Inspiration

This is a short video about me and about where I find my inspiration.  I hope that it inspires you to pick up that paint brush or download that app to learn how to edit photos or even take a class!  Get out there and get motivated! :) Thank you for watching!

It's Official! Monster Affirmation Cards are in the shop!

Two Dingoes Etsy Shop

I am beyond excited to launch these affirmation cards!  I can't believe they are done and I am holding them in my hands.  I know that I am so lucky to be able to do these things in my life!  Check out my new video that I made to show you exactly what they are about!  

I hope you enjoy it!

Monster Affirmation Cards

I have my creative inspiration back!  I get in such lows with it and it gets so depressing but I had a spurt recently and I feel very inspired.  Let's hope it lasts until I can get all my ideas out! 

I have created another set of affirmation cards and I am even more proud of these... I think because it truly reflects feelings and emotions that people are really go through in life!  I created a little monster that you see in different situations trying to make the best of each one with the positive affirmation on the card.  They are not in the shop yet but I hope to have them up as soon as possible! I shot this photo on a whim last night with that inspired feeling I was having and wrote a little something that correlates with it: 

I realize, now as I grown older, how little self-worth I had while growing up.  I wish I would have known that bullies are not worth the time and stress to worry about, that the mean college ex-boyfriend was just that and I should have walked away so much sooner and that I would be okay when my best friends decided to leave my life.  Those people broke my identity down and completely crushed me.  I needed to realize that I was worth more than what I was putting myself through but sometimes it’s so hard to feel that worth.  I wish I would have known that people come and go quickly and that I would have a few close friends that will forever be so special to me.  I also wish that I knew that life isn’t always going to work out the way that you want it to and that it’s up to me to choose how to react to it.  Life is hard.  It really is.  The things that you never think will happen to you… well they can happen.  BUT … life isn’t about looking back and feeling bad about the past or wishing that it was different and think about what you can’t change.  Life is about letting those shit circumstances form who you are in a positive way.  You are the one who chooses how to move forward in life so choose the path that you would be proud to take.  I refer to my positive self-worth as magic because, by having it, it has helped me accomplish things I never thought that I would.  I truly think we all have magic inside of us.  We just have to access it by reaching into ourselves and pulling it out.  I created my affirmation cards as reminders of that magic.  The monster on the cards is a representation of our dark and sad feelings  trying to find the light, the good and the happiness in life.  I can’t wait to get these on the site but I do have a few ideas I want to try to make happen before I officially put them on the shop! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the photo! 

Below is a photo of the back of the card I designed.  I really was so happy with how it turned out! 

Here's a sneak peak of some of the cards!  There are going to be 31 total with an instruction card so you can pull one everyday for a month if you like!

Thank you and until next time <3 

Shannon 

Crafting Crafting and Crafting

Goooooooood Afternoon and happy Wednesday!  I have been busy making things for the Etsy shop! I am so happy I am able to have an Etsy shop and it really challenges me to keep going with my creations.  It makes me happy that it makes others happy!  I hope you are all having a wonderful week so far- the weather is beautiful here but we are currently overrun by the 17 year cicadas that have emerged.  It's actually very overwhelming to go outside- there are so many buzzing by you that it's actually kind of gross and awesome all at the same time.  Just think, the next time I hear them like this, I will be 53 years old! ... ew no, I DON'T want to think about that at all! SLOW DOWN TIME!

 

Here are some of my new creations I wanted to share on the blog, they are all (at the moment) available in the my Etsy shop :)

 

Hello +Mindset

Sometimes my mind can't find the words to express what I am trying to say and then when I can find the words, moving them from my brain to my fingers can be a challenge all on it's own.  I have so much to say and I don't always feel that I articulate it as well as I could/should. 

My emotions have gotten the best of me with this project and I am just so so so proud of it.  I really want to be out there to make a different and I want to do my art so ... I combined them and made an affirmation card deck.   There are 31 cards and one instruction card.  They arrive in shrink wrap tucked safely in a black velvet drawstring pouch.  I drew each of the unique designs on my ipad through a program called procreate and honestly, I love how they turned out. 

I have had a pretty hard year... actually over a year now.

Life is teaching me that it does not care about what plans you had made, that it is going to do whatever it damn well has in mind. 

The best way to deal with that (for me) was through my art.  Turning my mind to a project that I could create positive feelings from.  That is where I came up with the +Mindset box.  Please watch the video for more explanation and enjoy the photos of the Etsy listing.  I can only buy 5 card decks at a time and will try to stock them as much as possible so bear with me if they get low... I will order more :) I truly hope that if you choose to have these in your life that they make you smile and help you start off your days on the right foot!

Affirmation Cards

I am so very excited to announce that my affirmation cards are now completed and in the shop! You can find them here.

 

A few of these cards were created during some very sad and dark moments in my life and yet I wanted to create something positive from those times.  I have learned that life doesn't really care about your plans and it's going to do what it wants to do with your life... but you can change how you react to that.  You can have a positive mindset that helps you start your day on the right foot.  I want anyone that is going through a hard time to know that you are not alone in this world and that everything will be okay.  One of my favorite quotes is "everything will be okay in the end, if it's not okay, it's not the end" - John Lennon. 

 

 

My affirmation cards can be used daily to start the day with a positive mindset.  There are 31 total so you could pull a different one for each day of the month and the deck comes with 1 instruction card.  All artwork was created by me on my iPad using Procreate and an apple pencil.  This project took me so long to complete and I poured so much efforted into making them.  There were times that I set it down and started and finished other projects but kept coming back to this and I am so happy that I did. 

 

I won't make this a long rambled post and I like to get to the point so here are some photos of what I have created and I hope that you enjoy!  Also, check out my Etsy shop to get your own deck! :)  

The Room

Here is another video I threw together one night with the help of my husband filming me.  This had to be the coldest night of the year and he was so willing to help me out with this!  I am so grateful for his support all of the time.  This was something I wrote in my notebook a little while ago and always was fearful to share the problem a lot of us share.... creative blocks.  

I hope this helps you know that you are not alone in these!

Holidays with Heart

Holidays with Heart

Saturday, Dec. 1 | 10 a.m.-4 p.m. | Animal Friends562 Camp Horne Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15237Find the perfect gift this holiday season at Holidays with Heart. Our campus will transform into a fun marketplace packed with the most unique and talented local crafters and vendors and plenty of giveaways, raffles, fun and adoptable animals. With a wide variety of items including pottery, jewelry and photography – just to name a few – you will surely find something for everyone on your holiday shopping list while supporting Animal Friends and local crafters.


COME BY AND SEE ME!


Yep.  I'll be there!  I still can't believe I'm doing my first craft show at the place that I adopted my little fur babies and then named my shop after them!  It feels so right!

I am crafting like crazy lately to get ready for the show and to be honest I feel like everything else is falling apart and there are so many things that need to get done- I'm about to go nuts.  Flickr...the site that I have shared photos on for years and years is doing a huge change to free accounts - I pay for my account but I have another account that I save my personal photos on and they not only upped the charge for the 2 year plan but they are offering a discount to people to stay but not to me since I have been a member for so long.  Then on top of that they charged my card that was labeled "expired" (the date was expired) without me giving the okay!  I reached out to them about it and they wrote back and told me to "make the most educated decision possible about staying with Flickr" and that they wouldn't refund me or give me the deal they are offering. 

I'm seeing red right about now.  So I will live out the two years on my art account that I have now paid for, not by choice and then move all my other photos on my free account out.  Once the time has gone by - I am leaving the site that I once loved so much.  I have until January to move my free account photos.  I get so upset because I take time to organized and back up my photos online like a responsible person and then they rip the carpet out from under me while I am trying to get ready for the Holidays and my craft show... ugh.  Okay- rant over- moving on.

Lol.

So I have been doodling a lot on my iPad.  I love it.  I truly love it.  Here are some of my latest pieces of work:

 

I'm going to do a whole series and I will be selling some at the show!

I have also been working on a planner/activity book.  It's taking way longer than expected and I just finally found a printer willing to work with me and is in my price range that does really nice quality work.  I have to make a few more edits to do after they kindly made a sample for me and I then I will get them printed (hopefully in time for the show) and then put them on my Etsy shop too!

I cannot wait until 2019 though.  I decided yesterday to meditate and do a short spell to banish negative energies.  I am trying to finish out this year with as little bad news as possible.  This year has been one of the hardest years of my life.  I can't wait to count down to the new year- it will be a serious celebration for me! 

In the meantime, my husband and I are trying to stay focused on getting outdoors as much as possible before it gets too cold and too dark to do it.  We took a nice long walk around Heartwood Acres the other day and it was just the right temperature and the sky was SO BLUE!

 

(this house was so cool- looks like a vampire lives there!)

 

 

I also treated myself to get my hair done.  I am going lighter and towards blonde again and it feels so good and it feels like me! :)

 

 

So - onward! 

Come visit me at the show on December 1st:) Come see my things that I make!

 

Thanks for reading!

Worry Cactus & New Music

 There is something to be said about discovering and falling in love with music.


I am passionate about things. I always have been. I feel so much more strongly about the arts and about nature than a lot of people and I sometimes struggle to find ways to communicate those feelings. The people in my everyday life are amazing people but... I don't have much in common with them (except one or two on certain subjects) but I really have a hard time with this.

One of the things I struggle with most is how much I want to talk about music- and not just talk about it- feel it and have discussions. I want discuss that feeling of falling in love with it. 
To me, music is the only way to feel life sometimes.  It's the only way to communicate feelings and to just be in the moment.  It bridges a gap and I don't know what I would do without it (that's why I studied Audiology in school- so I could help people hear music).

So- this Aurora is one of those musician/artists that I am falling in love with at the moment.  And true to myself, I am doing it passionately.   You see, I go for a period of time where I listen to the same stuff and it's all good but I crave something new.  Not just a new song but a whole album.  Something with emotion and work and just ugh- this was it:

Aurora - All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend 

I linked it above.  

I listened to a song I just happened to come across on YouTube and then I dove into the abyss- I learned about her- where she was from - watched documentaries and fell in love.  I love her style, her view on life and most of all her amazingly wonderful sad but happy music! :) I'm content for the moment.  Until I need more... more music ... new music and that need to fall in love again :) 

Ok- this post was supposed to be about my worry cacti that you can find in my store link in the navigation bar above!  I hand make each one of these out of felt, buttons, glue, thread and a whole love time time and love.  They are not perfect but they are so much fun.  You can set them on your desk at work or at home.  Write down your worries on the paper that is provided (I also have extras you can print from the printables tab above) and place it in your cactus's mouth so they eat your worries before they eat you!  You also get "care" instructions.  

These are my favorites that I have made so far below.  They are one of a kind since I do not use patterns.  I get bored when I use patterns.  Please check out the store as I will be posting more as often as I can :) 

The bottom one I still have some last minute things to do but it has turned out to be my favorite.  It's a shelf you can either hang on the wall (yes it has hooks) or you can set it on your desk and I got some lights that go on the inside to give it a special touch- yep- cactus lights! :) 

Okay-I'm up way too late for a work night- enjoy the music and my cacti I have created! :) Night and thank you for reading! 

My favorite so far... still have to do some finishing touches but I'm pretty pleased!