Shared Messages from the Universe & my 150th post

It is my belief that messages from the universe speak to me and remind me of something that is inside of me. When I first see them, I often don't even know what is really being advertised. Instead, the message conjures emotions or thoughts relating to something that is going on within me; in my heart, in my mind, in my soul. I see them on billboards, in magazines, store windows, church plaques...everywhere.

I secretly call them soul whispers.

The messages are all around us

------------------------------------------------------------------

Billboard: Times Square NYC: ad for Hyundai Motors - Photo by Lori Moon

I love the photo above. I stood in Times Square and watched this video ad 6 times in order to capture these messages from the universe. I love how they are opposites.

I have just completed the Hello Soul Hello Business e-course hosted by Kelly Rae Roberts and Beth Nicholls.

Thinking about my business as a person, uncovering my why, who, what and how, creating a community with other like minded artists, and building confidence have been the highlights for me.

If you've been following along you know that I have added pages above to expand by having an online store and offering  an e-course. These wouldn't have happened if not for these two ladies. During the past year I have taken a total of 3 classes from them, each class gave me a different set of tools and I feel that I have learned a lot.

I also feel that now is the time to execute, to make things happen, to try it, to know that I am probably going to make mistakes, and to accept that that is ok. To know that if I wait for it to be perfect, it will never happen because perfect is an ideal and honestly unrealistic.

New Thinking New Possibilities

They are endless...now all I need to do is go for it.

What have you learned recently? Has it inspired you to think differently?
Will it lead to new possibilities for you?

By the way, I am celebrating with a little happy dance today because this is my 150th blog post. Help me celebrate by sharing a few words or, even better, let me know what song you are dancing to today.

Thank you, each of you, your comments and participation warm my heart and soul.

----------------------------------------------------------

Just a reminder that tomorrow, May 1st, my May Flower Challenge begins. I am hosting a link party each day. The only rules are that your blog post or flickr photo that you link must contain flowers. I'm fascinated with flowers. They are all over my tiny apartment. I photograph them all the time. I draw them, paint , doodle them, create them out of paper... I also see them all over the NYC. So, each day I will post flowers and I hope that you will join in. Click above on the May Flower Challenge Page to learn more. 

Sunday Color Snippets - The Sketchbook Project

This is how I spent a couple of hours yesterday.

Holding art made by artist friends that I met online by visiting the storefront that Art House Co-op has in Brooklyn, NY home of The Sketchbook Project. By the way, the books from 2012 will be on tour check out where by clicking here to see if it will be in a city near you.

I am happy to announce that I was able to find all 4 books that I came to see.

Julie Hamilton, Pauline Leger, Lynn Richards, and Deborah Velásquez. 

They each have blogs so I highly recommend that you click on their names and visit their world for a bit, learn more about them and their art. They are all so talented.

This week I want talk about Pauline specifically 

- visit next Sunday to hear more about the other three ladies.

I met Pauline when we both participated in Beth Nichols', Do What You Love e-course - which I cannot recommend enough. It was a lovely experience. 

While Pauline was filling the pages of her sketchbook I shared with her that her book would be in Brooklyn and that it was easy for me to get there to see it in person. 

Well, I finally made it. 

Pauline and I have kept in touch 

but we've never met in person...yet.

We read each other's blogs, 

email, share life stories with one another 

and I've even purchased some of her art via her etsy store. 

You should check it out.

 I cannot tell you how much joy this brought me.  

She left me a note on the back inside cover. So adorable!

By the way, these ladies inspired me...I've signed up to participate in The Sketchbook Project 2013. 

What are waiting for? 

Why don't you join me?

In The Picture and a Little Bliss

Today I'm linking up with Urban Muser 

and Live Lane's Little Bliss List.

Urban Muser hosts a self portrait link up each month and inspires us with a theme. This month her {in the picture} theme is shake it out.  I was inspired by a child, who in the middle of the bus, had a fit in public. He literally laid on the floor of the bus on his back and kicked and screamed. Oh, there are times when I wish I could that - - so, in the privacy of my own home, I did. 

Tucker was fascinated.

Fits    - - Shake It Out Theme hosted by Urban Muser {in the picture}

By the way, I felt so much better after letting it all go. The tension released, I laughed, I smiled - it is crazy to think how much stress my body was holding on to. I recommend you try this (in private, of course, you would look a little strange if you did it on the bus). :)

 Make sure you hop on over and check out the other amazing self portraits this month.

I am also linking up with Liv Lane's Little Bliss List. Each week she encourages us to share the little things that have touched our hearts and brought us a little bliss during the previous week.

1. Happiness Fairies...they just keep showing up in my life. This past week I arrived at my day job, opened my computer, and was greeted by the message below.

Serious bliss for most of the morning. It now greets me every day.

2. I am completely enjoying my April Paper Coterie Instagram photo prompts each day. They bring a little bliss to my days filled with spreadsheets and phone calls.

3. I love my early mornings. I wake at 6am so that I can do something creative before I start my crazy day job day. It is also, selfishly, the only alone time I get.

4. I call the crew in the picture to my right, my Creative Team and 6am friends. They greet me each morning. Tucker often sits on the end of the bed, sleeps, looks around, purrs, etc. By the way, these are his toys - he sleeps with them, kneads them, fights with them, etc. Happily their true input is to make me smile.

Just a reminder that on May 1st my May Flower Challenge begins. I am hosting a link party each day. The only rules are that your blog post or flickr photo that you link must contain flowers. I'm fascinated with flowers. They are all over my tiny apartment. I photograph them all the time. I draw them, paint , doodle them, create them out of paper... I also see them all over the NYC. So, each day I will post flowers and I hope that you will join in. Click above on the May Flower Challenge Page to learn more. 

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday & A Few Instagram Pics

I am linking in up with Julia at Stamping Ground for WOYWW.

 I am also, still playing catch up in Joanne Sharpe's Artful Alphabet class so that is what I have been working on this past week. This is seriously so much fun!

I am also still playing along with Paper Coterie's April Instagram Photo Challenge. You can find me on Instagram at #lorimoonstudio. Here are a couple of my favorite from this past week.

 Day 19: My Hobby

Day 21: My Favorite Color

Just a reminder that on May 1st my May Flower Challenge begins. I am hosting a link party each day. The only rules are that your blog post or flickr photo that you link must contain flowers. I'm fascinated with flowers. They are all over my tiny apartment. I photograph them all the time. I draw them, paint , doodle them, create them out of paper... I also see them all over the NYC. So, each day I will post flowers and I hope that you will join in. Click above on the May Flower Challenge Page to learn more. 

Shared Messages from the Universe - Yes

It is my belief that messages from the universe speak to me and remind me of something that is inside of me. When I first see them, I often don't even know what is really being advertised. Instead, the message conjures emotions or thoughts relating to something that is going on within me; in my heart, in my mind, in my soul. I see them on billboards, in magazines, store windows, church plaques...everywhere.

I secretly call them soul whispers.

The messages are all around us

------------------------------------------------------------------

We hear and say the word "no" 

so many more times 

during the day

 than we say "yes".  

Do me a favor and pay attention today and become aware of how, when and the number of times that you say no. And, notice how many times you tell yourself no in your head.

Could you, should you, have said yes instead? 

And, what if you would have stepped
outside your comfort zone and said yes?

I want to encourage you to say yes more often.

We often limit ourselves,

 we hold ourselves back, 

by not saying yes.

We each have the right to give ourselves permission
- to say yes to whatever it is
that is deep within our soul.

Fear is a very powerful thing - if we allow it to be. 

I want to encourage you to say yes 

even though there may be fear. 

Even though you 

do not know 

what the outcome will be. 

Even though it may not work.

Say yes - even if your eyes are shut,
even if you are unsure,
even if you have fear...
say yes - be brave - say yes!

The alternative is no...

and then you will never know the what if...

So, say yes today 

to one thing 

that you normally 

would have said no to

 - you deserve it.

I want take a moment and let you know about an amazing free offering that Catherine Just is sharing on her website. Check out her video. Catherine is an amazing photographer and all around inspiring person. She is hosting the Soul*Full Summit  6/18-6/29 to help and encourage us to move through our fears. So, click on over and sign-up...say yes to this - - - you deserve it!

Sunday Color Snippets - Pink

There are only a few more days left to enjoy the pink that nature shares at this time of year. So, embrace pink!

You can follow me on Instagram at #lorimoonstudio

I also hope that you are planning on linking up in my May Flower Challenge - see the link above to the page to learn more.

 

Little Bliss List

Every Friday, Liv Lane hosts the Little Bliss List link party...it is about listing the little things that have touched our hearts and made us feel joy, peace, warmth, love and/or a little bliss during the past week. So, I'm jumping on the bliss band wagon.

A smile can really change my mood. I don't know about you but living in NYC means that you often see the same people during your commute. It also means that you usually don't acknowledge one another, you don't say hi, you don't chit chat...you just go about your day. This past week there were moments of stranger kindness, even in this big city, that made me smile:


1. To the man who held the bus door for me when my hands were full - thank you.


2. To the woman who assisted me when I dropped my purse on the bus the other morning. You could have walked past but you stopped and helped - thank you.


3. To the pizza guy at the shop around the corner from my apartment who waves at me every night when I walk past - thank you for creating a sense of community.


4. To the woman who sat next to me on the bus, asked to look at my photos while I did on my camera instead of pretending not to look but looking anyway, your kind words meant so much - thank you.

5. To the man who gave me his seat on the subway the other night because he was kind and could tell that I was not feeling well - thank you.


6. To the artists who risk defacing public property to add their touch of creative panache to the city, you make me smile, often - thank you.


7. To the person who wrote the message in the photo below - I do hope that you find your love story that doesn't suck - but thank you for the out loud laugh when I walked past your message and the smile that stayed on my face for the next few  blocks.

What has brought you a little moment of bliss this past week?


Click the button below and visit the link party and share the love with a few other blogs. Get inspired by reading their blogs and remembering what brought you bliss and touched your heart this past week.

As always, thanks for being a part of my creative journey. - Lori

WOYWW - What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday

It has been awhile since I've shared my desk...it was honestly buried (the challenge of living in a small apartment is finding room to fit everything).

This week I am linking up with Julia at Stamping Ground for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday. So be sure and hop over and check out a few desks.

I am finding that my newest form of art therapy is playing with pens and doodling. So, I decided on a whim last week to sign up for Joanne Sharpe's Artful Alphabets e-course. I am having a blast!

I am also continuing to play along with Paper Coterie and their April Photo Challenge. This month's theme is connecting and getting to know each other. Scroll below to get to know a little bit more about me.

Day 11: My Space (found in one of the many parks of NYC)

Day 12: My Eyes

Day 13: My Evening (pizza and Fringe on tv)

Day 14: My Family

Day 15: My Lunch

Day 16: My Guilty Pleasure

Day 17: My Favorite Stuff

Also, I have decided to host a May Flower Challenge on my blog. During the month of May each day I will feature flowers and offer a link so that you too can play along.

The only rule is that you link up and link back to that days post and that your post feature flowers. They may be doodled, painted, photographed, etc. To learn more (which my page is still a work in progress) visit here or above by clicking on the page. I hope you'll join in - even if just for a day during May.

Shared Messages from the Universe - Love Me

It is my belief that messages from the universe speak to me and remind me of something that is inside of me. When I first see them, I often don't even know what is really being advertised. Instead, the message conjures emotions or thoughts relating to something that is going on within me; in my heart, in my mind, in my soul. I see them on billboards, in magazines, store windows, church plaques...everywhere.

I secretly call them soul whispers.

The messages are all around us

------------------------------------------------------------------

On Friday, as I walked around NYC with my camera, I was surrounded by LOVE. 

 I saw this beautiful word everywhere.

The above picture is the very first thing I noticed when I climbed out of the subway in Chinatown, NYC.

It made me think about being selfish and how it is necessary to remember to take care of yourself. 

LOVE ME

Being selfish has a negative interpretation and I'm going to go on the record and say 

- enough already!

 It is necessary to take care of yourself; to slow down, to pamper, to spoil, to breathe, to love yourself. 

You are the only one who knows how you feel physically, emotionally,mentally, spiritually, etc. Therefore, you are the only one who will know when you need a break. You are the only one who will know when you shouldn't try to do six things at once. You are the only one who will know when you should pause.

So, I want to encourage you to spend a little "Love Me" time today. 

You deserve it!

Sunday Color Snippets

I took Friday off from my day job and spent the morning with my camera.
I fell in love with these mosaic light posts:

By the way, building a house in NYC takes creativity. Check out that house on top of that building! Amazing!

Can you you find color in your every day?

Please visit the May Flower Challenge page above to learn more about the fun! Additional information will be added as the day goes on.

The Little Bliss List - Bits of Inspiration

Every Friday, Liv Lane hosts the Little Bliss List link party...it is about listing the little things that have touched our hearts and made us feel joy, peace, warmth, love and/or a little bliss during the past week. So, I'm jumping on the bliss band wagon.



Little bits of inspiration from others this week has brought me moments of bliss:


1. Look Up... Earlier this week I received Catherine Just's newsletter. Catherine is a phenomenal photography and so much more...she inspires others to live with intention and from their soul. In her newsletter she encouraged/challenged us to look up and send her the pictures that we took. Well, I happily grabbed my DSL, iPhone and point&shoot and explored. Hours of bliss! (By the way, when you visit her site sign up for her newsletter for some free photo tips.)

2. I am having so much fun learning Instagram on my iPhone by participating in the Paper Coterie photo challenge. I've linked up with some new people and am enjoying the daily theme. Visit my posts from the last 2 Wednesdays to learn more about me as this month's theme is connecting so it is all about me.

3. I recently participated in an Inspiration Deck Swap hosted by the lovely Jessica at In Search of Dessert. I am so grateful for the artists who participated. Each day I flip to a new card in the morning. When I return from my day job I often find myself flipping through a few more. Each inspires me and honestly just brings a smile to my face and to my heart. Thank you all who participated.  Do you have something that inspires you daily? 

Click the button below and visit the link party and share the love with a few other blogs. Get inspired by reading their blogs and remembering what brought you bliss and touched your heart this past week.

As always, thanks for being a part of my creative journey. - Lori

Sneak Peak: I want share a little something that I am working on...I am planning a theme for May - May Flowers. It's no secret that I am addicted to flowers, just ask Superman, they are all over our tiny apartment. So, during the month of may each and every day I will be posting flowers (photographed, drawn, doodled, painted, options are endless) there will be place on each post for you to link each day. An official announcement will be made on Sunday with a separate page on my blog where you can sign up to show your support and participation. I hope you will be inspired to participate at least one day in May. 

WOYWW and My New Obsession

It has been a little while since I have linked up with WOYWW but I have been playing with pens again (and my iPhone and Instagram) so I thought I would share.
White pen on black paper...so much fun and relaxing at the end of my busy days. (Sorry for the shadows, but Superman is still sleeping this morning.)

Please visit Julia's site at Stamping Ground and stalk a few desks.
Also, my addiction to Paper Coterie's April Instagram challenge continues:
During the past few weeks I have discovered Instagram and am playing with textures. I have decided to get better at using my iPhone as a camera by playing along with Paper Coterie and their April Photo Challenge. This month's theme is connecting and getting to know each other. Scroll below to get to know a little bit more about me.

Day 4: My Reflection

Day 5: My Favorite Shoes

Day 6: My Morning

Day 7: My Town

Day 8: My Sunday

Day 9: My True Love (Superman is camera shy)

I hope that you have a wonderful Wednesday.

By the way, I am guest posting on Meg Boone's blog tomorrow. Meg is a Happiness Instigator and a Creative Coun-SOUL-er (can I just say that those are 2 of the best titles ever) She recently asked me to do a guest post. So, please visit her tomorrow to see what I have to say about one of my believe statements:

I believe that true happiness

comes from feeding your soul

with your true passion.