Baseball and Embroidery

I am about to enter my busiest time of the year. Spring is like no other season for me. As many of you know, I have 5 boys. I have 4 of them living home with me now and they all play baseball on some level. One plays in college, one in high school, and two play for travel teams. That amounts to a whole lotta baseball. 

A small yarn and bead mandala

I recently finished putting my schedule in the calendar for the upcoming season and realized that I am going to have on average, 15 games a week. OMG! Of course I won't be able to go to all those games because there are some days that all 4 of the boys are playing in 4 different towns so my husband and I will be doing a lot of dividing and conquering to spread the love as much as possible.

In the past I've been overwhelmed, angry, and spent a lot of time feeling victimized by my situation. Of course I know I could just say, "no more baseball kiddies!" but that's never going to happen so I have learned to embrace it as best I can and try to find balance.

Playing around with a face

The first few years I cried a lot. That doesn't happen anymore. I now listen to audio books at the games, spend time preparing menus and dinners ahead so I am not in panic mode, and make sure I have everything I need in my car no matter what the weather. Yes, I have a sleeping bag ready to go all the way into August. Hee hee.

12 x12 garden mandala
 

This year I've decided to take it a step further. I have taken up a new hobby that I can bring along with me. With so much time spent outside the house, this can be a time when my creativity really suffers. So why not bring the creative fun with me?

A gift for a dear friend

I decided embroidery would be a totally new and fun thing to try and one that can easily be carried from field to field and as long as the weather cooperates I can be stitching in between innings. I am so excited about this. My 15 year old is not at all thrilled. He said, "Mom, please don't bring this to my games! It's so embarrasing! It's what old ladies do!" Hahahahaha! I love it!

Small leaf in progress

Of course I haven't been able to wait for the games to start so I've been having all kinds of fun playing around. I made sure I brought it with me to my son's orthodontist appointment to work on in the waiting room. I want to make sure he eases into the idea. Maybe those baseball games won't be so traumatic.

Have you recently taken up a new hobby? I'd love to hear about it. Maybe you can give me some new ideas. I still have a week or two til baseball starts. ;o)

Outside My Creative Box

In an effort to find something to do creatively outside of the mandalas that I've been making for Inner Alignment Mandalas, I decided to jump into my Pinterest Boards and see what I could come up with for inspiration.

Source: Gypsyville.com

 

I have had this big chunky necklace pinned on my Crafty Craft board for ages. I love the combination of colors!

Source: Christy Tomlinson



 Not long ago I pinned these paperclay hearts and I decided to combine them and create my own fun jewelery.

 

I started with some air dray clay and made a shape that I stamped with my word of the year. Then I went to town beading. It was so fun to do something a little different and I am happy with the results.

 

 

 Then I was so inspired I made another on and I have to say I love it!

 

 

 

 It's been great fun to step outside of my creative box and try something new.

 

Have you been doing any creative projects that are out of your norm?

 

 

 

Where O Where Has Michelle Been?

 

Well, I've been right here. Immersed in Inner Alignment Mandalas and diving into my own spirit. Creating mandalas that make my heart sing and connecting with people who teach me new lessons everyday.

 

I've learned to touch a part of me that I never knew existed. OK, a part of me knew it was there, hiding beneath the surface, under years of disconnect and hiding from my own light.

 

The creative process I've been swimming in has healed me in ways I had no idea was even possible. It has connected me to powers that are greater than myself and I feel as if I am deep in gratitude for each day I am able to wake up and make my way to my computer or my art desk.

 

I'm excited by everything I do, even the most mundane tasks like setting up a newsletter to the most exciting, like watching a mandala emerge from a canvas covered in rich, deep color.

 

Lately I've been connecting to my intuitive side even more. I've taken the step from Intuitive Artist to Intuitive. I've been doing Intuitive Card Readings and I can't tell you the excitement that rushes through my body as I connect to my higher spirit and the spirit of those I am reading.

 

I've been getting clear messages that it is time to take this intuitive skill to the next level and truly connect with others to be able to offer healing and guidance. I can't tell you the honor I've been feeling in being able to combine my coaching and intuitive skills to guide people on their spiritual journey!!!

 

 

As a sort of "welcome back" to The Creative Healing Studio, I want to offer card readings to 3 of my readers. I will do an Intuitive Card Reading that I will record and put up on YouTube for you to view. There will be an opportunity for you to get clear on what area in your life you are seeking guidance in prior to the reading.

 The first three people to leave a comment below with their email address will receive a card reading. I am so excited to be able to share this with you. Thank you for all your support!

Having Fun in My Journal

I've been playing around a little here and there in my journal, just trying to stay loose and have fun. It's interesting that now that I am free to create everyday for my new venture, Inner Alignmnent Mandalas I feel like I need to do a little creative play on the side. Isn't that funny?

I guess it's just a way to stay balanced. The work I do with I AM is beautiful, deep, and spiritual and it is so fulfilling for me. I love every part of the process.

So I guess to keep me balanced I go for dripping, taping, gluing and otherwise messing up my journal pages. It's so fun. I actually ended up writing all over this page which I think is cool too.

So what do you do for fun? Does it involve art?

I AM Live!!!

The time has come to introduce you all to my new website, Inner Alignment Mandalas. It was created over the summer in partnership with my amazing friend Jill Chesrow! I am so grateful for meeting her and for being guided to create this new business with her!

Inner Alignment Mandalas is truly a partnership. Each of us have our own talents and together we have created something truly wonderful. I am intuitively creating custom mandalas for our clients and Jill is doing quantum energy sessions to clear, balance and expand their energy fields. These mandalas are really powerful. We've been making them throughout the summer and I've just been amazed at the energy they have.

Right now we are offering Custom Mandalas and Business Mandalas and we plan on adding prints, coaching and online programs in the future. It is so very exciting to be working on something that I  know is a gift and that I feel truly passionate about. I can't tell you how smooth everything has gone. Things have seemed to flow and fall into place. We have both felt very guided in this endeavor.

I would love for all of you to check out our new website. I even created a video! It was so fun. There is also a free download where you will get our I AM Love Mandala pictured above. If you like what you see I would love for you to like us over on Facebook and tell anyone and everyone all about us. It might sound kind of cheesy but I really want to spread the word because I want as many people to be able to benefit from this amazing energy!

Thank you for all of your support over the last few years to help me find myself and connect with my creativity. It has given me to confidence to call myself an intuitive artist and with that confidence I was able to find Jill and create this wonderful partnership. You guys are the best!!!

Thankful Thursday

In my previous blog I used to do a Thankful Thursday post each week and I've decided that today I am going to bring it to life right here.

I am thankful that today is my birthday. I have been overwhelmed with emails and calls from all my friends and family. I went to breakfast with my youngest three and I'm going to the movies later. I also managed to drag my kiddies shopping and since it was my birthday they weren't allowed to complain! Hee hee, I'm very tricky like that.

I have to admit that I've always loved my birthday. When I was young I was able to go to Dispensa's Kiddie Kingdom to pick out whatever I wanted! It was so exciting. I also got to go on the rides at the carnival. It was all very exciting.  I'm thankful for those memories.

I am thankful that my family got to get away for an 18 day trip this summer. We were able to go down to see my oldest son who is stationed near Destin Florida. It was the first time we saw him since he graduated bootcamp. We spent a weekend with him. I loved it all except maybe seeing his new tattoos!

After that we headed down to my dad's place where we took beach bumming to a new level. Pure relaxing! Just what we needed.

We were lucky enough to have another family we are close with travel down with us and the kids had a ball together. I'm thankful they are making such wonderful childhood memories.

I am thankful that I was able to get a little journaling done while on the vacation. There is something so wonderful about painting by the pool. I love it!

I am so thankful for my AMAZING chiropractor, Dr. Mnabhi who was able to work his magic on the most horrible case of whiplash I got riding one of the sketchy rides at Six Flags in Atlanta. I hit a curve on the roller coaster and my head skipped off the head rest and was flapping behind me as I barreled upside down. Picture a goofy cartoon with a long neck sailing a foot behind the body. That's what it felt like.

Thank goodness or "Thanks God" as he said (he's from Morroco) he has spent 4 years studying traditional osteopathy in Canada because otherwise the only thing he would have been able to offer me was muscle relaxers and a neck brace for a month before he could even help me! Luckily however he was able to get me almost back to new in only 4 sessions! Woo Hoo! I am over the moon about this!

I'm thankful that my boys are all going on a camping trip and I am going to be staying home. I have a ton of stuff to catch up on before school starts next week and they will have a ball on their guy's weekend.

I'm thankful that I have such a wonderful family and a fulfilling life. I am thankful that I am in a place these days where I am able to recognize it and to not miss out on the little things. I am thankful that even when things are a little crazy or aren't going "perfect" I'm still happy. Wow! When did that happen?!

I am thankful for my life!!!

Two Year Anniversary!

Two years ago I started this blog and I had no idea what was in store for me. I only knew I had a calling to incorporate more creativity, color and vibrancy into my life.

I dove in with all my heart to learn…techniques, styles, anything…I just wanted to learn. I traveled around the country taking classes and I signed up for many online classes as well. It was a feverish desire to learn the secret illusive thing that would get me to where I wanted to be.

Then there was a bit of a shift. It started at the beginning of the year. I had chosen “responsibility” as my word for the year and I had decided it just wasn’t responsible to be taking all these trips when the money would be useful in other areas of my life. I took an online class and decided that it just wasn’t for me. I didn’t want to “do” anyone else’s style anymore. It just didn’t fit.

Meanwhile I was beginning to spend more time going inward, learning to listen to myself more than the outside world. I was introduced to the Akashic Records and it seemed like a lost part of my soul began to wake. I had this inner calm, a sense of knowing that even though things didn’t seem to be moving forward, they were exactly as they needed to be.

With this new found connection to my higher self, I began to see things unfolding in the most synchronistic way. Things I had secretly desired began to appear in my life. Things I didn’t even know I needed began to emerge and it is from this moment that I can look back and see the perfection in what has unfolded.   

My thinking mind had a plan…it knew exactly where I “needed” to go. It couldn’t seem to make it happen but it could clearly see the end point and longed to figure out how to get there. When I let go of the “plan” and began to trust and live from a place of connection with my higher self, things began to unfold in the most natural way. I suddenly became focused when previously I was scattered. I was able to work in complete flow, loving every minute of it. Things began to take shape and effortlessly bloom.

Is it what my thinking mind thought I wanted or needed?

Absolutely not!

It isn’t anything I ever dreamed of but it is a perfect fit.

I don’t know what the future will hold. I have given up trying to plan. I am letting go into a deep trust that is carrying me to places I never knew existed for me. Will it keep me here at The Creative Healing Studio? I don’t know…only time will tell.

It is with complete gratitude that I celebrate my two year anniversary here on this blog and it is with complete trust that I go out into the third year knowing that whatever happens will be perfect.

I promise, the secret will come out in August. ;o)