Can you tell me how to get......

Just arrived in Asia. It is 11:28 p.m.our time which means it is 11:28 a.m. Sunday your time.
We have slept a total of 3 hours in the last 32 so we are off to bed.
For those of you that have emailed me or that are new and have request pending to join the Flickr group I promise to reply within the next day or two.

Our prompt today is Can You Tell Me How To Get To Sesame Street?
Sesame Street celebrated it's 40th year last year . We all have some memories of that special place that sweeps the clouds away.. Who was your favorite character? What was your episode or memory from the show.

If you never watched sesame street, pick another childhood show to reminisce about.

Have a great Sunday.

Sending Love, Susan

AND I WON'T BACK DOWN

When you read the lyrics of Tom Petty's I Won't Back Down written below What do you think of? What is it that YOU will Not Back Down To? Where does your Courage of Conviction take you. Journal about what you feel very strongly about..strongly enough to NOT BACK DOWN FROM ANYONE! Well I won't back down, no I won't back down You could stand me up at the gates of Hell But I, won't back down No I, stand my ground, won't be, turned around And I keep this world from draggin' me down Gonna stand my ground, and I, won't back down Hey baby! there ain't no easy way out Hey yea! Stand my ground And I won't, back down Well I know what's right, I got just one life In a world that keeps on pushin' me around But I'll, stand my ground, and I, won't back down
On my way to Asia....So the give away this week for all that post a comment from today through the 6th (the day I return ) will be Asian newspapers and ephemera. All of my artist friends will like this. If you are not as into art as you are journaling you can choose to have a brand new journal instead. It will be your choice. I will randomly draw the name from the comments and the flickr pool. Questions? email me at smsummerville@hotmail.com. I will be communicating through email the entire time I am gone. For those of you that pray, please pray for a safe trip (to and from and while there). Sending Love, Susan

Do Over and ART JOURNAL PROMPT

If there was one thing, event or action in your life that you could DO OVER if you were given the chance..What would it be? and WHY? This is your journal prompt for today.

And for our Art Journalist, your prompt this week is MY VOICE.

On Saturday the 30th I will leave for a one week business trip to Asia. I will post your prompt on Saturday from 30,000 feet in the air as I will have Internet (happiness) but on the 31st through the 6th of February Sarah Rice (author of Spoonful of Sugar Blog listed below) will paste the prompts that I have emailed her onto the blog. So it will be just like I am here (but I am not). I will be looking at the blog and answering questions and emails but it will be on off hours as my schedule will be completely upside down. Sarah may even add a post or two of her own. She is an scrumptious artist and cook as you will see when you visit her blog AND I am also proud to say my daughter.


Have a fantastic Friday!

Sending Love,
Susan

It was the best of times, It was the worst of times

Your prompt today is to write about two separate times (or perhaps the same period of time)in your life that the following famous passage from Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities applies to.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

You have a fantastic day. I will see you back here on Friday!

Sending Love,
Susan

Your Bucket List

In the movie The Bucket List Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are on a quest to live out their Bucket List (things they want to do before they die) together. If you have never watched this movie I highly recommend it. It really puts much of life in perspective. Today our prompt is YOUR BUCKET LIST. Make a list of things you would like to do before you die. Every month we will refer back to this list and see what we are doing NOW to help us reach some of the DREAMS and GOALS we wish to fulfill/accomplish on our Bucket List.

Our prompt yesterday produced many scripts. Heather Manning wrote this prompt out on her blog and invited me to take a look. You really are in for a treat. Hop on over to http://digiscrapping.net/blog/?cat=350 and take a look at how this young woman has reinvented herself.

As I was looking through our Flickr account yesterday I ran across one of our journalist that is creating art in her everyday journal..I loved this page she did on Pandora's box and below you will find it as our spotlight today.

Welcome to all of our new members of the facebook site as well as the blog. Facebook members can log onto the blog or the flickr account directly from the links on the Your Life Spelled Out Page.

Have a Peace Filled Day!

Sending Love,
Susan

My Life..Starring ?

Imagine for a moment that your life has been made into a movie. Who would you want to play the role of YOU? Why? Any other key character rs that you would like to cast? Who would play them. What would the movie be rated and why? Would you have a theme song? Let your imagination go. This is a fun assignment but also a very revealing one if you look closely at your answers.

I would like to take a moment to welcome all of our new followers. Those of you following through facebook I encourage to also follow the blog (link to the blog and flickr group on the left hand side of the facebook page) as there are often times things posted on the blog that are not on facebook.The blog is also where all of the giveaways happen. I also encourage everyone to sign up for the Your Life Spelled Out Flickr Group. You may join that group be invitation only so if you wish to please send me an email at smsummerville@hotmail.com with your request.

ART JOURNAL prompts are posted every FRIDAY and written journal prompts are posted daily.

Questions? Drop me an email.

Have a JOY Filled Day!

Sending Love,
Susan

Raindrops on Roses

And These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things!

Today list at least ten of your favorite things. Make your own list. Make it uniquely yours. Please share with us if you feel comfortable doing so.

Here are a few of mine:

The smell of fresh cut grass
Sunrise over the Ocean
Sunsets
My Bed (or maybe I should say my mattress)
Holding my grandchildren in my arms
Hugs from my children
Heart to Hearts with my Mom
Downtime (anywhere) with my husband
Being artistically creative (this takes many forms)
Quiet Time at a Spa


Have a Fantastic Monday!

Sending Love,
Susan

What MOVES YOU?

We have all had a song, movie, quote, speech or something reach down into the very depth of us and move us to an emotional place where we seldom visit. There are a few songs that move me like this. I have also had movies and often times art that move me in a powerful way but nothing moves me to tears like certain songs or music. I have been in the middle of singing or listening to a song and had to stop because it overtakes me. I have been in the middle of listening to Beethoven and felt like something just took my breath away. What MOVES you like that?

How are my Art Journalersdoing with the prompt OUCH this week? That is certainly open to wide interpretation. I can't wait to see your art.

A reminder that if you wish to join the Flickr group for this blog so you can share your art or just view others you must email me your request as it is by invitation only. Email me at smsummerville@hotmail.com.

Have a Peace Filled Sunday.

Sending Love,
Susan

I am and the Art Journal Prompt

The prompt today is (I am). List as many or as few things as you wish.

If I were writing only one I am in my journal it would be:

I am pulled in a thousand directions!

ART JOURNAL PROMPT

The Art Journal Prompt this week is OUCH!

Have a Great Saturday!

Sending Love,
Susan

Treasures

We start today by announcing the random winner of WRECK THIS JOURNAL (this weeks giveaway). Congratulations Luisa. Please email me your address.

Today our prompt is My Treasures Are . What are your treasures? If you are like me my first thoughts were people I treasure...we will NOT list people in this exercise . Your treasure could be a memory, or the watch handed down from three generations, your pictures, perhaps a collection. Whatever your treasures are please list them in your journal. In five years it will be interesting to see if your treasures are the same or if they have changed.

Happy Journaling!

Sending Love,
Susan

Chapters

Imagine you are writing a book about your life. It is a 10 chapter book. Title your Chapters.
Chronicle your childhood through your life now in your chapter titles. Share if you wish. This is a fun and very revealing assignment.

Have a Fantastic Thursday!

Sending Love,
Susan

Super You and Journal Spotlight

If you could have any super power what would it be and why? Think about the fictional cartoon characters and let your imagination go..This is a fun assignment so stop being so serious and have fun with it.

I have a question for those of you keeping a written journal. What are you using for your journal? Is it a notebook, an actual journal, a sketchbook? It can be anything you want because it is afterall YOUR journal. I just love to see or hear of all the different ways that you are journaling. Below I highlighted a journal made by Nicole Laird (as seen on our Flickr group) to journal the prompts form Your Life Spelled Out. I would love to hear what you are using for your journal, or if you are only doing the art journal prompts(What you are using for your art journal) or if you are jounraling online. Please share.

The giveaway this week is WRECK THIS JOURNAL and the winner will be randomly drawn from the people that have left comments this week.

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Sending Love,
Susan

Are you adding a note or a person?

Cha Cha Cha Cha Changes

What are some of the changes that you would like to see take place in your life this year? Do you have a plan to make them happen? What one thing can you do this week to start you on your journey to the changes you wish to make?

Have a Serene Tuesday!

Sending Love,
Susan

Truth Be Told

Our prompt today is TRUTH BE TOLD. There are so many places to go from that prompt. I can't wait to see where it leads you.

Many of you have emailed me and shared that you have fallen behind and are discouraged. PLEASE do not be. Writing in a journal every single day is commitment that is often very hard to make. After several times of stopping a project because I was behind I never set myself up like that . Over the years I have come to see that nothing is a big deal unless you make a big deal out of it...so you missed some days ..NO BIG DEAL! Who told you you had to journal everyday or do every prompt for that matter? Remember this is YOUR journal, YOUR Life Spelled Out and you can do whatever you wish in it. You can write in your journal as much or as little as you wish. The important thing is that you do pick it up and write in it.

You have a FANTASTIC Monday.

Sending Love,
Susan

One Million Dollars

Imagine today you have won the lottery or Great Uncle Harold passed away and left you a million dollars. What would you do with a million dollars? Let your imagination go and write how you think you would REALLY spend or save that money as if it were really yours. I did this just a year ago and to my surprise my answers have changed a bit since then.

This is a fun exercise.

If you would like to share that's great and remember that all post to the blog are w entered into the drawing for a giveaway on Friday. Pictures of the giveaways will be posted on Monday.

How are the art journals going? I have been working on Mirror Mirror and will be posting mine to the flickr group on Monday. We have two posted already . You should check them out.

Want to be invited to join the flickr group? Email me at smsummerville@hotmail.com and I will send you an invitation.

Have a FANTASTIC Sunday!

Sending Love,
Susan

Kindness

Last Saturday I shared with you that our prompt today would be for you to write about the random act of kindness you did this week and how it made you feel. For those that forgot or are new this week it is not too late. Do a random act sometime today and write. It can be as easy as picking up the phone and calling someone you have been out of touch with or dropping an encouraging card in the mail to someone that you know is down. Whatever the act it will take us outside of ourselves, if even for a short amount of time, and that my friend..is a good thing.

I have posted two other post today that I encourage you to look at. The first is introducing a fantastic Art Journal Blog and the second is a featured Art Journal Page.

For those of you that wish to be members of the Flickr group please email me at smsummerville@hotmail.com and I will send you an invitation.

Have a FANTASTIC Saturday.

Sending Love,
Susan

You Are Going To LOVE This!!

I must share with you how excited I am to be involved again this year with the year long art journal prompts of my friend Rachel Whetzel. Rachel is an amazing young woman with a tremendous artistic gift and more importantly the gift of encouraging everyone to create art. Everyone is an artist and art lives inside of you waiting to burst out according to Rachel. Rachel and Sarah Rice (my daughter) are the two people responsible for my own entry into the creative art world. I had been journaling and mentoring journaling for years, but the art process of art journaling opened up even more of the creativity that I knew lay dormant with in me.

All of my Art Journal Friends I encourage you to follow along with us in the bi-weekly prompt blog that Rachel has created. This year she will feature 6 guest host. Two of her host are also friends of mine, Nikki Zimmer and Susan Alton. They are amazing . Nikki's Daily Journal is featured in our Flickr Group as she is part of You Life Spelled Out as well.

Here is the blog addresshttp://oneyearartjournal.blogspot.com/

You can always directly link to A Year in the Life of an Journal from this blog. The link can be found in the lower right hand corner of this page.

I know you will love this...You can thank me later! (smile)

Jouranl Spotlight Art by Patty Anne

Prompt: Mirro Mirror

BRAVO Patty

Journaling:
"A Fresh Perspective sometimes requires a Freshening Up of old ones"

Mirror Mirror

We start today by drawing names for the giveaway goodies. The winner of the blog giveaway is KIM from Texas. The winner of the Flickr giveaway is Lisa Fulmer. I will need both of you to email me at smsummerville@hotmail.com your full name and address so that I can get your goodies off to you right away.

ART JOURNAL PROMPT is MIRROR, MIRROR

interpret that any way you wish. Create! I can't wait to see your art. PLEASE share by uploading your art to the Your Life Spelled Out Flickr Group. You may join this group through invitation only so if you wish to join email me at smsummerville@hotmail.com with your request. We will have give aways twice a month. All you need to do to be included in the drawing is to upload your art to our flickr page.

Pointing Out to All that I posted another post right before this one featuring another Journal Page from the flickr group. Check it out!

WRITTEN JOURNAL PROMPT

Write a list of at least ten of your achievements. This is a feel good exercise so let's keep our minds focused in a positive direction. Some of you are thinking "What achievements! Great, now I even feel worse about myself"..STOP!! We all have achievements and we should all celebrate them. Maybe you were in an abusive relationship and now you are not..THAT is an achievement. Maybe you went back to college or maybe you never finished high school and went back for your GED..THAT is an achievement, maybe you stopped a bad habit or finally stopped biting your nails after 15 year..THAT is an achievement. Celebrate the small ones along with the big ones and do not compare yourself to anyone else. When I compare myself to others I ALWAYS loose and so will you. In my list I celebrate the small achievements along with the big ones. I have included my list as an example.

1. Gave Birth To Four Beautiful Children
2. Married My Best Friend and Soul Mate
3. Lost 40 pounds last year
4. I beat the odds and graduated High School on time with my class in 1980 even though by the time I graduated I had been married for two years and had two children. I never give myself credit for that. That is a BIG achievement.
5. Left an abusive dysfunctional relationship
6. Owned by own business (a book store)
7. Co-Founded a Not For Profit with my son to provide comforts and needs for children suffering from cancer.
8. Wrote a chapbook of poetry.
9. Was United Ways Philanthropist of the year three years ago
10. Was invited and went to the WhiteHouse with my son Ede for our work with Project Ed Bear (not for profit).
11. Surrendered My Life to Christ.

The best part is I could go on with hundreds of little achievements that mean nothing to anyone but me..like once I stopped drinking coffee for three entire months...Write down ALL of them that you can think of...Big and Small.

Please share if you wish by posting. All post from today until next Friday will go into next weeks drawing.

Have a FANTASTIC Friday.

Sending Love,
Susan

Journal Spotlight

This Journal Spotlight is brought to you by Nikki Zimmer. I love how she has gone out of the box and incorporated art into her daily journal prompts. She , in fact, has made her daily written journal an art journal.How inspiring!

Escape

Today your prompt is the word Escape. What does that word mean to you? What do you escape into? Some of you are thinking."That's ridiculous, I don't "escape", I am grounded, I am a realist"! My question to you is ARE YOU SURE? When life gets tough what do you dive into? Did you know that escape comes in many forms? Here are a few examples. Spending, Eating, Drinking, Reading, Hobbies, Television, Movies, Drugs (yes even the Tylenol P.M. that you take every single night because you are afraid you will not sleep unless you do), Denial and Relationships! There are many more. I have listed only a few.

Most of the things that I listed are good things. They only become unhealthy when we use them to hide from or escape from pain or the pressures of everyday life. Everything is a balancing act. It is important to recognize harmful behavior, otherwise we will never address it and change it and nothing will ever change.

On Friday our topics will lighten up and will be fun for a few days. You have worked very hard this week and I am proud of you.

Today is the last day to post or to upload on Flickr for the giveaways. I will announce the winners after the prompt on Friday.

Have a fantastic Thursday.

Sending You Love,
Susan

Influences that have shaped us!

Today our prompt will require some thought. We will think about the people we have known, events (good or bad) in our lives, books we have read, jobs we have had, teachers we have had and from this list we will think about our beliefs in general, our personalities, what issues we have (example trust), our insecurity or security, our positive self image or our negative one, our fears and our faith or lack of faith. We will then answer todays prompt which is..

What influences (above or ones you think of on your own) have shaped my life as it is today?

On Friday I will draw a random name from the people that have posted on the blog from Monday through Friday. The winner will receive a copy of THE MIDDLE PLACE by Kelly Corrigan.

I will have a similar drawing on Friday for everyone that has uploaded to Flickr. The winner will receive a art related gift that will be reveled on Friday. Remember the only way you can join the Flickr group is through personal invitation so if you wish to join please email me at smsummerville@hotmail.com.

Have a FANTASTIC Wednesday.

Sending you my love,
Susan

What Goes Into Your Mind?

What Goes Into Your Mind Comes Out In Your Life! What have you been feeding your mind?

Did you know that what you watch , read and listen to becomes part of how you feel mentally and sometimes physically. Science proves this!

What do you feed your mind with daily? Think about it and journal about it. Journal about what is going into your mind and how you think it is acting itself out in your life.

Do you read before you go to bed?, What are your favorite shows? What are the words to the music you are listening to? Really THINK about this prompt.

When I journaled this prompt I found that going to sleep with Criminal Minds or NCIS on was probably not the best idea. I found that waking up and reading something positive was working very well for me. At the end of my jounraling the final conclusion was that I need to put more positive, uplifting, true things in my mind each day and need to choose what I watch more carefully. No..I did not give up Criminal Minds or NCIS...but I do record them and try not to let them be the very last thing I watch before I sleep.

I think you will be surprised at what you find at the end of this assignment!
Please share anything you wish!

group and wish to email me at On Friday I will randomly pick a name from all who have commented on the post from Monday through Friday and the winner will receive a copy of The Middle Place. I will be holding a similar drawing for the flickr group for everyone that has uploaded from the beginning through Friday. If you have not joined the flickrsmsummerville@hotmail.com and I will send you an invitation as it is by invitation only.

Have a fantastic Tuesday!

Fondly,
Susan

What I like about me!

I promised that we would move on to an uplifting topic today so we shall. Today we will list a minimum of five things (list as many as you want but please list at least five)that we like about ourselves and we will dig a little deeper and list WHY we like these things about ourselves.

The hard work you did yesterday will be further explored later this week. But for today we will focus on the positive.

Sending you love,
Susan

Words Can Hurt

Our Prompt today is to remember a time when someone said something hurtful to you and to journal about how it made you feel. Example feeling angry, insecure, unsure of yourself, ugly, stupid...what were your feelings.

Some of you are thinking..why on earth would you want me to open old wounds and hurt again. I promise you that there is a reason and that this prompt may be one of the most important ones that you do this month.

I encourage you to write everything you are feeling out. Write until you have nothing more to say about the subject.

I know this is a tough one..some prompts will be. Monday we will start with a happy prompt.

Sending you Love,
Susan

Heads up and todays prompt!

What would your attempt to do if you knew you could not fail? THIS IS YOUR PROMPT FOR TODAY!

Your prompt today will require you to look with in. Do you know the answer to this prompt immediately? or does it require a bit of soul searching?

You HEADS UP is that one week from today..your prompt will be this.
My random act of kindness this week was _________________. Then you will be asked to write what kind of impact this made on you.

Just like our once a month gratitude list , once a month we will focus on doing something for someone else. Perhaps you buy the person behind you in the Starbucks drive through their coffee and then drive off, perhaps you send a card or a letter to someone that you know that needs encouragement, perhaps you spend time with a family member that you have not been to see for a while, perhaps you drop off cookies at a neighbors or nursing home. For those with financial resources perhaps you pay a bill for someone that is out of work. These are just a few examples..the list is endless.Whatever your random act is , next Saturday you will journal about how it made you feel to get outside of yourself and give of yourself for that brief moment . You have the power to bring joy into someones life. How will you do that?

Have a Great Saturday!

Fondly,
Susan

Art Journal Spotlight by Sarah Elliott

Journaling:
My Pandora's Box
Inner Doubts...
Fears...
Demons...

Many Days I'm plagued by self doubts... they may not be true... Maybe they are... but they are there...

My Internal Dialogue --->
NO
Bad
Failure
Never
Not
Don't
Shouldn't
Can't
Why?
Not for you
Undeserving
Dumb

I’m a Bad Mother…
I’m Fat…
Nobody wants me…
I’m not Smart enough…
I’m Not Good enough…
My House is a mess…
We’re Poor…
I’m scared he’ll come back…
I don’t want to be abused again…
What if he comes for the kids?
Why do I bother?
Would they be better off without me?
Maybe I deserved it?
I’ll never be good enough…
HOPE