Whenever I enter a fabric store, I'm seized with a kind of creative gluttony. As my fingers touch the fabrics my mind leaps with pictures of garments that could be created from them. The colours seduce, the textures tantalize, and I'm lost. After a tactile trip around the store, I usually head for the pattern desks. After all, by now I've already sewn several garments in my mind, I only need to figure out the fabric requirements before my credit card comes out.

Generally, there are patterns on sale - too good a sale, naturally, to not buy. So I flip expectantly through the pages, fairly salivating over the drawings of thin, fashionable women in oh-so-glamorous outfits. As I pull the pattern packages from the drawers I'm calculating the cost. When there is a fabric sale the cost is so little relative to buying a ready-made garment that my heart is beginning to beat faster in anticipation of my new clothes.

Of course, there is never just one fabric that calls to me. There is never just one outfit I imagine. You see, I have a picture-producing mind and all it takes is the touch of a fabric against my fingers, or the sight of a certain colour to send it spinning into fantasies of fashion. So my hands fill with patterns as I mentally count the cost. As one hour stretches into two and the list of new outfits mounts, a sense of realism finally begins to seep in.

I remember that I have a closet at home still filled with virgin fabrics, the results of trips just like this one through the fabric store doors. There is that rayon with the splashy red lilies for the dress with the red jacket to match. And the black stretch cotton that I already have cut out waiting for me to paint on before I sew it. Then I have the cream sheer crinkle to make an elegant over-blouse. Oh, and stuff I bought for a black dress, with some pink chiffon with grey flowers for a kimono-style jacket. I got a great deal on 100% linen last week and bought three metres without knowing just what I'd make but knowing that, no matter what, it will be gorgeous.

As these memories come to me, I return the patterns I've pulled to their respective drawers, give the fabrics I've fallen in love with a last caress, and with a resolute raise of my chin, head for the door. With renewed fervor for the projects waiting at home, I leave.

When I walk through the door of my sewing room, I'm again seized with this creative gluttony. Now my creative cravings can be satisfied by the act of actually making something. Perhaps next time you see me, I'll be wearing a new outfit that I sewed myself after having satiated my rapacious hunger for creating.

I'm a little tired of hearing how hard it is to write, to get published, to find an agent. For years I believed it and allowed all this discouragement within the industry to keep me from writing.

But even if it is hard, so what? What isn't? Going to work at a job you hate year after year is hard. Having children and going without sleep night after night as you nurse a sick baby is hard. Making a marriage work through difficult times is hard. Losing a job and wondering where the next meal is coming from is hard. Living with illness, family problems, financial difficulty is hard.

Writing? It's a piece of cake. It's more fun than any of those other things that make up ordinary life. It's easy!

And publishing? So what if it takes a while to see your work in print. Try harder. Quit moaning and get to work.

Can't find an agent on the first try? Try again. Keep on until it works. Improve the book. Whatever it takes.

But for goodness sake, let's stop complaining about how hard it all is. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

We have no doubt all heard the phrase, “The best defense is a good offense”. I am not sure where it originated but I suspect it came from the sports arena. While this may be good strategy in a football game, it falls short when applied to personal relationships.

Still, lots of people use this logic when dealing with others. It is particularly popular when we don’t want to look at ourselves, especially if others are asking, requiring, or demanding that we look at our attitudes, our behavior, or what comes out of our mouths. Since I like to challenge assumptions as a means of helping myself and others create better lives, this is one I challenge.

The only reason the best defense would be a good offense in relationships is if you perceive that what others say to you is a personal attack. For the moment, let’s assume that no one is personally attacking your character, just suggesting ways you might change to do better in your work, your dealings with others, or how you relate to those around you.

Let’s say, for example, Sally and I are working together on a project. I ask her if she could please take more care with the materials since some of them are dropping to the floor, becoming dirty, and are no longer useful.

If Sally believes that the best defense is a good offense she might turn on me, get angry, and tell me that I’m not the neatest person in the world either and she never likes how I’m doing things. What just happened?

1. Sally felt personally attacked when nothing personal was intended. This problem is that materials are getting dirty, not that Sally is a bad person.
2. Sally believes that to deflect attention from her perceived shortcomings, she must turn and point out mine. This will take the heat off her actually having to face something in herself that she doesn’t want to look at, most likely that she doesn’t feel very good about herself.
3. The problem is not resolved because Sally is aggressively defending her own ego by attacking me so the problem at hand gets ignored in the ensuing maelstrom of negative emotions.
4. The real issue never gets dealt with.

Now you might think the real issue is the stuff falling on the floor, but that’s not it at all. The real issue is why Sally feels she needs to protect her own ego at all costs, including the cost of a pleasant working environment and getting the job done.

The ego is selfish and always wants to protect its territory in your heart. The ego can easily be humiliated or disgraced because it is always proud and self-serving. Contrast this with the concept of humility. You can’t humiliate someone who is already humble.

Humility has gotten a bad rap in our “it’s all about me” culture, but true humility is not about being humiliated or disgraced, it is about understanding that without God we are nothing. Let me repeat that. Without God you are nothing; I am nothing. Without the breath of God in our spirits, we would not even exist. We exist in the first place because of the life God gives us. It is not “all about me” after all.

Once we understand this, we enter into true humility. In true humility there is no pride, no self-aggrandizing ego, and no danger of being humiliated or disgraced. Let me repeat, you cannot be humiliated if you are already humble. True humility means that you understand your place in God.

Now, think about it. Will your relationships change when you stop trying to protect your ego by counter-attacking others who most likely have your best interests in mind? Can you see that by realizing your own place in God’s world – he is everything and without him you are nothing at all – you are set free from the chore of protecting your proud ego at all costs?

Jesus said that whoever he sets free is free indeed. Among other things, this means freedom from being controlled by a selfish, demanding ego. By accepting this freedom, we become free from having to prove anything at all about ourselves, either to ourselves or to others. We become free to just be ourselves because we know that we are accepted by God just as we are.

How could it be otherwise? If we are nothing without God in our lives, then we are only something because of him. If that’s the case then he made us purposely who we are. If he made us exactly who we are, then we are already totally acceptable to him and accepted by him. My goodness, when you grasp this you realize that even if someone does attack your character it won’t matter. It only matters that you are already totally acceptable to God so whatever others may say can roll right off your back. This is true humility.

What else could we possibly need?

When it comes to relationships, the best defense is not a good offense. It is understanding who we are in God – accepted, loved, and treasured. No defense is required.

Remember when you were a child, how Christmas seemed magical? The days leading up to “the big day” were filled with anticipation. Everything took on a sparkle and glow and time seemed to move so slowly.

When I was small our community held a Christmas concert in the town hall and children from the school performed. Then the Sunday School Christmas concert took place in the church and we practiced and donned costumes. The Christmas story was always read and acted out by kids in bathrobes with towels draped on their heads. Baby Jesus was played by someone’s doll, no doubt received the previous Christmas.

The last day of school meant the afternoon spent munching on goodies prepared by mothers, and then the holidays began. What joy! The tree had been decorated, and it was time to shop. Where I lived, on a prairie farm, a trip to the big town only took place a couple of times a year, so Christmas shopping day was a huge event. The Co-op store turned their basement into Toyland. The wonders never ceased!

Then suddenly it was Christmas Eve. I remember being so excited I could hardly breathe as the stockings were hung (with a big pin from the back of the couch), and sleeping seemed impossible. Morning came whenever you woke up, which was early and in the dark.

Is it possible to re-capture the dreams and the wonder after you’ve outgrown Santa Claus? And when did Christmas become just a generic “holiday”? I admit to being dismayed that in the past few years, the word “Christmas” has suddenly disappeared from the mention of the very event it celebrates. Whatever your beliefs, Christmas is still about the birth of Christ, the celebration after whom the day was named. Millions of people around the world believe and rejoice.

Though the experiences of childhood can never be re-created and re-lived, there is a way to experience the joy and the miracles of Christmas. It is not in profusion of gifts, abundance of parties, nor family events. It is not even to be found in acting out sacred rituals or attending spiritual services. What then, can bring back the thrill of Christmas?

The answer is in the name. Only Christ can bring miracles and joy and wonder into your life. There is a reason for the season and His name in Jesus. Commemorating His birth is not just an excuse for another holiday. It is a celebration of the ultimate gift of God.

My hope for you this Christmas is that you indeed have happy holidays, but that you also become acquainted with the real significance of Christmas. Get to know the Saviour of the world and discover genuine and lasting wonder, joy, and peace.

Ebooks are part of the new frontier of cyberspace.
They are an entirely new medium for sharing marketing
information, ideas, techniques, and expert knowledge.
Each day the number of people accessing the Internet
grows, causing the exposure of your ebook to increase
incrementally. It's obvious why electronic
self-publishing has become so popular so quickly.

The publishing industry, I hope, does not intend to
forever banish the printed word to the dustbin of
history. Books in print have their own special
qualities and merits, and the world would be
diminished by their disappearance.

Having said that, let's look at what makes ebooks so
important and so unique. Ebooks have certain abilities
and qualities that other mediums do not possess.

For example, ebooks are fairly easy to produce, and
their production cost is inexpensive. Just think about
it: you don't need a publisher, an agent, a printing
press, offset film, ink, paper, or even a distributor.
You just need a great concept, the ability to write it
or to hire a writer, and the right software.

Additionally, ebooks are easily and rapidly
distributed online. They are also easily updated; they
do not require a second print run. All you need is to
go into your original creation and modify the text or
graphics. Because of this flexibility, ebooks can
change and grow as fast as you can type.

Ebooks are also immediately obtainable. You don't have
to go to a bookstore or search through endless titles
at an online bookstore. All you have to do is download
it from a website, and presto! It's on your computer,
ready to be read.

Ebooks are interactive. This is one of the most unique
and specific qualities that ebooks offer. You can add
surveys that need to be filled out, order forms for
customers to purchase your products or goods, sound
and video that draw your reader into the virtual world
of your ebook, even direct links to relevant sites
that will expand your ebook outward. The potential is
virtually limitless.

Ebooks have a particular kind of permanence that other
mediums do not possess. Television shows and radio
shows air once, and then may rerun a few times. Ebooks
remain on your computer for as long as your choose,
and they can be read and reread whenever you choose
to. They can even be printed out and stored on the
shelves of your traditional home library.

Another wonderful quality is that ebooks have no
barriers in terms of publishing. You don't need to go
through the endless process of submitting your
manuscript over and over again, and then once you land
an agent, having the agent submit your manuscript over
and over again. Nor do you have to shell out thousands
of dollars for printing a self-published book. All
ebooks require is a writer and appropriate software.
Figure out your market, write your book, post it on
your website, and with the right business savvy, your
audience will come to you.

Finally, you have creative control over your ebook.
You don?t have to compromise with an editor or the
publishing trends of the time. You don't have to
haggle with a designer or wait for copyedited galleys
to arrive by snail mail. You are in complete control
of the design and the text.

How to Use ebooks for Marketing and Promotion

There are innumerable ways to use ebooks to promote
your business and drive quality traffic to your
website. Once posted on your site, you can turn them
into a daily course, which brings your customer back
to read the next chapter. You can use them as a free
gift for making a purchase or for filling out a
survey. Put your ebook on a disc, and you will have an
innovative brochure. Blow your competition away by
inserting the disc into your sales packages.

The most effective marketing products are those that
are unique. Copyright your ebook, and immediately, you
have a powerful tool that you, and you alone, can
offer to the public. People will have to visit your
site to acquire your ebook, which increases the flow
of quality traffic and the potential of sales and
affiliate contacts.

Make sure that you keep your ebook current. Update it
frequently as the market and trends change. Add new
advice and techniques to show your prospects how your
goods or services can enrich their lives. By
constantly keeping abreast of new trends and
techniques, you can continue to see profits from your
ebook for years after your original creation.

Another phenomenal advantage of ebooks is that you can
test their marketing potential without putting out
hardly any cash at all. You can even produce an ebook
one copy at a time, each time you receive an order,
eliminating the need for storage and inventory. By
this method, you can gauge the saleablity of your
ebook, and make adjustments as necessary until the
orders start pouring in. Ebooks allow you to learn
about your market and customer habits and motivation
over a period of time, without risking your precious
financial resources. They also provide you with an
invaluable way to gather marketing information, which
you can use in many different facets of your business.

Use your ebook to discover what the specific goals and
problems are in your specific industry. Then figure
out how to solve these problems, and publish an ebook
with this invaluable information. This will increase
the value of your business, upgrade your reputation,
and get you known as an expert in your field.

You can extend the value of single ebook by breaking
the book down into chapters for a serial course, into
special reports available on your website, or into
audio or visual tapes. Ebooks can be broken down into
several different promotional materials by excepting
some of the articles and using them to promote your
product. You can include a catalog in your ebook to
promote all the products or services you sell. You can
include a thank-you note for reading your book and an
invitation to download a trial version of your
product. Or you can include a form for your audience
to contact you for further information or with
questions, thereby building your business
relationships and your mailing list.

Using ebooks in this manner helps to cut the cost of
individually producing separate promotional materials.
You can use a single ebook to entice new prospects and
to sell new products to your current customers.

No other medium has this kind of flexibility and
ability for expansion. Think of your ebook like a
spider spinning a beautiful and intricate web. Now go
and create that web, and see how many customers and
prospects you can catch!

Recently, in the late afternoon, I sat at my computer working. The day had been overcast and the sky that I could see from my window had darkened like an ominous presence. The window was open because, even though it was not particularly warm, the air held a cloying heaviness. The fresh breeze felt cool and pleasant on my skin. 

I heard it coming before it arrived. First, there was a warning shot, a ten second volley of hailstones flung down like a round of ammunition, that bounced on the grass and rattled on the deck roofing before clattering off toward the nearest mountain. 

A few minutes later a crack of lightning ricocheted across the sky, thunder booming off the surrounding mountains and rolling away into the distance like bowling balls in a stairwell. The birds went still. I heard the sound rushing toward me, a roar like the sea waves on rocks. Within moments it was upon us, blasting rain and hail. I ran and closed my back door, but not before the rug was soaked. When I sat again at my desk, I watched as the deluge beat upon my plants, stripping them of petals and leaves.

After about twenty minutes, it passed. The wall of weather moved up the valley. A while later, the sun came out and everything glistened with freshness. 

This reminds me of how life is sometimes. Things seem to be going along fine; everything is working, then, POW! We are broad sided by disaster or difficulty. And while we’re in that place, we cannot see any break in the heavy weather. No matter where you look, there seems no way out of it and the only choice is to hunker down and wait until it passes. 

There phrase in the Bible that I love, which says, ‘it came to pass’. When I feel overwhelmed with unexpected problems, and the way out is not clear, I remind myself that it came to pass, not to stay, not to take up residence with me, not to be how my life is from now on. No, it just came to pass, and pass it will.

Knowing this allows me to take a longer view, to see beyond my current situation and have faith for a better tomorrow. Believing for better tomorrows today helps to not only change how I experience today, but to a large degree determines how my tomorrows turn out. Faith and optimism create an atmosphere for more positive outcomes, no matter what I may be going through today. 

Remember, when you are in a storm, that it just came to pass. The sun will always shine again.

Become a Watercolor Painter in Five Easy Steps

You have seen them in the windows of galleries and gracing the walls of your friends’ homes – beautiful watercolor paintings. If you have always thought that someone else has the talent and you would never be able to create professional-looking artwork, think again. As a professional watercolor artist, I am here to tell you that it is not as difficult as you may think.

To become a watercolor painter requires a few simple steps to get started.

1. Get the right equipment

Visit an art supply store near you and speak with the staff. Most art supply stores are staffed by artists, art students, and art lovers. Ask for their advice on what are the best brushes and paper to purchase for a beginner. You don’t want to buy the cheapest equipment, but you may want to leave the expensive materials until you are more proficient. You don’t want to feel like you can’t practice without spending a lot of money and you will want to practice a lot. You need to give yourself permission to waste paper while you learn. You will need a palette to squeeze your paints into. I recommend you find a large one with more than a dozen wells for your paints and a large flat area for mixing colors.

2. Buy the right supplies

Watercolor paints come in little tubes and in several different grades including student and professional. To begin with I recommend that you choose student grade watercolors. The colors you choose is a very individual decision, but start out with a few basics. Your art store staff should be able to help you choose, but aim to purchase ten to twelve colors that represent the color spectrum. Watercolors do not come in white, since the paint is transparent and the color of the paper showing through creates white spaces. Black is seldom used and easy to mix using other colors, so you will want to choose a range from yellow through brown, plus reds, greens, blues, and charcoal grey.

3.  Draw your subject

Drawing accurately is one of the most important aspects of creating a beautiful painting. To become a watercolor painter, you must develop your sketching and drawing skills. In my experience teaching art, I have found that the biggest mistakes that beginners make is to draw what they think they see, rather than seeing their subjects as a series of shapes, dimensions, light and shadow. For example, when you think of an evergreen tree, the picture you see in your mind is likely to resemble something you have seen since elementary school days – a cone shape with drooping jagged edges. However, if you were to go outside and really look at an evergreen tree you would see that the limbs usually reach upward. Notice where the light hits the tree and where the shadows fall. Notice the colors and the contrasts. Draw what you actually see, not what you think you see.

4. Practice with your paints

When you get home from the art supply store with your package of new supplies, squeeze some color into each well in your palette. You can use your paints straight from the tubes, but they will last longer if you squeeze them out into your palette wells and allow them to dry. Next, practice dampening your paper and painting into the wet surface. Also, paint on dry paper and see how your paints perform. When you are ready to start a painting, you will want to soak your watercolor paper in a clean water bath, lift it out an allow the excess water to drain off, then attach it to a board or table top using masking tape around all sides. As your paper dries it will shrink creating a nice flat surface that will not buckle when you apply paint and water to it later. This is especially important if you find you like painting with a lot of water, or painting wet paint onto wet paper.

5. Paint your picture

In order to become a watercolor painter, you will need to choose a subject for your first painting. It’s best to choose something with which you are familiar, but that is not necessary. Find something you like and begin by drawing the subject lightly onto your dry paper. Do not be afraid to erase your lines if need be, just be sure to use a gum eraser so as not to disturb the surface of the paper. When you have completely your outline, which can be as simple or as detailed as you like, begin by defining the areas where the white paper will show through. You don’t want to paint on these areas at all. Start painting with your lightest-colored areas and paint toward the darkest colors, layering your paint until you have achieved the desired effect. Remember that watercolors are transparent so you will have to apply layers to achieve a deeper color effect.

If you are ready to become a watercolor painter, an at-home study course is a great place to start. You can work at your own rate and the instructions are generally clear and easy to follow. You can learn a lot on your own from a good course and practice. To become a watercolor painter, you just have to paint, paint, paint. Click here to become a watercolor painter today with your step-by-step Watercolor Painting Guide.

 

 

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

This quote by Helen Keller essentially sums up life in the fast lane - although the "fast lane" is not about speed. It's about stepping out of the normal lane of everyday life and making changes in your life by doing things you would not normally think of doing. Or that even present a challenge for you.

The word "adventure," depending on where you live or the life you have already lived, will roll out a different movie of imagination in your mind.

For some, adventure would be an Indiana Jones or Pirates of the Caribbean type of life - cheating and tempting death while seeking a treasure never before uncovered. For others, it could be deciding to wear a different color outfit, or try a different meal on the menu instead of the same old standby that can always be trusted.

Try taking a quick inventory of your life, a snapshot of where you were last year and where you are today.

Many of us tend to stay in our comfort zone. We don't speak in front of crowds, even when asked. We don't get involved in different volunteer organizations because it may mean that we need to come out of our shell. We don't speak up at a meeting because we don't want to attract attention, or we're not sure what others will think.

So, why change? Why should we come out of our comfort zone and stretch a little?

Because it is good for us and it is good for those around us.

If you start to exercise after a long sabbatical from any strenuous activity you will usually experience aches and pains at first. Your body goes into an almost allergic state, breaking out in sweat and shortness of breath. Before long though, after a regular diet of healthy movement, your threshold becomes greater and higher as their body becomes fit and healthy.

The same can be said when we stretch out of our daily mundane lifestyle. We become capable of handling more, of giving more, of being a better person than we ever thought we could be. We develop goals and dreams we never thought possible. That lifestyle we always wanted but never thought possible suddenly comes within reach.

Even when things don't go as planned; an energizing person who has become a positive thinker will learn from the experience and grow from it.

So, how can you turn your life into a daring adventure?

First, leave the Indian Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean stuff to the moviemakers - unless you want to be a moviemaker - then off you go!

But for now, let's concentrate on today and your day-to-day life. Where can you turn life into an adventure? Here are some suggestions:

 - If you can, how about leaving the car at home and walking to where you want to go      or even more daring - ride a bicycle.
- How about trying a new meal every time you go to a restaurant?
- Say hello to that new person at work.
- Start a conversation instead of waiting to join in. Think of a list of question or statements that you could use to start that conversation.
- Buy the bright-colored, stand-out-from-the-crowd shirt, instead of the low-key blend-in type that says, "I'm practical".
- Get up twenty minutes early and read a book.
- Go see a movie you thought would be boring - you may be pleasantly surprised.
- Stay up and watch a movie with your kids.
- Get involved in a sport.
- Take a course from Toastmasters.
- Learn to belly dance. (It is the one thing in life where it is good to have a belly!)
- Say yes to doing something you fear, especially if others believe in you and are already encouraging you. If they aren’t, do it anyway.
- Learn Karate or some kind of self-defense.
- Fly in a small airplane if you never have before.
- Meet one new person a week - that's fifty-two in a year. You're bound to become friends with at least one or two of them.
- Go to church. It might surprise you how interesting it is.

Take a short look at your day and note where you could be more adventurous. Over time, you'll notice a change for the better -maybe even a new you.

Happy adventures!

Crawling out of the whole website hacking mess has taken some time, but step by step things are moving into place. This has been a hard lesson, but I always want to come out of difficulty asking, what have I learned that I can use and share?

Here are a few of them:

• The world does not end when a website crashes
• You find out who is really on your side and is there to help you
• This might give you the chance to re-evaluate what you are doing and why
• When you can’t do anything but wait for things to get fixed, it gives you time to focus on other issues
• There’s no point crying over what might have been. Just get up and get on with it.

My new website is up and being added to regularly as I detail my new services and create new products. I’m very excited about focussing on one of my life-long passions, writing. I am now offering several options in ghostwriting, business writing, and with some special packages coming soon where the writing is ‘done for you’.

I am also thrilled to offer art and design services in the form of branding identity design. Need help creating a logo or business card that makes you stand out in the crowd. I can work with you so that your collateral materials clearly reflect and express who you are and what you do.