I can do anything...

So sometime in the middle of the night I realized I can start doing all the things I've always wanted to do. There is nothing to wait for! I still can't get over how quickly my life is changing and how I just feel so different. July 15th and 16th I went to this amazing Healing and Wholeness Retreat up at Sundance. It was put on by Utah Natural Health. The founder and director of Utah Natural Health is Staci Sadler, an amazing woman who is so full of gifts and talents. She has an awesome business called Soul Integrity, check it out! I highly recommend her aura-personality consultations! The retreat was everything I could have hoped for and needed. I can't wait for the next one! It helped confirm for me the path I know I should be on. (More about that later!) But as I have started planning my own retreat, called Journey to Wellness, (see post below) I have realized how capable I am and have become aware of all that I have to give.
   I turned 40 in May and it was the first birthday that hasn't settled well with me, which was a surprise because age has never mattered to me before. But yesterday I decided and saw that 40 is going to be my year! This is the year that I am really coming into myself. I can feel that. I can feel myself becoming more grounded and settling into the person I have always wanted and am meant to be. It feels amazing! I have so many ideas that are spinning through my mind. Things I have wanted to do, but never did, for whatever reason. I am so excited to begin doing these things...more to come soon!

Can't wait for this Class!!

I have been wanting to learn how to make these necklaces for the last couple years. I am so excited that I finally get to learn from Epiphanies of an ArtGirl! Check out her website and upcoming classes!! This is the one I am taking this Friday.

A few Art Journal pages from 2008 and before

Okay well, this had several more photos, but then I was looking back at my older posts and I realized there were duplicates. Oops! So, I guess you just get one new page! Will try to post more soon!

I Don't know what to say about this one other than I clearly get joy from my art journals! I love to go back and look at them and I LOVE that I can inspire MYSELF!!

Playing Catch Up...Witches' Dinner 2010

 The lovely Witches of 2010!! Of course I had my annual dinner, but I have obviously gotten waaaay behind on my posting! We had lots of fun!

 I made those Halloween letters in the frames this year. I really loved how they turned out and think they added a lot up there.

 I made this years ago in California. Still one of my favorite Halloween decorations!

A new "All Hallows Eve" banner that I made last year.

Upcoming Journey to Wellness Retreat

Two day event on natural health options, creativity, and soulful exercise! September 2nd & 3rd 2011

Classes and activities will include:
~Your Core Personality & Life Purpose by Staci Sadler of SoulIntegrity.org
~Essential Oils class by Jana Rogers with doTerra
~Herbal Medicine class by Crystal Betterton, Master Herbalist
~Nia Technique class led by Melanye Cannon
~Yoga
~The Wave - Ecstatic Dance for Body and Soul
~Art Journaling class
~Two different Jewelry projects
~Four Vegetarian Meals that we will prepare together!

The price of the retreat is all inclusive and is $65 before August 13th.
Hours of the retreat will be Friday 3-9 and Saturday 8-8.
Contact Deanna at 801-592-8060 to register.

Come enjoy a weekend of new friends, fun and valuable information! The surroundings are beautiful and green, right along the Provo River!

Bountiful Baskets!

I picked up my first share of Bountiful Baskets today. I've been wanting to order through them for quite a while. I was really excited about it and I'm excited to plan my meals around what I received! The basket was $15 and this is what was in it: 1 Giant head of Leaf lettuce, 1 bunch of spinach, 12 Anahiem Chilies, Asparagus, 3 baby Butternut squash, basket of cherry tomatoes, 1 small pineapple, 4 apples, 4 asian pears, 12 small Bartlett pears, 6 Kiwis, and 7 tangelos. I also ordered the 9-grain bread, which was 5 loaves for $10.

Several states participate in Bountiful Baskets, so take a look at the site. You order on Mondays and pick up on Saturdays and there are tons of locations. I like it because there is no commitment like many produce co-ops. You just order when ever you want and it is available every week.

Got Sick and No Computer! : (

Okay, well of course right after I decided to recommit to my blog I got really sick and then our computer was having fits and now it's been taken away to get fixed! (I'm at my sister's at the moment.) I can't stand not having a computer. Facebook and YouTube are two of my guilty pleasures! I love watching art journal videos to get lots of fun knew ideas. While I have been sick this week I have been able to start working in my journals again, and oh how I have missed them! I feel very rusty and not fully authentic yet with my art, but I am trying to open up and start spilling onto the pages once again. Which brings me to...inviting you to join me once again in this fun and highly therapeutic activity! If you didn't join me the first time around, or if you didn't finish all the prompts I gave, go back and right them down and get started!! I hadn't done the last few of them, so I am going to go back and catch up as well. I'm hoping to do that and get them posted in the next week or so, then I will start posting new prompts. Please let me know if you have any questions about art journaling. The most important thing to know and remember is THERE ARE NO RULES!! (This is one of my favorite parts. As anyone who knows me, knows that I am not much of a rules girl. :)) Anyway, please join me, and if anyone would like to get together to make art together just let me know and we'll make a date. With all the many hobbies and passions that I have, I think they are twice as fun when you're doing them with a friend!

Homemade Mozzarella Cheese

A couple years ago I read, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle", by Barbara Kingsolver. It's she and her family writing about the experience after deciding to eat local food for a year. I absolutely LOVED it and was so inspired! They grow their own vegetables, raise their own poultry, make their own bread and even make their own cheese. They include recipes in the book and I was inspired to try making the mozzarella. She refers to the book "Home Cheese Making" by Rikki Cardoll.
So here is my lovely result.One gallon of milk made two fresh balls of mozzarella and at least a pint of ricotta cheese. I want to make it again and make some delicious lasagna! But for the first time we just wanted to have it fresh!
My sister and I made this last fall.
We sliced it up, along with some of the tomatoes from our garden and drizzled a little Italian dressing over it. We also had a few balsamic marinated onions we got at the store. Very satisfying to eat something you have created yourself!!

Birthday and Halloween 2009

This a picture from my birthday dinner last year. We had a delicious Spinach Salad with a Teriyaki Dressing. I will post the recipe soon!

This was my Witches Dinner from last year. I'm looking forward to this year's, coming up soon!

We made delicious caramel apples for dessert! It was a huge hit, so we may have to do it again this year!!

I'm Back!!!

Hello everyone!! I'm sorry about my very long hiatus! I am looking forward to posting again. A lot has happened and that is why my blog and most of my creative activities got put on hold! I need to whip out my camera again and start taking some pictures to go with the posts I want to write.

Last September I started school at Acaydia School of Aesthetics. I graduated in July and I'm now a Licensed Master Esthetician. This was such a HUGE accomplishment for me!! I am setting up a treatment room in my parents' home in American Fork, UT. While I am getting the official room put together I have set up a temporary, peaceful space in which I have started seeing clients. It has been so fun to actually start working! I am working n my website and will post a link as soon as it is up and running. I might Possibly start a blog for my business as well. I will let you know!

My next few posts are some pictures I wanted to post from last year, 2009. I hope you enjoy them! With fall here I have been feeling very crafty, so I should have some fun pictures of new projects to post soon, also!

This is a picture I took last year that I kind of liked!

Yummy Australian Chocolate!

OK, so those of you who are on Facebook with me have seen me yapping about Freddo Frogs and counting down the days until I'd get mine. I have a few Australian online friends and I kept hearing about these. They are dairy milk chocolate frogs made by Cadbury in Australia. (No comparison to the ridiculous Cadbury we have here made by Hershey!) If you're wondering what dairy milk is, it is the milk BEFORE the cream is removed, so its extra extra creamy. My friend, Jeanney's in-laws were coming for a visit and they brought me some. Yum, yum, yum!! I gave them my list of things I wanted and after a long wait, today they arrived! Yippee!!!


Quite a haul!! My sister, mom, dad and I had a chocolate tasting.


The funny thing is that I thought I was getting the size on the left, but they turned out to be the giant one on the right. More than double the size! I ended up with over 4 1/2 pounds of chocolate!! Oh dear.

MOST recent pages!

This was the first page I did in my new house! I've done all of these since I moved in there.


I'm still working in the composition book and I love that format, but I had this cute little journal that I got super cheap somewhere. It's 5"x7". I decided I want to start experimenting with different sizes and shapes of journals. I will probably leave this cover the way that it is.


This is the first page. Simple, but I really love it!


I saw a video on YouTube by fridayeudaemonism where she did a month of gratitude art journaling. 5 things a day. I'm going to try to make some of these myself. (Not everyday.) I did this one May 12th.


While I was looking in magazines for the pictures for the gratitude page, I came across this. It made my day! Look at those smoldering eyes! I had a lot of fun making this page!! Enjoy!

Pages from recent past.

The left page I was trying to figure out why I was feeling SO pulled to California. I was already dying to go back and had even made plans to go and stay and look for a job. I'm not sure how well you can see the "why?" at the top. Then I just made a small pocket and put tags in that are labeled with the different things that were calling to me.

The right page was a piece of pink vellum I had added into the binding and I was just playing and trying something new.


I added ribbon and then sewed the page to another one along the top. I added a cloth tab to the bottom for lifting and then journaled underneath. There is also a title rub-on on the under side that says "The Journey Home."


This is what is under the vellum page. I would still like to add something, but I'm not sure what.




I REALLY like this page! Sorry, I didn't realize it is a bit blurry.

Recent Pages _ Suzi Blu

OK, so there is this woman I like to watch on YouTube. Her name is Suziblu. She is setting up a new website and she has moved most of her videos, but she is also on Facebook and has posted some on there as well. She had a great ning network, but was having problems with some people and so she is creating a new one. She still teaches classes from there, you should check her out at suziblu.ning.com! She is also at http://www.alovelydream.com/. I'll warn you, she's a bit kooky!




This is a page inspired by one of her videos. A bit plainer than I usually do, but I liked the concept. I guess it's possible that I will add to it. If I do, I'll add another pic. I think I won't elaborate on this one.

Prompt #9 -- Your home

OK, no big surprise here. You can do all sorts of things with this. Just do a page having anything to do with your home, or maybe the home you would like to have! I'm hoping to soon have my page done BEFORE I post the prompt so that you can have an idea of what you can do. Keep your fingers crossed!
I thought I would be all caught up by now on my pages since its one of the only things I have to do at the new place, but I've been hooked on Sodoku!

Catching Up

Hello Everyone! I'm so sorry that I have slacked so long in posting. I will try once again, to do better. As I mentioned in my previous post, I have moved. Only about 20 minutes from where I was living with my parents, but what a difference!! I have a fabulous friend that is making this possible for me! It is a townhouse in a great little complex that I had just been finished when I first moved here to Utah. I remember looking at them and thinking, I would LOVE to live there!! Ta da! Here I am! I started taking pictures today so that I could post them, but then I forgot to take one of the front and from my back door. (A side note, I do not have a computer at the new place otherwise I would just take the pictures right now, and I would be up to date!! I have to come to my parent's to use the computer. So responses may be a bit slow. I'm hoping to save up for a laptop. Its a little lonely there with no internet or tv.) I guess I will go ahead and post the pics I did take.


This is view from the balcony off the kitchen. If you look through the space in the trees there is the river. You can see it much better in real life. It has such a lovely sound that I can hear with my windows open! I will take some more close up pictures soon. Also, that walking path goes a really long way both directions. To a lake one direction and into the canyon, the other. It is really well lit at night and Petey and I love to play out there. I also love to set my camp chairs right out there by the river. It brings my anxiety right down.


These are the trees right out back. I love them!


I kind of liked this picture of the other town homes to the right of me. I will take some pictures from the back and front of the house some throughout and then you will get a better look.

I've moved! & Prompt #8

OK, I've been busy moving and being exhausted and now as you must know, I'm even more behind than before! I did do some good art journaling last night, but I'm not sure if they are pages I would post. I will be heading over to the new place soon and will work on my prompt pages so that I can hurry and post my pics. I will also post pics of my new house!! Yay, so fun and beautiful! I'll take my camera over today.

OK, so Prompt #8 is: Married or Single.
Which ever one of these you are, do a page about it. What it means to you, pros, cons...
I'm excited to do this one!

Way behind!! & Prompt #7

Sorry! Once again, I have fallen behind on my posts AND my pages!! I'm going to catch up on pages this week and post pics. I made no art last week and that is noooo good!! I might have some from the week before, but they are not from my prompts. My goal at the beginning of the year was to make art everyday. Unfortunately I go in spurts. I would like to do better! Its good for my soul! What are your art goals? I'd like to hear!

Prompt #7--Art (Anything about it. What it does for you, your favorites, how you define art, your goals...) Have fun and lets all catch up!!

Art Journal Prompt #6

This weeks prompt is: Something I learned today. (or this week.)

I will post my page from prompt #5 ASAP. It has a great story to go along with it!

Art Journal Prompt #5

OK, this week's prompt is "Found Object(s)"
Use any item(s) you might find laying around not in your own home. Glue, tape, tie, sew or modge podge them into your page. The page can be about anything you want!