Gratitude Blog Hop

Me in  my shop

 Well this is the month to have gratitude and so my fellow flyers have come up with this blog hop. I hope you come away feeling more grateful for what you have and enjoy the other fellow Artists posts. 

What am I grateful for?

My Shop

The shop window

   Of course I would not be able to have the shop without...

 My Husband.

My Husband

   He has supported me in all my creative en devours. I am so happy to have support in my art. He let my Daughter and her friend paint him, what a sport!

My Creativity

Drawing cut up for ATCs

   I would not have this without my... 

Artistic Family

My Son and Daughter

They are both very talented in art, I learn from them all the time.

My Dad

He is an Art Professor and knows many techniques and so creative.

My Mom

She does doodles, paints and is creative.

My Sister

She makes jewelry, and makes many other crafts including amazing cake and party decorations.

My grateful doodle

I am also grateful for having a meditation practice, all my family and friends, teaching.

All the things I take for granted but shouldn't like my health, life, working limbs (once I broke my thumb and realized how much I needed it), money, shelter, clothes, shoes, food, water, air, a positive mind, compassion and being able to give, and so much more! 

It seems unless we have lived without or had someone tell us what it's like to live without we don't really know what it's like to not have water, food etc. Are there things in your life you could look for that you take for granted? What are you grateful for? I encourage everyone to help those in need any way you can.   (Prayer, food, money, shelter, clothes etc.) I like the Toms Shoes idea of making a product and giving a product. What can you do to help?

So, lets see what Suzanne McRae has to say about being grateful hop......

Sincerely,

Chandra

   

Wordless Wednesday!

How Grateful Are You?

In the world today we have to have compassion for everyone we see, there is so much disaster. With the natural disasters, bombings,and wars, the suffering is large. We have to be grateful for all we have. This above quote let's us know we have more than we know. Let's take things into perspective and look at the big picture. What are you grateful for?

In the US we act like we have nothing, but really we are living in one of the most wealthy areas of the world. A couple years ago I went to Brazil. I saw people living in houses bunched together with four walls and a flat roof. They looked like cardboard. Then a few yards away there was a huge mansion. I was devastated that they were living so close together.The rich would not help the poor get out of that position.

Here is another interesting thing that happened to me when I came back from Brazil. I walked into a Whole Foods market right in front it was filled very high with the largest variety of produce.Down every isle there was so many choices I was overwhelmed. I realized we have everything we could imagine. We are spoiled. So what are we complaining about?

One day I got a text from someone I didn't know, it said they had just been in a car accident and lost their car. They were devastated and were depressed. I explained that I didn't know who they were but I was sorry for their accident.I sent them this picture in the text back to them.They said thanks and we chatted a bit. I wonder how they ended up texting me but I knew it was to help them in some way.

I know deep down we all know how good we actually have it. We need a reminder every once in a while. Let's look at the big picture.Let's help those in need whenever we can. Let's be grateful for all we have.

Hands On is an organization I found where you volunteer to help others in your community. Check it out!



Have a great day, enjoy and be grateful for what you have.
I have this great bird picture, not sure who made it but it is cool! I love the swirls in the tree branch :)

 Chandra

Wordless Wednesday!

Artist Trading Cards Tutorial

Artist Trading Cards or better known as ATCs have been around for a while. I have only recently discovered them. They are great fun!

 I have made a tutorial for anyone out there wondering what ATCs are and how to make them. Artist Trading Cards are small 3 1/2 by 2 1/2 size cards. On one side you create a masterpiece and on the other you write your information like blog, email, web site, name and date. Grab your supplies and start creating!

Supplies

Card stock 

Scissors

Paper cutter

Glue stick

Pen's

Optional materials depending on what media you use

Paint

Decorative papers

Stamps

Glue gun

Cloth

Felt

Embroidery floss

Pictures

Magazine cutouts

Ribbon

Anything you want to use!

You can make the base card out of anything, card stock is what I use. But you can also use canvas, watercolor paper, an old playing card (covered in paper or gesso). There are even ones that are pre-made for all types of media. I have bought some of the pre- made ones. They are nice if you want to use a specific medium like watercolor, but card stock works fine.

So, let's get to the making. Start with the card stock. Measure out 2 1/2 along one side with a pencil mark, and 3 1/2 along the other side.

Card stock and ruler measuring 2 1/2 inches across.

 The next step is cutting the cards out. Here I use a paper cutter for straight lines. Of course you can use scissors as well but I tend to make crooked cuts so I use the cutter. 

There you have a nice card just the right size.

I like to round the edges with an edge cutter. I have tried cutting the edge myself, needless to say I can't make good edges with scissors. You can leave them square as well. 

Now the fun begins! Get your supplies. Here I have the scraps from another project I was working on they have paint stains. The large paper is for the back side. This is where you can get creative, make backgrounds with paint or paper, collage, whatever you like.

 I use a glue stick because it goes on smooth, doesn't wrinkle the paper and is quick drying. I made a frame with the scraps of paper.

Here I have glued a decorative paper on the back.

Cut the back paper off.

I stamped the back paper with a Made with love stamp. You can use any stamp that has lines or just write your info on the back.

I colored in the stamp with gel pens and added my info.

Now for the front. Here are my examples. In this one I colored inside the frame I made of papers.

Here I had drawn a picture on another paper and cut it up, glued and done!

A different stamp with lines to write in your info.

Here is the stack of the ones I made that day. 

Now it's time to trade them! Find a local group in your area, a mail group or make a group yourself. 

Every Friday at The Cozy Craft Corner from 3:30 to 5:30 we have an Artist Trading Card class and swap. It is so fun! I love making small pieces of art. It's tiny and manageable. We usually end up making about four each class and trade them. 

I have also started a group of women from my Flying Lessons class with Kelly Rae Roberts to do ATC's in the mail. This has been very successful so far and great fun! 

I hope you now have a better understanding about how to make Artist Trading Cards. Enjoy :)

Here are some sites that give you ideas and themes;

Altered Art

Art Junction

Family Fun

Here is an interesting idea Tea Bag ATCs

Here is one that has supplies.

Sky Blue Pink

Here are some books on ATC's

I have this on in my shop Artist Trading Card Workshop

1,000 Artist Trading Cards: Innovative and Inspired Mixed Media ATCs

Trading Card Techniques & ATCs

Have a wonderful day,

Chandra

My Precious Teacher.

Kadam Ace Remas

I have been thinking about my meditation practice more and more lately. I have been Buddhist for about 8 years now. My teacher Kadam Ace Remas from all that time has just stopped teaching in our area. I know things always change, but I thought he would teach us for a very long time. I had never thought about him stopping. Very spoiled we are though because all the other centers in our tradition change their teachers many times. He gave two last teachings, one in Sacrament and one in Petaluma. He gave us very good advice on doing Lamrim and practicing in our daily life. Because we are all Buddhist we are practicing non attachment to him. But we will all miss him and his teachings. His teachings would always be about what I was experiencing. Helping me far beyond what I could imagine. So I thank him from the depths of my heart. He introduced me to Buddhism, to Tara the great mother. When I first started I practiced Tara all the time. So much my children got sick of it. I started to wear headphones.

Ace teaching as Tara not intentional I'm sure.

Tara painted by Edward see doesn't Ace look like this?

He was there for me like a long lost Guru. Introducing me to Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

 my root Guru a living Buddha. He came here to help us become free from suffering. I am so grateful for his help in opening my eyes to compassion. Thinking about others, cherishing others as if they were me. Wishing them happiness and love. One time he said wherever you go just love others, all the people, birds and insects, wish them happiness. I did this for a while and it really changed my perspective. It's true everyone really only wants to be happy! What a difference a smile makes, a friendly hello, an acknowledgement and saving the life of a bug.

Ace encouraged me get to see Geshe-la in England, NY, and Brazil. He was always there at the festivals to help me whenever I had questions. He was like a protector of my mind. Helping me see the way Buddha saw things, as pure. I will miss his teachings and his wisdom. I wish him all the best in his future adventures.

Ace and myself in the play at the Brazilian Temple. We were Tibetans, can you tell?

I do know one thing for sure I am practicing more these days that Ace is gone. I will always have him to remember in my imagination.

He also has a few books  From "From The Back Porch" and "Precious Time" that I have read not Dharma related but they do have a bit of the idea of Dharma in them. From The Back Porch is about when he raised his children how they taught him how to be a better person and the other is about this old guy who is trying to sort his life out and the help he gets.

In Dharma,

Chandra

Fantastic Friday!

Here I am in the shop selling some skull earrings to a Nun for her friend, so happy!

 Fridays are so fun in The Cozy Craft Corner! We have a crafting social at 11:00 am. You can bring in whatever your working on and create, get ideas and see what others are working on. It's fantastic!

Then at 3:30 pm we make Artist Trading Cards (ATC's). This has been the greatest discovery for me. I love it. You can make any art on a small card and trade with other Artist. In the shop I provide many supplies for all types of mixed media cards. It cost only $5.00 a bargain to make as many cards as you like. Last week we each made 3. It is lot's of fun to see what others create. We all have so much creativity waiting to get out. So come on down and enjoy making art.

I have this book 

 Artist Trading Card Workshop at the shop if you would like to take a look at it! I now have a mail in ATC group with my fellow flyers from Kelly Rae Roberts class. I just received my first one and it was made out of a negative from a picture, how cool is that!

The shops window display.

Pendants on display.

 I have added some bracelets to my Etsy shop. I am going to add more jewelry soon. This is great if your out of state. This way you can get something you like from Etsy instead of traveling all the way to CA to The Cozy Craft Corner.
Here are some examples.

Here are the bracelets that I have made out of the beautiful bead mix from last week. Sorry for not posting sooner. I love how they came out. The silver seed beads and yellow pearls are so elegant! These are two separate bracelets but I like to wear them together.

These are the ones I lost twice and found twice. They have small magnets that come apart easily.

This one has a peyote stitch next to the clasp and these long strands giving it the illusion of being many bracelets.

The peyote stitch next to the clasp, I love the square beads, they lay so flat!

Have a fantastic Friday!

Chandra