Happy New Year Everyone!
I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday. We have been busy here too. We traveled and celebrated Christmas with our family this year. It was really wonderful to be with our family during the holiday. My Brother was able to come and spend a few days with us too. My boys had so much fun with everything. Tonight we are all geared up for New Years... we are relaxing, having our favorite Pizza (canadian bacon and black olive), playing our new Wii, watching a movie and then hoping to see the ball drop at midnight! I love New Years!
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New Year Coupon Giveaways! Ends January 5th
I did a few giveaways on New Years day but I have one more Givaway that will end on January 5th!
Post a comment here telling me one of your New Year Resolutions and I will randomly choose 3 more winners on January 5th.I LOVE to read your comments it puts a huge smile on my face....
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Things to watch out for!
After New Years I will be working on a New Collab... I'm so excited for this one!!!
I will be having my first Public Creative Team Call soon.
I'm working on a new Creative Team Member Page here on my Blog... so
you all can meet my wonderful creative team... I've been wanting to do
this for so long and they all deserve it!
Keep your eye out for some new blinkies :)
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The Art Journal Caravan Expedition 2010 by Tangie at SBG
I'm a featured artist in the Navigation Guide
Join in the fun!
I have some News I would like to share with you all too! If you have read any of my Mixing it Up posts you may know that I have a love for Altered Journaling. I used to actively journal on a daily basis and I also created my own journals by hand. Well my path crossed with a wonderful and very kind woman recently named Tangie Baxter she has a store at SBG. About a month ago I came across a post of hers about finding other Altered Artists at DST and I usually don't post at DST very often but thought why not? So I did and it opened a door for me as she asked if I wanted to be a featured artist in her new very exciting project called the Altered Journal Caravan {expedition 2010}. I was thrilled to be asked as this art form is close to my heart. So I gathered up some of my hand journaled pages and sent them into her and she also interviewed me. I am very honored to be a part of this project and it looks so exciting that I hope to follow the 52 week journey when I can too!! It is for paper and digital! So anyone can join in the fun! Take a moment to check it out as I find much joy in Journaling as it has been a big part of my journey as an artist.
Here is the previews for it...
With your membership you also get this Navigation Guide that I'm one of the Featured Artists.
Here is a little peek of one of my favorite pages that is featured in the Art Journal Caravan Navagation Guide that comes with your membership...
I will also combine this post as the 3rd part of my Mixing it Up Series on my blog since I have been using some of my pages for it.
This page is about me being sort of what I call a verbal Neurotic LOL!! I have found at times in my life I have had the need to communicate all my feelings or sort of wear them on my sleeve for all to see most of the time. I expressed here how I felt I was continuing to give away my power in many situations by always having the need to talk... silence can be good at times and this is a page about my journey discovering this about myself. Learning to be a better listener to others has helped me a lot in life.
One of the things that I love about altered journaling is the ability to "freely" express myself I find it therapeutic. I have signed up for the Altered Journal Caravan and hope to participate in it through out the 52 weeks as I have missed this form of expression in my life.
So one of my New Years Resolution is to participate in this journey! I can't wait as it always seems that life is so busy. I really want to make time for this even if I do it digitally.
The cut out words that surround the page say...
FIND...
Find a way back. Find a way Forward.
Find out what makes you feel most alive,
and then find ways to give it to your self often.
Find the real questions before you worry about finding the answers.
When you cant find what you're looking for, find the stength to keep on searching.
Eventually, you will find what you need.
Find lots of women whose company you enjoy and,
in the end, find yourself.
These words are from the book
365 words of Well- Being for Women by Rachel Snyder
(love this book) :)
I also want to share a photo of my journal that I made from scratch by hand. This is the one I use for my Altered Journaling. I actually went to a specialty leather shop when I lived in Portland, OR and bought a huge sheet of leather that I use for my journals. I use a wood burn tool and special paint to paint them.
Journal handmade by Dawn Vander Stoep
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New Year Freebie by Catherine DesignsI also wanted to share something from my Good Friend Catherine.... She has a gorgeous Happy New Year word art Freebie on her blog today using her fantastic new Merry Alpha. She is such an amazing generous and kind friend... So head on over there and Grab it. I'm sure she would love to hear from you too... I am so happy to be working with such good friends at After Five Designs... What a wonderful way to start off the new year... I can't wait for what this year will bring...
Wow I didn't realize how much I wanted to say in this post... I guess it's good to go out of 2009 with a bang LOL!
Best wishes to you all for a Happy New Year filled with Happiness, Laughter and Good Health!!
Love and Light,
Dawn
PS: I now have Google Friend Connect on my Blog and I'm really have fun with it as I've been discovering new blogs through it and getting to know you all a bit more... I would love it if you signed up...
