BSM: Best Shot Monday 5-10-10

Okay, I know - I'm a day late.  But I think this photo is worth the wait ... I hope you enjoy it as much as I am enjoying it.

Ready?   So here it is:

These are the Mother's Day flowers that I received from some of the kids / grandkids on Sunday.  Aren't they luscious?

So there is my first BEST SHOT MONDAY image in I don't know how long ...

--  Princess Magpie

Update on MAGPIE'S ART NEST

I thank you all for your patience, your support, and your encouragement over the last 6 weeks ... it was a couple of weeks before St. Patrick's Day when I first "hatched" the idea for MAGPIE'S ART NEST, and since then, I have looked at residential properties with the business in mind.  I do admit that looking at properties without an investor is premature, however, in the name of research, it makes sense to me.   

In working up a Business Plan, I found it far easier to work the numbers when I had a specific property in mind - because it allowed me to project based on actual classroom space/s.   Now that my "ideal" property sold ... for far less than the original asking price, I might add ... {okay, YES, I am still 'CREST'-fallen about it, I admit ...} ... now that it's sold, it's a challenge for me to "work up projected income" based on ... an unknown variable such as the premises themselves.

But I persevere, and I remain vigilant and hopeful.   The actual "ideal property" is still out there ... I just have to find it.

Of course, as one of our grandchildren said to me just yesterday, "wow, Oma, you're really serious about this business arent' you ?!"    {out of the mouths of babes ...}  She went on to say "it sounds like the ship's about to leave and Papa's still on the dock" -- again, 'out of the mouths of babes'.   No truer words have (lately) been spoken !!!   Mark's not "on board" with my business vision ... I'd say "yet", but I am not so sure he ever will be.

And still -- I remain optimistic.

Obviously it's going to take a partner - an investor for the real estate, and possibly a business partner.

Meanwhile, I do thank you for your support and encouragement and enthusiasm.

I wish I had more to "report" at this time, so with that in mind, I'd better get back to some numbers-crunching.

Your --

Princess Magpie

images from Google search ... "magpie" and "stone cottage".

The stone cottage is from http://www.serenitystonecottage.com/ in Heath, Massachusetts ... it's a wonderful-looking vacation rental that I happened upon while googling "stone cottages". 

Here's a little more about Serenity Stone Cottage: The Serenity Stone Cottage is tucked into five private acres of meadow, pond, and forest in the historic town of Heath, Massachusetts (population 805) in the Berkshires. Located just off the scenic Mohawk Trail, this hidden treasure was built in 1933 and eventually became a summer home to renowned theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, author of the Serenity Prayer. The Serenity Prayer (in its original version) was written at the stone cottage, and first preached by Mr. Niebuhr in the Heath Union Church in 1943. This all-season cottage has been lovingly maintained to reflect its original warmth, charm, and unique sense of peace and quiet.


The exterior design of the cottage is European in style, with a beautiful stone façade, cedar shakes, balcony porches, a hidden stone stairway, and a courtyard garden. All-around windows look out from the main living room to a cedar grove, a field of wildflowers, a small (seasonal) pond, and the woods beyond. The cottage is surprisingly spacious (approximately 1500 square feet on three levels) and there are skylights throughout.

Are you a Brave Girl?

Just before my 8-week series of workshops with the amazing Jane LaFazio ended -- back at the end of March -- Jane told me about a very wonderful experience that her friend just had.  Her friend had attended BRAVE GIRL CAMP, and because I am feeling brave these days, I ran home and looked it up.   Wow, did I like what I saw !!!

Someday {and it's looking like it will be in 2011, since all their Brave Girl Camp dates are SOLD OUT for 2010} I, too, will go to Brave Girl Camp.  

You should visit their website to check out what they're all about and what they have to offer.   Creative souls especially will find it nourishing.  http://www.bravegirlsclub.com/

For a little taster, here's a post that I found in my in-box just today:

Dear Super-Smart Girl,


Did you know there's a part of you that is even smarter than your brain? Did you know that the wisdom that comes from this part of you will get you through all of life's bumpy roads, and the smooth sailing roads, too?


Your gut...that deepest place of knowing that's nestled right next to your beautiful heart is the place where your most important thinking should be done. Your brain should be taking orders from your gut and your heart...not the other way around.


You know so much more than you think you know.

You ARE SO MUCH MORE than you think you are.


You are so much braver than you think you are.


You are so much smarter than you think you are.


You are so much more wonderful than you think you are.


So....start thinking with the smart parts of you ..... you can never go wrong.


xoxo - Melody and Kathy

Okay, so is it just me?  Or is that rather powerful?   I am in "writing a business plan" mode, for sure.  And I am itching to find and make time to JUST. BE. CREATIVE.   I have now organized my "projects in progress" {and whoa, do I have plenty of 'em!} into nice handy stackable plastic tote boxes.  I can see through the lids, and I just about drool each time I walk by.   And what the heck, who am I fooling?  I also have "yet to be completed" projects in ... my upstairs craft spot, our bedroom, and my office.  Oh, and let's not forget the dining room.   What can I say?  I like to see my options.  LOL.
 
Anyway - I'm rambling.  Visit BRAVE GIRLS' website and check 'em out.
 
Enjoy!
 
YOUR,
 
Princess Magpie

getting a JUMP START on my art career !!!

Friends,

I am thrilled to say that I have signed up for JANE DAVILA's 
{ http://www.janedavila.com/ } new online workshop, JUMP START YOUR ART CAREER.  

that's Jane ...

Here are the workshop details:

Jump Start your Art Career

What do you want out of your art career? Do you want to exhibit more often? Sell more art? Teach workshops? Get published? Create a polished, professional online prescence? This practical, hands-on class will guide you through an individualized course of study to attain these aspirations & more. Start by defining and setting your specific goals, create your brand, come up with a marketing plan and put it into action, all with step-by-step guidance from an industry expert.


Learn how to -


create a brand that will help you stand out from the crowd
outline a marketing plan to help you reach your goals
put together a professional portfolio
find, research and approach art galleries
start an etsy store and promote it
build up a mailing list and use it effectively
analyze the success of your marketing plan
get published - start small and think big


With interactive lessons, homework, brainstorming, critiques and more you will be well on your way to realizing your art career goals.


On each of the six Mondays you will receive an email with the PDF lesson and worksheet for the week. The interactive part of the class will mainly be run from a private blog where everyone registered for class will have the opportunity to see the lessons in visual form, anyone comfortable with having the work they're doing for class will have it posted, and comments on each lesson will be highly encouraged to foster discussion, brainstorming and feedback.


The blog will have updates from me, relevant to that week's lesson, every weekday and I will be available for email consultation and help during the entire 6 weeks. The blog will remain available for three weeks after class has finished.


The PDFs and worksheets will help you focus on your own specific goals and the steps you will be taking to attain them, while the blog will help you track your progress, and your fellow students', with our real-life examples.

6 online lessons beginning Monday, April 5  / $60.00


the workshop includes pdf handouts, worksheets, resources and references plus a forum for sharing questions, answers and progress all in a supportive, encouraging and empowering environment.

How's all THAT for content?!  I am so excited ...

Jane is the author of several art technique / art quilt technique books ... here's the cover of one: 

-- Princess Magpie

You really really might want to visit my friend Nina Reeba's blog (some of you know her as San Diego radio's RUTH 66, of the DSC show that used to air on KGB ???).   Her blog is all about her artful life, and her life here in San Diego.  It's beautifully done, and the photographs she posts are (mostly) her own.  Take a look ...

www.voicesinmybighead.blogspot.com

this artwork, "Salmon Botanical", is a piece that Nina/Ruth has on her blog right now ... I doubt it's still available, but isn't it gorgeous?! 

Nina has been doing magnificent work for over a year, and I am so glad we met up in an art class (2009) taught by local artist Lisa Bebi.   Now we can ALL say we are "local artists".   Nina's been selling her work lately, and one day, some day ... I will have one, too !!!

And as for Nina's coverage of this year's ACADEMY AWARDS - I doubt anyone could have done it better.  Or more like I would have done it.  Focused on the clothes, baby.  RIGHT ON, Nina.  Love your post about the Oscars.  :-) 

But even more, I love the comment you closed with ...

"I fully support anyone who chooses a creative outlet! Who knows, your dreams might come true too." 
-- Nina Reeba / Ruth 66

And Nina's has pointed us to this great source of inspiration:
http://www.artbizblog.com/ ... check it out !!!

In closing today's post, I want to add one more image of Nina's art:

this is "Pink Dreams"










I hope you've enjoyed today's walk with my friend Nina Reeba. 

-- Princess Magpie

Announcing ... Princess Magpie's Nest & Studio

You read it right, friends. 

I am taking my art- and soul-filled adventure in a new direction.  An "additional" direction, if you like.

I have ... started a new blog with my new business in mind ... http://princessmagpiesnestandstudio.blogspot.com ... I know, that's a long long long address ... I'll do something about that when I can figure out how to make it SHORTER via some kind of link-up ... Ann ???

If you visit the new blog, via the handy dandy link above, you can read the beginnings of this new venture.

I have also "opened" my very own ETSY shop, called Princess Magpie's Nest ... you can visit it at www.etsy.com/shop/PrincessMagpiesNest ... although the "shelves" are still empty :-) !!!

So far, I've shared my dream (in most of its entirety) with only the grandchildren, two of our daughters, my husband (yes, Mark; and he is intrigued and engaged in the ideas I presented), and my friend Nina, who I frequently "art" with and whose input I appreciate and value.

But the more I "speak" the dream, the more "real" it gets for me, and I can hardly sleep any more.

More to come ...  more to come ...

-- Princess Magpie

JUST AS I AM ... as borrowed from Andrea Schroeder's blog

I've been "arting" a lot the last ten days, and so have fallen behind on ... e-mails, phone calls, housework (did I just say that?! like it's something I regularly do?! LOL ...), and especially, blogging - and sharing photos of my recent art adventures. 

This morning, I was stopped firmly in my 'I Have So Much To Do Today" tracks by this one e-mail ... I get messages from Andrea Schroeder, and this has been of the most personal and eye-opening (for me) yet.

I have lifted it, in its entirety, from Andrea's message:

just as i am
Posted: 26 Feb 2010 05:00 AM PST

my friend robbin participated in this amazing project called just as i am. this is from the just as i am website:

"Over the past few years I have been amazed at the number of people who have come into my studio with “body issues”, I’m always amazed at this and am saddened by how many people don’t see the beauty that is inside of them. Just As I Am is a project that has come out of this desire for people of all ages and cultural backgrounds to come together in a project to see that we are more similar than we are different. Through this project I hope that more people will also have a greater appreciation for the beauty and complexity that is the human body and come to a place of feeling that we are all beautifully made.

Thousands of years ago Job wrote “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.” Most of us seem to be able to accept this, it’s the in between time that many of us struggle with.


Most of the time between birth and death it seems we are all slotted somewhere in the pecking order from first class to baggage and one of the beautiful things about this project is that whether a millionaire or a homeless person we will all be depicted as equal; there will be no suits or jewellery to hide behind, it will simply be a person photographed “Just as they are”.



Who we are is so much more than simply our bodies or what we look like, the reality however is that when people look at us the first thing that they see is our appearance. I have found in the past that when I’m with clients photographing nudes that it is much easier to see into the soul of my clients. It seems that when there is nothing to hide behind the real person emerges.


This project involves a 10 minute photo session for each participant and each person is asked to come with a couple of sentences or phrases that they think are descriptors of who they are.

Our hope is in the next few months to put together a gallery show of images from the sessions and if all goes well possibly a book as well as the website where many images will be posted along with the phrases of who the subject is."

they did put together a gallery show!

and that show opens tonight.


I (Andrea) am in turkey and not able to be there but i wanted to join in on the celebration somehow so i thought i’d share it with you here. if i was at home, tonight i would be going out for dinner with robbin to celebrate this amazing event, to celebrate that openness and willingness to be seen just as we are. and to acknowledge the courage it takes to do this.


we tend to think of bravery as being strong and taking action and doing big things out in the world. but this is real bravery. opening up, being real and allowing yourself to be seen.

please use the comment section to send robbin your congratulations and good wishes. and if you’re in winnipeg – go see the show!  http://www.justasiam.ca/index2.php

andrea schroeder creates creativity workshops, downloadable creativity kits, art and guided meditations to support you in knowing and remembering that you are a creative being and you can create anything.

I will be referring to this post from over on my other blog, because I believe everyone I know and love is, and even those who visit my blog/s that I do not (yet) know -- can relate to this concept in one way or another.  Wow.

-- your ever-faithful and oft-gathering-to-embellish the nest ...

PRINCESS MAGPIE (aka, Davielle)