Category Archives: Inspiration

Good Morning!

Art

Getting Inspired (Photo credit: A.Currell)

Good morning!

I just wanted to stop by and say GOOD MORNING!!! 😉

Life is a little hectic right now, but I am feeling pretty darned blessed!! 😉 I am on day 10 of having family visiting, which I am really loving, but it is wreaking havoc on my sleeping schedule. I am so dang worried that if I go to bed on time then I am going to miss out on something fun or memorable, so I just hold out for as long as my exhausted body will let me, and then as soon as my head hits my pillows, I am OUT!!! 🙂 Which, as you can guess, makes me more tired the next day, and even more tired the next day, so forth, and so on!! 🙂

So, here I am, on this Wednesday morning, at about 5:30 am, relishing this dark quiet morning all by myself in the peace and quiet. The only sounds I can hear right now, is the soft hum of a fan that is on downstairs, and some intermittent street noise as cars drive by on their way to who knows where. It is a pretty peaceful morning! 🙂

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to hang out with my sweetie and my sister as we introduced my sister to all sorts of fun places throughout downtown Salem. (I swear my sweetie and I should just buy one of the old buildings down there, and move in!!!) One of my missions, besides showing her some cool places to check out, was to start collecting a plethora of photographs!! I don’t know about you, but I just LOVE blogs that have a lot of juicy, colorful pictures, and I am going to make the effort to make sure that I have plenty of eye candy on hand so that This Artsy Life can have some of that flavor too!!

Unfortunately, I have not had a chance to process any of those pictures yet, this is so much more time intensive than anyone can imagine, unless you have taken the time to do this yourself! 🙂 But, I will be utilizing these as often as I am able to fit them in!! I just LOVE photographs!! So, more to come on that!! 😉

I also wanted to tell you about the Right Brain Business Plan Summit Recap that Jennifer Lee had so graciously hosted yesterday at lunch time. It was an online summit recap, lasting only about an hour and a half, but it was chalk full of so much good information that I really feel blessed to have been able to listen in. I wrote copious amounts of notes, as you might imagine, but my biggest takeaway was a visual aid that she had all of us draw for class. It took something that was easy to understand and made it fool proof, and completely tangible!! Maybe, if I am feeling froggy I will take a picture of that, and share it with you all this evening! 🙂

Wow! I feel like this post was just so random, but I really just needed to get it all out!! I am sure many of you know exactly what I am talking about!!! 😉

Here is to a FABULOUSLY ARTSY day!! 😉

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If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

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Getting Unstuck!

Let Go!Good evening!

Do you ever feel stuck???

I do, and have been struggling with this nagging feeling of being stuck for quite some time.

Today, while I was listening to some positivity, it hit me like a ton of bricks when I heard the speaker talk about getting unstuck. He said,

“Are you really stuck, or are you just afraid to let go??”

WOW!!! That really hit home for me, and reminded me of something I had heard earlier last week,

“You have to let go of who you are to become who you were meant to be!”

Ok, I am listening, God!! I think I hear what you are telling me!! 😉

I have known for some time that I have been needing to take some brave steps to get from where I am to get to where my soul is wanting to be. If you were to read my morning page entries for the past few months, you would see that there is a recurring theme!!

I want more.
I want to be an artist.
I want to live creatively.
I want to make a difference.
I want to be free.I want more. Oh wait – I said that already!! 😉

Well, it is true! I want more. I don’t want to sit in a cubicle day in and day out, doing what others would have me do with my life. I’m stuck!! Or at least that is what I had been telling myself, until today!! 😉

I am holding on.

That is the reality of my situation!

I am holding on out of fear.

Fear of the unknown.

Fear of what people might think.

Fear of failure.

Fear of falling apart.

Fear of hanging out on the ledge all by my little lonesome!!

But you know what, today is a new day! and I am determined to take those baby steps to get to where I want to be. No matter how long it takes. No matter how many do-overs I will need to take. No matter how many comments I may have to ignore, or how many shoulders I may have to lean on along the way.

My life, my dreams, my aspirations, and I am worth it.

and you know what???

SO ARE YOU!!!

What might you be holding on to out of fear! Isn’t today the day for us to get unstuck together!!

Let’s do this!!! What action(s) can you take today to get unstuck?? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section!! 😉

My Take Action Challenge: I am going to get my information packet together for an art studio here in town that is looking for new artists to instruct classes. WISH ME LUCK!!! 😉

Here is to a FABULOUS ARTSY evening!

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If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

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Bliss List Friday!

 

CrownGood evening!

I am a big believer in living every moment of your life with an attitude of gratitude, which is why I LOVE Bliss List Friday!! That is the day that I take a moment to reflect over all of the awesome things, and little things, and all the things in between that make life BLISSFUL that have happened during my week!!!

This week there was a lot to be thankful for in my world, here are a list of 10 of those things!!

  1. I got to spend some quality time with my sister, Alice and her family – that was fun!
  2. For the first time in almost 20 years I got to buy clothes from a “normal” sized clothing store!! THAT WAS SUCH AN AWESOME FEELING!!!
  3. We have got our puppies trained to sleep on their own and not in our bed. I am convinced that WE ARE ALL getting a better night’s sleep!! YEAH!!
  4. Have I told you that I work with AWESOME co-workers?? Well, I do!! They make my job so worth being there!! 😉
  5. Once again, my sweetie has stepped up to the plate, and when I had overbooked my schedule he has come to the rescue by helping me out so that I can have some good rest! Thank you, Love!!
  6. I am so excited to be able to visit with 2 more of my sisters this week!! I just CANNOT wait!! One sister gets here tomorrow, and the other joins us on Thursday!!! 😉
  7. It has been so lovely and sunny here in good ol’ Oregon!! It finally feels like Spring has sprung!! 😉
  8. I have purchased myself some new jammies that are just so snuggly, and comfortable, and actually fit!! What a GREAT feeling!! Can you tell I am a snuggly kinda gal???
  9. I love my books! I have such a great variety of books, and on so many topics – they really do make me happy!!
  10. I am so thankful for the ability to go out of doors and just enjoy nature, and sunshine, and the cool breeze, listening to the birds, and especially all of the frogs during the evening!! WOW!! I may have to go take another evening walk this evening just to get back out into all of that loveliness again this evening!! 😉

I hope my little bliss list has inspired you to think about some of the things that you have to be thankful for about this evening!! 😉

Here is to a FABULOUS ARTSY evening!

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If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

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Shaking Things Up!

CrownGood evening!

Now for the past few weeks, I have been hosting Blog Hop Thursdays, and to say that the results of that were less than stellar… well, let’s just say that it wasn’t working for me! So, I thought I would shake things up a bit and answer 5 questions about myself. Then you will have an opportunity to answer the same questions about yourself!

Do you see what I mean? Good, let’s give this a try!! 😉

  1. What is your all time favorite way to relax and unwind? a road trip is always good, and if it is a road trip to the Oregon coast, then I am in heaven!!! 😉
  2. What is your favorite color? on most days my favorite color is red, but then there are days when it is green, orange, blue, etc. etc.
  3. If you could have a do-over anywhere in your life, what moment would you choose to do-over and why? It would have been right after high school. I would have chosen to go to college with a major in something arty!!
  4. If you could have one crazy-zany-wildest-dream kind of job for just one day, what job would you choose? I would work with Melody Ross at a Brave Girls Camp!!! Oh-Em-Gee!! That sounds better now that I read that out loud!!! 😉
  5. If you could travel to any place in the world, where would you visit? I would normally say France, but after talking to my sweetie about it, I really, REALLY want to go see Ireland!!!

Ok, now that I have answered, it is your turn…

  1. What is your all time favorite way to relax and unwind?
  2. What is your favorite color?
  3. If you could have a do-over anywhere in your life, what moment would you choose to do-over and why?
  4. If you could have one crazy-zany-wildest-dream kind of job for just one day, what job would you choose?
  5. If you could travel to any place in the world, where would you visit?

Please answer in the comments section, which is located at the top and to the left of this blog posting!!!

I can’t wait to hear what you have to say!! 😉

Here is to a FABULOUS ARTSY evening!

Signature Line

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Inspirational Thought Wednesday!

CrownGood evening!

“A day at a time, a walk at a time, even a simple step at a time, my sad and tangled life began to sort itself. I say sort itself because all I did was “walk through it.” I have been walking ever since.”

~Julia Cameron

This quote has really resonated with me this week. You see, I have always been a bit of a walker – that is until the last 6 months. I am not sure why, but I just kind of stopped. No real reason…just stopped. now don’t get me wrong, I still walk a lot, to get to meetings, go to lunch, to find my car, but it is not the same as walking on purpose – with a purpose. For me that means to walk with no other intention but to get out into the fresh air, while enjoying nature and raising your heartbeat so you can listen to your inner voice. That is what I had given up! It was one way that I listened to my soul, and what it was trying to tell me.

Well, this past week, I have taken up walking again. On purpose. With no other intention but just to get my booty out of the house and spend some time with my inner thoughts while out in nature! Simple. Simple, yet oh so gratifying!! 😉

The benefits I have discovered for walking:

  1. Walking clears my head, especially if I am suffering from artist’s block! New ideas seem to just find me while I am walking.
  2. Walking alleviates anger and frustration! Things that are stressing me out just doesn’t seem as important after a long walk.
  3. Walking gives me the chance to change my perspective! I have a tendency to get channeled the finite details of things, and sometimes I really need to step back and see the big picture – walking does that for me!
  4. Walking really energizes me! If I take a 30 minute walk, I find I have way more energy then when I first started out!
  5. Walking helps me get a good nights sleep! If I take a long walk, like 45 minutes or more, I sleep like a log!! That is a GREAT feeling especially to someone like me, who has a tendency to be an insomniac!
  6. Walking really makes your legs look good, and if you take large enough strides, your booty gets a nice toning too! ALWAYS DESIRABLE!!! 😉
  7. Walking is a peacekeeper! If my sweetie and I are arguing or disagreeing about something, we can just take a walk together, and the energy we expend walking helps deflate the sales of whatever it is we are arguing about. Again – maybe this one fits under the changing of perspective benefit!
  8. Walking is a problem solver! When I am struggling with a decision, especially when I have more than one option at my disposal, walking helps me get focused and come up with my solution AKA make that decision!

I am sure that I have many many more positives to say about walking, but this is what I am able to come up with at the moment!!

My Take Action Challenge for you this week:

Get outside, into nature and start walking!! 10 to 15 minutes if that is all you can muster, but I highly recommend 30 minutes or more every day, ON PURPOSE!! Take note of how this one simple step changes things in your life this week! You just might be pleasantly surprised, and might even want to make this one of your life habits!!!

Here is to a FABULOUSLY ARTSY evening! 😉

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If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

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Tutorial Tuesday – Textures with Spackling Paste!

Good evening!

Tonight, for Tutorial Tuesday I thought I would share one of my favorite texture techniques, and that is texturizing with spackling paste! I know, that may sound crazy, but hear me out!! 🙂

What you will need for tonight’s project is:

Some spackling paste from your local hardware store.

Spackling Paste Textures - 1

Various stencils. I have a bunch of different styles that I enjoy using! 🙂

 

Spackling Paste Textures - 2

 

Various random tools for marking up AKA texturing the spackling paste.

Spackling Paste Textures - 3

You will need a palette knife, as you can see I have many different sizes, styles that I can choose from.

Spackling Paste Textures - 4

Some acrylic paint. I used some inexpensive craft paints for this, but you could use high pigmented paints such as Golden’s fluid acrylic, or other tube paste. Either would work just great!

 

 

Spackling Paste Textures - 5

and finally, you will need some acrylic gel medium, or Mod Podge will do too!

Spackling Paste Textures - 6

For this sample project, I started with an inexpensive plaque that I picked up at my local craft store for a dollar. I painted a solid color – any color will work!

Spackling Paste Textures - 7

I used sequin waste for my texture on this project. Position the sequin waste at the top of the plaque. Note: I had covered the holes of the plaque with painters tape before I started, so I would not fill the holes with the spackling paste.

Spackling Paste Textures - 9

Place a dollop of the spackling paste out onto your work surface – mine just happens to be freezer paper for easy cleanup.

Spackling Paste Textures - 10

Using a palette knife, spread some of the spackling paste over the top of the sequin waste.

Spackling Paste Textures - 11

To create a gradual gradient design, I decided to add yellow acrylic craft paint to my spackling paste.

Spackling Paste Textures - 12

Mix thoroughly.

Spackling Paste Textures - 13

Reposition sequins waste to cover the middle section of the plaque.

Spackling Paste Textures - 14

Apply the now yellow spackling paste, making sure to blend in with the overlapping white.

Spackling Paste Textures - 15

Do the same thing again, but this time adding orange acrylic craft paint to your yellow spackling paste.

Spackling Paste Textures - 16

Mix thoroughly.

Spackling Paste Textures - 17

Reposition sequin waste to cover the lower portion of the plaque.

Spackling Paste Textures - 18

and remove sequin waste.

Spackling Paste Textures - 19

Remove the painters tape that was covering the holes – do not worry about the areas that have no spackling compound. When I knot the ribbons that will be used to hang this plaque, those blank areas will be hidden! 🙂

Spackling Paste Textures - 20

Cover the whole thing with the acrylic gel medium, or Mod Podge, to seal it and there you have it. Isn’t that easy?? And really economical too!

Can you see a theme in all of my art tutorials??? Let’s just say mama doesn’t have a lot of patience!! 😉

Here are a few other examples of how I have used this technique in the past:

This is white spackling compound used over one stencil.

Spackling Paste Textures - 21

Here is the spackling paste, turned blue, over a painted and torn paper background (another one of my favorite techniques!)!

Spackling Paste Textures - 22

And finally, here is a project where I basically frosted the plaque with white spackling paste, and drew in the still wet paste. Once it was completely dry, I painted blue over the top of it, and wiped the excess off with a paper towel, leaving more paint in the recesses.

Spackling Paste Textures - 23

This “create” was created using the tip of a butter knife, the stripes were made using the tines of a fork.

Spackling Paste Textures - 24

Here are more of those fork tine lines, and the swirls were created with the blunt end of a skewer! 🙂

Spackling Paste Textures - 25

There you have it! I hope this inspires you to go to your local hardware store and give this simple, but fun technique a try!! Please make sure to share your results with me, I would LOVE to see how you put your own spin on this fun technique!!

Here is to a FABULOUSLY ARTSY evening! 😉

Signature Line

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

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A Sunshine Award for a Lovely Monday!

The Sunshine AwardI am very excited to report that I was nominated for a blogger award!!!

YEAH!!!

The Sunshine Award!!
😉
This nomination came from the awesome Procrastitorian over at her blog A is for Amuseless.

The Sunshine Award is an award given by bloggers to other bloggers.

The recipients of the Sunshine Award are:

Bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere.

The way the award works is this:

  1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.
  2. Answer some questions about yourself.
  3. Select 10 of your favorite bloggers, link their blogs to your post and let them know they have been awarded the Sunshine Award!

The Thanks

First, I would like to thank the academy for this amazing award…wait..no…that is not right! I would like to thank The Procrastitorian for the lovely nomination! I was both happily surprised and equally touched that I was even nominated for such an award!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!! You have made my week! Truly!! 😉

 Questions

1.  What inspired you to start blogging?

I have been blogging for a few years, but mainly I was just logging my random thoughts and photos without any real purpose or focus in what I was saying. In early 2013, I knew that there was more to me than what I was sharing with the blogosphere and decided it was time for a change. I wanted my message to do more than just entertain! I wanted to, in some small way, change the world, by creating a community of creative people to venture out and starting with small measurable steps start creating the lives of their dreams. If that meant I would be able to explore the artsy side of life and share what I found, the better.

2.  How did you come up with the name to your blog?

I had been looking for a new blog name for a few months, and I actually stumbled across This Artsy Life while I was doing my morning pages. I was going on and on, writing down what I wanted my dream life to look like, when I wrote the sentence, “When I think about this artsy life, I can’t helped but be totally jazzed!” It was then that I saw it, “This Artsy Life”, I knew I had finally found my new name.

List your top 5 “Big Girls”! These are the women who I most want to emulate in my life/artsy career!

  1. Melody Ross – Brave Girls Club
  2. Kelly Rae Roberts
  3. Christy Tomlinson
  4. Jennifer Lee
  5. SerenaThompson – The Farm Chicks

Tell about your dream job.

I would love to be able to say that I was a full time artist, life coach, photographer, art instructor, and art retreat hostess!

Is your glass half empty or half full?

I am definitely a glass half full kind of girl!!

If you could go anywhere for a week’s vacation, where would you go?

I would go to France and just take in all of the culture, the food, the sights, the sounds, people watch like a crazy American, which I am, and have THE BEST TIME EVER!!! 😉

What food can you absolutely not eat?

Mushrooms. I am allergic. 🙁

Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?

Dark chocolate any day!!

How much time do you spend blogging?

I figure I blog between 10 and 15 hours a week! 🙂

What top 3 pieces of advice would you give a newbie blogger for starting a blog??

  1. Be consistent in your posting so people know when to come back to find new content.
  2. Share your beliefs, thoughts, opinions, etc. That is how we, as your readers, are going to get to know the real you!
  3. Find your own authentic voice.

10 Nominees

  1. Danita Art
  2. Dilly Bean Inspirations
  3. Dina Stamps
  4. Donna Downey
  5. Jenni Horne
  6. Juliette Crane
  7. Liv Lane
  8. Roben Marie
  9. Some Fiddling on the Kitchen Table
  10. The Kathrine Wheel

Thank you again for the Sunshine Award nomination! I hope you enjoyed reading this! 🙂

Here is to a FABULOUSLY ARTSY evening! 😉

Signature Line

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

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Friday Bliss List!

CrownGood evening!

I am a big believer in living every moment of your life with an attitude of gratitude, which is why I LOVE Bliss List Friday!! That is the day that I take a moment to reflect over all of the awesome things, and little things, and all the things in between that make life BLISSFUL that have happened during my week!!!

Tonight is going to be a short and sweet post! It has been a very long week and my sweetie and I are heading out to go watch a play this evening with family!! 😉 Before I head out the door I want to make sure I share my Bliss List with you this evening! 😉

  1. I am so thankful that when I was just beat from a very long day with very little sleep, my sweetie surprised me by taking me out to dinner so that neither of us would have to cook.
  2. Earlier in the week I had the opportunity to listen to an interview between Jeanne Oliver and Melody Ross, and I was so blessed to hear Melody talk about how she is usually a wreck, is emotional, an empath so she takes a lot on emotionally, and has to isolate herself a lot! I had NEVER heard anyone say those things about themselves except me. Hearing her say it made me feel so “OK”, and I really REALLY NEEDED THAT!! 😉
  3. I am thankful that I have such a large amount of This Artsy Life hits and feedback this week – that is so encouraging! I know that I am heading in the right direction, I just need to stay persistent and focused on my purpose!! My dream career will happen!! 😉
  4. I am thankful that not only have a found a 6-week community art class to participate in, my day-job boss has agreed to let me work half days every Wednesday so that I may take this class!! YEAH!!! 😉
  5. I am thankful that even though I have been struggling creatively (I seem to be struggling to find my style again!), I have been putting it out there anyway!
  6. I get to go hang out with my sweetie, sis-in-law, and niece this evening to go watch a play!
  7. Have you ever smelled Bath and Body Works’ Warm Vanilla Sugar body cream?? It is DIVINE!!! 😉
  8. My sister’s family is coming up to visit for the week this Sunday, which I am very excited about! 😉
  9. I am so thankful to get to sleep with the warmest, fussiest, cuddliest red and white striped socks when my feet are freezing!! It sometimes really is the little things that bring the biggest bliss!! 😉
  10. And finally, this afternoon I stumbled upon a gentleman whose message really resonated with me, his name is Simon Sinek:

I hope you all have had a LOVELY week, filled with many Bliss List items of your own, and I KNOW that many more Bliss List items heading your way, just keep your eyes on the lookout for them!! 😉

Here is to a FABULOUSLY ARTSY evening! 😉

Signature Line

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

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Artsy Blog HopThursday!

Inner Child Blog HopGood evening!

Welcome to Artsy Blog Hop Thursday! 😉

Are you an artist, or an artist at heart? Would you like to have a way to share your art with the world??? Me too, and that is why I started Artsy Blog Hop Thursdays!! Join me and other artists every Thursday evening as we paint, photograph, collage, crochet, write, draw, sketch, doodle, bead, knit, sculpt, cross-stitch, make fancy mud pies, or whatever your chosen artsy medium is to your heart’s content! You can make your art as personalized as you wish.

With every weekly Artsy Blog Hop Thursday Post I’ll suggest a topic for the following Thursday, and each weekly post will have a linky widget so we can visits each others masterpieces with ease.

Sounds like fun?

Give it a try, you know you want to!!!

If you have any questions please let me know and I will do my best to get you an answer. Please remember we are learning this together! If you would like to leave a topic of the week suggestion, please feel free to do that too, in the comment section of this post!!

Happy Arting!!

This week’s topic is  😉

Your Inner Child

A little bit about my chosen piece for the topic “Your Inner Child”. I actually thought this would be a lot easier to do, and I had done a few pieces, but nothing really made me happy. What I ended up doing was thinking about me when I was little, and I remember LOVING to draw rainbows! EVERY ONE of my pictures had to have a rainbow in it, so that is what I decided to paint today as a reminder to myself that my inner child is still in here! 😉

Now it is your turn!!

To share your link:

  1. Click on the blue frog head entitled “Links in Collection” button below (This will take you to a new page)
  2. Click on “Add Your Link” button
  3. Enter your URL, Name, and E-mail in appropriate fields
  4. Click “Next Steps”
  5. Choose an image by clicking “Select” under the picture you would like to show for your link

And that is it! It might take a few minutes for your link to show up, but be assured, it will be there! 🙂

Next week’s topic is:

Topic of the Week - Nature

Now before I let you go this evening! I am very excited to share the winner from my first ever monthly giveaway!

YEAH!!

I am happy to announce that I will be gifting the book “Inner Excavation: Explore Your Self Through Photography, Poetry and Mixed Media” written by Liz Lamoreux to our lucky winner, who is…

***vjstracener***

YEAH!!! I will be contacting you this evening to get your mailing information, so I can get your new book out in the mail first thing in the morning!!

Thank you so much for all who commented! It was very inspirational to read all of your dreams!! I hope that we all get the chance to act on those dreams sooner rather than later! 😉

Here is to a FABULOUSLY ARTSY evening! 😉

Signature Line

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

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Inspirational Thought and a Monthly Giveaway!

Good evening!

I am so excited to let you know that tonight I am doing my very first monthly giveaway! However, before I get to that I wanted to share tonight’s inspiration thought! 🙂

“Why should we all use our creative power…? Because there is nothing that makes people so generous, joyful, lively, bold and compassionate, so indifferent to fighting and the accumulation of objects and money.”

~Brenda Ueland

Now for my first monthly giveaway! YEAH!!

I am happy to announce that I will be gifting the book “Inner Excavation: Explore Your Self Through Photography, Poetry and Mixed Media” written by Liz Lamoreux to one lucky winner.

Inner Excavations

The way to get your chance to win this lovely book, all you need to do is to answer this question in the comment section of this post:

If you knew that you could not possibly fail to make your dream life come true, what would you do starting tomorrow to make that happen?

That is it. Sounds easy enough right? I will post the winner in tomorrow night’s post, which will come out at 6 PM Pacific Time.

Good luck to all of you, and I can not WAIT to read your answers! 😉

Here is to a FABULOUSLY ARSTY evening! 😉

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

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