two.

Here’s why:  based on my own personal experience, there are plenty of folks around to mull over how bad things are. And from where I stand, not enough time is spent on expanding the little cracks of light that are a part of the big picture.

I’m seriously craving some light today.

One easy way to create a spot of light for yourself is to make a Treasure Map Collage. No artistic skills required. If you can imagine having a life you love and can manuver a glue stick and a scissors you’re in luck!

Five simple steps to making a Treasure Map Collage:

1) Gather some basic supplies: old magazines, a pair of scissors, a glue stick.

2) Go through the magazines looking for anything that reminds you of the life you want to be living right now. As you’re looking for images and creating your collage, imagine the picture you are designing is real today.

3) Cut out the the pictures and words you want to use.

4) Arrange everything on a piece of cardboard in a way that makes you smile. Play around with the pieces until they feel like they represent the world you imagined. Glue them into place with the glue stick.

5) Put your treasure map collage somewhere you will see it every day.

Dream Jobs

Dream Jobs

I know it’s crazy talk to say this, but you really are on your way to attracting the job of your dreams once you complete these 5 steps. According to the renouned secrets of success self-improvement guru Napoleon Hill (the original one who knew ‘The Secret’), if we can control our thoughts we have the ability to attract good things to us.

And even if all of this is nonsense, you get to spend an afternoon doing something that feels good. This has to make facing your next interview just a little easier!


Posted in collage, creative self care, creative visualization, intuitive guidance and tagged , ,
05 Nov 2011

Simple Daily Ways to Keep Yourself Open and Curious


It is important to set up the best rhythm for yourself, one that you can fulfill each day. Keep exploring until you find what works for you. – Shakti Gawain

Set the stage for beginning the day on your terms. Create a practice you can begin your day with to open up the channels of awareness before anything crazy has a chance to push you off course. It is easy to lose sight of what truly matters to us on a deeper level as we commute to jobs, care for loved ones, answer telephones, meet deadlines and scurry around trying to get everything done. Take fifteen minutes to prepare for your day with a little breakfast for your soul.

Here are some easy things to try:

Write a daily journal entry. Use a sketchbook. A loose leaf note book, a word processing program, or try an online journaling sites like LiveJournal or Penzu which save your entries in a cloud environment you can access anywhere.

Light a candle and visualize your day unfolding perfectly. Explore Shakti Gawain’s Creative Visualization exercises and see what feels right for you today.

Practice a form of body prayer. Check out Seane Corn’s video demonstration to learn more about this soothing way to focus yourself as you begin your day.

Make a cup of tea and read a page out of an inspirational book like some of my personal favorites: Living Juicy, The Artist Way, Lit from Within, Living a Sacred Life, Living Out Loud, Life’s Companion or How Much Joy Can You Stand?

Listen to soothing music as you dress. Select jewelry and clothing that helps you embrace the day. What choices can you make to help yourself feel good all day longing? Imagine your day unfolding as you choose the items to empower yourself through whatever you will be encountering. Dress for comfort, for style, for making an impression. How do you feel today?

Pocket rocks

Write a daily inspiration in one word on a small stone and carry it in your pocket to make you smile throughout the day. I keep a small stash of rocks on my desk and a couple of Sharpie markers, the perfect tool for writing on rocks! I love to put my rock words in plant pots, on windowsills, on my desk at work, in my garden. Where would you put yours?

Supercharge your day with a morning workout! Slip outside and greet the day with a brisk walk, take a bike ride, or head to the gym. Movement has the ability to warm your brains up and get your creative juices flowing. I often carry a small notebook along for jotting down the big ideas that come to me, as I’m moving.

Step out into nature. Stroll through your garden, a park, along a beach, a nature trail, through a neighborhood, along a country road. Whether you are in big city, a small town, or out in a rural landscape, step outside and greet the day. Let the things you see, hear, touch and smell be your daily jump-starts.

Smell an essential oil that offers an aromatherapy you are craving. I have a passion for citrus scents. Orange, lemon, lime and grapefruit are my personal favorites. You don’t even need a bottled essential oil. I often peel oranges and squeeze the skin to release the essential oil into my hands, holding the freshly squeezed peels up to my nose and breathing in deeply. Heaven!

Select a book at random with your eyes closed, let the first thing you read be your inspiration for the day. This is a fun way to explore at random. I also do this with the website stumbleupon, a fabulous online tool that crawls the web gathering material for you to explore based on preferences you select. It gives you a wide reach without taking up any shelf space.

These are just a handful of ideas I have explored. The goal is to find something that will leave you feeling pampered and energized. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time, the idea is to spend a few moments involved in something that feeds you and starts you off with a clear sense of focusing on what matters most to you in this moment.

Try a few different things, and then select one to practice for 21 days. See what happens! This is the amount of time it takes to transform a new activity into a habit.  Be willing to stick with one of these ideas long enough to create a healthy new habit!

What are some of your favorite start-the-day rituals?

Posted in collage, creative process, creative self care, creativity, daily practice, Fresh Starts and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
03 Sep 2011

The Magic of Art Making


It’s been a while since I gave myself permission to take the time to make some art. I’ve been busy. Really busy. The amount of time I spend at my “day” job, the one I work to pay the bills, often eclipses the 60-hour mark. And then there are the creative jobs I have, the ones I do because I love them. Add another ten hours a week here. Then there’s time for exercise, cooking meals, cleaning, grocery shopping, doing laundry, gardening and lawn mowing. Probably at least another 20 hours on these tasks.

This is what I mean when I say really busy. What’s on your too-busy-to-make-art list? How do you find time for art in your crazy-busy life? And what do you choose to do with the precious time you have?

Often what I choose to do with my creative expression time falls into a couple of categories: something I can complete quickly, or something I can sell, or something I can “chunk-out” and do in stages. And every once in a rare while, I choose to do something that helps me develop my skills as an artist.

Here’s what I know for sure: each time I grant myself permission to play in my studio I am rewarded by the magic of making art. When I play with paint or colored pencils or collage elements or beads or clay or any other art medium, I enter a place where I lose all track of time. My focus shifts to balancing colors and shapes, capturing an idea, giving voice to a feeling. It is like dancing with fairy dust. It’s a land of shimmers and giggles and ‘oh, wow…that’s nice’ and ‘humm, not quite that, maybe more like this’ moments. It’s a place of possibility.

Each time I give myself permission to make art I relearn that it is the time I spend making art that brings me the most joy. I promise myself to do more of this.  Lately I’ve been playing with creating little inspirational wall plaques, something to shift my attention when I start taking things too seriously. It is so helpful to see these on the walls of my office. They make me smile and remind me to find an hour for creating, even in my crazy-busy life. 

What do you have to do to carve time out of your busy life for making art? Is it hard for you to spend money on art supplies and use them to explore when there is no guarantee that what you make will be good? How do you tackle these challenges?

Posted in art studio, collage, creative process, creative self care, creativity, daily practice, imagination, personal art project and tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment
07 Aug 2011

How to Add More Creativity to Your Work Day


abstract watercolor

Playing with Paint

Have you ever had one of those days at work when it seemed like nothing could go right? On your way in to the office a car juts out into traffic causing you to slam on your brakes spilling coffee everywhere.  The moment you walk in the door of the office your boss greets you, pointing out errors in the report you spent two days preparing. When you finally arrive at your desk your computer locks up as you try to retrieve that critical e-mail you need for the meeting you were supposed to start five minutes ago. And you haven’t even had breakfast yet.

Some days go this way, no matter how much we do to prepare for smooth operations, unexpected things happen and can derail us in an instant. Sometimes the seriousness of the day to day workplace gets to be too much. And though every job is a little different, in this one way they are all the same: when the stress levels rise a little play beak is a perfect way to de-stress and refuel.

I have a tried and true formula for shaking off one of these crazy stressful days. I call it messing around with art supplies. Notice I did not call it making art. It’s important to keep this as simple and free as possible. Sometimes I am drawing, other times I paint or play with beads. Sometimes I mess around with a piece of clay or a pile of collage elements. I do not have a specific goal in mind. I am not trying to create anything that will sell or hang on a wall somewhere. My only goal is to spend some time being playful with art supplies. What you use does not matter. How you approach the materials is the important part.

I put on some music that makes me want to dance and sing along and I dive in. I find it works best if I give myself a predetermined amount of time for this creative play. Usually I take 30 minutes or longer if I have the time. Less than 30 minutes isn’t enough to really get into the flow of creative play so start with that and add more if you want more and have the time.

Here are some ideas for a starting point:

Just move some paint around on a sheet of paper, play with some colors and shapes, design a necklace that makes you smile, sculpt a small bead or an element for a collage, tear out pictures and words from magazines and arrange them on a sheet of tag board, sketch the view outside your window or something in the room you are in that catches your eye.

When you feel like shifting into using a different material go ahead. This is one time you do not have to finish what you started. Feel free to try different things for the first time: use pencils to draw lines in paint, use shapes to “stamp” a pattern in paint, crumple up pieces of paper and fabric and use them in a 3D collage…you decide! What feels like fun today? Give yourself a minimum of 30 minutes and explore.

What do you to to shake off a stressful day?

How do you play with art supplies?

What have you done with fun art pieces you started as fun experiments?

Posted in art studio, creative process, creative self care, creativity, have fun with drawing, personal art project and tagged , , , | Leave a Comment

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