Terri Conrad Designs

Creating a fun, fabulous career in the arts! It can be done, really!

Welcome Creativity Portal readers - I am delighted to share my thoughts on creating a fun, fabulous career in the arts. It was such a pleasure to work with Molly Anderson Childers, writer extraordinaire and Chris Dunmire, founder of Creativity Portal. Thank you both for this wonderful opportunity. 

When you visit Creativity Portal you will find a one stop, full service community portal brought to life with the voices of creativity coaches, artists, writers, and business professionals sharing their knowledge and expertise, inspiring creative exploration and expression in everyone. This site has been a favorite of mine since I discovered it nearly two years ago. I personally admire the creative ingenuity and ability Chris possesses in bringing her vision to fellow creative spirits, and Molly's heartfelt desire to encourage creative artists through her writing.

Together, with Creativity Portal, Terri Conrad Designs® has three fun & fabulous gifts to give away...see what they are here - this hand made moleskin journal using my K&Co. scrapbook paper is one of them.

All you need to do is answer three (3) questions

(find them here). You may answer them by leaving me a comment here, or sending your answers via via email to terriconraddesigns@ca.rr.com with Creativity Portal in the subject line.

Do you have a question about creating a fun, fabulous career in the arts? I'd love to hear it. Feel free to comment and I will answer it right here on my blog.

I'm eager to hear your answers, to receive your comments, and see who the lucky winners will be.

We LOVE community at Terri Conrad Designs® and want to be in community with YOU. Visit and join our fb page, you'll be the very first to learn what's coming your way, you will receive special discounts on our products, and definitely be blessed beyond measure - because you're worth it!

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There is work to be done today - a Christmas collection to complete, a new fabric collection, and an identity package for my dear, dear friend and cohort in crime, Lori Tel.

Thank you again, Chris & Molly - what a delight to work with both of you. I hope this is only the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

Blessings to each of you, and may miracles bloom in your garden on this gorgeous almost fall day.

xoxoxo

Terri

Contemplation and a return to our foundation, our purpose & intention

Hello, hello - welcome to my creative world.

how are you today? I feel a sense of peace today (like a comforting exhale) because I have allowed myself some much needed time and space for contemplation.

(photo compliments of the beekeeper's cottage)

do you ever afford yourself this opportunity - simply to create time & space to thoughtfully observe or consider your purpose & intention?    I particularly appreciate the Ecclesiastical term: spiritual meditation; concentration of the mind and soul upon God. Sometimes in the process of doing so we encounter discomfort, fear, and anxiety, and that may cause us to want to stop. When we push thru, however, the result is clarity which brings us  joy - how beautiful is that?

I have felt a relative sense of clarity with the artwork I am creating, and the purpose & intention it fulfills. I LOVE what I do, and it's FUN! 

What I have been questioning and contemplating is the purpose and intention of my blog (I feel an underlying desire to give you something more -)

When I first began my blog, I wanted it to be a place where we create, cultivate and communicate about all things beautiful (more than pretty rooms & pretty art). Just as Edgar Allen Poe tells us, the contemplation of the beautiful brings us "the pleasure of which is at once the most pure, the most elevating and the most intense." That's pretty cool, don't you think? I want to feel that, do you?

So, with that, I am coming back to the foundation of what I started this blog for in the first place: to create, cultivate & communicate about all things beautiful (something more than pretty rooms, or a latest product launch - although those may be sprinkled in now & again). 

I will share with you pieces of my heart, my journey, my story, and give you the opportunity and the tools to discover pieces of your heart, your unique beauty, beloved spirit and unlimited possibilities. 

It is my desire to journey together with you to contemplate the beautiful - in spirit, and in life! You are invited, will you join me? Feel free to invite a friend, because we all know where two or more are gathered it's always more fun.

May miracles bloom in your garden today.

xoxo

Terri

Creative Visualization and Meditation - Ohm . . .

Hello Lovelies,

found this sweet pic at fifi's fabulous place (and her sis found it somewhere else).

This sweet little kitty says it all with his body language . . .doesn't he? (I want a kitty)

Of course, I added my sentiment to let'cha all know what I'm up to.

Please come join my new facebook page

So many good, good things are bubbling behind the scenes and we want you to be the first to know, and to be a part of our community.

Please help me out by sharing our fb link with your friends, and gift & home dec retailers too.

Thanks so much - hugs.

May miracles bloom in your garden today!

xoxo

Terri

Need Change?

hello, hello,

Do you sometimes feel the need for change (not the spare kind) the meaningful kind?

Do you ever feel like you need Something more?

Is it OKAY to ask for something more

to LIVE more passionately

to LOVE more passionately

to CREATE more passionately

to FEEL more authentically

I am reaching beyond my comfort zone, for something more. I am seeking something more, that I cannot yet see - something just beyond my vision - on the edge of the limb. I wait, with my arms outstretched, my palms turned up, and my heart wide open as something more takes shape.

I sit

I wait

I practice being still

listening for the still small voice

knowing

trusting

having faith in

what I cannot see

I will be led

to where He wants me to be

I am aware of so many women who want to show their true colors:

do you?

 

 

I know I want to, with you - and, I can answer yes! to all of the above too. 

I'm working on (waiting on) something more.

I'll be back soon to color in all the details . . .will you join me?

It's my Birthday!

I love birthdays! They are a celebration of life, and celebrating MY birthday is a joy.

Birthdays are also an opportunity for reflection . . . of what the year held, and what the next year has to offer.

I received an email the other day written by a 90 year old woman and share her thoughts with you here:

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the  Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio 
 
 
She writes . . .   "To celebrate  growing older, I once wrote the 45 Lessons Life Taught Me. It is the  most requested column I've ever  written.

 
My odometer rolled over to 90  in August, so here is the column once  more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6.  You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye.  But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an  answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now.  Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life.  Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come...

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

So true, Miss Regina Brett, so true.

What lessons has life taught you?

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I looked up my colorstology too - it's fun to read, and I dare say, so true, so true . . . first my actual birthday:

and, for if you're an August girl:

 

 

Have your sweet self a bloomin' beautiful day - I know I shall. A little work this morning, then off to lunch with my family and shopping at Anthro.

Creative Visualization for My Journey and Yours

I believe I have the ability to create the things I want in my life - do you?

I also believe I deserve to be happy and fulfilled. Do you hold this belief for your sweet self?

Mine has been a long, arduous journey both personally and professionally. The details of which are not always as important and valuable as (a) the lessons learned along the way, (b) where you find yourself in this present moment, and (c) where you creatively visualize yourself being.

I've been feeling a remarkable, sudsy, joyful shift in my life recently as I continue giving (much overdue) attention to my spirit, to my needs, to my whole-ness as a wife, mother, artist, creator, friend - as a whole being. 

In the small pockets of time in between the activities & responsibilities that fulfill my days in my calling as wife, mother, friend, artist, creator, entrepreneur, sole proprietor (read - she wears all the hats, spins all the plates, has 100 costume changes in a singe act - and owns a flowery cape and pretty red phone booth!) I have allowed myself to be pulled in the direction my spirit (my intuition) is calling me.

I have recently invested a small fortune in Barnes & Noble and Amazon. You can have your Kindle, but a real book will never go out of style for me, for I take great pleasure in holding my pen and highlighter along with my book and journal, making notes in the margins and white spaces between the pages & dog-earing pages of particular importance. The written word is art to my soul - and so I am drawn (no pun intended) to books that bring vivid color to my soul, that fill me up where I need filling.

As a Creative Entrepreneur, I believe Life is a Verb, and I've oft wondered if there are (12) Secrets to Highly Creative Women - and you, what are your thoughts on this?

What qualities, attributes, (secrets) do those who precede me have? I ponder how do I use the power of my imagination to create what I want in life? Do you ever think about this?

While no easy journey mine has been, I would not trade it for anything . . .

I chose these life lessons before I came to this beautiful earth so that I may fulfill my promise (that is, what we come to life promising to master). For me it has been and is embodying, embracing and expressing my self worth so that I may share my gift with you (that is what we come to give to life). For me it is to shine light on a path of discovery to your unique beauty, beloved spirit and unlimited possibilities. 

The bridge for me, from there to here, is one akin to an old, rickety (hanging by a vine) ready to break at any moment kind of bridge you might find deep in a rain forest - certainly NOT the Golden Gate Bridge. I am, however, so grateful to have discovered this bridge, for despite its near fatal appearance, it gave me the opportunity to cross from there to here into a lush land of abundance, crisp-clean-ohsofresh air. Breath in, breath out.  Mine was a bridge I needed to cross by faith, not by sight (btw I am terrified of heights).

We are the creators of the life we live - the thought begets the manifestation of our individual reality.

In other words, the seed is planted before we can harvest an abundant nourishing crop.

I have personally begun to put into practice creative visualization. The response I received was so immediate and specific I was initially cautiously but gleefully surprised. So, I explore the journey more & more in those precious but few pockets of time each day.

I believe we are given permission by, in fact encouraged by our Creator to ask, and it will be given . . .(Matthew 7:7-8).  Seek what you need, and when you do so, ask that this, or something even better, that you cannot yet see be in the process of manifesting in your life, for your highest good and for the highest good of all concerned, blessing you, those in your life, and our beautiful earth.

May you and your creative visualizations be blessed, and may miracles bloom in your garden this beautiful day.

xoxo

Terri