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You could say the year has gotten off to a bit of a challenging
start! :-) The day after my husband had to leave to take care
of family early in January, I broke my foot chasing after our
little guy, Kai. A few weeks later, I had foot surgery and shortly
after, my two-year-old son Kai got very sick with the flu, an
ear infection and eventually bronchitis. Then, as many of you
probably know, the entire city of Dallas virtually came to a
standstill with serious ice storms here, topped off with snow
at the end of the week, which in colder states would be laughable
but which here cripples the city and brings along a slew of
weather-related crises. To top it off, while still recovering
from my foot surgery I got sick, and then sicker, and I was
taken to the ER for abnormal EKG and it turned out I also had
dehydration and pneumonia…WHEW!
However, the past couple of months, the following things have also happened….
- On yet another snowy day, my husband and I were staring
out the sliding door thinking about the inconveniences and
closings and such, and then little Kai, staring out the
window, bursts into the most joyous smile and says, "I
think it's the BEST snow I EVER ever saw!!!", instantly
melting away our snowy worries.
- I was delighted to get to choose my own color for my foot’s
cast! Wow! I chose the brightest orange, and it made me
so happy! And it might just have been the radiating neon
glow, but it seems to have made everyone else lighten up
a bit, too…even strangers!
- During a bad coughing fit, little 2 ½ yr old Kai
actually said to me, "Ok, take a good breath, Mommy"
and his adorable compassion was sweet as oxygen.
- I've been so proud and inspired by the current group of
ARTbundance™ Certification Trainees as they embarked
on their peer practice sessions with one another during
the past three weeks. I've been awed by their talent, commitment,
and passion, and reminded of how well the ARTbundance™
philosophy really works! Keep reading below for a very special
opportunity to work with these talented ARTbundance™
Coaches for free, as a volunteer client!
- On Valentines Day, my sweet husband sang me a love song
and I felt the same flutter as I felt on Valentines Day
over a decade ago.
- I made eye contact with a little bird who skipped on my
windowsill, just to give me a little hop of hope!
- A wonderful friend sent me a bouquet of sunflowers, "just
because", without even knowing everything that had
been going on with me, as I hadn't done a good job at keeping
in touch.
- And so, so much more…I could go on and on…
And that, I suppose, is what I'd most like to share today: the
infinity of grace. I've given two lists which could describe
my year thus far; the first list, however, of "not so good
things that have happened" is finite, and yet my second
list of little miracles feels infinite. SO, if I choose to,
I can keep remembering more and more lovely moments from the
past few weeks, even in spite of all the challenges.
One of my favorite ARTbundance™ Principles is Choice –
we choose what we focus on. We all get to choose what we remember
about early 2011. Life certainly isn't always easy, but we can
remember little Kai's words to "take a good breath"
and see the whole picture…the infinity of tiny ecstasies….as
we live our lives, oxygenated by the little miracles everywhere
around us.
For those short on time, to simplify this week's Artellagram, here are some ”quick links” to the highlights in this edition. You can simply follow the links that you're interested in and go directly to that section.
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1. Get a Free ARTbundance™ Coaching Session
Plus Lots of Great Goodies! We're once again accepting
volunteer clients to work with our talented Coaches-in-training
in the current group of trainees in Artella's ARTbundance™
Certification Training Program. An ARTbundance™ Coach
is a pioneering, unique hybrid of inspiring coach, creativity
teacher, workshop leader, and spiritual guide. The Fall 2010
Trainees are near the completion of their certification training,
and they are looking forward to working with volunteer clients
in one-on-one coaching sessions!
To participate, you simply receive your free live
one-on-one coaching in a 30-minute session, by phone,
and fill out a follow-up feedback questionnaire following
your session. In addition to the free ARTbundance™ session,
you also receive a bonus gift of an ARTbundantly overflowing
package of unique and inspiring goodies as our thanks! Since
this opportunity has grown to be very popular, and we only
have a limited number of coaches, we can only take signups
on a first-come basis, at which point, like last time, we
will start a waiting list. Those on the wait list however
who do not get to work with a coach, will still get all the
freebies outside of the coaching session, and will be contacted
if a space opens up.
You
can get all the exciting details and sign up for your complimentary
session, here!
I've been getting lots of inquiries about the next session
of ARTbundance™ Certification Training. The official
date hasn’t been set yet, but right now it looks like
we'll be starting our next group sometime in April, my little
foot willing :-). If you would like to receive notification
and an application for the next ARTbundance™ Certification
Program, simply fill
out the form on this page.
2. SARK's Valentine's Self-Love Special!
This week I've seen lots of different opportunities to celebrate
loving ourselves during Valentine's Day, but none have excited
me as much as SARK announcing her fabulously creative new
program, SARK-In-Your-Pocket!
It's on a special discount as part of the Valentine's
Self-Love Special through this coming Monday
only, February 21. I think it's a terrific value for constant
inspiration and definitely recommend it.
And, for some free fun that's both lighthearted and profound, try playing SARK's * Fr ee * Pocket Pick Serendipity Game, here!
3. Mystery
Mentor Thank You! I want to thank
everyone who participated in the First Annual Mystery Mentor
program in January, and made the program such a huge success!
We appreciate your feedback from our recent survey, and will
be delighted to be running similar programs in the future! I
hope you are enjoying the new connections with your Mentors
and Mentees! Thank you to all participants for sharing your
creativity in this unique way, and a big sing out to Jennifer
Knutson, for her truly masterful job at coordinating the Project!
4. Artella Member
Ship Updatesl! This month's Luxury Goodies will be sent out within the next couple of days. If you are a Luxury Member and do not receive
your February goodies, please check any junk mail folders, and
contact
us if necessary.
If you're not a Luxury Member,
you might be interested in coming aboard our recently-updated
cabins on the Artella Member Ship Creativity Cruise! You can
get more info, here!
 4. Join the Affiliate Program!
Join Artella's generous Affiliate Program and enjoy all the new affiliate tools that we've recently added! You can get more info, here.
 5.
Interested in Becoming Part of Artella's Team?
We are expanding our team for all the exciting things we're
working on this year, so if you're interested in becoming part
of the Artella Team, check out this
page for details.
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Artella is run by an amazing team of individuals, many of them
volunteers, who work together to make it all happen! This year,
we've started a new tradition to honor the amazing members of
this Team.
Each month, Artella will make a donation to a charity in honor
of one of our Team members, to the selected charity of her choice.
Our first donation for January 2011 has been in honor of Tammy
Hensley, our most "senior" member of the Team.
We're also delighted to present an interview with Tammy, to give you a chance to get to know her better!
Artella: You requested that Artella's contribution in
your honor be made to CHUM (Churches United in Ministry). Why
did you select that particular charity?
Tammy: The difficult times that so many
in our country are facing is heartbreaking to me. In the area
where I live, these winter months are especially brutal for
those who are homeless or in need of other assistance. CHUM
provides a variety of important services including shelter,
food shelf, employment assistance, and outreach. They do their
best to help those who they aren't able to find bed space for
on any given night to make sure they have enough blankets and
clothing to try and stay warm in the elements. It's a truly
needed service in our community and wonderful that it's a bunch
of different community churches working together to help others.
While there are many deserving local arts organizations, it's
hard for me to give there when others' basic needs aren't being
met.
Artella: Describe the kinds of things you do for Artella.
Tammy: A lot of my responsibilities at Artella include
the Blissness publications, The Art Journal Journey,
and work on the Studio Kits that our members get each month.
I am primarily responsible for designing and laying out both
the Blissness Splash and Art Journal Journey
eMags and I search out clip art and create the Idea Booklet
for each Studio Kit. In addition to laying out The Art Journal
Journey, I also contribute a monthly column. For the first
couple of years, I authored the Alphabet Anthologies feature
and have now moved on to The Fiber Files. I also wrote a series
of articles summarizing my experience at The Creative Connection
Event last fall which was the first art event I had ever attended.
You can read the rest of Tammy's interview, here
We are expanding our team for all the exciting things we're
working on this year, so if you're interested in becoming part
of the Artella Team, check out this
page for details.
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"Mirror
work" is a very powerful tool in modern psychology, which
involves looking at oneself in the mirror eye to eye and vulnerably
expressing affirmations of self-acceptance. In this way, Mirror
‘Art’ turns mirror ‘work’ into an art
project to further engage your client's full body, mind, and
imagination into the process. True self-acceptance radically
changes our choices, and allows us to align with what we really
do want and need in life.
To create your "ME-flection", create a mixed media
self-portrait using a mirror for your face. This could be as
simple as altering a handheld mirror by painting or decorating
it, or it could be a more involved piece of artwork that incorporates
greater imagery and symbolism, such as the altered mint tin
that is shown here.
As you work on the project, you can organically shift between
expressing affirmations of self-acceptance to working on the
artwork. Each process adds more momentum and meaning to the
other.
Here are instructions for how to create the example shown here.
1: Clean an empty mint tin and cover it with a playful,
child-like fabric. I cut the fabric to size and then wrapped
the tin with the fabric (like wrapping a gift), and then used
a strong glue to attach the edges down.
2: Use strong glue to glue three crayons together, and then
glue them to the base of the tin, allow it to stand on its own.
3. Glue two more crayons to the back of the tin, for "arms".
4. For the head, I used a decorative napkin holder. It consisted
of a round metal napkin ring, adorned with beads. I found a
round mirror that was just slightly larger than the opening
of the napkin ring, and I glued the mirror to the back of the
ring. I added glue to the beads so that they would "stick
up"(to look like fun hair). And whenever everything was
dry, I glued the headpiece to the top of the box.
As an alternative to the napkin holder, you could create something
similar by wiring beads of various sizes and then attaching
them to the mirror that you use for your head.
5. Glue other small found objects, each with its own symbolic
meaning, all over the body.
6. As you work, continue to express affirmations of self-acceptance,
saying them out loud if you can. Here are a few to try:
"I am doing the best I can."
"I offer so much to the world around me."
"I am more comfortable in my skin each and every day."
"I am truly unique."
Continue to come up with your own messages…the kind of
things you would tell a good friend in need of assurance and
encouragement.
7. When you've completed the piece, you get to take the final
step; for when YOU look in the mirror, the piece actually becomes
complete.
See your SELF...literally....in this wonderfully multi-faceted
celebration of who you are!
The project is excerpted from the Artella e-course, Mixed
Media ME-flections: 30 Self-Portrait Projects to Change Your
Life. You
can get more information about this course, here.
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This Quotz Crystal is a high-resolution jpeg image, suitable for printing. I invite
you to print it out and hang it up to remind you of the everyday
miracles all around you!
~Seeing the very best parts of's
2011 so far,
 Marney
Artella Founder, Mango Lover, Hula Dancer
Artella Land ~ the creative isles of words, art, and spirit
Artella 9090 Skillman #182A-116 Dallas TX 75243
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