art, artist, creativity, dream, life, motivational, passion

Count yourself lucky.

August 23, 2016 Maria G 2 Comments

If you have a dream you can count yourself lucky because most people don’t have dreams. They do, but they don’t know they do unless something happens to open up their eyes.

As children we dream all the time, at least I used to. I was the queen of daydreaming…

As I grew up there was only one career I wanted to embrace, become an artist. I kind of did, on the side, but to bring home the bacon I had lots of different jobs that I hated to various degrees. But I also became a writer, which I loved, but that’s another story. I have done many things I hated, and that is my loss, BUT, no experience is wasted.

Today, I have gone back to my roots and art is my passion. For the last two years I’ve been working on building an online art career, mostly having fun and making videos to share. I love to experiment with art and with crafts and see what I can make. It will go on for the rest of my life I’m sure, whether the money pours in or not.

We are totally ruled by money.

I have decided that I’m now ruled by what makes me happy to get up in the morning. I have overcome a large portion of fear around money, and that has brought me a sense of freedom. I would be lying if I said I never worry, but the waves of worry come but they go away just as fast. I’m breaking out of the straight-jacket of money slavery.

Every day I look forward to my art and follow my intuition even though I have goals that I want to accomplish. I used to be really driven and accomplishment oriented, but something has shifted, and I don’t worry about how much I accomplish AS LONG AS I SHOW UP EVERY DAY. That is the important part. The turtle wins the race because it keeps plugging away whereas the hare has a heart attack in his race to get to the finish line first. There is no finish line.

Life IS a dream, and we have the power to create from what we love to do. Even if we don’t know exactly what, we can try things that intrigue us and see what catches. Once we take a step forward, the thing that has been calling us is waiting and steps forward with great enthusiasm.

Listen to your own inner voice, not that clamoring, lying voice of the outside world (especially the media.) Don’t let distractions and excuses stop you. Start today; don’t wait.

Get those art supplies if you want to be an artist and BEGIN, even if it’s at a corner of your dinner table. You don’t know how? You didn’t know how to walk when you were a baby, but there was an inner urge that made you try and try again. Your dream is the same way. It will prompt you to move forward if you’re willing to listen. You are hard-wired to your dream, so let it out! Give it some life.

Might feel a bit awkward at first, but at some point, along comes the groove! 🙂 You have come home to your dream. Count yourself lucky.

Maria

P.S I’m working on a mini e-course on how to make some cool art journals, so keep your eyes peeled for more information. Meanwhile, you can always sign up for my newsletter via the link in the side bar.

art, craft, creativity, mixed media, mosaic, polymer clay mosaic, process

Polymer clay mosaic tutorial.

August 8, 2016 Maria G 2 Comments

People have been asking me about more polymer clay mosaic tutorials.

I have posted before on how to paint the baked tiles, and there is a YouTube video on how to paint them as well. CLICK HERE.

Here are some pictures on how to put the mosaic together with the finished tiles. Since this is a star box I had to fiddle with and cut some of the tiles, which is tricky since they break pretty easily. It’s much easier to make a square or rectangular design.

polymer clay mosaic tiles — painted tiles ready to be assembled

I paint the lids black to hide any gaps between the tiles. If the gap is too big I place some glue and drop some seed beads to fill the gap.

finished design — Tiles fitted and glued down

Here you can see some blue seed beads in the top two corners. The tiles were too big to cut for size. Seed beads are great and they lend some sparkle to the project as well. Choose a color that matches the main color(s) of your design.

I painted the box on the outside with acrylic paints.

I spray paint the bottom and the interior with gold paint before I paint the rest.

What do you think? Pretty colorful. I had fun making this, and so many others.

I made a mirror that promotes PEACE! I thought that was a worthy thing to be reminded of while looking into a mirror. Peace begins within and it’s a choice. I even had a Buddha charm I embedded in the clay and baked.

The mirror part distracts from the frame in the bright outdoors, but there it is. Polymer clay is so versatile you can make almost any design.

I use old buttons, rubber stamps, charms, found objects, and lettering to imprint the tiles. You can use anything that makes a nice imprint.

If you enjoyed the tutorial, please leave a comment.

Please visit my new etsy shop, Earth and Faery.

Have a great creative week!

Maria

art, craft, creativity, earth and faery, etsy shop

Magic is afoot!

August 5, 2016 Maria G 2 Comments

Hello lovely readers, do you believe in magic?

Lately I have been very busy in my studio making “things.” I paint also, and joined a 30 day painting challenge on Instagram that was started by Tracy Verdugo. We are painting on the same painting for 30 days. I’m on day 20 today. You can check out the painting on Insta. My username is @greeneearth. It’s a tough challenge for sure since you might fall in love what you have painted, but you have to let go and keep painting.

The rest of the time I have been making faery boxes, intention boxes, and other purdy things, like polymer clay mosaics for my boxes. It has been a month of experiments and it’s SO MUCH FUN! When one art form is sluggish I try something else to get my creative fix daily. Here are some pictures.

follow your heart — Follow your heart intention box.

This is a wooden box that I painted with various colors and I attached a wooden altered heart to the top. The inside has a picture of the Buddha and a polymer clay tile that says “believe.” Intention is about setting the course or goal and then believing it’s possible.

I used a wooden pencil box for this one, with a wooden flower attached. I used golden beads and glass mosaic tiles to embellish the lid.

The fairies helped me knit this fun and colorful purse /shoulder bag. Mostly knitted with wool yarn, it also has strands of shiny and eyelash yarns. I needle felted some flowers to attach as embellishment.

I hand-painted some fabric with acrylic paints and then made some fabric cuffs just for fun. I have two more but no pictures as yet.

THE BIG NEWS.

I opened a new etsy shop for all of these magical things. It’s called Earth and Faery and it will be filled with inspirational and pretty things.

I’m really excited about this new adventure of mine. Earth and Faery.

There are things in the shop of various price ranges, so check it out. 🙂

I wish you a creative weekend!

Maria

blogging, challenge, creativity

Day 30, end of challenge.

July 6, 2016 Maria G

I have reached Day 30, and it feels good to have accomplished the blog challenge I set for myself in a mastermind group.

Some days were hard and others flowed, ideas coming left and right and prompts wanting to be explored.

What I learned:

It pays to stick with something to the end. I now know I can do it.
My determination grew every day, and I know I can accomplish hard challenges if I put my mind to it.
Learned new things via my writing.
Had fun.
Learned not to be so hard on myself. Some writing is good, some isn’t, but it’s not the end of the world.
Flexed my creative muscle every day.
Thirty days fly by. Don’t waste your time on trivialities.
Focus on what I want.
Focus on the goals I want to accomplish.
Have your own back and honor your promises to yourself. That was a hard one for sure.
Sometimes it’s good to be bull-headed.
Creativity flows when you show up. It is a muscle to be used.
Exercise is a good thing for the body, the mind, and the creative muscle!

I could go on, but these are the main points. Never give up on those dreams. They get accomplished when you stick to the steps every day.

I will continue to blog of course, but maybe not every single day. 🙂

art journaling, craft, creativity, giveaway, mixed media, tutorial, video

Giveaway!

July 5, 2016 Maria G 8 Comments

I have a giveaway on my blog today. It’s Day 29 of the 30 day blogging challenge and I have made it through so far. I’m celebrating by giving away this FUN ink blot art journal I made from a manila folder and some ink blot art. I made it today and figured it would be fun to give away. It’s definitely a one-of-a-kind journal!

Here are some pictures and the video on how I made the journal. You can enter the giveaway or you can make your own journal. 🙂

ink blot art journal — handmade art journal

An idea for you how the pages look. I added a bunch of blank card stock pages as well to fill out the journal. Here is the video how-to.

The winner was Jean Marmo. Congratulations!!! 🙂

beauty, gratitude, nature

Do you see beauty?

July 4, 2016 Maria G

I got up very early this morning to wish the world Happy 4th, but the world was still asleep and nature didn’t care about dates. The silence was wonderful. No cars, no people, no noises of any kind. Peace reigned and everything was in order. That is how it feels when nature steps to the forefront.

All is well. Peace.

I decided to look for beauty in my backyard first thing. I saw some fallen flowers from yesterday and new flowers budding on my 2 o’clock plant (Mexican petunia.) My collard greens from last year have died in the heat. Time to pull them up and thank them for their service. Come late August I will plant some tomatoes.

Today, I might paint the flowers I saw; red geraniums, some unnamed pink flower, white wild flower, yellow allamanda, and I still have a few jasmine blooms.

Woodpeckers, red cardinals, tufted titmice, chickadees, and squirrels were out looking for food, but they were quiet. I feed the birds so there is traffic all day long at the bird feeder. The squirrels are the fattest in the area.

Every morning I have a choice, to think about what isn’t working in my life, or cheer myself on for what works, and look for beauty all around.

It’s a lot more fun looking for beauty than focus on negativity. I also have a gratitude journal going, and I write down everything I’m grateful for. This is my morning tea ritual, Earl Grey and gratitude. That would make a good title for something…

There are so many things to be grateful for and we live in the midst of magic. Nature is magical to me. Life is magical when I allow it to be.

Do you look for beauty when you go outside?

I’m working on seeing more beauty in people, and sometimes that can be a challenge, but it’s there.

The more I focus on beauty, the more I see it. And so it is.

Maria 🙂

Maria Greene @ Greeneearth

Count yourself lucky.

Polymer clay mosaic tutorial.

Magic is afoot!

Day 30, end of challenge.

Giveaway!

Do you see beauty?

Artist and writer