KISS - Keep it Simple Sweet one!

As we approach teaching online or in person, one key is to keep it simple! 

• Set up so they can see your demo - do a trial run with a buddy if this is new
• Give an overview of the the class and format 
• Talk a bit, then let them do that step! 
• Honor questions - they benefit everyone! (And set boundaries!)
• Allow time at the beginning for your circle, and time at the end for everyone to share their guidance, insights and painting

Ginger and Jean - 4 hour Harvest Queen

Handouts - email:

• Materials list
• Give journaling prompts as pre and post class homework
• You might have a common symbol handout, winged and flaming heart, spiral, bird, ... plus a few words on possible meaning
• Consider including a simple face map (full face is easiest) 
• 
  Linda Allen - Simplicity

Personal prep

• Choose your poem/ readings to match your theme
• Do a practice painting on your theme, in the time you've scheduled for your class
• Keep your sample simple, and leave it unfinished as an example 
• Jot down journaling prompts as you paint, to support your inquiry
• Do your own journaling! 
• I have a painting panel with options for features - eyes, lips
• Practice the visioning
• Have some tools for coping with the critic! 

Linda Allen - Simplicity

Flow

• Create your 13 step prompt cards and perhaps a few extras around your theme
• Combine some if its a shorted class
• The 13 steps are proprietary for intentional creativity, and for our own use. We usually don't talk about them much, saying, "now we're going to do a Risky Glaze to integrate the colors" (rather than "now we're doing the integration step") ...
• Keep the class moving along, give a bit of warning before moving on
• Allow for tea and movement breaks
• Have show and tell time at the end (~20 minutes) 

Two or more sessions

• Generally, glaze by the halfway point, or end of the first session
• If you offer the class over two + sessions, don't work on your class painting between!!
• You could work more on your practice painting - and at the end, share a screen shot of where you left off, and what it looks like after more attention! 
• Share additional journal prompts, including tips for coping with the critic
• Second session - do a mini circle and perhaps short visioning to bring them back 

Charging

• Check what others in your area charge for classes similar in length
• If your class is virtual, you may choose to charge less, as they'll supply the materials, you can still charge for your time!
• Consider the option donations to a favorite charity, provide the link
• Offer partial scholarships, or discount for a second person, as you choose

After completion, invite them to share feedback and photos, and do a follow up email. You may want to schedule a call if someone voices big challenges or insights. 

Thanks to Color of Woman graduate Linda Allen for sharing her Simplicity story card - you can find more of Linda's writing and work here.

Be sure to give yourself time for self care, and integration you worked hard!!    

Using our Tools

During the Color of Woman quest, we are given treasure trove of tools for accessing our own intuition, insights and vision, and for calming the critic. Many of these make great offerings for our beloveds - and ... we may forget how helpful they can be for our own process! 

What can we do when the critic raises her head? 

In the 80s, Douglas Bloch suggested writing an affirmation, then processing "what comes up."  (Douglas Bloch, author of 'Words that Heal') We often decorated our "finished" affirmation with sequins and sparkles, ...put them up on mirrors, carried them in our wallets...

Story Card deck and cover

In The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron writes: "An affirmation is a positive statement of (positive) belief, and if we can become one-tenth as good at positive self-talk as we are at negative self-talk, we will notice an enormous change." Like Bloch, Julia suggests writing out the affirmation, then the 'blurts' which counter it, & suggests identifying their origin - "who told you that?" "Do you believe it's true?" 

With Intentional Creativity®, we approach the affirmation by first writing out the 'old stories' which hold you back, the critic chatter and negative beliefs on one side of a slip of paper: "I never have enough time!"  "I'm too old" (or too young, or too busy) "I'd love to do my art, but I don't want to end up a starving artist" ... "I can't afford__"

Then, we write an antidote on the other side of our process paper, and craft a short affirmation; the Antidote is transferred to our card & decorated. And then, ... we often tuck the deck away, and head off to the next assignment!! 

Oops! 

When talking to Creatives in our community, I notice some continue to "reaffirm" stories they countered during their CoW quest!  When I hear one surface, I often ask if they wish to reframe that story, & affirm something positive instead! (And try to remember to do this as well!!)

So my inquiry today is, "How do you utilize the lessons and reframe offered by your Story Cards?"

I invite you to light a candle, pour a cup of tea, pull out your journal and cards. Shuffle through your story card deck.

A direct approach: Journal about some old story phrases you notice your Inner Critic has been pulling out, and which block your progress. Perhaps do a Metacognative drawing. Then:

• go through your story card deck, and pull 2-3 cards which relate to that issue, and work with their messages. 
• Journal about the messages, and actions you can take. 
• Put them up on your altar or vision board till your next reading. 

Intuitive Reading

• Shut your eyes, breathe into your heart and belly
• Pull a card at random, and before looking at it, hold it between your hands
• Notice your impressions - a color, a word or two, a plant or animal ally
• Open your eyes and look at the card and affirmation
• Journal about both your impressions, and about that card and message
• How does it relate to the old story you've been battling?
• Place the card somewhere you can see it, and continue to receive messages

Oracle reading

• If you work with other Oracle decks, pull a card or two from your own deck as well
• Write about the Oracle in your journal, including impressions from your cards
• Add new insights to the back of the card 

Additional cards

One of my favorite Red Thread Circle offerings is creating 3-5 story cards in a 90 minute class. I'm always curious to see what beliefs tag along, and the variety of cards that will be created! Often several beloveds share similar old stories, and work on antidotes together.

This is great to do for yourself when you notice none of your cards read fully address a current issue! A piece of watercolor paper from a pad is a good size, and you'll likely want to make additional cards the same size as your current deck. I usually paint a sheet (often 9×12") then tear apart for cards, but only make a few. 

This can be a good time to assemble a little Story Card kit, for offering this as a virtual or in person class. Save so your process papers with old stories and their antidotes to include in your kit.

Additional Story Cards

Symbols, Totems, Elements and Angels

• Create additional cards inspired by messages and symbols from your paintings
• Write a short description on the back 
• Totems: Hummingbird came during my Artist painting, and it reminded each flower (student) of their unique beauty, and can match pave by slowing, or speeding ahead.
• Notice if symbols on your cards find their way into the canvas
• Time Angels is another favorite card, I invite them to help keep on time
• Grace Elohim invites us to "Grace it and Move On!"
• Other cards you've made might include soul collage or journey cards, and their systems
• My friend, Color of Woman graduate Linda Allen included cards for the elements and reminders to Breathe and Dance in her deck - watch her slideshow here

What are some of your favorite cards, and ways you work with them? 

Share in the comments!  

    

 

Visual Planning

Last spring, Shiloh and her biz coach Amy Ahlers offered Dancing Entrepreneur for both Color of Woman students and the general community. We created the folded Vision Plan books (one of the CoW assignments) plus a set of 16 cards to support moving forward with our plans. 

We connected with others in the class (a weekend workshop or 5 week class) and used the momentum of the class to bring ideas into action or products. I developed my virtual Red Thread Circles, and collaborations with other students and IC teachers.

Some of the posts that caught my eye were of Karen Dawn's Visual Planning system, and I joined her Beta Test group on crafting similar systems of our own! I love Karen's creative approach to planning! (Her blog includes some of these teachings!) 

Vision Plan Board

Mine is on a foam board I had from a vision board class I offered, and has two of the Dancing Entrepreneur action cards, a little vision board we created with Karen, and - pockets. The clothesline is a ribbon, and I just taped the ends to the back of the board using painter's tape! You can use nails to tack the lines directly on a wall - so many options!

Karen uses this 'clothesline' system for organizing ideas visually. She found that when her notes were tucked away in journals and files, they weren't as accessible, and often dropped off her radar. (So me!) 

Viola - make pockets to hold sets of cards with those ideas. Larger file folder size pockets can be tacked up, with in depth writings/images.

It becomes an easy way to see what's on your plate, and easily access, move them around, and to inspire action! You can include a calendar page with dates dedicated to working on your project, classes, calls; The larger visual could be your medicine basket or another graphic...

I also like making little vision plans in Zines - these could easily tuck into small pockets! 

Planning pockets

Some variant on a Visual Planning wall or board Board is an excellent way to picture and address your remaining assignments and projects for Color of Woman. Small pockets could hold a few of your story cards, assignment overviews and action step cards (these can be on index cards or something else simple). Large pockets could hold more in depth notes on projects. 

If this system works well for you, it can easily be adapted for planning a class or other project, and balancing various aspects of your life! 

We'd love to see your planning system! 

 

Story Card Teaching Pack

I love the Soulful Story Card process, and offer an abbreviated version a couple of times a year for my Red Thread Circle. I quickly realized that if I saved some of the process papers, I wouldn't need to "reinvent the wheel" each time I offer it, and would have several sample old stories/ issues and antidotes to share!

Story Card case and process papers

My deck is housed in a plastic 3×5" card file that I found at the Dollar store. It has several compartments where I keep:

• Some of my Story Cards
• Painted blank cards with sample backgrounds
• Process papers with an "old story" on one side, and the antidote on the other (scribbles, cross-outs and all!)
• Blank Index cards and colored paper for doing the process cards

The kit makes it simple to offer a story card class. While it was the first Red Thread Event I offered during my CoW Quest, that's one of the few times I've had beloveds craft a full deck! 

Our monthly Circle is 2-3 hours, so a simple project works best, and we usually make 3-6 cards. I encourage them to "own the process," and create more on their own as they recognize old stories.

Cards from the teaching kit

I usually use watercolor paper from a pad, and have them create the background, then we move on to the old stories and antidotes while that's drying. They take home both their own competed cards and blanks. 

* The first SC class I taught, two of my 3 beloveds got so engaged in painting the background, they didn't want to move on!! My Time Angels Card helps us keep moving these days! 

I make a few new cards with them, sometimes working with a old story, at others, cards for my classes like "When in doubt, GLAZE!" I use extra  background cards for business cards (torn in half again) and like using calligraphy pens and Inktense pencils for the words and designs. Shimmer watercolor paint adds sparkle without the mess of glitter! (I also just have them use watercolor rather than acrylic paint)

In one of our circles, we played with Mark making and symbols rather than words. I've often thought in a longer workshop, it would be fun/ helpful to make a few cards for old stories that arise, and to write about the symbols! Sometimes a "group issue" will come up, and several participants will make cards on that.

Here's the announcement for one of my story card classes:

"Do you find yourself frequency revisiting the same old stories? Your creative Muse is ready to keep you rewrite a few, and give you a new Oracle for guidance! 

"Come celebrate yourself, and tap her magical nature and whimsical wisdom. We will identify several 'old stories,' and using our collective vision and wisdom, create colorful Soul Vision cards to remind us of our new declaration."

This is a great process to revisit as old stories come up, and I recommend making a few new cards periodically! I've often thought it would be good to create a few insight cards during a longer painting class.

Have you offered this as one of your RT classes? 
You're invited to share any tips, or personal favorite cards! 

13 Step Prompt Cards

When I began teaching IC classes, I had a notebook with the 13 steps, and my ideas  for that particular class. It was kind of cumbersome, and I sometimes got lost ... So I made a flow chart, moving from step to step - then hit on making prompt cards! 
Viola! Much easier! 

13 Step Prompt Cards

You can make a set of prompt cards for Red Thread circles, as well, and can adapt the process for prompts for any class you're offering, it's very adaptable for your needs. Here is the little video tutorial Sepha and I created for the class of 2018.

Materials

• 140# watercolor paper (can be from a pad)
• 13 step overview (or other class process you'd like cards for)
• Watercolors or acrylics, Neocolor 2 crayons, Inktense
• Calligraphy pen, markers, sharpie
• Brushes and water container, aqua brush
• Binder ring and hole punch (optional)

Preparation

• Spend some time with each step and sketch out ideas
• Symbols and images for the concepts
• Name of step
• description for back of card

Creating the cards

• Set your intention for making the cards
• Paint the background and let it dry - not too dark
• Fold and tear cards - from around 2x2" - 3x4" 
• Write the name of the step in the painted side in calligraphy pen or Sharpie
• Draw symbols and images for that step with marker, Inktense or watercolor pencils and activate with water
• Write the instructions for the step on the reverse
• Create a Card for each of the steps
• Make a folder for the cards, or punch a hole in the corner, stack in order and connect with a binder ring.  

Optional teaching cards

• Card with the 13 steps in order (the names and order occasionally change)
• Symbol Override - what additional information is coming through?
• Red Thread Circle and closure cards
• Favorite short quotes to read during class
• Inquiries for journaling
• Antidotes for "I hate my painting!" : a movement break; tea and chocolate; black and white photo for value/contrast; sit back and "take it to the journal," "when in doubt/angst - glaze!"
• Several inquiries for Red Thread circles
• When you're offering a new class, sit with your deck and fine tune the flow for this class. Do you need to rearrange the order? Are there any special techniques or instructions that you need a card for?
• Create card/s for your theme, i.e. "Queen of your own heart:" crown, heart, orb, sovereign symbol and a few words about the meaning of each (you could do this on larger paper, and keep them in a notebook, or create a handout with symbol ideas)

Personal Support

• Go through your Story Cards and pull out several related to teaching, confidence, having something to share, connecting with beloveds, etc
• Totem cards, inspired by totems/symbols which appeared on your paintings: Milne include Humming Bird, for keeping place work and encouraging my beloveds, Time Angels for staying "timely," and Beloveds. These often go on the altar.
• You may wish to make a couple of new story cards after class, as you gain new insights, or additional prompt cards. 
• Did new symbols come through? You might make additional symbol/totem cards for your teaching deck.
• Journal after the class about what came up for you or your students, and ideas for follow up. You may wish to dedicate a journal to classes, including both process and ideas for future offerings.

Having this set of prompt cards has simplified my class preparation and flow. I've made a couple of additional sets, as insights have come, and review them before teaching. When working on a class demo, I pull out my deck and make adjustments as needed. 
I hope you find them helpful for your classes!