art journaling, asskickery, creativity, inspirational, motivational

Doormat syndrome.

Doormat syndrome, have you suffered from that as a woman (or man?)

I have at times. I had two relationships that were “their way or no way.” I’d say it’s common to submit to others to keep the peace.

doormat
doormat

For a time, anyone was welcome to step on me and make me do their bidding, cause it was “nice” to help others, no matter what.

No more.

Yesterday, I had two conversations with women having trouble standing up for themselves, as if saying “no” is not nice or not supportive. We as women are raised to be supportive and submissive. I say, to heck with that!!!

There is a limit to what is expected of us. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it! If you don’t WANT to do something, don’t do it. If someone is clingy, hogs your time, drains your energy, just excuse yourself and remove yourself from that person. Know your limits! That is SELF RESPECT. You have the right to stand in your power, always.

Someone might snigger at those words, but the longer we stay in a submissive stance to others, the less we can pursue our dreams because someone will always step on them. That is part of the scenario of being a doormat. Make better choices.

  • It’s okay to be your own person.
  • It’s okay to have dreams.
  • It’s okay to be an artist if you want to.
  • It’s okay to make others mad if you are protecting what you know is right for you.
  • It’s okay to have time for yourself.
  • It’s okay to be a role model for strength.

I have lost friends over that last statement, and I don’t have to be RIGHT, but I can choose what works in my life and ditch the rest.

So many women I know put everyone else’s dreams and desires before their own. When are you going to realize your own strengths if you deny your power as a person? Say you fall down dead and realize you did nothing to pursue what fired up your soul.  That would totally suck in my opinion.

To be an artist matters. Your voice matters, your art matters. Your expression in the world is very important so if you have something to say or paint, do it.  As they say, life is short.

The greatest excuse I hear is: I have to be there for my children.  Yes, of course you do, but you also have a responsibility to yourself.

Make your children badass and confident as you grow yourself stronger.

strong children
Children who are not doormats

Allow yourself to choose YOU.  Your children will learn from you. Do you want them to become doormats? I didn’t think so.

Maybe you wonder why I post many motivational posts instead of artist stuff?  Being an artist requires becoming the whole you. I’m working on that, and my art expression is a journey that changes all the time.  Art has helped me to be strong.  So maybe it’s better to inspire people to be strong than add a bunch of art how-tos. I decided I can do both. 🙂

So can you! Dive in and be the GREAT You now. If people stand in your way, you deserve better. Work around them or get rid of them.

You are enough!

With lots of love,

Maria

P.S. Sidebar note. I have a sale going on for my art journal how-to e-course. ONLY $15 until October 26. CLICK THIS LINK. Create something today! Get involved.

New art in my etsy shop.

Buddha abstract
New art in my etsy shop
female principle, inspirational, motivational, passion, transformation

Everyone wants to be perfect.

Everyone wants to be perfect this day and age. Toned to perfection, hard abs, fancy clothes, fancy shoes, a hot car.
I have no desire to hustle for perfection. Everywhere we look these days there are unrealistic role models that spout success on every level but the reality is we’re as different from each other as the pebbles on the beach. What works for some people won’t work for others, and what if you reach “perfection” as touted by the media??

perfection is stagnation
Perfection is invented

So when we reach perfection (a la the norm of the fashion magazines and such) what is next?

Push, push, push yourself to stay in great shape, buy new fancy clothes, etcetera. Be superwoman, go, go, go.

I’m not against pushing oneself to reach goals, but this mindless following of what others tell us we should look like and do  is a big fat brainwashing scenario.

I’m all for keeping fit, eat healthy,  do something I love so that I can feel fulfilled, but social media today is filled with aggressive success touting coaches that are not based on reality but some Olympic sized goal that most people can’t attain.

The point is, listen to yourself. How do you want to pace yourself?  What makes you feel good?  How do you do more of what makes you feel good and healthy?  One baby step of improvement every day.  You may never attain the perfect body; I know I haven’t but it’s possible to take care of oneself and get to a fitness level that makes your body feel strong and healthy.

As far as passion goes.  Do more of what makes your soul sing. It can be hard sometimes to work through the resistance, but again, talk to the resistance and take baby steps forward.  That’s what I do every day. I don’t care about having millions of dollars, but I care about the quality of my life.  I have to work at it; there is no getting around that, but the work is FUN (for the most part.)

Add more health, vitality, fun, passion to life by starting TODAY. What can you do to improve your life today? Just begin.

I have an art challenge going in my Facebook group at the moment. It’s a 14 day challenge about honoring the female principle.  I post a prompt every day, and we’re on Day 2. Why not join this free challenge?  Join my art group Art Exploration with Maria Greene.

We are all about nurturing and supporting the deep female qualities, and that is so needed in today’s race to be the most perfect, the prettiest, the hottest, the most successful woman around.  All it does is spawn competition.

Are you in?  You are perfect as you are!! 🙂

joy
Celebrating the female principle.

xo

Maria

art journaling, creativity, ecourse, fabric painting

Make your own art journals, easy tutorials

There is a special feeling of satisfaction after you make your own art journals using your unique style. Art journaling will be less intimidating when you’re not faced with a book from the store filled with glaring white pages.

When you make your own, it becomes “friendly,” something you have gotten to know during the creative process and that you enjoy working in afterwards.

shabby chic art journal
shabby chic art journal

 

ledger art journal
ledger style art journal

 

altered books
altered books art journal

If you have questions about materials and procedure, I can help you.  In this e-course you will learn how to:

  • use fabric in your art journal
  • paint and dye fabric without fabric dyes
  • age paper
  • add fun details to your journal
  • use old books to alter using your own style
  • make mini journals that will fit in your purse
  • use tips and tricks to add your own touches
  • be creative with the materials you already have
  • inspire your creative process in general

To participate in this e-course you don’t need any particular artistic skills other than your hands and some art supplies. If you don’t have all on the list, use what you have.

We will make a shabby chic cloth-bound journal, a ledger style journal, and alter two picture books with unique pockets.

You will receive three detailed videos and a PDF for parts that I could not film.

To find out more GO HERE.

I would love for you to come and explore art journaling with me!

xo

Maria

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

Count yourself lucky.

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.

dreaming
Count yourself lucky if you have a dream.

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.

xo

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.

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
star box lid
Box top painted black

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.

layout
layout, one tile at a time
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.

painting the box
Painting the box

I painted the box on the outside with acrylic paints.

gold interior
spray painted interior

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

finished box
finished box

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.

peace mirror
Peace mirror

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!

xo

Maria

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

Magic is afoot!

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.

Miracle box
Miracle box

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.

Faery purse
Faery purse

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.

Fabric cuff
Fabric cuff made with hand-painted scraps of fabric.

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.

Earth and Faery
Earth and Faery etsy shop

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!

xo

Maria

Artist and writer