Whimsy 365: Day 7

October 16, 2015

Whimsy 365: Day 7

I’d love to paint this one and make the pumpkin sage green. We are so lucky these days to have other colors to choose from when selecting pumpkins. I LOVE the creamy white, sage green and now black! Really? Where have they been all our lives???

Anyway, this sweet lil’ girl loves the autumn. As do I.

Blessings,

Teresa

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Whimsy 365: Day 6

October 15, 2015

Whimsy 365: Day 6

This one took me a while. I originally just had the large mushroom with the bunny and mice but it didn’t sit right with me. I added the flowers and small mushrooms to fill it out and now I’m satisfied. I still think the large mushroom looks like it’s coming out of the top of the bunny’s head. If I were to paint this sketch and offer it for licensing, I would move the mushroom off-center to fix the problem.

I’m enjoying these cute lil’ characters.

Blessings,

Teresa

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Whimsy 365: Day 5

October 14, 2015

Whimsy 365: Day 5

Bunnies, Bears and Pigs, oh my! Wait….. pigs??? Yes, he fits right in, doesn’t he? I’ve been painting bunnies and bears since 1994 so it’s just part of me. It’s interesting to see how they’ve evolved over the years. Do I ever get tired of bunnies & bears? No. Like I said, they’re a part of me. They’re my friends and I’ll sketch/paint them til’ the end. Little piggy…now he’s new. I was inspired to draw him because I’ve been seeing a lot of cute little piggies on Pinterest lately…and have you seen the videos on Facebook yet? I know, I know, they are dirty and smelly (poor things are stereotyped as such) but I seriously think they’re cute!

Blessings,

Teresa

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Whimsy 365: Day 4

October 13, 2015

Whimsy 365: Day 4

Tis the season….as we near Halloween and Thanksgiving, images such as this one come to mind, through my pencil and onto the paper. I’m thinking this image would make a great punchneedle, cross stitch and rug pattern, too!

Happy Tuesday

Teresa

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Whimsy 365: Day 3

October 12, 2015

Whimsy 365: Day 3

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Whimsy 365: Day 2

October 11, 2015

Whimsy 365: Day 2

I love sketching characters such as this one. This little fox turned out just like I wanted him to. Enjoying the process so far

Blessings,

Teresa

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Whimsy 365: Day 1

October 10, 2015

Whimsy 365: Day 1

Have you ever felt like you needed a challenge? Like you needed to shake things up a bit?

I did; which is why I came up with this challenge. I want and need to sketch more often…and what better way to do it than with a challenge where you help me to be accountable. So many other aspects of running my business take me away from the single reason I became an entrepreneur… to creating art.

So what exactly is whimsy365? I will sketch and post each day for an entire year whatever inspires me that day. It could be anything. It may relate to a holiday like today’s sketch. It may be an inspiring quote or an angel. It may be very detailed or loose and simple. It could be an entire scene or a single character….maybe I will add color to some. Who knows??

But what I can tell you is that I am not only up for the challenge but excited to see where imagination takes me.

Join me each day and let’s take the journey into whimsy together!

Blessings,

Teresa

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Top 7 Mistakes Made on Social Media

September 28, 2015

Top 7 Mistakes Made on Social Media

There are so many social media platforms available today that it’s not only overwhelming but can also be a time-sucker. It’s not necessary to be on ALL social media platforms. Do what makes sense for your business. Ask yourself….who is my ideal client and where do they hang out? Which platform are my followers engaging in conversation with me and other followers? Once you determine where you should put your focus, make sure to avoid these top 7 mistakes many people are making on social media and start building your tribe today.

Not moving your fans/followers to your email list. I have said it before and you will hear me say it often: the number one goal for your business is to build your email list. Why? Because you own your list. You don’t own your material on social media. For example, let’s say you have 5,000 likes on your Facebook page and one day, FB is gone. Maybe Mark decides he’s moving on. There’s no way for you to connect with those people once it’s gone but if you had gotten them to sign up for your email list, you can still connect with them. Go here to learn how to build your email list.
Not talking and engaging with your fans/followers. Seriously….what is the meaning of the word social? (from dictionary.com) seeking or enjoying the companionship of others; friendly; sociable. So interact with your audience. Make it a conversation. Don’t just post and forget it. Go back a few times a day and reply to comments. You’ll get to know your audience and they’ll get to know you.
Not building relationships. This is similar to #2 but it’s more about reaching out and commenting on other people’s posts and pages. Find people that have similar interests as you do, follow them, and start a conversation with them. Do this a minimum of three times a day.
Constantly selling. Biggest mistake of all. It’s a different world than it was 10 years ago…even 5 years ago! People buy from people they know, like and trust. You in a sense are selling YOU! When people get to know you and trust you they are more apt to eventually purchase something from you. It’s a BIG turn off when all posts are about your “amazing product”. You will lose followers.
Unrealistic Expectations. Building relationships take time on social media just like in real life. Don’t expect to get 5,000 followers in a week. And when you do get to 5,000, don’t expect everyone to be purchasing everything you have to offer. Someone may be following you for years before they purchase anything from you. Don’t get caught up in this….just keep providing VALUE & GREAT CONTENT. Just keep planting those seeds and your harvest will come.
Not providing value. Be helpful. Be entertaining. Solve a problem. You certainly don’t have to do all four all the time but you need to give your audience useful and helpful information. If you’re on your business Facebook page posting photos of what you are doing at every moment of the day, you will quickly find your likes going down. What does your audience need? What can you give them (or gift them) that would help them. It could be an inspirational quote, a PDF to help them get organized, a link to an article you wrote (or someone else wrote) that shows them how to solve a problem, and entertaining video…..the list goes on and on. Be creative. Make them look forward to your posts.
Not being real. Be you, Be authentic. There’s only one you in the world so share YOU. We were all created unique and different for a reason…we all have a special mission on this earth that only we can accomplish and we can’t do it by trying to be someone else or trying to be something we’re not. When you are open and vulnerable, people will relate to you and connect with you. Don’t worry about everybody liking you. It’s impossible to appeal to everyone. If you try to make everyone like you, you will lose yourself and not even know who you are. Just be you and the people who are like you will become part of your tribe making engagement on social media natural and easy…..not to mention FUN!

I hope you will keep these tips in mind as you are posting to your social media platforms. I am curious….which platform do you get most the most engagement?

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Push Through

September 12, 2015

Push Through

We’ve all been there…more often than once. Having a task ahead of us that we dread. It could be a project for work, making a phone call, cleaning the garage, organizing the closets, getting your tax papers in order, cleaning out your car for a date, etc. Many times we push it aside thinking it can wait. If you’re like me, when I push these sort of tasks aside, it weighs on me. It makes me uneasy. It’s always on my mind nagging me. It’s almost as if the more I push it aside the more it pushes back!

Avoiding necessary tasks is a destructive behavior. It not only distracts us while trying to do other things but it seriously chips away little by little at our self confidence. The task has to be done anyway so why not just do it and free up our minds.

“Greatness is what happens when you relentlessly push yourself to continuously create a better you.” ― Edmond Mbiaka

Here’s my story from a couple days ago.

My friend and I workout Mon-Fri at 5:30am doing the Beachbody P90X workout DVDs. Chest and back were on the schedule for Thursday. This workout is so hard for us as there’s a ton of push-ups to do. As I was getting the DVD out, my friend said, “do we have to do chest and back today? Let’s do something else.” It’s like she was reading my mind. I, too, was not feelin’ this workout but instead of giving in to a lighter workout, I said, “no, we need to push through.” And we did. We put in the DVD, pushed play and just did it! Was it hard? Yes. Did is feel amazing when we were done? Yes. Would we have been disappointed in ourselves had we skipped it? Yes.

When we push through a dreaded task we feel energized and we’re building confidence. Also, studies show that reaching a goal releases chemicals in the brain that gives us pleasure. It’s a win-win!

My challenge to you….the next time a dreadful task lies ahead, change your attitude towards it. Don’t look at it negatively. Think how good you’ll feel on the other side of that task. Most of the time the task isn’t as hard as we make it out to be in our minds!

Just “push play” and get it done!

For more motivational posts, check out this article.

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Hydrangea Photoshoot

August 10, 2015

Hydrangea Photoshoot

This morning I decided to combine some of my favorite things into a photoshoot. My favorite things being photography, hydrangeas, art, the bible and angels….and I should also mention Photoshop 😉

Yesterday I worked in the flower gardens all afternoon and part of that chore was trimming the faded and brown hydrangea flowers. However, I was lucky enough to find a few still worthy of bringing into our home to enjoy.

Hydrangeas are among my favorite flowers. When I was growing up, we would go to Missouri a few times a year to visit family. My grandma’s quaint little yellow house had the most spectacular hydrangea bush I have ever seen. It was in the back of her house and would tower over me as a small child. I was in awe of the gigantic blooms in the most beautiful hues ranging from periwinkle & lilac to soft blue & faded pink.

Because of this childhood memory, I have planted hydrangeas along the side of our garage next the the walkway leading to our front door. I had visions of my hydrangeas growing into very large bushes with tons of various colored blooms. Well, as you can see from the photo below my vision turned out to be only that…a vision from the past.

I still love my hydrangeas even though they are small and pink. There are a few reasons I believe they’re not growing to my liking; 1) they get too much sun 2) my soil doesn’t lend them to display the bluish-purple-hued blooms 3) who knows what variety my Grandma had planted as there are many varieties of hydrangeas. I do know they prefer acidic soil and I have used fertilizer to make my soil more acidic but unfortunately I haven’t found the right recipe. (I found and article here that might help)

Anyhoo, I do enjoy them and will continue to work at getting them to bloom in blue. Until then, I take delight in what nature has given me and I had a little fun this morning with a hydrangea photoshoot.