Beauty For Ashes

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  • Asemic Writing: An Expressive Art

    Asemic Writing: An Expressive Art

    What Is Asemic Writing?

    Asemic writing is an abstract writing form that looks similar to words but has no meaning. Think of it as abstract word art.

    It is great for art journals, mixed media or adding text to paintings and other works of art. The brain enjoys this kind of relaxing activity because it requires very low amount of thought process to produce, making it ideal for use in expressive art.

    Expression For Brain Health

    Asemic writing can be beneficial to your brain in other ways such as processing anxiety, depression, grief and other emotional struggles. Your brain has a hard time processing these emotions and needs a safe way to express them. Using this writing, you can learn to let go and find emotional release from these and other hard experiences.

    Emotional Expression

    This kind of writing can be helpful in expressive art because it is a way of writing out your feelings without using words. During an emotional time, words can seem futile or hard to express. That’s when an expression form like asemic writing comes into play.

    Using mark making and a similar way of writing language can help you process the emotion without the added work or pressure of finding words to say.

    There are times you just don’t want to write anything except scribbles when you are full of anxiety and worry or you feel confused. Scribbling is a similar way of expressing oneself and encourages a relief of anxious thoughts and emotions without actually writing words down. See my other post on scribbling for more information on this helpful expressive form of creating.

    Artistic Expression

    Asemic writing can mean anything. It can be interpreted as any word or meaning you decide. It is primarily used as an artistic form for artists to use in paintings or works but it can be used by itself as the art piece.

    Asemic writing could be called the language of our brain, which is just as important as the letters and numbers that we learned in school. The familiarity of expressing language in the form of writing helps our brain to find and discover how we see the world around us.

    Learn Creative Expression

    Asemic writing can help you learn your own creative style and what kind of lines and marks you prefer such as curves, sharp or round edges, long lines, short lines, etc.

    The language of the brain must go hand in hand with the language of our mouths. We seek to understand one another and ourselves, and in an action such as asemic writing, we will discover more about ourselves and how to relate to others beyond the language barriers of words.

    Cultural Expression

    Asemic writing is a universal form of expression allowing for all languages and cultures to experience this type of expression.

    One of the hardest things for people learning a new language or culture is expression as they try to understand how to find the words to convey their feelings to others. Asemic writing can be beneficial to those who are trying to assimilate to a new culture and language. Immigrants from war torn countries or traumatic backgrounds can be encouraged and find healing by using asemic writing in a therapeutic art environment.

    Permanent Inscription

    There is a scripture in the Bible that talks about God inscribing the name of Israel upon the palm of His hands so that He will never forget them. I like to think of this verse as a way of showing that God inscribes each of our names in his hands because we are each important as his children on this Earth.

    It is He who writes our stories, it is He who adds meaning to our stories and gives us meaning in our lives. If you think of something inscribed you think something being carved into stone or some other form of solid material. There is a permanence to that inscription; it never leaves; it can’t be erased.

    The same idea goes with how God inscribes our names in His mind, His hands. It is always before His eyes, permanent and cannot be erased. Imagine that, you cannot be erased from His hands. He created you and your unique qualities. He desires to see you healed and whole. Allow Him to inscribe this truth on your heart.

    Childlike Expression

    Imagine a time when as a child you would enjoy scribbling pretending you were writing. It was a fun way to express yourself and also to learn about the ways in which we write and learn language.

    Asemic writing can help you to return to this simple feeling of enjoyment playing with writing and not having to think about what you are writing. There’s no pressure to produce actual words for what you may be feeling or wanting to convey.

    The act of producing marks that resemble language, helps your cognitive ability to process emotions and enhances your self confidence.

    As I mentioned before this kind of writing is great for art journaling, painting, backgrounds for painting, backgrounds for drawing, and as artwork itself. Follow this link to see artist Heather Neilson who has used asemic writing in her artworks.

    Playing with creative expression is most important in expressive art. If you are not allowed to play you do not find the best ways of expression for yourself.

    It allows you to liberate your hands, your mind, and your emotions to create freely without judgment. You are able to do away with strict rules of how a work of art should turn out.

    Perhaps you might feel like you are not an artist and have no creativity, but I’m here to tell you expressive art will help you open up your creative side. I encourage you to try out asemic writing in your artwork this week, or month. Fun and exploration await!

  • How To Use Vision/Mood Boards To Create Positive Vibes In Your Life

    As an Amazon Affiliate, I receive a commission on products mentioned in this blog post at no extra cost to you! I only recommend items I know are great and would be helpful to you, or items I already use. Read my full disclosure here. 

    How Vision And Mood Boards Work

    Mood boards and vision boards are a great way to add creativity and positive thinking to any part of the year, even the transition of seasons or a transition time in your own life. 

    A vision board is a board for making future goals a priority and helps you focus on taking steps to reach those goals. 

    A mood board is a board to set a certain mood for creative ideas such as designs or color palettes. Mood boards can also be used to create a positive perspective for yourself throughout your year. 

    What To Use In A Vision/Mood Board Creation

    I typically use items or images, colors or quotes I am drawn to when I create my mood boards. My mood boards also can be used like a vision board if the colors, quotes, images and such are related to a goal I have for myself. Here are some beautiful items you can use for your board. 

    You can also cut out magazine images and hand letter your quotes if you like. You can also create color swatches with paints or markers of your own. Stop by your local hardware store for beautiful color combinations in the paint chip section.

    Here are Some of the Best Gel Pens I love To use on Black paper. Quotes written on black paper with white or gold gel pen would look lovely on your board.

     

    How To create A vision/mood board

    I’d like to teach you how to use a Vision/mood board for yourself. It is a positive and relaxing experience to create one and can set you on a path to positive thinking And a fresh outlook. 

    The first thing you will want to do is find a corkboard or some board you can use to attach images, swatches of fabric or colors, papers, quotes, maybe even textures like a piece of fiber or yarn, a feather or a leaf. 

    Usually cork board is best for this as you can use thumb tacks to attach the items. You can use cardboard or poster board too. If you want to be able to change your mood board out you have to use something that allows you to remove the images and items easily. Here’s a great Alternative to cork board to get you started and some great textures too. 

    Next find some push pins that are suitable for your board. There are so many decorative push pins out there to use so you have lots of options. Here are some pretty ones. 

    Use your images, textures, quotes and colors you have chosen to create a lovely vision or mood board. Lay down your design first before you pin them. You can choose a theme such as nature, spring, hope, positive vibes, specific goals and more. You tailor it to your needs. 

    How Therapeutic Can The Boards Be for you?

    A vision or mood board is a very therapeutic activity to do for yourself. It creates an atmosphere of self care as you choose items that are bringing you joy, giving you motivation and helping you reach your goals. Hang up your vision/mood board where you can view it daily and be reminded of what brings you joy or what steps to remember to reach a goal. 

    I hope you enjoyed this simple post and short tutorial. You can receive my free vision board tutorial with images through this link here. 

    Have fun building your boards!

    Here’s a Great, Highly Reviewed vision Board Kit by Mindmellow To Get You Started.

  • Your Brain On Scribbles

    Your Brain On Scribbles

    How To Build A Better Brain With Scribbling

    As children, we have all doodled and scribbled on many surfaces such as walls, books, paper and even furniture much to the chagrin of our loving parents. 

    Image by Elisa from Pixabay

    Scribbles are an integral part of every person’s life if you think about it. Scribbles are the beginnings of writing. They are a way to express unbridled discovery and freedom within your world, and a boost to your creative appetite. 

    When did scribbles become off limits for you? Perhaps in school when your teacher made you feel ashamed for scribbling instead of coloring inside the lines. Perhaps when you were disciplined for scribbling too much on the wall at home. Perhaps when you felt you could no longer safely express yourself with freedom and abandon. Your scribbling days are not over. You still have that little artist inside awaiting to express with freedom. I invite you to open yourself up to this possibility again. You will be amazed at how restorative scribbling can truly be. 

    What Scribbling Does for Your Brain

    Scribbles help to release frustration and stress. They also enhance your cognitive ability to solve problems. New neural pathways are built when you practice doodling and scribbling. These new neural pathways are then able to help you become quicker and more responsive in your reactions and thought processes. 

    Image by Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay

    Scribbling builds creative thinking as well. It is a scientifically proven fact that doodling while listening to important lectures or something which requires great focus, tends to encourage better focus and the absorption of important information. 

    Productivity and creativity get a boost from scribbles and doodles as well..

    Patterns encourage calm and order

     When you scribble you find patterns in your scribbles that you are attracted to and patterns that will help calm you. Patterns are the brains way of making sense and order in a chaotic world. Scribbling enhances the brains ability to recognize patterns. Your Brain may then repeat the patter  as it feels comfortable to do so. 

    Recycle your scribbles

     Don’t be afraid to reuse scribbles in other works of art such as collage or art journals. 

    Art journals are one of the best ways to destress and express your emotions using art. Scribbles make for great backgrounds or additions to images. 

    Image by Laura Miller: Art Journal

    Scribbles for pain therapy

    Scribbling is also a great way to deal with physical pain. Creating a focus for your mind that helps distract from the pain you are dealing with. As your brain receives the pain messages you are releasing the mental build up of anxiety and stress through scribbling.

    Your scribbles can be small and focused or large strokes to express how intense your pain is feeling. 

    For more on therapeutic art for physical pain, listen to my podcast episode here. 

    Try It out Today

    Start scribbling and notice the improvements in your stress levels, your thought processes and your creative ideas.

    For more information on how I can help you discover how to scribble and use Expressive art as a therapeutic practice, follow this link

  • What Is Expressive Art Therapy And How It Can Help You

    What Is Expressive Art Therapy And How It Can Help You

    People do not often think of art as a therapy for mental and emotional health. Although this is getting more popular in recent years. In this post i want to inform you of the origins of Art as a therapy and how it can benefit you.

    Where it all began

    Art as therapy began in the early to mid 1940s. Margaret Naumburg and her sister Florence Cane used art therapy and saw great results in mental health institutions and in schools. Margaret first discovered the usefulness of art as a therapeutic approach when diagnosing and treating those with mental disorders. She believed art could help subconscious behaviors to come forward in the individual.

    Her sister Florence worked as an art teacher with children in schools where she used art as a therapy for children’s emotional expression. Florence was greatly influenced by Carl Jung  and the symbolic use of art to express emotions and subconscious ideas. She also believed art expression was linked to the physical movement of the body and would often incorporate movement into the act of drawing or painting with her students. Free flowing expression was a key component in her way of teaching art. 

    In contrast, Today therapeutic art is used in the mental health industry as well as schools, medical hospitals, online communities and residential communities. Wherever a need for safe emotional expression and healing may be.

    How Can Art Help You?

    Perhaps you’ve stumbled upon this blog and have no idea what art therapy is or how it could help you. Let me start by saying that therapeutic art is for everyone. Anyone, no matter of skill level can benefit.

    Art has the ability to be a voice for you. When words do not cut it to express your emotion, that’s where creating art can step in. Expression of your emotions is so important, it is what helps you heal and release the pain, trauma and stress of any situation. 

    WHat I Can Offer You Here

    My work here at Beauty For Ashes is along the same lines as that of Florence Cane. I believe expressive art can be extremely helpful in emotional regulation of both adults and children. Many times words are not enough to help people release or express their pent up emotions and stresses. Art encourages the action of expression while creating a positive insight into oneself and the emotions attached to that expression. 

    While I am not an art therapist, I have studied psychology and art together and have personally experienced the wonderful healing tool art is. I consider myself an expressive and healing art guide or instructor. I have had many years of teaching art as a skill as well and even in those classes have seen art become a great outlet for people to find encouragement and healing. 

    If you are interested in the work I do here and would like more information, please check out these pages. I offer affordable digital art guides as e-books to help you learn to use art as a therapeutic outlet. Please feel free to check them out! 

    I am also available to create a custom e-book for your specific situation packed with helpful prompts, easy ways to create simple art, and where to find supplies. You may contact me by email at lauram@beaut4ashes.com 

  • Layered Life- Mixed Media For Expression

    Layered Life- Mixed Media For Expression

    Layers Exercise For Self Expression

    Today I want to share with you a fun and uplifting exercise. This exercise is all about using layers to express your life story.

    Your life story is full of layers! Layers of good and bad, pain and joy, hope and fear. These are the things that make you who you are! The intent in this expressive art exercise is to teach you to see how beautiful the layers of your life really are and the color and texture that your journey has created in you.

    Do You Feel Stuck at Certain Layers?

    Many times in life we can get very stuck focusing only on one area of our lives. Trauma and pain can cause us to get severely stuck and we never see the beauty that is created in us. This is what the darkness in this world would like to stifle out of us. But the light of the world, God wants you to see how very beautiful your life is. How very treasured. How every layer matters in the making of a beautiful person.

    There Is Hope

    I hope that you are encouraged by this video and exercise today and that it will help you move forward from being stuck in a dark place of hopelessness. God wants you to step forward in faith as you create. Come create and see what healing is revealed in the process.

    Blessings of Beauty

  • How To Refresh Your Mental Health

    How To Refresh Your Mental Health

    What is refreshing your mental health?

    Refreshing. What comes to mind when that word is mentioned? Cool, fresh air, ocean spray and sound, gurgling brooks, fresh, cut grass? So many images can be conjured up when we say or think of the word refreshing.

    Today I want you to think of it in a mental health way. Spring is a great time to “spring clean” your mental health and see what needs refreshed. Refreshing your mental health means taking time for self-care, renewing perspectives on your thought life or the ways in which you manage your mental health, refreshing your environment of home, office and even your relationships.

    Simple Steps To Help Refresh Your Mental Health

    How do you go about refreshing these areas of your mental health? My suggestion is to first sit down with a pen and paper and create a list of all the areas you’d like to improve for your mental health. Your list might look something like this:

    1. Self-care at the end of the day – taking time for a bubble bath
    2. Managing negative thoughts with positive self-talk
    3. Hanging up positive quotes, sayings, artwork at home or office
    4. Making more time for my best friend

    You can be as specific and as detailed as you like with your list. Don’t hold back on what you have observed in yourself that you really need. Emotional and mental needs are so important to your everyday life. Don’t ignore the ways you have been feeling. Address these areas in small segments and you will find that you can refresh and rebuild a strong mental health plan. 

    Now that you have your list you can begin taking small steps to reach those refreshing goals. What is the easiest way for you to go about starting these goals? Look at your calendar and add in the self-care time, renewing your perspective activities, creating a positive space in your home or office, and reaching out to that friend or family member you need more time with. Even if you begin only once a month for each goal, do that. Whatever it takes for you to create a renewing and refreshing habit for your mental health, put your first step forward. Before long you will be feeling refreshed and less stressed by negative feelings and emotions.

    Create Some Refreshing and Positive Artwork For Your Home

    I wanted to give you an idea of how to create some expressive art for your walls.

    Supplies Needed

    Start by grabbing some watercolors at your local arts and crafts stores. Try to get the moist watercolor palettes as they work easier than the dry kind you might be familiar with as a kid. Get some mixed media paper or watercolor paper.

    Painting Your Artwork

    Sit down and use a paintbrush, choose your favorite colors, begin adding your favorite colors to the paper in a pleasing pattern or design you like. Take some time to practice your pattern or design before actually putting it down on paper if you do not feel confident with watercolors. Play with your brush allowing it to guide the flow of your work. Keep using water on your brush. This will help your colors to flow.

    Allow your work to dry and decide how you would like to hang up your work. You can use picture frames, black works well to show off colors, use twine with clothespins to display your work, or keep a sketchbook you can look through daily that holds your favorite paintings.

    How Will This Benefit You?

    The purpose of this exercise is to help you express positive thoughts and emotions as you use colors and patterns that make you feel happy and uplifted. Creating art has scientifically been proven to enhance mental health and positive outlooks on life. Art creation stimulates the areas of the brain that produce endorphins the feel-good hormones, keeps your mental recall and memory sharp, helps you let go of stress and helps create fresh ideas and perspectives in your life and work. Expressing yourself spills over into every area of your life. Your mental health is vitally important and can be helped immensely by the creation of art.

    I hope this short article helped you to be inspired to refresh and renew your mental health this Spring and in all seasons. Please leave me a comment below and let me know if you tried these ideas for yourself.

    Happy refreshing!

  • Block Printing For Fabric For Beginners

    Block Printing For Fabric For Beginners

    (As an amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no cost to you! I only recommend the best items I know are quality and useful for you).

    In this video and mini course I will show you how to design a block print for printing your own fabric.

    First, I’d like to give you some history about what block printing is. Two thousand years ago in China, the first block prints on fabric were created. Artwork and later hand carved messages on paper were printed most often. The popularity and the efficiency of creating block printed work and fabrics soon spread to many other areas in Asia including India. India most often used block printing for creating intricate fabric patterns.

    Europe later acquired the use of the block print for paper and fabrics and thus it spread to the west.

    Block printing as an art can be very satisfying and fun to create. You have the option of carving a woodblock yourself but for the ease of beginning, we will use a soft linoleum instead. Wood can take a lot of time to carve and produces a much different textured look than linoleum. If your heart is set on creating a woodblock, you can try pine wood, or maple they are a softer wood and easier to carve.

    Tools and Linoleum

    You can get linoleum blocks here through the links I provide, or at your local craft store. I suggest a very soft linoleum. These easy to cut blocks are the softest and easiest to cut. Almost like butter.

    You will need tools for carving the linoleum and a tool called a baren to help you when you print your design.

    You will also need fabric. You can absolutely print on t shirts, curtains, pillows, shopping bags, and more. Cotton will take ink the best. Canvas can also be an option but it is better to get a finer and softer canvas material with a tighter weave.

    Ink is also the next tool you will need. You can purchase fabric ink for block printing here. You can also find this at your local craft stores.

    Designing Your Block

    Your first task is to create a design, using paper and pencil. You can trace a design you would like from another source but I encourage you to use your own design. It makes the process that much more fulfilling.

    To get inspiration for your design, you can choose to look at fabrics, patterns in books, in nature, and on Pinterest. Nature is so full of patterns you will love finding them everywhere you look! Take a walk and a sketchbook and see what catches your eye. Play with your pattern and make it something very simple for this beginning project. The simpler the better because an intricate detailed carving will take you awhile to create. If you are ok with taking time then by all means you can make it more intricate.

    I will explain further on the design in the video.

    Go here to sign up for this beginner block printing class! It’s just $12 for a limited time!

    Please let me know if this beginner course helped you! I hope you enjoy it and find inspiration through my tutorials and sessions.

  • 3 Ways Inspiration Boosts Creativity

    3 Ways Inspiration Boosts Creativity

    Inspiration begins as motivating external factors which cause you to create new ideas, products or actions. Inspiration can come in a variety of ways. Every day you are inspired by something in your personal life. That could be watching the sunrise from your kitchen window, hearing the laughter of your children as they play, or reading a favorite quote on your office wall each day. Any number of these types of things can help inspire new and creative ideas in your mind.

    Our minds are constantly working to find new ways to learn and thrive as humans. Inspiration then becomes a very necessary part of who we are. Inspiration is a vital part of realizing our potential.

    Below I would like to give you a list of 3 ways which inspiration can help boost creativity and give you fresh ideas to create work from.

    3 Ways Inspiration Can Boost Your Creativity

    #1. Familiarity enables inspiration- If you are familiar with an object or a place, your chances of finding inspiration are much higher than it would be with an unfamiliar item. Even if you are looking at new objects, reading a new book, looking at a new piece of artwork, your brain is searching for familiarity within that piece. Familiarity helps you to connect to that object, written word or piece if art. Connection then causes you to create something new out of that familiar place or feeling.

    Look through old photos, grab your favorite colors and create a painting or drawing using them, take a walk in your favorite park, listen to a familiar and favorite song, visit family. All these actions will find you becoming inspired to create new things from these familiar moments.

    Read a related post “Creating From Memories”

    #2. Unblocking our minds to be inspired- Often in the busy days of life we tend to get blocked up creatively. We need inspiration to continue to be creative and generate new ideas. Ways to unblock are taking a walk in nature, picking flowers, taking a walk in the city, people watch, doodle and sketch, listen to music, learn a new skill. Study closely the objects you find, the places you go and the people you meet. All these actions will help unblock your mind in order to start creating fresh work. This way of unblocking is helpful in all fields of creative action.

    Read a related post “Free to Fly”

    #3. Inspiration comes From Realizing Potential– Potential can be found in many things from a plastic pop bottle to a page of random musings in your journal. Realizing that potential lies within everything helps to keep the flow of inspiration coming into your life. You have to learn to see with the eyes of potential. What can that plastic bottle become? What can those words in your journal become? What are the possibilities within daily life around you? When you learn to question and dig deeper in this way, inspiration will continually pour into and out of your life.

    Read related post “Learning To See Like An Artist”.

    We Are Vessels Of Inspiration

    We as creative human beings are meant to be vessels of inspiration. Inspiration is a cycle of ideas, creative expression and learning. I hope that you will use these three actions to kindle the fire of inspiration within your heart and mind. May it enhance your creative ideas and produce expressions that will help you learn and grow beyond your expectations.

    Read a related Post “Broken Is Beautiful”

  • Why Does Art Help Stress?

    Why Does Art Help Stress?

    Have you ever wondered why does creative expression help stress? In this post I show you a little bit about why expressive art works for all kind of stress.

    It is my hope that as you read through this website you learn how art can enhance your life and help you to destress. I’d like to go into more detail on how this works though.

    Many people view art as a luxury, a hobby, a fun thing to do. And it can certainly be all those things. But there is alot more to art than that.

    Expressive Art Has Many Mental Health Benefits

    Psychologists and therapists have used art for many years to help clients overcome mental health obstacles. It has been proven to enable clients to release emotional and mental, spiritual and even physical struggles.

    When people express themselves creatively, they are actually creating new pathways for their brain to follow. They are essentially learning how to navigate a new situation much like a baby learns to crawl and eventually walk.

    When your mind and brain are presented with a problem or a stressful situation it can be easy to clam up, keep it all inside and try to protect yourself. This way of coping is very unhealthy. It is better to embrace the situation and learn how to navigate it rather than deny it is there and stuff it away. If you do not embrace it, it will eventually cause greater problems and stress in your life and those around you.

    Your Inner Voice Needs To Be Heard

    Expressive creativity in the form of art creation, enables you to express what you are feeling in a safe and creative environment. The mere expression of what you are going through on paper or in clay or other artistic forms can give you a voice when you may feel you have no way to let it out.

    It enhances your capabilities of coping with great stress by providing a safe outlet for your feelings. In addition to that safety, your brain to begins to think about the situation differently thereby discovering solutions to the problem or release for the stress. This is a very important factor in your emotional well being.

    The Shriek by Edvard Munch Image by Prawny from Pixabay

    Let It Out

    If you have ever felt the need to scream extremely loud and allow the emotions out in this way, imagine that expressive artwork is kind of like a good scream. Only it is on paper, canvas, in clay forms or other art. So instead of giving yourself laryngitis and screaming loudly, you can take that paintbrush and paint it out on your paper or canvas, plunge your hands into clay or a myriad of different ways to express that emotion using art creation.

    I hope this little post gives you an idea of how art can help you with stress and other emotions in your life. Pick up a paintbrush and “scream” or sing, or laugh, or dance… Whatever you need to let out, let it out creatively.

    Check out these other great blog posts on how creativity heals and helps:

    Kintsugi- Broken Is Beautiful

    How Can Creativity Help In Healing Grief?

  • Creating Memorial Jewelry

    Creating Memorial Jewelry

    This post contains affiliate links. When you make a purchase through this blog post, I make a small commission at no cost to you. I only suggest quality materials and affordable materials for you to create with. 

    Image by Markéta Machová from Pixabay

    Bring Your Memories To Your Creation

    Memories are vital when you lose someone close to you. It is your memories that help you to move forward and to continue on in life. Choosing to create a memorial piece of jewelry or wearable art enhances the keeping of your memories of your loved one.

    In this blog post I talk about creating a memorial for your loved one or a remembrance piece of jewelry. I also have some great suggestions where to find memorial jewelry gifts. 

    How Can Memorial Jewelry Help Your Grief?

    There is something special about wearing a piece of jewelry or ornament in honor of your loved one. You may feel closer to your loved one or it may help you when you are feeling their loss very strongly.

    This type of memorial can help you to find closure, because you are able to hold the memory of that person close to you while you move forward with your life and create a new life around your loss.

    How To Create Your Memorial Jewelry

    To create the piece of jewelry you can use things that were part of your loved ones life such as a piece of fabric from a favorite shirt, a few words from a journal, a picture, something they created such as artwork, pieces of jewelry that belonged to them.

    You can also buy jewelry making kits or supplies at the craft store or through this link. These will enable you to have materials already gathered for you that will be easy to put together.

    I wanted to also suggest this beautiful website and custom made jewelry pieces from GetNameNecklace.com where you can purchase really unique items like this beautiful angel wing projection necklace. A projection necklace contains a tiny photo or message inside which you will be able to project onto a surface by holding the charm up to your phone flashlight or another light source. Such a unique and special design! Something to really treasure and remember your loved one by.

    Simple Memorial Art Jewelry Tutorial

    The link below shows a short and very simple video tutorial on my YouTube channel where I will show you how to create a piece of memorial jewelry or wearable memorial art. Let your creativity run wild with this. By allowing your creativity to be released into your project, you are also releasing the pain of grief and channeling that to help you heal and find closure.

    Memorial Art Jewelry Making Tutorial

    Please post in the comments if you tried this project and how it helped you in your grief journey. I’d love to hear about it. 

    In future posts I will be doing more creative memorial making tutorials for you so be sure to join my email list so you don’t miss any of those!

    Blessings of beauty! 

    Laura

  • How Can Creativity Help In Healing Grief?

    How Can Creativity Help In Healing Grief?

    Grief is extremely important. Although in the midst of grief you may feel that emotions overwhelm and crush you, they are a vital part of your road to healing. 

    In the center of your grief there is a place of creativity. Your heart is already looking for ways to move forward, you have a desire to create some new way of coping for yourself. 

    When creating out of your grief, you may not always feel that it makes sense. But that is ok because the whole process of grief often does not make much sense. You really have to allow yourself the freedom to flow with your emotions when you are creating. 

    Creating can take many forms such as art creation. Painting, drawing, collage, etc. Or there is writing. Poetry, journal writing, brain dumping, writing letters, these are all creative actions as well. Even cooking, learning a new skill, gardening, setting up memorial space for your loved one. Anything that takes a step toward healing for you. This is creating out of your grief. 

    Grief Takes Time and Changes Your Life

    The process of all this creating and grieving may take many weeks, months or years but it never has to feel rushed. You will constantly be creating into your new form of life without your loved one. You will adapt and make changes as needed and you will grow stronger as you create this new environment 

    You will be adapting and learning new ways to cope and to love again. Creative action is healing for you. It is a catalyst for binding up the wounds of heart and mind. It is able to spur you on to continue this life when you feel it really isn’t worth it. 

    Pain is A Tool To Create With

    Pain is a tool, and from pain can come some of the deepest felt and most beautiful creations known to man. Think of Vincent Van Gogh. He was grieving the loss of his identity and his depression was crushing him. Yet out of this man’s deep set pain, he created some of the most beautiful paintings we know. 

    Or what about some of the great poets? Many of them created beautiful poetry out of the deep grief of their life and situation. 

    Artists, musicians, poets, writers, and so many more built beauty from a place of pain and grief. Perhaps their grief was not the death of an individual, but a loss of some kind nonetheless. 

    If your grief is because of a loss of health, relationship, job loss or other loss there is just as much intense emotion within those areas of grief as there is in the death of a loved one. So don’t discredit these kinds of losses when you need healing in these areas. 

    Let me show you a few ways to get your creative juices flowing as you find healing for your loss. 

    Start here. 

    Watch this short clip of a collage I created of my sister. I truly believe this kind of art creation can help you process and find closure for your grief. I talk mostly about siblings here because this is a clip from my e-book on sibling loss. But the same concept applies to any loss.

    Collage For Finding Closure

    Writing Letters

    Letter writing is a great way to create from your place of loss. You can compose a letter to the person or even things such as a job you lost that will help you process your grief. 

    Use these three easy steps to help guide your letter.

    1. Start your letter out with something positive like a memory or story you would like to share with your loved one or the thing you lost. Think of your loss as though it were an individual, which may be the case, and that individual would be able to read this letter. 
    1. Talk about what is in your heart, where you are right now with letting them go, how much you love and miss them, how angry, sad, fearful or helpless you feel.
    1. Close your letter by giving yourself permission to feel all these emotions as you work through the loss. If your loss is a loved one, tell them that you will carry on their legacy of a beautiful life and try to move one step at a time forward in life. Despite what you feel now. 

    If your loss is a job or relationship talk about how you will move forward and what you have learned about yourself and letting go.

    Spending Time In Creative Environments

    Creative environments can also help you to heal from grief. Going to an art museum, a symphony, a book club, an art class, a knitting or weaving class, an open mic night of poetry at your local coffee shop. There are many options for you to choose from. These environments will help you heal because you will learn new perspectives from them. You will recognize yourself in the work being made or presented and you will discover new strengths inside of you. 

    Art Journals for Grief

    You can also use Art Journals to document and contain your grief. There’s no right or wrong way to do an art journal. You can be as messy or as neat as you like. You can represent emotions with color, words, magazine cutouts, sketches. Whatever way you desire to express can be in an art journal. You can use the art journal to look back on and see how far you’ve come in your healing. For more information on art journaling, download my free guide to get you started.

    Nature Walks

    Another great way to create out of grief is to take a walk in nature and collect seeds, branches, feathers, rocks, tree bark, etc. Anything that you find interesting or that speaks to you. Use these items in a collage, your art journal, or simply display them as a reminder of your thoughts on that day. 

    Perhaps photography of nature would be a way for you to express your emotions in grief. Taking photos of things that are symbolic for you or have great meaning, is a special way to find healing and new perspective. 

    Nature is constantly renewing and has much to teach in the way of hope and renewal. Sitting quiet in the woods with your thoughts and listening to the gentle breeze or the twittering of birds can help renew your soul. We have a connection to nature as humans which gets lost quite often in our world of technology and fast paced society. I encourage you to take time to get out and connect with nature again. It really does put grief and pain into a hopeful light. 

    I hope these ideas and suggestions have been a help for you wherever you are in your grief journey. Please feel free to comment and ask me questions if you would like to know more on this subject or if you found something particularly useful for you. I’d love to hear from you. 

    Blessings of beauty on your day! 

  • The Art Of Kintsugi- Broken Is Beautiful

    The Art Of Kintsugi- Broken Is Beautiful

    Kintsugi

    Kintsugi is the Japanese art of reclaiming broken pottery. Kintsugi has been called a redemptive art form. A piece of broken pottery is fused back together with a mixture of gold or silver dust and a glue like substance. The piece of broken pottery is then able to be used again and has a renewed beauty that adds to its value.

    Kintsugi masters are artists who create highly valuable pieces of pottery from the shards of discarded or unwanted cups and bowls. What these masters create is deeply beautiful and a testament to their artistry but also to finding beauty and usefulness in the broken.

    What a lovely example of how the hard places in our lives, the places that break us or shatter our hearts, can be redeemed and used for good again.

    Any area we struggle with such as forgiveness, fear or depression, grief, loss, self loathing, and more these are able to be redeemed for good and can be useful in creating a better life.

    This can be achieved through learning to see your broken areas with new eyes. Understanding that brokenness is not ugly, but beautiful. That usefulness and productive actions can come from a broken place despite what it looks like.

    Kintsugi Bowl

    My Personal Story

    In my personal life, there have been very difficult moments that left me broken and shattered. I couldn’t see at the time what or how these times could be useful or redeemed. In the midst of the struggle my eyes could only see one thing, the pain.

    But as I processed through my pain, allowed it to surface and be let out of my heart, I began seeing a healing take place. I allowed God to take the pain I was experiencing and give me new ways to view what I had gone through. Just like the shattered cup or bowl. All that shattered glass seemed like it should just be discarded and heaped into the trash pile. But I had to learn to see beyond the shattered to beautiful possibility.

    One of these difficult moments was my sister’s death from colon cancer. I never imagined my family and I would say goodbye to her at 37 years old. I was deeply shattered by this and I could not see any beauty in it. How could I get past seeing my sister suffer and die at such a young age?

    That was four years ago now and although the pain still remains from losing her it is most definitely wrapped in a different viewpoint.

    I now think of my sister in eternity where she is free and happy and no pain or sorrow shackles her. I have allowed her life and her death to inspire me to write an e-book on creatively dealing with sibling loss. You can find the link here to that e-book.

    I chose to see the brokenness as something potentially beautiful. I chose to understand that God had purpose in this shattered place.

    The name of my website and business is Beauty For Ashes. The reason I write and the reason I bring you blog posts such as these is to help you understand the Kintsugi idea of redemption. That the ashes of life, no matter what they are can indeed be redeemed and made into beautiful things in your life.

    Crushed To Be Made Whole Again

    Another point I would like to touch on is that Jesus Christ who became our Savior more than 2000 years ago, His redemption of our souls is another great example of how brokenness can redeem. Jesus was broken on the cross physically for our spiritual redemption from darkness and sin. Scripture speaks about his brokenness in this way ( Isaiah 53:5)

    But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed

    Vs 5 talks about Him being crushed for our iniquities. When you think of the word crushed do you think of hearing glass being shattered or pottery being crushed under foot? That tell tale sound of crunching as it is ground into powder beneath that heavy pressure. The weight of our sins was the heavy pressure that killed Jesus on the cross. Every single evil thing, every sin of our hearts, every sin ever committed from the beginning of time and onward into the future. None but the Son of God could hold that much pressure.

    He allowed it to crush Him so that we would not need to be crushed and pay for our sins. He was crushed so that we might be able to experience His redemptive love and understand that God truly does make beauty from brokenness.

    The beauty of His redemption was that He brought everything back together by His gift of eternal life and salvation from darkness and sin. Those are the gold threads that fill the fractures of our brokenness before God. Jesus redeemed me and you from every sin, every chain that holds us captive.

    You are called to come out of your chains into the freedom of Jesus Christ. Come out of your brokenness and be healed. Come out and be redeemed as a beautiful vessel for the Spirit of the Living God to dwell in. Sin and sorrow, fear and pain, all these things will hold you captive forever if you do not surrender the broken pieces to Jesus.

    I encourage you to surrender them into His hands and see what a beautiful vessel He will make of you!

    New Eyes To See

    You have the ability to see your brokenness with new and refreshed eyes. Each day take a moment to consider what could become beautiful out of your particular situation. You will see and be surprised as time moves on what beauty can come of the ashes and shattered dreams and moments of your life.

    Blessings of Beauty

  • All Things New

    All Things New

    Renewed Life

    Jesus Makes All Things New

    Luke 5:17-31

    Looking For A New Life?

    Does life sometimes feel stagnant for you? Like you need a refreshing outlook or a complete makeover? Jesus desires to do this for you.

    Jesus came to make all things new. There are many wonderful examples across His ministry that point to this. In Luke 5:17 through 31 there are two great examples of this.

    Forgiveness Leads to Healing

    A paralyzed young man desired to be healed and his friends tried taking him to Jesus in the town Jesus was preaching in. (vs. 18)They could not reach Jesus though because there were so many people crowding around Jesus. Jesus was inside a house so they climbed to the roof and took ropes and let the paralyzed man in his bed down right at Jesus feet. (vs. 19)

     Jesus was impressed by their faith and persistence, and he saw how much this young man wanted to be healed. He looked with deep compassion on him and said, “young man, your sins are forgiven.” (vs. 20)

     Many times, in those days, sickness or affliction was thought to be a judgement of God upon someone for their sins. Have you ever felt like that? That God was judging you with illness or bad situations.  Jesus came to turn that mindset completely around. He showed that God was full of mercy towards people and desired to forgive them and heal them. Mercy and forgiveness is healing emotionally as well as physically. Imagine the relief and weight of guilt gone from that person as they heard, “your sins are forgiven” from the lips of the Son of God.

    Pharisees who were the religious leaders in Israel during that time, were shocked Jesus would forgive sins and thought to themselves, “Who does he think he is?! Only God can forgive sins!!”. (vs. 21)

     Jesus read their thoughts and said, “which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven, or take up your bed and walk? So that you may know the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.” (vs. 22-23)

    Truth Outweighs The Lies

    You may not have pharisees that are speaking out against a new life for you, but you might have mental “pharisees” or thoughts which hold you back from the truth. When you understand the truth of what Jesus is saying, you will be free from these chains of paralyzing thoughts. This truth will give you a new life outlook and perspective.

    He tells the paralyzed young man to stand, take his bed and go home. The man jumps up immediately and goes home. The people who saw the miracle were amazed and praised God. (vs. 25-26)

    Jesus is telling the young man to stand in faith that he will be able to walk. I imagine the young man was frightened at first and unsure because he didn’t know how to stand. He may have thought, “Is this guy crazy? I can’t walk!” But as he felt the power of Christ Jesus’ words coursing through him, he was immediately able to stand and walk home.

    Believing the truth can do that for you. It can boost your faith to a level that anything is possible. Because God says it is possible. When God speaks, He does not lie. (Hebrews 6:18)

    Called Into New Life

    The second example of newness comes through the calling of the disciple Matthew. Matthew was a reviled tax collector, often called “scum” by the people. Jesus calls him to be his disciple and follow him. Matthew jumps at the chance for a new beginning. The scripture says “He left everything and followed him.” (vs. 28) Tax collectors were some of the wealthier set of people in the communities at that time. They also had to work alongside the Romans who were occupying Israel at the time. This contributed to the many negative thoughts on their reputation.

    From Hopeless Scum to Hope and Mercy

    Again, the pharisees criticize what Jesus is doing. They ask him why he is eating and drinking with such scum! (vs.30) Jesus says “It is not the healthy people who need a doctor- sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” (vs. 31-32)

    Jesus chooses to create a new life for this sinner and set him free from the bondage of being “the scum” of society.

    Jesus doesn’t allow the self-righteousness of the pharisees to stifle the mercy and forgiveness of his love. He teaches them that he has the authority to speak new life into being and to turn someone society calls “hopeless and nothing but scum” into someone full of hope and mercy.

    Jesus Speaks Newness and Healing To You

    Jesus can also speak to your disease, your paralysis whether of body or mind or heart. He can and has forgiven you for all mistakes and sins you have done over the years, he is ready to create something new of your life. All you must do is ask for His cleansing power to wash over you and to heal the broken areas of your heart. Ask Him to come and abide in you so that you can abide in Him with a new perspective and a new hope for life.

    In your sketchbook create a sketch of what you feel newness may look like. Perhaps a colorful sunrise, a flower bursting from the soil, clouds parting with sunlight. Reflect on what newness means to you and how Jesus has made all things new in your life.  

    Pray as you sketch and ask Jesus to help you see yourself with His perspective of Mercy and Love.

    Blessings of Beauty

    Laura

  • The Purity of Christ

    The Purity of Christ

    When we think of Jesus and the Christmas story, we see from the very beginning the purity of His birth and nature. 

    Pure From Conception

    His birth is announced by the angel Gabriel, a messenger from God himself. He tells young Mary, who is a virgin, that the baby that will grow inside her will be conceived by the Holy Spirit by supernatural means. (Luke 1:34-35) Thus begins the purity of Jesus life. He was not made by human conception, but was breathed into existence inside Mary’s womb by the very breath of God. 

    No Sin in Him

    The second place we see the purity of Christ is in the fact that he knew no sin, but he became sin on the cross for us, dying so that our sins would be erased.

     2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”

    Jesus, our sacrificial Lamb

    As we looked at in the previous post, Jesus is considered the sacrificial Lamb. Sacrificial lambs had no blemishes or scars, nothing to defile them. They were then offered up as sin offerings to God in the temple. But because Christ came as our sacrificial Lamb, He was pure, spotless and without blemish. He then could offer himself as a sacrifice for our sins and be the bridge which would repair the relationship between man and God. 

    Pure Redeemer

    We each need redemption, and redemption cannot come by the works we do or the ways of darkness. Redemption must come from a pure and spotless Savior who has no blemish and is worthy to be our redeemer. Ephesians 1:7 says, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace”


    Think on these things as you sketch out a representation of Christ Jesus’ purity and what it means to you. I portrayed His purity as a bright star because He is a light in our darkness, and His purity and truth shine brighter than any sin we carry in our lives. Remember that His light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. (John 1:5)

    Enjoy the video below and gather inspiration from it for your own sketch!

    Blessings of Beauty!

  • Discovering Jesus Through Your Sketchbook pt.2

    Discovering Jesus Through Your Sketchbook pt.2

    I am happy to bring you a new video and new viewpoint on Jesus’ life.

    Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a pretty small and insignificant place at the time of His birth. But was it really that insignificant? Not at all! Bethlehem was a city in the North of Israel where sheep were raised. The firstborn male lambs were set aside as sacrificial lambs for the temple in Jerusalem. In those days the Jewish people would sacrifice a Lamb for the atonement of their sins with God.

    Jesus is called ” The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” in John 1:29 by Jesus’ cousin John the Baptist. The significance of little Bethlehem is amazing if you look at it as the fulfillment of Jesus as the Lamb of God. Micah 5:2-5 also calls the coming Messiah (Jesus) a shepherd of his flock (verse 4). So we see these two references come together pointing to the great significance of the small city of Bethlehem.

    I chose to create a Lamb in my Sketchbook with a crown of Bethlehem city itself on it’s head.

    You interpret in your own Sketchbook what you have felt about the significance of the Lamb and Bethlehem. Or you are welcome to follow along with me in the video. Be blessed as you learn more about Jesus!

  • Discovering Jesus Through Your Sketchbook

    Discovering Jesus Through Your Sketchbook

    Advent Begins

     The season of Advent begins and we start to celebrate the birth of Jesus. If you are a church-goer oh, you have experienced the celebration of Advent, if you are not a church-goer perhaps you have never heard of Advent. Advent goes like this:

     Each week part of the story of Christ’s birth is read from scripture and a candle is lit in symbolism for that week. The weeks are leading up to Christmas Day when Christ’s birth is celebrated. 

    These explorations in art will be about Advent in a way but it will also be an ongoing look into the life of Jesus and who he really was. Looking at what the Bible says, what historical commentary says on him and what other resources say about his life. If you have ever been curious about Jesus or what his life meant on this Earth this exploration is for you.

    A New Season

    This is the beginning of a new season. Of course it is the beginning of winter but it’s also the beginning of a new season emotionally and spiritually. 

    During the season you should discover joy, peace, and deep love as you gather with friends and family, and take time to reflect on the past year. Reflection can also include spiritual reflection of where your life is with God. What purposes he has fulfilled or planned for you. Or who is God and Jesus in general.

     New beginnings bring new insight into many areas of life. Let this time of discovering who Jesus is also be a reflection for your spiritual life. 

    Understanding Who Jesus Is

    Jesus was more than the Bible stories that are read each Christmas. He was not a myth but a real person who lived and who embodies the Truth we all seek to understand. He was a son, a friend, a teacher, a carpenter or an architect as some historians believe, an example of deep love and forgiveness, a leader of justice, a truth speaker, a healer, a creator, and so much more. The Bible says there were so many things done by Jesus and said by Jesus there are not enough books to contain them all. 

    Over the next few months we will be exploring the word of God and other resources about Jesus. We will use visual art as an expression of what we learn. Creating Watercolor sketches, drawing and more will open up a new way to learn and gain understanding. There will be much use of abstract art and symbolism to help sketch out what we are learning. Don’t be put off by this, it will be very simple and intuitive. Nothing hard. I will post a new video every couple of weeks and link to it or embed it in the posts for you to watch. 

    I want this to be personal for each one of you. Sketch or paint what you feel helps you understand the subject matter easily. You can follow what I am doing in the videos but you are not required to. Have fun, experiment, play and take notes afterwards too. 

    It is my hope that you will enjoy exploring the life of Jesus in this way using art. Creating visual examples for yourself to look back on will enable new perspectives. You will have renewed interest and understanding about Jesus and His relationship to you. 

    For Religious and Non Religious Alike

    This little journey in discovering Jesus is for people of faith as well as people who do not believe. This is to gain a deeper understanding and to learn about Jesus and what He is and how He is connected to history, life and each of us personally. 

    You will learn so much, and be able to discuss much more in depth when Jesus comes up in conversation. 

    Come Discover.

    Jesus is waiting to be discovered by you, He is opening a door that you can choose to step through and learn more about yourself and Him. He desires to teach you what this journey of life means for you and that you are not alone in it. 

    So come discover Him, discover history, discover hope, discover answers and greater perspective. Discover the person of Jesus and all He stands for. 

    This week’s sketching is taken from John 1:1-5 speaking about Jesus as the living Word of God. Enjoy and have fun! Please leave comments and questions I would love to hear from you! You can also subscribe to my Youtube channel just follow the video link below.

    Have a beauty filled week!

  • Sketching Your Garden Growth

    Sketching Your Garden Growth

    A few weeks ago in June I had posted on creating a garden journal. This week I want to talk about filling your journal with sketches and notes on your garden. How is it growing? Are some plants doing well and others poorly? Have you noticed any specific details that you found interesting about a plant? There are many prompts you can use to spark a journal entry.

    Lets start with How Is It Growing?

    My own garden seems to be growing fairly well, except my spinach. My husband and I found that spinach needs cooler weather to grow so it has been quite a hot summer here and the spinach has not enjoyed the heat at all.

    I went out and sketched and took some notes on my growth of the garden. Sketches don’t need to look beautiful just so you have an idea of what you are looking at and how well it is growing. You can even note the colors and how dark or light the color of the plants are. Obviously flowers will have more color to take notes on as well.

    I will give you an example here of how my beet plants, swiss chard and my flowers called Coreopsis, Nasturtium and Calendula are doing.

    filling your journal with sketches and notes on your garden.
    filling your journal with sketches and notes on your garden.

    I used watercolor for each of these sketches. You can choose to use whatever medium you like, pencils, paint, pastel, pen and ink.

    Interesting Details

    Look at some of your flowers and note the blossoms, sketch the blossoms, leaves and colors to gather information for next years gardens also.

    As you can see above, I sketched several flowers together and made small notes on the side.

    Calendula and rose did really well this year in their spots I planted them. I plan to cultivate them more in these areas next year. Calendulas will continuously come back year after year they are annuals when planted in a garden bed. As will rose bushes. I love how small and petite my tea rose is.

    filling your journal with sketches and notes on your garden.

    Much More Than Just Green Growth

    I wanted to share some personal insight I gained while our garden has been growing. Remember that what you do creatively is a reflection of what is happening in your life today. Here is an excerpt from my garden journal on growth beyond the flowers.

    As our garden grows, we are growing too. Our hearts are growing closer as a family and blossoming with love and appreciation for one another. We see the growth of God’s many blessings upon our lives and the beauty of His work in our hearts daily.

    Every once in awhile a hard, dry day might come along with no thirst quenching water but we hold out hope. It comes again, trickling down sooner than we expected.

    Some growth needs more nutrients abd we try to feed these areas to help it along. Often we do not expect the new growth to be as good as it is but we are pleasantly surprised.

    A garden is a labor of love in so many more ways than just the love of plants. It is a beautiful metaphor and example of God’s love, family love and the growth, fruitfulness and beauty we all possess on the inside. And that beautiful thing on the inside is called Potential.

    There will be much more to sketch and take notes on as time goes on to Fall. I will keep updating you on the process. You start a process of your own and let me know how you enjoy it! I hope you have fun filling your journal with sketches and notes on your garden.

  • Learn to See Like an Artist

    Learn to See Like an Artist

    There are many ways to see the world. If you are looking for new ways to broaden your perspective, start learning to see color shape and value like an artist.  

    What does it mean to see like an artist? It means viewing shape, color, contours, every day items and more with eyes of potential and beauty. It really is not hard to see like an artist. You just have to train your mind to think in this way.  

    Learning to See Shape

    • Learning to see shape 

    Seeing shapes around us every day is so very easy. We are so used to seeing those familiar shapes in our day to day that it becomes second nature to us. Triangles, squares, circles, and more! Teaching yourself to see these shapes again can be fun and imaginative, helping you to see the world more creatively.  

    Look around you for 5 shapes near you at this moment. Take a pencil and paper and draw the shape you see in front of you. It doesn’t need to be perfect, just a general idea. You can even just draw a triangle, square or circle if you don’t feel confident enough drawing the actual shape. This exercise will enable you to see much clearer every day shapes and how everything around us is a shape.  

    Learning to See Color

    There are many more varieties of color in one single object than first meets the eye. When you really begin to look at an object with the eyes of an artist you will come to be familiar with the colors that stand out and the more subtle variations.  

    Look at an object and squint your eyes, can you see more colors than you first thought? Next, study your object closely and at a distance. You will notice the warm and cool colors which the light brings out and how the value of shading and shadows cause color variations as well.  

    If you enjoy playing with paint, find a color wheel at your local art store, some acryclic paint and learn to mix new colors. Try this free tutorial of mine to help you mix colors with confidence!  

    Learning to See Contours and Lines

    Contours can also be described as lines. Lines are everywhere too just like shapes. The lines of a tree’s leaves, the lines of a house or building, the contours of a human hand are all great examples of how line and contour can help your artist’s eye.  

    Take a piece of paper or sketchbook and head outside and look around for any line or contour examples. There’s a lot in nature itself. The edges of a bird nest are often lined with grass and twigs. Perfect line subjects. Rocks have beautiful curves and edges that are great contour line examples.  

     So you see that all these ways of looking at the world can enhance your creativity and your every day viewing experience. Learning to see color, shape and value like an artist teaches you to view the world with a much wider and colorful lens. Have fun this summer doing these exercises and learn to see with new eyes!  

  • Garden Journaling

    Garden Journaling

    Keeping a record of things is as old as the hills. People have journaled or kept records since the beginning of time. It’s such an important act. Not only for practical purposes but also for learning and being inspired to create new things. Growth is one of the many benefits of Journaling, whether its you or your garden benefiting.

    Garden Journaling is a new venture for me but one that I know will be beneficial in the long run! So come join me today as I teach you to create your very own garden journal from scratch!! It’s so very easy and you can even use repurposed materials.

    watch the video below for instructions on how to create your garden journal.

    Garden Journal DIY


    You’ll need paper
    Paper bag lunch size
    String or twine
    An awl
    Yarn needle
    Watercolors
    Old book page

    So when beginning a garden journal, you want to be able to fill it with plans and ideas, notes and observations, favorite flower or plant lists, growth charts and more! So the paper you use could be a bit thicker such as sketchbook paper or even some graph paper for drawing out plans.

    Have fun and enjoy this tutorial! Leave me some comments below if you enjoyed this!

    Blessings of Beauty

    Laura

  • Love Is In the Details

    Love Is In the Details

    What comes to mind when you view an intricate pattern, work of art or the intricate beauty of nature?
    Do you wonder how long it took to create, marvel at the patience of the artist, or wonder how such beauty is even possible?

    Displaying His Beauty
    The act of creation in and of itself is intricate and detailed. The way our brain processes work to create and gather information for creating. God made this process to be a thing that will display His glory and majesty.

    Scripture says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork.” Psalm 19:1

    God in his creation is displaying all the love He has for us and the world around us. Each detailed leaf, flower, animal, star or mountain is a beautiful testament to His love for each of us. It is also a testament to His love for beauty and creating beauty. He would not have placed such a desire to create beauty with intricate detail within us if He did not also love intricate details.

    Intricacies Help Us To Grow

    Our brains love patterns and intricate details. They are wired to make connections and patterns in the everyday things we see. Patterns are predictable and can also be quite beautiful. Learning can be much easier when things are predictable and we can follow a pattern. God created us to function this way in order that we would learn and grow in our understanding throughout life and in understanding the patterns of God’s love all around us.

    Our culture loves convenience and fast paced ways of getting things done efficiently. That’s ok in some ways but in others, it skips right over what the point of slow and intricate processes are.

    As any creative person understands, creation is often an involved and time consuming process. But the results are always worth the time and effort it takes to create them.

    If you study nature and how things grow, they take their time, they don’t rush and they become full of beauty and splendor as a result. Consider how your garden grows if you are a gardener. You must do alot of waiting before the beautiful or fruitful end result appears. So it is with intricate details of our own hearts and lives. This then extends outward into the things we create.

    Since God delights in the intricate details, He wants us to also delight in them. He wants us to understand that the importance is not in how fast we get there, but in the journey and the process that we are on. Let God teach you to love the slow process of building detail and intricate patterns of grace and beauty in your life.


    We are created to love the details just like our Creator does. We are His workmanship, His sons and daughters made in His image. A detailed and complex image that is amazingly beautiful . Look around and see His intricate love for you and begin to create out of that love.


    Blessings of beauty

  • Creating From memories

    Creating From memories

    Memories are important for creating

    It occurred to me recently that memories have quite a lot to do with how we create. Creativity and memory are inextricably intertwined. You cannot have one without the other. From a basic need of remembering how to do a certain technique, to a more personal expression of a memory in a particular creative project, memory is definitely important.

    In an article done by Psychology Today the subject of creativity and memory is covered. The author of the article Art Markman, Ph.D states, “Creativity is driven by memory. That means that for any given creativity task, it is crucial to find memories that will help you perform the task.” He is specifically looking at ways people use memory to create different uses for familiar objects.

    In the same way that this happens with creativity in general, it can also happen in very personal ways such as familiar situations. Perhaps an object, place or thing jogged your memory about a fun family outing you had as a child. From this memory you then decide to create something new to keep as a reminder or to share with others.

    Family memories are foundational for creativity

    My grandmother passed away while I was giving birth to our first baby girl. I can remember feeling incredibly sad my grandma was gone and yet happy to be welcoming a new life to the world too.

    As I lay in labor, I thought of my family surrounding her and saying goodbye. I hoped that somehow before her spirit left this earth that she was able to see I loved her and would miss her so much.

    I have so many great memories of my grandma and spending summers at her home in West Virginia. She was always constantly busy making something, accomplishing a task, creating a happy home for her grandchildren and children. I don’t think I ever saw my grandma idle for too long until she was very elderly.

    Her pursuit of creating and doing something useful each day inspired a creative and useful perspective in my mind. I was inspired to cook, create a comfortable and happy home, grow beautiful flowers and stay close to family.

    Even though these actions themselves are not artistic in fashion, I and my family were often artistically inspired because of them. Poetry, songs, art, writing and even dancing were all a part of the inspirations which she ignited in her family.

    Memories of just about anything in life can most definitely be a catalyst for creating. My older sister created a song for guitar all about our childhood days, connecting many memories of our grandparents as well as our own parents.

    My uncle and cousin as well as my father were writers and there was always a poem, a journal entry or article that would resonate with a walk down memory lane. Art and music filled the house as my aunt and cousins and my sisters and I would sing, play our grandmother’s old piano, pluck guitar strings and clap our hands in her living room.

    Keep in mind that family is foundational to so many things in your life including creativity.

    Creating connections

    Creation is connection. If you are able to create something that connects you to an emotion, a beautiful moment,  or a special person you have the ability to keep that memory alive.

    I encourage you today to create out of your memories. Create something new, whether that be a recipe, a poem, a blog post, a painting, a drawing, a song or any other thing. Just take a walk down memory lane and allow your creativity to flow. Sit down with a pen and paper and write down all the things you could create just from that one memory. You will be surprised by how much you can come up with. I know I was surprised when I really started considering how much creativity was sparked from memories of my grandmother.

    Blessings of Beauty

    Laura

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  • The Beauty Points To God

    The Beauty Points To God

    This week we continue looking at God as the Creator and how creativity affects our spiritual life.

    God used skilled artists and craftsman to create His house of worship. He wanted it to be a place of beauty where His glory dwelt. His desire was that the beauty of His house be the visual director pointing the people to Him.

    Creators With A Mission

    In Exodus chapter 31 to 36 scripture describes the men and women who helped to create the tabernacle, tools and instruments used in worship. Bezalel and Oholiab were two of these men. God chose them to be the head artisans of the tabernacle.

     The Lord said to Moses,  “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,  and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. Exodus 31: 1-4 ESV

    And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you:  the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent,  the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense,  and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand,  and the finely worked garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests,  and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the Holy Place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do.” Exodus 31:5-11 ESV

    God took these artists and gave them a very important job to do. To create a beautiful house for Him to dwell and for the people to worship Him alone.

    The people of Israel had been worshipping golden calves after being delivered from Egypt and seeking after other gods. God was angry for a time with them.

    He wanted to be reconciled with them. God desired to show them how great and glorious His hand of mercy was in their lives. He wanted to teach them that He alone deserved the glory as their Creator and Deliverer.

    As artists and creators we should take note of what this means for our lives. God desires to direct our hearts towards His love for us in each thing we do. That includes the work we do. We need to have a humility before our Creator because He is our God, the One who shaped and formed us and gave us all intelligence and beautiful ideas. If we do not learn to see the work we create as important to God and His glory, then we have missed the point of creation.

    Remember that our work can quickly become a god in our lives if we let it. It can replace our relationship with our Creator and affect everything we do. We need to continually seek the guidance and love of God as we seek to glorify Him in our creativity.

    Above and Beyond For God

    The people of Israel wanted to please God. They brought Him whatever goods they had to help create this dwelling place. They gave above and beyond what was needed in their desire to create beauty for God’s glory.

     And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work.  And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary.

    They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing,  and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.”  So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing,  for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more. Exodus 36:2-7 ESV

    When creating, we should always seek to glorify God above and beyond what we feel is our best. Not so much in the perfection of the piece of work, but within our heart and our intentions for that work. God wants to see us delight in glorifying Him and seeking after His heart for our lives.

    A Reflection of Glory

    God wanted His house of worship to reflect who He is. He is majestic and awe inspiring. The most glorious One. His light shines with that glory as gold and silver would shine. He deserves only the best and finest we can bring to offer Him of ourselves and of our creativity.

     And all the craftsmen among the workmen made the tabernacle with ten curtains. They were made of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns, with cherubim skillfully worked. Exodus 36:8 ESV

     He made the veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; with cherubim skillfully worked into it he made it.  And for it he made four pillars of acacia and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold, and he cast for them four bases of silver.  He also made a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework,  and its five pillars with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals, and their fillets were of gold, but their five bases were of bronze. Exodus 36: 35-38

    The Gift of A Tool

    The beauty around us is a tool for building our relationship with God. God deserves the glory of the creation which He created in the first place. He has endowed our minds and hearts with artistic and creative skills, whether that be to paint, cook delicious food, write beautiful words, crafting, woodworking, or whatever skill which you possess that is creative. Begin to see these skills as a gift and a tool to be used to draw you closer to your Creator and Father God.

    God’s desire is to bring all humanity into reconciliation with Him, away from the darkness of sin and death. He longs for us to see the light of His son Jesus Christ illuminate our lives in every aspect and that includes our creative lives too.

    The light of Jesus Christ will create the most beautiful of all dwelling places in your heart. God’s spirit will come and dwell within you when you invite the truth and the light of Jesus inside.

    I encourage you this week to seek the light of God and of Jesus Christ His son. Let that light and His truth illuminate every aspect of your creative work. Get into the scriptures and seek out what the bible has to say about the light of Christ and what His light brings to your life.

    Blessings of Beauty on Your Week!

    Laura

  • Therapeutic Art During The Pandemic- Free Mini Course

    Therapeutic Art During The Pandemic- Free Mini Course

    Covid-19 has forced many people to become introverts and taken away much of our social interactions. For those who are social by nature this can be even harder due to the limited interaction. Although it is safer to keep distancing to prevent further spread, there is a great need for an outlet to express just how hard Covid-19 has hit each of our lives.

    Creating artwork is a great therapeutic way to ease stress, depression, fear and grief over the pandemic. You might be asking yourself, “how can that help?” Let me show you some great ideas and examples.

    Drawing-

    Drawing is a wonderful tool to destress when the news of the pandemic creates more anxiety for you. Sitting down to doodle or draw is helpful to relaxing your mind and taking your thoughts off the current situation. Lines and scribbles can help you decompress and create a feeling of relaxation and calm.

    Playing With Collage-

    Paper collage may be your kind of creating if you are more tactile and enjoy imagery and shapes more. Grab a pair of scissors, old magazines or papers, and create what you are feeling about the pandemic through words, pictures, cut out shapes, or abstract shapes. Not only is collage fun it can be a great way to voice your innermost thoughts and feelings.

    Painting Your Fears Away-

    Painting can help by assigning a color to each fear or emotion you may be experiencing. Loss, fear of the future, getting Covid, and many others can be expressed through abstract painting or symbolic painting. Expression of your fears and emotions will enable you to cope and process them much easier. Watercolor and Acrylic paint are very easy to work with, I suggest starting with these.

    I have created a course for you in these particular techniques, designed to help you learn how to use art as therapy. I hope it will uplift your heart in these difficult times! Here is the course link!

    In the future I will be creating more courses for you, so if you haven’t yet, hit that subscribe form below this post!

    Blessings of Beauty

  • A Prayer For Focus

    A Prayer For Focus

    Father God,

    There are so many things, so much noise to distract and take me away from your voice. I need your help to focus my heart. Set me as an arrow upon a bow and shoot me forward towards the goal of pursuing You! Bring my mind back to center and back to Your heart and Your plan for my life. Help me not to look to the left or to the right. Only You my Lord and Savior, only You.

    In Jesus Name, Amen

  • Useful Creativity

    Useful Creativity

    Your creations are useful and important to God. Did you ever think of that? He used many creative people to serve Him throughout the Bible and beyond

    Don’t discount your creativity as just a hobby or just a thing to do. It has a place and a purpose. Look at these situations in the Bible when God used creative people to further his plan.

    The Lord said to Moses,  “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship,  to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze,  in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. Exodus 35:1-5 ESV

    He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer Exodus 35:35 ESV

    So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. Jeremiah 18:3 ESV

    Throughout the centuries we have seen artists and creative people depict God or religious situations on order to understand them better. It could be said then that your own personal creative journey is also helping you to understand His work in your life.

    For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable Romans 11:29 ESV

    By creating out of a love for creation, a desire for meaning and a new perspective on life, you are also pursuing a greater understanding of your Creator.

    Creating is a form of worship to God. He sees you use your talents and giftings to create beauty and add to His glory on this earth. And that pleases His heart. To create is a reflection of His love and of His very being. Let that thought sink in today and take time to worship him through your creating.

    He has made everything beautiful in its time Ecclesiastes 3:11 ESV

    Blessings of Beauty

    .

  • The Spiritual Side of Creativity

    The Spiritual Side of Creativity

    Did you ever stop to consider what creativity and God have in common? The answer is everything! He as the great Creator of our lives and the world around us is the ultimate authority on creativity. Because of that, we can look to Him for inspiration and understanding in our own creative lifestyles and projects.

    I’d like to begin this weeks post with a look at the beginning, Genesis where God created our world for the first time.

    Creating from nothing

    In Genesis 1:1-2 it says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”

    God began creation with a blank slate, a void, nothingness. His spirit “hovered” over the surface of the water, tentatively waiting to speak all things into existence.

    A fresh canvas, a blank piece of paper, an empty notebook. These things could all be considered a void of sorts in our own lives. These voids all have potential for beauty and purpose. So do our personal and spiritual lives. God sees potential in the nothingness we may feel about ourselves. This is a great lesson in Genesis.

    Creating is important to God

    Creation is important to God because it begins an action, a movement toward an ultimate purpose. When you begin a painting, writing or any creative project, you work towards a vision or a purpose for the thing you are creating. God created you with a purpose and a vision for your life. As you create you have the opportunity to reflect on this truth. He gave you the desire to be creative and learn from what you create so that you would be reminded of His deep love for you. His purposes run much deeper than we can imagine.

    Creativity is a good thing

    When you create, remember that God sees creation as important and that He has given you the ability to create from nothingness and see the beauty in what you create. Scripture tells us that God looked at all He created and said it was good (Genesis 1:9). God says that creativity is good, not a frivolous or empty action.

    Joy is found in creating

    I believe that God also wants us to create for the purpose of joy and happiness too. He enjoyed what He had created when He spoke the world into being. He was happy with His work. He is showing us that we can do the same as we create. Discovering joy is part of creation. Remember to find a place of joy in your work and what you create. We can often get sidetracked by comparisons with other people therefore losing our joy.

    All creativity is unique

    Don’t focus on comparing how beautiful it is with other artists or creators, just simply find joy in your own masterpieces. Your own work is unique just like you. Creativity is an expression of who we are as individuals and our human spirit. God desires us to be creative to express who He created us to be. He also desires us to bring glory to Him by creating in His name. In doing so, we will be expressing our worship toward Him.

    God reveals himself through many creative ways. In the next weeks we will discover more of His creative qualities as we study scripture and what it means to be creative and bring creativity into our spiritual life.

    Blessings of beauty!

    Laura

    ………………………………………

  • Weekly Prayer- Tapestry

    Weekly Prayer- Tapestry

    Heavenly Father, Our Creator,

    The times we are living in are hard to be a part of. We see many people that are suffering, including our own lives and people we love. It can be so very hard to see beauty in these times, but it is still there. You, oh Lord, are the creator of all creation, of every tongue and nation and you weave beauty into every situation good or bad. The darker threads are the dark times when we can’t see a light, the lighter and brighter threads are the times we see your blessings and mercies.

    These two threads must be woven together, or we cannot see the whole beautiful picture. The contrast of the good and bad times must be apparent in order that there be beauty in the finished work. Help us, Lord to see the full picture, the gorgeous tapestry you are weaving of our tumultuous season in life. Help us to see Your hope.

    In Your Name We Pray, Amen

  • Christmas Art and Fun

    Christmas Art and Fun

    As a child, I loved making my own Christmas cards with construction paper and glitter. Many times my sisters and I would create cards for nursing home individuals and hand them out as we walked through the facility. I loved doing that. Reaching out to others.

    Right now, reaching out is what we need to do as we all weather this pandemic and the shift in the ways we communicate. In this post, I want to show you how to create a beautiful hand made Christmas card and have fun doing that! We will learn to do three different types of cards: watercolor, collage and pencil drawing.

    Have fun and let’s get creating!

    Materials:

    Pencils, colored and graphite

    Watercolors, moist. Try these

    Watercolor paper, cardstock

    paper various colors

    magazine images or old Christmas cards

    Crayons

    Acrylic Paint

    Let’s Start!

    Create your card by folding your cardstock or watercolor paper in half. If you’d like to create a card to specifically fit an envelope size you need to measure and cut to the size you need.

    Next, you will start lightly sketching your design on the front of the card with a regular graphite pencil.

    For watercolor don’t make the lines too dark, they are just a guide. For collage you won’t really need a line to start with it will be more free design. For pencil, you can sketch the outline of your subject.

    Watercolor trees

    To create some beautiful winter watercolor trees, take a small brush and create the center of your trees with one line. don’t make it too fat use a small, thin brush.

    Then you want to take your watercolor brush and create fanned out branches if you are doing a fir tree. like this

    Don’t smash your branches together but leave some whit space between the branches like this so that they appear more natural not blobby.

    Then create shadows from your trees on the ground below. Add a little light blue to you brush and water it down alot. You can also use purple but very lightly.

    You want to create an effect of shadow on snow.

    Now that your trees are complete you can add some glitter or leave them plain. Add writing above or on the inside of your card for added fun and creativity.

    Create a Collage

    The next card we will create will be a collage. Gather you magazines, tissue paper and glue. You can also use pencils and watercolors for details later.

    For now, start with selecting an image or paper color. tear, or cut to a shape you want and glue down. Add other pieces around and layered on top of the other ppieces of paper or images. You can paint over, draw on, or watercolor around your layers to add more creativity and interest. Add a special message inside.

    Draw it Out

    The last card will be done in pencil. You can use colored pencil or just plain graphite. I think I will use regular graphite pencil.

    Choose a subject by looking for images on google or at photographs or set up a real subject in front of you like a present, or a pine tree bough. You can also make up an image like I did here.

    Sketch the outline of your subject. As you go along begin adding detail and shade with the side of your pencil like this:

    Finally, add a special message and some glitter or leave it plain.

    There you go! I hope you enjoyed learning to create some great cards for the holidays! Let me know how your turned out!

    Blessings of Beauty!

  • Hygge: Happy Moments In Time

    Hygge: Happy Moments In Time

    The other night as I was baking in my kitchen, I realized a hygge moment was occuring. My little six month old daughter was at my feet in her walker intently watching as I whipped up banana bread and coffee cake.

    The house was warm and cozy as the oven heated and my baby girls voice cooing as she played and watched me made for a perfect feeling. I was using my grandmother’s 1950’s Better Homes and Gardens cookbook for my recipes. I felt a connection to my grandmother, my mother and being a new mother all at the same time.

    Peace came over me as I worked and realized these kinds of moments are what life is about. Remembering your loved ones, living in the present, creating new things, creating a safe and happy home. This right here is hygge. Happy moments in time.

    You must slow your mind and heart to catch them though or they fly right past you.

    Because I wanted to share my love of this moment with you as well as a great (and EASY) coffee cake recipe, you will find the recipe link below. You are welcome to print it out, I created a PDF print for you.

    Blessings of Beauty!

  • Hygge And Its Simple Pleasures

    Hygge And Its Simple Pleasures

    Hygge (pronounced Hoo-Gah) is a Scandanavian word meaning comfort or warmth. If you do a search on pinterest you will find hundreds of ideas regarding hygge.

    But what is the feeling behind this interesting word? According to the Scandanavian peoples, Hygge is more of a lifestyle choice, a slowing down of time to ‘stop and smell the roses’ kind of thing. In a fast paced Western society, slowing down is definitely something we all want and need!

    Hygge can mean peace

    Hygge could also be called a place of peace in your life. A calming time between the busy parts of your day. Finding these small moments of peace can be spread across your day in many ways and in your life and home.

    For myself, my journey toward understanding hygge is also just beginning and what a better time to begin than winter coming on and chilly weather. Winter arrived today with blustery winds, a few snow flurries and me, my husband and our daughter cozied up in our little home enjoying each other’s company. Which made me think more about hygge and it’s meaning. I decided that throughout the days ahead, I’m going to start creating more hygge type atmospheres in my home and lifestyle. I even want to bring it in to my artwork and my own creative process.

    Sharing the process of hygge

    As I discover more on hygge and begin bringing it into my home and life here and there, I will document it here in posts for you where you can become inspired yourself.

    Sometimes reading through other people’s blogs or instagram feeds you can feel like those perfect spaces or actions can never be attained by you. That’s how I’ve felt before, but I think that you must pull yourself back and realize that your space, your action and your hygge lifestyle will be different than others. It will have a quality all it’s own and will inspire others. We are meant to lift one another up and inspire hope and joy and love in each other. Not grapple for perfection in life.

    Hygge is only a part of the process

    No amount of just creating in and of itself will make you happy with the results either. You must realize that each thing you do, each thing you create is part of a bigger story, a process and a shaping of your life and soul. God will use everything in your life to reach out to you and help you to trust Him. Which brings me to what I mentioned on peace again. Having hygge in your life in all aspects can teach you to slow down enough to actually realize how you can have peace in a busy day to day. It will help you slow down to hear God’s love and His voice speaking to your heart.

    I encourage you to look at hygge not as an end in and of itself, but as a means to a peaceful, happier, comfortable life. That is the whole point of hygge!

    Hygge products and ideas

    I will be finding and posting some products and inspiration for you (and myself) that portray a sense of peace or have to do with bringing peace into your home. They will range from cozy blankets and clothes, all the way to peaceful looking artwork and books on hygge. I will post more in the future.

    Blessings of beauty and peace on your day my friends!

  • Homeschooling and Giving Your Child The Gift of The Arts

    Homeschooling and Giving Your Child The Gift of The Arts

    This past week was arts education week, which I did not know until coming across it in the news feed of my Facebook. I had already decided to begin writing this post and found it to be a perfect tribute to arts education!

    The arts are everywhere! Even rural communities!

    When I was a child my mother homeschooled me and my two older sisters. We lived in a rural community and there were not many things in the way of arts available to us. Yet my mother found a way!

    Our local college had concerts and ballets, plays and educational talks which we would attend all the time. I remember absolutely loving these and learning all these great new things as a child. Many of these outings and concerts and other arts related activities still stick with me today as fond memories.

    My mother would also choose an artist each week to teach us about as well as an art form such as impressionism. I can remember growing more and more delighted with the idea of creating art and at a young age I knew I would be an artist one day.

    Pandemic homeschool and the arts

    During the pandemic, you may be homeschooling your child. You might want to be able to expose them to the arts while they are at home as well.

    But how to do that when museums are closed as well as concert halls, art galleries and other arts related activities? There are a host of ways to help your child get arts exposure.

    Virtual Arts

    Museums are now offering virtual tours for you and your family where you can explore the galleries from the comfort of your own home.

    The Louvre, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Art, Smithsonian Museum of Art, and The Van Gogh Museum are all great museums to take a virtual tour through with your child.

    YouTube is a great place to find music examples for your children or even to learn an instrument. Ballets and operas are also able to be seen through YouTube.

    Get The Family Involved

    Another great way to expose your children to the arts is to create a space in your home where you can center activities around art, music, creative writing, dance and more!

    Each day, assign a task of creating a piece of artwork, learning a new song or instrument, learning a new dance form, reading poetry, fun creative writing prompts the whole family can do, create a useful craft such as paper mache bowls or bird feeders from pop bottles, or other fun and interesting crafts.

    For those who love science as well as the arts there are various art projects that have a scientific basis as well. Check these out.

    Discover New Favorites

    A great way to help your child appreciate and learn more about the arts is to help them find an artist, a music artist, a favorite ballerina or dancer, a favorite photographer etc.

    You can put up pictures done by these artists around their work area, play a new song from that particular musician each day, watch a ballet starring the favorite ballerina or dancer.

    You can also have your child try the artform itself. Take your child out and do some great nature photography, challenge your budding artist to create a work similar to their favorite artist, learn a few new dance moves or ballet steps.

    The Arts Matter

    Immerse your child in the arts and they will become well rounded individuals with critical thinking skills, a broad horizon and a lifetime of fun memories to look back on.

    With the virtual world at our fingertips, the possibilities are endless for you and your child to learn. Arts education matters because it creates a foundation of understanding, culture and the oppportunity for your child to understand beauty and creativity.

    Even if your child never becomes an artist, dancer, musician or any other form of arts related career, they will still benefit from these experiences and carry them throughout their entire lives.

  • How To Benefit From Sketching

    How To Benefit From Sketching

    Did you ever think about how sketching or even doodling could benefit your life? Of course it also benefits your artist’s eye but it has more far reaching abilities that perhaps you never thought of. Here are some ways in which sketching or doodling can help you!

    Sketching Improves Visual Acuity

    Drawing, sketching, or doodling can help your eyes learn to see detail you would otherwise dismiss from day to day. Because you are paying attention to the details as you draw and learning to see shape, value and form your eyes begin to notice more detail everywhere in life. Around your home, in the faces of people you love and in the artwork you observe. Our brains can be trained to see detail which then carries over to our powers of observation.

    Sketching Helps You Learn to Solve Problems

    Sketching is also about solving problems or visual obstacles. While you are sitting and drawing people in a park, or animals at the zoo, you come across the issue of movement. How do you capture that movement? With long swirls of lines, short pencil marks, sweeping brush strokes? These are problems you must figure out the solution to. Not everyone’s solution will be the same either, which is wonderful!

    Sketching Helps You Form Your Worldview

    Those tiny marks you’re making are expressions of you and your personality. Sketching gives you special insight into the way you view the world around you. Like a journal, it can capture the depth and beauty of feeling in your soul at the moment.

    Sketching Produces Fresh Ideas

    Creating any kind of art can inspire you to try new ideas and things but sketching by itself can be so beneficial for producing new thoughts and motivation to pursue your dreams and goals. When you allow your mind and heart to get creative, amazing things happen in your thought processes and your abilities to be productive. Science has also revealed that creating art can stretch and grow your brain by helping your motor skills and cognition. Some even suggest it improves the way your brain ages.

    So grab that sketchbook and pencil, find anything to sketch and have at it! Your brain, body and well being will thank you!

    Blessings of Beauty

    Laura Miller

  • Creative Bloggers and What You Can Learn From Them

    Creative Bloggers and What You Can Learn From Them

    This blog contains affiliate links that will pay me a small portion if you choose to purchase a product or book I review or suggest that you try out. The prices of products I link to are always the same for you and never more than you would pay usually on a website. I will only suggest or review products or books I feel you may benefit from in the best possible way. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my full disclosure here.

    There are so many bloggers out there, how can you choose just one who inspires you? Many different bloggers can be sources of learning and inspiration so why just limit yourself to one or two? Here are a list of the top four bloggers I gain inspiration from, what they do and how they can become some of your top sources of inspiration.

    Amy Maricle – Mindful Art Studio

    Amy is a self care art therapist and her website consists of encouraging and inspiring art classes and excercises for mindful art making. Her classes are super simple and oh so relaxing! It makes you feel like you’ve just been with a good friend having a cup of coffee. She specializes in patterns drawn with pens and watercolor as backgrounds. She often uses paper cutting in her work and teaches this technique as well. Nature is her inspiration she says and takes patterns and detail from the nature around her.

    Learn to Quiet Your Heart

    Amy really drives home the need to slow down in our busy lives and be more self aware. Her approach to creating patterns and paper cuttings are great ways to do this. We all know how fast our society goes every day all day. Many people never take time for reflection and simply listening to their own hearts. But quieting your heart is vital for happiness and hope to be able to thrive, because you start realizing what’s most important in life.

    I encourage you to try out Amy’s approach to quieting your heart and learn to hear what it is saying.

    I have been a member of her Facebook group for three years and she has continually inspired and encouraged me as well as so many others. If you need a pick me up, check Amy out at mindfulartstudio.com and on Facebook.

    Danielle Krysa- The Jealous Curator

    Danielle is an author and art critic who decided to have her own website where she showcases new and interesting artists and their works. She offers Art For Your Inbox which showcases the new artists she has discovered. Definitely inspirational and cool to see the new art each week.

    Danielle has written several books on art and creativity. I will list them for you here below. Each book is targeted to help artists and creatives grow in their passion and realize they can push past mental and emotional roadblocks to become the artists and creatives they wish to be! Her book “How to Spot an Artist” is a great children’s book on encouragement for the inner artist inside each child.

    She also produces an awesome podcast Art for Your Ear.

    Learn to Let Go and Create!

    With Danielle, you will learn how much beautiful artwork is out there for you to enjoy and just how creative people can be! Danielle is also encouraging when it comes to letting yourself be creative when you don’t feel you are. Many times in childhood creativity is stifled by some event or emotional hardship. People then end up believing they can’t create anymore. Danielle had a similar experience and you can really tell she is defying the odds with how she turned a lie into a beautiful and flourishing creative life.

    You can find Danielle at daniellekrysaart.com

    Jonna Jinton- Sweden

    Jonna is a Vlogger on YouTube as well as an artist and a blogger. Her beautiful way of capturing video of the Swedish lands and nature are so inspiring it makes you feel like you want to travel there! She is also a musician and sings an ethereal Swedish traditional singing style called Kulning. It’s so beautiful!

    As an artist Jonna creates her own pigments from nature. She will grind up soil, ashes, and rock from the area around her home and she will create abstract paintings. They are some of the most gorgeous paintings I have ever seen! Jonna is a wonderful photographer as well and her photographs take you into a story of her own life and her little haven in the Swedish countryside. I love watching her to relax and get calm because she is so good at helping you feel this way!

    Learn to Dream and Discover

    Jonna will help you learn to quiet your heart too, but she will also teach you to pursue your dreams and adventures in life with abandon and letting yourself be free creatively. Jonna speaks about her struggles and that really creates both a beautiful and real viewpoint of everyday life.

    You will find Jonna on YouTube, Instagram and on her blog artbyjonna.com.

    Elna Cain- TwinsMommy Blog

    Elna is a freelance writer, blogger and mom. Although not an artist with paintbrushes, she is a painter of words and loves to teach others to do the same. I have taken several courses from Elna on blogging, and freelance writing. She never ceases to inspire me with her knowledge and encouragement. She quickly helps you feel like you can master writing no matter what and with a practical viewpoint makes it very easy!

    Elna is a mother of twins and loves helping other mothers with great expert advice and encouragement for many different mom life subjects. I highly recommend her blog Twins Mommy as she has some great content on motherhood and raising children, raising twins and much more!

    Her freelance website is elnacain.com where she teaches others about freelancing and how to start up the process of writing. Her mom blog is twinsmommy.com.

    Learn to Stay Motivated and Creative

    You will learn how to keep yourself motivated to be creative even if you’re a busy parent. Elna is great at giving resources to other bloggers and freelance writers to help you in your blogging/writing journey and pointing the way toward success. Learn to turn your passion for writing into something amazing! Check her out!

    In Conclusion

    I really hope you enjoyed learning about these great inspiring and creative individuals and I hope they can motivate and inspire you as they have done me.

    There are many, many people out there who love to encourage and help others, connect with people and help support them through this thing we call life. Go and find the places and people that build you up and foster great relationships and love for life.

    What matters most in life is how to love each other, yourself and God. These wonderful encouragers and creatives help to lead the way!

    Blessings of beauty on your week!

    Laura

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    • A Victorious Faith for Such A Time As This

      A Victorious Faith for Such A Time As This

      Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

      Romans 12:21

      This post will finish our devotional on faith and the book of Esther. We will go through chapters 7,8,9 and 10.

      The last devotional touched on courage and how faith was a support for courage. Queen Esther had to have faith in order to face the King and possible death. Now, she had to have faith that the king would listen to her and be sympathetic. Faith that there would be results and victory over the darkness that threatened to engulf her and her people.

      Evil’s False Confidence

      Haman is feeling good and confident because the queen has singled him out with the king to come to a dinner. He believes his plan for evil against the Jews will absolutely work and he feels very powerful. His pride is very apparent. Little does he know Esther also has a plan!

      Haman wishes to kill Mordecai because Mordecai will not revere him as others do. He decides to hang Mordecai on gallows he himself orders to be built. But God has another plan for Mordecai. A plan of greatness and victory.

      What is Meant For Evil Will Be Turned to Good

      Many times in life, we see the hardships as quite impossible to overcome, we see evil people, or evil times arising and we feel defeated with no hope. But God has to come to us and teach us to stand, to speak up, to not be afraid and to trust His complete power and control. God is sovereign over all things in life, even the most evil of the enemy’s plans for you. What was meant for evil, God will turn for your good! (Genesis 50:20)

      Esther places her request before the king, knowing full well the king could have her killed, but instead the king honors her with favor. He tells her even half of the kingdom will be hers whatever she asks for! That must’ve been some awesome love he had for her to give her half the kingdom!

      She tells him the evil plot and the king is appalled not realizing Esther was a Jew. Now that he knows, he is outraged that Haman would do such a thing. He reacts in anger and fury and goes to walk in his garden and think over what to do. When he returns, he sees Haman begging Esther for mercy but believes he is trying to hurt her. Haman is taken away and readied to be hung on the same gallows he created for Mordecai! Oh, the irony!! I love that God turns the tables on Haman and his evil and brings him to swift justice under the king.

      Justice Will Be Served

      God will bring justice to your situation in ways you will be surprised. He will turn the tables and uplift you above the thing that sought to bring you down. Trust in His justice.

      The king gives Esther Haman’s full estate to do with as she pleases and he issues new decrees telling the Jews they have the right to defend themselves wherever they may be attacked. Mordecai is made to be second to the king with high honor. He is able to use his position for the good of his people and his niece the queen. Mordecai establishes celebrations each year for this victory which resulted in what the modern Jews now celebrate as Purim each Spring in March.

      A Victorious Faith

      This is all a result of the faith and courage it took for Esther to stand and Mordecai to continue to stand for their people. I am sure that it took all they had to see the victory that could come out of their situation and they had to have a deep trust in Almighty God to help them.

      We must also have this same trust as life gets more difficult and days become darker. We cannot see the way, but God can and as our loving Father, He desires to guide us to victory and bless us beyond what we can imagine. Sometimes those blessings come disguised as hard times, but this is where our faith grows and results in the ultimate and timely victory God intended for our lives.

      Thank you for being a part of this devotional these last weeks. I know it took me awhile to finish it with being a new mother, but I dearly hope you were encouraged in some way by these devotionals through the book of Esther. Please leave some comments or send me an email and let me know what you liked or didn’t like and what you would like to see in the future.

      Blessings of Beauty

    • The Best Drawing Pencils

      The Best Drawing Pencils

      This blog contains affiliate links that will pay me a small portion if you choose to purchase a product or book I review or suggest that you try out. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The prices of products I link to are always the same for you and never more than you would pay usually on a website. I will only suggest or review products I feel you may benefit from in the best possible way. Read my full disclosure here.

      I know many of you are interested in drawing and I wanted to tell you about these awesome pencils I have used from Mars Lumograph brand. If you’re looking for good pencils for art classes or just drawing on your own time, these are perfect.

      While I was in college, we were required to get certain art materials for classes. I was taking a drawing class and needed some really good pencils. Most of my life up to that point had been spent using cheap or plain old HB pencils to draw with. I had never really tried nicer ones. As I searched for the perfect pencils that were also affordable for class I came across these,

      A Man’s Best Friend by Laura Miller

      What I really enjoyed about these pencils was the fact that they had different sizes and textures for different uses and lines. They ranged from a very light and hard lead to a very soft and dark lead. I soon found out how useful these variations were.

      What’s the benefit?

      When drawing, you sometimes really need just the right kind of graphite in your pencil such as very soft for blending and shading or very hard for details and solid lines.. It benefits your art and yourself to learn to use some of the many art tools out there. And when they are of lasting quality, you’ll be able to enjoy them for years. I’m pretty sure these pencils lasted me 6 to 7 years before they were really worn down. Of course, that all depends on how much you use them too.

      Portrait in Pencil by Laura Miller

      Drawing with these pencils, I was able to render shades and lines to specifically meet the needs of my subject matter. I discovered how much I had been missing by using a regular HB pencil for so long. Don’t get me wrong, HB pencils are great to sketch with, but for expanding beyond the regular pencil these little guys are one of the best. Plus, they’re really affordable! Who doesn’t like that?

      If you’re in need of good drawing pencils try these, I guarantee they’ll be perfect to create so many beautiful things!

      Laura

    • Faith Begets Courage

      Faith Begets Courage

      Did you ever gain the courage to do something because you trusted in and had faith that the results would work? Faith helps your courage to rise and courage produces action.

      The last post was about stepping out in faith. We read how Esther had to use her faith to be willing to step out and help her people survive a massacre by evil Haman. It took great courage on Esther’s part to do this. She knew very well that the king could kill her without a thought. Women were not respected or treated equally in those days. It would have taken strong courage to face the king as a woman.

      In the next chapters 5 and 6 we see that Esther devises a plan to invite Haman and the king to a banquet she has prepared and approaches the king. Meanwhile Haman devises a plan to kill Mordecai and gain glory for himself.

      The Tables Turn

      I love what happens next though as God turns Haman’s glory into Mordecai’s! Haman must then parade the man he hates before the people so that it will be known Mordecai is to be respected for helping the king. God can turn what others mean as evil to be for your good. Read Genesis 50:20

      God rewarded the courage of Mordecai by bringing his service to the attention of the king. God will also reward your courage when you step out in faith and dedicate your trust and plans to him.

      Scripture tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6 that if we dedicate our plans to the Lord, He will help us succeed.

      Trust in the Lord with all your heart

      and lean not on your own understanding;

      in all your ways submit to him,

      and he will make your paths straight.

      God Knows The Plan

      We must have faith that God can see farther than we can, that He knows the future and what will and won’t succeed. He is able to turn what we feel is impossible into possible. It takes courage to trust, but trust we must.

      When you trust and let faith be your guide, it will produce a courage and confidence you previously lacked. Courage will produce favor and favor will bring the result you desire.

      In the next post, we will look more into favor and what that means and the results it produces. Have a beautiful weekend!

    • Free to Fly

      Free to Fly

      Today in the art journaling post I want to encourage you to think about areas of your life where you feel hindered or held back.

      As you think of these areas, consider what solutions or steps you could take to help bring freedom to that area.

      Sometimes I feel hindered from pursuing my dreams by too much to do or fear of failure.

      The way I want to solve this is by creating small goals each day for myself and taking small steps even if I am afraid to do so.

      If this sounds familiar I want you to write down words that represent freedom to you. Cut these words out and set aside. You will use these in your artwork.

      Next I want you to draw a butterfly, moth or bird in flight to represent freedom to you. It doesn’t need to be perfect.

      Remember that this journaling experience is to help you have fun and discover your strengths inside you not be perfection.

      moth drawing

      Use Pencils or Pens to Start

      I used a pencil to first sketch my moth then colored it in with crayons. You can use pens or pencils whatever works best for you.

      Next, I used crayon to fill in the moth with color. Choose colors that help you feel peaceful and happy. I chose black for my background to help the moth stand out.

      colored in moth

      Add Other Elements of Texture

      I then added bits of blue tissue paper to the wings, scrunching it up with glue to add texture. Then when it was dry I ran crayon over the texture for added interest.

      Add Text or Written Words

      I then took the words I had written that meant freedom to me and pasted them below the moth. You can paste your words wherever you like. Then I went over them with a sharpie and a ballpoint pen. You could use colored pencils, markers, or paint on your words. I also wrote words on the back of the moth to signify what action to take towards my goals. Take flight i felt was appropriate.

      free word
      Take Flight

      Consider Your Freedom

      As you finish your journal entry, I hope it helped to consider the areas you need freedom in life. Please comment below and show your work I always love to see and hear from you!

      Blessings of freedom today!

      I am free
    • Inner Strength Letter Illumination Prompt

      Inner Strength Letter Illumination Prompt

      How To Express Your Inner Strength With Letter Illumination

      Inner Strength is something we all need in this life and when you find strength within yourself to move forward you will see you are able to make it through.

      Today in the post I want to help you find what strengths lie inside of you and where you gain your strength from.

      S is For Strength

      For the next art journal entry I want you to draw a large s for strength. Inside the s I want you to draw patterns, doodles, words, lines, anything that symbolizes strength to you. For instance, I have a tree, a cross, the sunrise, heart shapes and other decorative lines.

      Symbolism is Key

      These images, are symbolic of what strength is to me. The tree is a solid and firm strength rooted in my faith in God and the love of my family. The cross is my faith where I gain the most strength from, the sunrise is the hope of each new day that gives me strength to keep on, and finally the hearts are the love of my family and friends.

      Illumination from The Book of Kells

      This type of artwork is called illumination. If you have ever seen photos of an ancient religious text called the Book of Kells you have seen one of the greatest examples of illumination.

      The book of Kells is thought to be the work of monks who were illuminating the bible or parts of scripture. Much of the artwork that you see intertwined with text is symbolic. There is something about imagery that speaks so deeply to our hearts. Let this exercise speak to yours as you learn to see your inner strength through this expressive symbolism.

      Add The Written Word To Your Inner Strength Art

      After you have illuminated your letter s, write below and beside the letter where you find your inner strength and what that means for you. Feel free to add color with paint or crayons or markers, or leave it without color.

      Contemplate Your Inner Strength

      In life, you really need inner strength to continue on. It is so important to discover the strengths inside of you and the sources of that strength. Take time to really consider where you glean your inner strength from. Enjoy the process and I’ll see you in the next post!

      Blessings of Beauty

    • Keeping The Faith Pt. 2

      Keeping The Faith Pt. 2

      “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

      Taking That First Step

      As we continue our devotion on faith, I’d like to focus this week on stepping out in faith. We have read so far in Esther that she was taken along with other young women to be part of the kings harem and she found favor with him. Throughout the entire situation, Esther had to hold onto her faith in God and what His plan was.

      She had no way of seeing what her place in this time was but she made a choice to trust God. We must also choose to trust Him, no matter what we feel or how things look on the outside. Choosing to trust is taking a step of faith.

      Facing The Fear

      Esther was most likely afraid much of the time during life in the palace. Mordecai had instructed her not to reveal her ethnicity to anyone, least of all the king. Jews were persecuted during this time as well. They were in exile within Persia and they had to adapt to being ruled by pagan leadership. I am sure Esther felt quite paralyzed at times for fear of death.

      Fear can really hold you back from stepping out in faith. Fear can keep you from realizing all that God has for you. That’s why it’s important to learn to have faith and trust God to take the first step out of fear and into faith. Imagine if you were stuck in a thick fog and you couldn’t see at all, each step you took would be a step of faith.

      The reality of death and sorrow were all around Esther. She had very good reason to fear. But she understood that she couldn’t stand still she had to keep moving.

      Purposed For Such a Time

      In the next two chapters 3 and 4 we learn of the evil plot of Haman to destroy the Jews. Mordecai realizes Esther has been strategically placed by God to help her people. Wherever you are in life, no matter how chaotic it is, or who may be planning your downfall, you are strategically placed there for a great purpose. For such a time as this.

      In Esther 4:14 Mordecai tells Esther ” Who knows but you may have come to your royal position for such a time as this “. Esther realizes the truth here and chooses again to trust and step out in faith.

      God Will Support You

      It takes great courage to step out of your comfort zone. But you must realize that stepping out while holding the hand of God will take you places you never imagined. God longs to help you grow and stretch past what you believe is the only way things will ever be in life. Take His hand and watch as you step towards Him in faith.

      Continue reading Chapter 5 and 6 of Esther for next week.

      Have a beautiful day!

      Laura

    • Art Journaling

      Art Journaling

      This week I wanted to start up the art journaling. You will need a sketch journal for mixed media any size, glue, some watercolors, regular ballpoint pen, pencil and crayons. You can always add to this supply list for yourself of course.

      Self Discovery

      Let’s start with self discovery. When we want to understand ourselves, we can really learn a lot from our own writings and thought processes. We can also use questions to help prompt our discovery.

      Questions First

      Questions are where I’d like to begin.

      Question # 1: What negative names, thoughts or feelings about yourself did you have as a child? Most of the time, other people caused us to think this way about ourselves. It could have been anyone, family, schoolmates, bullies, etc. I want you to begin to understand where your self identity comes from.

      Use this question as a prompt for the first journal entry. We will use a bit of mixed media for this.

      supplies needed:

      paper

      crayons or watercolor

      pens

      glue

      Take some paper and rip it into strips that will fit into your sketchbook. Write on these strips three negative thoughts, names or feeling you have had about yourself or from others.

      Now take each strip and tear it in half. Now you have six strips. On the blank side of each strip, write two positive opposites of the negative word. For example the positive for failure would be successful.

      Glue down your new strip with the positive word on it anywhere on your page. Begin drawing patterns and shapes you enjoy around these positive words and fill them in with color using watercolor or crayons.

      This entire exercise is to show you the building blocks of your self worth and what has shaped the negative place in you. In writing the positive opposite word and embellishing it, you are learning to change your negative thoughts toward yourself.

      I hope you enjoyed this first entry. Feel free to embellish more with drawings or write more of your feelings down about your process. Any questions? Shoot me an email at lauram@beaut4ashes.com.

      Have a beauty filled day!

    • Keeping The Faith For Such A Time As This

      Keeping The Faith For Such A Time As This

      The other day I was perusing my Amazon Prime movies for something to watch. I came across the story of Queen Esther of the bible. Ever since I was a little girl I have loved this story. It is a story of great bravery and of keeping the faith when times are uncertain in life.

      The Story of Esther

      Esther is a Jewess and her people are exiled in Persia (Modern day Iran and surrounding areas.) During their exile the king, Xerxes decides to find a new queen after his former queen refused to come dance for his friends. He proceeds to round up all beautiful virgins in the land to be brought to his harem where he will decide upon a new queen to his liking.

      Esther, who is protected by her cousin Mordecai, is hidden from the palace guards seeking virgins for the king. They discover her much to the dismay of Mordecai. He knows she may well become just another harem girl for the kings court. Despite his fears, I imagine Mordecai tried to throw his trust upon God. But it wasn’t easy. His whole world was thrown into uncertainty.

      Thrown Into Uncertainty

      How many of us also feel thrown into uncertainty at this time in life? our lives have certainly been turned upside down by the Corona virus. No one truly knows how long it will last or when things will go back to normal. We have to realize, as hard as it is that we will not have the same normal we once had. This virus has changed so much for us all. Not all the change is bad either, drawing closer to family for instance. The changes for Esther were not all bad either. God was placing her at the right place and time for His purpose.

      Where Has Faith Gone?

      During times like these, faith in God and hope for the future can seem to languish. Faith is being tested now to see if we are able to truly say we have faith. In scripture, Hebrews 10:22 says, “faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.” Mordecai had to have faith that Esther would make it through this, that God had purpose in the situation. He couldn’t see the purpose or understand why it all was happening but he knew to trust the God who cared for him while in exile.

      Esther was having her own faith crisis too. Imagine her feelings at being ripped away from all she knew to become a man’s plaything! No matter what movies make it look romantic, there was most likely more fear than romance going on in her heart. But God had a great plan for this little, beautiful girl. And her faith would come through the test stronger and more resilient than ever.

      Your Faith Will Strengthen

      That is a key to remember during this pandemic, your faith, my faith will come out stronger than before. That is because we are learning to throw our full trust on God and He is teaching us to see the bigger picture despite our fear. I encourage you to dig into the bible for words of hope and an understanding of what you can do to keep your eyes fixed. There is no better time than now to start. It is never too late either.

      Coming Up Next

      In the coming weeks, I will expand more on the story of Queen Esther. I want to discover the key points of faith in this story so that we can understand our own in a much deeper way.

      I encourage you to follow along with the story and read the first two chapters of Esther in the bible this week. We will continue our devotional next week.

    • Self Discovery Art Journaling

      Self Discovery Art Journaling

      I am beginning a new series of lessons in the art of keeping a journal. Not just any journal but a creative art journal. The fun thing about art journals is they are so therapeutic and have so much possibility. Creating an art journal is like creating a special and safe space into which you can retreat. I am excited to do this alongside you and learn as I help you discover.

      There are no rules in how you should create the journal, only that you take at least 5 minutes a day to write or draw or paste or paint in it a day. Paint your feelings, sketch your dreams, write your heart out, and journey into a world of self discovery. I will help you with prompts and topics as we go along. Come and join me in this fun and relaxing activity. It will be a great way to relax and unwind. I guarantee it!

    • Trees, Towers of Inspiration

      Trees, Towers of Inspiration

      I love looking at trees, they are gorgeous in so many ways. There is a story to each tree, a growth journey that started as a seed and grew for so many years or centuries. What happened among those trees? How many animals found rest and shelter in its branches, what caused the interesting scars and growths on the bark? Trees are mysterious, beautiful towers of strength that we would do well to learn from.

      Each of us has a story as well, growth and stretching, branches of our lives that reach far beyond where we started, scars that are showing, some hidden. We have learned to weather strong storms and become fortified even if we lost a branch or two. Perhaps this is why I love trees so much! They remind me of the strength of the human spirit and how much we all accomplish as humans.

      Another good reminder that trees show us is to take strong root in those we love, in our relationship with God our loving Father and creator and in our place in this world. You and I are not here by accident at this time and place. We have a purpose to help shelter, inspire, strengthen and hold one another together. Like trees, the more roots we have, the more connected we are to others. Right now, connection to others and to God is vitally important as we support and love each other through this global pandemic. We do not need to fear, for there is strength in our roots!

      Today I wanted to show you how to draw trees. I know many of us are at home and need some creative ways to see. I hope this little video helps you! By the way, I did not try to sound Bob Rossish at all but it reminds me of the way he used to do paintings of those “happy little trees”! I loved watching him as a kid and his quiet and peaceful ways of teaching.

      It is possible to create a tree from your imagination, but looking at a live tree in front of you and learning to observe it and the way the tree grows and branches out, will benefit you also. I encourage you to go outside for this drawing time and chose a tree to draw. It doesn’t have to be the whole tree either even just the bark or a few branches will suffice.

      Take a pencil and an eraser with you. Watch the video I have downloaded in the link below. Enjoy and please post what you created in the comments! Happy drawing! You could also write down how this particular tree inspired you and what was it that drew you to it.

    • Creating Your Own Soap

      Creating Your Own Soap

      I have found that during this difficult time of the Coronavirus, with many people unable to work and staying home, it pays to be creative and learn some skills that may help you stock up right from your own pantry rather than going to the store. Although going to the store is convenient, think of how good it would feel to use a product of your own creation?

      In this post I want to help you learn some simple ways to make handmade soap. Many handmade soaps contain a chemical called lye, but I will attempt to show you easier soap making without lye.

      Lye Soap

      As a teen, I was shown by my great aunt how to create soap from scratch using lye and fat. Lye is an alkali chemical that breaks down the fat creating the actual soap base. However, lye is very acidic and must be handled with extreme care because it can burn you. It is best never to inhale it, or touch it without gloves.

      I can remember using the lye mixed with pork fat when my aunt was teaching me to make soap. When we put the lye in water it created a steam for a moment and my aunt informed me not to stand too close. It burned my nostrils with its pungency.

      I did not enjoy this part of the process, but wanted to understand how to create soap the old fashioned way. Our soap ended up very nice and I took several bars home. My mom still has some of this soap in her laundry area at home. It has lasted more than 15 years!

      Lye is available in the stores even Walmart carries it, so if you have your heart set on learning the old fashioned way of lye soap making, you have ready access to it easily. Just be sure you are ready to handle with care and I recommend never using it around children.

      Soap Without Lye

      It is possible to create some wonderful soaps with soap bases which you can find on Amazon, or in your local craft store. Because most of our local craft stores are closed currently, I would recommend using Amazon or another website to order from. Here is a good link I researched for you that has goats milk soap base available for you on Amazon.

      Origins of Soap Making

      Origins of soap making go back many thousands of years, some historical data showing it’s beginnings in Sumeria 5000 years ago and in Egypt during its great civilizations.In the ancient days, ashes which were the alkali component were often mixed with animal fats or oils to create soap.

      Adding Ingredients

      There are a number of great ingredients you can add to your soap base:

      • Herbs
      • Dried Flowers
      • Essential Oils
      • Oatmeal
      • Dried fruits
      • Seeds
      • Salts or Sugars

      Imagine the possibilities! You could be lathering up with some of your favorite scents and ingredients in no time! Let me give you a simple recipe below for melt-and-pour soap.

      No Lye Soap

      You will need:

      • glass bowl for melting soap base or double boiler
      • herbs, dried fruits, flowers etc.
      • essential oils (you’ll use around 30 drops)
      • silicon molds or loaf pan with waxed paper or cut out milk carton. (silicon molds can be found online or in stores)

      For this first recipe we will go without color for your soap. Sometimes, the natural ingredients you use will color the soap. You can use coffee, teas or certain minerals to naturally color the soap, or you can use dye such as Rit Dyes. But if you are like me, you’ll enjoy using natural colorants or leaving it creamy with just the herbs or flowers to color it.

      Basic Honey Lavender Flax and Goat Milk Soap

      • Step 1: Measure out 1 lb of soap base (this is usually half the block) cut in 1/2 inch cubes. It will cut easily for you as it is soft.
      • Melt soap base in glass bowl or measuring cup for 30 seconds at a time in microwave or double boiler.
      • Add 2 to 5 tbsp of honey
      • 1/2 tsp of flax seed or milled flax.
      • 30 drops pf lavender essential oil
      • Pour mixture into molds and let cool and set for approx. 30 minutes to 2 hours.
      • If using a loaf pan, you will want to slice your soap into bars after it sets. It should set in 30 minutes to 2 hours. You could use a muffin pan for round soaps. Just be sure to use wax paper.
      • Wrap and store soap in plastic wrap or in ziploc bags for up to two years.

      Honey is a natural antibacterial and is helpful with many skin ailments including acne. So is lavender. Lavender scent is known to be relaxing and stress relieving as well. Flax seed or milled flax is a good exfoliant for skin.

      Some good essential oils to keep in mind for relaxation or for invigorating are:

      • Orange Oil (invigorating)
      • Peppermint Oil (invigorating and soothing)
      • Eucalyptus Oil (invigorating)
      • Lemongrass (invigorating)
      • Lavender (relaxing)
      • Rose (relaxing)
      • Rosemary (can be invigorating and relaxing)
      • Frankincense (relaxing and earthy)
      • Ylang Ylang ( relaxing)

      There are many, many essential oils to choose from out there. Go explore and see what you might find. If you can’t find anything or do not have access to oils, try just using dried herbs and fruits to scent your soaps.

      I found some great recipes while researching for this post and came across this super simple one for you. Made with turmeric powder and orange oil it has a host of skin benefits and is a great way to get a nice golden color to your soap naturally.

      I hope you enjoy creating your own homemade soaps and find it fun and relaxing time by yourself or with family. And always keep in mind, you won’t have to stand in irritation before an empty soap shelf now at the store! You’ll have a great stash of your own!!

      Please leave me comments below if you enjoyed and made your own soap or if you just enjoyed this post!

    • Fancy Feathers

      Fancy Feathers

      Have you ever stopped to consider how creative nature is? I find it so very interesting to learn about different animals and their ways of life. They can be so very creative in what they do!

      In this post I wanted to share a bit about our fine feathered friend, the bird. I am sure you have heard of some of the birds I will mention. I found certain ones to be particularly creative and inspiring.

      The Bower Bird

      The Bower Bird is a bird native to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Bower birds often use colorful and creative embellishments to attract a mate. According to Encyclopedia Brittanica, there are four different types of bowers that the males will weave for attracting a mate.

      The first is called a mat or platform. This is a flat mat of grasses and sticks woven together and then embellished. Embellishments can be anything from berries to nuts and seeds to interesting colored pieces of trash.

      The Satin Bower Bird has been known to use many blue pieces of trash as embellishments for their bowers. Female bower birds are attracted to the bowers and get to watch an elaborate dance by the male bower bird.

      He fluffs and unfurls his beautiful colors for her, attempting to impress her. She watches in rapture and decides if he is a good mate or not.

      Funny Birds

      I chose to write about these funny birds today because they are so creative and inspiring in their nesting and mating rituals. I am completely amazed at how much they do to have the perfect mate! I love their beautiful colors and the fact that they use color to decorate. How creative nature is!

      We would do well to observe nature more often for a great dose of inspiration! Too often we get wrapped up in our technology and how convenience makes it all easy for us. We forget that getting back to the basics of creative endeavor is to see beauty around us in the most primitive form, nature.

      Please enjoy this link to a hilarious and beautiful video on the Bower Bird, it is so interesting!

      Beautiful Bower Love!
    • Spring Art Doodles!

      Spring Art Doodles!

      Happy first day of spring everybody ! I know I have not written on the blog for a while but I’ve been dealing with a couple of changes and shifting job situations due to the Coronavirus. As I’m sure many of you are.

      Today, I wanted to share a link to a video I posted live on Facebook and I hope you will enjoy it! This video was created for the purpose of helping you distress, busting your boredom as you stay at home, and helping you to remember that there is still Beauty in this life when things get overwhelming!

      Please let me know in the comments below if you enjoy the video and if you have created along with me I would love to see your work you may post a picture if you like. I will be posting short videos like these in the future on the blog. Let me know what you think and have a blessed day!

      Remember that spring is here to show us that there is hope for the future and although we may not see growth yet, it is coming and is on its way! The link is below. Let me know if you have any trouble with it.

      https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10216217310728696&id=1330131749

    • God is Near

      God is Near

      This morning I read a devotional that I love and felt compelled to share it with you. It is from the devotional, Grace for Today by Max Lucado. Short and encouraging snippets of scripture and how God’s grace is constantly with you each day. I recommend it if you are in need of a good daily devotional.

      In this devotional, we are looking at the fact that God is in the midst of our daily lives and very near to us in every circumstance. How much we need that encouraging knowledge at this time in our country as we face the coronavirus and uncertain times. It is hard to feel safe and at peace when chaos ensues during these times. I can assure you though that God is willing and able to bring you His peace and protection every day and uplift you as you trust in Him. Please read on and be encouraged today that God is near you, near all of us.

      He is Your God a short devotional excerpt by Max Lucado

      “I am God and not a human; I am the Holy One, and I am among you.” Hosea 11:9

      Before you read any further, reflect on those last four words, “I am among you.” Do you believe that? Do you believe God is near? He wants you to. He wants you to know that he is in the midst of your world. Wherever you are as you read these words, He is present. In your car. On the plane. In your office, your bedroom, your den. He’s near.

      God is in the thick of things in your world. He has not taken up residency in a distant galaxy. He has not removed himself from history. He has not chosen to seclude himself on a throne in an incandescent castle.

      He has drawn near. He has involved himself in the carpools, heartbreaks, and funeral homes of our day. He is as near to us on Monday as on Sunday. In the schoolroom and the sanctuary. At the coffee break as much as the communion table.

      God is in the midst of your world. How does this affect you?

    • A Visionary Recipe

      A Visionary Recipe

      As you begin your weekend, I want to share with you a couple of recipes to remind you of how to keep adding great ideas to your growing vision! In 2018, I wrote for a lifestyle website called jenreviews.com where I shared two delicious recipes that you can add your own special twist to! Please check them out at the website and let me know if you try them out!

      Easy Rustic Rosemary Sourdough Bread

      The sourdough bread is amazing and so very easy to make! And the Pear clafouti is a delicious twist on traditional custard pie! Enjoy these recipes and let me hear from you how you spiced them up with your own visions!!! Happy baking this weekend!!

    • Creating a Vision Board

      Creating a Vision Board

      I promised a post this week focusing on the theme of pursuing your vision. I want to give you a few ideas here for creating an inspiring vision board that may help you to stay focused on your vision.

      With vision boards, there are many options that most people like to use. They can be a physical bulletin board or an online board on Pinterest. I personally enjoy using a physical board because I can build it with my hands and it is a tactile reminder of my goals.

      In building my vision board, I start with color scheme. For me, color is important in life and can define whatever mood I may be in or emotion I am feeling. You can begin your board with color or even just a theme such as pictures that would help define what your vision is about.

      This year, my colors were in the red and purple range. Burgundy, plum, violet, and fuchsia. I first created a watercolor gradient to see how I liked these colors together. This gradient became my map of colors I wished to search for in magazines, pictures, found objects and materials. You can also create a color gradient if you wish to start with color. You can use markers, pastels, pencils or paint to create yours.

      Now the fun begins! Go and find some old magazines, some material, old books you don’t mind tearing into, flat objects that could be pinned on a board, photographs, postcards, bits of cloth, anything that inspires you that could be pinned to a flat board.

      Place your bulletin board on a flat surface and begin mapping out where you would like your gathered objects. I used a cork bulletin board covered in old cotton cloth. The cloth is somewhat stained and torn but I loved how it added to my board.

      Decide which objects or words from a book or magazine that help you to feel a sense of how you want your vision to be expressed. The vision for my board is about color, design and pattern. I am beginning a journey into pattern and fabric design and wanted to be motivated to create new and interesting designs using my vision board for inspiration.

      Your vision board could be about anything. Food, weight loss, spirituality, goals for your business, whatever your vision is speaking to you. You can use other boards such as poster board and paste things to it, but I enjoy having a cork bulletin board because you can change it when you want to. It does not have to stay the same.

      The vision you are pursuing will develop and change so be prepared for your vision board to grow and develop into more than when you began. There is a beauty in this growth process and it will be another great example to you of how you will grow strong and blossom into your vision.

      Happy vision board building!

      Let me know if you decide to build a board of your own and how you creatively discovered your ideas to inspire your goals. I would love to hear from you!

    • Your Vision Has Potential

      Your Vision Has Potential

      In this post today, I am preaching to myself as well as encouraging you. I want to encourage you that whatever your vision is for the future in your life, it is truly possible. Having a pure and honest vision is having purpose in life. You must be diligent in focusing and refocusing on that vision you have.

      Maybe you’re sitting there thinking, “I don’t have any vision, how do I get one?” Ask yourself these three questions,

      What interests me as a person?

      What skills can I apply to that interest?

      What would happen if I pursued this interest and skill?

      In asking yourself these questions you begin to dream and creation of a vision for your future begins to form in your mind.

      Now imagine yourself acting on those dreams and seeing yourself being successful. This is the power of positive thinking. The more you positively reinforce your thoughts about your passion, the closer you will be to taking real action to pursue it.

      Reality checks are not out of the question either. You have to think about reality as well as your dream. Sit down and realistically write down what it would take mentally, emotionally, what sort of time you would need and if money is involved then how much you will need. This is planning for your vision.

      Begin taking a small action a day. You will see them build as time goes on and you will learn a lot about yourself and your abilities. Learn something new pertaining to your vision, create something that will help you take a step towards seeing your vision be born, spend time considering what may help you gain your vision faster. Learning is never a waste of time.

      There’s a good quote I read recently, “you can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” -Andre Gide

      What a beautiful truth! If we never take a chance to see our vision come to pass, then we will never know what could have been. I encourage you, don’t give up on your dream, your vision. Remember that God placed it within your heart to pursue. He created you with awesome potential and He is here to help you reach it to the fullest!

      Habbakuk 2:2 says, “The Lord answered me and said, “Write the vision down on tablets so that he who reads it may run with it.” God wants you to write out your vision and dreams. He wants to see you succeed. In so doing, you may help some other soul to find their own vision.

      Philippians 4:8-9 says, ”  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

      Your vision has purpose, it has beautiful and pure potential. Your positive thoughts toward your vision will help to build up your spirit and open new doors that you never thought possible. Think on these things.

      Don’t fear as you take your first steps toward building your vision. Hold fast to God who gave it to you, and hold fast to your potential. You are a butterfly awaiting to emerge. Never give up hope!

      Have a beautiful day!

    • Playing with Mixed Media for Stress Relief

      Playing with Mixed Media for Stress Relief

      This post contains affiliate links that will pay me a small portion if you choose to purchase a product. The prices of products I link to are always the same for you and never more than you would pay usually on a website. I will only suggest or review products I feel you may benefit from in the best possible way.  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my full disclosure here for all affiliates

      Mixed media is a form of creating art in which you can use many different items to create an image. One of my favorite ways to create mixed media and teaching others to create it is using the technique of collage. Collage is creating a picture from paper, fabric or photographs. Collage is a great way to start out in mixed media. For the project we will create below, our base will be a collage.

      Mixed media is a wonderful way to gather your thoughts and feelings onto a piece of paper or in a journal to help you process stress and situations in your life. Because you are consistently allowing yourself to create a story around the images and colors you use, you will start to see what beauty can come out of tough situations.

      Stress relief is something that is needed big time in each of our lives today. Let this little lesson take you into a new and beautiful way of expressing your stress and learning to relax your mind as you create.

      Step #1: Gather your materials.

      You will need some old magazines you don’t mind tearing up.

      Artist’s acrylic gesso clear or white, you can find this at the craft store or here on Amazon.

      Crayons, or oil pastels, or chalk pastels. Maybe all 3 if you like!

      Charcoal, regular pencils, colored pencils, ballpoint pens.

      Sketchbook or journal

      Glue, can be school glue or Modge Podge glue found at craft stores or click the link to find it on Amazon.

      A brush that you can use for glue, and a brush to use for gesso paint.

      Step #2: From here, you can start to search through your magazines and find images and colors you feel are related to how you might be feeling. Remember that your feelings and emotions will be different for your particular situation so no ideas are off limits. That’s part of the fun of art.

      After you have found some images and colors you like, glue them onto your sketchbook or journal page with your glue of choice. I love using Modge Podge. It gets the paper glued down really nicely. You just created a collage! This is the base of your mixed media work.

      Layer your images and colors a bit. They do not need to be separated a whole lot. It will make for more interesting subject matter as you go along if there are images nearby each other. Of course, you also want to place your images that represent your emotions and feelings in particular places if you feel that will benefit you in your expression.

      Step #3: Now you are ready for gesso to be applied. Over your images spread a thin layer of gesso. Enough to cover the images but still opaque enough to see through. Allow the gesso to dry, maybe 30 minutes or use a hairdryer to speed up the process.

      Take your pens and pencils, crayons and pastels, charcoal and colored pencils and decide what you would like to use first. In my piece, I like to outline certain elements of my images such as a persons facial features or maybe the outline of a plant or tree using a ballpoint pen.

      Next I’ll add color with crayons or pastels, blending and adding color here and there where I feel it will look or feel the best.

      Step #4:Using pencils or charcoal, I will create marks or mini drawings over my images, again creating a sense of layering throughout my work. These marks can mean something, or they might just be decorative.

      While you are working, allow yourself to be very relaxed and focused on your action, giving your brain a break from worry and stress. You will find that focusing on your act of creating can help you relax and unwind very well. Do not try to be a perfectionist in this. That is not the point of creating. The point is to help your mind to process things in smaller bites rather than overwhelming you and causing a lot of stress.

      Continue working color, doodles and drawings into your picture until you feel satisfied with your piece. Once you are finished, look at your piece and try to assess the feeling you get from viewing what you created. You may be surprised at how many emotions came out while you seemingly just glued and painted and drew!

      I hope you enjoyed this little lesson in mixed media for stress relief. If you have further questions, ideas or just want to share your piece I’d love to hear from you! Contact me or leave me some comments below!

      Have a blessed and beautiful day!!

    • How To Write A Simple Haiku

      How To Write A Simple Haiku

      Haiku was a form of Japanese poetry made popular in the 1100’s onward. Basho, the creator of the first Haiku poems, wanted to create a new appreciation for the expression of nature and objects and how closely humans relate to them. He used the cultural idea of Zen to help create such a simple and clean form of expression. In Zen there are two thoughts called Wabi and Sabi. Wabi means delighting in the commonplace, while Sabi means to be solitary. Within these thoughts you can see a quietness that really comes forward in Haiku poems. Like many other things in Japanese culture, there is a great emphasis on simplicity and quietness, beauty about the ordinary and strength in the delicate things of life.

      You can create your own Haiku helping you to find quietness and simplicity in a busy life. I would suggest getting a small notebook or journal to start recording feelings you experience in nature and in specific moments throughout your day. Even just recording one word will help you to build your poems.

      According to CreativeWritingNow.com, a Haiku is built by using five syllables in the first line of your poem, seven syllables in the second line and five syllables in the last line of the poem. You will typically find that Haiku is written about nature but do not limit yourself to that. You can write Haiku about any scene in your daily life. You want to create a sense of what situation or season you may be talking about so include a word which will describe this somewhere in the body of your poem.

      Haiku is similar to painting only with words. You want to convey a feeling of looking through a window on a scene before you. You want to encapsulate your impression of that scene in just a few simple words using description as your paintbrush.

      Haiku often will connect two subjects rather than focusing on just one subject in the scene. Here is an example:

       ” Lightening flickering without sound… how far away the night-heron cries!” -Basho

      Although lightening and a bird are unrelated subjects, together they make the scene of the poem convey a sense of feeling and describe exactly what the poet felt through these subjects.

      Here I began my own Haiku poem by looking out my window on my sunny yard.

      “Pine branches shift in the wind, sunlight spills among shadows, the thought of Spring spills among the shadows of my heart.”

      Now I will break it down into a 5-7-5 syllable wording. Let’s see how it turns out!

      “Wind shifts pine branches, among shadows sunlight spills, thoughts of Spring.”

      A simple poem, yet conveying what I felt viewing this scene. Now you try and post your results below! Let me know how you enjoyed this post on Haiku poems and how it helped to enhance your creative thoughts and expressions.

      Live beautifully!

    • Prayer Can Improve Your Life

      Prayer Can Improve Your Life

      Prayer is a place where you get quiet before your Creator. He longs to hear your heart and where you are in life today. In your life, maybe prayer was never a priority. Maybe you don’t even know the first step to praying. It is so very easy my friend! You see, God is your Creator and as your Creator He knows every little thing about you right down to your DNA. He built you. He longs to have a relationship with His creation. In order to have a relationship, we all know communication is key. The same goes with a relationship with God. Communication is key. Prayer is your communication with God and His heart.

      Where do you begin with a prayer? It’s as simple as talking to a good friend. God does not care if you use flowery words, an expansive vocabulary and a college degree. He cares about where you are right now, how you are feeling at this moment. He can handle anger, fear, sorrow, disappointment, anything that may be frustrating you. Maybe He is frustrating to you, because you are seeking Him and trying to understand what He is doing in life and it’s confusing to understand. He can handle that too. The best possible way to start a prayer is with raw honesty before your Creator God. He loves you, you are His son or daughter and He wants to know you and help you understand His heart for you.

      I have been very honest with prayers in my life. I know that when I come before God and my Lord and Savior Jesus, I am in a safe place to let everything go and let Him hear whatever is on my mind. In no way have I ever felt judged or looked down upon by God. In fact, honesty has allowed me to open myself up in a deeper way spiritually than any formula of prayer could do. 

      In scripture we read that prayer is important for your daily life. It enhances your life as you acknowledge your Creator and the relationship you have with Him. You have the ability to be in this safe place to cast your worries and stress and always know there is no judgement.

       1 John 5:14

      This is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to His will, He will hear us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, we know that we have what we ask of Him.

      You can be confident that God hears your prayers, when you surrender yourself to Him in humility. His will is that you willingly come to Him and desire a relationship with Him. This is your beginning of communication with Him. And He will hear you and give you what you need.

      Another good scripture to remember on prayer is this,

      Jeremiah 29:11-12

      For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me and I will listen.

      God has good things in store for you when you choose to pray and communicate with Him. He has promised to give you hope and a future for your life. Too often we feel God doesn’t care or hear our simple little prayers. Who are we to expect that He would? But you must remember that God desires to love and bless each of His creation, His children. He wants and does hear you and knows exactly what you need.

      Sometimes, what we need and what we want are two different things. God, like a good Father knows what is best for you and will sometimes say no to something you want because He knows it would lead to bad things for you. But He will open new doors for you and give you exactly what you need and provide for you when you least expect it.

       Scripture says in Proverbs 3:5-6

      , “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” Our minds are finite and cannot see the whole entire picture. We must learn to trust God and lean on His wisdom and mercy and direction.

      I once felt God speak to my heart when I was desperately trying to figure something out and I assumed I knew what I needed. I heard these words pass through my thoughts. “There’s growing going on that you don’t know about.” It stopped me in my tracks as I realized He was telling me to trust Him because He could see the future when I could not.

      Trust is difficult and trusting is a blind giving in, but when you come to realize that God is for you and not against you, you can be at peace within yourself. Prayer needs a measure of trust, you must trust that God can hear you and that He will answer you.

      I hope you were encouraged by this post today and that you will give prayer a place in your life. Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts with me. Blessings of beauty for you today! Keep on the lookout for a follow up post, Illustrating a Prayer using Painting.

    • Renewal, Time and Action

      Renewal, Time and Action

      Today I wanted to talk about renewal, time and action. Renewal is a part of every new year.  For instance, I try and make goals and take a fresh new perspective on my work and daily life. I’m sure you all do too. However, as we all know, it can be so very difficult to keep up with those goals. But what priorities should we really be reaching for? What goals are most important? and where do we start with renewal of ourselves and others?

      Renewal means to start fresh, to renew strength and energy for new actions. Where does renewal come from? It comes first and foremost from God who helps us continue on in strength each year and teaches us to trust Him. It also comes from viewing our personal lives with fresh perspective.

      Seeing with new eyes that reveal bigger potential in ourselves than we have ever seen before. Renewal comes when we give to others, when we hold others above our own needs and give without selfish ambition, we are rewarded with a renewed sense of our purpose in life.

      Action

      I read some great advice that really helped me think differently and more positive about achieving goals this year. The advice said that we should realize that action is the most important part of success with a goal.

      Even if that action is small or seems like you aren’t moving as fast. Each little step in the right direction will lead to bigger and better steps, more efficient steps and the sweet taste of success. Action can take the form of checking off a list, taking a step toward weight loss or learning a new hobby, but action is also taking time to reach out to others in love and helping to build them up.

      Time

      I am a person who loves to get things done in large chunks of time, but I notice that my large chunks of time often become smaller bites because I just don’t have the time to put into them. So this concept of smaller actions to reach a larger goal really got me thinking. I can utilize my time more efficiently with smaller bites and not feel the weight of the world on my shoulders if I don’t immediately reach my largest goal.

      I encourage you to not be discouraged if time gets away from you and you see a goal not getting accomplished as fast as you wish it would. Daily I must remind myself to let go and relax if it all does not get done in one day. What matters most at the end of life will not be the tasks you accomplished each day, but the time you took to love and create hope for those around you.

      Time is certainly precious to all of us, and I often find myself thinking about what is most important to do with my time. Of course, working even part time, takes a lot of time. Building a blog takes time. But I’m not talking about work here, I’m talking about spiritual time, family time, friend time, time towards a passion for creative living or whatever makes me or you tick. I’m talking about what matters most. Like kindness for other people.

      Kindness

      In recent years, I have come to realize how little it takes to spread kindness and love to other people. A smile, a letter, a card, a compliment, an action, so many things that you can do to spread the kindness bug. Yet society, and I will include myself here too at times, gets so wrapped up in themselves. We really need to change that.

      Let this year be a year for kindness. You know those little bites of time I was talking about earlier? They can be bits and pieces of actionable kindness too. Sprinkle a bite or two throughout your days from now on.

      If you consider at the end of your life what is going to matter most, you will begin to understand how superficial material things can be.

      I heard a good quote on the radio, “a shroud has no pockets” (Rev. David Jeremiah). That is so true my friends! We can’t take anything with us when we leave this world. What will matter is those we loved, how we served others and what we did to spread the love of God.

      Part of love is using the skills and creative ideas you were meant to produce. As you know, creating art is a wonderful form of expression and voice for action in life but it isn’t the only creative expression. Gardening, writing, making a great cup of coffee or delicious food, presenting a great business idea to your company, etc. All these are creative expressions that can be full of love that will touch other people around you.

      Your creative spirit, whether that be a writer, a painter, a dancer, photographer, gardener, mother, business person, or cook your creative mind was built to be a voice of love and action.

      I encourage you today to be that voice. Love with your work, show others that you care, make it meaningful and palpable. Make this year the year of a new thing, a renewal year where you see beauty in ashes, a year where you help to lift someone up. A year where your goals will have deeper meaning than how thin you are or how much money you can make or how much time you can make to get it all done. Enjoy the journey and take your time. Never take it for granted.

    • Quotes for This Week

      Quotes for This Week

      I hope these quotes will uplift and encourage you this week! Feel free to share your own favorite quote in the comments!

      If one really loves nature, one can find beauty everywhere – Vincent Van Gogh

      Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile – Mother Theresa

      When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another – Helen Keller

    • Lessons In Less Worry

      Lessons In Less Worry

      Life can be so very worrisome. There’s always so much to do and take care of, always some bad news in the world and always that sense of never being able to accomplish all we hope we will in a day. Worry overwhelms and hinders our souls. It hinders our relationships and it hinders our joy in life.

      In this first devotional, I want to invite you to consider how much you worry and determine that though trust in God your Heavenly Father, you are enough, you are provided for and worry is not going to hold you down. It will be a constant battle to combat worry daily in life, but with God’s help, you can learn to trust and surrender the battle to Him.

      I was reading and rereading this portion of scripture the other day Matthew 6:25-34. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

      It’s true isn’t it that we worry about how much we are eating or how little? Are we eating the right foods or the wrong ones? Can we fit into those skinny jeans we love so much or are we on trend with the latest fashions?

      Look at that last sentence in that verse: “Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ” Isn’t there more to life than that? Jesus is clearly trying to show how much life matters more than these passing things. Life is about loving our friends and family, caring for the world around us, finding joy in the little moments and taking care of our hearts and minds.

      26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

      How valuable do you feel? Do you feel that your life is meaningless and no one sees you? Do you worry God doesn’t hear or see you? God sees the birds, tiny little animals that we barely see. He cares for them, He actually provides for them and they don’t have to rush here and there trying to make sure they are enough in His eyes and the eyes of others. They fully trust Him. Wouldn’t it be nice to just trust and stop rushing?

      27Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

      I love this particular verse and it really struck me as being so poignant for our culture today. Really, how much time can we add to our already busy days by worrying? What does worry really accomplish for us? The only thing it accomplishes is giving us more anxiety and fear and distracts from what really matters in life.

      28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

      Does it really matter how much in style you are? What about that inner beauty inside of you, the person that The Creator made so intricate and beautiful? Each of us holds an inner beauty that shines through despite what clothing we wear. I encourage you to look at yourself this way first before you ever get dressed, put on makeup or jewelry.

      Flowers are so natural and beautiful, they are so detailed and perfect just the way they are. They need no makeup, new clothes or jewelry to adorn them. Clothing and makeup and jewelry are all good things and are necessary for life too but if your focus is fully on keeping up appearances and comparing yourself to others, you will be sadly disappointed in life. It is better to remember God created you beautiful no matter what you wear and He has provided all you need for making a beautiful statement just like He provides flowers their natural beauty.

      30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you-you of little faith?

      31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

      32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

      People rush and run after so many temporary things in life, things that really have no substance or meaning. A good example of how people run after all these things is Social Media and how much appearances matter to them. What matters most in life is love. Love that is given from you and back to you. Love comes from God, God is love itself. (1st John 4:8)

      33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

      When we trust God and we seek after who He is and what He desires for our lives, everything else falls into place. It may not always feel like it is falling into place because we cannot see all He is doing for us behind the scenes. But that is what trust and faith is, believing despite not seeing.

      34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own

      I know in my own life, worry is a constant battle and a daily challenge to overcome. In this scripture, Jesus is teaching us not to worry by revealing that our heavenly Father wants and loves us and desires to give us all that we need. We often times forget that. We feel God is distant and does not care to provide for us. We become our own providers in our own strength. That only lasts for so long though before we are burnt out and done.

      The wonderful thing about God is He never gets burnt out or done. The scripture says He never sleeps, Psalm 121:4. He is always watching and caring for us. He never sleeps so that we can sleep.

      Maybe you have been a survivor in life and have learned to take care of yourself and cannot trust or rest for fear of losing all you have worked so very hard for. God calls us to trust Him, for when we do we can stop trying so hard to make it all fit, make everything perfect, and survive. When we trust that He will provide, a peace and calmness overtakes our hearts and minds and we can rest in the fact that we are loved, we are cared for and we are protected.

      I remember feeling this way as a child, when I was trusting my parents to care for and protect me. There was no worry because I was fully filled with the knowledge of love and provision. In this same way, God loves and provides for us and longs for us to see His deep love for us.

      I hope you were encouraged today by this devotional, please leave me any comments or questions below. Feel free to share this post as well with anyone who may need encouragement today. Blessings beyond measure for you today!

    • Welcome To Beauty For Ashes!

      Welcome To Beauty For Ashes!

      Welcome to Beauty For Ashes website! This blog exists for the purpose of your self care using art, creative writing, inspirational quotes, devotionals, and creative lifestyle ideas. I desire to help you find meaning in the ashes of dark situations in life. Perhaps your dark situation is depression, grief, stress, or fear. Perhaps you are simply tired and need inspiration to lift your spirits. Whatever your situation in life, I am here to offer you a chance to see the beauty found in these situations and in everyday life.

      Art therapy has been in practice for many years with the focus of visual art being used as a therapeutic approach to emotional and physical healing. In this blog, I will be introducing some art therapy techniques and theory to help you along in your self care along with other creative lifestyle helps. I am not a licensed art therapist, but I am a degreed artist with knowledge of psychology and arts related benefits. I will also be providing other creative outlets such as creative writing, devotionals for your spiritual life, quotes to inspire you and even some creative recipes thrown in here and there!

      Have you ever noticed when there is a fire, the ashes burn down and create a charcoal like substance afterward? For centuries, charcoal has been used to create artwork which conveys a story of life, emotion and depth of human history. These artworks are to be found on ancient cave walls all the way to gallery walls in beautiful museums. Charcoal which is used in modern day drawing is often created by burning down grapevines producing a fine and slender stick called Vine Charcoal. In my own artwork, I use Vine Charcoal quite a lot. It reminds me often that something that was once destroyed, can be used as a tool to create something very beautiful.

      This is the idea I want to welcome you with, that wherever you are in life, no matter how many ashes may be spread around you, they can become something beautiful. A quote by Pablo Picasso says it well, “Art washes away the dust of everyday life”. In this case, art and creative living can help you wash away the ashes of everyday life and help you to see beauty once again.