In another installment of sharing my music inspiration, I simply must give props to Mindy Gledhill. She’s an indie folk singer that has been around for awhile and you might have heard many of her songs on sitcoms or commercials. I actually discovered her from other blogs who featured her inspirational song Whole Wide World.
It’s one of those super motivating, make you a bit teary eyed kind of songs. Maybe it’s the little girl perspective, all those hopes and dreams to be realized, just totally gets to me. Not to mention photographer Sue Bryce used the song for a promo video and it again shows how kick ass it can make you feel about yourself and life…
Watch above and read below.
I’m gonna walk a hundred miles, I’m gonna whistle all the while, If that’s what it takes to make me smile, I’m gonna walk a hundred miles.
I’m gonna rend right up this hill, Summer sky or winter chill, If I gotta take a break I will, But I wanna rend right up this hill.
I wanna hold the whole wide world Right here in my open hands, And maybe I’m just a little girl, A little girl with great big plans.
I’m gonna go and take a chance, I’m gonna learn to ballet dance, Learn a little something about romance, I’m gonna go and take a chance.
I’m gonna live a crazy dream, Impossible as it may seem, Doesn’t matter what the future brings, I’m gonna live a crazy dream.
I wanna hold the whole wide world, Right here in my open hands, And maybe I’m just a little girl, A little girl with great big plans.
I wanna hold the whole wide world, Right here in my open hands, And maybe I’m just a little girl, A little girl with great big plans.
You tell me, don’t try it, I’m warning you that I won’t buy it. All the failure is fleeting, I trust it always has its meaning.
I wanna hold the whole wide world, Right here in my open hands, And maybe I’m just a little girl, A little girl with great big plans.
I wanna hold the whole wide world, Right here in my open hands, And maybe I’m just a little girl, A little girl with great big plans.
However, Mindy has lots of other great songs and I found out that she was actually quite popular in Korea as well! Just cool, huh?
You can listen to clips of her latest album Anchor via
Meaghan Smith is a Canadian singer-songwriter that I discovered through the film (500) Days of Summer. Her cover of the Pixies song, Here Comes Your Man changed to Here Comes My Man totally rocks. I like her old timey vocals, so decided to dig a bit deeper and just love how creative she is… have you seen her animated biography?! Instant creative girly girl inspiration crush!
I just had to doodle away while listening to her music. I suppose I do have a thing for female singers in general and perhaps it’s because I can easily imagine myself in their singing shoes. The music I’m drawn to is usually of the cute nature, happy and boppy… that’s just what inspires me and puts me in a smiley mood.
I really love the song A Little Love – listen and watch above, read the lyrics below. I think we can draw inspiration from the visual, auditory and text… as if you are reading poetry.
Here I go again
Smiling too sweet
Can’t seem to hold it in
Every time that we meet
I get this rosy glow
And weak in the knees
I hope you don’t know how fast
you make my heart beat
I’m in a little love And I’m in a little deep Though I’ll never say a word It’s a secret my heart can’t keep
Keep my feet upon the ground Whenever you are near But my head is in the clouds While the rest of me is….
Here I go again Smiling too sweet It seems that my heart Has finally gone and told on me
Her debut album, The Cricket’s Orchestra is completely adorable with smooth vocals, cuteness, happy boppy songs and sentimental sweet songs… a combo that I can never resist. Take a listen and get inspired!
You can find The Cricket’s Orchestra through my affiliate links to
In the midst of vacation and the scorching summer heat here in Italy, I had forgotten to post about the podcast earlier. But it’s not too late to listen in. I hope that sharing my thoughts will help to spur others into the hobby of drawing. I really do feel that it’s one of those skills we should all learn to a certain extent, like reading and speaking and dance! We all did those things as kids with no second thoughts. And how wonderful was that freedom in our childhood years? It’s all apart of enabling yourself to express your feelings and thoughts in different ways. Through words, through images, through movement…
How do you feel about drawing and does it help your creative process even though your art might not be in illustration or visual media? Any comments or thoughts you would like to share?
Decided to do a bit more experimentation with stitching and transforming one of my drawings into the language of thread. It can definitely get tricky with the details, but I love the results. Fun fun!
Years ago, I started a embroidery stitch sampler, but never completed it. I got stuck on a square and the project was soon abandoned. But my love for embroidery still lives on. I think of stitching as drawing with thread… it’s just so darn cute! At least, that’s the style I gravitate towards.
This past week, I’ve finally gotten around to dusting off my incomplete sampler after signing up for a class with Amy Powers at Big Picture Classes – Happy Go Lucky Stitchalong!
I was able to get past the square of my puppy’s face, then added a few more squares. It’ll still be a slow going project since I’m a slow stitcher, but I’m happy to have started up again. Suddenly, I have all these ideas for stitching my drawings on things.
Do you like to embroider and stitch in your creative endeavors?
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted, but I’m still here and creating behind the scenes. I’ve simply taken a lot of time off from the online digital world. Living and experiencing… without the thought of posting and sharing about it. Everyone should take a break, once in a while. But I’m feeling the urge to share, so for now, let me show you a little peek of what’s going on in my art studio.
I’ve been slowly working my way through The Right-Brain Business Plan (Amazon link) and as always, I found myself stuck in the middle of the book. In thinking about my life map – illustrating the significant personal and professional milestones that make you the most qualified person to head up your business – I suddenly dropped into doubt and more doubt. My experience is broad, but many may see it as a jumbled mess. As with last week’s thoughts regarding an about me page, I find myself struggling to define myself. It’s difficult to toot your own horn and I can’t help but feel too pompous or not qualified enough. Oh, it’s a fine balance.
Maybe I really need to take a few more left-brain chill pills, as Jennifer Lee says often and writes in the book as well. I get hung up on the details and intricacies that exist (probably only in my mind). All the what ifs, shoulds, doubts, worries… details that really don’t need to be addressed right now. I let them block me. After the holiday rest, my goal this week is to push through the whole book and have my action plan done. Analysis paralysis needs to stop!
Then it’s just a matter of keeping it all up. Easier said than done, I know! With all the information and great advice accessible these days, it seems that nothing is out of reach for anyone. (Despite my worries, I’m totally an optimist at heart!) I think the ultimate problem is getting off your butt in a constructive way. Not just being busy, but truly productive and inline with your plans. I feel like that is probably the killer of most great ideas out there, because they simply aren’t acted upon. Don’t you think so?
Last week, I talked about my newsletter blues and since then I’ve quickly realized that it’s more of a cleanse. It’s a good thing to clear out the air and really connect to those who resonate with you, instead of speaking to people who have their backs turned. In a way, I’m looking forward to unsubscribes from uninterested people.
I think of it as the socially responsible thing to do as well. I know from statistics that many people aren’t even opening my emails. I really would like to decrease digital pollution. It’s a waste of energy, space and money for everyone. So do yourself and others a favor today, go and unsubscribe from stuff you aren’t interested in anymore. Every once in a while, unsubscribe in your spam folders too… instead of letting that pile up… cleanse! On the other hand, if you really want to get my weekly emails of thoughts along with a new illustrated girl – sign up here.
In other creative business news, I’ve been mulling over my about me page and trying to rewrite it. It’s not even linked up on this blog anymore, because I don’t feel like it reflects who I am. Everyone talks about how that page is the most visited by new readers… but I can’t seem to present myself properly. It’s always difficult for me to write up an all encompassing blurb, when at times, I still feel pretty confused about things. I realize that life is ever changing, so there is no such thing as a “done” about me page. But I need to get something done…
Today, I also received a bunch of new books in the mail – yay! Although I have a kindle, I still want the physical printed book at times. I’m excited to dive in although I have so many different books in progress right now. It’s good chaos I suppose, just like inside my head! I have an “active bookshelf” where I keep books that are in progress or frequently flipped through. If you are interested, here are the latest books I bought (Amazon links below)
For all businesses, the email newsletter list is supposedly the holy grail. It’s a direct connection to your fans, so that you can communicate with them like friends. The idea is that your list should be your biggest fans, otherwise they wouldn’t sign-up in the first place. I realized the importance of building a list and started a while ago, even though I didn’t know what I was going to send out. I still haven’t figured it all out… but I’m grateful for all the sign-ups. It means people care!
Or do they?! This week I’ve had some newsletter blues, aka unsubscribes. I started sending weekly Wednesday emails introducing a new Girl With A Message along with my thoughts. It’s supposed to be short and direct, but a constant connection to my audience. Since my newsletter sign-up offers a printable girl, I thought it would naturally be the most pertinent news to the list right now.
When the unsubscribes started rolling in, I started questioning the purpose of everything (in life). It’s inevitable to sink into despair at some point – “Oh, what’s the use! I don’t even know what I’m doing. There’s no point…” I think it’s difficult to NOT take an unsubscribe as a personal rejection and nobody likes rejection.
After calming my nerves, I tried to look at the situation objectively. Unsubscribes are normal! The statistics show that all businesses have unsubscribes and the bigger your list grows, the more there will be. It’s actually a good thing because it means uninterested people are leaving. In fact, I was elated to learn that April from Blacksburg Belle actually encourages people to unsubscribe from her list when they sign-up, if they aren’t going to be a good match. The key is creating a true list of fans. Think of it as a natural cleansing of your email list.
It’s not personal. If you think of your own email subscriptions, it’s easy to come up with completely impersonal reasons of unsubscribing. Every once in a while, I go through a massive sign-up phase and massive unsubscribe phase. It’s just a cycle of exploring new things and then deciding that I have too much going on or that it wasn’t what I wanted. It doesn’t mean I hate the person behind the business!
Think of your fans! We all seem to dwell on what we’ve lost, but’s it’s way more important to concentrate on what you have instead. You still have loads of people on your list, so think about serving them. Those people want to connect with you, how cool is that?
I definitely felt better after thinking a bit about this week’s experience. Thanks to all those on my list and it’s okay if you need to unsubscribe – I won’t take it personally. On the other hand, you can totally sign-up for my newsletter if you’d like to get a free printable girl and weekly updates of what’s new!
Do you have thoughts about how to handle an email list? What do you send out to your fans?
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