1. Don’t forget to say thank you. To everyone, including the bus driver and girl at the drive through window.
2. Smile. It makes your heart full.
3. Tell people you love them.
4. Just relax. There’s rarely any need to stress.
5. When you yell, you lose.
6. Choose your words wisely.
7. You don’t have to.
8. If there’s an opportunity to travel, take it.
9. Speak up. Don’t be scared to share your opinion, even if you know others will disagree.
10. Listen. You don’t always have to be the one talking.
11. Sometimes trying something a new way is a good thing.
12. Girls like guys that cook.
13. Don’t rush into marriage.
14. Get life experience before you have children. Set yourself up in every way to be ready. Once you have them, everything changes. For the better but you need to know it will be harder than you could ever imagine. I promise you it’s worth it though.
15. There is no such thing as girls/boys colours.
16. Nor are there girls/boys toys.
17. Don’t pick on other children. Everyone is different and that’s ok.
18. Celebrate everything. Life is worth celebrating.
19. Help your Mother carry things. You boys will probably be stronger than me by the time you’re 11.
20. Don’t let anyone hurt your sister.
21. Love each other because at the end of the day, as adults, your siblings will be your best friends.
22. Live your dreams. If you want it, go get it. Don’t wait, no one’s going to give it to you.
23. Take care of your body. You will feel a sense of pride.
24. Visit your Mum. She will miss you when you leave.
25. Competition is healthy. Obsessing over failure is not.
26. Hold the door open for people.
27. Give up your seat on the bus for the elderly and pregnant women.
28. Praise a job well done.
29. You don’t have to be the best at everything, so long as you always do your best. In my experience, that usually leads to great results.
30. Go swimming. There’s something freeing about it.
31. Laugh. Nobody likes a tight@$$.
32. Be honest. A life lived with integrity will make you happier than lying or cheating to get ahead.
33. Take calculated risks. Just because it hasn’t been done, doesn’t mean it can’t be done.
34. Learn. Always. From school, through books, through life and from people who have been there.
35. Teach. This is the best way to learn.
36. Boys – The pretty girls will like you. Ask them out. Popular doesn’t = pretty.
37. Girl- Find a man like your Father. If he doesn’t treat you the way you’ve seen your father treat me, he’s not the one.
38. Boys – Be like your father. He’s a great man.
39. Let your personality shine. You’re all so different, it makes me proud.
40. When it’s time, have children. As many as you want! Don’t worry about the comments people will give you.
41. Make memories.
42. Don’t feel the need to spend money constantly. Use it wisely.
43. Follow your gut, trust your instinct.
44. Always be grateful. There’s never going to be a time where you don’t have something to be thankful for.
45. I love you. So very much.
46. Respect women. Don’t let me catch you treating any female badly, you will be sorry.
47. Let the boys down easy my darling daughter. We’ve already had this discussion, (I can’t believe I’ve had to!) but remember what I told you. No need to be mean about it.
48. You are meant to be here. There is purpose to your life.
49. If you want a good friend, be a good friend. These people will stick with you through anything.
50. Everything in life is made up from choices. Choose wisely. If you mess up, as you will, choose better next time.
51. Intelligence is sexy.
52. Respect your surroundings. Reduce, reuse, recycle.
53. Don’t try to buy people. You will not be cooler because you can afford something. It’s all an illusion.
54. Defend yourself. I raise you to be tolerant. Don’t feel you need to tolerate people that treat you badly.
55. Look people in the eye.
56. Sing and sing loudly. It’s ok if you’re off key, just do it. Enjoy yourself.
57. Live within your means. In this day and age it’s a hard lesson to learn when you don’t.
58. Wear your seatbelt!
59. Real women don’t look like the one’s in magazines. That’s called lighting and photoshop.
60. Don’t whine. Even I won’t love a whiney mcwhinepants.
61. Set goals. Reach them. Set new ones.
62. Push yourself!
63. Do not live on handouts. You have skills, use them. Earning something will give you a greater sense of accomplishment and respect than anything you are ever handed.
64. Sometimes Mum knows what she’s talking about. Remind yourself and your Father.
65. I’ll say it again, I love you. No matter what.
66. Sex isn’t taboo.
67. Don’t change yourself for anyone. If you do, I will hunt them down and punch them. You are great as you are.
68. Never use your cellphone while driving. It’s just not worth the risk.
69. Don’t ever let anyone lay a hand on you. Man or woman. That is not how you communicate in a relationship.
70. Give. Of yourself and your belongings you no longer need or have extra of.
71. If someone makes you feel bad about yourself, they’re not your friend.
72. NEVER get in the car with someone who has been drinking. NEVER.
73. Talk to your parents. We’re pretty good listeners.
74. Own your mistakes. Don’t pretend you’re perfect.
75. Find a way to make it happen.
76. Don’t settle for stereotypes. Exceed everyones expectations, including your own. All you have to do is try.
77. Keep your eyes open. Observe the good and the bad.
78. Always vote. There is too much history to take this privilege for granted. What you have to say can make a difference.
79. It’s ok to say No. Mean it when you say it.
80. Have some humility. There is a fine line between confidence and just being a prick.
81. Be healthy. I’ve tried to lay the foundation so you don’t go through the issues I’ve had to. Real food tastes so much better anyway.
82. You don’t have to expose body parts to attract people. A modestly dressed person is so much hotter than an overexposed body.
83. Be patient. As they say “Good things take time”.
84. You have more than enough. Everything you have is more than some and less than others. Don’t make a big deal about it.
85. Think logically, be practical. Your Dad can teach you this. I’m the creative one, take some tips from me on how to be logical and fun.
86. Don’t panic! Come to me for this lesson. Your Dad’s brain stops working if something doesn’t go according to plan. I, on the other hand couldn’t care less. It just makes life more interesting. If there is a fire, call 111 because your Dad won’t.
87. Lead by example.
88. Clean up after yourself. When you leave home people will say “I’m not your Mother”. Well, I am your Mother and I’m not cleaning up your unnecessary mess. Do it yourself, you have arms and storage boxes.
89. Grocery shop with a list and a budget. Plan your meals in advance. You’ll save tonnes of money and never go hungry.
90. Take pride in your appearance. It’s not shallow, it’s caring.
91. We’ll teach you how to budget and understand money and invstments to the best of our capabilities. You need to be armed for the world.
92. Boys can do laundry too. You will learn before you leave my home and some girl will love you (and me) for this.
93. “When you know better, you do better.”
94. Don’t steal from people. It shows cowardly tendencies.
95. Being married doesn’t mean you can’t hang out with friends anymore.
96. Don’t let others tell you what to do. You decide your future. Think for yourself!
97. Notorious B.I.G was the greatest rapper ever.
98. Nothing I do in my life will ever compare to being your Mother.
99. Have a hobby. It will keep you sane.
100. Nothing bad has happened tomorrow. It’s a new day, fresh for the taking.
101. Understand priorities. Sometimes money, family, health, the needy,work, school… whatever, can get overwhelming. Remember to put yourself first sometimes. It’s easy to forget.

After yesterdays blog post I was shown something really cool by Lisa B,  111 things in 1111 days. Lisa is doing 30 things in 30 days and I loved her idea. There’s no way I could keep up with 1111 days so I’m shooting for 31! Thank you Lisa (and your friend) for the inspiration.

So without further ado:

1. Conscious exercise daily. Yep, I’m aiming for daily and I’m sticking with my ‘Some is better than none” motivator.
2. Visit the library to read up on New Zealand Artists.
3. Head to Bluff to see the gallery my friend just texted to tell me about.
4. Try Zumba at least once – that ones for you Mim.
5. Create 2 new paintings.
6. Get my overdue smear. 3 years goes way too fast
7. Spend the day op shopping.
8. Write a poem.
9. Phone my Mum.
10. Phone my Aunty.
11. Get the last layer of wallpaper off Bostons room – it’s taking foreverrrrr.
12. Try a new recipe.
13. Have a lunch date with my husband.
14. Play at the beach, even though it’s freezing!
15. Take the kids to the playground.
16. Let the kids go wild on the new bike track.
17. Buy something nice for myself.
18. Create a space in this Creating My Reality community for everyone to join in the weight loss challenge.
19. Pick some fresh flowers for my home.
20. Paint pictures with my children.
21. Go to an exhibition opening.
22. Put my daughters hair in that plait hairstyle that’s in right now.
23. Spend the day at the pools with my family.
24. Have a movie marathon with my hubby.
25. Go on a bush walk with the whole tribe.
26. Drop 3 kg.
27. Bake my favourite ‘healthy’ brownie recipe.
28. Get car rego.
29. File GST return.
30. Change the music on my ipod.
31. Curl mine and my daughters hair for fun.

Do you want to join in? You’re more than welcome to share a list of your own!

Told you I was thinking about holding a giveaway! So here’s what you do to enter this giveaway. Are you ready? Ooooo are you ready….

Up for grabs is your choice of one of my new 30cm x 40cm prints. Ready to frame and perfect to give your space a modern lift.

All you have to do is follow this blog with either networked blogs or google friends – the boxes are on the right of my blog (great if you’re already part of the community!) Once you’ve done that, just leave me a comment (here on the blog please so I can keep track of everyone) and let me know which poster you’d like to win. That’s it. Easy peasy, simple as pie.

Winner will be drawn by my good friend Random Number Generator and announced May 15th 2010.

My Queen C and Nas of the Mohicans prints are available to purchase over at my store on chavahkinloch.com for $32NZ each.

There are a few tips I thought others out there could use. Just a few things I, myself, wish I had known before I ventured into the big wide world of being an artist.

Photos:

I wish I’d realised how important it was to have a decent camera that took high quality images and easily reduced glare. I got my hands on photoshop this year and love it. Now I have to work through some old images of paintings long sold to bring them up to scratch. I’ll put up a post soon with some tips for photos.

Document:

Take note of everything. Size, colours used to create a painting, brushes used, medium, date created, location of painting when out of your studio, your price, commission rate, actual sale price, where it went (if possible). It makes life much easier when it comes time to answer questions from galleries and clients or when you’re working on a series of paintings.

Hanging Prep:

This is a pretty big one. I’m rather embarrassed when I look back at some of the work I sent out. I learned how to tidy up the back of my work for my first exhibition. I asked a lot of questions and Googled my life away trying to ‘get it right’. There is no one right way but there are some steps that shouldn’t be overlooked. I’ll put up an instructional post for that in the next week.

Business Cards:

Always include a business card (or two, or ten) in your packages. Whether you’re sending your work to a client or off to an exhibition, make sure you send along a business card. I’ve started doing this new thing, it came about because I wasn’t able to get my business cards shipped on time for a show. I handwrite each of my business cards and in the past 2 months I have been through over 200 business cards. They say nothing but “Find me! ChavahKinloch.com” and have a little mark on them made from either crayon or coloured pencil. I know this could be looked at as a major no-no but people seem to love the personal touch and I have to admit, so do I. My site gets direct hits from them and I’ve never been Googled so much. Clients also appreciate having somewhere to go to see more work and learn about me, the artist. It’s a fun way to interact without actually being there to talk to every single person.

Image courtesy of Nileflow.com

Mailing List:

This is by far my biggest stuff up. I really wish I could go back and get the details of every wonderful client I traded with or artist and gallery I exchanged emails with (from computers that are long dead). Contacts are your best friend in the life of an artist, you never know where your next opportunity or acquaintance will come from. Plus artists are amazing people to know, I have made some really good friends through my work. So take note of the people you interact with.

Do you have a creative blog? If you’re interested in exchanging links shoot me an email. Ideally you’ll have a blog that you post on at least four times a week, email me once you have added my link and I will add yours. Be quick, spots are limited.

I look forward to hearing from you!

“Just when I thought I said all I can say…”

There are a lot of new people in our little community here at Creating My Reality so I thought I’d revisit my confessions. It’s a quick way for people to get to know me and us to get to know each other.  We’re all far from perfect…sad but true  but these are good for a laugh and helping us feel like we’re not completely alone in our little oddities.

• I keep my nails long. I used to bite them as a kid and weaned myself so that when I painted them, they looked cuter.
• I don’t drink coffee. I’ve tried to like it but I just can’t.
• Ice cream is my kryptonite.
• I’m the youngest of 2 children but get mistaken as the older sister. I don’t look older so I guess it’s because I come across uptight? Kidding – I don’t actually know the reason. I suspect I’m not far off in my assumption though.
• I avoid going to the doctor. I’m probably dying.
• I’m terribly uncoordinated when it comes to sport but I used to be an awesome sprinter. USED to be. Now I live vicariously through my kids.
• Big shoulders make me purr.
• I firmly believe in the saying “A place for everything and everything in it’s place”. Clutter drives me crazy.
• Last month I freaked out when I couldn’t find my ipod because I wanted to listen to some music while I cleaned. I completely forgot CD’s existed.
• I found my ipod as I cleaned to a CD.
• This is what my banana looked like the other day. Would you eat it? I didn’t. I really wanted to eat it, I hate wasting things haha. It looked perfect on the outside.
• When I paint it gets messy and I constantly pray that no one decides to pop over for a visit.
• Seven months after having a baby, it still hurts to use a treadmill. I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll ever heal properly.
• I love a man in a suit.
• A hoody and a New Era cap also rock my world.
• If a child hits my child, they’re allowed to hit back. Do unto others, after all.
• I want to be a cross between Beyonce and Gwen Stefani. I can’t decide who I love more.
• I hardly ever remember the names of movies I watch or the characters in them.
• I sketched and started to paint today. There’ll be a lot more detail in the final product but here’s a glimpse:
• 
  
• 

• I love seeing public displays of affection.
• I sing really loudly at home and in the car even though I know I’m not good at it.
• Given the choice to go out or cuddle up on the couch, I always choose the latter. This only happens twice a year so no biggy.
• I never get sick of listening to Notorious B.I.G.
• I ordered the coolest cot for Boston today! I can’t wait to FINALLY finish his room. Life has been rather busy and the thought of peeling back what’s left of the 7 layers of wallpaper makes me want to scream.
• My neverending laundry pile has existed since 2002. The year my first child was born…coincidence? I think not.

Now it’s your turn, I want to know at least 5 things about you. Whether it be what you do, a little quirk, your favourite colour or what you eat for breakfast. It’s harder than you think!

I don’t know how to type all of this out at once. My heart is racing, I feel slightly nauseated and I want to talk to my husband but he’s busy so instead I’m telling all of you. In January my husband sent me a link to something called Blog Idol. It’s a competition held by stuff.co.nz. They send out a call for entries and invite bloggers from throughout NZ to send in a 150 word article on any subject. I chatted with Andrew about how I might send something in, you know, because I like to blog lol. *Insert nervous laughter here*

Like a lot of things in my ‘that’s a fun idea maybe I’ll get to it‘ folder I bookmarked it and went on my merry way. A month later I’m in the shower and this thought pops into my mind “Hey what about that Blog Idol thing?” A slight panic flooded over me as I started to think I’d missed the deadline. I finished up, got dressed and rushed over to my computer to look up my bookmarked site. What do you know, today was the last day for entries and I had until 5 o’clock to throw something together. So I sat down to write but the baby began to fuss and was ready for his nap. I stop briefly and deal with that then begin to type out whatever it is that’s just flowing through me. The silence in my home couldn’t have come at a better time. I wrote 149 words, the limit was 150. When there’s a word limit I usually have this overwhelming urge to write EXACTLY the number of words you’re limited to. It’s a weird trait of mine. I could have easily added one more word but I had a whole conversation with myself to calm down about it. Yes, I am that strange on the inside lol.

I pressed send.

I never heard anything back.

Until today.

When I opened my inbox to find an email titled “Blog Idol 2 Finalist” and read

“I’m glad to tell you that you’ve been selected as one of 10 Finalists in Stuff’s Blog Idol 2 competition!”

Oh my gosh! I’m terrified. My hands are shaking as I type. What am I doing??

So this is my plea. Over the upcoming week (starting March 8th) I will have to blog over at stuff. I need people to READ what I write. I will need people to send my article links trough twitter, through facebook, through whatever else there is. Most of all I need those links to be CLICKED ON. I need people to stop and read and enjoy what I’m writing so I can actually last in the competition. Please help me drown out the mockers that are already gearing up for me (lets hope they prey on someone else). This comp works by way of traffic, much like American Idol. This time the number of clicks represent the votes.  So please, read every day, tell your friends and family to read too and help lil ole me live out my blogging dreams lol.

Nervously counting down the days…. xxx