I remember my brother telling me about the Perseid meteor showers some years back.  That during the peak of the meteor shower in the summer months, folks should be able to see them just by looking up for 30 minutes or so.   However, having lived in Los Angeles all my life, opportunities to be out in the middle of nowhere to see the stars properly just didn’t happen often.  Somehow I never made it out for the phenomenal sight.

Now that my husband and I sort of live in the “middle of nowhere” – or really it’s just less illuminated in our small town, I was sure we could see the meteor shower from our terrace.  My husband was actually quite shocked I had never experienced the sight of a falling star, literally what they call it in Italian.  The peak of the meteor shower coincides with the Catholic holiday on August 10 for St. Lorenzo, the date of the saint’s martyrdom.  This curious coincidence in timeframe led many to call the Perseid meteor shower the tears of St. Lorenzo or St. Lawrence for us English folks.  I sort of like the melancholy terms like falling stars or tears as reference to the meteor bits smashing into our atmosphere…

I started thinking about how people make wishes on stars and generally people tend to put their trust and hopes in something else, rather than in themselves and their abilities.  Why is that?  Is it because sometimes you reach the point where you feel powerless to control our own destiny?  I think we need inspiration and hope from elsewhere at all times, there’s something about the mysterious powers above and such.  There are things that can certainly be out of our grasp of understanding…but we must also believe in ourselves as well.  Make a wish, but then make it happen, I say!

Inspired by seeing my first meteor shower with my husband this past week, I decided to make a new desktop wallpaper for my computer.  This way I can remember the experience a bit longer and think about all my own wishes and dreams, waiting to happen.  I will be reminded that I have to help make them happen as well!

Posted on August 14, 2009 at 12:04 pm | designs, free goodies | 2 comments

I have been in a very reflective mood these days, thinking about my new life here in Italia.  Life has definitely changed so much and even though months have passed, there is still so much more to get used to and learn.  I don’t know if I will ever get used to certain things, but I do love it here in Tuscany with the beautiful countryside, the Italian culture, history and art – not to mention the cuisine!  Quiting my job, getting married and moving here to settle down gave me the opportunity to try new things and figure out what I should do in life.  There are definitely ups and downs, but I choose to spend my time and energy in positive things, even if I have to deal with negative things as well.

Part of my new exploration is my creative endeavor of starting this blog, tortagialla – even though I do not know exactly where it will take me.  I only know that I must go forward with the things I love to do and keep experimenting to find my own way.  I am a creative with so many interests, I’m often pulled in too many directions by my own doing!  However, the perfectionist-virgo-fearful-stalling-side of myself can be overcome and I have ventured along even if only in baby steps.

Everyone gets help along the way and I’ve certainly received much support from my husband, family and friends.  I’ve also met wonderful people online in the arts and craft community who have inspired and led the way to new discoveries and revelations.  One such person is Marisa Haedike from Creative Thursday.  I found my way to her podcasts one day and was instantly hooked to her motivational advice, honest opinions and heartfelt story.  It was a joy to learn more about her journey and how she made it to being a full-time artist.  I was compelled to take her e-course this summer, In The Fish Bowl and it certainly has changed my life and perspective on many things.  I see all the possibilities around me and excited to move forward and urge others to do the same.

Even though the e-course has ended, I’m still swimming in my own little ocean of thoughts regarding where I am headed.  There’s room for all of us to succeed in our own way and getting real-life advice from Marisa has helped not only to inspire me, but also to see things in a realistic light as well.  Anyhow, I can ramble on and on…but you can hear it from a fellow classmate as well – maya*made!

Well, I’ve been so preoccupied with my own plans and getting friends to join me in pursuing our creative dreams that I realized I had not stopped to give Marisa a big thank you and shout out.  Time seemed to have rushed by so quickly and although it’s been on my mind – several ideas on how to say thank you from the heart – weeks passed and it seemed everyone had already moved on.  Perhaps  my window of opportunity had passed?  I’ve always been big on planning and sometimes that does get in the way of the actual doing part.

I felt sort of sad about missing the boat and not having been able to join the live chat at the end of the class,  I again missed an opportunity to connect with all the participants who contributed.  Then I received an email from Marisa that a fellow fishie started a Yahoo group for those of us who took the e-course to stay in touch and I realized that I wasn’t the only one missing the class and the connections.  Also, coincidentally Marisa just included a big thank you to all her followers and I realized something really important…it’s never too late to express your gratitude and say thanks!

I had to take a moment to shout out my gratitude to Marisa and all my fellow fishies who have taught me so much.  These thoughts were the inspiration for the snail thanks card design below, feel free to use it for all those thanks you wanted to say, but missed out on because life might have been too hectic or you were too busy planning your dreams perhaps!

Printable Snail Thanks Card PDF

Again – a big thank you to Marisa and all the fishies in the e-course for a fantastic 6 week journey of creative learning and exploration.  I sincerely wish you all the best and excited to see your dreams come to fruition!  I will continue to share here on my tortagialla blog, which without Marisa and her e-course I would not have started in the first place.  Grazie mille!

Posted on August 13, 2009 at 7:59 pm | designs, free goodies, thoughts + discussion | 2 comments

There’s definitely a lot of inspiration to be found online and there are also a multitude of sites that offer weekly themes and encourage community participation on the specific theme.  Inspire Me Thursday is one of those sites and this week the theme is positivity.  I’m all for positive thinking and motivational notes, because I think they serve to remind us of things we know, but quote often fail to recall in times of need.

Download Every Day is a New Opportunity (PDF)

Motivation quotes and positive thoughts push us forward and help us find balance.  To get through this rocky road called life, I certainly wouldn’t mind friendly reminders of positivity.  I was inspired this week to create a little art print reminding myself that every day is a new opportunity.  For what you ask?  I believe for anything and everything!  It’s never too late to start, there’s always a chance to begin something wonderful and exciting.  So don’t fret, don’t hurry or worry yourself too much…there will always be new and exciting opportunities to explore.  That’s my positive thinking for the day!

Posted on August 10, 2009 at 12:16 am | designs, free goodies | 4 comments

I’ve been learning a lot about whimsical drawings and techniques from Art Trader Magazine and thinking of using what I’ve learned for a superhero themed show coming this Fall.  In my mind, I pictured a bunch of mini-canvas paintings of various super heroes I would create.  I started sketching out some ideas, but I think they are looking more like disgruntled or failed superhero characters!

This made me think about the whole idea of being a hero and living up to the image of what is expected of you.  Perhaps this has been subconsciously swimming in my mind because my husband has been watching Smallville (he’s totally addicted) and it’s all about Clark Kent’s destiny and journey to becoming the man-of-steel we all know, Superman.

Going beyond the Hollywood perspective of a hero that saves the damsel in distress, I think being a hero means being the type of person that others look up to and want to emulate.  The best stories always involve the hero going through his or her own life and struggles, but overcoming them while upholding high moral standards that inspires the rest of us.  The latest soccer star is a hero for so many young boys striving for their own athletic excellence.  Someone who does good with no expectation of reward is a hero to many who hold that quality high.  Ultimately though, heroes are still human and are really just like the rest of us.  I guess in a way we are all heroes to someone in our lives.

I guess in my exploration, I can create various examples of who can be a hero…hmm…back to sketching…

Posted on August 7, 2009 at 11:49 pm | drawings, thoughts + discussion, work in progress | No comments

I have been catching up on my favorite blogs and just saw a wonderful birdie pattern design on the designer jots blog.  It totally inspired me to experiment a bit more, continuing with my own previous birdie explorations.

Here I am doing a bit more doodling from my imagination of what birds look like.  I still want to figure out how to make it look like the birds are smiling…otherwise they look sort of eerie with the staring blank-like faces.  Well, these were quick doodles because I got hungry for lunch and must be off now!  Yummy pasta awaits…

Posted on August 6, 2009 at 12:44 pm | designs, work in progress | 8 comments