And the Winner Is...

*Drum roll, please…* We are happy to announce that Amy Roswick is the WINNER of our 1st Anniversary/Cornucopia of Creative Goodness Giveaway! Congratulations, Amy! Thanks to everyone who played along: subscribing, liking, sharing, and following our offerings on social media. Stay tuned, we have more creative goodness in the works — 2019 promises to be quite colorful, indeed!

It’s not too late to join in the creative exploration of our Art in the Parks event series! Our 1st gathering is Sunday, December 9th at Millbrook Exchange Park in Raleigh. For all of the details, click on the Our Events tab above. Should you have any questions, please reach out. We are always happy to help.

See you soon, and congratulations again, Amy!
~ PLA

More Loot to Love!

In this weeks installment, we are sure to have something for you to be thankful for.  As mentioned in the announcement for this venture, we said we would be including original work from each of us.  I am here to give you the low-down on those inclusions *w00t!*  In addition to these bits of eye-candy, be sure to read to the end for extra opportunities to add some creative mojo to your holiday preparations!

First off, from the wildly talented Michelle Davis Petelinz of Kindred Spirit Studios, we have a gorgeous alcohol ink pendant on a black, cotton cord with an adjustable chain.  These pieces are absolute stunners – photos do not do them justice (as with most shiny things).  It will be just as at home with your favorite jeans and denim shirt as with your fancier duds for a night on the town.  No two are alike, so you can rest assured that you are getting a true, one-of-a-kind piece of wearable art.

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Then, from Penny L. Arrowood of Art Paper Love, we have a trio of marbled magnets mimicking the mineral Lapis Lazuli.  *wow – try saying that 3 times, real fast!?*  Created on Ampersand Stampboard substrates with multiple layers of Marabu EasyMarble and backed with a super powerful neodynum magnet, these lovelies will dress up any notes that they hold.  Their glass-like finish is the result of a layer of resin that gives them additional depth of color.  Whether they reside on your fridge or your filing cabinet, they will bring beauty to your day and add a little art to your day to day surroundings.

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Just a reminder:  it’s not too late to play along!  You have until tomorrow (11/30) at Midnight EST to take part in our 1st Anniversary Giveaway of The Cornucopia of Creative Goodness.  Please see the announcement blog post for all of the details on how you can earn entries into the drawing for this amazing bag of plenty!  Take a look at our Instagram feed to see each weeks additions, and don’t forget to join us on Instagram and Facebook tomorrow for the final inclusion.  The winner will be announced on Monday, December 3rd.  Will it be YOU?  It could very well be – but you can’t win if you don’t play! 

Seats are filling for our very first Art in the Parks series event – don’t miss out on a surefire way to add your own signature style to your gift-giving this holiday season!  Join us on Sunday afternoon, December 9th at the Millbrook Exchange Park to explore Monoprint Magic: Gorgeous Cards, Wraps, and Tags. You will leave loaded with inspiration to add pizzazz to your gift presentation this year, and take home tips, tricks, and techniques that you will use year-round next year.  Cost of $50.00 includes workshop, all materials, light refreshments, and Your Creative Connection surprises throughout!

Finally: this week marks the close of our weekly Thankful Thursday postings. After a year and a month, we are turning our attentions toward other ways to provide regular content here on the blog. We fully intend to continue this practice, and it is our sincere hope that we have inspired you to regularly reflect on those things for which you are thankful – on Thursdays and every other day!

Until next time,
~ PLA

On This Day of Giving Thanks....

We thank YOU, our loyal readers for your comments, your ideas, and your support of our mission, which is to bring you unique events designed to increase your creativity and connection. The year since we last wrote our Thankful Thursday posts on Thanksgiving Day has been one of excitement, exploration, discovery, disappointment, and ultimately, a strengthening of our resolve to continue on this path. We strongly believe in what we’re doing and presenting to the world, we are thankful that we get to do something we dearly love, and we are grateful that we get to share it with you, our Creative Explorers.

On this day of Thanksgiving, we also want to let you know that we are grateful to be listening to and learning from you. Our latest endeavor, “Art in the Parks,” which will begin on Sunday, December 9th has been designed with you in mind. This monthly series of mixed media events will be full of useful information about new techniques, there will be many opportunities to express your unique creativity, and we’ll show you new ways to use ‘old’ favorite art supplies. We are eager to have you join us for one or more of our events through April of 2019 and beyond (more about the ‘beyond’ in a later blog post, so stay tuned.

Wishing you and yours the happiest of Thanksgivings,

Michelle and Penny

So... About That Giveaway

Last week, we mentioned that we have LOADS of creative goodness in store for this month of our 1st Anniversary.  Part of that includes a FABULOUS Give Away that will take place at the end of this month.  We are grateful for all that we have learned and experienced in the past year, and we are translating that into a Cornucopia of Creative Goodness (yes, I am totally aware that it looks like a mere, decorative gift bag – but I can assure you it is oh-so-much-more) that will be shipped to 1 lucky winner on Monday, December 3, 2018.

“Well, you MUST send that bundle of inspirational happiness to ME!” I can just imagine you exclaiming at this very moment!  …and mayhap we shall, gentle reader – someone WILL win – who’s to say it won’t be you?  It is super simple to play, and you will have many opportunities to get your name into the pickle jar of possibility throughout the month.

In order to get in on the fun, you must first Subscribe to our (embarrassingly low-volume) Newsletter.  This simple act makes you a winner straight-away!  Our Newsletter Subscribers are the Inner Circle of our operation – the very first to know all that we have happening – that will be a choice place to be in the coming weeks, as we have several juicy things in the works! Are you already a Newsletter Subscriber? Thank YOU! That means that you are ALREADY entered in the drawing — read on for how you, too, can earn extra entries… 

Once you have done that, you can earn additional entries by taking part in all that we have to offer and share online in this month of gratitude.  Participation will be logged daily in the List of All There is to Know, and we will choose a winner at month’s end with the use of a Random Number Generator (sadly, we no long have the services of Wito the Wonder Dog to perform such tasks for us).

Here are a few ways you can score more entries, this week:

• If you have not already done so, Like our Facebook page – for a bonus entry, SHARE this post! (These alone will get you TWO entries — one for each action)

• Follow us on Instagram, and comment on our Friday Favorites post (for one entry)

• Follow us on Pinterest, and snag one of our Pins – we have all sorts of creative
  eye candy there. (for one entry)

We will be adding new content to the Cornucopia of Creativity each week, this month — including, but not limited to: Friday Favorites, Original Artwork from each of us, and MORE will be amassed in this delightful satchel come the end of November. Don’t miss out! Start today, and maximize YOUR chances to win it ALL!

Until next time!
~ Penny & Michelle

Thankful Thursday -- Our First Year!

One year ago today, we greeted the World Wide Web with our very 1st Blog post! One year ago tomorrow marks the annivesary of our very 1st Thankful Thursday post. While not everything has gone according to plan in the past year, we have indeed made many creative connections — and by our estimation, that is cause for celebrating.

SO… for the remainder of November, we will be celebrating in an abundant and plentiful manner! There will be creative goodness presented weekly across all of our social media platforms AND a big, fat GIVEAWAY at the end of the month!

As always, our Newsletter Subscribers are the 1st to hear of our offerings. What’s that? YOU are not yet among the inner circle of information reception? Believe us when we tell you that NOW would be an ideal time to remedy that! GO — poste haste, and subscribe to our very low-volume missives — that is the best way to ensure that you never miss out on the creative goings on here at Your Creative Connection. Speaking of which: Newsletter Subscribers should keep a keen eye on their email inboxes, as we have BIG news on the way this week about a whole NEW way to enjoy creative connection and artful association.

Until tomorrow!
~ PLA & MDP

Thankful Thursday - The Arrival of Autumn

Perhaps it seems a silly thing to be thankful for, but you should see the things that swirl around inside this noggin!?  As much as I enjoy(ed) all of the fun that comes with Summer, it is hard not to yearn for shorter days, cooler weather, and the chance to layer on the comfy clothes of Fall and Winter.  I certainly will not miss the large and aggressive mosquitos that we have seen since hurricane Florence rolled through here, last month (!)

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The arrival of Autumn also signals the beginning of the holiday season, and affords us the opportunity to anticipate seeing friends and family from far and near as we gather to eat, drink, and be merry!  We have some merry-making in store for YOU, in the coming months!  If you are not a subscriber to our Newsletter, there is no time like the present – we would hate for you to miss out on all of the fun we have in store.  Subscribe today, and stay in the loop – we have MUCH in the way of creative adventures on the horizon!

Until next time,
~ PLA

Thankful Thursday - Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

Watching the 2nd hurricane in as many months roll through our area is not at all what I thought I would be doing today.  We are far from delighted to report that, due to circumstances beyond our control, the Haw River State Park event has been cancelled.  While we may be disappointed, we are not defeated.  Thanks to wonderful feedback from our registered, would-be attendees we now know how best to proceed as we move forward.

And forward we shall go!  Michelle and I will sit down next week and regroup.  Plans will be re-worked, and before you know it we will have new and exciting options to share with you.  Now would be an excellent time to subscribe to our Newsletter.  Doing so will ensure that you are the first to know of new opportunities (the aforementioned silver lining) for creative adventuring with us!

Until next time, we remain,
~ Your Creative Connection

Thankful Thursday -- New Experiences & The Creative Joy of Children

The first weekend in September, I participated as a Make and Take Artist at the 2018 African American Cultural Festival in downtown Raleigh, NC.  It was my first appearance as a provider, having only attended in years past as an observer of the incredible array of art and activities that the festival offers.

It was a unique experience.  My favorite part was that I spent the weekend working with the younger set.  I was visited by some amazing little people, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing their take on the project that I offered.   In keeping with the spirit of the event, I attempted to provide historical and cultural information to support the activity of making colorful, embellished collars like those created and worn by the Massai Tribe of central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania.  I did not manage to get photos of all of my visitors, but am so pleased to have at least a portion of the happy faces recorded for posterity.  There is something about time spent with children that recharges your creativity in a whole new way.

Until next time,
- PLA

Thankful Thursday - The Quiet Within the Storm

Hurricane Florence, September 2018

This time last Thursday here in Raleigh, North Carolina, we were bracing for what was predicted to be a devastating hurricane. There had been days of warnings, which meant that all the bread and milk was sold out of most supermarkets (which is an odd phenomenon, I mean, what does everyone DO with large quantities of both during a storm that they don’t do at other times??), batteries were in short supply, as were generators, battery-powered lights, and bottled water. Everyone watched the weather updates to see where the storm was predicted to make landfall, what the top speed winds were going to be, and how much rain we’d get over how long a period of time. As the storm grew closer, the forecast track made it pretty clear that Raleigh would not get a ‘direct hit,’ but would be subject to high winds and many inches of rain over at least 4 days.

So, yes, we bought bread (one loaf, as usual!), made sure we had flashlights, batteries, charged our electronics, and otherwise prepared the house for the storm. Then we waited. And waited. We had rain and high winds, but nothing dramatic.

And then the power went out on Friday evening.

It’s amazing how quiet and still everything is when there isn’t the constant background hum of things powered by electricity. Now, we could clearly hear the staccato music of the rain pelting the windows, and the wind whipping the tree branches. In our powerless cocoon, we settled down to read by the light of our Kindles, with some still-cold wine at our sides (a must, for any storm situation!). Later, we used our storm radio to keep track of what was happening outside of our area, and learned that areas to our east and south were getting the brunt of the storm with much fiercer winds and torrential rains.

But for us, there was the quiet.

We dined by battery-powered candlelight which was lovely.

And then, just as we were getting used to not having electricity, it returned.

Back was the hum, back was the air movement created by fans and the air conditioning; we were back to normal. We were thankful to have only been without power for 3 hours—others are still without it, and have had their homes, vehicles, properties, and businesses ruined—we know we were extremely lucky—this time.

‘Hoping you can find the quiet within the storm of your daily life.

Until next time,

MDP

Thankful Thursday - Nourishing the Creative Soul

We artists can often be a solitary group; many of us work alone in our studios, at kitchen tables, or in our garages, without much human contact while we create.  Sometimes, conversation with another person is rare, especially for those who live and create alone.  I'm thankful that my husband is also a creative soul, and we regularly discuss my work, our display, what show is next on the calendar, etc.  I'm also thankful that I have a community of creative people with whom I can share my thoughts, plans, frustrations, failures and successes, both virtually (the Facebook group "Sh*t Overheard at Art Festivals" is a fantastic space to vent and commiserate about the absurdity of what we artists who do outdoor festival go through), and in person.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of indulging in three days of conversations with fellow artists as we participated in the 9th annual African American Cultural Festival here in Raleigh.  Although we create art in different media, we share the joys and trials of the creative process.  It was so rewarding and eye-opening to hear about how another artist crawls out of a creative slump, or renews her resolve to present work which touches her soul ( knowing that whether it sells isn't the driving force behind the creation of it), or how another artist interacts with his collectors to ensure a positive experience for everyone involved.  I loved the give and take, the laughter, the "I go through that, too" moments, and the camaraderie. The weekend nourished my creative soul.  And oh yes, there was wine!  

Nourishing your creative soul is one of our goals for the Your Creative Connection retreat at Haw River NEXT MONTH (can you believe it's actually fewer than 40 days away?)  We look forward to sharing our experiences with you, our Creative Explorers, as we spend 4 idyllic days in a most beautiful and inspiring wooded setting.  If you've been thinking of joining us, now's the time to take that leap, and register--there are limited spaces still available.  We promise you an experience like no other, and conversations with artists galore!  If you have questions, pop over to our Retreat FAQ page, or drop me a note in the comment section below.  We're looking forward to having you with us.
Until next time,

~MDP