Awakening the dreamer

Always, but more clearly so in the times of transitions, I awe at how things come together in life. Coming home from a shaking ritual of goodbye to the old ways, I somehow find my way on the web to the pages of the Pachamama Alliance.
Within an hour of letting past things go, I am presented with new perspective, hopes and inspiration. May they bless you, too!



Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream, 15 minute trailer from Vivian Dittmar on Vimeo.

A short reminder for awesomeness

Live juicy. Stamp out conformity. Stay in bed all day. Dream of gypsy wagons. Find snails making love. Develop an astounding appetite for books. Drink sunsets. Draaaaw out your feelings. Amaze yourself. Be ridiculous. Stop worrying…now! If not now? Then when? Make "yes!" your favourite word. Marry yourself. Dry your clothes in the sun. Eat mangoes naked. Keep toys in the bathtub. Spin yourself dizzy. Hang upside down. Follow a child. Celebrate an old person. Send a love letter to yourself. Be advanced. Try endearing. Invent new ways to love. Transfrom negatives. Delight someone.Wear pajamas to a drive in movie. Allow yourself to feel rich without money. Be who you truly are and the money will follow. Believe in everything. You are always on your way to a miracle.

Thanks, Alexa! <3

Weekend links

I've been saving some links for you to check out!
First, I'd love to share this really inspiring video, I hope it will bring you some motivation to start into the new week full of energy.



I found a very interesting and inspiring blogger who lives and travels with her family in a caravan in Australia. Go visit her at Living The Simple Dream.

I've also been a bit sluggish with my workouts in the past week so I've been looking for some inspiration on the web and came across this fun quiz: What's your running Style?

Lastly, I've been treasuring that one for a while but haven't really had the mojo to start yet, but it might be just the right thing for you: A website that helps you write every day, it's a great ritual to boost your creativity and productivity (in any field). Visit 750 words.

I hope you've had a good weekend and haven't suffered too much from the cold... See you tomorrow!

Weekend links

Hey, wanna have a peek into my bookmarks? It's always interesting to see what other people are up to, so I thought I'd share with you where I hang out on the net these days.
Blogger/ipad (they're the best pals!)have decided they won't let me add pictures to my posts anymore (I can't upload anything from the pad but before I could at least steal something from the web.), so we'll tell them 'screw you!' and you'll just go and look at the links, ok?

- Happy Cow This page finds you vegetarian, vegan and vegfriendly restaurants - all over the world! Trev is taking me out for dinner tonight, so we'll try one from the list (unsurprisingly, there's not many, down here in the South where people are fond of their sausages and think that fish is a type of vegetable).

- Fluent in three months: Can you believe this guy learnt how to speak 8 languages fluently in 9 years? And he's conversational in more. Currently, he's trying to get fluent in Mandarin in 3 months... oO I'm working hard to push my French, so I find it very inspiring.

- Pretty Zoo: Pretty Zoo is one of my muses on the web. When I feel a bit art-weary I take a break on this blog and let myself get excited by all the inspiration.

- Talk to the trees: Likewise, talk to the trees is my go-to feelgood blog. I like Rachaels gentle approach to beauty and her fearylike pictures. She is also an amazing artist, so get your creative juices there!

- d'blogala: Dawn is an art journaler and whilst I have never really warmed up with this technique, I'm just in love with her whimsy blogdesign and her beautiful creations. Maybe art journaling is for you? Go see what masterpieces you could end up with!

Happy Weekend everyone!

New year's resolutions - Theme song

So here it is, this brand new 2012. I always get a bit amazed at new years. It's funny, I should be used to it. I get new year twice a year. My spiritual year ends and begins with Halloween. It has always felt right that way, and not weird at all. And I still get amazed every time, by the sparkly new thing that is lying before me, the opportunities, the maybes, the plans, the energy, the redemption. I do get amazed easily, it has to be said.
Well, maxabella has asked what our word for this new year would be. You know, something like a motto, or a theme word for this year, something easy and short that helps you keep in mind something that you want to work on.

My word would be compassion.

It encompasses everything I've learned in 2011. It was the answer to the questions I started this last year with.
Am I a good enough person? - Practice compassion and you will always be more than good enough.
Where am I going in this life? - As long as you choose the path of compassion, every destination will be the right one.
How do I find energy and confidence to pursue my goals? - They lie in compassion. Compassion for yourself and the world.

And most importantly: What is the meaning of life?
It's compassion! Whoever brings love into this world will not have lived in vain.

I am still so moved by the blessing of these truths and the fact that I have found them after such a long search, that I get teary eyes whilst typing these phrases.

So, for 2012, the motto, the meaning, the tool, the goal, will be compassion. I will strive to let love and passion glow in everything that I do, every impact that I have on this world, everything that I do to myself.

It's gonna be a good one! :o)

New year's resolutions - part 1

Woohoo there, or coucou, as we French say *lol*
So, our lovely landlady was here today to sign the inventory. I was a bit nervous about how she would react on the fact that we had already taken some of the art down and replaced the carpet in the livingroom with a cowhide. I didn't know how close to her heart the things in the flat are (which used to be her mothers - the first thing we did was take down the family pictures from above the sofa... it's just a bit weird having strangers looking down on you when you have tea.)
But she was completely cool with it. In fact, one of the first things she said when she arrived was that we should feel free to change anything we want. She also said that all the things in here are really old and she just doesn't have the time to get rid of them, so we shouldn't worry if something breaks. Well, good to know, I would say.
So we went to work and put away the last of the things that we didn't like and put up some of our pictures. Not all of them yet, but it feels more 'us' now around here. That also has a lot to do with the fact that I put up the altary. I think I should write a blogpost about all the different altarys I've had in my life... that would be quite funny. This time, I found an old shelf meant for plants on the balcony. It works really well.

Well now, back to topic: Have you made any new year's resolutions? Many people tell me they don't because nothing comes out of it anyways. But I love making plans for the new year and thinking of great things that I can do with myself and my life in the coming time. Some time between Christmas and new year I always sit down and make a list of things that I have achieved this year, an then I draw up a plan of things I want to change in the coming year. It's great to look at the plans from the last year and see how much further I've come since then.

So, for this year there are a few things that I have cooking and I will set aside at least one more blogpost to talk about them. For now, I would like to link you to two interesting challenges that will start soon and that might interest you. I'm definitely participating and it would be nice if some of you came along on the journey.

The first one is the 21-day yoga challenge from yogajournal.com that starts this coming Monday. You can choose either a beginner or intermediate program and you'll receive daily emails with asana practice, recipes and tips. There's three goals involved in this challenge: 15 minutes of meditation a day, one vegetarian meal a day and one session of asana practice (that means the actual gymnastic thing) a day. You can choose to follow all three of those goals or only one or two, just as you like. I haven't exercised since we got back from Britain and I really miss challenging my body, so I'm absolutely grateful for this little boost of motivation. I know that once I've got my body moving with some yoga positions in the morning, it will be easier to exercise, because it'll want more.

And then there's the Simple Living Pledge, by Kanelstrand. It starts in February and there's nothing in there that I haven't been working on for a while, but I always like to get inputs from somebody, and it's great to share the experience with a group. So if you are interested in making your live a little simpler, more frugal and sustainable, calm down a bit, spend more times with activities and people you enjoy, you should go and have a look at this.

Thanks for checking in here, and have fun making your own plans! :o)

Hair friends

Haha, it's funny when I see pictures of my hairstyle on pinterest... I guess it's time for something new! ^^

Creating Success around the World - last post!

This is my last post so far on the blog hop. It will be carried on by the other hosts and might become more interactive - great chance for you to bring your beautiful blog out there! Keep up to date!


Welcome to
Creating Success around the World

The worldwide blog hop tour, that introduces you to creative people from all corners of the globe.

Every Wednesday our hosts on each continent will introduce you to someone new whose creativity is inspiring!

Here's how you can take this worldwide tour with us:

You can follow all the hosts to support them and keep up to date with the fabulous posts they will share every week.  Then if you are inspired to join, just link up your own blog to make some new international friends.

Remember to leave us a comment when you follow us so we can follow you back! And of course we'd love if you added our button to your site to help spread the word!



<center><a href="http://theshinybubble.blogspot.com/search/label/creating%20success%20around%20the%20world"><img border="0" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5154/5885118262_70f75d2c7f_m.jpg"/></a></center>
Here are your hosts:

Make sure you visit them all to see the inspiration and creative people every continent has to add to our community.

Australasia - Jill @ Creating my way to Success
Europe - Yaga @ The Shiny Bubble
North America - Suzy @ Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom
South America - Molly @ Marya Mariah
Asia - Janelle @ Of Pinks and Fairytales

Africa - Sadly, our African host is not able to participate in the Blog hop anymore. We are looking for somebody new to join the team - could it be you?! ;o)

---------------------------------------------------------------- Europe

Charlène Fournier is a graphical designer and illustrator from Belgium. I wanted to know how the artist behind all the sweet illustrations, the beautiful jewelry and the adorable plushies feels about what she's doing. Read why Charlène wants to move away from Belgium but still likes the people in her town, and what she does against creativity block. 

Tell us a bit about your trade: What do you create, how and where do you sell your things,

how long have you been doing this?

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Hi! I own a little etsy shop called Les Joues Grises. I opened it right after finishing my art studies in june of this year, so it is a pretty young shop. I sell mostly illustrations, prints and originals. I also like to make jewelry and plushes, so you can find some in the shop too.

 

Please, tell us a little bit about the place and the country that you live in.

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I currently live in Liege, a big/small city in Belgium. It's an old mining city, lots of red brick and grey. Sky often gray, a river called la Meuse crossing the city. Small houses with several stories, very typical and pretty. Kinda dirty sometimes, but great people in it + they have the most delicious fries so they're forgiven. ;)

Do you think that your surroundings influence your creativity? How? 

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Right now I'm not sure, I think most of my creative roots come from the people I know, I often see similarities with them after I finish a drawing.

How and why did you 'pick' your creative outlet of choice?

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I have always drawn and doodled, I didn't really see myself doing anything else. I picked graphic design studies because I could be creative and have the possibility of a career.(yeah, sometimes I think it's a little bit of a coward decision) 

 

 

 Why did you decide to sell what you are creating?

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Hum…That a tough question! I think at some point I wanted to see if I could do it, if people would be interested in buying my work…or not ^-^'

How did you start your business?

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Simply by opening it on Etsy, I also created a page on Facebook to promote it and I have a twitter account  :)

I also have a blog (far before my shop actually), but I'm not a regular blogger, so it is updated…when it is updated (boooohoooo). I'm currently working on a better version for my portfolio. I think I'll add a blog part, prettier than the one I have now.

So there is plenty of choices to follow my work (maybe a little...too much ?) :)

What, in your opinion is your biggest strength in your creative life and how does it

influence your work?

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I am eclectic, I love to experiment a lot of techniques and mix them to create. Etching, sewing, painting, doodling, mixing all that…So much to try, so little time!

I think this is my biggest strength and it can help during creative blocking, I just switch my techniques and try something else/new. In the end, my illustrations can be mixed media.

What would you regard as your greatest weakness in terms of your creativity and how do

you deal with it?

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Creativity blocking. It's just awful to feel you powerless at doing what you love the most. When I feel empty/tired/creative free, I just do something else, I go out or I read blogs/magazines.

How do you stay motivated and inspired?

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I try to push myself doing at least one thing a day.

Where do you see yourself and your creative life in two years? Do you have any plans?

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I'd love to be a freelance illustrator, still selling my illustrations. I would love to live in Berlin. Or Antwerpen. Great cultural background there.

What are your 5 hottest tips for people who want to be more successful with

creating?
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1/ Try a lot. If you fail, try again. Keep up hope.

2/ Watch clouds and stars every time you can: They are magical.

3/ Listen to good music (the one that gives you energy :) )

4/ Just observe things and faces around you. Every little thing is amazing when you look at them carefully enough.

5/ Share. Just share your knowledge, learn from other people with other kind of knowledge. You never loose creativity doing so, because it never ends.

Thank you so much for all that neat advice, Charlène!

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Now it's your turn! Link up your posts: Inspiration, craftsy blahs, tutorials, tips or business talk: We wanna know! 
Link up your blog and you might be the next artist featured in our interviews!


New to the world tour? Check our previous tours here!

Thanks for reading!

Three great things about fall!

I'm linking up with October Follower's Fest today, so if you're coming from the linky, welcome! Maybe you want to know more about me. Leave me a comment if you follow (or leave a comment anyways! <3), so I can come and visit you back! You might also want to grab my free Halloween Card - you can find it here!




Colors - The last time we stayed here in the UK was in March or April and the trees and pavement were vibrantly colored by all the blossoms that were coming out just that very week. The weather was so favourable and everything was starting to bloom - cherries, magnolia, rhododendron... it was a color fest! And now, half a year later, it is pretty much the same scene! Although there is occasional rain the air is still soft and warm for this time of the year and the leaves of the trees have turned the most glorious shades of yellow, red, orange and brown. When the sun shines through the clouds the rays of light make the raindrops on the leaves sparkle. It's just magnificent!

 

 

Museums - Yesterday I had plenty of time adoring the scenery waiting in this line in front of the Natural History Museum. It's midterm and apparently all the Mum's thought it would be the perfect time to go and see the dinosaurs with their kids. After waiting in the rain for 50 mts they would come into the museum only to see that there is another endless line in front of the room where the dinosaurs are displayed... *Ugh!*
We left the crowds behind us though as Trev led me to his favourite part of the place, the Darwin center, which only shows boring dead things pickled in glasses - not one kid in there, yay! :o)

Afterwards we went on to the Science Museum to go and see the blubber - this is a device constructed with many tubes and valves where colored water flows through and it shows how money flows in our society. I didn't really get to study it but I read about it in a book and it was fascinating to see it in person. Oh, and the first computer - so cool! We also discovered this fantastic clock:

the time eating clock

We looked at more ancient clocks (we're both fascinated with clocks and clockworks it seems) and heard the internet speak. What an experience! I was deadly tired in the evening and all day I had to grit my teeth because my legs were still so painful and the fact that I had to walk mostly on my heels to avoid the leg pain then made my heels start to hurt, of course. But I'm so glad I pulled it through, I just love going to museums!

Food - In the evening we met up with Francis, an old buddy of Trev's that I had met last time we were here. I also met Trev's older Brother Jeff for the first time. It was nice to finally get to know him in real life, even though I felt like I already knew him quite well, from all the things I'd heard about him. He only returned to the UK this spring after four years in New York. It's funny to see how Trev is very much like their mother, whilst everything about Jeff makes me think of their dad. :o)

After some more walking we settled into this great lebanese place for some mezze and bacclavah - deeeliciousss!!

 
Now tonight we're going out for family dinner so I gotta get ready.



Hope you're enjoying autumn wherever you are!

Genetic engineering and creativity

Sometimes when we're silly, we like to make up cute or useful pets that Trev will engineer when he's a big mad scientist. I bet people would stand in line for pigmae-mammoths! Or how about tiny little cows to eat all the weed and fertilize your potplants?
But the one we thought of last week when wasps kept harassing us is the best so far. Imagine you're sitting down with a plate of lettuce and suddenly you're surrounded by tiny furry creatures, flapping their little butterfly wings. I'm sure you'd share a bite with the schmetterschweinchen ^^

(Schmetterling=butterfly  Meerschweinchen=guinea pig)
Eat your greens! ;o)

Self portrait Thursday

Yap, I actually made one this week, but I felt so sleepy yesterday night that I didn't get around to posting it. It's here now! :o)

Not much to say about it.
I finally finished a sketch for the first picture of my other book project... after a long time of trial and error, I get to play with paint again. I just need to get to the copy store to print it on watercolor paper and make sure I don't screw up the original ^^
Until then I'm working on the next one and doing a lot of sketching for no real goal... just making pretty things. I'm thinking about what to make of all these little drawings, they're quite stacking up.
Oh and I also did some model sketching, mainly herbs and grasses because I need them for the book.

I'm linking up with "Our creative spaces" again after quite a while this week. Follow the link to see more crafty people's workspaces from this week!
Hope your week went well and wishing you all a great weekend!

Good things on a Monday

Oh yes, they do exist! And i found some for you! :o)

- First of all: Friends and friendly people! Look out for them, they are everywhere!!
Alison from "Heavenly Handmades" passed this blog award to me. Thank you so much Alison!

Here are the rules for the Liebster Blog:
1.  Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2.  Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3.  Post the award on your blog.   

I'm linking to these five wonderful people who help to get me up on moody Mondays:
- Kate from "Eat the damn cake" 
- Molly from "Stratejoy"
- Sally from "Already pretty"
- Holly from "Good Golly Miss Holly!"

- Melissa from "Operation NICE"

Thanks for brightening up my days, girls!

- Then: Random acts of kindness! How about making something beautiful and then sending it all over the world to people who will appreciate and cherish it? My friend Rachael from Squiggly Rainbow is hosting a Bunting Swap. Check it out, it's gonna be heaps of fun!

- Good food! Always something to look forward to! ;o)
I'll have to be patient until tonight though, because Trev is away for the day, and that means I'm living off hal-decent stuff from the fridge because I'm too lazy to cook for myself. But if I could choose, I'd have this:

- A little laugh:

... and, if all is lost, a good dose of sarcasm:

(both images via pinterest)

- Oh and my most favourite recipe to shoo away the motivation-blues: Make some plans to learn something new. I found this wonderful ecourse. Since I don't have a camera anymore, I'm taking out what I can for shooting with the phone. But I might just get back to learning some Dutch. ;o)

Have a good week everyone!!

Creating success around the world

Welcome to
Creating Success around the World

The worldwide blog hop tour, that introduces you to creative people from all corners of the globe.

Every Wednesday our hosts on each continent will introduce you to someone new whose creativity is inspiring!

Here's how you can take this worldwide tour with us:

You can follow all the hosts to support them and keep up to date with the fabulous posts they will share every week.  Then if you are inspired to join, just link up your own blog to make some new international friends.

Remember to leave us a comment when you follow us so we can follow you back! And of course we'd love if you added our button to your site to help spread the word!


<center><a href="http://theshinybubble.blogspot.com/search/label/creating%20success%20around%20the%20world"><img border="0" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5154/5885118262_70f75d2c7f_m.jpg"/></a></center>
Here are your hosts:
Make sure you visit them all to see the inspiration and creative people every continent has to add to our community.
Australasia - Jill @ Creating my way to Success
Europe - Yaga @ The Shiny Bubble
The Americas - Suzy @ Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom
Asia - Janelle @ Of Pinks and Fairytales
Africa - Adepeju @ Peekadot

---------------------------------------------------------------- Europe

Hey creative people! My post today is going to be a bit special. There's no interview,  because I decided to introduce you to several European artists all in one go in a special summer feature.

Are you having a bit of a summer down with your creativity? Has the weather been too hot or too nasty for your ideas to bubble? 

Or are you savouring the holiday time, creating beautiful things from dusk 'till dawn? 

Whatever your situation, there can never be too much inspiration, right?

Here are five things that inspire me to create in summer - out of various reasons. And one handpicked etsy shop with each of them to illustrate my cause. ;o)

Cute, popping colors, sweet and cold, they come in all flavours... what more is there to say? Ice cream is certainly a big summer favourite for everyone and if you create with colors, it's a great theme to pick for your next item. You still have to choose though - rainbow, stracciatella, choccolate, strawberry & cream??

Here's a cute pair of popsickle earrings by Aidolls from Germany - because your ears like ice cream, too! 

Dangler earrings by Aidolls

We get a lot of rain up here in the mountains. That's sometimes depressing, but most of the time it's just impressing - much more when the rain follows a massive thunderstorm like last night. You can see the lightning dancing on the mountaintops whilst the wind howls around the house and every thunderstroke shakes the house. Sometimes, sounds are a great inspiration!

I can prove it by showing you this great shop of Lee May in the UK who makes different items inspired by nature - lots of great rain items to brighten your mood, but also starry nights, flowers and cute animals!

Locket necklace by Bonbiforest

 

If it doesn't fall out of the sky, I love to watch water in other forms: I sit by the river behind our house and see the waves rush by, I jump into puddles, enjoy boatrides on the lake or head to the beach... the many many forms and facets of water are just like life: Absolutely breathtaking, changing and renewing every minute - and incredibly inspiring!

Look at this fantastic mosaic to see what I mean: It's fantastic how many qualities of water are caught in this artwork.

Green blue mosaic Jellyfish on mirror by Waschbaer Design (Switzerland)

I love the sensation of walking barefeet, wherever I go. Grass and soft grounds are a favourite of course, but sand and stones and even pavement are an adventure without shoes. Sometimes I slip them off in a supermarket, just to let my toes breath for a moment and let the soles of my feet have a look around. A different kind of input for your senses. 

Dachuksb sells handcrocheted foot ornaments on etsy - I am just so in love with them. I love foot jewelry but I have never seen anything like this and it's like a whole new world of possibilities has just been opened to me. This is my favourite, but there are many many more! Do check her out! 

Barefoot lace sandals by dachuksb

 

At the end of the day, if there is no thunderstorm, a campfire is the best way to enjoy the night around here. Not only because fires are just great, but also because it allows you to still sit outside when the temperatures are dropping. Staring into the fire, talking softly, listening to the sounds of the wood and looking up into the starry sky... and maybe a creative project on your lap is all that you need for total happiness. 

And if you still feel a bit chilly, wrap yourself in one of these breathtaking, recycled items straight from a fairytale forest, brought to you by Scrapunzelpixie from England. 

Sweater fairy coat by Scrapunzel

Thanks for reading my summer special! Look out for next week with another inspiring interview about creating, business and inspiration!

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Now it's your turn! Link up your posts: Inspiration, craftsy blahs, tutorials, tips or business talk: We wanna know!

Have fun hopping, reading, linking, connecting... take some time to share your love and inspiration by following, leaving comments and visiting each other.
Happy Wednesday! ;o)

New to the world tour? Check our previous tours here!