The Best of 2011

I had a Top Ten list all planned out. Last week, I gathered my thoughts and wrote them down. I was going to call it "Top Ten 'Tude Tune-Ups of 2011."

But do you know what they all boiled down to?

YOU!!!

That's right. You.

Because if you are reading this, YOU are one of the fine folks who lifted me up and carried me through this bright and shiny year. With your love, your kindness. Humor. Compassion. Company. Pocketbooks. Tweets. Consideration. Joy. Open-ness. Patience. Bravery. And I want to thank you for making this 5oth year of mine truly one of the best in my life.

On December 31, 2010, I was pretty darned misanthropic. Then 2011 came along and BAM -- you all whipped out the most amazing energy that wiped that misanthropic slate clean and made me A Happy Camper.

Yes. Now, here, at the end of December 2011, I am A Happy Camper.

Sure, as the psychologists and coaches and everyone will tell you, a big part of that shift is because I did some work (kicking and screaming) on my own misanthropic portion of myself. Sure, I am proud of that, and I encourage anyone who wants to do it: do it, too!

But do you know what? If it was not for the love from all of you that came rushing up to great me every step of the way . . . who knows whether I would have kept up the work? But it was never, ever even a question. Because every single time I began to open up and let the world see my heart, you guys lifted me up.

You sent me tweets and became my friends. You posted hilarious and encouraging words and pictures on Facebook. You gave great art classes, and came to mine. You invited me to become parts of your groups. You bought my products. (Never underestimate how good this makes artists feel . . . .) You posted your goals and musings on this blog. You liked Bean Up The Nose Art's Facebook page. You learned to play the drum with me. You spent precious weekend time coming out to fairs and saying hi. You bought, and read, and posted reviews about my e-book. You celebrated my 50th birthday with me. You took me to lunch and dinner and laughed at my jokes and asked for advice. You ceaselessly offered support and care, and just the best and finest love a person could ask for. You did an awesome, awesome job.

You a co-conspirator and collaborator in my 2011 happiness. I salute your you-ness, and will be forever grateful for it. I wish that I could reach right through this post and give you the big, gigantic hug that you deserve. (And that, for the first time in my life -- at age 50! -- I feel comfortable and happy giving, instead of shy and embarrassed by.)

Here's wishing you the best next new year ever. Looking forward to the mutual lifting for years to come. BECAUSE YOU RULE!!!!!

It's About Time

Once again.

Because, yes, I do recognize that what I've written about so often this fall is time . . . in its geologic form (that post's here) . . . how it matters to me more than money (post's here) . . . and about what I planned to accomplish as it passed (here) . . . .

It's clearly a recurring theme of mine right now.

And I'm not done with it.

Back at the beginning of this last quarter of 2011, we made some plans.

For example, fabulous Kate Barrengos logged on and committed to completing 10 new paintings by the end of the year. AND SHE DID IT!!! Click here to see the wonderful gallery of the new pieces. (That one of the scissors . . . I need it. Bad. Such a symbol of cutting out pieces for collage art, and of cutting things out of one's life that no longer serve.)

For another example, awesome Maria Benet logged on and said she wanted to finish her book of poetry, re-tool her graphic and coding skills, and get the poetry book up on-line. AND SHE DID IT!!!! Click here to find her luminous A Month of Haiku, Unraveled at amazon.com.

Now, what about me?

I got lots of things accomplished that I set out as goals in that "4th Quarter" post. New card art's in the mix. Cafe Press store is up. (Click here to see . . . and shop.) Kindle e-book is, too. (Click here for $3.99 worth of DIY tips from me on starting to make your art your business.)

And along with this, other things fell onto my plate. I got to spread my wings and teach my first four-hour art class. I ended up taking an eight-week, on-line class myself -- "Creative + Practice," from Lisa Sonora Beam -- in which I've re-tooled the way I'm going to be doing art and art business going forward in 2012. I completely lucked out and received many kind custom orders for holiday cards, which I loved working on. And, in a leap calculated to hurdle myself over my bookkeeping procrastination, I'm on track to finish 2011 bookkeeping by this Friday -- much earlier than the April-tax-time work I did for 2010's bookeeping.

Which is to say that when the clock strikes midnight on December 31, I figure I've got about two weeks worth of work left before 2012 should be over.

So guess what?

I'm declaring my own personal 2011 ends on January 15.

That's right.

We've got two more weeks to play with.

Let's make them count.

And let's do something else, too.

As long as we're making time fit our own schedules, let's declare that we can start our New Year's resolutions NOW. That's right. BEFORE JANUARY 1. Yep. Trick those little suckers. Trick yourself. Get a jump on what you're afraid of, or dreading, or resisting for whatever reason . . . and START TODAY. You will feel so much better for having done so.

Got a resolution? Got stuff you want to accomplish by our-newly-agreed-upon January 15 "end of the year?" Let us know!

Howdy, Darkness!

Depending upon your calendar, either today or tomorrow is the Winter Solstice.

In the northern hemisphere, the shortest day of the year. The fewest hours of the 24 with light. The longest night of the year.

All ways to say: the darkest.

To this, I am now bravely (for me) saying, "HOWDY, DARKNESS!"

Because for decades, what I have been doing instead is breathing a big sigh of relief on this day. I have shouted, "I MADE IT!" I have called my similarly-sad-about-darkness friends and shouted on the phone to them, "WE MADE IT!"

All of this in celebration of the fact that, from here on out, it gets lighter and lighter every day . . . until June 21, when we hit the longest, brightest day of the year.

Because I have dreaded the dark. To me, darkness feels like the opposite of everything I like: light, energy, movement. Those are things things with which I feel most comfortable and happy and at ease and in the zone.

But more and more, I have been thinking darkness gets a bad rap. More and more, I've been thinking I myself have been giving darkness a bad rap.

Life is not all about the light. Life is also about the shadows, the retreats, the stillness, the waiting, the blackboard with nothing yet written on it.

Life, all of our lives, are composed of both light and dark, and all the shades in between.

I am tired of battling with and being uncomfortable with the shadows. They are there. They serve a purpose. They have their own beauty and being and necessity. We all have our places where the shadows live.

Nothing is light all the time. Nothing is enthusiastic and kind all of the time. There are days and times when frustration, anger, sadness and feelings of total futility take over. We can sit with those feelings. We are big enough containers to hold them, to feel them and say, "I recognize your point of view."

Even the shadows need to be heard. The older I get, the less productive it feels to push voices down or put them away in boxes -- even if they are cranky (or worse). We can listen. We can choose with love how to treat them.

They are all parts of ourselves, and we all have them.

Weary, in the way this dark time of year so perfectly encapsulates, of pushing against. Wanting instead to embrace our wholeness -- that we are all whole people, composed of lights AND darknesses, and wanting us to stop feeling embarrassed or ashamed about it. Hoping more love and authenticity comes pouring forth out of the place where we accept this, instead of pushing it out of our consciousnesses. And especially, instead of thinking that others are dark, others are bad, others are evil (whatever that is, and I'm still not sure) and we are the ones who never are.

And so, dark places in life, I say thank you for all that you provide and teach and fill out in the world. Thank you for what we learn from you about ourselves and each other. Here's to more and more acceptance of the fullness of ourselves, with less shame and more truth.

How To: Write A Thank You Note

It's the holiday time of year. Which means, among many other things, that it's likely you're going to be writing some thank you notes for gifts.

Gifts?!?!?!? Yay! So kind! So fun! So generous of folks!

But thank you notes?

Ummmmm.

What do we say? When? Uh . . . . .

Here are some tips to help.

How to Start

According to Margaret Shepherd in The Art of the Personal Letter, a good place to start is "by mentioning the gift by name, and describe how you benefited." Let the giver know how you appreciated what she gave to you.

Words to Use

Here are some great "thank you" words and their companion friends:

* grateful

* kind

* glad

* generous

* appreciate

* enjoy

* thankful

Be specific

Let the giver know specifically what he did or gave that you appreciated. In other words, "Your hand-delivered turkey pot pie sure warmed my tummy last Tuesday night!" instead of, "You are such a good person! I don't know how I'm ever going to repay you." In the same vein, be realistic about the transaction. Don't exaggerate indebtedness, affect, etc. Just be kindly grateful.

Focus on the gift

Write most about what you liked that the giver did. If there are things about which you feel ill-at-ease -- from being late with the note to not giving back in kind, or anything else -- try to work it out for yourself, instead of writing out your distress in the thank you letter. Indeed, if you feel like you wish you gave more, or wrote a letter earlier, one of the nicest things you can do is write a very, very kind note . . . in which you do not lament that you suck. (Which you probably don't, anyway.)

When to send

In this day of e-mails, tweets, Facebook walls and messaging, writing an actual note and sending it in the mail becomes more and more rare. And all the more delightful to receive. So, why not bust them out, especially folks do something extra special for you?

It's never too late after you've received a kindness, and never too soon. And folks LOVE receiving real mail. It's so completely retro, old school, endearing.

Here's hoping you are giving and getting many lovely, heart-felt gifts this season, and that there will also be thank you notes -- in the sending, and in the receiving -- as well!

Fabulous Women and Their Wares

In 2011, we here at Bean Up The Nose Art have had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of many wonderful Bay Area artists. Which also leads to the pleasure of getting to highlight here their talents. And the two women we feature below both have incredibly cute shops on etsy.com, where you can shop for the holidays! (In fact, all photos here are from those etsy shops.)

* * * * * * *

Linda Grimes has taken the opportunity provided by her 2010 job lay-off to pursue the passion she's been fostering for the past 15 years in schooling, business planning, equipment-purchasing: to become a surface pattern designer.

What is a surface pattern? The designs on textiles -- for clothing, upholstery, even shower curtains. The designs on paper products -- gift wrap, wallpaper, covers on notebook and journals. Even the designs on dishes.

With her business name Bruna Hest, Linda explains, "My Swedish heritage has definitely influenced my design style. I love mid-century modern and Scandinavian design, and I love selecting color palettes."

On the crafting side of life, she puts these same skills and talents to exquisite work . . . fashioning Scrabble tile necklaces -- for sale FOR ONLY $7.00!!! -- on her etsy shop. Click here to go take a peak for yourself right now :)

She has sold these gems to folks like the Women's Initiative, which ordered 100 as thank you gifts for donors and benefactors at their annual gala. Linda is also a talented photographer who makes cards out of her work, and makes gourd art that she donates to charities for silent auction fundraisers.

We love Linda's work, and have been lucky enough to be in classes with her, on play dates, and at fairs . . . where we we very happy to become Scrabble necklace owners :) Nice job, woman!!!

* * * * * * *

Like Linda, Sue Warhaftig is an artist who practices in many media. A knitter who spins her own alpaca, mohair and wool yarn, she has also recently gone back to college to continue her education in ceramics. Oh -- and she also recently published a steamy romance novel: Meant To Be. (Click here to find out more about that!)

But that's not all. Nope. Sue also makes beautiful jewelry. Click here to explore her shop on etsy.com!

Sue explains that she comes from a very artistic family -- both her mom and older sister are art teachers -- and playfully laments, "I have so much fun with art and so little time!" Along with fabulous jewelry creation -- the makings of which she finds at yard sales, flea markets, on Craig's List and in attics -- Sue is crafting a prequel to her first book. And building a new house . . . for which she is hoping to make mosaic pieces. Yep!

* * * * * * *

We salute you, Linda and Sue, for your passions and the way they play out in your lives: for your dreaming up and executing cool project after cool project, for your bravery in putting them out in the world for us to get to see and love, and for your successes in going for it. YOU ROCK!!!

Bean Up The Nose Art's End-of-Year Executive Retreat

This is the view from a walk here at Bean Up The Nose Art's 2011 End-of-Year Executive Retreat, at Sea Ranch up on the Sonoma/Mendocino Counties coast in northern California.

By "Executive," we mean owner/artist me, and my dog Gracie.

By "2011 End-of-Year Retreat," we mean we are up here, taking a look back on our business year . . . seeing what went right, what needs improving, and where we want to take things in 2012.

How do we do that?

As you see, Bean Up The Nose Art believes in the power of analogue. Of old school, elementary school art time -- where you cut things out with scissors, paste them on a page, and write about them with juicy colored markers.

We also believe in handwriting our morning free-writes. We believe in recording things in journals full of images, words, charts, graphs, photos, rubber-stamped reminders to ourselves of what our creative voices are telling us right now.

Yep, there are "faster" ways. You can use screens and keyboards and programs. But in our experience, that is like buying the premade cookie dough and slicing off a piece to put in the oven . . . instead of making from scratch. You get a different cookie.

Why apply creative skills on an executive planning retreat? And why plan, at all?

Because . . . as was so well-put in an article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal (passed along to us via tweet from the fabulous @sally_k) . . . "nothing makes people feel happier and more engaged at work than making meaningful progress on something they care about." (Teresa Ambile and Steven Kramer, authors of The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement and Creativity at Work.)

That is so true. And how do we find out what we care about? Aha! In our journals! When we ask ourselves those questions, and when we allow our hands to fashion words and images that our deep, creative part has been wanting to say.

And how do we start making the meaningful progress? By setting goals. By writing those goals down. (By hand.) By making lists of the things that we need to do to achieve those goals. By breaking those things down into achievable time & task components, so that you will know how to spend your time to achieve that meaningful progress THAT FEELS SO GOOD. (And you know. It does. It does feel so freakin' wonderful.)

It's not all fun and games here, though, at the Executive Retreat. There is also bookkeeping being done.

Because we also know how good it feels to move forward into a new year having all of your tax information put together and ready to go. How do we know this? Because last year, we didn't do it that way. AND IT FELT AWFUL. And what we have learned, in a half-century of living, is that the best way not to feel awful is to do the thing different this time than the way that it felt awful before. Don't keep repeating the same thing that makes you feel awful. Do the things that make you feel good.

So, take THAT, all you receipts!

And for every few hours of bookkeeping accomplished, there's the reward of going out into this.

It's a good system.

Thanks for Popping On By!

Once again . . . blown away by the power and love of the way things work.

At this time last year -- with one notable exception, who I'll describe below -- I did not know a single person who made yesterday's Holiday Pop Up Shop work.

And now . . . well, look at how things can go!

Spent yesterday afternoon selling Bean Up The Nose Art goodies in this lovely, magical studio space of Lisa Sonora Beam's. (Click here for some of her magic.)

How did I end up here? Because in June, terrific Heather (who has just begun her own crafty business . . . click here!) sent me an e-mail saying, "Hey . . . I think you'd really like this artist . . . and she teaches classes in San Anselmo." (Which, for those of you reading this far from the San Francisco Bay Area, is about 7 miles from where Beans lives out in West Marin.)

And the rest was history. (You can click here and here for examples of Bean Up The Nose Art-loves-Lisa Sonora Beam posts.) The artist and author I'd admired for years became a friend! Art play dates. Her teaching art journaling at my 50th birthday this summer. Consulting about Bean Up The Nose Art business plans. Hosting Bean Up The Nose Art's "Giving Thanks" collage class in November. Like, way rocking stuff.

More benefits abounded. Like, at one of Lisa's classes, meeting Linda Grimes . . . who also came to one of Bean Up The Nose Art's classes . . . and who makes all kind of great art products. Click here for her etsy store!!! (Hint: do it! Exquisite Scrabble-tile necklaces for incredibly low prices. Can you say "Holidays are around the corner!"?)

Wonderful Linda asked in October, "Hey? What about holiday fairs?" And voila!!! The Holiday Pop Up Shop was planned.

And broadcast via Facebook and Twitter . . . two other things I never visited a year ago.

And now?!?!?

Holy crap.

My tweeps (which, for those of you not yet on Twitter . . . which, of course, you should be . . . are your Twitter peeps) came out in droves. Seriously.

Let's name some names.

@alembic @ATOMSanRafael @brainmaker @dianefischler @earthnik @greenlifejunkie @ipeggy @ken_homer @mizstarryeyed @vickirandallesq . . . .

The power of love, as transmitted through Twitter :)

These folks heard about the Holiday Pop Up Shop on Twitter. They passed information along on Twitter. And they came down IRL ("in real life") to lavish time and energy and kindness and support on a fellow tweep, on one of the busiest times in the holiday season, with Bay Area holiday craft fairs up the wazooo.

Also stopping by was terrific artist Kate Barrengos . . .who we've highlighted on Beans (click here for a view of some of her wonderful paintings) and who we also didn't know a year ago.

But wait! Things get even luckier!

Because who was the one person there I'd known before this last year? Fabulous daughter Meryl. (Click here for a small slice of her very big fabulousness.) Who came on down and was Jill-of-all-trades (which is one of the very best things about her . . . the amazing range of her fabulousity). She helped with set-up and take-down. She staple-gunned signs for the shop onto telephone poles. She arranged yummy treats, and gift-wrapped goodies. She chatted up folks she didn't know.

In short: awesomeness. Lucky, lucky, lucky!!

The afternoon was full of kind people talking and laughing and sharing . . . even things like their macaw, Frisco.
And this amazing mosaic piece by Jen Rubinstein (which this photo does not do justice to). Who, along with being an amazing artist, is a massage therapist and Ironwoman triathlete.

In more celebration of what's happened since last year at this time . . . what went up for sale at the Pop Up Shop were were collage sheets that we hope you'll use in your own collage art. Even for sale. Yes! Use them all up!!!

We culled copy-right-free images, altered them even further, and included our own art work for you to use. Because, as we have learned in the last year, it's way more fun to play and collaborate and tweet and communicate with others than we ever could have known before.

Thanks again to everyone for your part in making yesterday afternoon so special. To Lisa and Linda for your time and energy and friendship. To Meryl for your making-it-work-ness. And to everyone who came on out -- AND EVEN BOUGHT A LOT OF STUFF!! -- thank you from the bottom of a Beans' heart. You ROCK! And to everyone who couldn't make it . . . we totally understand. It is a crazy, and crazy-making time of year. We appreciate the love and support and kindness you share in every other way. YOU rock!!!

Brick & Mortar Friends: Orchard Nursery

A seriously gigantic, enormous, "HOWDY!!!" to one of Bean Up The Nose Art's new brick & mortar friends: Orchard Nursery in Lafayette, California. (Check out their terrific website here.)

We don't believe that any brick & mortar friend we've yet chronicled has engendered this number of photos on the blog. (And we didn't even include half of what we took.) Because Orchard Nursery is big, amazing, venerable . . . and HAS GOT IT GOING ON!!!

Really, they had us at this chair.

But that is just one teeny tiny speck of a percentage of what this ambling, rambling, terrific place -- located at 4010 Mt. Diablo Blvd. in Lafayette -- offers.

Let's take a look!

Yep, we like the whole getting-your-bulbs-planted-for-spring set up! And this one is huge.

Walk on inside the nursery area. And you will find, along with great plant offerings of every kind, that CHRISTMAS IS COMING.

For instance . . . via Air Stream Trailer!

The decorated trees outside in the nursery area are just a foretaste. Because inside the Christmas Tree House, THERE ARE 60 DECORATED TREES.

For example, this one dedicated to "Transportation" ornaments.

This one features "Homespun Felt." Penguins, cats, dogs, hearts . . . crabs!!!

Right on down to your "Snowy Owl" ornament tree.

Back out in the nursery, you can select your own, from a variety of kinds.

And all the traditional potted plant options are available, as well.

But Orchard Nursery's not done! Oh, nope! No way! Amble on down across the ample parking lot and you will find this century-old house, which is lovingly named The Lazy K.

Walk through its yard for a selection of more garden goodies.

And then walk inside to get your socks knocked off by full-blown holiday extravaganza-ness. Big Time.

We are talking SEVEN ROOMS, people!

Decorations, homeware, books, stationery, stocking stuffers . . . . all exquisite.

Including yummy clothing options.

And food treats.

And Bean Up The Nose Art goodies!!!! Like our greeting cards.

And luggage tags!!!

What a rush to be included in all the good things that the artful owners and buyers at Orchard Nursery have assembled for folks. We are proud to be a part of the party here! We love the kindness and enthusiasm extended by everyone at the Lazy K during the photo shoot . . . such a treat! (And we love the stocking stuffers we got there, in a bit of multi-tasking holiday shopping. Hehehe. Or, rather, Hohohoho!)

Hoping that if you are in the San Francisco Bay Area this holiday season, you will do yourself a treat and head on out to Orchard Nursery to see the beauty and fun. They're open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day (but closed Christmas, the day after, and New Year's Day.) Check out their gardening events on their website, too. (Pruning Workshops and Tomato Tutorials? We like!) And even if you're not in the SF Bay Area, you can sign up for their informative weekly newsletter.

Thanks very, very much, Orchard Nursery, for carrying Bean Up The Nose Art cards and luggage tags at your fabulous place. We wish you the very best this holiday season, and throughout 2012. YOU ROCK!!!!