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Creativity Challenge: 31 Days Of Happy Accidents

Calling ALL creatives! The girls and I have decided to challenge ourselves and really stretch our creative limits. Join us in our 31 Days Of Happy Accidents Challenge.

31 Days Of Happy Accidents

The purpose of our 31 days of Happy Accidents Challenge is to explore mediums, techniques, and concepts. As artists, we must overcome our fear of making mistakes. As the great savant of art, Bob Ross, once said, We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents”. That’s all they are. Your paintbrush won’t spontaneously combust if you try something unfamiliar.…

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An Affirmation For Confidence

About a year ago my mom gave me some great advice, "You gotta support you!" I embodied this blunt truth to transform my confidence to pursue my dream! #consciousness #awareness #inspiration

  Printable Affirmation Card from my Etsy shop. About a year ago I came to my mom to whine.  To whine about who doesn’t believe in me; who doesn’t support me; blah, blah, blah!  My mom the straight-no-chaser mom that she is responded, “who cares, you gotta support you!”  At that moment my energy shifted.  It snapped me back to reality and took me off the repetitive cycle of dysfunction my mind…

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Tayla joined me at the Swan Day Exhibition Opening.

Over the past 5 years, art and creativity have become the forefront of my life.  Which is strange since I spend most of my life trying to distance myself from my creativity.  It helps that both my girls are amazingly talented creatives and I’ve found so many creative friends.

My Career Options; Doctor, Lawyer, or Indian Chief

That was one of the more memorable words of wisdom from my mom.  Growing up in the 80s in the inner city of Milwaukee, WI. there weren’t many artists’ encouraging kids like me to utilize their talents in the pursuit of life and career fulfillment.  The main industry in my community was working in the local manufacturing plants.  Sure, we had career fairs, speakers, and whatnot come and speak to me, but I don’t recall many creatives visiting my school.  The idea that I could leverage my creative skills and spend each day of my life doing “work” that I loved seemed far-fetched.  What I saw around me was a vast separation in who people were in their professional careers and who they were in their personal lives.  So that’s the path I followed.  I got a j-ob!  Did the whole corporate thing, climbed the ladder, had the family, got the house; however, inside I felt so empty.  This emptiness led me to search for something more.  So, back in 2007, I decided to revisit my creativity.

And Here We Are

Fast forward 11 years and I’m a fulltime creative!  This reads like a dream, but I’ll definitely tell you that it hasn’t been a pleasant rainbow filled dream.  It has been a labor of love and I’m very excited to see where my creative life takes me.  It’s weird for me to talk about my life especially since going to art show openings, body painting, creating portraits and sending my loc jewelry across the US seems so normal to me; I forget that most people don’t live their lives this way.

Cute little tiger face paint.

Face painting is just another way for me to express my creativity.

Peacock design.

I actually feel awkward sharing our creative adventures, but I’ve realized that people really enjoy seeing these things.  For us creating has become as normal getting up and brushing your teeth, it’s just a part of daily life.  Like, would you share “hey I brushed my teeth today”? LOL!  I think that’s the thing a lot of creatives struggle with too, making our daily creating valid.  It’s easy to share the finished masterpiece, the painting you sold, or the great review.  But what about the day to day doodles and mishaps that get us to the masterpieces?  I think if I’d seen more of the day to day life of artist’s growing up I would’ve understood how to pursue my passion more efficiently.

I just felt compelled to create these bookmarks. I’m thinking about adding them to my Etsy shop.

  How I can see my super creative life as boring and mundane 🤦🏽‍♀️ Over the past 5 years, art and creativity have become the forefront of my life.  Which is strange since I spend most of my life trying to distance myself from my creativity. 

[1kraftysista]

Me Sorry, my perfectionism was acting up!

Me Sorry, my perfectionism was acting up!

I’ve been struggling the past few weeks with finding the time to craft the perfect blog post.  It’s my perfectionism acting up.  See, I’m one of those people who has a vision and won’t move on it until they can do so with precision execution.  Unfortunately, I’m not exactly the type of person to be able to see a project to that level of perfection.  I’m quirky, distractible, and disorganized. …

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I’m a lefty and pens that don’t smear are my BFFs. #lepen ❤️ #myfaves

[1kraftysista]

For whatever reason I've always loved notepads and whatnot. Now that I've discovered the art journaling world it makes sooooo much sense. #artjournaling #followyourintuition #whatnotgirl

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Who says you have shell out $100s or even $1,000 of dollars to have a “Girls Trip” once a month or year?  My girls and I take mini girls trip often.  I guess that’s why we’re so close we’re always off on some sort of adventure, creating memories, LOL.  Milwaukee has an amazing parks system, not just one central park there is a parks system.  We are super lucky to have a horticulture center here in Milwaukee. The Mitchell Park Domes is a very interesting place to experience tropical and desert climates and vegetation in the middle of Wisconsin’s winter.

Kaelyn had to get the perfect selfie, LOL.

Despite my vile disgust of Wisconsin’s winter this year I’m refusing to fully embrace my standard winter hibernation.  The girls and I braved the frigid temps to take advantage of the weekly FREE admission promotion. Travis had school and Ken’s been in a grumpy mood so we took advantage of the opportunity and made it a girls trip!

Fun Fact: In the late 1860’s The Mitchell family built their conservatory and greenhouses that covered over 15,000 square feet.

Tayla brought her sketchbook along.

Bonding with my children has always been important to me.  I guess the one positive aspect of becoming a mom at 16 was that I could connect with my teens on their level a little more easily.  This skill that I’ve mastered definitely came in handy during the teen years.  Adventures like this are great opportunities to get to know your teen and also gauge where their minds are.  We talk about the flowers but we also talk about life

We started our adventure with my favorite dome the Tropical Dome.  Obviously, I do not like winter and the tropical Dome is set up like a tropical climate and rainforest. It truly is a stimulating experience.  You sense the climate, you smell the fragrance of the foliage, you hear the flow of water, birds, you sense the energy and vibrations of the plants, then a 2-year-old jots past, LOL what’d ya expect for FREE?  It’s cute and we laugh and reflect on when they were little ones.

I enjoy the sounds of waterfalls they are so calming.

The tropical Dome has a water feature koi pond. 

To add to the “Girls Trip” vibe we stopped by a local cantina, La Michoacana and grabbed some fruit water.  All in all, our mini girls trip was about 3 hours.   I’d signed up for an Amazon Flex route so I needed to get them back home in time for me to do my route.  Tayla grabbed a great souvenir memory from our trip.

Of course, the humidity and plethora of tropical shrubbery create the perfect climate for slimy little snail friends.

The last time we visited the domes was In March 2017. I am not sure if we missed the fairy garden on our last visit or if this is a new addition to the tropical dome. I love all the little accents and cute little natural features that are transformed into habitat fit for a fabric fairy I hope to have a fairy garden in the future garden. Super cute I’m a doing art piece inspired by fairy gardens I love Touch of Whimsy.

The natural patterns colorations and textures and Greenery can really an inspire an artist. It’s always really cool to see what the girls come up with creatively after adventures like this.

I thought it was really cool to see a cocoa plant flourishing in the middle of a sub-Zero winter climate I learned a few fun facts about the cocoa plant it is native to central and South America but is wrong primarily for a commercial in West Africa. The seeds of the cocoa plant are what we use to make chocolate.

    Take advantage of every opportunity you're given to create memories with your children. The time flies by! #MomLife Who says you have shell out $100s or even $1,000 of dollars to have a "Girls Trip" once a month or year? 

[1kraftysista]

I have quite a few elements to add to this page but I'm loving it so far. #journalpage

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"Above all things guard your heart. For everything you do flows from it." #artjournaling

[1kraftysista]

Observe the beauty of your surrounding. Take in the vast textures, colors, odors, observe the silence. You can’t help but be grateful. #givethanks

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Tayla is working on a #commission. 1st layer; 4 hours in ❤️. #taylahartart

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A lil something for one of my girls. #artjournal #junkjournal

[1kraftysista]

Lately I've had a lot on my mind. I had some scrapbook paper laying around so I made some journal cards. #MorePlacesToWriteRandomStuff 🤷🏽‍♀️ #journalcards

[1kraftysista]

Kaelyn will come out of nowhere, “look I drew you”. #rainbowchild #art #illustrationartists #kaelynhartart #emergingartist

[1kraftysista]

How To Combat Negative Self Talk

In my latest Blog post I address The feelings of worry, anxiety, and lack were using up valuable energy. #consciousness #awareness #inspiration

It’s Time To Downsize The Negative Committee That Meets In My Head Going toe to toe with my own internal dialogue was one of the most life-changing experiences I’ve had.  In observation of my own mind, I’ve come to understand how often my own negative thoughts have contributed to self-imposed fears and restrictions throughout my life.  As I’ve practiced mindfulness I’ve come to understand that it…

[1kraftysista]

This is a weekly planner page I’m working on. #artjournal #creativeplanner

[1kraftysista]

Yes, Mr. Buffet! #savingmoney #envelopesystem #moneyenvelope