Angel of Life

    So much has happened to me lately that I haven’t been able to sit down to blog; even vlog for that matter. Yes, it’s that crazy! It feels like something has shifted in my life and I haven't experienced this before so I knew I had to write about it before the feelings faded. 

    For starters, at the beginning of the week, my course was accepted onto Skillshare - an awesome feeling considering how spontaneous the idea of a course itself was! I'm not going to lie, I stressed out thinking that the course needed more work or that it wasn't perfect to go public, but I ended up snapping out of those thoughts real fast - no time for negative vibes!

    That same day of publishing,  the course gained participants, which made me even more excited. I had no idea that it would get such positive feedback, which pushed me onto another idea; an idea I had never had up until now. Brand collaborations.

Working on Instagram posts for the course

    Since I am an Artist on YouTube, the one thing I want to improve on is my brand awareness. It's hard to do, but with persistence and practice, it can be done. So, in the same week of the course being published, I made the decision to reach out to big brands to collaborate with;  so scary!

    I've never done such a thing before, but I knew that it would be hard to grow on my own if I didn't; I needed to collaborate with other brands if I wanted my YouTube channel to grow. The first product I ever reviewed, had done so well on my YouTube channel, that I had to do it again; just better this time. So that's what I did. I made a list of all the brands I loved using when making art, crafted up the best email one could send, I even created my own Media Kit, all just to have better odds of getting accepted.

    After being turned down by the first two, I finally got one acceptance! I pitched my idea to them, I listened to theirs, and what finally threw me off was when I was asked how much I wanted to be paid for the video. WHAT! I actually had to wait a day after pitching to them my asking price - but when they actually agreed to my asking price, I could not retain my joy!

My media kit!

    So I can't give many details on the collaboration but when the time comes, I will definitely share more details on it! For now, I'm just shocked how it sometimes pays off to be spontaneous. The comfort zone can really destroy dreams, and I think I just realized what was holding me back this entire time; not trying new things!

    On top of the collaboration, I realized that I needed to update my driver license. It has been about four months since I moved and I still haven't updated my address. So when I attempted to do this online, I got an error saying that I needed to go to a branch in person, and the next appointment wasn't available until August; and it's June.

    It wasn't easy, and I even created a Twitter account just to reach them, but I finally was able to reach a DMV representative and they called me the next day to help. The lady was very nice and helped me change all the information I needed to, and before I knew it, my updated license was on it's way! No need to wait until August!

Surprise!

    I don't think I mentioned it either, but the couch came! We were expecting to wait until July, but we received a notification that the couch would arrive on the 19th. We've been enjoying it now for a good week, and it's the best! The fabric is a bit rough, but other than that, it's the perfect color and size. It's was totally worth the wait!

Unwrapping

Woven fabric - but still happy

Look at those pillows!

    With so much going on, Mitko decided that it was a good time to clear out some of the boxes we had in the office closet. I managed to go through my art box and found my old sketch books that had all of my art inside it. It was awesome to go through all of the art, but it made me realize I had to part ways with them; especially the mandalas!

Meet the Mandala crew

Boat tours are picking up!

Hungry geese fishing - one has it's head in the water!

Lovely sunset

Until next time! xoxo - Sarah 

    I woke up today with super dry hair. Like...drier than I experienced even when my hair was blonde! I know it sounds - oh, it's just hair - but it isn't to me! My mom always had beautiful long hair and I had always admired her for keeping it long, even when it was hot. So, I've always wanted to do my best to keep my hair healthy, even when I dyed it blonde, I went the extra mile to keep it strong and moisturized.

    Today though, that wasn't the case. The ends of my hair were extremely dry and weren't holding any curls. No matter how much Shea butter I applied to my hair, it wasn't holding any of the moisture. So I went on my phone to look up some natural remedies and realized I had a few of the products to try!

    I decided to go with an apple cider vinegar wash since it seemed like my hair was suffering from a Ph issue. So I put two tablespoons of apple cider into a cup of filtered water, wrapped myself in a towel over the tub, and poured away. Five minutes later, I washed out with filtered water and blow dried my hair with no products added. 

Before

After

    I could immediately tell the difference by how my hair felt while I was drying my hair. The curls held, my hair was less frizzy, and it even had a nice shine to it. The feel was significantly different too, almost silky, which left me really impressed. My hair didn't smell like vinegar at all, even though I didn't add any products to my hair afterwards. It's definitely going to be part of my hair care routine!

    I also have been wanting to work on my realism. It's a great way for me to practice my attention to details, and while it generally takes a long time and my color pencils are nearly all short - I have always found it fun to do. So I found myself after breakfast on Pinterest looking for things to draw. I decided to go with a colorful Dahlia flower. 

    If I have the opportunity, I'll do everything with colors. I don't know much about color therapy, but I know when I work with colors more, it somehow lifts my spirit up; have you ever felt that way? I used to be so afraid of working with colors, out of fear of not using them right, but since I've gotten over that fear, I can't get enoug of them!

Dahlia flower drawn with Prismacolor Pencils

Working on blending

    I mostly likely wont finish it for some time but I will make sure I do! I really think it will look so pretty when it's complete! I also have been getting so much better with my digital skills. Every now and then I draw a character out of my own imagination and it always amazes me to see it come to life.

    I started this digital illustration of a witch a week ago, but I didn't get a chance to finish it due to lack of inspiration - yes, it happens! Today though, I came up with an idea for colors and ran with it. Within several hours, I was able to complete her and I was so impressed!

Summer Witch

    Another thing that I'm super excited to announce, is that a few days ago I had the idea to work on a Mandala course for beginners. I thought about it for some - even talked myself out of it too - and finally came to the conclusion that I needed to make one. I have so many young artists who wish to learn about to draw mandalas, that it only made sense to make a course.

    So, these past few days, I have been recording, editing, and uploading courses onto Udemy. It's a long process really, but it's exciting to see the final product. Sometimes, I'll spend a whole day at the desk working on one chapter, and I have to remind myself to eat!

    Subscribers on YouTube took well to the idea which has inspired me to complete the course soon. I'm hoping by the next week or so, I will be able to post it live for my subscribers to check out. I am planning on making it discounted for the first 100 people who join. It will be affordable and packed with great information!

Editing Section 5

    With a course on it's way, I'm doing a lot of self-development behind the scenes that I'm a bit hush hush about. I realized that there are parts of me that have been negatively impacted by some of experiences I've had to go through these past few years. I've never told anyone, but at times, it's feels like my body is going through withdrawal from all of the drama I've had to experience. 

    There are times where I doubt my decisions, where I doubt myself and my own passions, and it feels horrible. After some thought provoking conversations with Mitko, he agrees that it's my bodies way of adjusting to peace. Which is weird to think about, but I actually knew someone who told me that they do better when they're stressed out...what?

    Either way, to put my mind at ease, to be the confident person I know I am, I picked up a book off of the book shelf in the living room and began to read. It's called, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey. I just started the book, but he talks heavily in the first chapter on how we have to reprogram ourselves so that we're meeting our needs, and not someone else. 

A highly rated book!

    Nothing leaves me more impowered than finding a book that leaves me inspired - that leaves me listening and engaged. I love finding books like that and I can think of a few that have done that to me. So if you're ever in a place that's dark, spend less time thinking and put new knowledge inside that brain of yours. Sometimes all we need to hear is a voice other than our own.

Castle In The Sky by Studio Ghibli

    If you'd like to, you can watch the vlog I put together for YouTube below!

       

    Now that I’ve made the decision to dedicate my time to fulfilling my dream to becoming a full-time Artist, I've been doing a bit of everything lately. As scary as it is to take a leap of faith, I've realized that I've been through this many times and have come out fine. So while I have no idea what to expect this time around, what I do know is that I love creating and I want to make something out of it.

    So I've made a schedule for myself so that I know what to commit myself to each day; one day I'll spend it recording, the next for editing, a day solely for making art for Patreon, and the weekend for writing for the blog. If I can prepare for each day, it'll be easier to get to my goal faster.

    I do find myself doubting myself along the way and questioning if I have what it takes, but I do pretty well at pushing those thoughts away. I've had this conversation with Mitko before, but the Ego in us will do anything to stop us from succeeding and I'm learning to say no to that!

Time to stock up!

    To start the week off, Mitko and I go shopping for groceries. We literally wait until our fridge is empty to go; only bread, cheese, and onions it seems. When we go shopping though, we go shopping! We mostly get fruits and veggies, but a few snacks make their way into the cart with Mitko's helping hand's. It's such a great feeling to open the fridge and see food; I'm sure everyone can agree!

        Since my YouTube channel has hit 20k subscribers also (YAY!), I also decided to record a special video of a rainbow mandala - I really like how the colors stand out against the white and black. My subscribers seemed to really enjoy it so to follow up with that video, I also recorded a simple Q & A so my subscribers can get to know me better.

20k Subscriber Mandala

    It was also requested by an subscriber of mine that I make a variety of different mandalas, which is funny because Mitko suggested the same. So I did. I woke up early one morning and thought of what I could draw.

Magical Rose Zentangle

    When the recording was finished, I set time aside to make some practice sheets for my Patrons. I know many of them are beginners when it comes to drawing mandalas, so I made time to create a guide line sheet. It has the guide lines already available, so you don't need a compass or a ruler; perfect if you just want to practice.

Mandala Fill In Sheet

Mandala Guide Line Sheet

    I finally was able to relax a bit and spent some time researching affiliate marketing, how to advertise using Pinterest, and YouTube's algorithm. When I finished up with that, I spent some time doodling. The weather was nice as well so I even went outside for a bit to doodle by the water - finally! After so many storms, the sun came out. 

Drawing outside - finally!

    We were suppose to get the couch this month - but it's on backorder so we went to Ikea to see if they had a good selection. They did, but they were out of stock... Boo. So it looks like we're just going to wait for the couch we ordered; it's a custom couch, so it'll be worth it I guess. While I was out though, I took some great photos, so here they are:

    

Look at the moldings!

Playing with camera angles

Hydrangeas <3

Until next time! xoxo - Sarah 

    I take my dreams very seriously. Others may not, but I see them as gateways to my subconscious mind, providing me with important messages. I had a dream the other night that I was talking to my mother. She was sitting in a chair, wearing big headphones and knitting. I came up from behind her, hugged her, then kissed her on the cheek before she turned around to look at me.

   In the dream, I told her I was getting cold feet (not sure about what though) and that I felt anxious. I don't remember the rest of the dream, or what my mom said to me,  but I woke up wondering what I was doing with my life.

    The truth is that I wasn't happy being a Dental Assistant; I realized after a month of trying to make it work out that I had little interest in it. On top of that, the coworker I worked with was constantly calling out of work, which put a strain on me since I was still learning the trade. I must be a bad employee or something, because none of it was sitting well with me.

    I know risks scares a lot of people, but not me. The idea of a worthy challenge actually makes me excited and motivates me. Working for others however makes me feel trapped. So after thinking about it for awhile at my desk, I woke Dimitar up and so we could talk.

    I told him I wanted to pursue my passions; making art and vlogs. That I wanted to give my complete attention to my goals so I could achieve them faster. He knew what I was talking about but expressed his worry about unpredictable events, but said he wanted me to be happy.

    In the past seven years, I have taken two major breaks from work to work on myself. Back then though, I was still exploring my potential and it took me time to figure out what I was initially going after.

    Now that I am making money from YouTube though and I have my own place to make vlogs, there is a feeling within me that I can't ignore. It's always there, tugging at my heart, asking for me to pay attention to it. Each time I ignore it, I feel more disconnected from myself. 

    I used to build forts all the time with my sister. We’d go under the dining table with a blanket and drape it over it so that no one could see us from inside. We’d bring in all of our toys and get lost in our own imaginations. Of course, we stop doing those things as we grow up, but now that I have my own place – the urge to relive some of my childhood memories is strong!

    This wasn't the first time I had built a fort - the first time the blanket was very lumpy and Dimitar and I could hardly see the screen. So my boyfriend got a plank board and brought it home so we could use it to keep the blanket up over the TV. It worked like a charm! Now that I've decided that every Friday Dimitar and I are going to do Movie night, having a fort only makes sense.

    I wanted the fort to be magical so I took my fairy lights off my guinea pigs cage (sorry piggies!) and my desk, and draped them over the fort - one around the TV and one hanging inside the middle part over our heads. It was magical indeed! I think next time, I will buy twinkling lights! Here are some pictures of before and after.

My Fort <3

Watching The Nightmare Before Christmas

Enjoying my keto brownies too!

        Before The Nightmare Before Christmas though, Dimitar and I watched Insidious - a pretty scary movie that had me covering my eyes in some parts! I enjoyed it though and it was refreshing to watch a good horror movie - the last one I had seen was "The Descent," but personally, I enjoyed Insidious better. 

    Well, I just wanted to share my fort with you all - I recorded some footage that I will include in my vlog later in the week. After tonight, making a fort has inspired me to do more things from my childhood like doing sand art bottles, collecting trolls, or even playing with vintage cool games like lite-brite!

What are some of your childhood favorite memories?

Until next time! - xoxo

    These past few days have stressed me out a bit. I normally try to have a chill day if my mood is off and keep my tasks as simple as possible, but when it involved my computer and my lovely orchid plant, “Peach,” I couldn’t shake the moody vibes. Also, is it weird that I named my flower?

    For starters, my computer crashed after I was drawing with my tablet one evening. My monitor glitched out suddenly so I had turned the computer off to prevent further damage, but when I tried to turn it back on, it would give me the “Automatic Repair Loop” and the “Black Screen of Death," two infamous and dreaded issues.

    Well, to keep it simple - because it was far from it - I spent eight hours troubleshooting my computer. From three in the afternoon to midnight, I tried everything in the book to figure out my computer but nothing worked. I never understood why people often became angry with their computers, but it was becoming obvious.

Troubleshooting my computer!

    Eventually Dimitar suggested that I take it to the computer store where they'd diagnosed it. I agreed, feeling so defeated that I cried out of frustration. It seems silly and it was! The next day I had taken my computer in, I was later informed that my computer could be saved and that all it needed was a new graphics card.

    The next thing that happened just after all of that, was my orchid plant, "Peach," breaking two of it's stems, losing a few buds. I had left the pot by the window and it was pushed over from the wind outside and it had fallen over. It broke my heart to see it that way, but now I know better.

    I decided to keep the humidifier by it to give it some moisture while it goes through it's recovery and I'm hoping it will be alright. When I got home today, I saw that another petal had dried up and dropped - which is normal, but only after about five months or so. I just watered it though and the remaining buds are plump and still glowing so I will continue to give it some TLC. 

Using a humidifier for Peach

Just watered!

Petals are still bright

    When I finally was able to relax a bit, I decided to spend a whole day updating my Patreon page and what I had to offer. I updated my petal design sheets, and added a new mandala fill in sheet. It was great to finally complete them and I'm sure they will help my mandala enthusiasts.

    I also made time to add stickers to my laptop which looks 100x better than it did before! The computer is pretty outdated, but I like blogging from it though and sometimes even editing videos. As you can tell, I love corgis! ^.^

Improved Petal Practice Sheets

Before

After

    I even managed to bake a little bit too - which helped relieve some tension I had felt before! Since I'm doing Keto again, I was excited to try something new. I decided that I would do Keto again just to get myself back in shape and feel better. It's been tough so far but I already feel better. The treat I decided to make myself that was keto-friendly were some tasty brownies!

Keto-friendly Chocolate Walnut Brownies

    To go with the brownies, I decided to pick a horror movie to watch since I hadn't watched one in sooo long - but I picked one on random, called "House of Shadows." It had a great deep beginning that had tension in it, until the movie progressed and it dragged on with little happening. Tonight, Dimitar has promised me that we'd watch a really scary horror movie - which I still haven't decided yet!

House of Shadows

    Since it's late May which means Summer is around the corner, it has been getting so much hotter that our apartment is always hot. After one really hot night, we bought fans to go both in our office, and our room. It's so much better now! We also have been getting so many storms, which is really relaxing - I often look out the window and watch the rain.

    The other day, Dimitar and I were out for one of our usual evening strolls and the clouds had gotten so dark, that lightning started - it was scary, but exciting at the same time. We of course walked back home, but I first had to take some pictures of one of the streets in town!

Caught my attention

A pretty street!

A neighbors lamp

    Sorry if this post was long! It's been pretty crazy lately for sure but as usual, it always makes life much more interesting! 

Until next time! - xoxo