WOYWW - What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday?

I am hooking up with Julia over at Stamping Ground. 

It has been too long since I shared my desk but below is why. My desk doubles as a cat perch (prime sunny window seat in my tiny apartment) and it has become the catch all for my supplies. I need to create more space in my apartment I just haven't figured out how or where to do that. My decision honestly is to move but in NYC that isn't easy so I will need to figure it out soon.

But, as you see there are some yummy buttons, markers, an inspiration deck that needs attention and piles.

Where I create has become the top of my bed. There is just more space. So, armed with newspaper and wax paper I often spread out and create. Besides the occasional cat stepping on something or often getting their nose painted this works for me.

Below is one of my inspirational decks. I am participating in a swap with the other ladies from 2011 Flying Lessons e-course. Many of us still keep in touch on Facebook and I signed up to do 2 decks and they are due next week so I need to work fast. This deck will all say 'small steps BIG celebrations'.  I believe that we need to celebrate the little accomplishments on the way to achieving our goals - it makes the journey more enjoyable.

A regular deck of playing cards and gesso then for this deck watercolors and waterproof markers.

Then I am also working on my Creative Color Challenge piece. This month the colors are red and Louise threw in a theme roses. So, inspired by photos that I took of a single rose while visiting my Mom I drew the below. Tonight I will use Tombow markers and water to add my color (thus fulfilling my Bloom page for my Color Love class). Wow, way to link all the fun creative things together - yahoo!  Check back on Friday when I post the finished piece and the photos that inspired me.

Do me a favor and hop over to Julia's blog at Stamping Ground - randomly pick 5 people from the long list of people who play along and visit their desks this week. 

You just never know what might inspire you.

Shared Messages from the Universe: Me = Love

 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

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

If you follow me on Instagram then you may remember this photo. 

It was taken during the first week of May and I was just starting my flower challenge. That's also the reason for the boots.

Me = Love

Love = Me

There used to be a time in my life when I would have walked right past this, may have not even noticed it or if I did I would have just grinned and kept going.

Now, they touch my heart.

This touches my heart.

Things, like the above, make me smile from within and I smile for blocks.

Me = Love

I walked for the next hour doing errands but smiling deep within myself (and every once in awhile smiling for no apparent reason) because yes, me, I equal love. 

Had I not been present. Had I been too busy trying to get to where I was going. Had I not noticed I would have missed out on that hour of inner bliss.

I choose to be aware of my world around me. I choose to see the little things and to harvest joy from them. I choose...and now it is who I am and I do not have to consciously see...it is just the way I am. 

I notice things that most people walk past. I believe that each of us can harvest the simple beauty of each day if we only noticed the little things a little more. So, I feel that it is part of my responsibility to help you see the world that is around you for the first time by sharing how I see my world.

How I do this is by being present. 

Being where I am, which in NYC, often means I am surrounded by hundreds of other people who are so focused on getting to where ever they are going that they miss where they are in the moment. They rush, they are rude, they push, they don't smile, they don't make eye contact...by the way, I choose to smile, to say thank you and excuse me. I choose to be present not for them but for me.

Me = Love

Love = Me

My dear friend Renee at Happily Ever After is hosting the sumMEr of ME - a calling forth of self care. Hop over and visit her blog, click the link on her post and watch her video it will make you smile and then choose - decide how you are going to care and honor yourself this summer. 

Too often we put others before our own needs and we forget that by honoring what we need, who we are and where we are going - we actually provide more for those around us. 

So, Me = Love, Love = Me... I encourage you to become more present in your every day, to notice those little things that you used to walk past, to embrace your journey because You = Love.

How are you going to begin? 

Sunday Snippets

I am linking up with Tinniegirl today and her Sunday Snippets.

A collection of photos from my week. No need for words. Let the pictures tell me story. Love this.

Hop on over to Tinniegirl's site and enjoy a few other posts of people telling their story via pictures.

Summertime Colors

 I am linking up with 52 Photos Project today. 

The theme this week is Summertime Colors and I always think of flowers. I used to spend a few weeks each summer as a child at my Grandparents house in the big city of Milwaukee, WI. I and my little brother, no parents, it was so much fun. 

My Grandmother had some of the most beautiful roses and lush flower gardens in her back yard. In the morning she would tend to her garden while we would play in the yard.

My Mom now has beautiful flower gardens (which is where all of pictures included above were taken recently during a visit home) and I know in my heart that if I had a yard I would too. In the meantime, I visit the gardens of Central Park.

Visit 52 Photos Project to see the wonderful pictures of everyone else's interpretation of Summertime Colors. 

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW) - Color Love

I'm linking up with Julia at Stamping Ground again this week for WOYWW.  My desk is still a mess and I have been creating while I sit on the bed - hopefully this weekend I can change that but until then this is it.

I've been playing along with Joanne Sharpe in her Color Love class and learning so much. I am learning to play with supplies that I've never used before - heck, I'll admit it I didn't know they existed. :)

She asked that we create a cover page in our journal using Prismacolor pencils, Inktense pencils and watercolors. I love the way the colors just pop due to the layering of the supplies that she had me use. I couldn't help but doodle a little on the page.

She next introduced me to watercolor crayons. Can I just say that I felt like a kid again! 

I love the idea of learning and creating a journal where the how to use a product is on the left and the creation is on the right. A great reference for later after the class is over and I need to refer back to something that was taught.

For the journal page, I created it using colored pencils and watercolor crayons I chose to use a color palette that I honestly don't gravitate towards. I'm more of a red/yellow matched with earth tones sort of girl but I made myself a promise that I use other colors during this class (it is called Color Love) so here are the pinks and purples.

Now I need to get caught up with this week's lessons. 

This is so much fun!

Make sure that you hop on over to Stamping Ground and hand pick a few other blogs to see what they have been working on this week. 

Thanks for visiting!