An Unspoken Truth

I subscribe to Brave Girls Club's Daily Truths, which I so look forward to every day.  Yesterday, after I read their message, I scrolled down and saw a new blog post that Melody Ross had done.  I followed the link and boy am I glad I did.  I think she is right that our society doesn't face the realities of depression as an illness, and I wanted to do my part today by encouraging you to read her post. 

My brother in law took his life at the age of 46 this past December.  Depression played a big role in this irrevokable act.  I think depression has touched everyone's life in one way or the other.  I've lived through it many years ago, and my husband has as well.  I think talking about it and making everyone aware is a great start in the right direction.  Thank you for this reminder Melody!

Looking up past my desk

For the past 3 months I have been crazy busy and dedicated to work.  You see, I'm on a mission to work my creative business full time next year.  So that means, working my 8-5 and working Linda Barutha Designs AND Live, Laugh, Love Retreats full time.  Phew!  BUT, when you are doing things you love, it doesn't feel like work;) 

Yesterday was a nice, surprising break for me.  It was my day to work my creative business all day, but in the afternoon I took off and spent time with my younger daughter, Michelle.  We both have been longing for a pedicure, so we went and got mani-pedi's.  What fun!  Such a well-deserved treat!  It's one of those things that you don't realize how much you needed until AFTER you do it. 

Thank you Michelle!  I really enjoyed the view from above my desk yesterday!

I've been tagged!

Blog Hop tagged, that is.  My friend Janet tagged me to participate in this blog hop.  Here are the rules:

The Rules
…you must post the rules
…answer 11 questions the tagger posted for you
…create 11 questions to ask the people you tag
…tag 11 people
…let them know you’ve tagged them

Here are the questions that Janet has asked (along with my answers of course):

1. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?  Just one?!  Since it needs to sustain me and I like it, I would say an egg.

2. When you are creating, what do you have going in the background?  I love creating backgrounds with acrylics and texture, like various stencils.

3. Do you have a decorating style, and if so, what is it?  If I like it, it's my style.

4. If you could live anywhere in world, where would it be?  Where ever my family is.

5. What would you do with your lottery winnings?  Share, first with my family and then charities.

6. What is you very favorite saying?  "There are no mistakes in art".

7. What are you most looking forward to?  Working my retreat business full time.

8. What is your favorite outdoor activity?  Sitting in the woods with a good book.

9. Do you consider yourself politically aware?  A lot more than I was when I was younger.

10. What is your most prized possession?  My family

11. If you knew the world would end tomorrow, how would you spend today?  Enjoying time with my family

Now I have to share questions that I have created for 11 others that I'm tagging.  Here's my list of friends that I'm tagging and hope they will play along:

Amy Hillenbrand http://amyhillenbrand.blogspot.com

Kelly Lahl http://www.kellylahl.blogspot.com/ 

Deborah Velásquez http://deborahvelasquez.blogspot.com/ 
Flutter Before You http://flutterbeforeyou.blogspot.com  Daisy Coba http://www.artsywings.blogspot.com

Lesa Pascavis Smith http://www.1wingheART.com/ 

Jacquie Leavitt Williamson http://www.jacquiewilliamson.blogspot.com  Jade Scarlett - http://jadescarlettart.blogspot.com/

Lisa Hamlyn Field http://www.outsidelisa.com 

Lynda M. Metcalf http://www.lyndammetcalf.blogspot.com/ 

Michelle Dwyer http://magnetisedbylife.blogspot.com/ 

And here are my questions for each of them:

1.  What is your favorite season?

2.  How many hours of sleep do you get every night?

3.  What's your favorite color?

4.  Which do you do more -- eat out or at home?

5.  How many computers do you own?

6.  How many hours do you spend on the computer every day?

7.  How many years have you had a blog?

8.  Do you prefer coffee or tea?

9.  What's your favorite ice cream flavor?

10.Do you have a retirement plan?

11.At what age do you think of retiring?

Have fun ladies!  I hope you will play along;)

Do you Junk?

OMG!  What a crazy, busy, FUN week I've had!  One of my most exciting things was finding out about the Junk Bonanza that will take place in Shakopee, MN this coming September.  And, guess what my retreat business has in store for you?

I can't even contain my excitement about this event!  If you love and appreciate finding treasures among the "junk", then this is a perfect retreat for you!  We enhance your 3 day enjoyment at the Junk Bonanza by providing you with meals, entertainment and shuttle service to and from this huge event!  And best of all, we will be featuring an exclusive Live, Love, JUNK! class being taught by none other than my favorite designer, Kris Binsfeld!  If you aren't familiar with Kris' work, check it out at www.cherishdesigns.wordpress.com.  Kris can take any old piece of "junk" and make it stunning!  I'll be sharing plenty more about Kris in the coming months.

If you do want more information about our awesome event, simply click on the logo above and it will take you to my retreat website.  

I'll be back tomorrow to share more of what my exciting week was all about;)  Until then, "happy Monday"!

Fly Tribe Shoe Shots

Click on the Fly Tribe Shoe Shot Blog Hop button to go to another participating blog!  But WAIT, check mine out below, before you go!

Think fun -- Think summer -- I'm thinking "pedicure"!

Are your feet ready for summer?

Creation Craze Papercrafting Expo

Yippy!  Happy Friday everyone!  This weekend I'll be busy creating products to sell at the fabulous

This wonderful event will offer a round-robin of make n' takes on Friday evening, and a shopping expo on Saturday.  I will also be teaching a special Canvas Accordian Book making class on Saturday during the expo.  Here are some yummy pictures of it:

How much fun is that?!  To check out all of the classes and demonstrators, go to the Creation Craze blog.  If you live in the area, please be sure to stop by my booth and say "hi"! 

What's on your Workdesk Wednesday?

Yay!  Thanks to my friend Lori Moon I hopped into What's on your Workdesk Wednesday!  Such a quick, fun way to see what everyone is up to.  So, I just snapped this pictures this morning.

Now, I know you might think this looks messy.  But believe me it isn't.  I'm in the midst of designing a new product with my artwork featured on the fabric.  Still between design and construction phase.

My space is also a drop site for anything else that needs my attention.  Want to see what's on everyone else's desk today?  Just hop on over to the Stamping Ground.

Create and Bloom Class

This is what I played with at our first Create & Bloom class on Weds.  Next month we will be focusing on creating our own color inspiration journals.  I find that color inspiration journals help me a great deal!  If I don't use them, I stress about my color decisions because I'm just so anxious to get paint to canvas.

As for the piece above, I have to give it some more thought before I consider the piece "finished".  For now, it's a great Saturday -- time to CREATE!

Shout Out Friday!

Happy Friday everyone!  Today I would like to give a shout out to my friend Kathleen Conard.  She's an awesome friend AND artist!  She just opened up a new Etsy shop called Upcycle and Remix, where she has some really cool stuff.  You can find it here:  http://upcycleandremix.blogspot.com/

She also has an awesome blog that you need to checkout at:  http://newfromoldcreations.blogspot.com/.  Kathleen always has something fun and interesting on her site.  But most of all, she's a great friend and I'm lucky to have her as such;D

Enjoy your weekend!

Time Flies

Can you believe it's March already!?!  The other night I literally raced to finish a project I needed to get in the mail.  It sounded so simple -- the Inspiration Deck.  Buy a new deck of playing cards, gesso them and pretty them up with inspirational quotes.  Sounds simple, right?  Well, when you are painting numerous layers on something as small as a playing card, let's just say I'm not very neat about it.  So then, the back side needed some prettying up (is that a word?).  Then to locate over 50 unique quotes, print them out and attach them to each card.  Well, I finally got them out in the mail yesterday -- even though the deadline was yesterday.  Nonetheless, I know that once I get my copy of everyone elses version, I'll be thrilled that I participated. 

It just seems that every project I've been tackling lately takes tons more time than anticipated.  With that said, I'm getting close to launching my retreat business website.  I'm so excited for this journey!  It has been awesome so far, but once the website is up and functional it will be that much more exciting to share with all of you! 

We are expecting 5-7 inches of snow here today.  Stay warm!