Spillin' the Beenz

Welcome Friends to my New and Improved Blog!

I hope you will really enjoy all of the changes I have made, both in style and direction. Thank you for being so patient as I made changes and left it stagnant for so long. I believe with all of my heart that 2013 is going to be an outstanding year!!! I can just feel it in my spirit. Because of this, I figured now was the time to make my blog reflect that.

As most of you know I have had some ongoing health problems over the past couple of years. I am happy to report that I feel FANTASTIC and have for several months now! Before I got sick I was a happy little blogger sharing daily the happenings in my life and in my studio. I looked forward each night to getting on my blog and inviting you all into my world. I loved sharing the funny things that Monkey and Bug did that day, or showing you the new art I had created. As I felt worse and worse and was relegated to working on my over crowded dining room table (it was over crowded because my entire studio was on it) I just didn’t feel like sharing. It didn’t seem like there was much worthy of sharing. No one wants to go to a blog and hear how bad someone feels all of the time. We want to go and be inspired or at least be entertained. So slowly I stopped posting on any regular basis. Then I just frankly had gotten out of practice and really wasn’t happy with where my blog was going anymore. There have been A LOT of changes in my life over the past 6 months or so, and my blog just wasn’t reflecting any of those changes.

So here we are, in the first month of the New Year and I am excited! I am excited to share the changes that have been going on in my life. I am excited to share my new blog with you and I am excited to start sharing my art and passions with you once again!

So let’s step back in time to July 2012 shall we, and I will walk you through some of the changes that have been going on with me over the past 6 months.

In July I stopped watching my granddaughters. I just didn’t feel able to do it any longer. I felt so bad all of the time, and I did not want them to remember me as the cranky Amma (that is what they call me). Also, Monkey was starting school, and I wasn’t sure I would be reliable enough to get her to and from school each day.  So the decision was made that Bryanna would quit her job in July to become a SAHM.

I really sweated this decision, but as it turns out it was the best for EVEYONE!!! Bryanna loves being home, the girls love having her home, and Monkey is doing great in school; it has been good for me personally, too.

By July I had gotten really tired of feeling bad. I was tired of the doctors being unable to help. I was tired of not being allowed in part of my own home because it made me even sicker. I remember walking out to the garage one day to get something, and I was half-heartedly praying about my health like I had been doing for months, when I realized I was the problem not HIM! I was doing everything half-heartedly. Working at my health, working at my family life, working at my spiritual life and working at my creative life all with just half a heart! So at that moment I got on my knees in that dirty garage (remember this neat freak had been too sick to sweep a garage) and I prayed like I hadn’t prayed in years! I wanted with ALL of my heart to be well. I wanted with ALL of my heart to be happy and creative and to be in relationship with my Father like I used to be! So I made some decisions and then I worked HARD to make those decisions a reality!

 

I started off with things I thought were within my power to take care of. Since I wouldn’t have the girls here every day any longer I switched rooms with them. My studio is now in what used to be their play room and vise versa. That was all well and good but I needed furniture (since I had to get rid of all my old stuff) and I had no money. You might think I am crazy but I prayed for it and I got it! (you can read more about that here if you are interested.)

At the same time I started working on my spiritual life. If you didn’t know this already I have been a Christian all of my life (although the past few years my life didn’t really show it) I was raised in a Christian home by 2 Godly parents and I have never known a time during my life that I didn’t know that God loved me. I was even a youth pastor for several years (the happiest time of my life). So I know the POWER there is when you are walking daily in relationship with The Father! I started going back to my church, I started really praying again and I started reading and studying my Bible again. It has been such a remarkable and exciting time in my life to see how He is working in my life!

My art suddenly took a change at this time as well (my Mom calls it “messy” now). It is as if there is a whole new Marta at work here. Not only has the style of my art been transformed so has the content. For as long as I have had a studio of my own (about 14 years now) I have had a quote hanging in there. It simply says “Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God!” I have always used this as a guide while I worked on my art and felt as if God wanted me to create (use my talent), but He wanted me to do it for the good of others. This is why I have never taken payment for photos I do for people and why I am always willing to have people in my home that want to learn how to do something or just need some help with a project. But now I see that the content of my art can “be for the good of others”too. If my art can convey a message of hope and of purpose I feel I am using my talent the way God always intended, and I am happy to give Him that gift.

I have taken the time in these past months to weed out some things that are not necessary or beneficial to me in my life. And I have also taken the time to infuse some new things that are. I am working hard at being more productive in all areas of my life. Something that I had sadly, gotten out practice on in the past few years. It feels amazingly good to see my life coming back together and I want to share that with all of you that take time to visit my blog. So there are some changes happening here.

Of course I will still be sharing my art with you and keeping you up to date on classes that I will be teaching. I will still share about the normal day-to-day things that are happening in my little corner of the world. But I also want to share with you all what God is doing in my life. This does not mean you will pop on to Spillin’ the Beenz and find a sermon posted (well anyways that’s not the plan). I just want to share my joy with you and encourage you along the way.

So that’s the plan, the new direction I am going in with my blog. I hope you will enjoy it and visit often! So as you can see there are several new things on the blog – take a moment if you like to look around and click on all of the new links. Not everything is completely finished yet but it’s getting there.  Here are a few of the new things I have added for you. . .

You can access any of these new pages on the right sidebar or from the tabs at the top of the blog.

 ”About Me” page. It is really ridiculously l o n g and just nonsense but there are some funny pictures of my different hairstyles throughout the years and some strange facts you might not know about me.

“Take a Class” page is all set up for you and has all of my class dates through May. Now, that does not mean there is a class sample posted for each of the dates. I mean I am really getting organized, but that is just way over the top! You can check here to see the class samples, check dates and times and get the supply list for the class.

“His Word” page is not finished yet – it is still under construction. But eventually I would like to have some Bible studies available for you there and some other inspirational tools and information.

“My Gallery” Page is also still under construction. But you will find pictures and info on past projects I have done and links to some of my online galleries.

“Doodles” is another page still under construction. But I want to share with you some of the doodles I have been doing. I started doing Zentangles and doodles when I was sick and couldn’t do much else. Trust me I have never been able to draw even a stick figure, so if I can doodle YOU can doodle. It is a great stress reliever and you can do it anywhere!

“Original Art for Sale” is up but there isn’t much on there right now. But be on the lookout I will be adding things soon!

“Kits & Instructions” is up and running. It is just like it was before.

“My Art Journals” Page is also new and it is ready. But it will change as I do more pages in my journals so check back often.

“My Studio Tour” is under construction just like my studio is. When I get the new shelving hung and everything painted I will take some pictures and share with you.

Thanks again for hanging out with me. I promise the next post will have photos and stories for you!  Please leave a comment and let me know what you think about the changes.

Till we meet again. . . .