Mantra Magick

I finally got around to making a mantra card for Jennlui's Mantra Monday. I am really pleased with the results. I tried some things that I've never done before, but I now I know I'll do them again! By the end of the year, I want to have a whole deck of mantra cards. Thanks Jennlui for the fabulous experience! YAY!

Thank you for all your well wishes during my lil illness. I felt a lil yucky yesterday, but feel even better today. Can't wait for my nose to get back to normal!

~Magick~

Melissa

"Leonard, I'm sick"

That's a quote from a very funny show - "The Big Bang Theory" on right before my all time fav comedy show "How I Met Your Mother."

Anyways, yes I am sick. Just a lil cold that Hubby brought home from Massachusetts. Apparently it's a new strain that we never had before. Runny nose and watery eyes. The skin around my eye hurt so much last night I almost couldn't stand it. I feel much better today though. My immune system must be in tip-top shape with this home-body-life. I can kick a cold's butt in 24 hours! YAY IMMUNE SYSTEM!!!!

I've determined that being sick has some very very very very good points.

~ Excused lazy'ness - I'm excused from doing housework, including cleaning the litter boxes (if I want - but I have still been doing some stuff here and there). I can get anyone to do anything for me - "Can you get me tea...tissues...soup...orange juice...ice cream...medicine." :)

~ Naps galore!!!!! I can nap and nap and nap and no one will say a darn thing! YIPPEE!

~ Excused ugly'ness - At this point, my hair is so funky that I almost have a mohawk. :) It's kinda cool. But good thing I have a bandanna to cover it up. ;)

~ I can watch movie after movie after movie. Lucky thing we just got a 3 month free preview of HBO and Stars. We've been DVR'ing movies non-stop. Cool thing is that I don't have to wait to watch them with everyone else. No one would dare say "Why didn't you wait for us?" Cause I'm sick jack-butt and I have nothing else to do. :)

So there you have it. The benefits of being ill. Don't be too jealous of me though....be thankful for your health. :)

~Magick~
Melissa

Bliss~fully Connected

~Magickal'ness~

Melissa

Goodbye in '09, trouble with a capital T, and pages pages

Goodbye in '09:

Last year was a color~full year for my hair. I went from reddish-brown to white blond to part pink to part purple to some morphed half-breed growing out stages. Did I tell you? No? Well, goodbye purple'y goodness. Here's me now....


Super short and spikey. This is the shortest I've ever had my hair. But I'm digging it's funky'ness. I actually did my hair and put on make-up for this - so I hope you're happy. :) I didn't however change out of my pj pants. But I did put on a shirt!!! Which I took off right after this and replaced with my normal layers of short sleeve, long sleeve pj shirt, and old hubby sweat shirt (poor guy has everything 'stolen' from him).

And this is all that is left of purple'y goodness....I offer it up to the Hair Goddess.

trouble with a capital T:

Those Squirmy Wormers are growing all-right....growing 'bad.' Oh, some moments I miss the days when they just laid in a clump in a box under the table in the bedroom. Instead I have these climbing, chewing, biting, scratching, water spilling, mess making, getting into every single thing maniacs. But they are still super-de-duper CA-UTE! Here's Twix.

He just finished 'doing time' under a laundry basket a few minutes ago. Don't feel bad for him - he was climbing our make-shift computer cover (which is an old towel thumb tacked to the computer desk) for the 10th time in a row. Grrrrrr. He just tried to do it again. I don't just need cat food and litter....I need patience and a lot of deep breaths and some new cat toys. And again.....TWIX!!!!

The Pages pages:

~Nice quiet cuddly little kittens~

Melissa

More fun please!

Need I say more?

~Giggle Snort~

Melissa

Music for your Monday

Just cause it's so fun! Don't forget "this world is a beautiful, accident, turbulent, succulent, opulent permanent, no way" - so lets enjoy it.....even if we're a lil hurty today.



~Opulent....good word~
Melissa

Food for thought

Cooking is a very sacred act. When we forget its sacred'ness, cooking becomes a "chore", a pain in the butt, a time sucker. There are many times I rush through it just to get it done instead of focusing my energy on what I'm doing - creating something tasty to sustain our bodies so that we can experience Life/the journey.

Last summer, I spent some time baking in this sacred, focused way....made a world of difference. It made the time I spent cooking feel sacred, spiritual, magickal (thoughts can do that ;) instead of something I was stuck doing. I want to breathe some fresh air into that practice and bring it into an almost daily event in 2009.

Here's what I did: using the example of Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

I thought about each ingredient I was adding (and even some of the actions). What did it bring to the food? What were its properties, characteristics? *I did look up some things in a few books I have to complete the list, but that's really not necessary - use your imagination, your creativity.*

Butter: life giving base (cream), persistence in work (have you ever churned butter?)
Sugar: the sweetness of Life
Eggs: healing, removing negativity
Bananers: prosperity
Flour: grounding (cute huh? flour is ground, it's good for our energy to be grounded)
Baking Powder: the power behind
Salt: purification
Baking Soda: smooth flow (ever use it in the tub? makes your skin all soft)
Chocolate Chips: bittersweet dark'ness of Life

I would just repeat the attached association as I was adding that ingredient. While I was mixing it, I imagined all of those 'things' swirling around together making magick.


My #1 goal in 2009 is to say 365 BIG FAT YES's to Me!

My #1 desire for 2009: Eat more and Better (tasting I mean)!! Forget less!!

I have an issue with eating - I wouldn't say an eating disorder, I just forget to eat or put it off cause I'm too busy painting or whatever. Tis not good for me. My body is hungry....I know, but I ignore it. I would like to focus more energy on eating things that taste good instead of things that are fast. So far in 09, I haven't done a good job at this one....but there's plenty of time. :)
My #1 gift to me in 2009! FORGET WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK!!!!

This woman just showed up on the page....I saw something in the background coloring, so I drew it with a pencil while on the phone with a friend and POOF, there she was. I like what is said about her, "She relaxed into herself when she released the craziness of worrying about "What other people think."

This is one I want BAD! I am so sick of concerning myself with what other people think about me or Who I Am. I am so sick of wasting my time in that way. I am so sick of putting pressure on me, of beating myself up, of the stress and upset associated with worrying about what other people think.

Ah, but let's end on a good note............. how about C? :)

~SAY YES~

Melissa

Goals of sorts, of course

Hey Cutie-Pies! Hope you are having a beautiful bubbly day. I am cause I'm choosing it. (be gone bubble popping pins, you have no power here!!)

I've never made goals or resolutions at the start of the new year, but as 2009 approached, it just felt different than any other year. More full of ????? whatever. So, I began writing goals. As I went along, there were more and more, AND the way I wrote them changed. I decided to 'art' about them in my new journal. Here's a few:


You'll soon notice - They've all turned out to be #1. ;) Eh, why not? And they are very broad. I like that because it's very inclusive and I have lots of opportunities to be successful.




My #1 job this year is to create, Create, CREATE! I want to be dedicated to it - spend specific time, have a goal for the day (like today's goal was to take pictures of the pages I've completed and share them here - later, I've drawn a woman's figure, which I will make several copies of so that I can practice putting clothes on her until I figure out which I like best....then I'll go over to the 'real' painting and copy it on there....so much better than messing up the awesome work I've done so far).

I want to get up on the days when The "What's the point" Jerk is hanging around my neck and art anyway!! I've seen other artists talk about how dedicated they are: setting an alarm to get up early (I believe that was Miss V), even though they don't have to 'clock-in' per say OR working when they just don't feel like it. In the past, I would have slept on both occasions or watched TV...especially when previously mentioned Jerk is around.





My #1 pursuit in 2009 is to say YAY to the Day! in whatever way that is. Part of that is the previous goal of creating. Part is spending some time connecting with The Universe through

~ visualization (sometimes when I'm bothered or can't sleep, I take myself on a lil mental/visual journey - I will be sharing some of those this year *BTW, that's "Major Change #2*)

~ spiritual movement (see the picture of the woman I painted? She's doing yoga. Like I said on the page, I always mean to, I usually want to, but do I actually take the time out and do it? No. I WILL spend time doing some form of spiritual movement - yoga, tai chih chi, inten Sati - which is more a work-out video, but it is verbal intentions combined with movement....it's hot, I like it)

~ some form of ritual (I don't know what this will be yet - following the rhythms of the moon, ????? - I don't know, something)

This 'goal' is also blended with some others that I will post about later. Saying "YAY to the Day" is very complex easy-peasy....I know you know what I mean.


So there you have it.

What I'm YAY'ing today: getting back into 'watching' (more listening to as I clean up around here) "The Waltons" and "Little House on the Prairie". For some reason, those two shows always give me some umph to get stuff done. Plus, they're so cute and warm and cozy in their back-in-the-day'ness.

So, I'm off to YAY the rest of my DAY. You YAY too!

~Smoochie Poochies~
Melis

New year, new blog, new magick

I've never done this before, but I certainly am brave enough to try it......

It all began with "Spirit Journeys Creative Workshop" over at Little Faerie Tales. The first project was to make a journal. I've made journals for years, so originally I planned on making just a regular journal, but winter themed. And then a shift inside me began somewhere before Christmas ~ and then Christmas arrived.......you know, Christmas provides all kinds of gifts spiritual, emotional, mental, material, but this is one gift I didn't expect.

What to do with this piece of cardboard from the new sheets T received? Hmmmmmm........



How about this?









Winter's Lady is my new profile piccy. :)

Here's the inside

That piece of cardboard was just begging to be turned into a beautiful piece of art! And now it'll be my Art Journal for 2009. I have written in journals since I was a teenager (that was over 20 years ago ;) , but it was almost always just words. I wanted to expand, GROW creatively in 2009, so this is a good way to begin.

I decided to do one side winter and the other summer because it's large enough to use all year. I didn't want to permanently attach the papers inside because 1) I may want to use it again next year and 2) it just makes it easier to 'art them up'. What I did was take three pieces of ribbon, glue them down, and cover it with a piece of fabric I painted, put some holes in the paper, and "poof" they're in there.

I also completed several pages, but I'm only going to share the first one today.


If anyone else would like to share their art journal pages of 2009, I'd be happy to post them here or link to your blog.

Oh ~ can't forget, it is Monday today.....so here's some music for you...... another of T's favorites that she turned me onto.

~May we all go "Into a place where thoughts can bloom"~

Melis

Hello....hello.....hello

"What an echo."

Just wanted to say Hi Me! Congratulations on creating this cool space. Good for you!

~Snuggle Huggles~
Melissa