Big thanks to my sponsors...I'm really enjoying these weekly sponsor spotlights where their creative talents and businesses are featured. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor (includes your ad on the sidebar + ongoing spotlights), please send me an email for further information!
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The Be Present Retreats are an invitation to pause in your life and gather in an intimate creative community to explore, create, discover, and soak up the world around you. Each retreat takes place in the Pacific Northwest and includes time spent in creative community paired with exercises and workshops to remind you to open your eyes and heart and be present on your path.
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There is an eternal fault line on which our hearts walk. The ground is constantly shifting and it is our perpetual endeavor to find our footing, to maintain a sort of balance. When there is so much fighting for attention in your mind, when you are aching to capture a true depth of your spirit on the page, journal writing can help clear the path to seeing, to cutting to the chase and get there. There. To truth and to what you really want to say even when you don't always know exactly what that is. A clearing happens in that space between written word, when you have put it down in ink on the page, when you have left the room and gone on to "reality". When you gift yourself with conscious time with you, your thoughts, and the journal page, you have planted a seed in your mind and watered it there with the black ink from your pen. And now you must let time bring forth a sprout. That growth of opening heartspace happens while you are going about your business.
Through playful and introspective exercises, this four week e-course will get the ink flowing freely on the pages of your journal so that you can draw out, word by word, a sort of guide to carry with you while navigating your emotional shifting ground. Lighthearted and excavational, truth-telling and heart opening, the questions you will learn to ask (and find your own answers for) will take root in your heart so that you can dance with the seismic activity that is a life lived consciously. Class begins January 10th. Registration is open NOW!
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More than a beautiful collection of words and images, Lanterns: A Gathering of Stories a gift of light and love, perfect for your friends, your daughters, your mothers, yourself. I'm Jenna McGuiggan of The Word Cellar, and I collaborated with six creative souls (Darlene Kreutzer, Liz Lamoreux, Jen Lee, Rachelle Mee-Chapman, Lisa Ottman, and Jena Strong) to celebrate women in creative community. Order for the holidays by December 13 and save $5. (Plus, a portion of the proceeds benefits the non-profit Girls Write Now.)
“Lanterns offers a kind light to weary travelers wishing for companions on the journey toward a well-crafted soul. This lovely book provides a way into togetherness that will encourage and inspire anyone longing for authentic connection around their creative work.” (Jen Lemen, artist, activist, dreamer)
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Jewelry artist Beth Quinn is "a mom of two wonderful little boys, married to my best friend, and an artist who loves to create anything from paper, fabric , wood ,paint and metal." Influenced by her late father's metal working and her grandmother's creativity, her jewelry is "full of her love for the old , worn and shiny ... she loves to combine texture to create jewelry that can be loved and cherished for years to come." Please head over to Beth's website where you can find her shop (wonderful fall jewelry now available!!) and her blog!
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The Unravelling e-course is an 8-week online class designed to help you heal the way you see your self and your world, using photography and journalling to access hidden thoughts & dreams and encourage personal realisations, all in the safe space of a like-minded community. Photographer & writer Susannah Conway is your guide through this process, sharing her insights and wisdom gleaned from a four-year voyage through grief and healing. You don’t need any previous photography experience to do this course - all you need is a camera (iPhones are perfect for unravelling!), a journal & pen and an open heart.Registration for the winter Unravelling: Ways of Seeing My Self course opens a week today on Saturday December 4th (class starts January 3rd). You can check out what past participants have said about their Unravelling journeys over here (there are videos too :) Give yourself permission to take a couple of hours out of your week to devote solely to YOU; this isn’t self-indulgence, this is nurturing, nourishing soul time - come join us for some new year unravelling!
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An art professor told me back in the day: "You've got to figure out a way to make your play your work and your work your play." Advice I took to heart after years of being nudged to follow art while working as a waitress, sales rep, gallery attendant, after school art teacher, personal assistant . . .At the heart of it my life thrives with the right balance of creative energy + living like you're on vacation. I love painting rocks. Walking my dogs. Layering color on canvas. Cooking from scratch. Snapping photographs. Taking tiny adventures. Brainstorming ideas. Connecting with people. Writing a blog. All of it - flat out - feels good. Joseph Campbell is wise - FOLLOW YOUR BLISS.
New Collector's Sale happening now in the shop! Stones featured this month are from Alaska, Baltic Sea and Italy! Come on by!
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My name is Catherine Wooten, and I’m the artist behind 23Postcards' original art and travel photography. I have been creating as long as I can remember, but it wasn't until an eight-month trek around Europe after college that I knew I had to make art a much bigger part of my life. While traveling, I sent 23 postcards home to Tennessee. Those 23 are the inspiration for this company, and the things I saw and experienced while sending them affect each piece I make. Please check out my blog to learn more!I LOVE everything vintage, especially photographs. I really enjoy incorporating them into my pieces, and I would love to create a piece for you with your own! I hope you find something in the 23Postcards shop that you love. Please use code KELLYRAE25 for 25% off any 23Postcards Etsy order!
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Hi, I'm Val of Val's Art Studio, the crafty gal who's trying to make the world better, ... one needle felted, upcycled, handcrafted item at a time. I am so happy to meet you! Kelly Rae's world has opened up a new avenue for me, and I'm so happy to share it with you. The holidays bring busyness to all our lives, and I'm no exception! If you live in the San Diego area, you can come see my items in person at one of my upcoming holiday trunk shows, just click over to my blog for more details. Please click on over to my website or visit my blog and definitely check out the offerings in my etsy shop. You'll be glad you did! And, as a last word while I have your attention, Please don't stress over the holidays, but look for those small miracles tucked into everyday life. They are there, and will touch you with a special caress if you just open your heart to them. Happiest of holidays to you and your loved ones! xx, Val














To me, art has been the unexpected discovery of finding my passion. When I finally put paint onto paper, my heart and life exploded with a joy I hadn’t known before.























