Find Your Peace

Myrtle Beach SC    Nikon Coolpix L120

Lately I have been appreciating the peaceful moments in my life. We can all get caught up in the stressful and hectic moments but every single day we need to take time for peace and calm.

In my peaceful moments, I find my inspiration which leads to my creativity. When I do not connect with my creativity, I instantly feel like life is more stressful and my mood darkens.

Finding your peace is also very important to your health. Take the time to stop during your day to breathe and focus your thoughts. Are your thoughts productive? Are you seeking peace in your thoughts and actions?

Life will definitely have it's stressful moments but how you react throughout the day will decide whether or not you find a way back to peace. Search for constructive, productive solutions to overcome the stress in your life. Can you prevent the stressful situation before it happens? I try to be as proactive as I can in life. Anticipate what you will need and bring those items with you will alleviate random problems that pop up during the day.

If I allow clutter to creep up and takeover in my surroundings, I feel my stress level rising until I do a "organize, clear out and put back in it's place session".

As you may know from reading my blog and my twitter the beach is a very important part of my life. I try to escape to the beach as much as I possibly can. Pictures of the beach on every wall (LOL!), road trips, creating art and writing are all ways I actively pursue my peace.

Create your peaceful environment everywhere you go. You can do this with pictures, music, creating art whatever make you happy. Be aware of stressful situations and unhappy people. Avoid them whenever you can but if you can't do not allow them to draw you into the drama. Happiness is a choice. Peace is a choice.

Be powerful and knowledgeable in a stressful situation. Do not make the situation worse. Actively seek positive solutions. After I go through a negative experience, I take the time to realize what life lessons I just learned. This is very helpful to stop the cycle of going through the same stress situations over and over.

Finding your peace and being very aware when you are not peaceful will help you have better health and quality of life.

Thank you for reading!

Thomasina

Calendar Haul Part 3 France Calendar

A year of the best quality pictures in a page a day flip calendar of France I have ever purchased. I got this for 75% off at a calendar kiosk in my local mall.

Me and this 365 days of  France calendar have a long history together. I have been buying this specific calendar since the earlier or mid 1990s. It has been a life long dream to be able to travel to Paris and then travel throughout France.

When I look at the beautiful, colorful and peaceful picture is my calendar it makes me work harder to make my dream of visiting Paris come true.

When I go about my yearly calendar buying ritual near the end of the year, this calendar (and a Marilyn calendar I find that I cannot risk selling out) are the few calendar I will bit the bullet and pay full price for.

Here's a link to Workman Publishing Co. Inc. site.

Thanks for reading my post!

Thomasina

If you have any questions or comments, email me at thomasinawords@gmail.com or comment below

DIY Necklace Display - Basket Weave Placemat

I am using this basket weave wall hanging "thingie" to hang my many necklaces on. Yes, I looks a bit crazy. Yes, I have a LOT of necklaces from Rue 21 (their $2.00 sale on necklaces is the Best). 

But believe it or not, my necklaces are on display, organized and they do not become tangled.

Since I can see the different pieces, I don't forget what I have. 

This DIY is just repurposing something I already had. The loops and spaces in the basket weave are perfect for attaching the jewelry display cards.

My dream is to have glass cases like at a store to display my costume jewelry. Until then, whenever I see something I can hook onto, drape across, etc. I will repurpose that item into a DIY jewelry display. 

Comment down below if you have any more inexpensive or free jewelry display ideas.

Thank you for reading my blogpost! 

Thomasina

If you have questions or comments, you can also email me at Thomasinawords@gmail.com

Jewelry Collection Organizing

The organizing and sorting begins

Jewelry boxes

I have a LOT of jewelry. Every once in a while I have to bring back some order to my collection. My method is to pull everything out, sort, and arrange the pieces as neatly as I can. My collections are not meant to be put away and not used. The more organized my jewelry is, the more creative I can be which leads to using the entire collection.  I can not stand watching you tube videos of people with a HUGE amount of makeup or whatever and it is so obvious they don't use all the items - They just want the shopping thrill and attention of talking about possessing the latest trendy whatever.

Brainstorming new ways to wear all jewelry is a must. I will wear a pretty rhinestone pin even if I am not leaving the house.  Layering necklaces and bracelets is another way I get around to my entire accessory collection. Watching a TV show or film always inspires me to shop my collection and wear a necklace a  way I never thought of before. This is one of the reasons I loved watching Charmed,Veronica Mars and Buffy - the accessories the characters wore with their amazing wardrobe.

Thanks for reading :)

Thanks Hey Claire for the Tip

These are my artist tools and supplies for today.

After looking at a picture posted on Hey Claire's instagram which featured  random items neatly organized in a square formation, I got inspired. I love organization but I have to be on constant guard not to let the clutter that comes with being an artist and writer take over. When things are organized and easy to reach for, this creates such a sense of calm and focus for me. Truth be told, I have been very bad at just putting everything into a pile then just working from that pile. This has seemed like a very good idea. One big pile will not take up much space but every time I need something, I've got to upset the balance of the messy small mountain.

Today I decided I would try the new organizational system of neatly putting everything on the floor spaced out in a square. What a huge difference in productivity. I was able to very quickly complete several tasks. Also seeing everything, made me aware of concentrating on the present task because I could see the next task that was waiting for me.

Only organization geeks will really get this post. I'm tired of wasting time looking for what I need. I've just started my blog and it is a LOT more work than I ever imaged it would be. But I LOVE blogging. It's funny how a photo on my twitter feed inspired me to get a lot more done in my life. Thanks Claire.

How do you organize your artist materials?