Celebrating Love

A Thoughtful Reflection on Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, celebrated on February 14th, is a day that inspires people around the world to express their love and affection. While often associated with romantic gestures, Valentine's Day is a beautiful reminder of the many forms of love that enrich our lives.

The Origins of Valentine's Day 

Valentine's Day has roots in ancient traditions. It is named after St. Valentine, a figure shrouded in mystery and romance. Although its origins are steeped in history, the modern celebration has evolved into a day of heartfelt expressions that go beyond its historical beginnings.

Love in All Its Forms

Valentine's Day is an opportunity to honor all types of love. Whether it's the love between partners, the unconditional love of family, the supportive love of friends, or even the self-love that we often overlook, specially if you are single, this day encourages us to cherish these connections.

Romantic Love

For many, Valentine's Day is synonymous with romantic love. It's a chance to celebrate the bond between partners, to reignite passion, and to create memories. Whether through a candlelit dinner, a heartfelt letter, or a simple act of kindness, this day is a reminder of the power of romance.

Familial Love

Valentine's Day is also a time to appreciate the love and support of family. It’s the perfect occasion to express gratitude to parents, siblings, and other family members who have been our pillars of strength. Simple gestures like sharing a meal or exchanging thoughtful notes can make this day special.

Friendship

Friendship is another vital form of love that deserves celebration. Friends are the chosen family who stand by us through thick and thin. Acknowledging their role on Valentine's Day can be as simple as a phone call, a coffee date, or a message to let them know they are cherished. In Mexico where I live, this day is celebrated as the "Love and friendship day".

Self-Love

In the hustle and bustle of life, we often forget to practice self-love. Valentine's Day is an excellent reminder to take a moment for self-reflection and self-care. Whether it's indulging in a favorite hobby, taking a relaxing bath, or setting personal goals, nurturing ourselves is an essential part of celebrating love.

     

How to Celebrate

Celebrating Valentine's Day doesn't require grand gestures. Here are some simple yet meaningful ways to make the day special:

• Write a Letter: A handwritten letter can be a profound way to express emotions that may not be conveyed through spoken words.
• Quality Time: Spend quality time with loved ones, whether in person or virtually, to create lasting memories.
• Acts of Kindness: Small acts of kindness, like cooking a meal or giving a heartfelt compliment, can have a significant impact.
  
• Self-Care: Take time for yourself to relax and recharge. A happy, healthy you is the best gift to those you love.
• Throw a small valentines card making party: You and your guests could share the day in a creative space at home and everyone get to make a few cards for their loved ones!

The Spirit of Valentine's Day

At its heart, Valentine's Day is about love and connection. It invites us to pause and appreciate the relationships that add depth and meaning to our lives. By embracing the spirit of love, we can extend the warmth of Valentine's Day beyond February 14th, creating a ripple effect of kindness and compassion throughout the year. Remember, love knows no bounds, and every day is an opportunity to celebrate the wonderful people who fill our lives with joy. 

Images generated with AI by Hands and Heart

I would like to delve deeper into the topic of self-love with you. The art journal page I created on this subject was truly inspiring. I'm excited to share some images of my process with you, along with ten points that you may find useful for your own journaling. You can focus on one or use them all; it's all about expressing and creating as we explore this topic further. Beneath each point, there is a quote that you can also incorporate into your artwork. Let's continue this enriching conversation and explore the beauty of self-love together!

Embracing Self-Love 

A Journey to Personal Empowerment and Fulfillment

1. Practice Self-Compassion: Treat yourself with the same kindness and understanding that you would offer to a friend. Embrace self-compassion by acknowledging your own struggles and imperfections without judgment.

   "Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others." 

   - Christopher Germer

2. Set Boundaries: Establishing healthy boundaries is an essential aspect of self-love. Learn to say no to things that drain your energy and prioritize activities and relationships that nourish your well-being.

   Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves even when we risk disappointing others."  

   -Brené Brown

3. Celebrate Your Achievements: Acknowledge and celebrate your accomplishments, no matter how small. Recognizing your successes can boost self-esteem and reinforce a positive self-image.

   "The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate."

   -Oprah Winfrey

   
   
   

4. Embrace Self-Care: Prioritize self-care activities that nurture your physical, emotional, and mental well-being. This can include activities such as meditation, exercise, spending time in nature, or engaging in hobbies you enjoy.

   "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare."

   -Audre Lorde

5. Practice Gratitude: Cultivate a sense of gratitude for the qualities and experiences that make you unique. Reflect on the things you appreciate about yourself and the positive aspects of your life.

   "Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."

   -Melody Beattie

   6. Challenge Negative Self-Talk: Be mindful of negative self-talk and work on reframing self-critical thoughts. Replace self-limiting beliefs with affirming and empowering statements that promote self-love and confidence.

   "Remember, you have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn't worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens."

   -Louise Hay

   7. Forgive Yourself: Let go of past mistakes and forgive yourself for any perceived shortcomings. Embracing self-forgiveness is a powerful step toward self-acceptance and love.

   "To err is human; to forgive, divine."

   Alexander Pope

   8. Surround Yourself with Positivity: Seek out supportive and uplifting relationships that encourage your growth and well-being. Surrounding yourself with positivity can reinforce feelings of self-worth and love. 

   "Surround yourself with positive people who believe in your dreams, encourage your ideas, support your ambitions, and bring out the best in you."

   -Roy T. Bennett

   9. Engage in Self-Reflection: Take time for self-reflection to gain insight into your values, aspirations, and personal growth. Understanding yourself on a deeper level can foster a stronger sense of self-love. 

   "Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom."

   -Aristotle

   10. Invest in Personal Development: Engage in activities that promote personal growth and self-improvement. Whether it's learning a new skill, pursuing a hobby, or seeking professional development, investing in yourself demonstrates a commitment to self-love and fulfillment.

   "Your level of success will seldom exceed your level of personal development, because success is something you attract by the person you become."

   -Jim Rohn

For this page I used a mixed media journal, watercolors, 

white pen and a few favorite stickers.

                  

💖 What is in your heart cards 💖

As a bonus, I decided to add this cute simple cards for your inspiration!

I used watercolors to create my tiny cards, and I love their small size and simplicity. For the lettering, I employed a golden pen with a brush tip, which adds a lovely touch. After painting hearts on watercolor paper, I cut them into various sizes and mounted them on fine white cardboard. These cards are not only entertaining to make, but they also serve as the perfect embellishments for gifts, ensuring I have them ready to attach whenever I need.

💖 Happy Valentine's Day! 💖

May you be truly happy with your loved ones!

Thank you for visiting, your presence is truly appreciated. Moni.

El arte de sacar punta

Today I also want to write in my own language, Spanish, as every

language it is hard to understand if you didn´t grow up

speaking it, it has very long words and sometimes they can mean 

more that one thing for having a special flavor depending on the context.

I hope you like it, you can use translator to get a close meaning of 

the words but I know it won´t be the same.

I am Mexican, I share this in case you haven´t yet know.

You Know, Mexicans are before anything humans, we also have a soul,

a life to go through and the doubts this implies and the fears as well 

and we are also special and unique as avery other human in this world,

we love life deeply and we help those in need if we can, 

we care and yes, we still have much to learn and we are doing it, we are 

many and we are diverse, some of us are happy and some of us are 

frustrated just like in any other country in this world, we are part of 

the world and the universe, that means we are part of evolution and of God.

God is love and love is all there is therefore nothing should 

be seen as foreign we are all growing up to the level 

of pure love one day at a time.

Thank you to those who respect the soul and see beyond the skin, and

what is true about being a human, let us hold each other in this journey

and share what is best of us and make of this life an amazing time

to discover and grow.

El arte de sacar punta. 

Como todo en la vida, las cosas se pueden hacer con gran dedicación

 y esmero o con la brutalidad de lo burdo y la ignorancia. Finalmente se 

pueden lograr ya sea de una u otra forma y es lo que importa hasta que

uno se define así mismo por lo que hace y el cómo.

Sacarle punta a un lápiz es un arte, la fragilidad de su contenido es imprevisible,

si alguna vez en la historia de el lápiz este cayó, seguramente estará quebrado 

por dentro, así como nosotros, caer es un acto inevitable en la vida y se pasará

por ahí muchas veces, caemos al vacío de lo aún no aprendido, al igual que

 a un lápiz cuando le vamos descarapelando la piel, podemos ver su contenido

y el cómo ha vivido y podemos tener una idea de cómo han sido sus 

circunstancias, seguimos completos o en su mayoría de veces podemos ver

alguno que otro hueso roto, así como la mina que finalmente aunque le saques 

punta, esta cae porque no se puede aferrar a nada ya.

El error es inevitable. Saber todo no es parte de nadie.  El saber es algo lento,

duro y difícil de digerir. no viene de a gratis, viene porque lo llamamos, viene

porque insistimos en seguir vivos y en hacer uso de nosotros para un fin que 

aún desconocemos.

Sacarle punta a el alma es tarea de todos los días y algo en lo que nos 

debemos de interesar porque nos concierne profundamente, si no lo hacemos

seremos como ese lápiz viejo que lleva años en la caja guardado pero que 

no se usó y esta corroído por fuera y no se le dio el uso al que estaba destinado.

La vida la hacemos nosotros, no permitamos que la vida solo pase, hagamos

un arte de ella y así ser parte de un universo que da y crece, que ama y que 

hace algo por el todo, seamos el amor que somos en su totalidad.

Ésta hazaña se lleva a cabo en lo cotidiano y es imperceptible a los sentidos.

Yo uso un cutter para sacar mis puntas, el arte de pelar el lápiz a mano sin que

éste se quiebre es algo que disfruto ir perfeccionando junto con mi 

historia de creaciones artísticas, no empezó siendo algo bien hecho, al contrario,

empezó siendo u burdo intento por sentirme una gran artista, una consumada

pero sin serlo.

Al parecer al inicio de nuestros oficios, los humanos nos encontramos en un

estado tan vulnerable que lo escondemos tras la máscara de que ya somos

grandes sin darnos cuenta de que sólo lo podemos esconder de nosotros mismos,

que los demás si pueden ver la verdad o que quizá ni siquiera les importe, mas

cuando los años pasan y volteamos a ver la visión de lo vivido y de lo aprendido,

nos damos cuenta de que ante el infinito, sólo podemos ver una mirruña de

lo grande que es vivir.

Nunca sabré todo y lo que sé es sólo una mirruña. 

Al menos me queda el gusto de ir mejorando con la practica el arte de

sacarle punta a mis lápices, fieles compañeros de mi lucha silenciosa

por saborear el jugo de las lineas y el sombreado, una delicia personal

al mismo tiempo dolorosa, sus puntas me invitan a imaginarme que al 

menos llegaré a ser experta en algo, el olor de su piel rota y la forma en 

su impresión, textura y color llevados por mi mano, quedan tirados en el

viaje del papel y es lo único que importa y por lo único que se debe querer 

continuar, poder ver las maravillas que los nuevos días traen, y los sueños

que las noches nos hacen habitar, saborear los olores y reconocer los sabores

para así poder imprimir en el alma lo vivido.

Serie de cuentos breves del arte y la forma del ser por Mónica Zúñiga.

The use of the non dominant hand, an exercise to learn and find new

exciting paths to go to...

Now I use the dust of my water soluble sharpened pencils as a drawing medium.

Soy un niño en el cuerpo de un adulto
y sin remedio, vivo en los colores 
y en el sin tiempo del aquí y el ahora
mi obra es vivir y tratar de encontrar eso que soy
y eso que es parte del todo y el cómo lo es,
una tarea extraña y auto impuesta
que el corazón me exige y que no le puedo negar.

Paper Dolls Ideas For Art Journaling

Hello sweets! I am really happy to share new ideas with you,  I am 

creating sets of paper dolls, like those I have showed you in this earlier post

but this time I am putting them up in my shop for sale if you are interested.

I am trying to bring back up my small business, it´s hard to do it all, 

music, art, business, work, school..

I know that now but I ´ve been trying for so long that quitting is 

not an option or maybe it will in a few years, who knows!!

In the mean time, here is one idea for art journaling, I hope you enjoy!

***

Use your own paintings, drawings in your current or old journals to make 

copies of them in high resolution and cut them out like the one I here 

present you.

I´ve created different ideas with this set I have in my store now,

see the many different options I got to use them bellow, I used old 

pages that weren´t completed yet! 

It´s amazing how different, renewed and beautiful, old pages can be just 

adding this extra elements!

I got to create different pages, cards and even go well in my practicing pages,

making interesting those! I hope you try this idea and if you like my work, 

you can try one of my sets, they are all original pages, painted with watercolors

and I think they are beautiful and very affordable, I hope you like them too!

They include coloring pages with my original drawings, they are not copies,

they are the original thing! Isn´t that awesome?

Enjoy creating! :) 

There is a new section in my store named, 

Mexican curiosities, 

I will be adding a few things I believe you can only find in my

country and that are awesome, not made by me but I hope you enjoy them!

Thanks for visiting! 

Spring is almost here!

I've been inspired by scrapbooking stuff since I can remember, 

I love the papers and the cute goodies that creative area offers and lately 

I've seen a new trend to me using these papers and embellishments  

for planners and I am in love with them, so many beautiful 

inspiring pages and new ideas are flourishing over Instagram 

and Pinterest and I've been collecting them in my walls.

Now I want and feel like giving it a try but I decided to make my own 

embellishments, why? First it´s fun and second, it gives my pages a unique feel. 

In the past, if I couldn't find what I wanted in my studio or a near store,

 it used to be frustrating and so now this has turned into 

something new and exiting to me! 

Making studies for watercolors is fun but I find it even more fun 

to put use to what I create and this is a perfect way to practice 

and create something out of that, besides all those goodies I have 

been collecting and that have been waiting patiently in the corner 

of my studio, they now are put into use, I also want to make some

 cards but that will come later in another post!

Here, you can see a little of the process, I start with the drawings of 

my elements and coloring them with watercolors, the size of this 

journal is small so I have to make the images fit in there.

Choosing the color of the background first makes it all easier, then 

all you have to do is match and combine the colors and or use contrast.

I cut out the images and start planning my design, if needed, I create 

more elements, like the flowers and the bird, which at the end didn't 

make it in there but it can be saved for other pages!

I am also a lover of words, those who have been following this blog 

for a while know how I been practicing and trying to find my voice 

in that area and find a way to enjoy it, make it easy and beautiful, no, 

it hasn't been easy, calligraphy is hard!!

But I am happier now and so I hand write my own sentiments, I have a 

journal just to practice and I sometimes cut them out when they are lovely

or copy the words in the paper I will use.

So how do you know what is right for your page you wonder?

It's all a matter of what you like and keep moving things around to see 

what looks better to you, I give the page time to set in, I wait for a day 

or two and do other things, like reading this new book about this man 

I so admire, Da Vinci, cook, clean up the studio and then come back 

to the page and if I still like it the way it is I glue it, if not, I keep

 working it, there is no hurry is it?

I am learning to be even more patient with my self, with my goals, 

respect the process in me, it's not easy, this world pushes you to hurry

 and make it big time, like you depended on it to survive!  I am learning

 that it is not true, that our processes should be like the one of nature, 

which is always there, silently showing us how things should be.   

Nature grows delicately and slowly or else anything wouldn´t form 

perfectly or it would brake at the end.

Building your base, your foundations, even in simple things like this,

can become a habit and have to be taken seriously and patiently, 

we might never be famous or important in the matters of 

the world but we should intend to leave it gracefully when our time comes, 

to live true, dig into our selves to know the most of our real selves and 

having built what matters, what really matters in terms of the spirit which

is what you really take, which is who you truly are.

Thank you for sharing my creative journey!

I love you!