The beginnings of a Dream

Many of us have dreams that we don't share.
Quietly keeping them to ourselves.
Watching them come to be

or

watching them

 sometimes painfully

 fade away...

out of our grasp.

I've had a dream for a while.
Versions of it have already come to fruition.

Opening a magazine and seeing your words.
Your creativity printed before you.
It's an incredible feeling.
That version of my dream was

promoting my dolls and my business.

This new rendering of my dream

 involves sharing photos I've taken

 around the Farmhouse.
Being brave enough to share

 the most quiet thoughts 

I've only written for my eyes.

Able to reach back thru time 

by reading them again.

Reflections of myself

 only shared with 

blank pages of journals.

I wanted to make sure to find a magazine that
seemed to fit with the idea in my head
 of the finished concept.
Have been thrilled with the magazine I have already
been part of that Stampington &Company publishes.
Thought I'd lean towards another of
their amazing publications for this dream
to come to be.

A number of friends kept sending me messages
 and emails about the magazine "Bella Grace"
 that Stampington & Company publish.
Began thinking it might be the one
to look deeper into.

In the sharing of this dream and
the desire for this magazine,it was mentioned that
 it was difficult to find in my neck of the woods.
{It's a tad pricey and I don't have the extra funds
 to splurge at the moment.}
I was second guessing myself
and even the dream.
I thought further down the road
I'd spring for a copy and
be able to hold it in my hands.
See if this truly was the fit that
I was hoping it would be.


Beyond blessed to have people
in my life that wish to see
my dream come to life.
LOOK!
My amazing friend Sandra in Texas contacted me
and said she wasn't taking no for an answer.
She wanted my mailing address so that
she could send me a copy of the magazine.
She believed in this dream of mine.

Bella Grace blew me away!
What an amazing magazine and I may have been thinking
that it was too high priced but
it's so much more then the price.
This isn't a magazine that you casually read
 once {maybe twice}and then toss away.
I am guilty already of reading this issue 4 times!

You notice a photo or a quote that you didn't quite take
in fully the last time you read the magazine.
I can see this issue being read so many times I lose count.
The photography is sheer eye candy alone.
Inspiration and fuel for a creative soul.


On their website {and inside the magazine},
it's stated that Bella Grace is a special publication 
devoted to discovering magic in the ordinary. Our aim is to
 touch the souls of our readers
 through beautifully penned stories and 
striking photographs that capture 
life's beautiful journey.




Embrace imperfection.
 Celebrate your messy life.
 Shine a spotlight on small, 
everyday moments 
– they are special, 
and they are yours.


YES!
YES!
YES!

This is the magazine that holds
my dream and will bring it full circle
into being.

I am going to:
- read this cover to cover
{again}
- write
- edit and fine tune
- practice with my camera
-look thru the lens of my camera until
my heart shows clearly.

Then be brave enough to submit
something to this incredible magazine.

The next photo of me holding Bella Grace
will be where I'm inside of that issue.
Where a dream has come true.


*****

Trust yourself to dream.
Trust that desire enough to share it.
Share it with those that will fan the flame.
That will encourage you and whisper
their strong belief in you.

With that powerful energy surrounding you,
watch your dream explode into reality
 and place you exactly
 where you imagined you could be.

Tracy(Cedara)Dunn

Thru the Attic Door
{A Collection of Primitives, 

Mixed Media Paintings and more}
*LIKE* my Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/thrutheatticdoor

How loud is your voice?

In the process of dusting off this blog to write more, I've discovered that I have forgotten my voice.
Sitting at the computer with coffee{liquid muse};staring for a good solid 10 minutes and getting nothing.
I'd type a sentence. Backspace. Backspace.
Stare.
Drink until last drop of coffee.
Type.
Backspace.


Oh now come on! This is just crazy.
So I did what any sane person does at 7am and only wearing their pajamas....... I stepped outside to inhale deeply fresh air and clear my head.
Well truthfully a sane person would have taken a moment to check the weather a bit closer as when you close the door behind you, only to discover it's -18C with a windchill..... quickly gasping the icy air into my lungs and having my eyes begin watering instantly.
Inside....I can clear my head and find my muse inside.
{Went down and tossed 3 more logs into the furnace}

Sitting here again and giving myself a good shake off.
I'm just going to begin writing again.
Days will be picked out to blog on. Circled on the calendar for reminders.
I'm not going to bury myself with a mountain of how and what and why.
The more I write, the louder my voice will become.
It's there. I can hear the whisper deep within. I have just forgotten how to bring her out and onto the screen.
I'm going to keep a little notebook with me to jot down ideas and brain blurbs.
Something to put next to the keyboard for when I stumble. I'll be able to open a page and pick something out. It might not make sense at that exact moment but it will give me something to write about. To focus that energy again with words.

I also am going to start sending out more tweets.
Twitter is a great way to get writing practice as it's short and uncomplicated.
Do you follow me there?
Thru the Attic Door on Twitter

Feeling better already about my voice.
It just took a little writing ;)

Tracy(Cedara)Dunn

Thru the Attic Door
{A Collection of Primitives, Mixed Media Paintings and more}
*LIKE* my Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/thrutheatticdoor

Newspaper Covered Wall and it's connection to my heart

We live in an old farmhouse that belonged to my husbands parents.

It's in the midst of renovations but some areas are

 getting closer to being finished.

 He and I both are drawn towards unique and eclectic items. 

We are not the type to be pigeon-holed
 into one style for our home.

This is upstairs and used to be two bedrooms. He took out the wall between the rooms and
 added an extra window for more light.
 This has been transformed into what
we use as a living room
while downstairs gets renovated.

 See that pile of pink and yellow insulation
 in the next photo?

That is where he built a small dividing wall.

The wall looked like this....and yes....we've been painting color 

on a few of the finished walls too

This needed "something" but we couldn't
pinpoint what we wanted.

It's kind of an odd space to do.
Top of the stairs.

He looked at me one evening and said
I know what we are going to do
 on the wall.

Newspaper.

ummmm

say what?

{Looks to see how much wine

 is missing from the bottle.}

;)

Laughing,he explained watching me apply scrapbook paper
 to a canvas I was getting ready to paint
and the newspaper idea had come to him.

He explained his concept a bit more and I said alright,
 how about I take your idea
one step further?

I went to Facebook and asked friends from all around the world,

if they would send us a newspaper.
We'd end up with different

languages and we'd be able to look at the wall
and instantly think of each of our friends
 who sent us something.

He loved going to the mailbox
and bringing in the packages.

I am VERY blessed that so many of my friends
said they'd send us papers.

He liked hearing who the friend was
 and where I knew them from.

We had a fantastic stack of newspaper happening
and then the other day,

he looked at me and said we are going to start the wall.

He prepped it and we
spread papers on the floor.

 Chose sections of the paper that showcased
where the paper had come from.

Colors and headlines that caught his fancy.

 He applied the paper with this thick goop stuff.

 Wallpaper paste.
Seems to have worked with no issue.

 heehee

and this is the finished wall

that we are madly loving!

We are letting it sit and fully dry for a few days.
The odd wrinkle that appeared just adds to the

character of the piece.
He could have smoothed it out but 

wasn't worried about it.

He is going to apply a few coats of Varathane

and then we'll begin prepping the other wall
 in this same space.

It's a little bit larger so we'll be 
needing to get more newspapers ;) 

 

My Mat My Mantra

      (Photo of friends in Bucharest Romania, 1983)

It seems like I've known my friend Carrie forever. 

She came into my life when I lived in Bucharest Romania 

and we were in the same classes.

I have wonderful fun filled memories of us together.

 (Our friend Midori, Carrie and myself ,1983)

After I moved back to Canada, Carrie and I stayed in touch

 with decades worth of letters and Christmas cards.

I loved learning where she was living and what she 

was doing in her life. She shared big cities,small towns, 

traveling, family tales, marriage and children. 

Over the years,life happens and time started to drift longer 

lapses of time between our contact.

Facebook came into our life and we

connected once again.

That is how I happened to stumble upon her latest venture.

My Mat My Mantra

Now anyone that knows ME, knows how much I love yoga.

It has been an amazing way for me to ground myself and help deal with my depression.

(Guilty in that I don't do it anywhere near as much as I'd really like but am working on that.)

Going thru the motions and just feeling the shift in my soul always helps calm the chaos.

In my news feed, I saw Carrie mention "My Mat My Mantra" and so I was

 over the moon with excitement to learn that she and a friend had

started this business. Contacted her and told her I was greatly interested

 in some Mantra Spots and that I was going to spread the word.

Next thing I knew I was getting an envelope in the mail with

her familiar handwriting and sweet messages.
I knew I was loving the concept but when I actually

 saw the Mantra Spots.... I was thrilled!

One of my yoga mats that now sports a Mantra Spot! ♥

They have a wonderful array of sayings to choose from
and always seem to be adding more.

Beyond an amazing price!!!

So simple to attach to your mat.

A reminder to yourself while doing yoga.

Messages of calm to your heart.

Messages of love to your soul.

...................................................................

You can contact my friend Carrie about

 getting your very own Mantra Spots.

Make sure you tell her that

 you learned all about them from me ;)

On Facebook  

(Go *like* their fanpage and tell them I sent you over to peek!)

Send them an email and order your mantra today!!! :

findyourspot@mymatmymantra.com

On Instagram

@mymatmymantra

 Their Website  

(It is under construction at

 the moment but bookmark it!)

.......................................................................................

I wish nothing but incredible joy and love to my friend

 in this amazing journey she has embarked on.

The concept is simple and yet soul touching.

I love it!

I know that MANY others are going to love it as well.

Namaste my friend. Namaste

Come on in....we are open for business

Thru all the nerves and jitters, I did it.
 I launched a website again.
THRU THE ATTIC DOOR
I'd forgotten how exciting and fun it was to have one. Found myself really missing it actually. It was time to open one again and take my business further.
Did much needed research, crunched numbers,dreamed big, shed some tears, pulled hair out in frustration,laughed and took a deep breath. May have sounded crazy a few times to the friends and folks I was asking a zillion business questions too but they never gave up on me or my dream. Found an amazing eCourse to keep me pushing on in the right direction. (Building a Creatively Made Business - by Jeanne Oliver) She shared some incredible insight and became just the push I needed. If you are thinking of starting a business for the first time or are like me and opening one again, I can't talk about this course enough. What an huge difference it has made for me. She shares so many insightful tips, tricks and techniques from running her own business. Plus has guests that shares their own insights. I filled a full journal with their information and am putting it all to good use with my own business now. Some of the best money I have ever spent on my business.

I have been making primitive style folk art raggedy dolls for over 10 years now. It is something that I will always continue to create. Something about going from a simple pencil drawn sketch on a notebook page to sliding muslin thru a sewing machine makes me feel alive. Watching the raggedy doll have a personality emerge with the addition of button eyes and whimsical wool hair. There will be plenty of new dolls in the future.

Having said that though, I must confess that my artistic dreams have expanded in directions I couldn't have imagined. I'm playing with paints, inks, canvas, papers and so much more. I'm spreading my wings and discovering my place in the world of mixed media. That realm of creativity has my brain spinning. I'm feeling challenged to expand and grow.

At the moment I'm also tangled up in fibers. Blending strands of wool roving with my felting needles as if they were watercolors under a brush. Each twist of a thread slowly morphing the colors into a scene from my minds eye.

I hope you will enjoy this next path I am walking on. Each step taking me deeper into the artistic world that makes my heart skip a beat and my soul sing loudly. Please feel free to bookmark my website.
I have plans to share many different things.
You can also find me on Facebook where I share sneak peeks, laughs and much more.
Come *like* me and not miss out on anything happening Thru the Attic Door.

Facebook

My silly addiction to Facebook is still as strong as it was. Most mornings I can curb things to a quick peek to see status updates and the odd photo.
Then there are days that hours escape me and all I've been doing is writing on walls, making comments on photos of folks I've hardly seen in years and playing a zillion games of Lexulous.

I will say that it has managed to help me forge some incredible connections and rekindled friendships with a number of people. I love that aspect.......just wish I could add a few more hours to my day to play more Lexulous! heehee

Tracy(Cedara)Dunn of Thru the Attic Door and Thru the Attic Door 2

Friends on Facebook

When I happened to stumble across this cartoon I laughed so hard! I am on Facebook and am one of many that LOVES being on it. It took me awhile and a number of invites from some friends before I started. I just didn't want to devote time to yet another place online. Little did I know the sheer joy it would bring me.

I have managed to find so many wonderful friends from my past. Just when I think I've "found" everyone that I could think of....someone else seems to walk out of my past. I am not a fan of all the crazy applications that can very quickly take over your page if you aren't careful. I don't need to be a cyber vampire or pirate etc.

My joy comes from seeing their albums of snapshots showing me glimpses into their lives again after so many years. I love the writing quick messages on the walls.

I have even created my own "Facebook Page" dedicated to my website!

It was very easy to set up and folks can become "fans" of my website.

I share snapshots and let everyone know some of the latest things happening with the website.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Thru-The-Attic-Door/11359757943

Come become a FAN of Thru the Attic Door!

I'd love to hear from you!

Blessings!

Tracy(Cedara)Dunn

http://www.thrutheatticdoor.com

http://thrutheatticdoor2.blogspot.com

High School Memories

Now granted its been awhile since I was in High School but its never too far from my mind. Well not the school but the friends I had back then LOL
A few months ago I had a friend send me an email. She wanted me to join this website called FACEBOOK. It was where folks could get in touch with each and see whats been going on in their lives.
http://www.facebook.com

So it took me awhile to decide to join. I had other things happening in my life and I thought I'm already in touch with her...she sent me the email! LOL Well my goodness.....what changes have happened since I joined.

So many old friends from highschool were already on Facebook. Once I joined and a few folks found out....it was like an avalanche! I have been able to reconnect and share laughter again at the stuff we used to do. Looking at the pictures from back then....oh you have to love the 80's!

I am so happy that I joined! I love being in touch with old friends!