Happy Birthday to Me and a Gift for You

(Coloring contest is now closed!)
Hello friends!  Today is my birthday-WooHoo!  I made it to 41 years! Sometimes that feels like a HUGE accomplishment.  Life can be very, very challenging at times.  I have had depression in varying degrees as long as I can remember.  There were many times when I did not think I'd make it this far-and frankly didn't want to. So, for me, 41 years is a big deal!!  I am happy with my life and myself.  I look back on my 41 years and see a lot of learning and growth, and that's kinda what life is all about I think.  I am proud of the person I am and the way I choose to live and be. It might not look like a very impressive life from the outside, but from where I'm sitting...it's a pretty amazing life. Anyway-I'm looking forward to a quiet day today.  I want to make art and spend the day reflecting on and appreciating the 41 years I've got under my belt. And hopefully take a nap as my good friend "Insomnia" made a visit. But first I have this for you...

I finished my coloring page-yay!  In case you missed it, I am creating a coloring book and have a coloring contest going on.  You can get the details  and your free printable coloring page HERE.  And see the second "kid prize" (which is ridiculously cute) that I am offering HERE.  And I made a printable PDF of my finished mixed media page/painting for you HERE.  Print it out and hang it on your fridge, cut it up into pieces and make a collage, shrink it down and make it into a postcard...use it however you like (just personal use only please).

 How I created my page...
I initially planned to use some regular 'ol crayola crayons and color my page like I did when I was a little kid.  (By the way...I have some fun tips for coloring with crayons and  that I plan to share another time).  When I sat down with my crayons I changed my mind.  I felt pulled to make my page into a painting.  I wanted to challenge myself to take this simple coloring page and get a little more creative with it.  I printed my page onto some lightweight watercolor paper that was not heavily textured (just some cheapie stuff from the Michael's kids art section).  I started with watercolors, adding color to everything but the hand shape (which I painted with gold acrylic paint).  I then deepened some areas of color with colored pencils (I am madly in love with Prismacolor Premier pencils!!)   Initially I thought I would use the circle shapes for written journaling, but ended up simply adding  an "Om" symbol near the bottom of my painting. I added marks around the border with gold and silver markers and outlined some of the shapes with gel pens.  I named it "Hope Grows".   I really love how my painting turned out!!   I hope you enjoy it too whether you print it out or not.  xo

Gratitude Freebie-Yay!

Today I wanted to quickly share a gratitude printable I made.  You can get your copy HERE.  Print as many copies as you want (personal use only please).  I left these black and white so that you can color them as you like.

You can use these in a number of ways.  Use them in pocket letters or other snail mail, use them in your art or written journal, fill one out daily and tape it to your fridge, carry a different card in your pocket every day, or use them in any other way you like.  I'm sure there are loads more ways you could use these...I would love to hear your ideas!! Maybe you can collaborate with a child in your life...he/she does the coloring and you do the writing.  However you end up using these, the main thing is to stay focused on gratitude.  Taking time daily to think about what you are grateful for can really help you to feel happier and more capable of handling the difficulties that so often arise in life.

I hope you have enjoyed this free printable!  I have another in the works, so check back soon!  Wishing you all an abundance of gratitude, happiness, and peace.  Of course these gratitude cards are totally free and you are under no obligation, but...if you feel moved to support me in my art making you can make donations via the donate button to the right.  Any amount is appreciated and useful. Again-donations are totally optional so please enjoy this gift whether whether you contribute or not.  Thank you and best wishes!! xoxo

More Free Art Journaling Cards-WooHoo!!

Hello Friends! Thanks for all the lovely comments on Facebook about the journaling cards I posted yesterday.  I have another set of printable art journaling cards for you today-Yay! If you missed yesterday's post, be sure to check it out and grab the other set too.  Yesterday's cards are found HERE  .

 For today's set I used some of my hand carved stamps and embellished with pens and markers.  I hope you enjoy them!  These are totally free (personal use only please), but if you feel moved to give something back...I would really enjoy seeing how you use them!!  Sharing your work is of course, totally optional-but if you feel moved to share photos of my cards in your own journal I would really really enjoy it!  Feel free to post links to your blog (or wherever else you have pics of your work) in the comments below.  Or if you are feeling shy about it you can share with me privately.

A shout out to my friend Angella who inspired me with her own journaling cards which can be found HERE  Do check out her blog, it's full of wonderful things!

Printable PDF for these cards is HERE   I recommend printing on card stock using the highest print quality for best results.

Personally, I think I prefer yesterday's cards over today's.  Which do you prefer?  I would love to hear which you prefer (and why if you feel like sharing)...it will help me to choose what other things I might make available to you in the future.  Also  (at the time this post is being written) there is a little survey in the sidebar on the right...if you have a moment, I would appreciate your input.  Please do take a moment to answer the survey question. Thank you so much for your support and encouragement, it really gives me a great boost and warms my heart!!  xo

Art Journaling Freebie

I have some art journaling cards for you today.  I was inspired by my dear friend Angella and some beautiful art journaling cards she has on her blog.  You can see her work here.  Please do check it out, I'm sure you'll be inspired!  Anyway, I made some journaling cards to use in my own journal and am sharing them here with you.

Link to printable PDF is HERE.   Just print and cut out the individual cards and use however you like (personal use only please).  I recommend printing them on card stock and with the highest print quality for best results.

This is a pretty quick project and you might want to make your own.  I simply painted some square-ish and rectangular-ish shapes in watercolor on watercolor paper. When the paint dried I used pens and markers to add borders and other little elements.  It's okay if your shapes and lines are wonky-it just adds to the charm.  Enjoy!  xo

Self-Care and Self-Esteem (Free Printable)

Hello everybody!  Thank you for all of the support and encouragement yesterday on "opening day" of my new blog.  Today I have another free printable for you-Yay!! I won't have printables every day, but when I make something for myself that I think you guys might like I will try to make it available to you as well.

So...today's printable is a self-care and self-esteem combo.  (Clickable link to the PDF below)  The side with the cute girl is for us to write down our self-care tasks/goals/tools for the day.  The side with the plants is for us to write down some of the reasons we deserve to give ourselves loving self-care.

SELF CARE:     Self-care tasks for the day will be different for everyone, but I will share a few ideas for those who feel they can't come up with any at the moment.  If you have suggestions for self care tools, please feel free to share them in the comments! There are basic self-care tasks that need done daily like brushing our teeth, getting a good night's sleep, and eating nutritious food.  Those might seem like no brainers, but when a person is depressed or anxious it can be easy to forget to do those things (or not feel like doing them).  Having a written reminder can be helpful for a person struggling to get the minimum done.  Then there are the "above-the-minimum" tasks, the tools that we can use to improve our quality of life- & to cope with things like anxiety and depression.  This is where we all might have different things to add to our lists.  Some of mine would be:  color in a coloring book (helps me when depressed), play with my cat Buggle (he's always good for a laugh and it helps my depression), and organize my art supplies (this is a good one for me to do while anxious).  Other tools which might be a little more universal: taking a walk, meditating, yoga, taking a few deep breaths, watching a movie, talking to a good friend, and soooooooo much more.

SELF ESTEEM:     For the self-esteem side of our printable we can list some things that make us feel worthy of taking good, loving care of ourselves.  For some of us this will be really, really hard.  If you find it too challenging to come up with anything or if you can only think of one or two things...consider asking a loved one (or several loved ones) to add to your list.  Someone who cares about you might be able to help you see some of the wonderful qualities in you that you aren't seeing at the moment.  EVERYONE has positive qualities and everyone has potential, so if your mind is telling you that you don't have anything to add to your worthiness list-trust me, it's a lie!!  A few tips to help you with your list (Please don't be limited by this list!!  There is sooooo much more that can be used to make your list, this is just a very small list of things to help you brainstorm)...

*  Think about how you interact with others.  Are you a good friend, sibling, employee, a good caregiver to a pet, etc?   Are you a good listener, helper, supporter, encourager?

*  Do you have hobbies?  What do you enjoy doing?  Don't judge the quality or skill level here!!  Whatever you are capable of doing deserves to be nurtured-not just the things you are "good" or skilled at.  For example I am an artist.  That deserves to be nurtured and taking good, loving care of myself is one way to nurture my creativity.  It doesn't matter what my skill level is-my artisitc side deserves good care whether I am the most or least skilled artist in the world.

*  What is in your heart?  Are you kind? Compassionate?  Loving?

*  What do other people say about you?  Ignore any negative feedback you've gotten.  We are only concerned with the positive feedback right now.  What do you tend to hear over and over from others?

I hope that you are able to create a nice long self-esteem list!  You could try writing out a new list every day and see just how many things you are able to come up with!  Even if you can easily come up with a worthiness list...it still might be a good boost to ask loved ones to add to the list.  Having good self esteem increases quality of live big time.  Taking a few minutes to recognize some of the ways you are deserving of good care is time well spent.

I hope this was helpful!  I would love to hear your thoughts on this printable.  And if you have requests for future printables or tutorials feel free to put them in the comments.  I can't promise I'll be able to fulfill them all, but I will definitely consider all requests.  Thanks for joining me here on the blog!!

Click HERE to get your free printable

Self Care Zine Freebie

Hello Friends!
Thank you for visiting my new blog!  I am planning to use this space to share about my life, my art, my beloved Buggle and more.  I am also hoping to share things that will be (hopefully) of use to others.  For example, today I have a self care zine for you to print out (and... it's FREE-Yaaaaaayyyyy!!)  Of course, I couldn't just write out a list of self care needs...I had to art it up and make a little book.  EVERYTHING becomes art for me.

For those that don't already know me...HI! My name is Bunny.  I am a disabled artist living in beautiful San Diego, CA with my beloved cat Buggle.  I have been coping with anxiety and depression for...well- forever.  This little project is something I made  as a coping tool. I am making it available for anyone who wants a copy, but please (a little disclaimer here)  know that I am NOT a mental health professional. (Unfortunately)  I am not able to help anyone else with mental health issues (I wish I could, but I am just not qualified to do so).

This zine can be cut and folded to make a little book that you can keep with you to help keep you on track with your self-care. I have been struggling with self care a little bit lately and created this little zine as a way to help myself.  I hope that it helps you too!!  I will share how I filled out my book   in case you can't come up with any self care tools  of your own at the moment.

One thing I need to do daily for good self care is:  get enough sleep!!
Something that helps when I'm down is:  coloring in a coloring book.
Something that helps when I'm stressed is:  organizing my art supplies.
A self care tool I want to try is:  bed yoga.
Someone I can call when I need support:  Juli!
One self care task I could get better at is:  healthy eating.
A tried and true self care tool is:  making art!

Do you have favorite self care activities?  Did you find my zine useful?  Feel free to share in the comments section below!

Below is a link that will show you how to fold and cut your zine to make it into a neat little book.  You could also cut each little page out and paste into a little handmade book if you prefer a different look (example below).  Or get creative and find your own way of making it into a book (please share if you do!!)

Click the link below to print and/or download your copy!  (I am working on getting a clickable image rather than a link-sorry for the inconvenience)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1Lx-n2GzDaydjQ5a056ZWdpcEk/view?usp=sharing


Check out this link for a nifty way to turn your printed self care paper into a groovy little book.
http://experimentwithnature.com/03-found/experiment-with-paper-how-to-make-a-one-page-zine/#.VV2ieLlViko

Here is a photo of my cut and folded zine:

And here are photos of another book I made using this printable PDF.  In this book I used some scraps from a manila folder as my base pages and then taped my printed pages into it with decorative tapes.  I then stamped the edges with hand carved stamps and added some gel pen and marker doodles.  I think it came out really cute for such a quick project!  Right now (for me) anything I can do to motivate myself to bump up my self care efforts is helpful!!

Feel free to print out as many zines as you like!  Give them to friends and family if you wish.  This printable zine has been created as a gift, so please-personal use only, do not sell or otherwise use it to profit yourself. Thank you!!

And finally...this is my first blog post, first time creating a PDF, etc.  So, I'm still learning!  If you have any problems let me know and I will do my best to sort it out as quickly as possible.  And a big THANK YOU to all my loved ones for your unwavering support and encouragement which gives me wings to SOAR!!