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Creative Awakening

This years Creative Awakening was such a beautiful day. I love hosting these creative retreats, I love planning them and teaching others how to do something that they haven’t done before. I am so passionate about creativity, I truly believe creative living is the secret to living a fulfilling and joyful life.

This year we were so lucky to have Cover & Co sponsor the workshop, everyone received one of their beautiful aprons! Follow their Instagram to get more info on when they will open their shop!

One of my favorite speakers said this quote and I live my life by it:

“The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before. Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty. Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty… Remember that you are spirit daughters (and sons) of the most creative Being in the universe. Isn’t it remarkable to think that your very spirits are fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God? Think about it–your spirit body is a masterpiece, created with a beauty, function, and capacity beyond imagination. We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy. Our birthright–and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth–is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things. You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before–colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter. What you create doesn’t have to be perfect. So what if the eggs are greasy or the toast is burned? Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you–whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside. If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it.”

Dieter F Uchtdorf, Happiness Your Heritage, October 2008 General Conference

When I get stuck with trying to find creativity in my business I turn to making something with my hands. I love to experiment with all sorts of mediums, I love figuring out something new and it is so fun seeing the finished product whether it worked out or not. When I am in my busiest season in the summer, when I barely have time to get it all done I crave time to make something whether it is baking or sewing or gardening and as soon as I can create it makes the busy season doable and I am able to be refreshed!

This year for the workshop I taught how to naturally dye fabric, I had so much fun experimenting with different dyes when I was preparing for it. It was like magic seeing the results! For the dyes we used avocado pits and skins, hibiscus, alder cone, daffodils, walnut shells, marigold and a variety of herbs.

During the workshop we had so much fun playing with the different dyes and how so many things can affect the color outcome. Several people used dried hibiscus, and all of the colors came out so different. Changing the water source, adding vinegar or boiling it multiple times brought the most beautiful changes. I loved watching the excitement of this who attended.

In the afternoon I taught how to make ricotta gnocchi and fresh pasta. I have always had a passion for making fresh pasta, I started making it in high school and have continued to learn to make different varieties at home, I also took a class in Italy, which I need to do again! I love showing people how easy it can be to make and how it can change the flavors of your meal. I love how food in other countries brings people together, it is an event and it creates opportunities for family and friends to have memories. I think we need to create more food experiences in our culture, I can’t wait until I have a yard and a bigger place to host larger gatherings with family and friends.

As always we ended the day with a beautiful styled dinner, Amber Reverie created the most beautiful atmosphere for us to enjoy our meal. Nikkol with Refine Studio created the most amazing menus and recipe cards, I am so obsessed with them and need one for every meal that I do and every recipe that I cook! For dinner we started with charcuterie boards down the table and Caesar Salad. For the main dish we had Shrimp Scampi with fresh pasta, the pasta literally melts in your mouth! This is one of our favorite go to recipes, it is easy and so delicious! Margaret with Smackerel made the most amazing Lemon Cake, it was to die for! She came to my workshop last year, so I had to support her in her awesome business.

When I was trying to get the workshop to fill up, I had the hardest time until a week before. Throwing a big event like this is super stressful because of the cost of putting it on. A few weeks before the workshop I decided that this would be my last workshop for awhile, I hated announcing this, because I absolutely love doing them. If you have been interested in coming to one, please let me know, so that I can find ways to fill them up a little more, so I am not paying people to come create with me! 😉 I am taking a course currently to learn how to fill up an event, we will see if I am brave enough to try one more time. After the day was over this year, I truly can’t be done, because it brings me so much joy to teach and to see others create and be fulfilled. I will definitely try to keep going forward with more, I don’t know how it will be or when the next one will be. If you want them to continue, please email me so I can find ways to do it! And I would love to chat about you wanting to come.

If you are feeling stuck or unmotivated in your life, find something to bring you joy, find something to touch in your hands and transform, life is always better when you can create something. I love that I can share my talents with others, and hope you will do the same!

To view last years Creative Awakening, click here!

Creative Awakening

Photo from Michele Lee
Photo from Michele Lee

Photo from Michele Lee

Photo from Michele Lee
Photo from Michele Lee
Photo from Michele Lee
Photo from Michele Lee

Creative Awakening

This workshop was held in beautiful Bear Lake, in Garden City, Utah. The Farmhouse at Bear Lake was the perfect place for a retreat! The property was so beautiful and the kitchen was so dreamy to cook in. There was so much space for all of our activities and enough rooms for anyone that wanted to stay the night. I would go back to this venue in a heart beat and I am trying to get my extended family to stay here for our annual Bear Lake trip!! It would be big enough for my large extended family! They fill up fast for the summer, contact them to book your next trip or workshop!

“Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you?

Surely something wonderful is sheltered inside you. I say this with all confidence, because I happen to believe we are all walking repositories of buried treasure. I believe this is one of the oldest and most generous tricks the universe plays on us human beings, both for its own amusement and for ours: The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them.

The hunt to uncover those jewels — that’s creative living.” Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic

In April I hosted my first workshop, I didn’t want it to be like other workshops, I wanted to spend a day creating and making rich relationships. I hosted the workshop in the cutest little cabin in Heber, UT, it was the perfect location and their kitchen was to die for. Everything came together and there weren’t too many things that didn’t go right, I obviously had some regrets after it was over of things I didn’t do, but overall everything was a success. We started the day learning how to make fresh pasta, we made several different kinds; tortellini, ravioli, orecchiette, rigatoni, and trofie pasta. I have loved making pasta since high school and my love for it increased when I went to a cooking class in Sienna, Italy. It was one of my richest experiences while traveling, it was so fun to share that knowledge with others. I love to create and I especially love helping others learn a new skill.

After we made our pasta, I taught how to make a leather passport holder. Awhile back Cole’s family was getting ready to move so they were cleaning out the garage and they found some amazing pieces of leather. I drew up a pattern for a purse and Cole figured out how to make it, after that we loved creating things out of leather. For the leather passport wallet I kind of took over Cole’s manly hobby and turned it girly by adding some modern fabrics and designing patterns for everyday use. I love to travel and I think traveling can greatly influence our desires to create.

We ended the evening with a beautiful dinner on the deck of the cabin, Amber did such an amazing job with the florals and set up, she made all of my dreams come true! It was such a perfect night eating around her stunning arrangements. Refine Studio designed the amazing menus. We started the meal with an olive tapenade and minestrone soup. The main course was Chicken Marsala served over fresh pasta, with roasted asparagus on the side. The meal was completed with an amazing Lemon Cake from Annie Bee Cakery, it was to die for, I am still dreaming of it.

I hope to continue doing these workshops, please let me know if you would like them to continue, I would love to chat! I love living a creative life and I believe it brings so much happiness into my life, it gives me confidence, it brings me success, it builds my business, it creates friendships. I know a lot of people who are afraid to create because they might fail, but what if you don’t? More often I see their confidence increase and they love themselves a little bit more. I heard someone awhile back say that they had no talents, that made me so sad, everyone has something, we just have to experiment and find what it is. Some people may have more than others, but that doesn’t diminish the few that you have. Never compare your starting point to someones years of practice. We all have to start somewhere.

“And you have treasures hidden within you– extraordinary treasures– and so do I, and so does everyone around us. And bringing those treasures to light takes work and faith and focus and courage and hours of devotion, and the clock is ticking, and the world is spinning, and we simply do not have time anymore to think so small.” Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic

If you are looking for another great workshop, Amber is hosting an amazing workshop in the fall! en Plein Air is a floral masterclass designed for all skill levels and will be centered on the power of inspiration and the creative process. You will work on developing your own artistic eye and creating individual work that comes from the soul. Head over to her site to learn more about it, it looks absolutely amazing!

Utah Photographer