Creativity, Crafts, Books, Movies, Greyhounds & Favorite Things

.

Every Tuesday in 2013, I’ll post something about the houndies. To start, I’d like to introduce Freedom, Casper and Nikki. This week, it’s Casper’s turn.

It is me, Casper.

Casper is my darling boy. Casper is a retired racing greyhound. His racing name was Try N Ryan, but, like Freedom, he didn’t race for long…around 10 races and no wins. Casper is 4 years old.

Casper is the baby of our pack. He is sweet, goofy and everyone’s favorite. Casper just has that special something about him that makes everyone love him.

Casper is the king of passive-aggressive.  He often wants whatever bed Freedom is on or whatever toy she has (except the hedgehogs…the hedgehogs are sacred and Freedom’s alone).  Here’s his method…he slowly, slowly, slowly  approaches Freedom and circles around behind her.  Freedom jumps up and starts barking and snarling.  As soon as she jumps up, he flops down on her bed or gently reaches over and takes the toy.  Freedom gives an extra snarl and then moves on.  It works for him every single time.

Casper is the runner of the group. He loves to race around the backyard. He is also the only one of our hounds who does “after bath zoomies.” We laugh our heads off every time Casper gets a bath because he tears out of the bathroom and spins and runs and spins and runs all over the house.

Casper is also a connoisseur of beds. He particularly likes them piled high.

Casper is as sweet and gentle as he looks. He’s my little baby boy…no matter how old he gets. Love you, Caspie!

Special Announcement!

We are participating in Pip and Puddles’ BUCKET World Tour. Pip is our friend and his blog is Pip Gets Back In The Game. Pip is probably around 15 years old and has been having some problems with his heart, but you can’t keep a good Pip down, so he’s heading out to check off all the things on his Bucket List. We’re going to help. Stay tuned for more details.

.

Here’s what I’ve been working on…

I’m still plugging away at my art journal.

I started this last year and I’m following the prompts from an art journal course called Art Journal All Year E-Course from Red Velvet Shop. The course offers an art challenge and a journal challenge for 52 weeks.

I also had BOTH of my card clubs this week.

These are the two cards we made at my Thursday card club. I’ll post the cards from my Sunday card club next Monday.

 

This Week’s Inspiration

Something new I’m doing in 2013…Inspiration Mondays and Results Thursdays. Every Monday, I’ll post a painting “inspiration” and then on Thursdays, I’ll post how I’m interpreting that inspiration.

Last week’s inspiration was DARK, and here is my interpretation:

This week’s inspiration comes from two little girls I painted during the Art Every Day Month Challenge in November. For some reason, every time I thought about them this week, the words NURSERY COLORS popped into my mind, so that’s my inspiration for this week.

I am sharing this post on Inspire Me Monday and Creative Every Day.

.

I’m starting off the year reading Creating a Life Worth Living by Carol Lloyd. The cover of the book says that it is “A practical course in career design for artists, innovators, and others aspiring to a creative life. I decided on this book because over the course of last year, I discovered how much I love to paint, and I want to share my painting. Out of that desire have come some ideas, but not well formulated ones and not traditional ones in a business sense. When I saw this book, I thought it might help me come up with a plan.

I was pretty happy early on when Carol states that the book’s task is “to apply the artistic process to building a career” because “for creative people, living by an internal system is the only way. ” This resonates with me because I don’t find myself drawn to a traditional business path. Here is what Carol says she hopes her readers will take away from the book:

“…first, a clearer vision of what you really want and a commitment to that vision; second, a step-by-step plan for achieving that vision; and third, a daily process that develops strong, healthy work habits and keeps your vision in sharp focus.”

Chapter 1, “Ecstatic Task,” reminds me of The Artist’s Way‘s Morning Pages and Artist Dates. It introduces the idea of a daily action. The daily action is “…fifteen minutes of a focused activity performed every day at the same time of day. Choose an activity that creates an empty space where your creativity can reassert itself. Let the action be solitary and process oriented. You are giving yourself fifteen minutes of emptiness within the blur of living.”

I know this type of activity works for your creativity like exercise works for your body. My daily action is to write, doodle and make lists in a notebook.

So that’s where I’m at this week…opening up some space and reorienting my life.

.

Every Saturday, I’m going to take you on an Artist Date with me. The Artist Date comes from the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Here’s what she says about the Artist Date:

“The Artist Date is a once-weekly, festive, solo expedition to explore something that interests you. The Artist Date need not be overtly “artistic” — think mischief more than mastery. Artist Dates fire up the imagination. They spark whimsy. They encourage play. Since art is about the play of ideas, they feed our creative work by replenishing our inner well of images and inspiration. When choosing an Artist Date, it is good to ask yourself, “what sounds fun?” — and then allow yourself to try it.”

This week I went to a local natural food store…Down To Earth.

I love this store. It has a great natural food store vibe.

In some ways, it reminds me of an old-fashioned grocery store.

You can get everything from soap…

…to organic produce.

They also have a great little cafe area where you can get a coffee, smoothie, fresh juice, soup or wrap.

I had the Peachie Keen smoothie which was like eating a meal. Very delicious and filling.  It was great to get away by myself and just spend some time thinking privately.

.

Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.

Aristotle

For years I’ve wanted to read more poetry, so this year I’m going to share a poem every Friday.

I’m also hosting a kindness challenge every Friday called Kind is Kool. Each week, I’ll post a prompt of something you can do to make the world a kinder place.

I want to offer both the poem and the kindness challenge without any obligation, so I’ll turn off “Comments” every Friday. Enjoy.

.

Kind is Kool Challenge

Week 1 Challenge – Give someone you don’t know a sincere compliment this week.

A special “thank you” to my friend, Amy, who made all the Kind is Kool graphics, and to my daughter for coming up with the name of the challenge.

.

There’s a lot going on in today’s post.

I’m participating in the Pet Blogger Challenge. Sponsored by GoPetFriendly.com, it is a community event that gives pet bloggers from around the world the chance to get to know each other, find out what motivates them, share tips for making their blogs better, commiserate, inspire, and support each other.

A list of questions was provided to everyone participating. Let’s go…

1. When did you begin your blog?

I started What Remains Now on January 1, 2011.

2. What was your original purpose for starting a blog?

What Remains Now came out of my love for Tales and Tails. A link to Tales and Tails was posted on my Greyhound group’s Yahoo! Groups page. At the time, I didn’t read blogs, but I fell in love with the Tales and Tails gang and every morning my girlfriend and I would start our day by reading or by talking about what was happening with Lilac, Blueberry and Bunny. One day, my girlfriend told me that I should write a blog about my greyhounds and call it Greyhounds or Bust. I thought she had lost her mind, but apparently a seed was planted.

The funny thing is, I can’t remember the moment I decided to start What Remains Now. A friend’s husband was between jobs and I asked him if  he would set-up a blog for me. He said “yes.” That was important because if I had had to set it up, I probably would have never gotten around to it. Since my daughter was off to college, I wanted to get back in touch with my creativity and share the things I found interesting. I loved how happy I felt when reading Tales and Tails, and I wanted to create that experience for those that enjoyed my blog. Once I started writing, I fell in love with blogging and the changes I could see in myself, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

3. Is your current purpose the same?

No and yes.

If not, what’s different?

When I started What Remains Now, I wanted to focus on crafting using re-purposed items. Then, I took Juliette Crane’s How to Paint a Girl e-Course and I fell in love with painting little girls. Now, I want to paint, paint, paint.

If so, how do you feel you’ve met your goals?

What Remains Now is still the same in that it records my creativity journey and is an extension of myself out into the world. I feel I’ve met my goals because I write What Remains Now with as much sincerity as I can.

4. How often do you post?

I post every day.

5. Do you blog on a schedule or as the spirit moves you?

I blog on a schedule, but I find there is a lot of room for the spirit to move me within that schedule.

If you publish on a schedule, why? How strict are you about your publishing deadlines? What do you do for inspiration when it feels like you’ve covered every topic?

I publish on a schedule because I need the structure. I’m just not a good free spirit. Even though I blog on a schedule, I try to make the categories broad enough that I have a lot of room to cover different topics.

6. How much time do you spend writing your blog per week? How much time visiting other blogs? Share your  tips for staying on top of it all.

Hmmm…that would be interesting to track. I’m guessing, but I’d say I spend 20 hours a week writing and putting together my posts. I probably spend another 10 hours a week visiting other blogs. I stay on top of my blog writing by using on a schedule, which gives me the structure I need; I keep a blog calendar, which helps me plan ahead; and I have a notebook where I write down ideas, which helps me when I get stuck for something to write about. I use Google Reader to keep up with the blogs I read.

7. How do you measure the success of a post and of your blog in general (comments, shares, traffic)? Do you look strictly at the numbers, or do you have a way of assessing the quality of those interactions?

Honestly, I try not to think about this aspect of blogging. My goal is to offer up what I have and hope that it reaches people who find it interesting and helpful. I may be more interested in assessing traffic in the future, but for now, I don’t worry about it.

8. If you could ask the pet blogging community for help with one issue you’re having with your blog, what would it be?

Social media mystifies me. I’m weak in that regard, and I’m always interested in how people use it in creative ways.

9. What goals do you have for your blog in 2013?

My main goal is to keep on doing what I’m doing. The journey is everything to me. The only thing I wish I would improve on…I would love to get a little ahead on my posts so I could improve the quality.

I’m not able to get the linky list to appear, but I hope you will go to Go Pet Friendly and visit some of the other blogs who are participating in this challenge. It’s fun to read the posts since everyone’s answering the same questions.

How to be HAPPY!

I’m also participating in How to be HAPPY! a brand new meme from Jay of The Depp Effect.

Here’s what Jay says about it…

It’s about finding the little things in life which bring a smile or a glow of warmth to our hearts and souls during our daily lives.  Why?  Because it’s the way all these little things add up which truly determines if we are happy people, not the big stuff like a lottery win.

To enter, write a post about one thing which has made you happy in some small way recently – it could be birdsong, a favourite smell, a particularly good loaf of bread, a blue sky, anything!

Then, head on over to The Depp Effect and link your post.

Here’s something that make me VERY happy…BOOKS!

I love everything about books…the stories, the authors, the smell of the pages, the dust jackets, the language, the illustrations, the places you buy them…everything. I have spent some of the happiest moments of my life in the company of books. Books are sacred to me. Through them, everything is available to us.

This Week’s Inspiration Results

Something new I’m doing in 2013…Inspiration Mondays and Results Thursdays. Every Monday, I’ll post a painting “inspiration” and then on Thursdays, I’ll post how I’m interpreting that inspiration. I think this will be a fun exercise for me and keep me painting. It will also allow me to discover and share my “process.”

This year, I’m once again participating in the Creative Every Day Challenge. Every month, Leah posts an optional monthly theme for inspirational purposes and to give some focus to anyone who needs it. This month’s theme is…DARK…so that’s what I used for my inspiration this week.

I started with the background.

The first thing that came to my mind was a red dress…

 

and this is the girl that came out of it.

 

I think some of her came out of this unfinished painting.

 

I still want to do a more work on both of them.

Whew! That’s a lot of posting.

.

I received some cool “beauty” gifts for Christmas…

My friend, Amy, gave me an assortment of her (and my) favorite things…

• The newest philosophy fragrance, living grace. I love the philosophy “grace” fragrances.

• Priti NYC nail polish (in Chilan Bamboo) and Almond Cuticle Oil. The Priti NYC polishes are all completely non-toxic and made without toluene, dibutyl phthalate (DBP), formaldehyde and camphor. I sampled Amy’s Priti NYC nail polish before and thought it was great, so she got me some of my own. She also gave my a Julep nail polish (in Daphne) which is her current obsession.

• It Cosmetics is one of Amy’s favorite brands. These are the softest, most luxurious brushes. They are a pleasure to use and make you feel glamorous.

My friend, Sherry, gave me this collection from The Yum Yum Shoppe. Back in 2011, Sherry helped me out with a 4 Faves post and The Yum Yum Shoppe was one of her favorite things. I’ve only tried the lotion so far and it is lovely. Not too thick and not too thin with a wonderful fragrance.

I treated myself to a little gift…Glam’Eyes by Rimmel. How could an Anglophile resist?

.

Every Tuesday in 2013, I’ll post something about the houndies. To start, I’d like to introduce Freedom, Casper and Nikki. I’ll start with Freedom.

Freedom is a retired racing greyhound. Her racing name was Free Spitfire, but she didn’t race for long…around 10 races and no wins. Freedom is 5 years old.

Freedom is the leader of the pack. She can be a bit bossy, testy and headstrong, but she has a sweetness about her that makes me melt. Freedom is my heart dog.

Freedom has the cutest bent ear and she is very bald…no hair on her rear, neck, chest or belly.

Freedom’s favorite toys are her hedgehogs. When she wants to comfort herself, she grabs a hedgehog and squeezes it in her mouth.  She can even lull herself to sleep like this. So sweet!

Freedom is very gentle with her little sister, Nikki. Freedom and Casper are another thing altogether. They play bitey face, they chase, they argue. They act like a brother and a sister. Love you, Freedom.

.

Here’s what’s happening in my studio during the first week of 2013…

Remember this?  Last year, I signed up for an art journal course called Art Journal All Year E-Course from Red Velvet Shop. The course offers an art challenge and a journal challenge for 52 weeks.

For some reason, I set this aside around Week 32 and then BOOM! the year was over. I want to finish this, so I’m going to do several pages every week until it’s done. I really do enjoy working on this…when I work on it.

This Week’s Inspiration

Something new I’m doing in 2013…Inspiration Mondays and Results Thursdays. Every Monday, I’ll post a painting “inspiration” and then on Thursdays, I’ll post how I’m interpreting that inspiration. I think this will be a fun exercise for me and keep me painting.

This year, I’m once again participating in the Creative Every Day Challenge. Every month, Leah posts an optional monthly theme for inspirational purposes and to give some focus to anyone who needs it. I’m going to use it. This month’s theme is…DARK…so that’s what I’ll use for my inspiration this week.

.

I’m starting off the year reading Creating a Life Worth Living by Carol Lloyd. The book begins with this:

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium. It will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable it is, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.

You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive.

Martha Graham to Agnes De Mille

Isn’t that true. Now…to put it in practice.

I wanted to read this book, because I’m trying to figure out what part I want my painting and writing to play in my life so I can focus my efforts properly. Please grab a copy and design your own creative life/career plan or just follow along.