Blisscraft Life With Christina Katz

We are living in challenging times. Every day our senses are assaulted with crisis after crisis, and the overwhelming question we feel bearing down on us is: what are we going to do about it?

Unfortunately, living in a state of constant crisis is unhealthy. This type of stress is hard on our minds, on our bodies, on our emotions, and ultimately, on our spirits.

I see this playing out in post after post on social media. Mostly I see various degrees of outrage, contempt, or worse, hopelessness.

I have always believed that we can’t solve the problem at the level of the problem. I also believe that creative people are better off contributing to the world from a state of inspiration rather than a state of desperation.

We can change the world, and we can do it in a healthy manner when we focus closer to home first, before we speak or act. We can feel more personally powerful when we reel our attention back to the place where we live, and start there, rather than focusing too much on things beyond our control.

What do you have to offer the world?

Each of us is door to an endless stream of expression that can make the world a better place. But only if we believe that what we have to offer is valuable.

And believe it or not, you can go from creatively frustrated to creatively flourishing in just a few exercises. I have been teaching creatives for almost two decades—and I believe that self-appreciation gained through self-expression is something worth leaning.

This course is for creative women, and if you are a mother, I hope you will consider this course a Mother’s Day gift to yourself.

Being creative at home is not only for professional creatives, but if you are a creative professional, this course will refresh your process in multiple ways.

So what are you waiting for?

I am sure you would love to be more expressive at home and make your home a place that mirrors back how awesome you are.

Register now for Expressive At Home and I’ll send your first round of questions to answer right away.

Register Now

I hope you will join us for what is sure to be my most enlightening course yet!

I hope to work with you!

And thanks for sharing this post with anyone you know who might be interested in becoming more Expressive At Home!

So much inspiration, so much time! Please subscribe to the Create, Share, Prosper blog and sign up for The Prosperous Creative ezine for exclusive discounts you won’t find elsewhere. Click on the Enter School tab above to put your creativity to prosperous use right now. Like words? Check out my Etsy shop. And you haven’t seen anything, if you haven’t seen all the helpful offerings in my online shop. Thanks for reading and thanks for sharing this post with fellow creatives!

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How many of you have read The Secret Garden (LINK) by Frances Hodgson Burnett or watched the 1993 film with Maggie Smith (LINK)?

I had an epiphany after watching the movie with Samantha over spring break.

The premise of the story is so simple, and yet so profound. Here’s a summary from Amazon:

Mary Lennox is sent from an India as an orphan to live at Misselthwaite Manor. She arrives as a sour-faced, sickly and ill-tempered little madam but becomes friends with local lad Dickon and her poorly cousin Colin. In their restoration of a secret garden all their lives are changed for the better.

This story conveys so much of how I feel about the healing power not only of gardening, but also of having a special place reserved just for you where you make your personal magic happen.

This is a story about the ways children, who are in touch with their natural instincts, can assist each other in finding wholeness in the simplest of ways. Once that wholeness is found then greater healing opportunities present themselves, for example with other people.

Seeing this film and noticing how deeply it touched me cemented my desire to offer an online course that could act like a secret garden for participants. I loved this idea, once I had it, but was not sure what form the course would take.

Well, fast-forward a few weeks and I have a plan for the course, and now I am looking for Beta Users to work with me in co-creating the course in exchange for a steep discount.

The course launches on Mother’s Day Wednesday, May 17th, making it the perfect gift for creative moms, and the cost for Beta Users is only $49.

On Thursday, May 18th, the price of the course will go up to $99.

If you are interested and would like to learn more, click here to be taken to a full description of the course with registration button.

If you are already a subscriber to The Prosperous Creative, all the information is already in your inbox. If you are not yet a subscriber, don’t miss this opportunity to receive regular inspiration and offerings from me, not to mention a free gift.

Click here to subscribe The Prosperous Creative.

So much inspiration, so much time! Please subscribe to the Create, Share, Prosper blog and sign up for The Prosperous Creative ezine for exclusive discounts you won’t find elsewhere. Click on the Enter School tab above to put your creativity to prosperous use right now. Like words? Check out my Etsy shop. And you haven’t seen anything, if you haven’t seen all the helpful offerings in my online shop. Thanks for reading and thanks for sharing this post with fellow creatives!

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Even though it’s already April, I have a fire in the wood stove right now.

And even though we have had a handful of beautifully spring-like days, we just had one heck of a hail storm and it almost got down to freezing last night.

Chock it up to Oregon’s temperamental spring weather!

That in-betweener weather where whatever you put on in the morning is the wrong thing to be wearing by afternoon, but then you wish you had it back on again after sundown. Know what I’m talking about?

I have discovered some lovely ways to stay warm over the cold winter months, and I am going to post them even though it’s spring, in case anyone wants to get a jump on next year.

Also, author Caroline Leavitt has been burning up teapots in NYC, and I wanted to empathize, and share a few electric kettle suggestions before she burns her house down. Check out her latest book, below, if you haven’t already. I share it at the end of this post.

Fuzzy Sheets Rule On Cold Nights

By far the best purchase of the winter was the fuzzy sheets I found at Costco. I got a set for our bedroom in gray and they were so incredible I got Samantha an ivory set for Christmas.

Actually they were out of ivory, so I had to get aqua green. But we went back after the holiday and exchanged for the ivory ones I’d wanted all along. She loves them, too. And they go perfectly with her room.

Looks like they still have a bunch of the aqua online for twin beds, if that works for you. Otherwise, next year look for these sheets on sale at Costco and other big box stores.

You’ll be able to save a lot on heating with these sheets, and even use less blankets.

Automatic Tea Pots Are A Necessity, Not A Luxury

I burned up no less than three teapots because I believed that an electronic teapot would be less charming. Boy was I wrong! My cup or pot of tea is just as satisfying as it once was when filled with water from an electronic tea kettle. And, extra bonus, I no longer have to worry about burning the house down. We go through a lot less kettles this way. One electric kettle worked great for about four years with everyday use. The new one we got had to be replaced by the manufacturer, after just one month, but has been doing great since then.

The one we used to have was similar to this one.

For the price, I’m not sure if you can beat this one, which is the one we use now.

On the other hand, now I kind of wish I had gotten this one. How cute is this?

Since we are talking about tea, let’s talk about the best tea ever, in case you haven’t tried it.

The Best Tea I Have Ever Had

Queen Mary’s Queen’s Royal Afternoon Black Tea is so, so good if you love black tea as much as I do.

It’s not on Amazon, so here’s the LINK to the shop where they make it.

Here’s a description from the website: “The Queen’s signature afternoon tea blend. Created using the very best teas from around the world, this tea has a rich floral aroma with fruity undertones to satisfy even the most discriminating tea lover.”

I purchase this tea from a local antique shop that I frequent called Time After Time in historic Downtown Aurora. I had no idea until looking this tea up online that it’s from a tea room in Seattle. We will have to visit it next time we are up there!

Adorable Tea Sets Warm Up Gray Days

You know what I do on a gloomy afternoon when I really want spring and all I’ve got is remnants of winter?

I make myself half a pot of tea and I relish every sip of it.

We got this tea set for Samantha for her birthday last year. But I use it more than she does.

Shhh, don’t tell her.

Okay, never mind, she knows.

Gracie China tea sets come in a few more colors, too. I love them all!

Caroline Leavitt’s latest book is Cruel, Beautiful World

Discouraged about the gloomy weather? Then why not cozy up with a gripping novel.

Caroline Leavitt inspired this post by burning up a tea pot and sharing about it on Facebook.

I have not yet read her new book, but I love the opposition of the words cruel and beautiful in the title. Compelling, right?

And check out this cover!

Here’s the novel description:

Sixteen-year-old Lucy Gold is about to run away with a much older man to live off the grid in rural Pennsylvania, a rash act that will have vicious repercussions for both her and her older sister, Charlotte. As Lucy’s default parent for most of their lives, Charlotte has seen her youth marked by the burden of responsibility, but never more so than when Lucy’s dream of a rural paradise turns into a nightmare.

Cruel Beautiful World examines the intricate, infinitesimal distance between seduction and love, loyalty and duty, chaos and control, as it explores what happens when you’re responsible for things you cannot make right.

Set against a backdrop of peace, love, and the Manson murders, the novel is a reflection of the era: exuberant, defiant, and precarious all at once. And Caroline Leavitt is at her mesmerizing best in this haunting, nuanced portrait of love, sisters, and the impossible legacy of family.

So much inspiration, so much time! Please subscribe to the Create, Share, Prosper blog and sign up for The Prosperous Creative ezine for exclusive discounts you won’t find elsewhere. Click on the Enter School tab above to put your creativity to prosperous use right now. Like words? Check out my Etsy shop. And you haven’t seen anything, if you haven’t seen all the helpful offerings in my online shop. Thanks for reading and thanks for sharing this post with fellow creatives!

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I love books that inspire me to be true to myself.

And let’s face it: there is a ton of pressure in our modern world to conform, capitulate and acquiesce.

Some days, I think it’s a wonder anyone can express themselves authentically for even five minutes, never mind all day, every day.

There are so many distractions from what I consider to be our number-one job: self-expression.

Here is a quick list of books that might inspire you during this season of creative emergence.

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So much inspiration, so much time! Please subscribe to the Create, Share, Prosper blog and sign up for The Prosperous Creative ezine for exclusive discounts you won’t find elsewhere. Click on the Enter School tab above to put your creativity to prosperous use right now. Like words? Check out my Etsy shop. And you haven’t seen anything, if you haven’t seen all the helpful offerings in my online shop. Thanks for reading and thanks for sharing this post with fellow creatives!

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Welcome to the online book discussion about Quiet, The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain with author, journalist, and writing coach Christina Katz.

This is post number six. I am going to post six times today about this book, approximately every two hours between six am and six pm. Feel free to join in the discussion by commenting below or by writing up a post in your own blog and linking it back to the post you are commenting on. Of course, you can also keep your thoughts private by writing in your journal or carrying on a discussion of your own with a close friend. You might draw or doodle your feelings about the book, or express yourself in any way you deem fit. I also want to encourage you to write an Amazon review of the book, if you would like to support it.

I made some initial comments about the book when I first started reading it in this post a few weeks ago. You may wish to check out the post if you have not already.

I wanted the focus of this discussion to be on answering questions about yourself. I felt like this book prompted me to ask myself a lot of questions about introversion as it relates to me, and I thought I would share some of these questions with you, and see what you think.

6. After reading the book, or some of the book or most of the book or whatever, how do you feel about where you fall on the introvert/extrovert scale?

If you did not start or finish reading the book, I encourage you to check it out before you answer these questions. But you are welcome to answer the questions whether you read or finished the book or not. A little self-discovery never hurt anyone!

Please keep in mind that my blog is public, and therefore your comments will also be public.

So much inspiration, so much time! Please subscribe to the Create, Share, Prosper blog and sign up for The Prosperous Creative ezine for exclusive discounts you won’t find elsewhere. Click on the Enter School tab above to put your creativity to prosperous use right now. Like words? Check out my Etsy shop. And you haven’t seen anything, if you haven’t seen all the helpful offerings in my online shop. Thanks for reading and thanks for sharing this post with fellow creatives!

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Welcome to the online book discussion about Quiet, The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain with author, journalist, and writing coach Christina Katz.

This is post number five. I am going to post six times today about this book, approximately every two hours between six am and six pm. Feel free to join in the discussion by commenting below or by writing up a post in your own blog and linking it back to the post you are commenting on. Of course, you can also keep your thoughts private by writing in your journal or carrying on a discussion of your own with a close friend. You might draw or doodle your feelings about the book, or express yourself in any way you deem fit. I also want to encourage you to write an Amazon review of the book, if you would like to support it.

I made some initial comments about the book when I first started reading it in this post a few weeks ago. You may wish to check out the post if you have not already.

I wanted the focus of this discussion to be on answering questions about yourself. I felt like this book prompted me to ask myself a lot of questions about introversion as it relates to me, and I thought I would share some of these questions with you, and see what you think.

5. Do you find yourself putting a lot of energy into compensating for being introverted? Do you often feel like you have to pretend to be more extroverted than you actually are to fit in?

If you did not start or finish reading the book, I encourage you to check it out before you answer these questions. But you are welcome to answer the questions whether you read or finished the book or not. A little self-discovery never hurt anyone!

Please keep in mind that my blog is public, and therefore your comments will also be public.

So much inspiration, so much time! Please subscribe to the Create, Share, Prosper blog and sign up for The Prosperous Creative ezine for exclusive discounts you won’t find elsewhere. Click on the Enter School tab above to put your creativity to prosperous use right now. Like words? Check out my Etsy shop. And you haven’t seen anything, if you haven’t seen all the helpful offerings in my online shop. Thanks for reading and thanks for sharing this post with fellow creatives!

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Welcome to the online book discussion about Quiet, The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain with author, journalist, and writing coach Christina Katz.

This is post number four. I am going to post six times today about this book, approximately every two hours between six am and six pm. Feel free to join in the discussion by commenting below or by writing up a post in your own blog and linking it back to the post you are commenting on. Of course, you can also keep your thoughts private by writing in your journal or carrying on a discussion of your own with a close friend. You might draw or doodle your feelings about the book, or express yourself in any way you deem fit. I also want to encourage you to write an Amazon review of the book, if you would like to support it.

I made some initial comments about the book when I first started reading it in this post a few weeks ago. You may wish to check out the post if you have not already.

I wanted the focus of this discussion to be on answering questions about yourself. I felt like this book prompted me to ask myself a lot of questions about introversion as it relates to me, and I thought I would share some of these questions with you, and see what you think.

4. Did anyone in particular shame or pressure you to be more extroverted at any points in your life? How did this make you feel?

If you did not start or finish reading the book, I encourage you to check it out before you answer these questions. But you are welcome to answer the questions whether you read or finished the book or not. A little self-discovery never hurt anyone!

Please keep in mind that my blog is public, and therefore your comments will also be public.

So much inspiration, so much time! Please subscribe to the Create, Share, Prosper blog and sign up for The Prosperous Creative ezine for exclusive discounts you won’t find elsewhere. Click on the Enter School tab above to put your creativity to prosperous use right now. Like words? Check out my Etsy shop. And you haven’t seen anything, if you haven’t seen all the helpful offerings in my online shop. Thanks for reading and thanks for sharing this post with fellow creatives!

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Welcome to the online book discussion about Quiet, The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain with author, journalist, and writing coach Christina Katz.

This is post number three. I am going to post six times today about this book, approximately every two hours between six am and six pm. Feel free to join in the discussion by commenting below or by writing up a post in your own blog and linking it back to the post you are commenting on. Of course, you can also keep your thoughts private by writing in your journal or carrying on a discussion of your own with a close friend. You might draw or doodle your feelings about the book, or express yourself in any way you deem fit. I also want to encourage you to write an Amazon review of the book, if you would like to support it.

I made some initial comments about the book when I first started reading it in this post a few weeks ago. You may wish to check out the post if you have not already.

I wanted the focus of this discussion to be on answering questions about yourself. I felt like this book prompted me to ask myself a lot of questions about introversion as it relates to me, and I thought I would share some of these questions with you, and see what you think.

3. Have you always known you were an introvert? Did you have compassion for yourself or did you feel ashamed about it?

If you did not start or finish reading the book, I encourage you to check it out before you answer these questions. But you are welcome to answer the questions whether you read or finished the book or not. A little self-discovery never hurt anyone!

Please keep in mind that my blog is public, and therefore your comments will also be public.

So much inspiration, so much time! Please subscribe to the Create, Share, Prosper blog and sign up for The Prosperous Creative ezine for exclusive discounts you won’t find elsewhere. Click on the Enter School tab above to put your creativity to prosperous use right now. Like words? Check out my Etsy shop. And you haven’t seen anything, if you haven’t seen all the helpful offerings in my online shop. Thanks for reading and thanks for sharing this post with fellow creatives!

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