package from our special guest!Confession time: In general I am not comfortable at parties, never mind hosting them. And I almost talked myself out of this one with the usual excuses: I'm too busy; everyone else is too busy; and the mack daddy fear - no one will show up or really care.
Thank you all for showing us just how much you do care! And for reminding me that when I listen to my heart and act in accordance to its wisdom, then anything is possible. We are just dollars from our stated goal of $1000 for Half the Sky Foundation! I am truly speechless. The generosity, the support, and the outpouring of pure love and joy from all of you has left me with a massive case of the warm fuzzies.
And the party has just got started! It is fitting that our special guest this week is the person who inspired me to live my creative life with arms wide open, welcoming and surrendering to all that it has to teach me. In 2010 Fearless was my guiding principle and thanks to the magic of serendipity, I stumbled upon the first ecourse - Art Journal Love Letters - from the joy -filled
the home of Connie Hozvicka or Connie Cakes as I like to call her. I don't have a picture of myself with Connie - yet! But come October I will be painting alongside her and 11 members of her Fearless Painting tribe when we gather for the retreat Total Alignment in Sedona Arizona.
Connie is the creator of Fearless Painting, an intuitive process based approach to creativity which has blown open my world in so many ways. In Connie's courses Big and Deep I was guided to open myself to my intuition, learning to trust that voice and allow it to take me deeper into both my art and more importantly, my life. I have journals filled with the insights I received through the process of painting fearless. But the greatest gift Connie has given me - and anyone who watches her videos or journeys with her through her courses - is an immense passion for the creative act. And a strong belief in one's ability to tap into vast pools of inspiration.
Actually, two words conjure up Connie - Passion and Abundance. Connie's love of what she does and her belief in the power of creative expression to transform ourselves and our world resulted in a bounty of programs online including her free workshop Total Alignment which just opened this month. If you haven't heard about it, check it out here and in this video (warning: she will have you immediately driving to the art supply store, piling your basket full of goodies and painting before you get out the door!)
The abundance of her creativity is being showered upon this party as Connie has generously donated two original paintings as prizes:
These paintings measure 14 by 17 inches and are acrylic on paper (vellum bristol?) and they are landscapes of Sedona Arizona painted on the summer solstice, so they have gobs of good juju radiating from them.
paintings and photograph courtesy Connie HozvickaThis week Cowgirl and I focused our work upon one of her favorite creatures, the penguin. Whenever we go to the zoo she likes to stand in front of the penguin display and point out which penguin she is and which penguin is me and her dad and Moose dog. (Usually I am the large, slow looking penguin!) We are very happy to be sharing our love of penguins by offering our Penguin Family for this week's giveaway:
6 x 6 inches mixed media on gesso boardBrief but important recap of how to enter: if you have already made a donation to our pledge page, then your name is entered into the drawing for Penguin Family. To be eligible to win one of Connie's paintings you must also leave us either a comment here or email me at Lishofmann(at)novia(dot)net. Help us spread the word and receive additional entries into the drawing (just be sure to leave a comment telling us what you did: blog, facebook, tweet ...) For the longer spiel on rules, entering and about Half the Sky Foundation, check out week one of the party here.
And for fun, let us know your best party hosting tips or tricks. Cowgirl has a birthday coming, so any support for this party-phobic mom will be appreciated!
Okay, I've refilled the dip and chips, punch bowl is replenished so go forth and enjoy!
Congratulations to our winners from week one: Donna - Duck Love, Liz - Susannah's photo pack, Mel & Tracy - prints by Marisa. Emails were sent, so be sure to verify your mailing address so we can get your goodies to you!
How fun that Cowgirl loves penguins! I was a total nut over penguins myself and, in fact, had a penguin-themed, ice skating birthday party way back when:) Which fits with my party tip for you. I like to host events not at my house:) I find my own home is my refuge, best enjoyed by me and my man. I'm a much better host outside my home. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting this amazing party!:) And for my photo pack! So excited:)
loving the continuing party going on over here Lis.
ReplyDeletexo
Karen
WOOT!!! some lovely Connie-goodness in the hopper this week!
ReplyDeletei'm beyond thrilled that i won one of Marisa's print -- so i wanted to say super-thanks again -- the boy-child himself will be getting some lovely art for his bedroom wall!!
SO thrilled you're almost at your goal - already!! FAB.
omg - i have so much i need to email you.
xoxoxoxo
i am so glad you had your party!
ReplyDeletelove the painting you're laying next to-
Turn up the music, let's P-A-R-T-A-Y!!!!
ReplyDeleteLis, fabulous penguins!
ReplyDeleteMy best kids parties are when I set up a whole heap of activities tables with art & craft & physical fun activities & the kids just move around & occupy themselves. A good one is to get them to decorate their own party favours bag (if you do that in your country). Kids love a pinjata (? Not sure of spelling) but most of all - have fun!
X Melissa
Oh, I so relate to all the party fears, and I have found the same thing, that if I just do it, things turn out great. I used your piece of advice to have someone in charge of getting me food at our wedding - that was perfect advice!!!!! Andy's mom brought both of us plates of food and said, "Sit, eat!" If we hadn't done that, I am sure we would have never gotten food!
ReplyDeleteMy best part hosting tip is that people seem to really respond when you infuse the day/evening with creativity and magic or fun surprises. And I like to try to think of what I like when I arrive at a party and go from there. As a shy person, I love ice breakers and things that I can DO rather than mill around and feel awkward. I am not how this translates for a kids party, but I love Melissa's suggestion of art and physical activities.
One of the things we did at our wedding that might be really fun at a childrens party is a photobooth. You just set up a backdrop, put out some props and have a camera on a tripod to take photos with. This would be fun for the kids and really fun to look at as the years march on. You might also be able to get some parents in there with their kids and send the photo to them in their thank-you card?
Okay, there are my best tips and tricks! Hope your party goes wonderfully! Thanks for not forgetting about me while I was in "wedding land" :) hahaha
xoxoxoxo
Kristen