MIA to say the least.

I have been MIA to say the least- I mean I am not missing in action per se, I am literally sitting in my house, if you need me you can find me! yet I am feeling very lost. 

I guess I haven't been here for about 8 months, which really sucks, and I am positive that my previous post said that I would be trying to be more present. I guess I lied. I haven't tried, I haven't even thought about it. That kind of makes me feel terrible, but in reality- this is a weird time, and people are all reacting differently. 

Let's be perfectly honest, it's not like I was blogging much before Covid, so I can't really blame it on that- I can only blame it on myself, and choices that I have made.

Should I even say that I am going to try harder,? You know when you have a friend that has, let's say a nail shop. You love them dearly, and every time you see them you tell them "oh yes, I need to make an appointment, I need to drop in and get my nails done!" Yet you haven't, and you probably won't. Of course you say it with the best of intentions, but you know that you don't get your nails done, so you won't be going- Yet you still say this every time you see them. Stop it. - I had to, and I had to apologize to my friend for basically lying to her. 

So I guess  my answer is- I'm not going to tell you I am going to try harder, because I am not sure I will. 

BUT IN HAPPY NEWS! 

I have been working on other things, I have been following my dream of being a picture book maker.

In the past 3 year, I have illustrated 7 picture books- 2 of which I also wrote. I am so focused and thoroughly enjoying using my gifts, and my education to create content in a world that will I believe never give up on books, because books are magic.

I am so excited to be on this journey, I get to work with other people, and help them realize their dreams, it makes my heart sing!

So amidst all of this crazy cover chaos, I hope you are following your dreams, I hope you are working towards your goals- Even if your goal is merely to survive this, get up in the morning, and survive the day. I mean-  I'm having to give myself stickers in my agenda on the days I shower, and the days I go out for a walk. Fingers crossed today is a gold star day- Ps. if you think gold stars are not a motivator for adults, try giving yourself some when you do something you are proud of- you'll see!

I'm going to share a link with you where you can download 3 free prints- Strong, Brave and FEARLESS... these are children's prints from my latest book!  

https://www.melissabakernguyen.ca/prints.html

There are colouring pages, printable, activities for the kiddos, and great stuff there.

And for those of you who need a little downtime and self care, here is a colouring page for you :) 

Share the love,

M.

Reader and Day Dreamer ©LostBumblebee | www.lostbumblebee.com | Free Printable | Personal Use only

Grown Up Colouring : Rhino

Good morning to you! How was your weekend? Mine was insane! I was selling my art and working at a conference for the past 10 days, I am ex-haus-ted (to say the least!).  I'm currently knee deep in coffee and work  -I'm not sure I'm going to make it! lol

I feel like my body is jet lagging and I haven't been on a plane.  I'm trying to finish up my list of things to do- that has been accumulating for the past few days - but I wanted to take a minute to remind you that you are amazing :) Created for a purpose and beautiful.

Happy Monday, take some time today to stop, realize, and accept that you were created with a destiny and purpose... and the fact that you are living on this earth, is evidence enough that You are amazing.

Be inspired. Share. and Love.
Share the love,
M.

Be sure to catch up with me on Facebook and Instagram to see my final piece.

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Grown Up Colouring : Let's Be Adventurers!

my version so far :)

I love the idea of adventuring all over the world and seeing new things... but what I love most is the people. I love watching the people, trying to communicate with the people. Seeing how they do what they do- Because we all do it differently. And it is awesome.

When we were in China last year, and the verbal communication between me and the people -whose paths I crossed every day -was basically non existent. Oh but communicate we could. I am slightly dramatic (or so I've been told) in conversation. I taught ESL for 10 years- so I got use to asking people to repeat themselves without feeling badly about it, I got used to deciphering gists of conversations- The one international symbol that I did notice is that if you smile at people, it warms their face. Things melt away, the stress, the frustration, the fear 'Oh my gooooodness! is she talking to me in English?' A smile can melt many hard emotions and bring peace to a situation.

As you know we are going to Uganda. (If you didn't know, you can check it out here). I look at the photos of the children from the Orphanage, their faces are lit up with these huge smiles... it makes me so excited to meet them. I am not stressed about meeting the children, their smiles give me hope, and peace. They will teach me so much more than I could ever offer or bring with me.

So to all of you who dream of being Adventurers... you can start in your own community, talking to those you don't know... loving on people, and radiating love- and move on from there. What was your favourite adventure from your travels, feel free to leave a comment here, or go to the Facebook page and leave it there :)

Share the love,
M.

Grown Up Colouring- Giraffes

I'm thinking of taking all of my designs and turning them into a colouring book. It would be a complete labour of love, because I don't know if I have the time to figure this out at the moment- I guess it would be the passion project that happens early in the morning, and in the wee hours of night, when I ought to be sleeping.

What are your thoughts about me creating a colouring book?

In the mean time, I hope you are finding peace and rest while colouring these pages. That is my hope and prayer for you <3

Share the love,
M.

Note: If these seem overwhelming, feel like they will never be done? Consider this : I consider my personal grown up colouring sheets like a puzzle. I colour all of the pages that I create, I don't necessarily sit and complete an entire image at one time, I do it in stages - take this one for instance... I have only coloured in a few of the top leaves... so don't be overwhelmed.... take your time, all the time you need... relax... enjoy... breathe.  M.

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Grown Up Colouring Sheet- Elephant

Happy Wednesday!

Here she is... a beautiful Elephant ripe for the colouring. Price for download is $1 please click the donate button to the right and donate.

I wanted to create art that everyone can afford while all donations go directly to our Living Life On Purpose Journey 2015 UGANDA. It is coming fast (September 27- we fly away!) Please pray for peace in Uganda and surrounding areas, I am sure you have all heard about the precious lives taken in Kenya- heartbreaking.

If you'd like to download a bundle of my Grown up Colouring Pages, you can do that on my >> ETSY SHOP  << it's a great way to donate money directly to this journey and have all of the images download in one nice neat zip file :)

Continue praying for our journey, there is so much to do before we leave- please keep us in your thoughts! (if you live in the area- we are in the process of organizing a bizarre + Family Fun Day! this summer, garage sale (for you moms and dads)  bouncy house, face painting (to keep the kids occupied while you shop) and to finish it off a bbq ! We are so excited about all of the interesting ways we will be able to meet people along these journey to raising our funds. (date to be announced!)

I am in no way a fundraising queen, so if you have any suggestions, we would love to hear them!
Share the love,
M.

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my version 

a work of art in progress 

completed including my signature :)   I got a blister from this one :) 

Monday.

my incomplete versions of this hummingbird :)                  

Was your Easter Amazing?  Sometimes holidays are hard for me, especially my favourite holidays. I feel the older I get the harder it is to enjoy a holiday, I look forward to it so much, and then it falls flat, it doesn't live up to the expectations I have placed on it.  Easter is one of those holidays. I love the idea of a new beginning, of celebrating the resurrection, of spring in the air... a new dress, something that looks like a breath of fresh air... family photos in the sun, church together... dinner... conversation.  When we were little, Easter always happened at my Grandparent's house, I remember all of us cousins eating in layers sitting up the central stairs of their home, all dressed in our Easter outfits... with a 1 pound chocolate bunny waiting to be eaten. It was loud, still too cold to play outside, filled with smoke, and usually a race of some sort, or a sporting match was on the tv. My Uncles would turn up the volume, my Grandma would come in from the kitchen and turn it down, this was the routine of the day. Sneaking the volume back up, and out She'd come and turn it back down. The kids would just giggle and sit closer to the tv.

My own family is split all over the country, sure, my hubby's family is near, but they don't celebrate Easter and never have. I want so badly to create some traditions of our own, I try, it ends up not happening... No family photos, no new dress... no celebration. One thing that did salvage this Sunday was going out to dinner with a friend of ours, and her whole family- eight of us. It was awesome. Sure, it wasn't my family, but almost. It was probably the highlight of my weekend. Does it make me sad my family is not together on the holidays, yes... but can I go back to being eight years old when the world made sense? no...

Next year, I will have to write down my expectations, and try to create new traditions, and follow through... This past Christmas, I wrote out my expectations of Christmas, (what are you looking for, what is most important, what would you like to happen)... I wrote down exactly what I wanted to happen, I wrote out how I wanted to feel (calmness, joy, reflection), and what was most important (time with our families, a time of relaxation for my hubby, quiet time with my hubby)... and then made it happen, it was wonderful, the only thing we didn't do was our annual puzzle... But I was ok with that - I  had no lingering feelings of unhappiness, of incompleteness. I had no sadness when I went to sleep... I knew that my expectations were clearly written down, and they had happened.

Yesterday,  I was working on my print for today, a stylized humming bird... I see them floating and flitting around, I see them as beautiful and graceful darting about... but what I never see is their little wings flapping at over 50 times per second... I only see the beauty, I don't see the work. I have to remind myself of this when flipping through Instagram during the holidays- I see all of these perfect beautiful families, dressed up in new duds for Easter.... I have to remember that Momma is flapping her wings more than 50 times a second, holding back tears of her own, be it happy or sad, trying to create moments and memories for her family, creating traditions of her own... Her feelings are probably not far from my own...

The amazing thing about Easter, is it's a NEW DAY... a new beginning, a new time of year, filled with Hope, and expectation, and awesomeness... so today as I am up very early typing this... I feel a sense of peace, calmness and hope. Last night, not so much...but today. Yes.

How about you? How do you go through the holidays?
Have you ever written down our expectations? If so, did you find it made a difference?

Share the love,
M.


Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”  -C.G Jung

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Wild + Free

A beautiful reminder...
be wild + free.

I hope you have a beautiful Easter weekend...
remembering that freedom isn't free-
but what a beautiful thing it is!

Share the love,
M.

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Need a little Peace?

Here is the end result of my quiet time last night :) 

I actually lead a very peaceful life... our house butts up to a farmers field, we live in a sleepy little town, I work from home, the hubby has his own business  (2 actually and yes- he works 24/7- but we also have days when we can sneak away and go to a matinee- or visit his dad, or go for a drive and talk... it's really nice.)

But do I still need peace? Yes- because although our lives are pretty simple, our brains are not. My brain runs at 100 miles an hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is hard to make it stop. I keep running lists of; ideas, thoughts, things I need to do, things I should have done... it never stops.

Do we lead a full life? Yes. Will I give into societies addiction to busy, as though busy makes one successful? no.  When I need peace in my mind, I meditate and pray. I think on the good things, true things, honest things, just things, pure things, and lovely things... I pray for my family, my friends and for you... it stills my heart, calms my mind and surrounds my home with peace.

Yesterday I needed to get out of my head, so picked up my pencil and I drew this big beautiful wave... I thought It was going to end with the sketch, but then I filled it in, turned it into a graphic, printed it, and coloured it. About a 3 hours ordeal... I sensed the stillness... the verses "Deep calls to deep", and "Peace be still" were running through my mind... So I've added those as well as a blank version if you prefer.

What do you do when you need to still your heart and mind? How to you calm yourself in this world that is constantly requiring more, making us feel like we just aren't enough, we need to do more, have more, be more- Let me tell you something... You are enough, You are good, You are loved, and you don't need to do anything more than what you are doing... give yourself a break- refuse the glorification of busy, and instead choose a more meaningful life. That might mean some quality time with your kids, your hubby, your best friend. A conversation with a friend over a cup of coffee is never wasted time... and don't let anyone ever tell you it is- refuse the glorification of busy, and live in the meaningful... and choose to live your life on purpose.

Share the love,
M.

Remember to get our a black pen after you colour this in and personalize it with your own version of patterns - you can really make it yours! No two will ever look the same! <3

>>For more Grown Up Colouring Sheets click here<<

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