Thank You!

For everyone who participated in the "FlyTribe" blog hop, thank you, thank you, thank you!! We had over 700 creative people register to be a sponsored recipient for Kelly Rae's Flying Lessons ecourse. You can see the winners and follow up blog here.

If you are wondering about finding online ecourses you can visit FlyTribe members Lori Leissner and Ursula Smith's informative Creative Clearinghouse website doing just that with organization and classes galore!

Of course, I have finally broken the barrier and offered my first ecourse this year with plenty more to follow so take a peek on my website to see what's going on and coming up around my studio! 5 Days, 5 Canvases is still going until September 30, so join the internationally charged class (I can now say that *so PROUD*)and have fun doing 6 mixed media canvases one day at a time.

FlyTribe Anniversary

It has been just over one year since I took the Kelly Rae Roberts course Flying Lessons and became part of the only FlyTribe as we call ourselves. Now, I had been a fan for a while since reading her book Taking Flight by NorthLight years before. This creative woman just seems to ooze inspiration from every pore of her body and it is quite infectious. I was totally in awe of her journey to become an artist and share her talents with the world. The Flying Lessons ecourse takes you on an artistic exploration of what can happen when you dedicate the time, do the work and trust your heart's intuition. It shares step-by-step different ways to achieve your goals, dreams and discover your own ambitions. To give back our FlyTribe raised enough money to help 8 artists lead down the path of possibilities. Kelly Rae generously agreed to match our pledge and this will help 8 more totaling 16 artists whose lives will be forever changed by this ecourse. To be considered for one of these wonderful sponsorships, please follow the guidelines here on the FlyTribe Blog.

I can't tell you the importance of an online community, I have great respect for my group, their trials, tribulations and successes - we have shared, supported and experienced it all with one another. Has it been an easy road, absolutely not. But if you celebrate the smallest of victories and realize it takes baby steps to get you where you are going, it will be an incredible journey. I hope you will join my band of creative sisters in celebrating our one year anniversary together. Thank you ladies for a creative collective I never expected to be a part of!

Janet Forrest http://www.tatterednworn.wordpress.com
Cat Athena Louise http://www.catathenalouise.com
Stacey Bockness Curry http://starhitchedwagon.blogspot.com/
Kris Lanae Binsfeld http://cherishdesigns.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/giving-flight-giving-back/
Renee Burke http://happilyeverafterbyreneeburke.wordpress.com/
Mary Sterk http://www.justmarydesigns.com/
Michelle Reynolds http://www.shellsinthebush.com
Constance Rawlins http://livingwithinyourharvest.com/2012/08/19/fly-tribe-anniversary/
Kelly Hoernig  http://www.kellyhoernig.blogspot.com/
Cindy Jones Lantier http://www.lantier.org/2012/08/the-gift-of-giving/
Kathleen Conard http://newfromoldcreations.blogspot.com/2012/08/giving-back.html
Claudia Dow http://www.claudiadow.blogspot.com/
Susan M. Walls-Beverly http://susanscharmingtrinkets.blogspot.com/2012/08/flying-lessons-and-art-of-giving-back.html
Linda Barutha http://lindabaruthadesigns.blogspot.com/2012/08/giving-back.html
Linda Kinnaman http://lindakaysart.com/blog/2012/08/19/my-dream-journey-one-year-now/
Cheryl Dossey http://www.cheryldossey.com/
Sofia Dabalsa http://sofiadabalsa.blogspot.com
Jill Lambert http://jill-lambert.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-spirit-of-giving.html
Sally Rose http://sallyhow2.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-gift-of-flight.html
Ursula Smith http://EasyScraps.com/blog
Deborah Eaton http://www.deborahgeaton.com/blog/
Lori Leissner  http://www.leissnerart.com/2012/08/giving-thanks-giving-back-giving-flight.html
Creative Clearinghouse http://creativeclearinghouse.com/Online-Class-Reviews/blog/Ursula-Creative-Clearinghouse
Lenore Angela http://lenoreangela.blogspot.ca/2012/08/giving-back.html
Katharina Star http://www.blog.katharinastar.com/
Rachél Payne http://wp.me/pWRyw-10P
Sherry Richert Belul  http://www.simplycelebrate.net/cherry-blossom-soup/gifts
Deborah Velasquez http://deborahvelasquez.blogspot.com/
Shannon Etnyre http://www.livingwithumami.com/
Live Laugh Love Retreats http://livelaughloveretreats.com/
Kelley Miller Artworks http://kelleymillerartworks.blogspot.com/
Wini Dougall http://artloveandjoy.blogspot.com/
Carol Bray http://theredpaintedcottage.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-spirit-of-giving-back-by-giving-flight.html
Tracy Yarbrough http://chickpeastudio.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-spirit-of-giving.html
Diane Enright  http://dianeenrightphotography.wordpress.com/
Jamie Burch http://www.dancingdownserendipitystreet.blogspot.com/
Mary Cottingham http://www.barnbugstudio.blogspot.com/
Susan Dietz http://flutterbeforeyou.blogspot.com/
Lori Moon Studio http://lorimoonstudio.blogspot.com/2012/08/fly-tribe-blog-hop-giving-back.html
Kim Hyer http://www.apaperaddict.com
Tina Carlborg http://www.tinachicky.blogspot.com/
Catherine Pistone  http://catherinepistone.blogspot.com/
Mary MacIlvain http://maryart.macilvain.com/

Carolyn Chenault http://carolynchenault.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/the-big-giveaway

Just Magical

Some Thesaurus words for intricate - abstruse, complex, convoluted, difficult, entangled, fancy, involved, labyrinthine, obscure, perplexing, sophisticated, tangled, tortuous, tricky.

This is Queen Anne's lace as it begins to open up to the sun exposing each and every individual blossom. It is truly remarkable and I think all of the words above fit it beautifully. If I had to just pick one though, it would be entangled because I just love the meaning of tangle and confused. I hope the next time you pass one of these amazing weeds, you stop and ponder on its magical appearance and really see all the wonderment it has to offer. I know where I'm taking the muse today...



Word - Intricate

The word for this week is intricate.

Its adjective meaning - having many complexly interrelated parts; complicated; difficult to follow, understand, or solve.

I love, love, love everything about Queen Anne's Lace. Some people call it a weed but I call it summer's snowflake due to the delicate nature and tiny bright white complex flowers that appear on each little stem. This is how it starts out and as it matures, the ball becomes more open allowing the buds to get the sunlight required to bloom. It is simply one of my favorite Mother Nature creations!

Peek A Boo

I have been working with focusing on different distances on my camera and well, this is one of my success photos. I thought the charming pink coneflowers made a nice, interesting canopy for the Venus statue in the background. It is soft and subtle but it is what I love to make you see, really examine the details of what is being presented to you. So, I hope the next time you are out for a walk, you imagine a different perspective on what is in the foreground or the background. It's a fun exercise and I find myself doing it a lot more after this camera adventure.

Daylily Row

John loves daylilies and that is evident because the garden they are in spans the entire length of our driveway and well, that is about 75' long. We have an assortment of blooms from the palest yellow to the most vibrant oranges. I loved this photo it was as if the golden yellow lilies were trumpeting the arrival of me and the puppies to all the other varieties. The vibrant color really shows off against the dense greenery that is so thick you really can't even see the rows anymore. There is some kind of lily blooming from late May up until the later part of August and believe me, it is spectacular bed of color that surprises me each and every day as I drive up towards the house.