“No one thinks like you, talks like you, or makes art like you, and that is an extraordinary thing.”  Alena Hennessy  just stopped me in my tracks with this sentence from her book, Cultivating Your Creative Life.

Every time any of us creates anything it is an extraordinary thing!  Yes, every time and every one- that means you!  Every creative decision is unique to that person and that is an extraordinary thing!  I decided to celebrate all those little decisions that carry me through my creative process.  What an amazing day I had- not because of the finished journal page but because of how rich the process was for me and how present I was during the process.

An extraordinary thing…that this journal page was made with colors I perceived as mud when I started.  Since I thought it was “yucky” I felt free to experiment and play.

An extraordinary thing..that my muse arrived and whispered to me to make a feather stencil.

An extraordinary thing..adding a layer using a Donna Downey foam stamp.

An extraordinary thing..that I was able to release all sorts of feelings in my journaling on a scrap of cardboard from on my counter.

An extraordinary thing…that this didn’t feel finished, that it needed something more.

An extraordinary thing…that I used some of the buttons that I have been hoarding and trusted that this was the perfect moment to use those buttons.

An extraordinary thing..that I have such a supportive community to share my colorful journey!

What’s an extraordinary thing in your world today?

Linking up  to Paint Party Friday, Creative Every Day,  Art Journal Every Day, Mandarin Orange Monday, Inspire Me Monday, Monday Mantras, and Make It Monday!  There is still plenty of room for you in my free workshop, Use Your Words!  Over 600 people have joined the fun and I’d love for you to join in too!

Who knew a cooking class would actually get me to cook!  The instructor showed us how to make tuile cookies.  The batter was spread onto basic stencil shapes cut out of plastic lids and all I could think of was how the batter felt like modeling paste and I had the perfect stencils at home to do this with!  FYI, tuile cookies taste much better than I imagine modeling paste tastes…

Ronda Palazzari’s Urban Landscape inspired a dessert made in honor of all the people shoveling on the East Coast after Nemo dumped mountains of snow.  My husband and kids did love playing Godzilla as they scooped a building and “snow” onto their dishes…You would think they were all 5 but no, much much older than that…

Word of caution- stencils that have ever been used with any type of non-food item (paint and spray inks for me) cannot be used with food.  Kind of common sense…

I had a box of brand new stencils waiting for me so this was my golden opportunity to bake with them!   Mix up the batter.  Mixed media in the most mixed sense!   On a silicon mat put your stencil down then spread the batter on top.  Remove the stencil and bake the cookies.  How easy! When they come out of the oven they will be very soft but as soon as they start to cool they will harden up.  Once they were cool, just microwaved a bit of frosting until it was runny like paint and used the other part of the stencil with a basting brush and added the chocolate details.

Now I have a huge quandary.  I love this stencil.  If I use it for art, I can’t use it for making cookies.  Art.  Cookies.  (You may actually be able to hear my youngest hollering COOKIES since her vote is for the edible…and she is the one who ate the missing building…)  Art.  Cookies.  I just can’t decide!

Thank you to everyone who has signed up for my free workshop, Use Your Words!  There are now over 500 people signed up!   There is still time to sign up here.  More information is here.