Inspiration Monday: The Meaning of Life

Today promises to be a busy, busy day but before I head off into work mode, I'd like to share this short video I found on Facebook, Posted by Santé et beauté pour tous.  I really love it and the soundtrack is just beautiful.  I hope it inspires and guides you....



The illustrations and the captions are from the book "Be Happy: A Little Book to Help You Live a Happy Life" (2007) by Monica Sheehan. The music is "Cuore di Sabbia" (Sand Heart) by Pasquale Catalano, from the soundtrack of the movie "Mine Vaganti" (2010) (Loose Cannons) directed by Ferzan Ozpetek

Lyrics

Be happy
Show up
Follow your heart
Find a new perspective
Have a sense of wonder...
Find people you love...
Set goals
Help Others
Dance
Pamper yourself...
Face your fears...
Go to a museum
Exercise
Limit television
Get in touch with nature
Lighten up
Get a good night's sleep
Read books
Buy yourself flowers
Don't compare yourself with others
Don't beat yourself up
Be open to new ideas
Don't focus on negative thoughts...
...Focus on creating what you desire
Make time just to have fun
Keep the romance in your life
Make a gratitude list
Love your Mother Earth
Want what you have
Be true to yourself

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After A Long Absence...

I'm back! Nope, I haven't really gone anywhere, I just got too busy because of:

a) back-to-back deadlines.
b) I was packing lots and lots...and lots of stuff. 
c) I moved out of the house I lived in for five years and into a tiny 45 sq meter condo. 
d) I was unpacking lots and lots of stuff + moving and pushing and pulling stuff around trying to make this new little place I call home look...well... like home.  (I still need to do and buy so many things!!! I need shelves and closet space!! a new bed, fridge, washing machine...)
e) trying to squeeze in some more work (I'm in semi-panic mode now because of quickly depleting resources and upcoming bills).
f) battling fatigue...bone on bone weariness from the stress of it all - I slept the whole day last Wednesday, I think it all just sank in.  All that adrenaline just came crashing down and my body just could not make it through the day - Yes, I hear you!! REST.  And so I did. 

And I am thankful.  For everything that has gone and for everything that is coming my way.  God truly is good.

I'm feeling much better today and trying to catch up on everything I need to cross off my list.  Don't you love crossing things off your list? I do.  It gives me such a sense of accomplishment.  My version of a list now is to write down the things I need to do, my appointments, deliverables on small post-it notes and tape them to my mirror.  Every time I finish something, I take the post-it note down and throw it away.  I find it very, very helpful. 

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On another note, I have got some cute little surprises for you to download :)  My dearest Rachelle of Rachness Designs (Doodelle) has come out with two adorable kits at MScraps.  Got to play around with them below:

Creative Soul  (S4H/S4O) released last August 13 is a kit truly after my own heart, all those doodle goodies in one kit, ah!!!!  I thought it fitting to create a layout with myself in it :) The photos were taken during the Wedding Summit event last June.  I designed the cake which was executed by Cake Concepts and the tarp I was sitting on is based on a drawing I did for the Thunderbird Resorts booth.

Creative Soul is available as a kit

or available as an Element Pack

And here is my Creative Soul Quick Page freebie for you :)

Download HERE.

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Wait! Before you go, there's more!

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For release today at MScraps is Rachelle (Doodelle's) Travelogue.  A travel themed kit to scrap your travel memories.  Such wonderful muted colors, I really love all those doodles and that cute little camera :)

That's my adorable little nephew picking strawberries, he is just the yummiest little baby boy I know (yeah, I'm quite biased but he really is such a CUTIE!), just look at those curls!

Travelogue Kit is available at MScraps today - August 20th at 20% off!!! 

it is also available as an Element Pack, also 20% off

And here is my Travelogue Quick Page Freebie for you :)

Download HERE.

Do drop by Rachelle's (Doodelle's) blog to give her thanks for allowing me to give this out to you, there's a give-away going on at the MScraps Forum and go check in on Pom's blog to see her fab layout!! You may just find some goodies in store for you.  

Have a great, fruitful day and a wonderful weekend ahead of you!

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Just For Fun

Just a little night time, free flow doodling in bed last week on an old planner converted into a journal of sorts.  Trying out the caran d'ache watercolor crayons, stuff from my art box and some DIY stencils and alcohol spray inks ;)

Just playing and having fun and trying to see where this will go....

On the opposite page I sprayed my punched stencils (I don't have those punchanella strips and so I punched out a small strip of cardboard paper and hand cut the bigger circles - note to self to get those punchanella strips) with the alcohol ink I had available.  Those yellow flowers on the plant were blobs of spray ink that I outlined in black charcoal and just went crazy drawing twig like appendages.  The bird then came after...

Must do this again soon...

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Art Supply Love

I found this pencil drawing one of my kids made some time ago, although not one of them seems to remember drawing it.

 It really makes me smile.  

I colored it in sloppily with my new Aquarelle Gel Crayons by Lyra - got the glitter colors.  It glides on the paper so smoothly and you can apply a wet brush on it to smear it like water color crayons. Love!

I put the drawing inside my crayon, pastel, colored pencil case/box -

when I open the case, that is what I see first - so cute, I really can't help but smile :)

I just love to bring this box around with me, its got an assortment of oil pastels, caran d'ache water soluble crayons, a mix of different brands of water soluble colored pencils, my precious Sakura Pigma Micron pens, my Rotring technical pens, charcoal and drawing pencils, erasers, Winsor & Newton super fine round brushes, blending sticks, foam brush, chalk pens, sandpaper...ah...I think I need at least a 4 level container so I can lug around with me my gel pens and Kurecolor and Touch markers.
 

Dreaming of adding Copic Sketch Markers, Derwent Inktense Pencils, Sharpie White Poster Paint Markers, Daler-Rowney FW Artist Acrylic Inks and Speedball Artist Pen Nibs, ah, i just drool...........

I love Art supplies. ♡♡♡

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A Tale of Two Turtles

My kids brought home two Asian Box Turtles with them last summer after a short vacation in Roxas City.  It was given to them by one of their uncles.

Now that classes are underway, I have taken it my task to care for them while the kids are in school, making sure they have their daily dunk in the water (since their skins get so dry and scaly if they are in land all the time) and feeding them. 

I have become attached to them, talking to them and petting them (they like being pet under their chin and on top of the head).  Yeah, I never realized but turtles are totally cute.  They're so cute, I doodled one. 

They were named Leo and Fido.  The kids swore they were both male turtles, their uncle said so.  Leo belongs to Teo and Fido belongs to Enzo.  They even have personalities to match their owners, hahaha. 

One day last week, Teo found a turtle egg in his room! It was quite funny because we thought all along that the turtles were both male.  Teo's turtle Leo was female!!!

"Mom, we now have to change Leo's name!"

Hello Leona!

And the turtle egg, is in a bed of leaves and soil...we started researching what to do...hopefully it survives.

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My DIY Calling Cards

Finally printed out my calling cards in a DIY project last night.  The cards incorporate some of my pen and ink doodles and colored in Photoshop.

I bought some nice Concorde Laid 220 gsm thick boards and printed my design out on my Epson printer, cut them with my Carl Shacut cutter and rounded out the corners with a corner puncher.

Voila!

I really like how they turned out.:)

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I Won! Really, I Did

I had a most wonderful surprise awaiting me this morning as soon as I opened my emails.  An email from one of my favorite illustrators, yep you can say I was star-struck :) especially when someone I've been following and whose work I totally love emails me and leaves a comment on my blog, even if its just to say hi and that I won a book in her blog give-away.

Whooohooo! Yep! Geninne Zlatkis over at Gennine's Art Blog posted a blog give-away last Sunday.  She was giving away a signed copy of Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists by Carla Sonheim.  The book, published by Quarry Books was launched this month and Carla had generously offered to giveaway a signed copy & some "drawing" goodies from her studio!  Check her announcement post on her blog, so cool how she presented the winners.

Dearest Geninne is one of the featured artists in this book, you can go check her blog post Drawing Lab book Giveaway to see her page.  Go check the rest of her site too, I just love, love, love her work!

Carla decided to give-away an additional 2 more books because of the large turn out - 764 comments in all!!  Congratulations to Ludid and Elvia for also winning the book :) go check their blogs out too, they're both very crafty and talented gals :) 

Thank you Geninne and Carla, I just know I'll love this book, really, I can't wait to see it and try out the exercises.

Oh, don't forget to check out Carla's blog too, wowza! Lots of cool stuff! I'm a new fan!

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