STUDIOS A SPA FOR THE CREATIVE SOUL review

Okay….big old thumbs up to Cloth Paper Scissors new publication, STUDIOS: A Spa for the Creative Soul. I am in the midst of putting together my first “studio”. The last few years as my personal “creative soul” has expanded, my creative tools have moved from dining room table, to kitchen to bathroom, to shelves ALL OVER THE HOUSE….now, for the first time I will have one room dedicated to what I love to do which is CREATE. It is in the shelf-with-stuff-in-disarray point as I figure out the best storage solutions for all that I need for what I do and I DO A LOT! I dye, I paint, I tear, I glue, I rip, I stitch, I stain, I emboss, I bead, I repair, I …well, I just about do it all if it has to do with fabric or paper.

I have to admit that I have yet to READ it cover to cover but I have looked over all the photos of all the studios meticulously cover to cover and there are some great creative ideas for getting your creative world organized. The number one cool thing is that not all of the studios are SUPER PERFECT studios like in most publications where your mouth drools at the completely impossible especially if one is on a budget. Don’t get me wrong, there are shots of magical studios that one can only dream of but some of these rooms look much like my own and look like someone really works there. In fact there are 2 publications advertised in this publication that though I love them, I KNOW the studios pictured just can’t possibly look that perfect except for the photo shoot for the book. To clarify, I am not talking about the “before” pictures, either in a “before and after” feature in STUDIOS. A good example is the article, “fun & functional” by Jane Wynn. I don’t have a space as big as hers but her studio looks like a real studio and she utilizes many similar storage solutions that I do. I am at a place where I can’t spend a lot of money but it needs to be done and plastic storage is economical which is a plus. She uses it a lot in her studio.

I really love this publication and am referring to it quite a bit as I begin to get my mess organized and culled down.

Thank you, Cloth Paper Scissors! I love your publications! All of them!

Here is a link to order your own copy of STUDIOS A SPA FOR THE CREATIVE SOUL:

STUDIOS A SPA FOR THE CREATIVE SOUL

Here is a link to an on-line newsletter “how to” article I did for Quilting Arts, from the publishers of Cloth Paper Scissors:

Quilting Arts Embellishments newlsetter #50

THE JOURNEY BEGINS…or have I used that corny subject header already?

So, I admit to someone at work yesterday that I am someone who visualizes herself putting on those new tennies and comfy clothes and taking long walks and going for a jog or working out after work and every night I fail miserably and find myself wrapped up in computer work sitting on my growing behind, designing art or just being a couch potato watching American Idol (cuz that cute guy with the dreads is a friend of a friend of mine) despite the best of intentions of doing something physical. I have found that being a creative person to move forward and open the mind, ya just gotta go hang on a jungle gym, jump up and down, chase butterflies, do yoga….whatever it takes to get the heart rate up and come back to your creative space and you will be amazed at how you not only feel those endorphins flying through your body on a natural high but your mind opens up.

I took my first long solo walk last night IN A LONG TIME and will be putting my tennies on again in a few to do it again….last night I took my camera along to take pics of my journey but tonight will be all about “the burn”….hee….so no pics this time but maybe tomorrow when I do it while the sun it up, I’ll shoot some flowers. It is such a high to walk at night here because the jasmine is in bloom and something else that has a spicy sweet scent that I am clueless as to what it is but will find out from a California native. It intoxicates me. I will go a woodsier walk tonight but last night was down a major thoroughfare, safe but well, walked so I learned that I can get a Thai massage until 10pm for 35 bucks just walking distance from the homestead…good to know.

It was heaven.

A photo on the way.....

I made a restaurant for some "to-go" organic food my destination (I am such a Virgo that I have to get something crossed off my “to-do” list when I am doing something else whimsical like “working out”….I am sooooo lame!) and then back home but the organic place was closed so I backtracked to this great coffee shop where I used to do comedy...my first early sets. They have insanely great sandwiches and salads, so white albacore tuna on rosemary bread it was. As I waited, there was a free LA yoga publication on the table and I flip through it and unexpectedly find a friend of mine has this article in it that I was meant to come across last night. I think you will like it, too.

Here is a link to an on-line version:

MY OTHER CAR IS A YOGA MAT

Enjoy....I must send her a note because I loved this as I had no idea that she and I have such similar issues. In fact, I chipped a tooth with the same plight she suffers from.....once ya read, you will understand!

Martha Stewart and John Patrick Shanley

I am in the midst of finishing up reading, The Martha Rules, the book that Stewart worked on while she was in prison. Do you know how hard that was for me to write: “while she was in prison.” In retrospect it is so odd that MARTHA STEWART served time but I guess it “served” her well since her company is doing GREAT!

In Chapter 7 there is a quote that spoke to me at this time in my life:

“If you are resistant to change or if you refuse to change, you may as well call it a day. In other words, when you are through changing, you’re through.”

She repeats the 2^nd part of this thought a second time at the end of the chapter just to drive it home for me.

My life is at a fork in the road and is full of change whether I ordered it up myself, or not. It has been one of those cosmic things where I so desperately begged for and desired change but did not have the courage or strength to do it myself. Well, the cosmic universe ripped the carpet right out from underneath me and gave me a full platter of CHANGE and it tastes oh so good. Oh, it put a sour taste in my mouth initially, I won’t lie. In fact, I nearly choked on the suddenness of it all. But like ripping a band aid off a wound as quick as you can, it had to be done at some point or like Martha says above, you may as well have stuck me 6 feet under in a wooden box.

My life has been full of bouts of SUDDEN change over the past few years starting with the sudden passing of my father January 14^th 2006. I lost my very best friend and advisor so wise. I now talk to him late at night and wake up with his voice in my head and he guides me from far away.

I am a work in progress working hard at becoming a courageous person who is facilitating her own change instead of having it dumped on her lap unexpectedly.

There is a quote that appears in a forward to the play, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, written by John Patrick Shanley that came to mind after reading Martha’s chapter lucky number 7 that has always been a favorite quote and one that I used to strive to live by but had given up as fear built up inside of me through the years of living in a rut. Now that I am feeling more courageous in this great thing called LIFE, I am dusting this favorite quote off and giving it another chance.

“I am not a courageous person by nature. I have simply discovered that, at certain key moments in this life, you must find courage in your self, in order to move forward and live. It is like a muscle and it must be exercised, first a little, and then more and more. All the really exciting things possible during the course of a lifetime require a little more courage than we currently have. A deep breath and a leap.”

-John Patrick Shanley-

There is plenty of “leaping” left for me to do so I better start working out….a little and then more and more….."it's a good thing"...or "thang" when my Texas accent comes out to play.

PEGGY LEE

IS THAT ALL THERE IS?
Peggy Lee

SPOKEN:
I remember when I was a very little girl, our house caught on fire.
I'll never forget the look on my father's face as he gathered me up
in his arms and raced through the burning building out to the pavement.
I stood there shivering in my pajamas and watched the whole world go up in flames.
And when it was all over I said to myself, "Is that all there is to a fire"

SUNG:
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is

SPOKEN:
And when I was 12 years old, my father took me to a circus, the greatest show on earth.
There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears.
And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads.
And so I sat there watching the marvelous spectacle.
I had the feeling that something was missing.
I don't know what, but when it was over,
I said to myself, "is that all there is to a circus?

SUNG:
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is

SPOKEN:
Then I fell in love, head over heels in love, with the most wonderful boy in the world.
We would take long walks by the river or just sit for hours gazing into each other's eyes.
We were so very much in love.
Then one day he went away and I thought I'd die, but I didn't,
and when I didn't I said to myself, "is that all there is to love?"

SUNG:
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing

SPOKEN:
I know what you must be saying to yourselves,
if that's the way she feels about it why doesn't she just end it all?
Oh, no, not me. I'm in no hurry for that final disappointment,
for I know just as well as I'm standing here talking to you,
when that final moment comes and I'm breathing my lst breath, I'll be saying to myself

SUNG:
Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is

I will always remember my grandmother's affection for this song. Any time she was in a different state of mind other than the ho-hum of a normal day, she would put this on the turntable and it was something that moved her. If she was in a good place, she put on disco records. I loved that this grey haired lady loved the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack and Alicia Bridges', I LOVE THE NIGHT LIFE. I had the hippest grandmother in town! But if she was feeling down, tired or nostalgic, it was 100% Peggy Lee. And what a great song IS THAT ALL THERE IS is.



It got me to thinking about how when my mother tied one on, she would put on Neil Diamond, my father, big band music or maybe some Ink Spots.

There seems to be that special music that is precious enough to listen to only when we are in an altered state of mind, whether it be a glass of wine....or 4, a creative state or simply feelin' a lil' blue.

I have adopted the taste of my various family members and play a little of all of the above on occasion when I am feeling just a little off. Nick Drake is a favorite, too. I discovered his complete collection of music here later in life but it seems to suit me just as well as the current day David Gray to push me through a blue or "off" mood or even enhance a creative mood. Or I can go for a lil' Amy Winehouse or Scissor Sisters when I am feeling a lil' sassy. When I am in a regular old state of mind, it's KCRW public radio for me. Give me Morning Become's Eclectic or Chocolate City or give me death!

Oprah Oprah Oprah....

So, last night I could not sleep so I turn on the tube and Oprah is on....she seems to be on every time I can't sleep. She has never been a destination show for me but somehow I see her a lot these days since I have not found the wherewithall to fix my cable, etc. Anyway, it was a great episode with Dr. Oz on American's eating habits and how if we change them a particular way it will help. They get specific with examples of a high calcium diet, omega 3 diet, etc. All helping with different things where our body is concerned. I ate it up. For the first time ever, I log onto her website hoping to find out a lil' more about this since I am at a crossroads in my life full of great change and physical change is one of those things I am ready for and truly committed to to feel better and have more energy and yes, maybe drop a few.

I know this post is starting out sounding like it is about diet but here is where I am going...I hit this random link on her site by accident and up comes this quote...I love a good quote that comes along at the right time...kind of like a good fortune out of cookie from your latest Chinese take-out. The bad ones ya throw away, the good ones can change your life if only for a few minutes.

This one seemed particularly appropriate right now for me:

"If you have the courage to take the risks to say, 'I'm going to reinvent this part of my life,' you can be very, very happy."

— Susan Molinari

I am at a risk taking phase of my life. I've done it before but not in almost a decade it feels like. I did not realize how hard it could be. In my head it seemed so easy. CHANGE IS GOOD but change is hard. I feel like I need to pull a Madonna and do a complete overhaul of ME...physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

I feel that by posting it here, I am making a commitment to myself that I will be working hard to realign myself in this universe that we live in. Even creatively I intend to spread my wings and have begun to do so but if you knew what projects were in my head but not coming to fruition, ya'd smack me.

At this juncture the risk taking has been minimal but with the re-introduction of some old friends into my life as of late who are helping me remember who I was before I fell into my rut are introducing me to the new me that is a bit of that young girl mixing in with the new smart old lady I have become or should I say becoming and it feels good.

I was telling a good friend how I found myself laughing out loud yesterday at work of all places almost all day long so much so that those that I work with commented on how they loved my laugh and what fun we were all having....at WORK....now who has fun at work? We ALL should, my friends.

So, if it ain't fun, I ain't doing it. Let me amend that since I do need to clean the toilets on occasion here....if it ain't fun, make it fun!

Feelin' just rosy today....

"WHAT IT FOR?"

Many moons ago my grandmother had these great chairs that cost a fortune that she was intent on NOONE sitting on so much so, she left the "plastic" on the chairs. Well, my cousin Brad, just a toddler at the time, knocked Rheba (my grandmother) with a very common-sense question when he was instructed in a kindly manner to NOT sit upon one of these precious chairs, "What it for?" Good point! We have all laughed about this through the years because let's face it.....Brad, the toddler was full of more common sense that my own grandmother who clearly wanted us to just "LOOK" at her upholstered furniture....heee....

Sadly, I get where she was coming from as I protect my new couch from my CRAZY cat who never gave a hoot for our old couch but this new one I got is SPECIAL and worth ripping up with one's kitty claws....I cover it now since I DID pay for this dern thing with my hard earned sheckles.

See my sweet cat sitting amongst the "other" covered-in-plastic stools as I am certain he would tear them up as he has attempted to do so on the couch....I leave only the one uncovered for now....WELL, WHAT IT FOR?
Kel