Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Wildflowers by Tom Petty

The flowers are so amazingly abundant and beautiful right now and every time I see a field like this one I suddenly start singing the song, "Wildflowers" by Tom Petty. So considering "feeling free" has been a theme of mine lately, I thought you might enjoy the message of the song as well.
You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
Sail away, kill off the hours
You belong somewhere you feel free

Run away, find you a lover
Go away somewhere all bright and new
I have seen no other
Who compares with you

You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
You belong with your love on your arm
You belong somewhere you feel free

Run away, go find a lover
Run away, let your heart be your guide
You deserve the deepest of cover
You belong in that home by and by

You belong among the wildflowers
You belong somewhere close to me
Far away from your trouble and worries
You belong somewhere you feel free
You belong somewhere you feel free

My question to you: When do you feel the most free?

Sunday, July 19, 2009

And the winner is...


Thanks so much to all of you for sharing your stories and comments over the past few weeks. It is so enriching for me, (and I know all of you as well), to see your work, hear your struggles, enjoy your celebrations and laugh together along the way.

I believe creating community, especially with creative, AMAZING women is an important part to our personal growth and self-discovery, and it's also just FUN to see what everyone is up to.

As you can see, I had a very special guest help me this morning with our raffle!
And the winner is...Cindi! Kestan pulled your name first, which is awesome, considering this celebrates your first post! Cindi - email me your mailing address and you'll be receiving a Free Spirit Knits original piece of jewelry.
But as you can see, Kestan, had fun pulling out all the names! So all of you that commented and shared stories over the last two weeks also wins a prize! (That's Dayle, Mary, Cindi, Emily and Katia) You each get one FREE spot in my new creativity on-line class that I'll be offering in September. More details to come.

Thanks for sharing and let the sharing continue...

Wednesday, July 15, 2009


Bonjour Babes! My second group is about to leave (tomorrow) and I will so miss sharing this special part of France, but "knock on wood" (or toucher le bois as they say here) I hope to do it all again next year.


Yesterday we went to Albi- a small city about an hour away. We drove thru sunflower fields that you can walk right into and photograph the bees that have landed on the face of the flower.


In Albi is a magnificent cathedral (1300's) with painted walls that are amazingly contemporary designs like modern quilt patterns and the Toulouse Lautrec Museum.

Creative Growth....

Hello! As the ocean here in Delaware has finally been warm enough to venture into... I am finally stepping out of the shadows of this amazing blog and sharing my first post with you all. Shannon's urgent call for posts helped light a fire under me! I am a life coach, freelance writer and photographer, and budding artist! I am also passionate about music. First though, before sharing my post, I want to say how much I enjoy and am inspired by all the talented and passionate women in this community! Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful gifts!

Below are photos of some recent creative projects and a funny photo of my dogs thrown in for good measure! Thank you for looking!

Cheers ~ Cindi


My homemade self-acknowledgment journal ~ my first venture into mixed media! I had a blast making these journals and look forward to improving upon them!


Greeting card with a photo I took of bob houses on Lake Winnipesaukee in NH.


Bookmarks I made using my photos, natural hemp cord, and beads. I have 20 different photos for these and 4 are included here.


Some of my most favorite photos to take are of the ocean ~ especially when she is in a WILD mood! It's a little hard to tell in this photo, but the sea spray here was quite impressive!

This was an old pillar jetty at our favorite beach that has since been replaced by a rock jetty. This jetty was fun to walk around underneath when the tide when out and look for sea treasures.


This is a favorite photo of mine of an old abandoned tractor by the side of the road in West Virginia. The colors of this card are much more bold and vivid, but somehow I could not capture this when taking the photo of the card. Any advice on better ways to display these?


And finally, a photo, for fun, of my favorite dogs. The smaller gray and white dog is my silly girl, Stella and her black and tan pal is my sister's dog, Evie. They are sweethearts who love the beach and have become quite comfortable lounging for hours under the umbrella. On especially hot days, we make sure to take some wet cloths in the cooler so they can get some chilly relief! What a life!

Thanks for letting me share! Cheers ~ Cindi

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Finally some pics







Plastic, Hitchcock and Yarn



What motivates me creatively this week? Plastic, Hitchcock and Yarn. About a month ago, I committed to making 3 squares for two different projects… both were a community effort, a “fiber hug” to two people I have never met. Both had gone through some crummy challenges, and so the chance to make these people’s lives a little brighter sounded great. I had my yarns picked out, my patterns…everything was ready. I even had the patterns in sheet protectors so I could knit at the pool. I got started and screamed through the first square and then I am not sure what happened… Life? Laundry? Three birthday celebrations for 4 of my kids (yes … twins, more about that later). Anyway, I found myself scrambling to meet the deadline. Thank God for Turner Classic Movie Channel and the Hitchcock marathon! I finished them all on time PLUS got obsessed with the dresses worn by Grace Kelley in “Rear Window” and “To Catch A Thief”. I kept thinking about how to construct an amazing dress like the ones she wore but out of yarn (keep in mind, I was knee-deep in the yarn stuff at the time)… I thought…”yeah right, like I could ever wear a Grace Kelley dress!” and no sooner did that thought cross my mind when I realized who would look smashing in one… Bonnie B.C., my (plastic) Blythe doll! I am so excited with my designing that I had to stop and take a picture and write a post. I am hoping to write up the pattern and perhaps sell the PDF in my Etsy store…which, by the way, I sold my first two sets of stitch markers from my Etsy store this week!!! I feel like I am on a roll, though the laundry is piling high!
If you want to learn more about Blythe dolls, go here. If you want to see my Etsy shop, go here. If you want to see my squares, go here.

I hope to soon post about another inspiration… the birth of my identical twins 18 years ago.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

France Workshop

Hi Ya'll or I guess I should say Bonjour. My first workshop ends today and my lovely ladies will be departing either to fly home to the US or to continue on their journey here in France. Robin (from Australia) will stay on and be with me for the second workshop which starts on Friday.
Besides having lost of studio time to create art, we had a full week of amazing experiences. A great flea market (called vide greniers which means Empty the Attic) was a treasure trove of inexpensive goodies for home and art. The renowned Revel Saturday market was a feast for the eyes and soul. We also got to go to a small museum- the Museum of Kitsch - a delight for the senses-(created by a dear French friend of mine), invites to local artist studios, a trip to Albi, a trip to the nearby monastery....... so a full week of joy and inspiration. I'll post more pics soon! ********** Not able to upload a pic- hope to later

Where Are You, Babes?

Yo, I'm missin' my babes.

I hope all of you are enjoying a fun, wonderfully relaxing, exciting, chill kind of summer! I want to hear what you've been up to, so get back here and post, would ya?

What's a better way to get ya back than a nice, friendly contest? I have prizes. Seriously. I do! Prizes for blog posts and even for those who add comments. We are also nearing our 1ooth post...so we gotta have prizes for that, too.

So...for the next two weeks, who ever writes a post or adds a comment, will be added to my super cool, glass container and names will be pulled randomly for super cool prizes. I'll post the winners here, too.

So come on! Share some stuff. Anything! We want to hear from you. Let your creativity shine and be seen.