Wow! I had a fantastic time at the June 2016 Etsy Craft Party hosted by Ugly Baby and La Ru in Seattle.  It was so much fun, I actually stayed for 6.5 hours.  

And what kept me so long?

Washi tape...I couldn't get enough of this stuff.  I embellished cards, coasters, and envelopes.  I couldn't stop.  Just as I finished one card, I had to do another and then another--doing both the inside and outside of the cards and doing an envelope to go with the card.  Check out my creations in the above photo and the photo slideshow below.

And then there was the drawings for prizes.

Each hour, I eagerly waited to hear my ticket number called--as I wanted to win a fabulous prize.  Several times I was off only by one digit.  I'm sad to report, I didn't win that day.

However, I got a wonderful swag bag. And because I stayed to the end and helped with clean up, I got another one!  YIPPEE!

So thanks to Ugly Baby and La Rue for a cool event and all the sponsors who gave great prizes and provided craft supplies for our creations.  It was one fun day--even when it poured rain!

And as you can see, I'm particularly grateful to Scotch 3M for their Washi tape and Strathmore for supplying cards to embellish.

I'm already looking forward to a 2017 Etsy Craft Party!

*​Want to receive or give a gift of creativity?  

*Is your mailbox hungry for real mail?

*Like surprises?

If you said YES to any of the above, read on!

For the past six years, Kat Eye Studio's has hosted art postcard swaps--and is doing it again for 2016.

According to Kat, this swap "encourages you to create, share, and liberate your art out into the world, where it can do its greatest good." 

if you are interested, then visit Kat's site and join the "Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap" this week (otherwise you'll miss out on the fun!).

The postcard swap receipt deadline is March 12, 2016.

I tremendously enjoyed doing Kat's postcard swap in 2015 and I'm joining the fun again in 2016.  Read my blog on my experience here.

​Find out more about the 2016 postcard swap by clicking here.

For inspiration, see the YouTube video of artists' postcards from 2015 by clicking here or on the below.

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Author and artist, Kathryn V. White's most recent book, Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness, is a finalist in the 2014 Wishing Shelf Book Awards.  Her art is available as fine art prints.  Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

Now, what about 2016?  

By thinking through your options, developing your goals, and writing down your dreams you are much more likely to move forward in the direction you desire.

And you’ve got help…

A team from Hungary has developed a wonderful booklet as well as an online version for you to use in looking back over the past year and focusing on what you want for 2016. 

It’s available in several languages.  It’s flexible too—go it alone or with a group. 

January is a perfect time to set your direction for the rest of the year. 

Click here to learn more.

One of the things I like about this process is coming up with a key word or phrase to act as my year's touchstone.  

I'm going with "la dolce vita."  For me, this means being aware, allowing, savoring, and actively acknowledging the sweetness of life in deeper and more expanded ways.

What's your key word or phrase for 2016?

To a fulfilling and joyful new year!

The exhibit continues through the end of December 2015.  If you have the chance, please stop by to enjoy it Monday through Friday, 7:30AM to 5:30PM, at the UW Tower at 4333 Brooklyn Avenue NE in the University District.  It's located between the elevators and the pedestrian bridge to the parking garage. 

Just sign in at the front desk at either entrance and tell them you'd like to see the art on the lobby floor.

To find out more about my art, click here.

To find out more about Rumble Tumble Joy, click here.

To own a fine art print of my art, click here.  These make a great gift for birthdays, anniversaries, and the holidays!

In 2015, Mutual of Omaha staff traveled the USA in a 34-foot long, super-cool, silver bullet Airstream trailer to talk with folks across the nation about their “aha” moments.

I was fortunate to be able to meet up with this talented crew.

Please click here to find out about mine or on the photo below…

                                  ***
Author and artist, Kathryn V. White's most recent book, Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness, is a finalist in the 2014 Wishing Shelf Book Awards.  Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

It's available via Amazon as a Kindle ebook.

Don't have a Kindle?  No sweat!  Download the free Kindle App that can be used on PCs, iPads, and other devices.

And even better, send your girlfriends a copy of Heart to Heart as a gift and a reminder of what they mean to you.  It's better, quicker, and less expensive than a card!

Enjoy!

                                 ***
Author and artist, Kathryn V. White's most recent book is Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness.  Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

Click on the cover to find the book on Amazon (USA).  It's also available internationally via Amazon.

Click here to read more endorsements and testimonials.

Click here for an e-flyer on Rumble Tumble Joy.

Click here to learn about Kathryn's stories and here to learn about her art.

                                ***
Author and artist, Kathryn V. White's most recent book is Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness.  Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

Here's an excerpt of the review:

"Using poetry and prose, White takes readers inside her personal journey of transformation, acceptance, and wholeness. Through the passages, White wrestles with and finds contentment with her weight, her face, her skin, and her body,particularly her thighs...

White's journey is filled with moments of joy, pain, sorrow, anger, and love, and readers--women of all ages--can use Rumble Tumble Joy to embark on their own journey of appreciation and acceptance of themselves and others..."
                 --Africa Hands, San Francisco Book Review

Read the entire review here.

                                ***

Author and artist, Kathryn V. White's most recent book, Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness, is a finalist in the 2014 Wishing Shelf Book Awards.  Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

Each week in March and the last postcard arriving in April, a little gift of joy and connection arrived in my mailbox.

Receiving these postcards, plus participating in Kat's scavenger hunt before the postcards were mailed and a blog hop for participants over the weekend of April 18, 2015 (after the post cards were received) has been a fun way to share my art and writing as well as see the cool stuff other folks are creating.  

I received art-filled postcards from artists in Connecticut, Colorado, Oregon, Florida, and the United Kingdom. I also won a beautiful calendar of Patricia Lyon-Surrey's art!

If offered again (say it will be so Kat!), I highly recommend that you take Kat's postcard swap excursion in 2016 to meet others through tangible postcards and social media. 

Connecting with others in this way makes the world smaller and bigger at the same time--and a great reminder of human kindness!

So thank you Kat and all the 2015 participants for making this an event worth remembering, sharing, and celebrating with others!

Click here to see a video of some of the art shared through the 2015 Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap. 

                                  ***

Author and artist, Kathryn V. White is now a "Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap" enthusiast. Her most recent book, Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness  was recently voted a finalist for the 2014 Wishing Shelf Book Award.  Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

Max paves the way in showing Tom how an animal can transform one’s life and expand one’s heart.  

Atticus is the catalyst that leads Tom on their epic adventures of hiking hundreds of miles of rugged-winter terrain and climbing over 80 snow-enveloped mountain peaks in just 90-days.  

Battling wind, snow drifts, and frost-biting cold, these intrepid hikers face terror and embrace sublimity.  

You’ll cry and fear the worse.

You’ll cheer and hug your pet.

You’ll enjoy every moment of this spiritual, physical, and emotional journey of a man and his dog.

Don’t wait! Click on the book cover to follow their adventures.  

                                ***
Dog lover, author, and artist, Kathryn V. White's most recent book, Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness, is a finalist in the 2014 Wishing Shelf Book Awards.  Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

Yes, my wish is that both Odin the Ferret and Rumble Tumble Joy move from finalists to winners!  Now that would make for a fantastic year. 

Will the Wishing Shelf grant my wish?

Winners are to be announced in April 2015.  Tune in to hear more...

Find out more about author and artist, Kathryn V. White at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

One of the things I like to do on my walks is play “I Spy a...Heart.” 

It’s fun to find how ingeniously this reminder of love can be right-in-front of us and yet easily passed by.  

I’ve found hearts in a window, painted on a bus shelter, and as paper fragments, rocks, leaves, rubber bands, or a bit of string.

With Valentine’s Day on February 14th—it’s a good time to celebrate all the love in your life.  

Just like I’ve found on my walks—it’s all around you.  

Increase its abundance by telling someone you love them, sending a heart-filled note, adopting a rescued animal, and/or doing something kind for yourself. 

Go ahead, help spread the love!

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Kathryn's most recent book is Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness. She is sharing this book with a wider audience to help others heal their negative body image and increase their self-love.  Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

Perhaps there’s another way…a way that acknowledges the good in life and through that acknowledgment, great and wonderful changes occur…

Meet John Kralik, a man who found his perspective shift from self-pity, anger, disappointment, and despair to one that could see the good that came into his life every day.  

With this shift, his difficult life changed to one of health, fulfillment, and love—all through the simple action of hand-writing 365 thank-you notes over 15 months.

Are you ready for real change?

Then learn more about John’s book, 365 Thank Yous, by clicking on the cover.  (Affiliate link)

                                              ***
Kathryn's most recent book is Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness. Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com

Showing the world your magic includes making art--which Mati can help you with, especially in the realm of collage.   

And for this art magic to happen, you'll need to allow for spontaneity and messiness.

Hmm...sounds a bit like the magic that shows up when you let go of control, and allow life to happen!

If your life has gotten stale, take a baby step towards re-awakening its magic by clicking the cover above. (Affilitate link)

Shoelaces 

I remember when I was little, living in Greenwich Village in a small studio apartment with parquet floors.  

I was frequently barefoot in my home, but never outside.  

Too much garbage, broken glass, and hard concrete.  

Too many ways to puncture my feet and end up with a bad cut—or worse—gangrene.

These were the days before velcro—when you either tied your own shoelaces, an adult tied them, or you left them untied—and risked tripping, falling, and skinning your knees.

I yearned to learn how to tie my own shoelaces—wanting that easy, smooth, flowing motion of the grown-ups.  I wanted to figure out how to go from two loops to a bow and then double-bow (to keep them from ever untying).

It looked simple—simple like the magician pulling the rabbit out of the hat or making coins appear from behind kids' ears—but not really.

A sleight of hand I longed to grasp.

As I kneeled on my left knee and hunched over my right, I allowed no one to help me.  I wanted to do this—BY MYSELF! 

I seized the shoelaces of my right sneaker—one in my right hand, one in my left.

I took the right shoelace and looped it under and over my left one.

And hesitated.

Now what?

I pulled them tight.

Then I made a loop with the shoelace in my right hand.

And stopped.

What next?

I looped the shoelace in my left hand under and over—NO, that’s not it!—over and under the loop in my right hand.

And pulled tight.

One bow.

YES!

I paused and bit my lower lip.

That’s enough.

On to my left sneaker.

Same thing.

WOW!

I did it!

I REALLY DID IT!

I wiggled and giggled, full of the joy of figuring it all out. 

BY MYSELF.

Rising from my crouched position, I stood taller than tall.

Grinning as I looked down at my sneakers, I felt I could fly.

"Shoelaces" by Kathryn V. White is a flash memoir piece written in a class facilitated by Ann Teplick.  The class was sponsored by the Seattle Public Library for the Seattle Write’s series.  Kathryn's most recent book is Rumble Tumble Joy: A Journey for Healing, Inspiration, and Wholeness. Find out more at: www.kathrynVwhite.com