Stop Hate Go Love Project

Yesterday I participated with more than 7000 people in an on line class, all of us painting a powerful project with Yaymaker from home. I  found this to be a very powerful and emotional project.  I live in Canada, the class was taught from New York and California, and I saw posts on Social Media of people working on the project in England, Canada and all over the USA.

The intro from the owner and the team lead in California echoed the sentiment I feel and have felt through this process of the last few weeks. This project really helped me express artistically and in a way that reminded me of how much work needs to be done, personally and through out the world.

I had not considered myself racist person, I realize that that is not even enough, and I am listening and trying to educate myself, on the issues surrounding systematic racism and on going hatred that lives in all our communities.
Art therapy has been something I have been actively participating in for the last two years and I have found it has a profound effect on me. Being able to express myself through art and creativity feeds my soul and I find I learn so much through it.

I want to thank the people at Yaymaker (formally Paintnite) for opportunity to participate in this project and support the #blacklivesmatter movement through art.
To learn more about Yaymaker, please click here.

As part of the event which was Free from Yay Maker, they are raising money for the following Charities. Please consider supporting programs like these or ones in your own area.
Black Table Arts

Embrace Race 

Colors of Change 

Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a look at my Yay Maker Project for Stop Hate Go Love.
I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

My Yaymaker Painting Class From Home

Yesterday I immersed myself in crafting and ended the day day with an on line painting class I found for $15 on line. I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did and I am actually proud of what I made.
I am trying to use the time I have off and nurture the creative side of myself by trying new things. The Yaymaker.com website had a ton of events to choose from. I got to paint in my pj's and not have my camera on, while enjoying learning new painting techniques with people across Canada and the USA.

This was a great way to spend the evening and I have actually signed up to do a different one Monday night!

Each teacher does a little bit different technique and while the original image on the advertisement was more of a tea cup this teacher chose to do a mug, I have to say I really like how the mug turned out.

This was the original from the Yaymaker website.

I am still in awe of how my yellow swipes and flicks of the paint brushes from the dollar store turned in to something that actually resembled flowers!

I keep working on his snout and I preferred not to to put the flower behind the ear, I am so excited though to share something that I made and am really excited to hang up. You can find a Yay Maker class on line by visiting the website and clicking here

Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and my Hedgehog in a cup painting. I hope to share more of my creative journey with you again soon. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

A Saturday To Remember...

Happy Sunday Morning to you, while I had hoped to share a book review this morning, I had a very busy day yesterday and did not get a chance to finish the book I was reading. Yesterday was a baseball day,  my Son's birthday and birthday party here and a surprise party/paint nite for my friend Jo's birthday, this was a very busy day indeed.

My sister and 5 of my friends and I had a blast and we made the theme of my friends birthday a Sunflower Themed.

My friend Anna and I made up these birthday Corsages, with a pin of our friend in the middle. They were fun and easy to make and pulled the evening together.

Getting to spend time with my sister and my friends is a luxury for sure, and not something we often do. I feel very blessed to have these amazing women in my life and had a day to treasure always!

Paint Nite was a fun way to spend time with friends, create something I did not think was possible and got to take something home to be proud of.  Paint Nite did not make me an artist but it did make me want to keep painting. This was a day I will cherish for years to come and promise to get back to reading now! Click here to learn more about Paint Nite.

On my table now is Maddie Hatter and the Deadly Diamond by Jayne Barnard at time of posting on sale now at Amazon.ca for 99 cents! 
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy Saturday to remember. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Paint Nite With My Sister A Cozy Evening Spent!

Last night my sister kindly agreed to come with me to Paint Nite.  My sister and I share a birthday week and we did this as our birthday celebration. Neither of us has painted basically since elementary school so we were both a little nervous, for sure.

This was the teachers sample...

This is me, in totally disbelief that this white canvas would somehow turn into this....

I am still not sure how this happened but my sister and I both came home with beautiful lighthouse pictures!

After we finished we walked around the room and I was amazed at what I saw, how different each painting was and how in two hours we were able to bring home our finished works.

Even though I was very nervous about doing this, I had so much fun and my sister and I can not wait to go back and do it again! If you want to learn more about Paint Nite in your area please click here. 
I promise to go back to reading today and hope to have a review for you Sunday. Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy Paint Nite review. 
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com