Sunday, August 19, 2012

A Gift of Flight...

I know I have mentioned them frequently over the course of the last year, these amazing women that have come into my life. But on this, the one year anniversary of our gathering as a community, I find myself with a heart full of gratitude.

 For me, this journey began when I ran across an blurb about Kelly Rae Roberts e-course;  Flying Lessons Tips + Tricks to Help Your Creative Biz Soar! I love KRR's art work, and she was my first introduction to mixed media art. I had her book and had read articles about her in Cloth, Paper, Scissors Magazine for a number of years before I thought to go looking for her online. I was delighted to find she was offering a class on building a creative business and jumped at the chance to learn from her. The class was full of useful information, simplified enough for a internet newbie to grasp and utilize. I learned about promoting my self and my work, about different routes to take to sell my art, and about the importance of the the connections you can make using social networking.
  But above all, and no offense to Kelly, because her content is fantastic, above everything though, was the private Facebook group that was formed as part of the class. For some inexplicable reason, we bonded. We quickly connected and grew into a huge loving, supportive and effective community of fellow creatives. We have helped, advised and supported each other through our first stumbling steps in building our businesses. We have found a safe place to share our fledgling art, and received positive reinforcement and advice when something wasn't quite right. Terrible twos to troubled teens, we have shared parenting advice, and cried for each others pain. Divorces, betrayals, job losses and rotten bosses, we have shared it all, and are stronger for the sharing. There is always someone to give you kudos over learning a new technique, and someone to understand when folks at home don't quite get us.
My Flytribe has helped me find my artistic style, and increased my confidence in sharing my art. I thought I would learn some tips and tricks, and I did. But I also found a whole other family, a sisterhood of creative souls.
As this year draws to a close, we are still going strong as we each face new and exciting challenges. We are committed to staying together and continuing to share our successes and failures, and sending out words of love and encouragement every step of the way. To honor our Flytribe community, we decided to take up a collection to sponsor a future flier by paying the tuition for the 2012 Flying Lessons. This will be the last time Kelly Rae Roberts offers this e-course, so she offered to match our contributions. We are so pleased to announce that we gathered enough donations to pay for not one but EIGHT slots in the upcoming class! Along with Kelly's eight, that makes sixteen lucky fliers! We are all just tickled at the response, did I mention they are a wonderful and generous group of ladies? If you would like to apply for the chance to win one of these slots, please go to our Flytribe Blog, and follow the instructions. 

Oh, in case you were wondering if I did any actual ART this week, I did do my ATCs for our Flygirls ATC Group. This is a spin off of about 60 of us, from the original Flytribe, that wanted to experiment with ATCs. We started our monthly swaps last November, and last I checked, we have a hostess and theme set up through 2013! This month the theme was "learning" and as an added twist, and partially because of my participation in Every Inchie Monday, we decided to each add an inchie to our packets. Here are the results;



my "learning" inchie...
and last, but not least, the theme for Every Inchie Monday is "eye", and here is mine...
Thank you Trillian over at Every Inchie Monday for inspiring not only me, but some of my fellow fliers as well. Look what you started with your teeny, tiny art! Until next time...enjoy!

If you would like to read more about our group, and some amazing posts about the art of giving, here is the list of all the Flytribe Blogs participating in this hop;

Cat Athena Louise http://www.catathenalouise.com
Michelle Reynolds http://www.shellsinthebush.com
Rachél Payne http://wp.me/pWRyw-10P
Live Laugh Love Retreats http://livelaughloveretreats.com


28 comments:

  1. Wonderful, Sally Rose, as always! So glad to be on this journey with you!

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  2. Lovely creations and so meaningful ~ (A Creative Harbor)


    PS Wondering if your ATC group is an 'open' group or exclusive??

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    1. Hello ArtMuseDog! I am afraid we are a closed group, just some of us from the Flying Lessons group playing and practicing. But I did find a wonderful group swapping ATCs on the Willowing site, they have slightly different way of doing things, but it is a blast. http://willowing.ning.com/
      There is also a site focusing entirely on ATCs, called ATCs For All. http://www.atcsforall.com/ they have tons of on going swaps. Have fun!

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  3. Very sad tearful eye, Sally. Love it! I really like your leaning ones too.

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  4. Hi Sally, Great post, and I love your Atc's this month.

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  5. Oh, what a realistically mournful eye - so sad - so clever!

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  6. Excellent post. Love you and your artwork! Thanks for giving back
    1

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  7. Oh Sally beautiful ATC's, your so very talented, I have enjoyed flying with you this past year my dear! XO

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  8. great post Sally! happy anniversary fly girl!

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  9. Love your ATC's - hope I am the lucky recipient of one!!!

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  10. I love all of those tiny artworks! So wonderful! Happy anniversary to you and may the second year of Fly Tribe be full of delicious soaring of all kinds. Happy happy to you. :-)

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  11. Beautiful art and a beautiful post, thank you for being a part of our wonderful tribe.

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  12. Happy Anniversary Sally! Didn't you organize our first ACT swap? Beautiful post and looking forward to our next creative year in the tribe!

    xoxox

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  13. Sally, Your blog post is so beautifully written... Wow! and your work is amazing! So happy to be your fly sister! Thanks for hopping! Hope to meet you soon! Kris

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  14. Wonderful art work! And I am so honored to be part of your sisterhood!!! Hope you have another wonderfully brave and successful year!

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  15. Beautiful post and artwork, Sally! It's been a magical year with a sisterhood that keeps growing stronger. So happy to be in this tribe with you. Happy Anniversary!!! ((hugs))

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  16. Hi Sally, I really love your artwork, such a distinct, happy style. I especially love the bunny art and chrysanthemums in your Etsy shop. Happy Anniversary!
    xo Lenore

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  17. Sally, I LOVE your art and I'm just so happy that we've come together with such a wonderful group of women. Happy one year anniversary, my friend!

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  18. Hi Sally, your ATCs look wonderful!! Happy Anniversary to you and wishing you all the best for the year ahead!! It is lovely to be sharing the journey with you.

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  19. Hi Sally,
    thank you for your comments. I love your art, your ATCs and your inchies.
    Happy Anniversary.
    Trillian

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  20. Hi Sally Rose - What a wonderful post. I love the ATCs and inchies from the swap - how inspirational. Looking forward to another year of learning and growing.

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  21. Hi Sally Rose! What a great post! I am so glad I met you and followed you into the ATC group! I have loved watching your art solidify! You are amazing. Looking forward to another wonderful year!! PS you site looks fabulous!!

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  22. Sally Rose - this is such a beautiful post and I am so happy to be part of the Fly Tribe with you. We have all had so much fun getting to know each other this past year and I can only imagine the bonds we will forge over the coming one. xo, Kathleen

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  23. Oh - I forgot to say how much I LOVE your ATC's! Kathleen

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  24. I have enjoyed watching you grow as an artist this year. You are so talented! Happy Anniversary!

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  25. Sally Rose - your art inspires me. You are so dedicated and talented! Happy Anniversary!

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  26. It has been such fun to get to know you and get to share your beautiful artwork. Thankis so much for being you! xoxo L

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