Welcome to A Year of Gratitude, a #showusyourMEdia Challenge

#showusyourMEdia is back! This time we're focusing on a theme, A Year of Gratitude.

This theme resonates with me deeply. Gratitude has power! Dr. Randy Kamen, psychologist, shared this list in his fabulous article, "The Transformative Power of Gratitude."

Benefits of Gratitude

Improved physical, emotional, and social well-being
Greater optimism and happiness,
Improved feelings of connection in times of loss or crises
Increased self-esteem
Heightened energy levels
Strengthened heart, immune system, and decreased blood pressure
Improved emotional and academic intelligence
Expanded capacity for forgiveness
Decreased stress, anxiety, depression, and headaches
Improved self-care and greater likelihood to exercise
Heightened spirituality -- ability to see something bigger than ourselves

I can't wait to explore gratitude with you and to witness goodness as our own gratitude spreads out to those around us.

How To Participate

Check my blog and Ranger's blog each month for the prompt.
Create a piece of art inspired by the prompt.
Post your art anytime during the month on Facebook and/or Instagram, using the hashtag #showusyourMEdia
Full challenge rules are at the bottom of this post.

Timing

We will announce a new challenge on the first Wednesday of each month. Ranger will also announce the previous month's winners on their blog at that time.

What Should I Make?

You can make anything you like! It would be great to do all the challenges in one journal, though. I will be using one of my 6x6" white journal for the theme each month. By the end of the challenge, I'll have a journal bursting with art and gratitude.

The First Prompt

Here is what I made:

6x6 White Journal
White gesso
Collage Tissue, Vintage and Sketches
Acrylic paint in Heather, White, Lapis, Cheddar, Umber, Turquoise, Apricot, White, Peacock, Sedona
Stencils: Large Fractured Chevrons, Big Squovals
Stabilo All pencil, black
Scribble Sticks
Brother Label Maker (for the words)
Pink Pilot Juice Paint pen (purchased in Japan, any paint pen will be great)
Gel Medium
Paint brushes
Mini blending tool

Quick description of what I did: Gesso pages, let dry. Paint background with Heather and Peacock paint (lightly, with a watery brush). Let dry. Use Gel Medium to glue on tissue, let dry. Paint/color image with acyrlic (Apricot for face, Sedona and Cheddar and Umber for hair, Turquoise and Umber for clothes). Use the Stabilo All pencil to sketch in a face, if desired. Use a mini blending tool to stencil through Large Fractured Chevron stencil with Lapis paint, and through Big Squovals with White paint. Add splatters with Fuchsia Scribble Stick. Add journaling.

I can't wait to see your artwork and read about your simple pleasures!

Challenge Rules Recap

I want to put the “me” back in mixed media. All art is personal, whether it be a card or an art journal page or a painting. Join me as we begin a series of monthly challenges and prompts that will fuel your creative spirit and help you delve into the ME of MEdia.

We will announce monthly challenges on the Ranger blog on the first Wednesday of each month.
Use at least one Dina Wakley Media product in your project. If your product is not obvious (like paint), please list the colors you used.
You can make anything you like—a card, an art journal page, a tag, a canvas, anything!
Interpret each challenge any way you like. You can be literal or you can use it as a springboard and see where it takes you. Let the challenge inspire you and stretch you.
Try to journal on your piece. Write your thoughts about each prompt. You can write a little or you can write a lot, but do your best to incorporate your thoughts and feelings into the piece.
When you complete a challenge, please share it on your blog and personal social media account(s) (Instagram/Facebook) with the tags #showusyourMEdia and #rangerink. When you share on your personal FB page, be sure to make the post public so that it shows up in our hashtag search. You can share in the art groups, too, but those posts don't show up in the searches if the groups are closed or private.
We will do two random drawings each month for a prize. We will search the hashtag #showusyourMEdia on Instagram for one winner, and then on Facebook for the second winner. To be clear, you must use the hashtag #showusyourMEdia on either Instagram or Facebook in order to show up in the search and to be eligible to win. You have until the first Tuesday of each month to complete the previous month’s challenge.
We will announce the previous month’s winner AND the new challenge on the first Wednesday of each month.

Note this challenge does not take the place of the monthly challenges we have in the Dina Wakley Media Tribe Facebook group. If you're not a member of the tribe, please join us! Artists in the group post lots of cool art and inspiration.

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