I read a  lot of blogs and I love reading about other people’s stories. Some artists are fantastic at writing stories, opening up and sharing their inner most feelings and thoughts. I struggle to do this. I can express myself through my art but I find it very difficult to articulate my thoughts.

This blog is over a year old now and I thought it would get easier as I went along, but it hasn’t really. I still read other blogs and think to myself “I wish I could write like that” bring people to tears, share inspiring messages and really express myself in a sharing and loving way.

But it’s hard! Damn it.

That’s why I thought I’d give myself a boot up the backside and join Liv Lane’s “Build a blog you truly love” e-course. It starts on Monday 21st May and runs for 6 weeks. I’ve read Liv’s blog. She’s a great story teller! If I can only learn a bit of what she can teach, I’ll be on my way to a sparkling new blog.

There’s also the opportunity to get together (virtually) with other like minded people on the course and that’s always a bonus in my book. It’s great to share knowledge and learn from others, especially when you’re all searching for similar things in life.

So, I’m all signed up pen in hand, butterflies in stomach, ready to morphe my blog into a new sparkling better version of me!

If you want to join me and many other creatives, the class starts on Monday but registration will be open up to the 4th of June.

Cory Huff, over at The Abundant Artist site announced a rather interesting art contest recently. He called it “Fight the monsters” as a way to encourage artists to define their fears. I think this would be a useful contest for everyone actually, not just artists.

So, I would like to introduce you to two of my monsters. Firstly, meet my “Social Media Monster”. She raises her ugly head on occasion, especially when I’m busy creating. It’s quite difficult trying to be everywhere at once! Ha.

and secondly, although I have made a couple of videos, I’m still learning. I don’t really like my broad Northern English accent. I’m not that comfortable in front of a video camera either, so here’s my second monster: “Video Shy Monster”.

I hope you like them! what’s your biggest, scariest monster?

I’ve heard this a lot this year. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

How many times have you  done something, only to toss it to the side, thinking it’s not good enough? I think we’ve all done this at one time or another. This year hasn’t been perfect. I’ve learned a lot but I know I can do more… be better.  Produce more artwork, be more organised, set up processes and goals. I shouldn’t be too hard on myself though, 2011 has been the most interesting year of my life so far.

So, I’m going to make some changes.

I think 2012 is going to be my year of getting things done. Speaking of which, I’ve just finished reading a fantastic book by David Allen, called, yep you guessed it – Getting Things Done*. I ordered it after watching him speak at Google, in a video I found on youtube, where he discusses productivity and goal setting.  He recommends you completely eliminate “to do lists” (damn, that’s what I usually use) and try his method instead which pretty much involves using a calendar for appointments and a few different lists, like a projects list, a next actions list, a waiting for list and a tickler file, which consists of 43 manilla folders, 31 for the days of the month and another 12 for the months.

He explains it all very well both in the video and in the book, so I don’t think it will be too hard to implement.  I’ve ordered my manilla folders, so they should arrive in the new year. I’ve also been writing out some goals, action lists, project lists etc. For now though, it’s time to relax and enjoy Christmas with family and friends. We’re having a BBQ at the inlaws, which should be nice if the weather is good. So, Happy Christmas to everyone! I hope you all have a brilliant time!

What are your plans for 2012? Have you set some goals or are you just going to wing it?

*{Getting Things Done is an affiliate link}

According to BBC news, British Telecom have filed a civil suit against Google, alleging that some Google products and services including Android, and its search, music, map, and location-based advertising infringe on one or more of six of its patents. They have also asked for an injunction against Google, as well as unspecified damages, which may even be tripled if proven that Google’s alleged infringement of the patents was deliberate.

While BT claim they are acting in the interest of protecting their “intellectual property rights and innovation,” Google has come out with the full intention of fighting the lawsuit.

Google are taking several cost cutting measures in the meantime. They are planning to change their search engine name to Frugal and will be limiting users to a mere 10 searches per day.

(Okay, so that last part isn’t true but just imagine…) Here’s a few items I made.

Visit my Zazzle shop and have a little browse.

This has happened to me soooo many times!

I’ve had a rather busy couple of weeks, my mum and dad came to visit me in Crete for a couple of weeks. They were planning on relaxing but got more than they bargained for. They ended up helping to nurse 4 abandoned puppies!

On Friday the 2nd Sept, Theo (my boyfriend) went for a jog with his friend. They returned an hour later with 4 newborn puppies! They’d stopped for a rest and heard a faint noise. When they went to investigate, they found 4 tiny puppies in a bush. 2 of them were clinging to each other in the branches and 2 were on the ground. It’s really sad that people can be so heartless. Anyway, we managed to scramble some essentials together and fed them using an eye dropper. We popped them into a box layered with old t-shirts and my old grey teddy bear, a ticking clock (I read somewhere that it resembles the mother’s heart beat) and a hot water bottle under the t-shirts.

The next morning, we bought a bottle from a local pet shop and I found a recipe for a puppy formula on the Leerburg website The formula definitely saved their little lives. Now they are 17 days old and all growing like crazy. Here’s a few pics.

All hands on deck…

feeding time…

look no hands…

snooze time…

mummy bear…

posing for the camera…

Grrr…

Stay tuned for more puppy pics. No paintings at the moment, no time ha ha!

I’ve been a busy little bee this weekend! We went to a BBQ on Friday night. We managed to pop to the beach on Saturday afternoon with some friends. Theo’s parents arrived home after travelling around Northern Greece. They’ve been away for 6 weeks, visiting their relatives. We had another BBQ there on Saturday evening. Theo’s dad grilled some nice mackerel, sardines and chicken souvlaki. We had a couple of glasses of white wine they’d brought from one of the villages in Northern Greece. By Sunday we’d gained 3 kilos each, ha.

On Sunday I decided to dig out a few half finished paintings that were hanging around gathering dust. Here’s what they looked like before I started playing around with them.

I also had another one like this but with a brown background.
And this next one desperately needed a few finishing touches!

Luckily Theo was working, (not so lucky for him) so I popped Mamma Mia in the DVD player and started mixing my paints.
A few Abba songs later, here’s what I came up with.

The next two aren’t complete yet but they will be by tomorrow…

Once they’re finished I’ll be adding them to my shop on Fine Art America, where you’ll be able to buy prints in various sizes.
So if you haven’t signed up for my newsletter yet, sign up now and be the first to know when they’re available!

Grab yourself a coffee and a big fluffy delicious muffin and pull up a chair cause it’s time to get down to business. Yes it’s time to take action once again, so you’ll be needing the coffee and sugar!

Today I’m extremely excited to be chatting with the lovely Leonie Allan Dawson from GoddessGuideBook.com

Well actually, she’s a very busy goddess at the moment so she couldn’t make it for a skype interview this time. Luckily, she did have time to answer a few quick questions by email though.

You’ve been blogging since 2004, at what point did you decide that you wanted to try to make $30,000 in a year by selling your art?

I remember the exact day: I was so exhausted from working at an office job. I was so craving being able to stay at home & make art & miracles all day. And I’d been trying to make money doing these things, but it was barely enough to cover art supplies.

I went for a walk in a nearby meadow to clear my head. And I was listening to a tape of Anthony Robbins of all people (and by “tape” I mean “MP3″ – tape rolls off the tongue so much better! Ha!). Anywaysies, Mr Groovestar said to make 3 big ridiculous goals and make a deadline for them all. So I did. And the very first of those goals was to make $30 000 in the next 12 months.

I ran back home, all excited and sweaty, and got out my pen & paper & calculator, and tried to work out how much I had to make per day to make $30 000. And I looked at how I was currently selling stuff, and nothing added up. There was no possible way I could make my goal while I sold stuff the way I did.

And for a few hours, I got really pissy, and really depressed.

And then I thought “bugger it! Other people can do it! Why not me!”

And I realised I needed to start building my business muscles. I’d been using my creative & spiritual muscles for so long, and it was time to actually learn how to market & be strategic & all that kinda stuff.

So I started going to biz gym to build up them biz muscles! I read business and finance and copywriting books and blogs. I started applying what I was learning. And 12 months later, I’d made my impossible dream come true. $30 000 in one year, made from my passions.

I’ve been doubling my business every year since.

And now my hunky love & I have both quit our office jobs and moved to tropical paradise and are stay at home parents with our daughter Ostara, and we make all our money from this incredible goddess business of mine.

It’s such a dream come true!

I’m sitting writing this under our avocado tree in the backyard, looking out over an amazing turquoise sky & palm trees. I can hear my daughter & hubby & puppies playing together. It’s a deliriously delicious life.

I’ve found that a lot of creative people have far too many ideas, so much so that it stops them starting something. Do you have any super spandangled advice for them?

Here’s my challenge for you today:

Just finish ONE THING. It’s incredibly freeing.

And it fuels you up with even more energy to get more done!!!

You’ve created a lot lot lot of content over the years. How do you stay focused on a project? I heard a rumour it has something to do with a wild donkey?

RIDE THE WILD DONKEY.

When an idea shows up in your paddock, ride it. Until it’s complete.
Then let it OUT INTO THE WORLD.

Seriously, this donkey riding is a magical magical thang. Since I wrote about it on my blog, there’s been at LEAST 100+ ebooks written & projects finished by a whole gaggle of gorgeous goddess sisters.

Your Business Goddess ecourse starts on the 31st July and it runs for 5 weeks. I understand that you can download all the goodness right away but can you explain a little how it will work. Will everyone have access to a private forum to discuss the lessons? Will you be answering questions in the forums?

Yupsidaysies – everyone who grabs the deluxe version (which is only $99) they’ll get the course, plus alllll my other courses & meditations & workbooks. And access to the Goddess Circle wonderland which is this incredible tribe of supportive goddesses. And you can dive in and start brainstorming and working through the course together and supporting each other’s businesses. It really is amazing.

And I answer business questions – and questions on every other topic for that matter – from art supplies to the best way to meditate to sex to grieving to awakening intuition. It’s a total sanctuary & is hugely hugely powerful.

And finally, I’ve heard a rumour that you’ve got a new big $1 million plan. Can you give us a any hints of what you’re up to or is it all a huge magic secret?

I would LOVE to tell you… but I haven’t been told yet. I get all my business direction from Great Spirit. All I know for right now is to keep going in the direction I’m heading, keep making magical videos, keep writing from deep within my soul, keep turning up & shining my light as bright as can be.

A huge thank you to Leonie for taking time out of her busy schedule to answer my questions! Now what are you waiting for, finish your coffee and your muffin and pop on over to  grab some free goodies f-r-e-eeeee Goddess goodies.

The Become a Business Goddess course runs throughout the year. You can start it any time you like!

If you liked this interview, please click one of the share buttons! Thanks!

Just click right about here

What a fun day I’ve had today! I’m well into week 3 of the experimental art course I’m taking. This weeks assignment was to paint without brushes. So I pulled together a few odd items to paint with and started experimenting.

I used some toothpicks, a small piece of corrugated cardboard, a plastic spatula and a pencil pushed through a plastic bottle top.

There’s a German artist called Gerhard Richter. He over-paints photographs with oil paints and it looks fantastic! I wanted to try something similar but with acrylic paints.

I used some red acrylic paint on a couple of old photographs I had. It’s a roller coaster ride called “The Big Dipper” perhaps you can see why! No I haven’t been on it! My boyfriend has but he’s crazy.

I used the pencil with the bottle top dipped into red acrylic paint on this photograph. I used red to represent danger and warning because roller coasters terrify me! I like the way the bottle top makes roller coaster track marks. I wonder what Gerhard Richter would think about this photo…

I tried something similar on this next photo. I used vertical lines because the roller coaster is now at the top of the track, ready to drop down the other side. I feel sick just thinking about it!

Now onto something a little more involved…

I used a black piece of card and chose 4 different coloured acrylic paints, red, yellow, white and brown. I dipped the corrugated card into some white paint and made a few random markings on the card. Next I took the pencil, bottle top contraption (maybe I could patent this) and made some vertical rolling type marks. It reminded me of skyscrapers and so I decided to make it into a night time city scape scene.

I smudged some yellow paint along the bottom section with my finger (no brushes allowed remember) and then I used the edge of the plastic spatula to define the outside structure of the skyscrapers. I added some brown benches and a row of lamp posts using the side of a toothpick. I used my finger to dot some white and yellow paint on top of the posts, for the lights. I added a few brown benches and a couple of cars, also with the toothpick. Finally I made a moon by smudging some white and yellow paint into a circle shape.

I took a photograph and then uploaded it to photoshop. I tried a colourize action on it to see what effect it would have and here’s the result. Which do you prefer?

I hope you enjoyed my little fun project!