Big Spring Give Away (Closed) & Stuff! :D

May 20, 2014

art workshops, mixed media, original mixed media art

Hey ho beautiful creative friends!

Boy I’ve had a bit of a tumultuous 3 weeks behind me. Elliot’s been in and out of hospital, the husband was away in Nepal and some other things came through causing total mayhem and upheaval (felt like the entire universe was in retrograde!) But the calm after the storm has arrived and when there is calm I usually get excited and want to ground, regroup and DO FUN STUFFS! :D YAYYYYY.

And FUNS STUFFS to me is organising a big huge spring GIVE AWAY!! :D Always fun to hand out some goodies to my lovely creative art tribe friends (ie: YOUOUOUOUOU) :)

Ok, Tam, calm down, dial down the hyper, hee hee. :)

Sorry guys! The big spring give away is now closed!

Winners have been announced in this post.

***

What can you win?

Here we goooooooo:

1. A life long free pass to all of Tam’s courses!

+ a $50 dick blick gift card!

2. A free space on Tam’s up and coming Business Course!

+ $30 dick blick gift card!

3. A free space on Life Book 2014

+ $20 dick blick gift card!

4. Access to 7 of Tam’s mini classes

(winner chooses)

+ $10 dick blick gift card!

5. Access to the 5 of Tam’s mini classes

(winner chooses)

+ $10 dick blick gift card!

6. Access to 3 Summer Series Mini Classes
(Summer Gypsy, Summer Goddes, Summer Fae)

7. A space on any of my self study courses

(not including Life Book 2014)

8. 1 Free Print from my etsy shop

(winner’s choice)

9. 1 Set of 10 Tam postcards

10. 1 Set of 5 Tam postcards + 1 pocket mirror of choice

You can enter the give away by doing these 2 things:

1. Post a link to this blog post/ give away on your Facebook or Twitter accounts, this is the link:

http://bit.ly/BigSpringGiveAway

FB status/ Twitter update suggestions:

Wow, an amazing Willowing Arts Give Away! You can enter here: http://bit.ly/BigSpringGiveAway

So exciting! Check out this Awesome Give Away: http://bit.ly/BigSpringGiveAway

Lots of fabulous goodies to win at Willowing Arts Give Away -> http://bit.ly/BigSpringGiveAway

2. Please leave a comment below letting us know how you deal with the dreaded ‘inner critic’! (We’d love to hear your ideas on this one!)

Good luck to all that enter!

The give away will run until 31st of May – we will pick 10 lucky winners on 1st June! :D

In other news:

ZOMG you guys!!! We/ You/ ALL of us raised OVER $11,300 USD for the Water Campaign so far. How mindblowing is that?! THIIIIIIIIIS mindblowing. I’m SO proud of our creative community, so SO proud!! :) This is going to help SO many people get clean and safe water!!! It fills my heart/ soul with so much joy knowing so much of you/ us have contributed!! And the campaign has not finished running yet! If you want to contribute and gain access to my mixed media mermaid art lesson plus receive a free MP3 of True Colours performed by myself and Gracie, be sure to contribute your bit to the campaign by clicking here. Remember, every little amount helps and makes a difference!! :D

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In the mean time, whenever I can, I’ve been making art here and there. Here are some highlights from my instagram account (if you want to see what I work on, instagram is where I post my WIPs first usually, so follow me here if you want to see those).

Much love dear people. Big hugs! xoxo

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Water, Art & Soul – A New Mini Course Available! :)

April 30, 2014

by Tam

art workshops, human rights, mixed media

Dearest most beloved creative friends and community! :) I have a BIG, IMPORTANT, JUICY new project I want to share with you guys and I hope hope HOPE you’ll support it with all your might! :D I need you dear friend, AND I have gifts to give you if you’ll help me pleasie! I know you’d help me without the need to receive gifts, but I feel so much gratitude to those who’ll support this project that I’ve prepared some gifties too, just because, just because I love you and care and am hopeful that we can do this thing together. You excited yet? :) You’re probably wondering: Tam, dude, what are you ON about?! ;)

Well let me explain! :D

As a humanist and humanistic company, we donate to charity all the time (friends of the earth, chestnut tree house, kiva, amnesty etc), and we do so with love and joy. I am often really weighed down by the suffering in the world (as I know many of you out there are too), so much so that I have to stop watching the news. I feel helpless, sad, despair and can sometimes end up a big black hole of depression just thinking about all the suffering in the world. So I was thinking: what can I do?! Shall I just sit here in my black hole effectively adding to the suffering and misery in the world? Or shall I go out there and bring more joy and light? What little bit can I do to make a difference? Yeah, I opted for the latter, I was going to do something awesome! :) But instead of giving money and letting charities ‘do the work’, I felt called to do something more pro-active! Instead of donating money to a charity directly, I wanted to create something specifically to make the world a better place. I want to create a project for the purpose of directly helping people; to bring more joy & healing to the world. :) Yayyyyyy!!

So when I found out that anyone could start their own Water Campaign at ‘Charity Water‘ I felt excited to start my own campaign! Some people run marathons or give up their birthdays others shave their beards or whatever and ask people to donate to their own personal campaign! So I started thinking about what I could do for my/our campaign.

My awesome colleague and friend Gracie was excited too and we decided to record a song together (she’s an AMAZING singer). We also wanted to do an uplifting music video for it and make both the mp3 & video available to download for free to anyone who donates to the water campaign, YAY! Watch the video here:

(with special thanks to Sony HTV & Billy Steinberg Publishing for allowing us to record this song to raise money for charity)

To top it off I also wanted to offer a free mixed media art lessons as a thank you to those who donated. So here we have it: The Rainbow Mermaid Art Class is my thank you to you for donating! :) Isn’t this exciting and awesome? You’ll learn how to make this beauty if you contribute to the water campaign:

And let me tell you something, when I first thought about helping to bring clean and safe drinking water to the people who need it, I had NO CLUE that having clean drinking water readily available had such an impact on these people’s lives. At first I thought: oh, great, they’re gonna be able to have nice drinking water and cook their food and not get illnesses and that’s it, but naha: this impacts so much more -> their EDUCATION, SAFETY, HEALTH, LIVELIHOODS and so much more. I also didn’t know that diseases from unsafe drinking water KILL MORE PEOPLE EVERY YEAR THAN ALL FORMS OF VIOLENCE, INCLUDING WAR. WOW!! And this mostly effects women and children. :(

I feel so excited that by raising money for this charity, we can make a huge difference to some people’s lives guys!!!! I’m so happy that we CAN make a difference, that it isn’t all doom and gloom and bleak (which is often what I tell myself when I sit in my dark hole of depression!).

Here is a great little info-video on how the water crisis effects a family effected by it:

So, do you too want to bring more light into the world and help make the world a better place with me? Shall we do this together? :D Yes?!

Then please come and donate some money to my water campaign by clicking here. You can donate any amount though I suggest something around the $10 – $25 mark if you can (or more if you can of course, eternally grateful!!) as the value of the lesson is currently around $29 USD, but let me stipulate that any contribution is valued and appreciated ($1 – $5 – $8 – $300)!! :D Apparently $20 USD can provide clean water for one person! And just so you know; every cent/ penny of the money you contribute goes to the water projects themselves as the charity is supported by donations from individuals. I also am not getting any of the money you donate, 100% goes to the project (it’s not possible currently to sign up to the Rainbow Mermaid without donating to the charity FYI). We will also be given updates on how our project is doing! :D So I’ll keep you guys up to date with that too.

(Once you have donated, please email us your donation receipt or simply email us to let us know you’ve donated on this email address: waterartsoul AT gmail.com and we will send you information and passwords to the lessons and the music :)) – if you have any questions about the project please email us on: willowing.arts AT gmail.com.

So, shall we make this happen yes? : —>

And this?! ->>>

I hope you’ll help me dearest friend, we can do this flipping awesome amazing thing together! help people, bring more light into the world, listen to music and make some mermaids on the way too! :)

Please help us by donating here, you rock!

You would also do me a huge favour and I’ll LOVE YOU FOREVER, if you’d mention my campaign on your own (social) media sites. You can use this image if you want:

and link it to this url: http://bit.ly/rainbowmermaid

or here are some smaller blog buttons you can use to share this awesome project, thank you so much dear awesome one for sharing!!! –>>

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Winner of Give Away & Some New Art

April 25, 2014

by Tam

mixed media, original mixed media art

Hey hooooo! :D How are you dear reader of my blog? Did you know I love and appreciate you? Do you know I care and I hope you are ok and that you are having joyful moments in your life with daisies and butterflies (if you like them, of course, if you don’t I wouldn’t wish them upon you God no! ;)). Sending much love and light and a sense of self-worth your way. There has been quite a lot of pain around lately and if you too are in pain, know that you are loved, that people care, even if you can’t always see it or feel it. You are needed, you are important, you are significant part of the human race, you are, you are. <3

As a reminder too, I find this quote by Rumi helpful when I’m in pain:

“The wound is the place where the light enters you” – Rumi

***

I haz a winner for the Artistcellar give away! The lucky winner is, tadaaaa:

MaryKaye Wells!!!

Congratulations MaryKaye, please contact me on willowing AT gmail.com with your postal address so we can send you goodies! And thank you for your lovely comment:

In other news, I’ve been working on canvases! :) I used to work on canvases before Bali, but I often found myself unable to finish them or got stuck. I now feel less stuck and more able to work through how to finish them. I have a love-hate relationship with acrylics when it’s my only medium (as opposed to mixed media where I mix it all up), but me and acrylics are becoming better friends! :)

Here are some of the canvases I’m currently working on, they’re all at some stage or other of a WIP, so none a really finished yet:

If you follow me on instagram you can see most of the progress of my paintings as I tend to post a lot of my in-progress photos there first. Here are some of the in progress works which were posted on instagram recently:

So, those are just some recent bits of painting I’ve done! :) Eventually all canvases will be for sale, let me know if you have your eye on one already and I can reserve it for you.

BTW, if you’re not on instagram and you don’t want to be, you can also join the Willowing & Friends group on Facebook where I also post all my in progress work. :)

Thanks for reading dearest. <3 More soon! I have exciting things coming up. Big hugs. x

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Giving Your Dreams Wings

April 7, 2014

by Tam

business, dreams

Hola beautimous friends! It’s a busy blog week for me this week! :) While in Bali I received an email from the wonderful Andrea Schroeder from the Creative Dream Incubator! She asked me if I wanted to be involved with a blog hop to celebrate the launch of a free little e-course she’s been creating for people who feel stuck and think that they can’t realise their dreams! :D

She said: will you please write about how “you gave your dreams wings”? And at first I was a bit apprehensive because I get worried sometimes when we are focusing too much on our dreams and missing out on our very valuable NOW. I even wrote a post about this very thing a while back here. But then I started thinking and I really thought about what I did to ‘make my dreams come true‘ I did have some, after all! (Sometimes, instead of dreams, I want to call them ‘soul passions’ to make the concept less ‘unavailable sounding’ right? The word “dreams” sounds so ‘unattainable’ somehow! But hey I suppose it’s just semantics!)

And then I started thinking about the different kinds of dreams that are out there. I think the different types of dreams is a significant thing to note here. I’m really no expert in ‘dream-realisation’ philosophies, ha (the secret and what not)! But just thinking about it now, for me, the “easiest” dreams to realise (in my humble opinion) are those that resonate with your soul. Not the dreams that are based on fear-based thinking, jealousy or envy. This might seem doh-oh-so-obvious, but I encourage you to explore the kinds of dreams you have and what they are based on. To give you an example:

Fear-based dreams:

I want to become a famous singer so that my family will finally love me.
I want to have a dream house so that I can impress my neighbours

Soul-aligned dreams:

I want to make a living out of my creative work as I feel so much joy when I make art
I love to sing, I can’t stop singing, I love it so much, I would love to sing so it lights up other people’s hearts too!

The dream that is most easy to give wings, it seems, needs to be that thing that lights up your soul, truly, deeply, irrevocably. I think dreams are easier to realise if they are aligned with your soul’s purpose. Ie: for me, my dream was wanting to do art, play with colour and bring joy and freedom and creative fire to other people. Why? Because it made me feel alive, joyful, passionate, tingly, excited and over the moon with love!

Once you’re in touch with that soul joy, it’s like a shift happens and you feel aligned with the universe and you know that that is what you need to do.

In my case, I then did indeed that: I started doing and sharing (for free on youtube) the thing that lit up my soul without initially intending to make it into my job (I’d done this for years before, but a lot of my stuff was mixed in with fear-based desires and dreams, which, interestingly: hampers the creative process, ALOT!). But once the joy of creating and sharing was totally soul aligned (broken open I like to say) the universe answered and my dream of living off my art and my joy to help people came true! People started asking me if I taught online, would I please teach etc. And here we are 4/5 years later, I run a pretty successful creative business now, giving me huge amounts of joy and others too! :)

I’m a true believer that if you live your passion (no matter if it makes money at first or not) you will be like a magnet for abundance and the universe will answer your call and help you make that dream come true. It’s like you start to ‘vibrate’ with the universe and stuff just starts to happen! That’s actually more scientific than it may sound! ;)

Your intention is key here. Do what brings joy to your heart and soul and the dream will come true. :) (While, btw, remembering not to lose sight of your ever precious now, expressing gratitude for all you already have, noticing the beauty in the little things, ladybirds and all that!) :) Don’t get so caught up in the dream that you forget to live NOW! :) Find a good balance there.

That’s my two cents (and remember I’m not a dream-realisation guru at all, but I do think I’ve got a point here! :))

Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed that little blurb! If you want to learn more from me business wise, I know I’ve been harping on about my Business Course for a while now, but I’m dedicating April and May to creating my next course, and it will all be about running a successful creative business (I will go super in depth on all that I’ve learned in my 5 years running my business!). Exciting times ahead. If you want to know when you can sign up, be sure to sign up to the newsletter here to keep up to date! :)

Incidentally! I was interviewed by Dawn Bournand from ‘Fabulously Successful‘ Online Blog Talk Radio and the show I was interviewed on airs tonight at 9pm GMT over here. We talk about Business Success and all that sort of thing if you’re interested in listening! :)

And of course, make sure to check out Andrea’s free online e-course and to read the rest of the people on the blog hop list hints and tips on ‘how to give your dreams wings‘. (The blog hop list will be published tomorrow on 8th April BTW!) :) Big hugs lovelies! May all your ~~dreams~~ SOUL PASSIONS come true! :D

The Give Your Dream Wings Blog Hop is a peek inside the process of how inspiring people make the magic happen. We’ve got some of the internet’s most inspiring bloggers sharing how they give their dreams wings – what they do that supports, nurtures and encourages their tender dreams to come to life. This is happening in celebration of the new e-course of the same name by Andrea Schroeder of the Creative Dream Incubator. The Give Your Dream Wings e-course shows you how to nurture and grow YOUR dream, for free, in only 10 minutes a day. You do not have to wait until you have more time or money! to find out about the free e-course, and to read the other (crazy inspiring!) posts in this Blog Hop click here.

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Girlfriends Look after Each Other

April 2, 2014

by Tam

blog hops

Hey ho there beautiful people! :)

I’ve just come back from Bali and have so much to share with you guys. It was a truly life changing experience, but before I write my Bali blog (it’ll take me some time to prep the images and write an epic blog post) I am part of another fun blog hop, demonstrating some new stencils that have just come out by the fabulous Artistcellar! The new stencil series is called: ‘Sacred Hearts’ and they are so beautiful to add to your mixed media pages. Below you’ll see what I did with them. Scroll down further to click on the other bloggers being involved aaaaaand, I can give away 1 set, so if you want to win a set, leave me a comment below telling me the name of your earliest close girlfriend (mine was Miranda) :). Huggles to you beautiful people! :)

Girlfriends really do look after each other. :)

So, the follow the blog hop and to maximise your chance of winning a set make sure to visit the other blogs and check out what they’ve done with the stencils:

March 29th – AC kickoff www.artistcellar.com/wp

March 30th – Jill K Berry http://jillberrydesign.com/2014/03/30/sacred-hearts-fiery-love/

March 31st – Chris Cozen http://chriscozenartist.typepad.com/my-blog/

April 1st –Effy Wild www.effywild.com

April 2nd – Tamara Laporte – www.willowing.org/blog

April 3rd – Guadalupe Brizuela Cabal http://guadasartplace.blogspot.com.ar

If you want to buy the stencils click here and if you want a chance to win a set, leave a comment below telling me the name of your earliest close girlfriend (mine was Miranda).

Ciao for now. xox

Tam

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Elliot’s 2nd Birthday Letter

March 18, 2014

by Tam

family, i love elliot, parenting

When either one of my children has a birthday I write them a birthday letter. :) This is Elliot’s 2nd birthday letter.

Read his birth story here.

Read his 1st birthday letter here.

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Dearest Amazing Elliot,

It was not that long ago that you turned 2. I’ve been meaning to write you this birthday letter for a while now, but life (and often YOU) got in the way! Better late than never right? You’re probably going to disagree with that as in your short life so far, you’re doing everything early, you’re not a late-kind-of-person; from crawling, to walking, to talking: you did it all earlier than the text books said you would. So if my tardiness offends or frustrates you, do accept my apologies my love. My beautiful, amazing, little, round-tummied boy.

Currently, we have a routine, which is that you and I go in the bath each evening just before bed. It’s you, me, a million bath toys (the huge crocodile, horsey, duckies, little spades and buckets) and sometimes your brother comes in too, but it’s usually just you and me. Those times are special times as I get to spend some time alone with you and really soak up your aura, energy and you-ness. You are such a force of life dear Ellie. To be in your presence is to witness the essence of life. That might sound a bit grand but it’s true, you really embody a passionate, fiery life force and you have a huge presence. You’re here, you know? Not always in a loud way vocally (though it CAN be like that), but just by being, you demand attention, in a pleasant sort of way. :)

Sometimes when we’re in the bath, you stand up and your tummy is round and sticks out, you’ve got muscley strong little legs, pudgy arms, huge round eyes and huge round cheeks, crazy, messy, einstein-like hair on your head and you look at me all quizzically but determined and I’m blown away by you, your you-ness. Your beauty and strength and spirit is overwhelming. It’s hard to describe, you really entrance me.

No offense but you also really annoy me sometimes. You’re 2, so it’s in your job description to annoy me, so it’s ok, of course, you have many redeeming qualities, but sometimes you do things that are rather frustrating. For instance, you have a ‘no blankets on mummy policy’ and you enforce it by making it super clear that you are absolutely vehemently against me putting a blanket over my legs when I’m cold. You scream and shout and start pulling the blanket off my legs as if I’ve committed a grave crime. Like, blankets, to you, are like Nazi’s who eat baby dolphins for breakfast while they cackle evilly. How dare I, the mummy, put baby-dolphin-eating-nazis over my legs when I’m cold. It’s preposterous! NO. BLANKETS. ALLOWED. IN. THIS. HOUSE. So I often go around the house cold-legged just to avoid your wrath little one. See? A little annoying.

You can also get highly distressed and upset with me if I cut something ‘the wrong way’, don’t play the same song 1000 times over or if I don’t let you dip both your hands into the yogurt and allow you to smear it all over the furniture. All perfectly understandable reasons for melting down, screaming, shouting, crying and jumping up and down in fury and rage according to you … But you’re 2, it’s what you’re meant to do! ;)

So, how was your second year on this planet, you wonder? Pretty spectacular. You started walking at 9 months, so in your second year you became a very confident walker and runner, you love climbing, you go confidently up stairs and down slides and you have a wonderful time in parks and farms.

You love animals, the first animal you really fell in love with were horses, then ‘edebents or trunks’ (elephants) were your favourites and now you’re back on horses again. You currently own a little miniature horse (made of plastic) and you won’t part from it, you take it everywhere with you, in the bath, to bed, everywhere. It’s adorable.

To my great joy and pride you love painting and drawing! Though you mostly have your own kid art supplies and you draw and paint on paper in the living room, we spent a few afternoons painting on canvas together (with mummy’s paints and in mummy’s studio!) which was SO much fun. You express yourself with a freedom that many of us artists envy. :) A funny fact; at some point you were obsessed with a brown marker which you called: ‘lochlet’ (chocolate) and you called the green marker: ‘grass’.

You are a food champion! While your big bro is a fussy and picky eater, you love trying many things (though not so much veg) but you’ll eat rice, peas, houmous, olives and you like spicey things and quiches too, the foods you’re willing to eat are impressive for a little one like you! We finished breastfeeding just after you turned 2. You weren’t super happy about this one, but we had to stop due to my medication, and because we did it gradually it was pretty painless, thanks for that dear Ellie.

For the most part of your second year you continued to sleep pretty badly, often waking in the night between 3 to 7 times. You can imagine how I was on the verge of breaking down by the end of your 2nd year, and finally I had to say to your daddy: please sort it out, because I was just not able to cope anymore. And guess what? He did sort it out. In the most loving, gentle and amazing way. He basically sat with you each night to help you to go to sleep. He did this for about 2 weeks and you are now a SLEEP TROOPER! You don’t know the difference this makes to both our sanity. The relief is unimaginable dear Ellie, thank you.

Talking is going well. You 2 year olds are the funnest when it comes to learning to talk. Here is a list of my favourite current Elliot-isms:

Apples = papples
Pears = papples
Anything that is hot or warm = hottee (because your dad always warns you of the ‘hot tea’ in his cup, you’ve come to believe that anything that is hot is called: ‘hottee’. So the warm water in the bath is also: hottee.
Elephant = either ‘trunk’ or ‘edebent’
Ice cream = ide krem
Finger = dingdaa
Come on= nahmon!
Fish = pisch
Lion = lilon
Up high = tupphi
Rabbit = babbitt
Makka Pakka = gappa tappah
Nice and warm = niceywarm (one word)
What’s that noise? = nick nack noise?
Hippo = pippo
Jumping = shumping
Motorbike = mokkibike
Pussycat = pootiecat

ADORABLE right?!

Dear beautiful angel Ellie, as hard as it is to live life with a 2 year old and a wilful one at that, I adore you. I. Adore. You. You have wrapped me around your little finger so tight, I won’t ever let go ok? I marvel at your soulful spirit, your life force, your joy (you have so much joy, you often burst out in dance and song out of nowhere), you’re such a happy kid and I feel so proud of you because of your joy and enjoyment of life. You’re amazing and beautiful and I’m so grateful that you completed our family of 4. Life wouldn’t be the same without you (slightly less crazy but also much less fun if you weren’t there – ha!).

You’ve got my heart little boy with the round tummy. I love you I love you I love you.

Your mummy.

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31 facts about Tam you probably didn’t know – :) for funsies

March 6, 2014

by Tam

life

Hey there the worlds! It’s been a while! :) So sorry, I’ve been sort of hibernating lately, very needed, it’s cold here and wintry and blustery and for the last 5 years I’ve simply taken on too much. So, I’ve been retreating somewhat to recoop, ya know?

I have so may things I want to write about, like the fact that I’m going to Bali soon (eeeeh!), about the weekend workshop with Gillian Riley I went on recently, blogs about social media and selfies, all the new art I’ve started and finished (best to follow me on instagram for those updates) and don’t even talk to me about Elliot’s 2nd birthday letter (man, he’s been two for about 3 months now!), but all those posts take long and require an emotional depth that I currently can’t offer. :) So instead, today -for funsies- I thought I’d share “31 facts about Tam you probably didn’t know and maybe didn’t want to know but now you can’t un-see them so thanks Tam”. It’s light, it’s fun, it’s easy and less emotionally demanding of me. :)

Here we go everyone hold on to your knickers!

1. I’m ridiculously good at mirror-writing, like, RIDICULOUSLY good, also, upside down writing I’m pretty good at. Why? No clue. Probably so that I can include it in ‘facts you didn’t know about me’ lists.

2. I no longer have a gall bladder. It was surgically removed when I was about 17 years old because I used to get gall stone attacks leaving me in excruciating pain.

3. Dylan, my first-born, was conceived through IVF. I did the whole shebang, injecting hormones, having eggs collected etc. Instead of disliking the process, I loved it because it made me feel in control & empowered.

4. My favourite food by far is cheese. All kinds; French, Dutch, old, new, goats, cows etc. Closely followed and sometimes rivaled by avocados.

5. I love sleeping but hate going to bed. I procrastinate and put off going to bed for as long as I can, but then when I’m finally asleep I’d rather not wake up for about 11 hours. This also makes me a night owl.

6. I’m a highly sensitive person and an empath. This means that I feel my emotions as well as the emotions of others (through empathy) intensely, sometimes to the extent of paralysis. When people encourage me to ‘feel my feelings’ (thanks therapist) they don’t always know what that means for me.

7. My mother was born in Indonesia as was my step-dad. I am in part Indonesian. I grew up with a lot of Indonesian food/ references and some of the language also (I can swear in Malaysian, lol). Going to Bali soon is a bit like going back to very far away roots!

8. I am a qualified hypnotherapist & nlp practitioner. I’m also a Non-Violent Communication practitioner.

9. I rarely wear matching socks. I can’t be bothered keeping the matched pairs together and I like the quirky-ness of that. Case in point:

10. I once had a 2 year relationship with a woman. I don’t, however, identify as bi-sexual nor as homo-, hetero-, trans- or pansexual for that matter. For me the emphasis of defining my relationships has never been on the sex part, so I don’t define myself that way. This confuses & sometimes frustrates people (including some gay-identified ones). I’m ok with that.

11. I’m obviously pro gay-rights but that has little to do with my own previous same-sex relationship and all with my feeling passionate about human rights & equality. I often can’t believe that people are still wasting their time on figuring this one out. To me it’s crystal clear that all humans should have the same human rights no matter who they decide to love (as long as it’s consensual), I think all the energy debating this should be spent on actual proper problems like global warming.

12. I have 1 younger brother who I love very much.

13. I’m an introvert. As in: I recharge my batteries through being alone as opposed to extroverts who recharge by being surrounded by others. I love alone time though fear loneliness and being permanently alone. Recharging like an introvert has its difficulties with 2 young kids under 5 as they follow me everywhere I go, including the bathroom.

14. I thought raisins grew on trees until I was 19 years old. (That was a proud proud moment).

15. My middle name is Wilhelmina. Named after my paternal grandfather who died before I ever met him, his name was ‘Willem’ (William). The “willowing” name was partly derived from that name too. There was also a Dutch Queen named Wilhelmina though my mother did not name me after her.

16. The ‘Laporte’ side of my family has ‘aristocratic’ blood which means that I have a far-away family member who currently lives on/ owns a castle in Holland somewhere. Cool huh? My mum used to spend some of her holidays there as a child. I’ve never been inside though nor are we in touch we the castle owners (lol) now. :)

17. Against the odds, Elliot, my second-born, was conceived naturally. We didn’t think it would happen and when we were in the IVF clinic discussing another embryo transfer (from Dylan’s cycle), we were already pregnant with him!

18. I really dislike drinking hot drinks. I drink them sometimes if I’m cold or if I think they’re healthy (like green tea) but I much prefer to drink cold drinks.

19. I lived in Sri Lanka, Colombo for 2.5 years and worked in a school as a Drama/ Music & Art Teacher. Loved. It. One of the funnest jobs I’ve ever had.

20. I left Thailand the morning of the 2004 Tsunami and was in a plane that was literally flying over the Tsunami. For about 12 hours my family and friends were frantically trying to find out if I was affected by the Tsunami or not.

21. I don’t smoke, drink or do drugs. I strongly dislike the taste of alcohol. If you ask me to drink wine (no matter how good the quality) it’s like you’re asking me to drink petrol. On the rare occassion I do drink, I do so to get drunk as that’s sometimes quite fun. The last time I was drunk though was probably 8 years ago.

22. I have a tattoo on my back just under my neck between my shoulder blades of the ‘om’ sign. I got it when I was 26 and have never regretted it. I love it still. The om sign is the sound Buddhists/ Hindus make when they meditate ‘ooooohm’ and is said to be the sound that resonates with the vibrations of the universe (of course, I gotta have it on my back! ;))

23. I’m a huge stand-up comedy fan. Some of my favourite comedians are: Louis CK, Eddie Izzard, Bill Bailey & Dylan Moran.

24. I’m very sensitive to smell. I notice smells before other people do and I buy shampoos and face creams based on what they smell like, not on what their purpose is (lol), this because it’ll make me sick if the smell is slightly off for me and I have to smell it all day if it’s in my hair or on my face.

25. I studied psychology at Birckbeck University in London, Art at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Amsterdam & Music at Goldsmith’s Univeristy in London. I didn’t finish any of those courses.

26. I audtioned for the second year of ‘Big Brother’ in the UK and got selected to the second ‘pre-round’ – LUCKILY I didn’t make it to the show, lol, I know that now – dodged a bullet there!

27. Before my RA really screwed up my knee joints I used to wear mostly and only high-heeled shoes, I did not even own a pair that didn’t have high or plateau heels. I even used to climb trees in them. Now, I’m ALL about the comfort and ease and wear mostly Ugg boots or other comfy shoes, I also couldn’t wear high heels anymore as it really hurts my knee joints, but I wouldn’t want to anymore, all I want is comfort & ease now, hee hee.

28. I breastfed my first-born until he was 3 years old, the 2nd one was breastfed until he turned 2.

29. Winnie the Pooh is one of my greatest role models, I strive to embody his ‘being-in-the-now-ness’.

30. My hands are badly deformed due to Rheumatoid Arthritis yet they don’t hurt and are still 95% functional and create pretty kick ass art :)

31. My mum named me Tamara after a Russian Opera Singer called Tamara Barushka

Your turn! :D If you write your own 31 facts about you, leave your name and blog address below so I can check yours out! :)

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You have gifts, share them. Shine your light babe.

January 30, 2014

by Tam

inner critic, uplifting

Talking to a treasured friend today who was dealing with some inner gremlins got me thinking about how so many of us live with that little inner passenger who just won’t let us shine, thrive, grow & BE the shining stars that we all are. Our inner critic can have a devastating impact on our confidence and subsequently; our joy, our ability to simply live, to create wildly, to be, thrive, grow and DANCE.

It makes me so sad. SO sad. I so want everyone to live lightly, laugh loudly, make art like no one is watching. It breaks my heart when I think many of us are weighed down by negative inner talk about who we are or how we’re not good enough, or how we’re so much less than xyz person who you admire. I so wish for all of us: no inner limits, no inner gremlins stifling you, making you sad, stopping you from making a colourful beautiful paint mess… Just happy creating and being. Is what I want for all human beings.

Imagine if we did not have inner critic and we were able to just live joyfully, shining our light however way we wanted, without shame or fear of judgement. We would not hide. We would not make ourselves small, we would embody LIGHT and we would have it spill out and over into others and we would all be dancing in some kind of beautiful light fest fireworks party.

On Life Book (and generally on my courses) I am passionate about dealing with the inner critic and many people do feel free-er and happier to just make their art, but some have to deal with an inner critic that’s been there for years, so it’s not always easy to overcome that inner critic, it requires some work but it’s amazing to see when some people can work through it and then embrace their own unique voice with more joy and less fear & shame.

This is what I want you to know dear friend:

You are so treasured. So loved. You have gifts, share them. Create with wild abundance, don’t worry about the outcome, create freely, wildly, explosively. Everything can be learned. You can do this. If you want your art to become ‘better’, it CAN get better, but it is worthy NOW. Your existence, your being, your youness is SO SO important, special, unique. You are NOT less than. You are a shining soul, a part of the whole, vitally important to the unity of it all. Stop comparing you to other. Stop comparing your creations to others’. Your story, your unique presence is as vitally relevant and as important as someone else’s story/ presence. There is nothing more important than infusing your creations with your YOUness and to embrace where YOU are on YOUR unique, amazing journey. Know this: you are not alone in this. We are all connected. We are all part of a greater whole and though we may seem and feel separate and alone at times; it’s an illusion, that feeling of unworthiness is also an illusion. As Hafiz says:

“I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being.”

Darling, don’t give up.

Don’t. give. up.

Follow the call.

Keep pursuing your passion without excuse.

Love your quirky unique self.

You are BLISS.

KNOW that you have things to offer.

Pay attention to how needed you are.

There is space for all of us.

You and I dance together in this.

I’m not over here, and you over there, we are both here, holding hands.

I believe in you. I love you as you are, perfect being.

Let’s keep on dancing, not hiding, let’s keep dancing, big dance moves, large shapes, celebrate your youness babe with ‘bigness’. It is ok for you to be seen and heard and loved!

Shine your light. It’s welcomed, I love your light, I love it.

***

From my soulheart to yours, an early valentine message.

Thank you for reading blessed being, you have no idea how important you are…

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Some WIPS for the weekend!

January 24, 2014

by Tam

life book, mixed media

Hello!

I planned a blog post a couple of days ago but bubbles got in the way! ;) So here is a quick one.

Update on me! Since I allowed myself to touch and accept the bottomless pit of despair (lol, sounds like a Greek Drama!), everything has been feeling lighter. I’m under no delusion to think that all my problems are miraculously fixed now. Oh no, but I’m also just surrendering to the happy, if and when it’s there. Living presence and acceptance as much as I can, basically and so far so good. :)

One thing I’m ALSO surrendering too is my ink spray obsession! (Hee). I just can’t get enough of splattering, dripping and spraying ink around. Today I’ve been filming my Life Book lesson for February all day. SO much fun. So much colour joy. <3

Here is some current work in journals, on paper and canvas!

This one was created for my next Life Book lesson:

We’re also creating this one in my next Life book lesson, we’re exploring composition and ‘negative space’ in this one:

I loved first layout so much that I also did a version on canvas (it’s huge but you don’t really get that from the picture – also the colours are a bit off, but you get a feel for it) WIP:

And this is a new WIP I started today:

A fun inky journal spread:

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New Mini Classes Released! :)

January 20, 2014

by Tam

art workshops, mixed media

Excited to announce that I have a few new (or previously elsewhere published) mini classes available! :) I love publishing these, because they are affordable, great for beginners or for people who are new to my work and just want to check out some short(er) projects before joining a larger project like Life Book, and they are awesome because I share my process in great depth from beginning to end. All my mini lessons also come with a detailed PDF so you’re all set to really capture and understand all the techniques. Yay! :)

Some of these classes were previously published as part of Life Book 2012 & Life Book 2013, others were part of collaborative art courses like 21 Secrets & Angels in My Studio (my Mixed Media Art Doll published for Artsy Ornaments will be available as a standalone lesson later this year).

I hope you’re interested in joining 1, 2 or more of them (if you haven’t already!) If you want to sign up for more than 1, make sure to scroll all the way down to get a good discount! (You can get up to 52% off if you buy 6 mini classes!) :) The more you buy, the higher your discount – yay! :D Each mini class is usually sold for £17.50 each, but if you buy more, then discounts are applied. :)

Please note: Unfortunately, if you’ve bought any of the mini classes as singles before, we won’t be able to refund you the discount in retrospect, very sorry about that!

So here is what’s on offer! :))

The Whimsy Sailor – First published as part of Life Book 2013, this was one of the most popular lessons. The class focuses on creating a little Whimsy Sailor on a Boat. Techniques include drawing/ shading/ dressing a whimsy character and creating a beautifully layered and textured background with the use of texture paste, collage and painting. This lesson includes a personal development theme which focuses on self-empathy helping you to embrace all parts of you, including the darker parts. Includes almost 2 hours worth of video, a detailed PDF, no time limit on group access & downloadable videos. Join now by clicking here, or scroll down for discounted special offers if you want to buy more than 1 mini class.

Inner Artist Guardian – This class was first published as part of “Angels in my Studio”. It starts with a meditation through which we will be calling upon our inner guardian (angel) & connecting with our inherent angel or personal healing energy. I like to believe we have all we need to know, to help us heal and grow within us. I will lead you through a healing exercise which will inform a mixed media art piece incorporating collage, paint, drawing and words. I will also cover how to draw/ paint a creature with wings representing your inner guardian angel, similar to the one in the image on the side. We will explore a variety of materials like acrylics, water-soluble crayons, moulding paste, collage and much more! Includes a 12 minute meditation, 2 hours worth of video, a detailed PDF, no time limit on group access & downloadable videos. Join now by clicking here, or scroll down for discounted special offers if you want to buy more than 1 mini class.

Lettering with Willowing – Do you struggle with your lettering and handwriting? This lesson (first published as part of Life Book 2012) helps you explore font types, different lettering styles, your own handwriting and looks at how to incorporate lettering into a piece of art effectively. This class contains 2 projects. The first is the creation of a monthly calendar, with daily segments. You are encouraged to keep a record of your days by describing them in one or two words and using your new lettering skills to do so. The second project covers creating a page with a semi-side portrait and supporting character while also including words/ lettering effectively. This one is good fun and really gives you a lot of suggestions around lettering! :) Includes more than 3.5 hours worth of video, a detailed PDF, no time limit on group access & downloadable videos. Join now by clicking here, or scroll down for discounted special offers if you want to buy more than 1 mini class.

Halloween Queen – First published as part of Life Book 2013 in October, this lesson has a ‘Halloween’ focus but could be adapted to other holidays or can be done simply without a holiday theme. The technique focuses on creating a contrasted portrait through ‘paint over collage’. Comes with in an depth PDF and xx hrs worth of video instruction. Join now by clicking here, or scroll down for special offers if you want to buy more than 1 mini class. Includes 2 hours worth of video, a detailed PDF, no time limit on group access & downloadable videos. Join now by clicking here, or scroll down for discounted special offers if you want to buy more than 1 mini class.

Quirky Birds - One of the most popular lessons published on Life Book 2013 is now available as a standalone lesson! These Quirky Birds are cute, funny, sweet, adorable and they want you to create them toooooo! ;) Seriously, they are such good fun to make: it’s so playful and freeing to create these child-like creatures, I hope you’ll join and create some, they’ll bring a sparkle and a smile to your day! :D Includes almost 3 hours worth of video, a detailed PDF, no time limit on group access, downloadable videos, a boatload of fun – Join now by clicking here, or scroll down for discounted special offers if you want to buy more than 1 mini class.

Soulful Shapes – Want to learn more about making your own rubber stamps, gelli-printing and using stencils as masks? Then this is a great mini lesson to join! You can make AWESOME art without the use of a pencils or paint-brush. No drawing needed! You can make beautiful soulful shapes by combining these great techniques. Make your own rubber stamps, learn to use the gelli plate to create fabulous backgrounds and epxlore how versatile stencils are! :) Join now by clicking here, or scroll down for special offers if you want to buy more than 1 mini class. Includes 1.5 hours worth of video, a detailed PDF, no time limit on group access & downloadable videos. Join now by clicking here, or scroll down for discounted special offers if you want to buy more than 1 mini class.

Little Whimsy Friends – Learn to create a little celebrating whimsy with cute little friends! :) This lesson was first published as part of Life Book 2012 and shows you how to draw, shade and dress a lovely whimsy character (full bodied) with little animal friends. We also cover how to create a grungy/ distressed background. Includes almost 2 hours worth of video, a detailed PDF, no time limit on group access & downloadable videos. Join now by clicking here, or scroll down for discounted special offers if you want to buy more than 1 mini class.

Want to buy more than 1 mini class at a discounted price?

You can! yay! :0)

(PPS. All prices are listed in GBP – if you want to know what the prices are in other currencies you can find out really easily by going here: http://www.xe.com/)

If you want to combine any of my new mini classes with any of my older ones, that is cool too! Just put the names of the classes you want in the text box when you order them. Here is a list of my previously published mini classes:

Summer Gypsy – In this summer class you will learn how to create a beautiful mixed media portrait in a ‘Gypsy’/ ‘Summery’ style. The portrait is a front-facing one. The workshop lasts about 2.5 hours and comes with a 14 page in depth PDF. You can download and keep all the content and you’ll get access to the group forever! I’ve also created a special Facebook Group where you can share you work with other students. Please note: this class is a ‘self-study’ class which means I’m not around for feedback. Costs: £17.50 GBP (approx $25 USD) (You can sign up for this individual class by clicking here, or scroll up to buy more than 1 class and get a discount!)

Summer Goddess – In this summer class you will learn how to create a beautiful mixed media portrait in a ‘Goddess’/ ‘Summery’ style. The portrait is a 3/4 one. The workshop lasts about 2.2 hours and comes with a 12 page in depth PDF. You can download and keep all the content and you’ll get access to the group forever! I’ve also created a special Facebook Group where you can share you work with other students. Please note: this class is a ‘self-study’ class which means I’m not around for feedback. Costs: £17.50 GBP (approx $25 USD) (You can sign up for this individual class by clicking here, or scroll up to buy more than 1 class and get a discount!)

Summer Fae – In this summer class you will learn how to create a beautiful mixed media portrait in a ‘Fairy’/ ‘Summery’ style. The portrait is a profile one. The workshop lasts approx 2 hours and comes with a 13 page in depth PDF. You can download and keep all the content and you’ll get access to the group forever! I’ve also created a special Facebook Group where you can share you work with other students. Please note: this class is a ‘self-study’ class which means I’m not around for feedback. Costs: £17.50 GBP (approx $25 USD) (You can sign up for this individual class by clicking here, or click here to sign up for more classes and get a discount!)

A Christmas Whimsy - Learn to create a wonderful Christmas Whimsy Girl on a snowy beautiful background. In this lesson I show you how to draw/ shade and dress your whimsy girl and how to create a beautiful snowy/ wintery background. All videos are downloadable, comes with a detailed PDF, 2.5 hours worth of video, and guidance on how to reproduce your painting to use for creating Christmas Cards on moo.com – Join Now by clicking here, or buy as part of a group of mini classes @ a discount (scroll up or down for options).

Summer Girls - Learn to create a beautiful kind-faced girl on a summery warm, textured and layered background with Tam from Willowing Arts! In this 2.5 hour mini workshop I cover how to build a body onto basic shapes, facial proportions, layering and creating texture for your background. Come join the 250+ who have already joined and are having fun creating their beautiful Summer Girls! :) – Join Now by clicking here, or buy as part of a group of mini classes @ a discount (scroll up or down for options).

Collage, Paint & Soul – This is a 2 hour workshop in which I show you how to create (from beginning to end) one of my ‘paint over collage’ pieces. This workshop recently ran on 21 Secrets where it proved to be a very popular class. :) It is now available as a standalone workshop on willowing.ning.com at the very low low rate of only £17.50 GBP. You will be given access to the self study group within 24-48 hours. :) Hope you’ll join! – Join Now by clicking here, or buy as part of a group of mini classes @ a discount (scroll up or down for options).

Buy more than 1 mini class

(Choose any combination of classes) and receive a hefty discount! :)) (up to 52% if you buy 6 classes!)

(Please note: if you want to buy more than 6, you’ll have to do it in 2 lots, ie: if 8 then buy 6 + 2 etc)

(PPS. All prices are listed in GBP – if you want to know what the prices are in other currencies you can find out really easily by going here: http://www.xe.com/)

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Welcome!

Available Art Courses

Big Spring Give Away (Closed) & Stuff! :D

Water, Art & Soul – A New Mini Course Available! :)

Winner of Give Away & Some New Art

Giving Your Dreams Wings

Girlfriends Look after Each Other

Elliot’s 2nd Birthday Letter

31 facts about Tam you probably didn’t know – :) for funsies

You have gifts, share them. Shine your light babe.

“I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being.”

Some WIPS for the weekend!

New Mini Classes Released! :)

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