It's that time of year—time for spring cleaning. You know that I am by no means a minimalist. I like my vintage finds (aka someone else's junk), and I like my spaces cozy. BUT, there's something amazing about clearing out and turning loose of the things that are cluttering your life. You know how to clean closets and cabinets, but do you do the same for your creative space? Do you take the time to make it a place you want to be?
Spring Cleaning Tips for your Create Space:

• Get rid of the clutter! My craft room can be  the catch-all. Put those things in the rooms where they belong.
• Take everything off the shelves and wipe them with something that smells refreshing. I like a Pinesol/water mix, but make sure you know your surfaces.
• Throw away old, dry paints. No, you are not going to use them. No.
• Reorganize by color or media. Try something new if you dare!
• Purge old magazines. Am I the only one with stacks of Farmhouse Style and Where Women Create???
• Treat yourself to a new (or vintage) organizational piece.
• Shop your own stash! Pull out and organize supplies for a new project.
• Create something amazing!

Now that we've got that cleaned up, what about your spiritual life? Could you use some spring cleaning there?

• Ask yourself: Is my time with God cluttered or overshadowed by... you fill in the blank--social media, busyness, work, the world's junk...
• Start a new Bible study.
• Set time for prayer. Keep it.
• Journal as you walk with God.
• Be a Holy Spirit Secret Agent. If you look and listen for Holy Spirit nudges, you'd be amazed at how many opportunities to work for God will pop up.
• Ask God what clutter you need to shed. Then do it!

We’ve been surviving rolling blackouts, zero degree temperatures, and snow for days. West Texas definitely isn’t built for this! We’re thankful we have a fireplace and jugs of water.

​It’s the perfect weather for a good mystery and some art supplies this evening. I looked at my Instagram stats, and no surprise, these were the two most popular posts of 2020.

 Not only do I love art journaling about books I’m reading, so do my characters in my Cedar Wells Mysteries series! You should join us in the fun...that might even keep me from talking to imaginary characters. Probably not.

I’m reading The Secret, Book and Scone Society by Ellery Adams (which is free right now on Kindle). It makes me want to bake scones...and I don’t think I’ve ever even eaten one. I went so far as to find a recipe. We’ll see how that pans out.

Want to be part of the Book & Brush Club? Grab a pen, some markers, paint—whatever supplies you have on hand— and show us what you’re reading! #bookandbrushclub

Sun and Ned are out on another adventure to send some special Valentine hugs to you!

We are already a month into 2021, and I’ve had a question that's been on my mind for awhile.

Are you living life as an adventure, or are you just getting by day to day?

I have to admit I do both. But my hope and my heart is to live a daily life of adventure with Jesus. There's a podcast I listen to called Adventures with Jesus, and it reminds me that every single day is a gift and an opportunity to spend it with our Lord. So let me ask you again, are you just getting by, or are you taking every opportunity to be adventurous?
Sometimes I have people tell me, “I wish I had your talent for art,” or “That's so awesome you're writing books… I could never do that.”

Not only do I love sunflowers, I love quirky animals! Animals with attitudes… animals in glasses… there was this Polish chicken with crazy hair just screaming to get out of my brain… I'm not the only one with crazy ideas rolling around in her head, right?
Anyway, as I was painting, I lost all concern and focus on the outside world. I enjoyed painting the sunflower so much I decided I needed more of them. In fact, I set a little 100 Sunflower Challenge for myself and the fun continued. We will see where this takes me!

Faith, mystery, and art commingle here at the Cabin. I love a good mystery where the good guys and gals always win! I just finished reading a cozy set in a tea shop where the owner serves lemon tea cakes. I was contemplating how my own characters might take on the project of art journaling the story in one of their B&B (Book and Brush) Mystery Club meetings, so I asked them! Sarah Stone, owner of the Brush and Plume and lead artist of the group, said she'd be delighted to share their project with us.

From Sarah-
One of the hardest things for emerging artists is facing the blank page! When we meet for B&B meetings, it's always a struggle to get Trudy to break loose and start adding some background. Elizabeth, on the other hand, paints like she dresses--bold colors that dare you to tell them don't go together!
There is no right way to start a journal page. Maddie always likes to begin a new journal page with a wash of light watercolor as the first layer. We've been reading a Daisy's Tea Garden Mystery--Murder with Lemon Tea Cakes--so I thought I'd demo a few techniques we used to get started. The Tea Garden definitely suggested a vintage, light and airy feel, but, of course, with any scene of a murder, there will be ominous shades mixed into the color scheme! With Lemon Tea Cakes center stage, yellow was Maddie's color of choice for the background, but you can choose anything that calls your name.
I, on the other hand, always like to start with a sketch. I like to paint with bright, mismatched colors, but I also wanted to capture the cozy feel of the Tea Garden, and I definitely wanted a teapot on the page. Wondering what you should add to your page? Think about parts of the book that affected your senses. In the book, Daisy smelled the mustiness of fall. Fall leaves immediately came to mind when I read this. Anytime there are recipes in the book, Trudy adds them to her page. One of these days she will have the most beautiful recipe book ever done!
You can see I started with by adding a light pink watercolor to my teapot sketch.   ​

I always love to add text to my journal pages, too, but I just couldn't settle on anything. I'll call it done for now.
If you'd like updates on my debut novel and to hear more from Sarah and the ladies of the Mystery B&B Club, sign up for my Mailing List HERE!

Have you ever wanted to attend an art or a writer's retreat? What stood in your way? Time? Money? Well, you don't need to leave your own home to enjoy a retreat especially tailored to you.

God doesn't want us to sit around self-absorbed all the time, but He does want us to rest, recuperate, and enjoy the life Jesus died to give us. God definitely does not need one more sour-faced Christian, so treat yourself once in awhile to a retreat!

Pre-Retreat Planning

• Clean your house! Really. Use your early mornings or evenings before your planned retreat to get your home really clean.
• Decide what kind of creative retreat you will have. Will it be an artist's retreat? An author's retreat? Both?
• Spend a lunch break or two doing some research to choose a project (this is for those of you like me who would spend the whole retreat anxiously trying to figure out what to do). You don't need to spend money here. YouTube is a great resource. Another favorite resource of mine is Skillshare--an online learning community with thousands of classes in design, art, business, writing, tech, and much more. It is a paid community, but you can try it out for free. I'm not suggesting you pay for Skillshare, but you can use the links here to try it for two weeks.
• Gather your supplies. If you're creating art, think about what you have that will work. If you're writing, gather your best pen and your favorite notebooks or journals (yes, longhand). Splurge a bit if you can afford it and buy one new amazing art supply or a beautiful journal.
• Get your space ready. Imagine the atmosphere of the perfect creative retreat. Are there candles there? Essential oils? Cinnamon is my favorite! Is there music or a peaceful quietness?
• Buy groceries and plan meals. Let's face it--you still have to eat, and so does your family unless you live alone. Have everything ready to cook or precook. You would definitely have nice sit-down meals at a retreat! Again planning is key here. You don't want to spend half your time preparing meals.
• Decide on the length of time for your retreat. Is it the entire weekend? Maybe it's just three hours. Set that time aside in your schedule and show up on time!

During the Retreat

• Enjoy it! Don't think about things you should be doing or what the end product should be.
• Sip hot tea, coffee, red wine...whatever makes you smile.
• Turn off the television, the phone, and the computer (unless you're using it for a tutorial during the retreat).
• Enjoy the time alone or invite your family to join the adventure!
• Thank God for what you have.

How are you surviving the stay-at-home orders? I have to say complying with the safety regulations doesn't bother my little, introverted self at all. While my work-from-home job providing teacher support is in overdrive, the fact that I actually get to be at home affords me a little cozy mystery art journaling time at lunch and in the evenings when I leave the office and walk six steps to the craft table.
I broke out the paints, and I'm art journaling with the Cedar Wells Book&Brush Club gang again. Those of you whispering over there in the corner....yes, I know Sarah and her friends are fictional characters. However, they’re always having conversations in my head, anyway, so why not join them!
FOMMF? Fear of Missing Mystery Fun? Do you have it?Of course, the stress is real, but not to worry! Grab that cozy mystery you’re reading (you are reading one, aren’t you?) and some art supplies—watercolor or mixed media paper, markers, paints, colored pencils—whatever you have on hand and  create an art journal page about the book.
Sarah’s friend Trudy always creates journal pages that include recipes from the books they’re reading.  Taking a lesson from Trudy, I created some art for the Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke. Maybe I’m done with this one...maybe not. :) I think it needs a few more references to the book, although part of me wants to stop with the dairy cow and the recipe for Hannah's Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies. By the way, did I say I love cows?

How many clues and references to the book can you hide in your journal page without giving away the mystery? Think all five senses when you read, and jot down some notes to help you remember until you’re ready to get creative!
I created a Backgrounds 101 video to help you get started with your cozy mystery  art journaling page. In the video, I talk about some inexpensive supplies I use and two ways I paint quick backgrounds.
Do you have any favorite journaling techniques? Be sure to share your ideas and mystery art journal pages with us! 
And, as always, 

Check your smile today! Try it out on someone and see if you get one in return.
Let your light shine, my friends. ​

There's so much going on in our world right now with COVID-19, that my focus hasn't been on making art. In fact, drawing seems almost trivial when I think about the gravity of the coronavirus. God and I were talking this morning, and I asked about being creative. My total desire is to glorify Him in everything I create, and in who I am. I think it's not so much whether I create art or not. I believe the important thing is in being a child of God. He's made me who I am, and that happens to be a creative who can't get enough paints, pencils, papers...you get the idea.
So I decided to go back to work on my 2020 goal today. I had set a goal to practice illustrating children's illustrations by taking the same characters and drawing them in different scenes, turning them in different directions, and such. I started the year off with a MiniMe and her mule Ned. They've been on several adventures.
Today's illustration - Teatime at Granny's

Would you like to brighten your décor with a Sue and Ned adventure of your own? Click below to purchase prints!