Choosing the word for 2012 and giveaway

I have been reading so much about picking a word for 2012 and sticking to it. It seems like such a commitment. But I have made so many changes these past couple of years I need to string everything together and really make a difference this year instead of sort of watching my world go by. A lot of time I feel like I am watching life happen to me instead of making it happen. My word was going to be positivity but I am already really positive so I have decided on making my word "ACTION" Taking action and using my positivity. Taking action to get my house in order, taking action to get new clients, taking action to make my studio a haven for all who come there, Action to become a better artist and teacher, action to be a better mother and wife. The list goes on and on..
At Quinn Creative she has awesome tips on how to chose and then put your word to "action" (see there it is again)
http://quinncreative.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/choosing-your-word/
http://quinncreative.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/word-for-2012-and-a-giveaway/#comment-21615

I would love to know your word and how you would like to use it.
Post a comment and Jan. 1st (or 2nd depending on the possible hangover) I will pull a name and send you one of my mini's

courage and Croissants!

I am so excited!!! I just won this book and it came yesterday!!! I immediately started reading it and I plan to use it this new year. I'm taking the lifebook class online and doing my best to get rid of my lazy monster and live the life I dream of... (after all of the holiday eating of course)I really think this book will help!! I will let you know.......

New look

Well everyone, I just changed the banner. I have changed the name off all of the sites to some form of The Artist Within. The Artist Within1 on facebook and My artist within on etsy and lastly DL Artist within on twitter (for Deer Lakes Artist Within)

Happy Village

Not completely better but I'm painting myself better. This painting makes me happy. I love everything about it.
My Happy Village

Chocolate makes everything better

Well, I have been eating much better this week... Not necessarily less food but less processed food and to be honest, I am a little out of my funk! Yay!! I still don't have much energy but I'm a little better. I definitely neeeeeed more energy. These probably won't give them to me but I'm going to make them with my kids this weekend and they should help this funk I'm in even more.
Chocolate makes everything better

Homemade Oreos

Recipe from SmittenKitchen.com, adapted from Retro Desserts, Wayne Brachman

Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies

Ingredients:

For the Chocolate Wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar (I used 1 ¼)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

For the Filling: (I double this recipe)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.
2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
4. To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream. Dunk generously in a large glass of milk.

These cookies are fantastic! Who doesn’t love a homemade oreo?!? While they do taste an uncanny amount like the original, they’re a world better. And they’re so easy to make!
If you haven’t already discovered SmittenKitchen.com, check it out! Deb is an amazing baker, cook, and photographer. Her website is a beautiful compilation of recipes she’s tested, adapted, or created. It’s funny, honest, and helpful. Every recipe I’ve tried has been exceptional.

Going to try this. Exerpt from "The Artists Way"

THE ARTIST’S WAY CREATIVITY TOOL: THE MORNING PAGES
By Dr. Jane Bolton
Psychotherapy and Master Life Coaching
What are Morning Pages?
“Morning Pages” is a term used by Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, for a primary
creativity tool. It involves writing 3 stream-of-consciousness pages, longhand, every morning.
Doing the process is so important that Cameron calls it “non-negotiable.” These pages are
private- nobody else is to be allowed to read them except for you- and then, not until you have
done them for 2 months.
What is the purpose of Morning Pages?
They are not supposed to be “art” or even “writing.” They are to help recognize and release the
critic (Cameron’s ‘Censor’) inside. So the pages are often stilted, filled with self doubt, angry,
whiny, and petty- and that’s a good thing. Why is that good? Because that stuff is what’s in the
way of creativity, and you want to bring it out to the light of day.
Cameron states that, “Morning pages do help us get to the other side: the other side of our fear,
our negativity, of our moods. Above all they get us beyond our Censor. Beyond the reach of the
Censor’s babble we find our own quiet center, the place where we hear the still, small voice…”
We get to see the stream of negative, discouraging things that critic says and we learn to see
that those subversive comments are not the TRUTH. We learn to distinguish the critic from the
voice of reason. We learn to detach from the constant stream of ridicule which shames us and
paralyses us.
Many people find it helps them override the critic if they find or make some kind of image that
represents the critic to them. Say, for example, a dragon, or a Viking. They then put that image,
perhaps with a gag, or an x on it, near them while working. This process can help by
externalizing the critic, making it separate from the Self.
I differ from Cameron in that I believe that, despite appearances, even the critic has high
positive intentions for us. It however, mistakenly goes about trying to ‘help’ us by trying to
discourage us from taking risks. The critic, who ridicules, is terrified of ridicule.
In my master life coaching, I have methods of working with the critic that help us recognize and
release the positive power behind it.
How to do the morning pages
Go to a private place with a spiral bound book, or legal pad and listen to the voice inside your
head. Just write down, longhand, what that voice says. Do 3 pages worth. Every day. No matter
what your mood is. No excuses. Don’t read the pages for 8 weeks. And enjoy your new found
creative vivification.

Monday Morning Blues :(

Been having a lot of self doubt this past couple of weeks. In turn feeling sorry for myself. Now I feel like I'm wallowing and i can't seem to pick myself up and easily brush it off. So in turn my inner dialog is scathing. Today even if I end up in tears i am going to have to do something to end this artistic despair. I don't know how I will do it. I will start with this lovely picture and stare at a lot today.

Blog Hopping today

I love blog hopping. I was fortunate be included in the holiday blog hop. Now today I'm going through the blogs a little more in depth. Way fun!!