Tag Archives: mixed media art

The last couple months have been a huge aha for me. Taking breaks and evaluating what works in my life and what doesn’t has led to some major slowing down. Now, if you know me, I am not someone who is naturally comfortable with „slow“.

I talk fast, I walk fast, if I have an idea I wanna do it NOW. And no, unfortunately I am not exaggerating. The idea of going on vacation and spending all day laying at the beach literally freaks me out. That’s the sort of person I am.

As you can imagine patience is not really one of my super-strong traits. ;-) So slowing down for me is … hard. To say the least. I have tried to live slower before in my life, but somehow it never worked. Even just laying in the yard in the sunshine for five minutes was literally impossible for me. You would have had to tie me down to make me do it. (Nope, I am not kidding.)

But lately, it has become easier. Alot. I am not sure why exactly, but I can say … I LOVE it. I finally know what the beauty of now is. I can sit and just be. Not always. And not for hours in a row. But more and more often. And it feels wonderful. I can enjoy the sunshine, the wind, a flower – and all is perfect just in that moment. It brings such a wonderful peaceful contentment that I never had before in my life. I am so grateful and thankful for that.

And once I had experienced this beautiful feeling, I wanted more. :-) Unfortunately with life it is not that easy to slow down. If you are not careful you are back in the old tracks, with the old speed. So I thought I try to fit in as many things to slow down my life as I can. And in case you wanna slow down your life a bit as well – here is a bit of inspiration. 15 ways to slow down your life. Take your pick.

1 Having a cup of tea.

As you might be able to guess this is my absolute favorite one. Just sitting – preferably on our swing in the backyard – and sipping some hot tea to me is magic.

2 Writing in a journal.

I used to write a lot in journals as a child. A LOT! I loved writing. I still love writing. And writing always helps me to sort out emotional stuff and process what is happening. And it somehow takes the pace out of life. Instead of hopping from one thing to the next you sit down, write, reflect. Oddly, at some point I stopped and figured it is a waste of time and paper. OMG, how could I! I am glad that I am back on it.

3 Doing some yoga.

Somehow yoga helps me to feel more grounded and calm. It has a wonderful effect on me and my mind. I love the yoga videos by Erin Motz and her 30 day yoga challenge helped me to do yoga regularly. Check out her videos – they are not super-long and therefore easy to implement in your day. You can access them here.

4 Eating S L O W L Y.

Now I have to admit I used to kinda inhale my food. :-) Not even on purpose. But I was always so busy in my mind, thinking about stuff that by the time I was done with a meal I often realized that I had not paid any attention to my meal AT ALL. (That odd moment when you look down your plate, realize it is empty and wonder where it all went.) So now I try to eat my meals really slowly, bite by bite. Preferably outside in the sunshine. This one is super-hard for me as I get distracted from concentrating on my food REALLY easily. But I am working on it. Nice side-effect: My stomach really likes when I eat slowly. Much less tummy distress. Ooooh, and you most likely will need to eat less to feel full. ;-)

5 Sitting on a swing

No idea why this one works for me, but it does. I LOVE swings. Always have. I could sit on swings for hours. Give it a try, maybe it works for you, too?

6 Being outside in nature.

I love nature. And I have a feeling nature loves me. ;-) Sometimes I just sit in our backyard or on a bench in a park. Listen to the birds. Watch the leaves sway in the wind. Watch some water. It is like a hug for the soul.
When quietly sitting is too hard, I run or walk or cyle. It is not as slow as sitting. ;-) But it still helps.

7 Writing a letter or postcard.

Yes, by hand. No email allowed! This is about slowing down, remember.When you are done with writing – send it to someone you care about. Most people do not expect written mail anymore and REALLY appreciate it.
And if you need some inspirational postcards … I got you covered HERE. ;-)

8 Reading a book. FOR FUN.

Yes, just for fun. Get lost in the story. When did you do that the last time?

9 Cuddling a pet.

Pets are awesome teachers for living more slowly. Ever saw a cat running around frantically? Or a dog stressed out about the fact that he did not get enough done today? 

10 Folding or hanging some laundry.

I know this sounds weird. For me it works. I somehow have a thing for mindless, repetitious tasks. They calm me down. Washing the dishes also does the trick. For some odd reason cleaning the bathroom does not. :-( Too bad.

11 Picking just ONE thing from your to-do list.

Try it just for a day. I know this one is hard and certainly does not work every day. But once-in-a-while be fine with doing just ONE thing.

12 Sitting alone in the dark with a candle.

Sounds spooky? Try it. The dark is not as dark as you might think. I find it super romantic and calming to watch the flame.

13 Riding a train.

Instead of going by car, go by train. I love riding the train. It is so wonderful to just sit, with lots of leg space (unlike in the car) and watch out of the window and see the landscape slide by. Being able to just daydream or read.
Oh, and if you have one of those annoying “talkers” sitting next to you – headphones do the trick. You do not even have to put music on. Just wear some headphones and people will leave you alone.

14 Sketching.

If you do not like to sketch, do something you love. For me things like knitting, crocheting, sometimes sewing work well, too. It just has to be enjoyable, slightly “mind-less” and no immediate result is required.

15 Listening to a meditation-audio.

Of course meditating is awesome to slow down. But I am still not good at doing it “by myself”. Most of the time when I sit still my mind starts racing. So I “trick” it by listening to guided meditations. I truly love the ones by Deepak Chopra, but there are so many out there. You surely will find something that you like. 

Now tell me, do you intentionally try to slow down your life?
If yes, leave me a comment and tell me your favorite way to stop the world twirling around you.

When I was a little kid I loved fairytales. One of my favourites was Snowwhite. Of course I did not like the mean queen. But I loved the idea of owning a magic mirror. That would be awesome, wouldn’t it?

Imagine, a mirror that tells you how amazing and beautiful and wonderful you are.

Whenever you are not feeling so great, all you need to do is look into your magic mirror and you will instantly know what a grand person you are. In my opinion, every person should own such a magic mirror. Well, maybe not everyone. The mean queen certainly not. But you and me. ;-) 

Unfortunately up until now in my life, I have not seen such a magic mirror anywhere. So I simply made my own first prototype :

A mixed media project: The magic mirror

Okay, I have to admit, the magic part is a little … slim. But as it proved kinda hard to hunt down some sorcerers or witches it was kinda difficult to put actual magic in it. So I did the next-best thing and added my own magic with different mixed media techniques. I certainly think that this mirror will work.

Every time you look into it, you will feel a lot better.

I made this magic mirror for my daughter and the sentences on it are in French. But of course, you could make a similar mirror in German, English or Gaelic ;-). You can make one for someone you care about. Or, for yourself.

What would your magic mirror tell you every morning?

P.S. Would you like some instructions or templates on how to make your own mixed media magic mirror for yourself or your kids?

To be honest, I am rather nervous writing this. After all, everyone who ever stumbles upon this page can read this. And, well, to some it may sound odd. But it is truly what I believe so here it goes.

I believe in miracles.

This has not always been the case. I have always believed in God. (Having said that, I do not think that you need to believe in God in order to believe in miracles.) But miracles, well, I just was not sure. I kinda always wanted to believe in them. But, it just sounded so unlikely. How could any reasonable person – me ;-) – believe in miracles. Or anything that can not be explained. (Do not ask me why I believed and believe in God then. Can not be explained either, I know.) Then one day I watched a video about manifesting with Marie Forleo and Gabby Bernstein. In that video – which you can watch HERE – Gabby quotes “A course in miracles” (which I have not read yet):

“Miracles are natural. When they do not occur, something has gone wrong.”

WOW! Seriously?

Somehow this quote totally grabbed me. I mean, if that was true – wow! I started pondering this idea. Or rather that idea kinda settled in my brain and I could not stop thinking about it.
I figured, well, there is no harm in kinda „testing“ it, right? I mean, if I start believing in miracles and behaving that way the worst thing that could happen is – nothing.

So that was pretty much what I did. And, well, it is hard to describe what happened. But it certainly was not „nothing“. I have experienced so many „coincidences“ in the past year, that statistically speaking it would mean something like winning the lottery and getting struck by lightning the same day. Okay, not sure if that would be statistically correct – I am horrible at math * laugh*- but you get the point. So basically, over time I stopped believing in coincidences.

How about you?

Do you believe that miracles actually happen? Or do you think „coincidences“ are nothing more than that, coincidences?

One of my goals for this year is to make more art, „play“ more with my art materials, learn new techniques. So I signed up for Lifebook 2014. The first exercise was to draw your own guardian for the year. I had already drawn my „reminder“ for my word for 2014 and I knew I wanted my guardian to look similar. But I wanted her to look less scared. After all, she was supposed to protect me from my own inner critic. And that’s a tough job, you know. ;-) So this is her.

I do love how she turned out. She is not perfect of course. But nothing ever is. :-) Or as Danielle LaPorte says:

“Every masterpiece that’s ever been done – it could have been better”
Danielle LaPorte

And everytime I look at her I do feel „stronger“. Odd, right?!

Do you have a picture or „thing“ that reminds you of your own power?

This is a post I kinda wrote for myself. :-) But I think it does affect everyone at times … so maybe it will help you.

Do you know the feeling when you start something new? The fear, that kinda creeps up and boycotts what you are doing?
Last summer I had a moment when I realized how much I actually do – or do not do – out of fear. And back then I promised myself to stop listening to that fear. That is not easy. At all. Often fear creeps up silently – with a bunch of arguments in stow. There are times when fear sounds so reasonable that one does not recognize it as fear at all. In those times it is good to have friends that tell you “Hey, you are just afraid”. And this is exactly what happened to me today.

What am I afraid of? To show the things that I made in my studio during the last weeks. No buttons – but pictures. Yes, I have shown some of my art before. But those were always pictures that I had not made for selling. Somehow to show those was easier. (Not easy, but easier.) But today – without prior announcement or a big party – the premier on my website: my first mixed-media art piece that is for sale (Sold).

It is inspired by Christmas. The words read “Do not be afraid” in German. It is what the angels say in the Christmas story.
To me personally Christmas is quite important. Not the kind of Christmas that happens in the stores and shops, but the “actual” Christmas.

But I think that even without Christmas the message of the picture – or of the angels  – is important. Do not be afraid. Trust. Yes, that is not easy. At least not for me. But each time I do overcome my fear, I learn how much it is worth.

So today I want to inspire to think about where fear sneaks up in your life? What do you do – or do you not do – out of fear? And what would you do if you did not have your fear?

I am really looking forward to your comments … and am off having a cup of strong tea. To calm down … ;-)

It is gorgeous weather here today. So I thought a piece of art and a little thought-provoking impulse should be enough. :-)

I made the picture already a while ago. And it actually was more an experiment than anything else. But it was so much fun! And in my opinion, the message on it can not be repeated enough.
It does not have to be the BIG dreams all the time. (But it can, of course.) And it does not have to be the huge daring things you do. You can dare in small ways. Every day. And it will change your life!

What are you dreaming of today? How will you dare?

I am off to have a cup of tea … ;-)

Would you love to create some mixed media art yourself?

Try a free mixed media workshop!

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