Upcoming Online Class

Keeping busy! I've been recording videos for an upcoming class. This is super exciting! I've been wanting to do this for a very long time. I hope to post more information soon. So far I have a few tutorial videos done, as well as ideas to get your creativity flowing. Keep checking back for more information! I hope you will join me on this journey!

http://dhawkes77.wix.com/danielladaydreams

https://www.facebook.com/danielladaydreams

https://www.etsy.com/shop/DaniellaDaydreams?ref=si_shop

The Past Two Weeks

Well, I am finally a stay home mom.  I quit work last Friday.  It still isn't quite sinking in.  Hopefully, I will be able to keep up with my blog, youtube, and facebook pages A LOT more!  Leaving work was kind of sad.  I worked there for 13 years.  I will still stop in and visit everyone there once in awhile.  On my last week, I received some great gifts.  One of my coworkers made me this sweet goodbye present.  I wanted to play with it at my desk all day. 

I said many goodbyes and cried several times.  After I got off of work, my husband surprised me!  He told me he was out of town all day.  I believed him.  He showed up at the end of my last work day, with flowers, a charm for my bracelet, and told me he was taking me out for lunch.  He took the whole day off to spend time with me.  He wanted to make my day more memorable and help through the sad parts.  He's amazing!  Here is a small collage of things from that day...

The weekend prior to quiting work, I had my first craft show.  The week before was a busy trying to get ready for it!

My business card holder!

 My banner!

I had a 6x6 area to set up.  I didn't get it set up how I wanted to.  I had more displays to use, but it would have been too cramped.  

It was really slow, but I did make some sales.  This is my Usher pose, trying to lure people in.

I tried to keep low expectations so I wouldn't get discouraged.  I am happy with how it went!  I got a little experience under my belt, met some new people, made a little more money than expected, and had lots of laughs with my hubby.  :)  I have another craft show next month.  It should be a bigger turn out.  We will see how that one goes.  

That's all for now!  I hope to blog again soon.

She Matters

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted.  Things sure have been busy!  :)  I've created lots of art lately.  I've loved taking a workshop from Mindy Murphy Lacefield from http://timssally.ning.com/.  I highly recommend any of her workshops.  She really helped me connect to my inner child.  So much fun!!!

So back in mid December I created this painting.

I listed it on Etsy last Sunday and it sold this week!  Here is the story that the buyer included with her purchase:  This piece has really inspired me this week. I am an urban elementary school principal and after 14 years of practice I am faced with a new challenge. One of my sixth graders (12 years old) has recently found out she is pregnant. This piece will hang in my office as a reminder that I am committed to helping this young person discover her passions, receive a world class education and prepare for her life ahead. Thank you for creating this piece, as it brings a visual reminder to the essence of my work.

Her story really touched me.  Such a sad story and a tough situation.  If only there were more principals out there like this!  I've been praying for everyone involved in that situation.  I hope you'll join me in praying!  

I'm so thankful she shared her story with me.  It's encouraging to hear how something I create really helps someone.  When I created "She Matters", I was remembering the struggles I had with my self image and I reflected on where I am now.  God has shown me that I do matter, that I am special to Him.  Just before Christmas, this is what I journaled:  "So  after I made this painting, God gave me the idea to create girl paintings with positive messages.  It reminds me of the art journaling class I want to teach, called "His Esteem".  "His Esteem" can also be the name of this art series.  God has shown me that He loves me and that I matter.  I want others to experience God's esteem for themselves.  Now to come up with sayings to have ready!"

It is so important to me to help others, in regards to how they view themselves, and for them to see how God sees them.  Our self image really plays a big role in our lives.  It impacts how we live and the decisions we make.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope to post more very soon with some of my latest artings!

Art Happenings The Past 2 Weeks

I started a workshop called The Art of Wild Abandonment last week.  I took a break from the projects in the workshop because I wanted to create a journal page of a girl with her heart on her sleeve.  I've had the words "living out loud" running through my mind.  Life is about living out loud.  When I think about living out loud, I don't mean become a loud person.  To me living out loud means sharing my life, sharing the things I'm going through or I've gone through, live authentically, and not hide who I really am.  Everyone has struggles.  If we share our struggles and be real about what is really going on in our lives, we can help each other through...we can encourage each other.  God didn't want us to go through our struggles on our own...that's why He puts people in our lives.  I think sometimes we worry about being judged by others and so we put on a mask.  There is a Scripture I'm trying to find...it's about going through things and helping others through their struggles.  I found it!  2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says:  "God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.  He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others.  When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us."

The journal page with the girl who wore her heart on her sleeve, above, has put ideas in my head of making cuff bracelets with words embroidered on hearts...words like love, compassion, forgiveness, grace, and brave.  I made a simple bracelet this weekend, but it's not finished.  It has the word "brave" embroidered on its heart.

I got back into the Wild Abondonment workshop a little.  The instructor was talking about how we can create so many things out of circles.  I thought about making a journal page with buttons into a heart shape and came up with this picture that's above.  Love does hold things together.  People who loved me and cared about me helped me through a tough time in my life.  In the end, things got better than they ever had been.  My love for God, my love for those involved in my life and those who gave me support, helped me make the right choices. 

This picture of the house is a mixed media painting I made for my dining room last week.  I've had a house fetish lately. I put little butterflies all over because it reminded me about the bushes we have in front of our house.  In September, usually there are purple that attract lots of butterflies.  My bushes are sad this year with the lack of rain.  I miss the butterflies.  There would be so many, that when I would walk up my driveway, there would be this cloud of butterflies.  It's so cool!  Hopefully the bushes will be happier next year.

So I started another workshop this week called She Had Three Hearts.  It's an art journaling workshop on the hearts we share.  I've been told several times I'm brave.  That is a part of me I didn't see, but I do understand now.  Brave is my new word that sticks out to me.

I hope you've been inspired or encouraged in some way with all my ramblings.  :)  That's all for now.  Thanks for stopping by!  

Identity

People in our lives are like mirrors that we often look in.  We look to those to see who we are and how we should be treated.  Some might get a big head from all the positive images we receive, but there are those out there that put imprints on us in a negative way.  Then we take on that identity binding us to something that isn’t true. 

I grew up to believe I needed to be perfect.  I believed that I had to perfect in everyway for people to accept me.  I believed I needed to be whatever others wanted/needed me to be. I use to believe that if I messed up, I would let God down.  That is all impossible!  I use to get depressed seeing at how imperfect I really am.   I couldn't stand myself, and often felt like I was too needy, or like I was a burden to others.  Living that way caused lots of pain…emotionally and physically. 

When I was approaching my 33^rd birthday, the effects of living that way started taking a toll on me physically.  I didn’t sleep much and when I did, I didn’t sleep well.  My body started to ache…a lot and most of the time.  I would get shooting pains in my arms and legs.  Sometimes I ached like I had the flu.  My muscles in my legs, arms and back would feel stiff.  The felt like they needed to be stretched.  Lots of tests were run to figure out what was wrong.  Housework was so painful to do, but I did the best I could.  Luckily my kids helped me out some.  One doctor had me do physical therapy to treat my pain.  While I was doing physical therapy, I was really struggling to sleep more than an hour or two a night.  My doctor gave me a pill used to treat Fibromyalgia, to help me sleep.  I couldn’t believe how much better I felt physically with that medicine.  I didn’t change what I believed about myself, which more issues arose.  There were struggles in my marriage, because I tried to live up to being a perfect wife.  There were so many consequences coming at me at once.  Over time, allowing others to dictate who I was, I lost my real self.  During that time, I had a friend ask me what I needed and I didn’t have a clue. 

 

Allowing others to dictate who I was, slowing lost who I really was inside.  It was a long, painful journey trying to undo all of that, but it was worth it all.  I won’t be sharing some things on this blog, because I don’t want to hurt others and I don’t want others to judge those I love.  I do take the blame too, because I chose to live that way.

My hope in all of this is to help others.  I want you to know how special you are…God sure thinks so, and He loves you dearly.  You are unique!  My hope is for those who struggle as I did, is that you will allow God to help you change all of that.  Take some time seeking God and who He says you are.  Allowing God to tell me who I am is so freeing and I never want to go back to who I thought I was!

Journey Art Journal

Life is a journey and there is so much going on in my life lately...

I got an early birthday present from my aunt and uncle to buy some new toys at Dick Blick.  I bought a small Moleskine watercolor journal.  I love it!  Right now I'm using it for girl faces with quotes.  They kind of tell the story going on.  This girl I was inspired to make after looking at some eye candy in the Somerset Studio Gallery Summer 2012 magazine.  After I was done with the painting I added the word "waiting...".  My husband found out he may be getting promoted, but we weren't certain.

If my husband were to get promoted I could possibly stop working for a few years and stay home with my kids.  If that happened, I would homeschool them.  It's been my dream for years!  Some people think its a great idea, and some don't.  

My husband and I adopted two little boys when they were 3 and 4.  They came to live with us when they were 2 and 3.  It was a year before we could adopt them because of things slowing down the process.  Our little guys have some challenges that aren't their fault, especially with public school.  They are such a blessing to us and we love them so much.  One has Tourette Syndrome.  His tics have always been issues at school.  Teachers constantly pick on him about it...all but one teacher.  Subs don't understand it at all.  Every year I have to educate his teachers on Tourette Syndrome.  He has always had issues with being bullied, and his Tourette Syndrome plays a big part of it.  He also has OCD with it.  It's made him have to get up in the middle of class, move a chair to move something way up high.  If I could homeschool him, it would benefit him so much.  He has a hard time sitting still long, too.  There are things to use for homeschooling that would allow him to move a lot more.  

My other boy has ADD and ODD.  He's always had issues at school and we get called up to the school a lot.  He's had lots of therapy to help him cope, and we have strategies that help him think through things better.  I can help him through his challenging times, but teachers at the school can't so much.  His teacher last year was amazing...she worked with us so much.  It was his worst year behavioral wise, but there is great improvement.  This year will be interesting with the new teachers to the school.  If I could homeschool him, he would be in class more and I can shape lessons in a way that would benefit him better.  There are lots of worries and oppositions which is why I use the words on the picture below.  I'm trusting in God!

This next art journal page I made after we found out my husband would be promoting.  There are things we are planning to hopefully allow me to stay home and have the life I've always dreamed of since I was a little girl.  I've always wanted to be a stay home mom and I've always wanted to be a teacher.  I loved school as a kid and playing school was my favorite.  In college I wanted to get my degree in teaching, but I let the advice of others to squash that dream.  The words below are God giving my dreams wings to take flight!

We were still waiting on the announcement of my husband's promotion.  We decided to see if we could get our house refinanced to put our 1st and 2nd mortgage into one smaller payment.  If this all happens I will be working until next summer and after that I would be a stay home mom and homeschool my boys.  The journal page below I put the words "She was waiting for things to happen".  That's what I'm still doing.  :)

My final art page has the word "Hope".  I have hope that God will take care of everything and I should not worry.  Now for me to be patient!  ;)

Thanks for taking the time to read about my journey lately!  I hope to have some really good news and some art to post soon!  Who knows...maybe someday I can offer art classes for homeschooled kids.  ;)  

All my art was made with Caran D'Ache Neocolor II water-soluble wax pastels, Derwent watercolor pencils, Derwent Inktense, and Faber-Castell Pitt pens.

Waiting For My Heart to be Pursued Art Journal Page

Girls we are so worried, often times, to have a guy who likes us.  Sometimes we go through many ways to try to get their attention. Some of the ways we do that, we do it the wrong way and not the way God wants us to.  When we go about it the wrong way we create many problems and attract guys that aren't right for us.  The way God designed us is similar to His nature.  God wants us to seek Him, wants us to know Him and to love Him.  This is what us girls want.  We want guys to seek us, to want to know us and to love us.  We need to be comfortable with how we are, who God created us, and don't go beyond His measures to attract guys.  We just need to be who God made us to be and wait.  When we do those things, the right guy will pursue us.  We don't need to change ourselves to something we aren't.  We should be loved how God made us.  God didn't create us to be what others need and want.  God created us for Him and his purpose, which is perfect.  He wired you the way He did and He said you are worth pursuing the way He made you.