Treasury of Joy is a joy to treasure
By Tangerine Meg | February 1, 2010
Dear, dear Dearhearts,
I am very excited to have had my work chosen for an etsy “treasury” on the theme of Joy.
See you soon,
Meg
Topics: inspiration | No Comments »
Coincidentally, Pascal
By Tangerine Meg | January 30, 2010
Greetings emboldened golden bold souls,
Earlier I scrawled a reminder to myself to buy petrol – I was waiting for a traffic light to change to green at the time. This is it:
I threw it down on the passenger seat next to me in the car and the note floated down and rotated enough to give me this wonderful hidden bonus reminder:
“loved” it looks like to me…
I am choosing to take it as a lovely coincidental message, perhaps from a greater power, via my subconscious. I am loved! So are you! Remember! 
My husband thought it looked like it said Pascal 
What do you think?
See you next time,
Meg
Topics: life in progress | No Comments »
Help me help Hearts for Haiti
By Tangerine Meg | January 26, 2010
Hello Bold Souls!
I have been thinking a lot about general devastation and about Haiti and about both… and about how lucky I am to be safe and well and in a position to help. Perhaps you would like to join me.
Today I am posting:
1 a link to my offering (Serendipity pack of 7 art cards),
2 some, I mean a lot, of favourites from the etsy Hearts for Haiti shop, and
3 some other great charity links.
Already $14,000+ has been raised but the Hearts for Haiti etsy shop. Wow! Wouldn’t it be great to add to that? You can also read a blog about the progress of the shop. The idea with the Heart theme is to encourage Valentine’s Day gift makers/buyers, but all handmade things are welcome. Incidentally, I realised I have no exisiting heart images, which surprised me, and needs to be rectified
My offering is a “Serendipity” mixed pack of 7 art cards for $30 – each usually $5. The money goes (minus Paypal and etsy fees) to Doctors without Borders, and myself and the other makers are covering postage. So 7 for $30, with free postage anywhere in the world. I would love to start by contributing $300ish towards the cause so I have 10 packs on offer.
My ‘Hearts for Haiti’ etsy shop favourites (so far) selected just for you from the 35 36 40 pages of goodies… Get yourself a present or stock up for loved ones special gifts during the year (yey being organised!)
$15 and under
- ‘Beautiful Day’ black and white art print by zengarden
- Heart Digital collage by analiese
- Kid’s hat by beberagz
- Bent wire Wild West bookmark with choice of 3 pictures by NORIK, or a heart/doodle bookmark mix from visionQuest
- Photographic print of cat (this also in cat category, below) by 2nifty
- Fun Sock Kitty tutorial (this also in cat category, below) by cuddlet
- ceramic trinket dish by ginpins
- Sweet earrings with hearts by sweetside
- Recipes and tips in It’s a Vegan Dog’s Life book by vegandogslife
- Digital bunny and me stamp by Softpencil
- Hearts for Haiti heart charms by CheapBoutiqueSupplies
- Hooray! Re-usable produce bags by greenmumtotes
- tiny fish hair clip by bloomz
- Photograph of lovely vintage rose by petuniaz
$15 to $49
- Groovy neck wrap/decoration by plumfish
- Cute heart pendant by kvoss designs,
- Goddess pin doll by Whimsigals,
- Hand-painted heart drawer knobs by LeilasLoft
- Colored pencil tree drawing by Jen O’Connell
- Handsewn handbag (purse) by uniquestitches
- Goodlooking, rustic, almost primitive heart pendant by clynstudio
- Girl’s decorated long cardigan by 3littlebirdsboutique
- Soft crocheted iPhone pouch by bonnieboon
- Toddlers crocheted hat by ifanhour
- Cool sterling silver hand pendant on cord by echoandwild
- Crocheted roses in a heart box by willo
- Heart dog tag pendant by Beadsinthebelfry
- Beanie with built in knitted beard by taraduff
- Flower earrings – yey flower power – by Kibble2008 (for pierced ears)
- Funky kids heart design red tshirt by curlymonkey
- Adults wool hat by grannysknits – pretty colours
- Groovalicious textured earrings by simplyadorning
$50 plus
- Gorgeous decorated frame by burnedfurniture
- Lino print with a story by fattybird
- Eco-friendly quilt by nacyanne
- beautiful mixed media painting by pamcarriker
- recycled sari silk neckpiece by plumfish
Cat stuff
- Cat pendant necklace by purpleandlime
- Photographic print of cat (also under $15) by 2nifty
- awesome Cheshire Cat glow in the Dark tshirts by banyantreeclothing
- Fun Sock Kitty tutorial (also under $15) by cuddlet
If there are any artisans’ work that you specially like there is a link to their etsy shop on the same page. I think I have some new favourite shops!
If you need help completing your purchase or want to pay with a credit card without joining Paypal, check out this link www.etsy.com/help_guide_checkout.php
Great charities offering assistance to Haitians:
And for the Adelaide-based, a rock concert in a couple of weeks.
I’m gonna hit publish now. See you soon. Take care… let us care for each other the best we can.
Meg
Topics: community | 1 Comment »
Sunday sunflowers, shirts and free shipping :)
By Tangerine Meg | January 23, 2010
Greetings and good day to you, fair and bold souls x o
Whilst we are enjoying alliteration (see blog title) and waiting for my offering to be uploaded to the etsy ‘Heart for Haiti’ shop…. here are some visuals from post-Farmers Market painting and drawing last Sunday afternoon… and I even made a couple into tshirts!
‘Twas a meandering kind of afternoon and I had purchased lovely sunflowers from the Farmers Market. J’adore the Farmers Market – had you noticed? I was also thinking about tshirt design. That doesn’t seem such a natural mix now I write it down, though it made sense at the time. First, a photo of the flowers (you can see a bit of my Board of Inspiration in the background):
First painting of the day. We would paint with this craypas-and-paint technique at the Ruth Tuck Art School – some may remember the name, that of my mentor, the well-known Adelaidean watercolour painter and teacher.
I experimented with ink drawing with a stick – might paint colour on this one yet.
Next my thoughts about circular emblems as tshirt designs led to this roundy round sunflower. There are (planned) unprinted areas within this design; so the colour of the shirt shows, which also allows the tshirt to breathe better.
Do you think this makes a good tshirt design? Let me know in the comments section below, or on Facebook, or simply buy a tshirt! I think the sunflower colours are just right with a blue background, and you can experiment with different colour shirts at that page. What colour shirt do you like it on? It looks kind of sunshiny on the golden yellow shirt, too.
Keep reading, I have ‘free shipping’ news…
Finally, I got carried away with the juiciest, most watery watermelon ever – from the Farmers Market of course! I cubed some and arranged it on my great old Op Shop china plates, and thought about Paul Klee and his art, and building up pictures with handdrawn geometric shapes. The watermelon, too, was in small, red, geometric shapes. Currently I have a big (watermelon) crush on the colour of watermelon! Here’s the original painting:
And here’s the Watermelon Abstract tshirt design. It works better for the shirt with just one plate circle around the edges, more abstract and kind of cooler, I think, somehow.
Great News! Remember in the title of this I mentioned ‘free shipping’? I just found out that an order of 3 tshirts entitles you to FREE SHIPPING! Go for it – I will be! Remember the ‘girly tshirt’ sizes are about 3 sizes smaller than the regular cut shirts.
So we wait for the Haiti/etsy thing to happen. I will keep an eye on it and let you know. Also I have looked through the 35 pages of items and selected a dozen or so favourites for you. Then we can all linky linky linky and get it known to as many people as we can.
Lots of everything lovely to you,
Meg xo
All artwork copyright remains with me.
Topics: artwork in progress | No Comments »
Be Bold: speak up…. friends don’t let friends speak crappily
By Tangerine Meg | January 18, 2010
Hey Dearhearts,
Today I wanted to share this bold article from Christine Kane, a wonderful musician, retreat maker, business coach and blogger. It is written so clearly, and I think it’s a great reminder to indeed watch our language. Check out Christine’s site – there are quite a few resources there!
I’ll see you next time.
Enjoy!
Meg
Watch Your Language
November 14th, 2007 by Christine Kane
Recently, I was in a car with the promoter of one of my performances. He had picked me up at the airport and was driving me to my hotel. On the way, we talked about guitars. We got onto the subject of Olson Guitars, arguably the best guitar in the whole world. At one point, the promoter said, “Yea, well, in my entire life I’ll never own an Olson guitar.”
Many years ago, I’d probably let a remark like this slide on by, even adding my own “me either” to the mix.
Now, I can’t. Yoda steps into my head and says, (in a very Yoda-like voice) “So certain are you. Always with you it cannot be done.”
So, I turned to the promoter and said, “You are NOT allowed to say that!”
This is because I know the power of language. When you know that words become things and that words create worlds, it’s hard to let language slide.
At the retreats I facilitate, I am constantly asking the women to re-word something they just said. By the third day, the women cast sideways glances at me when they know they’ve said something negative about themselves.
I can’t help it. I have a philosophy that friends don’t let friends speak crappily. Language is powerful. Words can create reality. Even if my promoter friend doesn’t know how on earth he’d ever get an Olson Guitar, it doesn’t mean he should cut off the possibility with his own words.
So, this is a reminder post. I know, from personal experience, how easy it is to slip back into old patterns of language. I know how easy it is to give little credence to the power of words.
So, here are 8 practical language principles for anyone who wants to be a better creator of her life.
1 – Eliminate “never” and “always.”
Never and always are words of hysteria. “I always screw everything up!” “I’ll never figure this out!” “I’ll never get an Olson Guitar.”
First off, it’s not true. If you always screwed everything up, you wouldn’t have made it out of the womb.
And second off, extreme words are designed to hook you. It’s just your emotions taking a joyride. You’re more powerful than that.
2 – Use AND instead of BUT.
“But” dismisses the statement before it. “And” includes it. For instance, “That’s a good article, but it needs some editing” isn’t nearly as encouraging as “That’s a good article, AND it needs some editing.” “I love you, but…” is another great example of the dismissive power of “but.”
3 – Avoid “Should.”
Should is a crappy word for many reasons. It is victim-speak. It disempowers its object. It negates desires, thereby making it harder to make choices. It adds a nebulous illusory energy to the decision making process. Use empowering language instead: “I could…” “I would…” “I am choosing to,” “I would like to,” “I don’t want to,” or “You might consider…”
4 – Stop calling yourself depressed.
Also stop allowing anyone to tell you that you are depressed. When you call yourself “depressed” or “obsessive compulsive” or “ADHD” or whatever – you’re claiming this thing. You’re calling it forth with the most powerful two words in our language: “I am.” That creates very little option for the transformation of this condition.
A friend of mine told me that she loved that I never called her depressed. I’m the only person who had refused that word to describe her. It helped her to get off anti-depressants.
Another friend of mine has challenged me to stop calling myself a Four on the enneagram
5 – Delete the word “hate” from your vocabulary.
“Hate” has lots of energy. When you use it, you send lots of energy out into the very thing you “hate.” Even if it’s negative energy, it’s still a powerful force, adding its charge to that thing. You’re also depleting this energy from your own spirit as you say it.
6 – Go Complaint-Free.
7 – Be “great.” Or “wonderful.”
A disease of the artist temperament is a belief that we must be authentic at all costs. And so we can’t answer a simple “How are you?” without delving into an in-depth scan of our emotional temperature.
Try this instead: When people ask you how you’re doing, just say “I’m great!” I used to think if I told people I’m great, I had better have a damn good reason for saying it, like I just won the lottery or something. I thought it would make me look suspicious, and people would start to wonder if something was wrong with me. But then I did it. And you know what? Most people don’t really care why you’re great. You’re saying it for you.
8 – Pay attention to the music of your speech.
You know how some people? They talk in question marks? And you have no idea why? But it makes you think you shouldn’t really rely on them? And it makes you not want to hire them?
The music of your language says a lot about you. If you let your sentences droop like Eeyore, (”Thanks for noticing me.”) or if you do the uncertain question mark language, take note of what attitudes are causing this. These patterns are created for a reason. Even if it feels like faking it at first, generate confidence as you speak.
Topics: learning | No Comments »
When I was 5 I was Sesame alive
By Tangerine Meg | January 7, 2010
Hey Beautiful Bold Beings!
Hope you’ve had a delightful, bold and happy start to 2010. I have taken some plucky little steps towards my intended outcomes. I will be light today, though, after all my recent, soul-searching works!
Over the holidays I treated myself to a bargain book at Target: “Sesame Street, A Celebration. 40 Years of Life on the Street” and I have been contemplating my seeming hyper-connectedness to Sesame Street. I think it may have been cos I was living in America in the year it was launched – the year I turned 5! I am adoring poring over the book. I am sure I am not the only one who thinks “Sesame Street” is utterly and completely brilliant! Let me know if you heart “Sesame Street” too, in the comments section, or on Facebook.
Here is my first school photo from when we got back to Australia:
Remember this great poem, too (though it’s about being 6 not 5)?
When I was One,
I had just begun.
When I was Two,
I was nearly new.
When I was Three
I was hardly me.
When I was Four,
I was not much more.
When I was Five,
I was just alive.
But now I am Six,
I’m as clever as clever,
So I think I’ll be six now for ever and ever.-AA Milne
This post brought to you by the numbers 5 and 6 and the letter B.
Be bold, be you,
Love Meg
Topics: musings | No Comments »