Wishing all of those that are celebrating Thanksgiving a wonderful day with their loved ones!
Thank you all so much for reading my blog and for your wonderful comments. I am thankful to have you!
Huge hugs
Nat
Nat
nathalie-kalbach
Bizzy Bs at Bizzy B’s
Coming back to Bizzy B’s in Toronto Canada after only four months was so much fun. It was like I have seen my students yesterday and it made it so special, plus Barb and Tony are amazing hosts and store owners and they are just making it so easy to teach!
The first class was the Be Awesome! Be a Book Nut Altered Book Class
It was fun seeing all those different books and takes of the students. They were such a fun and wonderful group and it was amazing seeing so many again and getting to know some finally. Like Marg who came all the way from Newfoundland and was such a sweetie!
Next up was the Season Canvas Class
On Sunday I taught the Über*Media Acrylic Paint ArtJournal Class, which was a five-hour class. We had lot’s of fun and it was super messy colorful :)
Thank you to all my students who came to my workshops – I hope I will see some of you soon again ;) And thank you to Barb and Tony from Bizzy B’s for having me again!
Little German Lady ;)
Nat
Nat
Comments (6)
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Sue Clarke
Just look at all that awesome art laundry hanging out to dry.
I am curious about the way those pages are folded in the altered book.
And could that be a Series of Unfortunate Events that I see (awesome series). -
Suzanne Bouchard
WOW1 That lokks all so exciting! Thanks for sharing!
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Sandi McLean
Ok so now you have been to Toronto a couple of times, I am hopeful that you will get to make the west coast some time!! I can image how thrilled your participants were!
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Anne Porretta
Nat, I’m glad you enjoyed your visit to Toronto! I regularly follow your blog and enjoy your sense of humour and your playful art. Wish I wasn’t already booked elsewhere both times you came. Maybe next time I can get to meet you . . .
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mjmarmo
Wow – wish I could attend one of your classes!
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Martha Richardson
Great classes & students!
Leave a comment
Somewhere Under The Rainbow
Last thursday I went to Toronto to teach again at Bizzy B’s and it was such a fun 3 days. Barb and Tony always make me feel very special and I love spending time with them. I will show pictures of the workshops tomorrow, today is reserved for nature :)
It was a beautiful fall day on friday and Barb suggested to just take the car and get out for some sightseeing. I was sooo in…she didn’t suggest that two times ;) So we went first to Niagra-on-the-Lake -lovely little town.
Barb and I had a lot of fun – here I am towering over her ;)
We laughed hysterically at times, especially at some cell phone photo taking accidents…here is one…
And then we arrived at the Niagara Falls – WOW!
Can you see? A Double Rainbow! I have never seen this – so so so so cool!
To the left are the American Falls and to the right the Canadian Falls, and I better not say which one is more beautiful, eh? LOL
We were soaking wet after a couple of minutes from all the mist and it was loud and just AWESOME!
Many inside pocket photos were shot accidentally – I spare you of those- LOL.
Thank you so much Barb, for taking your time and showing me this fascinating wonder! You rock!
Which natural wonder would you visit next if there was no time or money restriction?
Have a wonderful day and see you tomorrow with pictures of the workshops :)
Nat
Nat
Comments (8)
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Cynthia
Nat, your pictures are awesome! But my favourite is the one of just a little wee bit of the top of your head, that makes me smile. :) Glad you had a chance to visit Niagara Falls, it really is a special place. Laurie and I rode the boat to the base of the Falls while we were there in the summer, you’ll have to do that next time!
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Nathalie Kalbach
LOL- yeah- that is a good photo, huh? Oh I would love to do the boat ride- hopefully next time I come to teach ;)
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marjiekemper
Beautiful pics! Wish I could squeeze into your class on Saturday but this weekend just won’t work. Hope you’re having a wonderful trip and I’ll catch ya next time.
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Nathalie Kalbach
Marjie, I can totally understand, it is a busy weekend! Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving!
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LaurieJay
Fabulous, and that’s where Cynthia and I went in July the day after your classes finished!
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Nathalie Kalbach
That is awesome- I can’t believe it is so close to Toronto. Indeed a special place! huge hugs Nat
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Martha Richardson
OMG-My old stomping grounds…love Niagara on the Lake, lived directly across the lake from there for13 years!!! Beautiful area!
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Nathalie Kalbach
What an amazing place to live Martha! Huge hugs, Nat
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Carrying Heavy To Learn To Say Stop!
Although I see myself as a person who mostly knows what she wants, I am having a hard time to set my boundaries towards people who are aggressively stating what they want and overrun me. It makes me mad at myself , because it is my own fault! Let me give you a made up example:
You have a wedding party and you invited your closest friends because you want to keep it small, and then a neighbor you like but you wouldn’t call a close friend, hears about the wedding and next time you meet in the hallway, that neighbor says “Hey, so awesome you are having a wedding party. I heard about it, I love it. I wanna be invited! You make sure I am on the invitation list, right?”
My weakness in this moment is, I can’t say no. I also don’t want to say “Well, we only invite close friends” because I think I might hurt the person indicating, that it is not a close enough friend. Although actually exactly that way of approaching me is putting me off to no end. And that I can’t say no, makes me so mad at myself because I failed to reply in the way I really want to “I am sorry ,but…”
Indeed it makes me so mad at myself, I would almost like to put the wedding off. (not really…but as said… this is a made up example and if any of my friends are reading this- none of you did this for our wedding and all of you have been invited because we love you guys to no end!!! – plus you wouldn’t be my friends if you would be like the described person – seriously ;) )
I myself am the person that sits pouting in her room because she wasn’t on the invitation list, then ever ever saying out loud “I wanna be invited”. I always assume, I would have been included, if I was really wanted. I love to suffer in silence- LOL
Supplies: 7Gypsies Paper, Prima Brick Wall Stamp, Stamper’s Anonymous Stamp, Masking Tape, Heidi Swapp Color Shine, Tim Holtz Film, Ranger’s Distress Stain, Acrylic Paint, Heidi Swapp Chipboard Letters, Posca Marker, Stapler
I need to stop thinking that if I say no, or say ” I will think about this”, the person will be really really mad at me and never ever talk to me again. And, even if…right, then they obviously don’t give a rat’s tail about my boundaries and why would I want to respect them more than they do respect me?
I am working on it…promised!
Are you good in setting your boundaries?
Huge hugs
Nat
Nat
Comments (15)
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marjiekemper
I love this layout and I wish people hadn’t put you in that position. I think anyone who’s that bold needs a reality check. You’re right to say no. Can you imagine how annoying it would be to say yes, then see the person on your big special day and be resentful she’s there?
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Riikka
Same here, too. But I’m trying to learn.
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Birgit Koopsen
OMGosh, the story of my life…. yep, have to work on that too!!
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peg
I keep my boundaries very close so I don’t often have this problem. My issue is more one of isolating myself…..can’t stuff up if you don’t put yourself out there right?
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Jenny Palmer
Hi nat
I can relate to this but I have realised that as i get older i am better at saying “no” and being more confortable
remember you cant please everyone nor should you
you are not hear to please the masses
don’t be too hard on yourself and love the art
have a great day
Jenny
waves from Tassie -
Sue Clarke
I really like the background and how the distressing makes me feel that you don’t like how the situation went. I have much better boundaries than I used to. When I was just out of college and working in the mental health field I would come home and feel so bad about not being able to “save the world”. Later I realized that each person has to save themselves (with some help if desired). So as hard as it was, I gave the support and tools that I knew how to and hoped for the best. I usually tell it like it is these days (that happened after I turned 40)=some sort of freedom to just be me.
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Ilona
Great of you to tell us and give us the chance to do so too! I have sort of the same problem, but I’m working on it.
I really like your work of art you posted today. It is cool in its expression and colors. Street-art like, that’s great :-) -
SusanJane
I’ve been dealing with boundaries in a big way. My 86 year old mother has another compression fracture from falling… again. One has to be not waiting on her. The doctor what’s her up and moving around. Yes, she is in pain, but old people who stay in bed get worse, not better, because of muscle loss and psychological issues. The other one is making sure I take care of myself. I have to sleep, have to rest, have to shower now and then. It’s hard because I feel guilty and irritated at the same time. It’s finding balance for me.
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Carolyn Dube
Boundaries? I am quite good at knowing where they are and waving to them as they get crossed by others…Of course, my art benefits from it because I usually turn to my art journal when I realize I should have said no! I love how you used the film strips on this- the page has such a great weathered and worn feeling- just like people who say yes too often!
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Eniko DeLisle
It is a struggle at times, isn’t it? (Love how you expressed your feelings in your artwork, Nat!) Don’t be upset with yourself, though…it is normal to be mixed-up when people act inappropriately…they throw us off our game…that’s how they always get what they want
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Janet
Me Too! I suffer in silence! Art is a great way to express your True feelings!
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mjmarmo
I think we can all relate to this!
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LaurieJay
I’m getting better at it than I used to be…….I can relate to the part about pouting in your room!
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Marsha.
No… I’m not. And it’s always getting me into trouble. But I’m working on it, just like you are!
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Michelle LaPoint Rydell
Ohhh Nat – I have a hard time with this too! I can totally relate! You are so right – if people can’t handle you having boundaries, then they are not worth worrying about! I need to hear this too. Thanks for sharing!
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7 Weird Facts About Me
1. I had for many years a 6 inch long, rusty house key in my pocket
When I was 12 my mother married an amazing man – my step father- in short just Dad – and we moved into his timbered house which was built in 1620 to a village of 1200 inhabitants. Before we had lived in Düsseldorf, a city with about 1,5 million inhabitants. My Dad was a very handy man and he wanted to restore the house all by himself…which wasn’t a bad idea….if it wasn’t that it took FOREVER.
We had no heater till I was 17. We heated with coal in the kitchen and the two living rooms and my parents’ master bed room. I had no oven in my room – which means …I woke up to frost patterns (in German it is called Iceflowers- which is so much nicer ;) ) on my window a LOT and to this day I FREAK out when the heater is not working.
We also had a huge and heavy wooden oak door as an entrance door. The door was orignal and did I mention it was heavy? Not only that- it also had a key that was HUGE – I mean like 6 inches long. Which was a problem, because it is not hip to run around with a 6 inch rusty old house key in your pocket.
To make it even better my father who also wanted to do all electricity stuff himself, decided to have a fire bell at the entrance door instead of a normal electric bell. Every time we had visitors you could hear the bell through at least 1/3 of the village. NOT COOL as a teenager!
I loved the house…despite all the things I said I hated as a teenagers and even those things make me laugh now.
2. White Asparagus and Cabbage? Don’t even try to invite me
In spring time white asparagus is a big hit and in fall cabbage. I can’t stand it. I am sure most Germans will not understand this at all ;)
3. Handball & Table Tennis
I played for many many years the European version of team handball as well as table tennis. I was always a short girl but I was quick and I didn’t mind bumping others out of my way – so that helped ;)
4. Punk not Pop
I was a Punk Music Girl…and Rock and Alternative and Grunge…I could not stand the main stream music in the 80s. Funny enough though, I know a lot of 80s pop songs and I love a lot now – LOL. But the love for loud and fast music remains to this day!
5. Only my front half is Italian
My real Dad- not my step dad mentioned above was Italian and died a couple of days after my birth. I have always been proud of my half-italian heritage. It didn’t really help me on Kauai though when I was doing surfing lessons and told my hubs that I wouldn’t need sunscreen on my back because I am half-italian and I never had a sun burn. Apparently only my front half is Italian. The back pretty much not…and I spent a terrible couple hours in the Emergency Room in Hawaii. Not my most glorious moment in my life ;)
6. Never the designated driver
Not because I don’t want to be one…no, I simply have no driver’s license. Why…well..that is a long story- but to make it short I never needed one.
7. But wait there is more…
Hard to believe, I know but there is even more than 7 weird facts out there about me ;)
PhEw- that was hard- LOL- who likes to admit that he is weird ?;)
In what kind of house did you grow up?
Nat
Nat
Comments (14)
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Debi Crouse
First off…I loved your post and you made me fondly remember my childhood home. I grew up on the east coast of Florida in a concrete house that had add-ons done primarily done by my father, to support additions to the family. He converted a small porch area into a fine family room after a hurricane came ashore and rain came into the house through small slat windows that were very common to Florida in the 50’s. My son lives in this house today and each time I visit there is something that triggers a fond childhood memory! Thanks for sharing yours….I had it way easier than you did!
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Zeffy
hi Natalie,what an intersting post. I grew up in Pretoria,South Africa. We always had some or other family member living with us, I never had my own bedroom….only when I married,then I shared with hubby.Back to communal living….if you woke up after dad…you would be LATE he would hog up the bathroom,,,,,and the towels would be wet…and the bathroom so misty and humid my hair would frizz!! Winters were always cold in our homes in south Africa….. Only when I got to Athens did I enjoy the warmth of radiators….although this winter will be cold because the price of heating fuel has shot sky high!
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SusanJane
I grew up in what is called military US tract housing which means there is a small set of cookie cutter houses with a few interchangeable parts. The end result is everyones houses looked pretty much like the rest. The military had a very narrow color range usually puke greens and browns with a little diarrhea yellow-brown thrown in. Since this was on the desert we had few trees and stupid lawns that went brown most of the year because of the heat. It is no wonder that I hate housing developments of any sort, even the so-called million dollar mc-mansions. All that aside kids are kids. We had great fun in our neighborhood playing huge 20+ kids games of hide-and-seek and other games. One of the most memorable things were the wind storms. Not annoying blowing dust since that was the norm. But the huge sky eating walls of sand and dust that completely obscured the sun, the Sierra Nevada mountains and everything else. Think the 1930s dust bowl in the mid-US or those shots in movies of the Sahara with the walls of tan devouring the landscape. They were awe inspiring and great fun for kids. We’d put on heavy coats and hold the bottoms out like wings. The wind was over 60 miles per hour and some time 70 so we’d get air borne! No joke.
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Nathalie Kalbach
Susan, I was laughing hard at your description of the house colors- LOL. You have such an awesome way to describe the winds and the surrounding it was so easy to imagine. Thank you for sharing! And I don’t really like cookie cutter houses either ;)
Nat
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dianayee
Hi Nathalie, I just met you yesterday at Bizzy B. although I haven’t taken one of your classes yet (scheduling conflicts), I follow your blog. I admitted that I didn’t leave comments but resolved to do so now. We moved around so much as a child, that once I got married and had kids, we aren’t moving ever. partly because I would be forced to cull through my arts supplies…
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nathalie-kalbach
Diana, it was so wonderful meeting you even shortly on friday at Bizzy B’s! I know it is hard when you move so much as a kid – one is happy to stay in one place- and I hear you on the art supplies- LOL. Have a gorgeous day! Hope to come back to Toronto soon :) Nat
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Martha Richardson
Great Post Nat – I grew up in a LARGE 22 room house that was built in 1840, it had to be large because there was 6 of us children of which I am the oldest.The house had a garden room which had a sunken fish pond, with a fountain, and filled with large Koi…that is until be moved in. We had cats and I think they thought that they had died and gone to heaven…well eventually there were no more KOI.
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nathalie-kalbach
Oh my goodness, Martha that sounds sooo cool. It sounds like this should be a movie! 22 rooms -ohhhh – did you find secret rooms or treasures? And lol at the kitties- hehehehe- Koi-heaven ;) Thanks for sharing Martha! I enjoyed reading this a lot! Nat
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Jean Marmo
Ho cool! Our dad put an addition on our little ranch house. My twin sister and I had a room upstairs and he deisgned the furniture.
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nathalie-kalbach
Oh how cool your father designed the furniture! That must have been so wonderful- I hope you still have some pieces! thank you for sharing this Jean ! Nat
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Kathy Gledsdale
What a great 7 things to learn about you. I grew up in a bungalow (which was huge), that the friends of my parents said we just had to live in, so sold it too my parents very cheaply. We didn’t have heating for a many years, just an aga in the kitchen that heated the kitchen and the water and my mother cooked on. In the summer the kitchen was boiling! The rest of the house we put paraffin heaters in. We had mould in the wardrobes and like you ice on the insides of windows! To have a bath you had to be very brave as it was freezing in there and the toilet was just the same, you didn’t hang about in there! The last owners had been very eccentric musicians and never used the doors and just climbed in and out of the house through the windows. We couldn’t afford carpets so my parents bought old carpet sample books and stuck them all together to form a fabulous big carpet. I loved that bungalow.
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nathalie-kalbach
Oh I so love the story about the carpet sample books! That must have looked so cool! And hehehe- about the excentric musicians living in the house before. Thank you so much Kathy- I so loved reading this! Nat
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Sue Clarke
Cute post this morning Nat. I bet that you had some wonderful thick blankets growing up (at least I hope you did to stay warm in your bedroom).
I grew up in a house which my grandparents owned. It had 4 apartments and we lived on the bottom floor across from them. On the top floor were two other apartments and in one was a close childhood friend. I hadn’t seen her in 30 years and got together with her a few years ago. The funny thing is that we picked up where we left off. Although neither one of us were listening to the Bay City Rollers anymore.-
nathalie-kalbach
How cool, Sue that you met her and you both just picked up where you were left off! That is so special. It must have been amazing to grow up wiht the grandparents and also your friend in the same house! Thank you for sharing !!! Nat
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The Whatevers #6 – or We Did It
Are you ready for the 6th Whatevers? If you missed the what the Whatevers is all about…check it out here.
Click here to see what Cat made out of this photo and which story she tells
Click here to see what Vicki made out of this photo and which story she tells
Here is my take on it
Virginia, mary and Frances could hardly contain themselves on the photo, but they knew Myrtle would get it if the photo would just state “We did it”. This was the boldest action that they as Suffragettes ever decided to do and the most dangerous and secret one too. No one but the women would ever know how the giant airplane all of a sudden appeared on the beach.
Their Names: Virginia, Mary and Frances – close friends of Myrtle
Background created with gesso and Liquitex Inks, also used some mono printed Paper and spray painted the heart.
And here is the photo for you:
Here is how it works if you want to play along:
- Vicki, Cat and I have made a one-year commitment to each other and picked twelve photos with Whatevers whom we will give a story.
- Every month – if possible always on the 15th – each of us will do a post with an individual story that goes along for us with the same photo.
- If you want you can play along and we will have the photo for you – just right click on it to safe it to download and show us your version of The Whatevers.
- There is no rules to the story itself- it can be funny, sad, uplifting, breathtaking- WHATEVER
- There is no rules on the length or the form of the story– it can be a short sentence, an essay, a poem or a soap opera – WHATEVER
- There is no rules on the artform you choose – it can be a scrapbook layout, an altered art project, an artjournal page – WHATEVER
- Here is a rule though: if you take the photo you have to link back to us andshow us your story.
- These pictures are from our personal stash and are for personal use for you only! If you want to use them for a publication whether a book or magazine in print or digital form please ask for permission!
- If you want to participate we’ll have a linky list for each Whatever Post.
- You can also join our The Whatevers -Facebook Page
You can grab the blinkie here if you want to add it to your sidebar
You can share your work with us by submitting here:
Huge hugs
Nat
Nat
Comments (3)
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Sue Clarke
“Close friends of Myrtle”….enough said.
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Catherine
You always make the brightest and colorful pages, love this A LOT!! I love the red and mix of different papers you used. How does that plane disappear anyway??? Xo,
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Jean Marmo
I so want to do one of these!! Love your story!
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How Reggae Bunny Boooo made my day
A couple days ago one of my godsons turned 4 and I was out to get him a gift. We do have some really really cute children clothes stores and also my favorite a Children Book Store and a Children Toy Store in the neighborhood. You know those tiny stores where every corner is showing how much the people who work there love the store and those stores that are vanishing more and more because of people like me that are often too lazy and buy stuff on big name online sides- But anyway…so I went after a little shopping spree in the clothes store to the Children Book Store.
I kind of had an alibi moment of standing in front of the shelf for the four-year olds – you know the ” I know totally what I am looking for ” -posture and then I was like “Who am I kidding here” and asked the woman working there for help. It went kind of like this.
“Could you help me with a book for a kid, my godson, who is turning four, and he is actually smarter than four at least that is what I think, and if it is just I think so, because he is my godson, then whatever, but hey….and well …he is a he…oh wait, but he is a he who is a little bit wild…and I have NO NO NO clue about children books, but I am sure you do!”
She was laughing and said “mmh wait, I might have the perfect one for your godson AND you…and she opened a secret drawer – I said she opened a secret DRAWER (I looked as if I was the right person for the secret drawer books! YEAH) and picked out a book saying “This is a big hit, there were these guys that came in and they said they made their own book with music, and we were like – mehhh – self published book not sure- but look at it, it is “Der Reggaehase Boooo” ” Translated that would be Reggae Bunny Boooo and my view fell on the cover above!
While I was already laughing about the cute illustration, she started explaining in different voices with lot’s of body action ” It is about a little bunny who loves reggae music. And whenever people are speaking about him, they call him Boooo (with four Os), or Boooo (with one extremely long OOOO). One day he comes to the rehearsal room and it is closed . The king doesn’t wanna dance anymore and so he doesn’t want to hear music either and closed it and Boooo is really sad……So Boooo is going around the world and meets the Ska Bird and…and….and btw in the book is also a CD with the story spoken by a deep awesome voice and with the right music accompanying the story!
You know- she had sold that book to me after 2 seconds, but I couldn’t have her stop telling that story- She was soooo good and it was sooo fun and I just loved listening to that story. She could have sold me ,I think the whole store at that moment I would have bought everything she recommended to me. LOL.
[vimeo 21288862 w=400 h=300]
I so love the colors and the drawings…totally inspired it and Reggae Bunny Boooo with four o totally made my day :)
Book and Music by Yellow Umbrella – illustrated by Manon Gauthier
Which Children books that you remember from your own childhood or from your kids are making you smile when you think of them?
Nat
Nat
Comments (9)
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Cindi
I loved the video! I can see how you would want to buy the store. Don’t you love it when you find an excellent sales clerk? I’m off to see if I can find it here in the US.
(I was in your Book Nut class at Everything Scrapbooks and stamps today, I won the white ink, thanks!) -
mjmarmo
What a cute booK! We have many faves – Berenstain Bears and Clifford were two titles.
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SusanJane
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer
I’m not ashamed to admit I still read it from time to time, and highly recommend it to adults as well as children. Super book! -
rains
I Love this!! I want to get it, not for my 4 yo neices or nephews (which I have a few of) but for my husband! He loves Reggae. I loved books as a child so there are too many…I loved Tiger Flower by Fleur Cowles for the illustrations and ended up buying a copy for my niece. Also the Beatrix Potter books and Roald Dahl and Grimm’s Fairy Tales…
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Sue Clarke
How wonderful. Better than an antidepressant in the morning!
I will look into the CD if the rest of the music is so uplifting.
Thanks for sharing.
I love all the Boynton hardcover books like Snuggle Puppy from when James was little and we would sing them together. -
Sandi McLean
Oh I would have bought the book too! Who knew that there was a children’s book with Bob Marley verses! I loved the “Mrs Piggledy Wiggiledy” books when I was a child, all about a woman who lived in an upside down house!
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Liz
ohhhhh, I love children’s books. And the book sounds perfect for “the princess” AKA my niece. I may have to get it for Christmas!
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nathalie-kalbach
It is sooo cute! You can get it at the Druckerei im Schanzenviertel for 17 EUR including the CD. And then you can come and we can get a coffee – LOL
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Liz
yeah! will have to go there. Let’s find a day for coffee…. will send you an e-mail.
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Was it worth quitting a well-paid job? Or …Insanity
Last year in January I quit my job as a paralegal, which I was for 17 years and decided to dedicate my time to the n*Studio full time. Do Art and teach workshops. If you would have told me 10 years ago when my ambition was still to be a successful lawyer one day, that this would be my future, I would have told you that you are NUTS!
Recently one of my former lawyer-bosses and I had coffee together and he asked me how I was doing with teaching workshops and “Was it worth quitting a well paid job?”. He didn’t mean it in a disapproval way -quite the opposite – everyone in my former law office supported my idea although they are still telling me I should come back. (if you read it…sorry Dudes – the answer is still NO – LOL)
This was an excellent question -I am sure there are people in my family and friend’s circle that wonder about the very same thing. And it is a good question to think about and put it in words.
Now let’s be honest and state the reasons that are not part of WHY I teach – let’s get over this first:
I do not teach because it is such an awesome money-making machine…quite opposite – LOL. I will not deny that it is my living and that it is important for me to make some money, but I do not in my dreams expect this to be something that will make me rich. I sweat as much about bills and spending as any other person that probably reads my blog. It is also a big risk if you do not know, if you will teach next month, next year, if the sign ups will be well for the next class etc. And yes …it sometimes leads to a bit sleeplessness. But you know what ? All the reasons below for why I teach make it worth it!
I do not teach because I work less than in a law office. Yep- surprise huh? Even with all the stress in a law office and all the deadlines I was not working as much as I do right now. Yes I worked over time there too a lot but my weekend was a weekend and when I finally went home, I closed the door in my mind to that office and didn’t open it till I was back there. But…believe me…I smile way more now when I did working at the law office;)
I do not teach because the traveling takes me to all those different countries. Yes, I do see a lot of the world and that is awesome, but I traveled before a lot too and that was just for pleasure. There is many many times were I just fly in to a place, see maybe a tiny bit of the neighborhood and then the store, my sleeping place and the airport and that is it. If I would add more days to see the area, I would not make any money at all. Traveling for a job is tiring but it also makes you appreciate everything you have at home even more.
Here are the reasons why I enjoy teaching:
When I teach I do what I love …playing with paint and paper and other media
I love meeting so many different people. I can truly say that I have enjoyed every single class I taught .When I was working as a paralegal I saw people non-stop too but they weren’t there because they were happy. There is rarely someone going to a law office because they have a really really good time right now and just wanna hang out with a lawyer. But in a class I have people who want to do something creative and on top they are generously spending their precious time with me, because they want to. That is quite amazing and I am so thankful for this!
I am so giddy about all those possibilities to be creative – I want to share them. I mean really why would you not share them?
I truly believe that EVERYBODY is creative and that this creativity just has to be free-ed. I thought for the longest time of my life I wasn’t creative and I am so happy I was proved wrong.
My Students never cease to amaze me and inspire me to no end. I learn constantly something new in my workshops through my students. Seeing their creative take on my lessons is the best of all. Even in an Online Workshop seeing the work of my students is my favorite reward.
Teaching pushes me to do new things, get out of the box, check out things thoroughly.
I was never as happy in my entire work life as I am right now. I feel so full filled like never before. I am curios of every single new workday and what it might bring, what projects might get done, what people I will met .
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So, was it worth quitting a well paid job?
What would be your dream job if you could choose (think no boundaries) or if you love your current job, what do you do?
huge hugs
Nat
Nat
Comments (47)
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Shawna
I just googled jobs travel scrapbook classes and was scrolling through a bunch of nonsense and stumbled upon your blog. I am a paralegal and literally LOL’d reading your post. I am wanting to turn this paper crafting hobby of mine into a career (as you may note from my google search phrase I have no clue where to start) and loved reading your real life perspective on the fantasy vs. the reality of making your living off art and teaching. So thanks for this post!
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lisa
Love you Nat!!
I think it’s takes a certain person to make these things work. When people ever use the work ‘luck’ to describe when you have made your own business work, I believe that little luck goes in to it. It’s down to hard work, perseverance and determination.
You rock Nat and totally deserve what you have achieved xxx -
Maria
Wow!! Natalie hi! I am a new follower on your blog and I am in a phase in my life that I am wondering exactly the same. Stop being a lab doctor- which was my dream- and follow my heart discovering the world of art, painting, paper- creating. But, as you mentioned, I have to make some money and in my part of world people don’t appreciate art so much. In one hand I have to think my family, my 4 children and on the other hand I can’t live without dirtying my hands with paints and inks and all this stuff that makes me a full person!
Maybe I have to find a way to combine both! If something like this can be done! -
Connie
Good on you! Always great to pursue your passion and share your talents and gifts with the world.
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Smart Trip or…Nourish your Soul
Recently I got up very early on a sunday morning to tackle some deadlines and projects. My husband was still asleep and I stood in my studio and I had a shrugging moment of “meh”. I felt un-inspired, dull and I felt the urge to do anything but what was necessary that day.
When I peeked out of the window I realized that it was going to be a promising sunny smiling fall sunday. So I jumped into the bed room and made my husband who was still jet lagged after coming back a couple of hours earlier from California and with a 9 hour time difference in his bones getting up by yelling “Get up , get up, we have breakfast and then we go out into the woods”. To which he more or less friendly mumbled something which I interpreted in my own selfish way as “Sure honey, what a brilliant idea. I will be flying out of bed and I am so happy to interrupt my sleep and drive with you into the woods for a walk”. It took a little while until he interpreted this the same way though ;)
We took “our” little Smart car…well – we do city car sharing, so you just check out where the next little Smart car is parked in your neighborhood and you are ready to take it and go, and we drove to the Sachsenwald out of the City. Beautiful Forrest – mixed oak and beech trees. We were only there for about an hour walk but we had such a great time, the colors, the sun , the fresh air and our conversation – AWESOME.
I came home so inspired and full of ideas from this walk and also full of energy for my work that I actually was able to do all my tasks way faster than usually – probably not only because I was so refueled but also because I just focused then on getting my “schtuff” done. It also freed my head and I made a decision during this walk regarding some ideas, that were giving me a headache for a while. And then this Fall Canvas which is another sample project for my workshop Season Canvas is actually inspired by this walk too.
So…wasn’t this walk a necessity too in order to finally be able to do all the work I had to do? It is so important that we take care and balance the times we work, we create, we spent time with loved ones, we go out into nature and else. Nourish your soul by giving in sometimes and do what you want to do or do something that the situation allows you to do (like a surprisingly sunny fall day), instead of thinking “no time, no place, can’t do it, it will break my neck”. It can help you tackle all other things way easier and might inspire you in ways you haven’t thought it would. Give yourself permission for some fun and get out of your rut once in a while !
Where did you go on your last short trip?
Huge hugs
Nat
Nat
Comments (2)
Sue Clarke
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I am thankful for your blog every day Nat.
Have a delightful day!
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Patty
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You inspire me everyday thank you for giving of yourself.
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