the laws of attraction.

I try to live a life full of peace and creativity as I hold fast to the laws of attraction, and the one true thing that I always try to do was best said by Rumi:

Let the beauty we love be what we do.

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

Rumi: translated by John Moyne and Coleman Barks

(my work table after I completed the piece below)

And these are truly more words to live by:

"Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Choose your
words, for they become actions. Understand your actions, for they become habits. Study your habits, for they will become your character. Develop your character, for it becomes your destiny." --Anonymous

I made this gift for a dear friend so they could be reminded of their own personal mission statement and have it close at hand.

And Here is a Emerson quote that has been wrapped around my wrist for over 15 years and it reads:

Give All To Love Obey Thy Heart.

Do you have words that you live by? or a mission statement that you hold dear? if so please share them with me, as I would love to read them.

Quilting Arts Workshop DVD

Learn new art quilting and stitching tips and techniques through exclusive classes with top quilt artists on DVD or via digital download. Workshop classes are:

• Taught by some of the world’s best art quilting instructors
• Available now on DVD for $19.95 per class
• Available soon as downloads for $19.95 per class
• Each DVD ships for $3.00 to the US and Canada, or $6.00 internationally
• A wonderful opportunity for you to learn from the best at your own pace, whenever you like.

My “Soulful Doors” workshop DVD is now available!
along with 7 other great DVD you can check them all out here.

In my class you will learn the secrets of creating the foundation for multi-faceted interactive doors.




We will explore: Fabric and paper altering: dyeing, stamping, burning and hand embellishing.


(resin charms)

We will cover how to create resin charms, papers and basic wire work.

(layered resin papers)
You will discover how to embed hidden elements and meaning into your piece along with the joys of machine quilting on paper and fabric.

that all said... I got to see my lovely DVD for the first time last week and despite the lack of eye contact (every time I looked up at the camera, I got all freaked out and would look down at what I was doing very fast!)

It really did turn out well.
So if you would like to watch me as I show you all of my secrets then follow this link to order my DVD .

courage.

Art should astonish, transmute, transfix. One must work
at the tissue between truth and paranoia.
::: Brett Whiteley :::

I have been walking the line of my own personal artist paranoia... its so easy for me to get lost in my art at times that at some point I feel as if I must pull away so I can breath once more and regroup.

but sometimes when I do this I can become afraid and start to doubt my own creative nature and start to grind and pick at all the things that compel me to create in the first place...


To open up ones soul and let others look in is beautifully haunting. But Its so hard to see what others see in us... its easy to see the amazement in others but difficult to see in our self's. we come into this world willing to except everything at face value then as we grow we learn about likes and dislikes... truth and paranoia if you will.

I have been questioning my life and how I live it, in this year there has been both birth and death in my family... I am on the verge of having my youngest son starting high school just as my oldest daughter embarks on her senior year... I know that soon I will have to let her go, so she can grow into the wonderful woman that she is meant to be. But still I have a tinge of sadness to see my kids grow up into young adults. I miss there skinned knees and there messy little hands.


I see that my life is opening into a new stage and just as I have some fear, I know for sure that there are amazing things ahead for me. I have been so blessed to be able to share my passion to create... and so fortunate to have people enjoy seeing what I do.


we create, we grow, we love, we change, we mess up! but we live and find new hopes and dreams.


courage to change is a gift that we can only give to our self.

one last shameless plug ( for this week)

It's all right letting yourself go, as long as you can get yourself back.
~Mick Jagger

(charms that I made on quilting arts tv. rubber stamps from red lead)

A few days ago I received a copy of my segment for quilting art tv (I am in show # 204 Embellishment, follow this link to find out when the show will air where you live)

(I like this photo of me on the set... in some strange way I look like I just may be in control!)

now I will add that its hard not to be critical of ones self ... First I had on way to much make up (note to self: if ever on TV put on your own make up!) and I was so nervous that I acted like a zombie but in the end it all worked out fine!

Being out of control is one of the worst feelings in the world, sometimes even worse than pain. It is its own kind of pain. ~Danzae Pack

art quilting studio

Men must live and create. Live to the point of tears.--Albert Camus

It is my great joy to have my art work used in the advertisement for Art Quilting Studio
(its debut will be 2009.)
The piece that is featured is a personal one and holds so much heart felt meaning behind it.
So its extra special that it was chosen.

If you ever toyed with the idea of submitting your art work for publication then follow this link
to find out the guide lines and a list of new publications coming at in 2009.

And to demystify  submitting your art work a little more, Kristen Robinson has just posted her Secret to Getting Published.

The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become. ~Charles DuBois

a day in my stuido. (and a winner)

Be brave enough to live creatively. The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can't get there by bus, only by hard work, risking, and by not quite knowing what you're doing. What you'll discover will be wonderful: yourself.--Alan Alda

Amazing words so well said! I am still trying to understand my self and these words just may of helped me out a bit!
If you pay special attention to this slide show, you can get a sneak peek at a project that I am currently working on for my mixed media fabric book that I have been feverishly working on, as I will be filming the step outs for this book in Ohio at the end of august!

The winner and the next person that must pay it forward was picked by the random number generator
is lucky number 18! congratulation's Cory!
please email me you address at: ruthrae@gmail.com

A Huge thank you to all of you that voted in my little side bar poll, I will be announcing some really special news connected to the poll very soon!

Creative people who can't help but explore other mental territories are at greater risk, just as someone who climbs a mountain is more at risk than someone who just walks along a village lane.--R. D. Laing

Happy Creating!

"pay it forward," give away

Artists today think of everything they do as a work of
art.
It is important to forget about what you are doing..
then a work of art may happen.
::: Andrew Wyeth :::

I tell my self its all about play, but I some how got a little lost along the way... its time for me to forget about the work and fall in love with the process!

Now onto some fun!

I won these wonderful earrings form Nancy in a "pay it forward give away"... now girls if your in the Southern Californian vicinity and love vintage jewelery findings, chain, ribbons and trim then you must rush on down to Gilding the Lilly Vintage
(and if your from out of town then you can buy from her online shop!)


So now its time for me to "Pay It Forward" the rules are simple if you enter to win these
made with my own two hands: Apple Green Quartz Microfaceted Drop Briolette earrings all snug in there little stitched and sewn fiber gift folder, then you must host a giveaway with something made by your own hands. Anyone who wants play just has to leave a comment, and commit to be the next one to "pay it forward" with their own giveaway.


I will be going away for a few days so I will be closing this give away on Monday at midnight and will pick a winner on Tuesday!
(and if you would be so kind, please vote on the side bar poll.)
Good luck !