Smart strategies for artists who procrastinate

'Being who you are that's happiness' 

 I made this canvas when we moved home is appropriate for today and it's a wonderful day, got up early, did some miracle morning, meditation and personal development, taken the dogs to the park and all the leaves are glorious autumn colours, crunched through leaves, found a pine cone and discovered this gorgeous scented flower in our garden. Had coffee and a danish and now I'm going to do some creative work.

I have really been  trying to get my bum into gear and be proactive in my business which I do find difficult because I love the creating bit and still imagine successful business women in suits (can you imagine me in a suit hahaha) so it's undoing all those limiting beliefs, I posted in Leonies forum and got great support and some cracking answers. 

This is what I asked:

What do you think this is about? I am really creative and have billions of ideas, I start loads of projects but rarely finish them, I know I'm talented and have a 'gift' and if I got my ass into gear could do pretty well I think but everyday I wake up with great plans but then faff around, read a book, walk the dogs, snooze, eat food, watch a film etc anything really to avoid doing what I should be doing. The thing is we are now really struggling financially and it's either carry on with my art or get a job (which I really don't want to do) so have any of you been thorough this? Any tips to make me be proactive? 

Loads of various answers came back but the ones I found most useful were:

Read anything by Barbara Sher. (I have started looking at this author and feel she will be a good fit with my scatter brained approach, let me know if you have read any of her books)

First, don't think about how long something is going to take just tell yourself you're going to do fifteen or twenty minutes. (I like this because it doesn't seem too long if I get bored)

Sit down and write all about your fears and blocks around success. write down every "disadvantage" of being a successful artist/woman; your beliefs around financial success; everything you have heard about those topics that is negative or any comments from people throughout your life that say YOU can't become successful. Once you know that you can work on them and see how false they are. 

(I like this because I know I have some weird ideas as above the suit thing)

Make a "someday maybe" box or folder for your other ideas. (This is brilliant for me because I like making and creating so this could work really well and the symbolic gesture of shutting the lid on my ideas will help)

So with all that in mind I went onto my Pinterest vision board this morning to visualise and ended up finding this awesome site for creatives

I have been printing some great worksheets and reminders too last week, this was Sunday night organising for the week, I need to get my ass in gear and be the best I can be, I want to be financially free and travel, eat out, have holidays and move from Blackpool so I'm going to ride my wild donkey and get stuff done this week!

Love Dotty xx

I'm having an art sale!

It has been a busy week in the studio, I did a fair last weekend at Avenham Park in Preston as part of the mad hatters tea party, and then had another this weekend at St Anne's music festival so I was making loads of art. 

I loved to paint and make mixed media pieces, it stops me getting bored of doing the same things.

I love doing both but the mixed media ones develop and evolve as I go where the rainbow ones, I already know the kind of way it will turn out. I also love getting the glue and paint on my hands, it makes me connected.

As I have 3 males in the house I love making girly pieces with glitter and loads of pink, my studio is pink and girly and I love it, if I need to reset my feminine energy, I just come in here and do a big breath and feel myself relaxing and recharging. Sometimes living with all males is hardwork.

I always love to put positive words and quotes on my art, I think words are so important, that is why it's called spelling, you create spells with your words.

I am having a sale over on facebook if you want to have a look, I am also open for commissions at the moment, until I get booked up again. Hope you have an amazing week, remember the possibilities are endless.

Love Dotty xx

Positivity butterflies and angel art

Finished 2 commissions this week for a lovely customer I have enjoyed these so much,

 I was even staying up till 2.30am some nights sticking sequins on, its addictive!! 

These are my favourite art works so far - amazing!! 

Thank you for the opportunity and wonderful brief xx

Thank you so much for helping me do what I love, so grateful.

Love Dotty xx

Supercharge your income as an artist

Hey gorgeous souls! I want to share some on my art I have been making lately, and share how on earth I am actually selling stuff!

 if you want to keep up to date on a daily basis pop over to Facebook as I am on there a lot ;)

So I have been such a busy bee lately since I have gone ahead and become a full time artist, its amazing, I get to wear my fluffy My Little Pony pjs, eat Green and Blacks chocolate, watch films like Cinderella and paint and draw, plus get paid! I think this is THE happiest I have ever been in my whole life.

I feel truly blessed and thankful for this kind of abundance and life I am living.

How am I doing it?

You know, there are a couple of key things that have really resonated with me and I think they have been the key to me believing in myself, being able to have the knowledge and guts to go ahead and start living my dream. One is this amazing book  The magical Path by Marc Allen and his amazing meditation:

Watch his video

The other is the amazing Leonie Dawson she is an inspiration, I have joined her academy to do the business goddess workshop and it has been invaluable, the support from the groups and women you connect with is amazing. I love that it is not stuffy business and that its filled with rainbows, unicorns, love and really useful information that you can implement as a creative person.

In the academy there is a magic money making kit where you predict the total you would like to make that month (there is a brilliant workshop that goes alongside it to help you learn) I was a bit nervous about saying, too big a figure, its got to be believable for me and even though I have had mini successes in the past earning money, it's never been constant or I never thought it would be, anyway I put £500 for the month, to someone on a full time wage this probably doesn't seem that big, but you need to remember this is coming from an artist (in fact its even weird for me to call myself that, do I have permission?) but to me thats a great amount, so imagine my delight when I totalled up the amount of sales I have had for the month so far (5 days in) and it came to over half the total for the month!!
Like holy shit I am actually doing it!

I can only imagine it growing too, I have only been a member for just over a month and I feel like my life is transforming before my eyes. Its magical.

Hard work?

I do keep thinking someone is going to come and say "you can't do this, work is hard and you are having fun!"

We are conditioned at an early age with sayings that work is hard, such as:
“Nothing worth having comes easy.” – Theodore Roosevelt
"Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work."Booker T. Washington
 Hard work brings prosperity; playing around brings poverty.     -- Bible
Or a favourite is well meaning parents saying you have to do a job you hate because you have to pay the bills. 

Yes the bills need paying, yes you need money to live but don't forgo your happiness for this, find a way that works for you and your family, do something you love and you will never work a day in your life


 Contrary to popular belief with some friends, I don't loll around in pjs all day ( I do get dressed occasionally to go out haha) I don't spend my days faffing about, eating chocolate, watching films whoops! ;) in all seriousness, I have a whale of a time but I don't keep conventional hours, I don't finish working at 5pm, sometimes if I have a commission I am up till 2.30am, the housework gets rejected until its a must, I have to literally prize myself away from the computer sometimes to go to bed, the painting canvasses is a tiny part of running your own business, especially if you are a one woman show, theres all the marketing, admin, accounts etc but I wouldn't change a thing, to some it seem like 'hard'work but to me I am loving it. You can love your life and job too.

Like my work?

If you like my art and want to help me feed my chickens, children, rescue dogs and my chocolate habit you can pop over to my Etsy page or come stalk me on Facebook, get in touch if you want a commission piece painting, I love, love doing them so much!.

Love Dotty xx

Unleash your power

Everyone has a gift to give or share with the world, some people know straight away what that gift is, others need time to grow and figure it out, some people don’t ever know they have a gift because they never work on themselves, I am guessing because you are reading this you don’t fall into the last category.

Inside you is amazing power, the power to heal, the power to make wonderful things happen, the power to choose your destiny.

To tap into this power will make you very happy, fulfilled and rich in all aspects of your life.

I have 2 sayings

1. Thank you

2. What’s the worst that can happen?

These words have propelled me throughout my awakened life and will continue to do so for ever more.

Throughout everything I have learned the number one thing to make you brilliant is gratitude, being thankful and believing you can do amazing things turns your life around,  being thankful everyday about all things makes you a happier and positive person, this in turn makes you attractive, fun to be around, makes you capable of achieving all your dreams, unlocks areas in your life you didn’t know could be amazing, and makes you open to opportunities and have the courage to go for them. 

Make sure you use the words ( and mean them ) Thank you, every day, all day from the minute you wake up “ thank you for granting me another day”, “Thank you for a bed to sleep in” to last thing at night “ Thank you for all the abundance I have received today”, “thank you for  a good nights sleep”

What's the worst  that can happen makes you think of the truly horrific, the absolutely most hideous outcome, then you always (normally) realise that it isn't that bad after all, this eleviates the worry factor and makes you more inclined to take a chance. 

                         Photo found on Manifest your dreams

Be positive. Believe that you can do it! Don’t focus on the negatives. Your brain doesn’t have an image for words like ‘won’t’ &  ‘don’t’ so when you say things like ‘I don’t want to fail’ your brain has to actually picture you failing which then takes your focus off your goal.

You can be happy and abundant!

How many people woke up today and had to drag themselves out of bed, get dressed in clothes they wouldn’t normally wear and don’t feel comfortable in, drive/get the train/bus early in the morning whilst half asleep to get to a destination they don’t like going to, to be there for 8+ hours, eating and drinking when told they are allowed to, asking permission to go to the toilet, acting in a certain way to ‘fit in’ whist looking out of the window wishing they were somewhere else. Doing this for 6 days a week, to get money to pay for things they don’t need but they think they should have because society and the media have brainwashed them into believing they would be happier and more fulfilled with the items, working for 48 hours a week (not including the wasted time travelling back and forth) to get money to save up to get 2 weeks off a year on holiday so they can ‘relax’.

Days off are treated like gold, Mondays are treated like the enemy, Fridays are looked forward to all week because “the weekend starts here”

Time is precious, your life is precious, family, friends, children are precious. Being happy is precious.
Today forget about money for a minute, ask yourself, am I doing what I love and enjoy? if money was no object how would I spend my days?
I am fully aware in this society we need money, I am not being idealistic by asking these questions, I just want you to think for a minute, have you been put on this earth to feel drained, stressed and like life is ‘hard work’?
I think we are amazing, our world is amazing, the opportunities and abundance is there for us all.
What one change could you make today to get closer to your dream life?

Don’t let other people’s ideals impact on you and your decisions, forget for a minute your background and the way your parents instilled their own values and ideals onto you, forget that the neighbours have a BMW ( whatever car you think is fancy, I like Morris Minors, but didn’t think that would work in this scenario) forget your sister redecorates every few months or your brother has just been to New York.

Take a breath, go on a big deep right into your belly breath, release it, release all the consumerism, release all the thoughts of “I can’t”

Then imagine what your life would look like if you could do what you enjoyed for a living. Imagine the endless possibilities, think back to when you was a child, what dreams did you have? I bet you didn’t have any thoughts then, that it wasn’t possible, that you was being unrealistic, no you didn’t!. Because as a child you believed anything was possible, magic happened, dreams came true. When did that belief change?

I have been reading many amazing books lately and come across some amazing inspiring people who started out just like you and me, but they did something about their dreams and turned them into reality.

This is my current book I am reading, I am about half way through and can’t recommend it enough, I am excited to see how the changes will impact my life.

I am also a massive fan of Leonie Dawson, she is infectious, I love her bonkers attitude to life, I love the way I can relate to her and I love the way she went from working in an office to living in tropical paradise.

The one book and film that changed our lives the most, right back 6 years ago and made us rethink everything was The Secret. If you do one thing today watch it, it is available on Youtube, so no excuses, I promise it will change you.

I just want you all to know, you can be happy, you can be abundant in life, love and wellbeing. You have permission to be amazing, you have permission to follow your dreams no matter who it pisses off along the way (normally that stems from jealousy or fear). Take the first step. We support you and have your back!