Easy to Create (A to Z Blogging Challenge)

Continuing a month long blog fest using the alphabet 'aint easy. My blogger friend over at Angels Bark has spent the last 6 months putting together her A to Z posts. It is a comprehensive review of 70's music that will make you glad you were alive back then. I hope you'll go check it out.

Me? I'm writing this post right now, early Monday morning ... not because I don't like spending time writing but because I spent my weekend doing the fun things I like to do in the creative department; things I love to write about. We took a drive Saturday (read: Artist's Date) and although it was not sunny where we ended up, I used a few creative buttons in my editing program and made the skies the blue I was seeking. Easy fix.

 

I have a ton of tricks up my sleeve for creating. Just off the top of my head, here is a list of things I do to stay an easy, creative person because let's face it ... if it's hard, I'm probably not going to do it.

• Carry a camera everywhere I go
• Keep colored pencils and pens on my home desk top
• In my bag I carry a quart-sized zip loc bag filled pens and blank cards for creating Zentangles (that post will be at the end of this series)
• Have photo prints made of my favorite images to affix to blank cards for quick note cards
• Use color in the kitchen when I'm creating a meal
• Highlighters ... I keep them everywhere!

How about you? Got any easy tricks up your sleeve?  If you're like me, you're always looking for new ways to be creative. Tell me what little things you do to help that process.  I'd love to hear from you!

love, susan

TOMORROW: F words!

Develop (Blogging A to Z Challenge)

 

I am in the love with the word develop. In fact, I think it should marry the word create and have kids. 

 

When I signed up for this challenge, I immediately began developing a list of ideas. The problem was that I kept starting lists and throwing it in my purse or I'd have a sheet of paper on my work desk to write down ideas.  I was so excited about writing a post everyday that I could barely sleep for the thoughts rolling around in my head. My ideas are all over the place. 

 

So ... what if Develop did marry Create? What would their kids look like?  Here are the words that I found on one my lists for this challenge:

 

Art forms, artist's date, Begin, blog, budget, beach, Cards, calendar, cookie, cake design, cooking, creative juices, Dogs, designs, destination, decoration, Economizing, Fun, free, fiber, festive, friends, food (deviled eggs), Glass, gleen, garbage, Handwriting, hearts, Image, Jacob Norby, K (I got nothing!), Lists, learning, Mind mapping, Not too late, One thousand words, Photography, pictures, photo walks, podcasts, process, Quiet time, Rubber stamping, Sunshine, SuddenlySusan, Themes, U (still, I got nothing), Various, variable, vice, visual, Watercolor pencils, writing, X, Y, Zentangle.

 

Okay, now you've seen a bit of my crazy side. How do you develop new ideas? Do you love making lists? Do you have lists everywhere? What's on your lists?

 

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you'll visit again.

TOMORROW:  Easy

 

love, susan

Create (A to Z Challenge)

Creating is difficult to par down to 300 words or less so I 've broken this post into categories. I think you'll find some great ideas here if you'll take 5 minutes from your busy day to read it. 

 

For the last 3 years I have chosen one word to focus on as a New Year's resolution. Using one word opens up a large can of ideas for me and has proven helpful in all areas of my life.  Previous words I've used are minimize, develop, and focus. Following is how I think about the word create.

TIME

When I think about creating, or forming new ideas, I determine how much time I have to go shoot photos, have coffee with a friend, bake something fabulous, or simply sit and read a book. Recently I've become a big fan of podcasts. When I sit down at my craft table, I turn on a podcast. Right now I'm enjoying one by Michael Hyatt called This is Your Life.  If you click on this link, in this episode he talks about 10 Ways to Generate More Blog Traffic. It's free and I think you'll enjoy it.

FRIENDSHIPS

My friendships are important to me and I think having like-minded friends is super helpful in the creative process. I discovered last year that I have quite a few hidden artists among my gal pals. You probably do, too! Start by asking them, what kinds of things do you like to create? Your friends may tell you they are not creative but I guarantee you it is because they don't see themselves that way. I have one friend who recently has been bitten with the "gardening bug". Her eyes light up when she talks about it. If that's not creative, I don't know what is. I love that!

PHOTOGRAPHY

Two years ago, I started a 30-day photo scavenger hunt on FB. I tagged a few people and got some interested in following along. One of those friends created a FB group for us and now we have 197 group members. We take turns coming up with a month long list of creative items for people to shoot and post. Lots of ideas happening there. You could start your own scavenger hunt. Get creative!

ART

I discovered a couple of my friends are painters. We got together a couple of months ago for an artist's day and they demonstrated watercolor and acrylics. I picked up a new love for watercolor pencils. I also make my own greeting cards with rubber stamping and decorating chalk. I don't spend a lot of money on any of it, picking up items at thrift stores and items people have given me over the years. Lack of money is no excuse for not creating. I use my own images when I blog. I use Picasa 3 (free) for photo editing. Susan's Rule: never let a cable bill go out without a pretty stamp on it!

 

COOKING

I use a few simple tools in the kitchen to stay creative. My lunches always have lots of color and I like to keep it creative even when I'm serving my husband a sandwich on the weekends. Colorful food items like grapes and green olives make me so happy. I keep cute little cookie cutters on hand for heart shaped slices of cheese. Think about it! Who doesn't like to see a little love on their plate?

 

So, you see, there are many ways you can be creative if you give it a chance. If you are blogging, I know you are a creative person and I would love to hear from you.

 

What do you like to create? Do you have some ideas about creating you can pass on to me? Do ideas ever keep you awake at night? What word would you choose to focus on for a whole year?   Thank you so much for stopping by. Hope you'll leave me a comment!

 

TOMMOROW:  Develop

 

love, susan

Blogging Tips (from A to Z 2015 Challenge)

I've been blogging since 2010.  My very first entry was the dumbest post ever about banana pie.  I had no idea what I was doing but I wanted to get started. I often refer back to that first post because when I am encouraging others, I need to let them know where I started.

Since that first post, I have used this blog to document the parts of my life that are fun and perhaps worth sharing. I have been on an adventure with my husband for 14 years now and I regret that I waited so long to keep this public journal.

LABELS
After I got going with posts every day, I discovered a feature called "Labels". I use labels to tag my posts into categories. This has been useful, for example, when at the end of a summer of motorcycling my husband will say "we hardly went anywhere this summer". I started documenting all the road trips we took and labeled them so I could prove him wrong.

SCHEDULE
Another feature I am using during this challenge that you might like to try is "Schedule".  I am writing this particular post on Wednesday and will schedule it to publish tomorrow morning at 5:30am. There is a certain feeling of accomplishment I get when I do that. I know the post is sitting there, waiting to go live and I have a deadline if I wish to change anything in it. If you haven't tried this feature, now is a great time to try it.

IDEAS

After writing this blog for 5 years now, sometimes I feel short on ideas. I like to Google "writing prompts". I also handwrite in a journal almost every morning and often ideas will bubble up. I enjoy photography, Zentangle, cooking and most recently watercolor penciling. Most of my post ideas come from a visual place in my mind.

Where do you get your ideas? Do you ever feel stuck? What do you do to un-stick yourself?  Have you ever gone on an artist's date?

Thank you for stopping by my blog!

TOMORROW:  Create

love, susan

Artist's Date

A is for Artist.   I have a hard time calling myself an artist but I have to tell you that I never feel better than when I'm creating something. I don't make a living at it but I believe it is in my DNA.

 

This is my first post for the April A to Z Blog Challenge 2015.  I'm excited about the possibilities for learning new ideas and making new blogger friends. I participated last year and I went with a random theme. This year I decided to use the word "Create" as my theme, a word  I chose in January in place of a New Year's resolution. The word alone conjures up a lot of ideas ... so many that it makes my head spin some days.

 

I do want to tell you about my most recent artist's date inspired by Julia Cameron in her book, The Artist's Way. The Artist Date is a space of time one saves for themselves to rejuvenate and allow for creative juices to flow back in where work and daily living can suck the ideas dry. I'll be forever grateful to a mentor who pointed me to Julia's book.

Some of my favorite artist dates  are with a friend who loves photography and walking. We get together a couple of Sundays every year to snap photos and solve world problems. A couple Sundays ago it was quite chilly when we started out so we just took pictures of our dogs playing in her back yard. Even though it is spring here, I love how the cold air caused frosty breath in the morning sunrise. It was heaven.

 

Feeling creatively stuck? Make a date with your inner artist and see what happens.  What do you think you'll do? Where do you think you'll go? Will you feel weird taking yourself out on a date?  Try it!
 

love, susan 



TMI Tuesday

I just landed on a blog called TMI Tuesday  https://tmituesdayblog.wordpress.com/

The writer leaves a couple of questions to answer and I think it might be fun ... at least once!  If you want to play along, copy the questions and leave me a reply with your answers.  All for fun and for free!

1. Who has been the biggest influence in your life?  Oh, this one is easy.  My Grandma W, most definitely.  She was the kindest person I've ever known and I want to be just like her.

2. What kinds of things really make you laugh?  Honestly, I love the things that come from kids' mouths.  My husband. Goofy animals.  Stupid people (although, I really don't like calling people stupid ... but there are some in the world.) My grandma (mentioned above) would not be proud of me calling people stupid. I have a dark side and my humor sometimes comes from that place. My husband gets it. 

3. What’s your favorite place in the entire world?  Oh, shoot, um, I can't name just one. It wouldn't be fair to all the other places.

4. Who is your best friend? What do you like about him/her?  Oh, I have more than one best friend so I can't say.  What I love about my best friends is each has their own strengths (usually ones that I don't have).

5. What’s your biggest goal in life right now? Creating. Writing. Photography. Journaling. I just want to wake up in the morning and create. Oh, and long-term goal is that I want to retire.

6. What was your family like growing up? First word to come to mind is poor. We didn't have a lot but I'm not saying that is a bad thing. 

Bonus: What is one thing about you that would surprise us?  Well, I don't really think you need to be surprised by me.  Really, you don't. 

Your turn!

1. Who has been the biggest influence in your life?
2. What kinds of things really make you laugh?
3. What’s your favorite place in the entire world?
4. Who is your best friend? What do you like about him/her?
5. What’s your biggest goal in life right now?
6. What was your family like growing up?

Bonus: What is one thing about you that would surprise us?

Ten Things I Don't Mind About Monday

  



One.   I have meaningful work to do.
Two.  A renewed chance to get it right regarding my diet.
Three.  I feel rested.
Four.  I love the  structure of work.
Five.  I like my co-workers.
Six.  I can think about what I'm doing next weekend.
Seven.  On gray days, why not be at work?
Eight.  Lunch time at my desk.
Nine.  I'm grateful to be alive.
Ten.  I start receiving texts from friends about making plans to get together.

How about you?  Do you like Mondays?

love, susan


 

Rest and Relaxation

I'm returning to work today after having 5 days off (including last weekend). Boy howdy, I needed that break.

 

I'm feeling rested and back to my cheerful self.

 

I am super grateful that I know my limits and can go off the grid when I need to and get my energy back.

 

Nothing makes me feel better than when I am creating, whether it is writing in my journal, making a greeting card, drawing a little Zentangle, baking up something special in the kitchen, making a to-do list or reading a great book. When I am tapped out of energy, I rest. When I'm rested, I get grateful.

 

Looking Ahead:

 

Getting geared up for the A to Z Blog Challenge 2015. My theme this year is "Create".  I'll be choosing words from a to z and writing every day except Sunday.

 

My first post is done and scheduled to for April 1st.  I created a list of ideas and will go from there. This will be my 2nd year participating in the challenge and I'm jazzed about it.  The best part is that we are encouraged to read 5 new blogs from the list every day.  Last year I picked up quite a few new blogs to follow that I have really enjoyed. 

 

Until then, I hope you have the best day ever!

 

love, susan

Spring Break With Blake ~ 2015

He woke up this morning and announced today is the final full day at our house.   As I was washing up the breakfast dishes, I was transported back in time to my own grandmother's warm kitchen. My grandpa used to get up at 4:30am (I think?) and start the side pork for breakfast. As I was thinking back, I wonder if I got that right? Was he cooking or was it grandma? She always had an apron on. The picture in my mind seems right but often it isn't.

 

Nonetheless, I remember just feeling so special and as if my sister and me were the only two people in the whole world to our grandparents. Their sole existence, in my mind, was to make sure we had that wonderful, thick bacon and hot coffee with cream and sugar and always something fun to do. I remember it fondly.

I hope he feels the same way.

 

Yesterday, we got up early to watch the movie Divergent. We had to because we had a date to go see the 2nd part of the story, Insurgent, at the  theater. He said, "it just won't make sense if you don't watch the first one." He was right.

 

Today, now that we've had what he wanted for breakfast, we're heading over to Walla Walla to hit a couple of thrift stores and maybe get a milkshake in Milton Freewater. It's a walk down memory lane for him as we took him and his sister there once and it holds fond memories for him.

 

His sister didn't come over for spring break this year. She is 13 going on 25 and you know what that means. This too shall pass.  We miss her.  :-(

I've got a couple of photos sent in to Costco for printing. I worry that someday these kids are gonna wonder where are all their memories are stored. There is nothing quite like having an old photo to take you back to a place and time.

 

Did you go anywhere for spring break?  Got memories of spending time with a favorite relative?  Do you print photos these days?  

 

love, susan 

Time Well Spent ....

 

Easy Rider

Getting stuck or lost isn't always fun.

 

My former sister-in-law got stuck in Anchorage last night on her flight home from a Hawaiian vacation. The weather in Fairbanks last night was pretty awful and the plane turned around mid-flight. I've been there, done that. It's never in the "plan" and can be super stressful.

 

We recently road tripped to Salt Lake City with a friend and her 7 month old baby. Eleven hours in the car each way. So much could have gone wrong. I thought about that a lot bit before we left. If we had a flat tire, it would have been an all-out cussing, gnashing-of-the-teeth, throwing-all-our-stuff-on-the-side-of-the-road kind of wrong. With a 7 month old baby on board. I really didn't give it much more than a fleeting thought as I was asking my friend if she wanted to go. Later, I thought .... oh dear, what if that baby doesn't like sitting in one spot for 600+ miles? It was just another  thought I dismissed as quickly as it came. We'll be fine.  And, we were more than fine.  That baby now has the nickname Easy Rider.

 

Last fall, I took a planned road trip with a friend from high school and I never gave it much thought until about a week before we took off. The day of travel arrived and I was a bit of  wreck inside.  I was going to travel without my knight in shining armor and although I can change a flat tire if I have to, it's been a long time since I've had to. I refuse to let those thoughts remain as I would never go anywhere if fear stopped me.

 

Which brings me back to my sister-in-law.

 

Her being stuck in Anchorage last night reminded me of a trip she and I took together many moons ago. We had traveled to Portland to visit family and friends. One night we decided to drive to the outskirts to have dinner at a friend's place. I was driving and got us lost in the dark, industrial part of Portland. It was long before Google maps or GPS, and even longer before I learned how to read a map (when you live in Alaska, maps are not necessary) or follow instructions. I chuckle every time I think about it. She was really pissed off at me and I was clueless as to why.

 

I know now that some of us are wound a little tighter than others. It's not a bad thing. As a matter of fact, it's a complimentary thing. The voice of reason is always good to have along for the ride. We obviously lived to tell about it.

 

Have you ever had a trip go wrong? What happened? How do you deal with the stress of it? Does it keep you from going again?

 

love, susan