Just Mary Designs

[caption id="attachment_962" align="aligncenter" width="804"] Get The Inside Right
Prints Available Here[/caption]   "If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place." - Eckhart Tolle How true this is. In a world that places so much emphasis on the way our physical body looks, it is sometimes hard to remember that the real work is done on the inside. I know that I have spent many hours in my life trying to look a certain way....to fit a certain standard of beauty.  I have exercised like a fiend to fit into a certain size.  I have worn my hair in styles to emulate the current celebrity look.  I have spent a lot of money on clothing that was "in".  In fact it took me until my mid thirties to even recognize what my own version of beauty was - until then I was trying to conform myself to whatever my husband or boyfriend thought was attractive.  What I learned was that until I could define what beautiful meant in my own eyes, then I would never feel beautiful in my own skin. I also learned that defining beautiful did not mean the size of my jeans or the number on the scale.  I found that the real meaning of beauty lay deep inside of me.  For a woman to feel she is beautiful, she must be at peace within her own soul.  She has to become confident in who she is and what she stands for.  I have learned that when a woman recognizes her own amazing worth, that she will begin to accept the body she inhabits.  And when you accept your body as it is, it creates the space for it to change in healthy and permanent ways. So when I saw this quote by Eckhart Tolle, I knew I had to turn it into a piece of art.  And I wanted that art to be all about love...loving yourself...loving your life.  For all of my Body Fab-YOU-lous friends out there....I dedicate this piece to you and your journey towards getting the inside right.

[caption id="attachment_817" align="aligncenter" width="987"] The Very Thing
Available for Purchase Here[/caption] The Very Thing You Are Trying To Avoid Is Exactly What You Must Face. (A Brand New Body Fab-YOU-lous Print!) So true. In this life we spend a lot of time avoiding things - negative emotions, changes in our jobs, relationship issues, internal conflicts, family dynamics....and the list goes on and on. Most of us have gotten really good at avoiding the hard stuff.  It's much easier to bury our heads in the sand and hope that things magically will change without action on our part.  Now don't get me wrong - I believe in magic...but I also believe that the magic lies within the process of facing down the things we most want to avoid. Most often we avoid things because we are afraid.  Afraid of the pain or hurt that may come with facing things.  What I have learned is that the fear of the pain I am avoiding is SO much bigger than the pain itself.  If you face the hard things - it might hurt.  But if you lean into that hurt, really concentrate on feeling it, the pain will soon subside.  And on the other side of that pain is a peacefulness that is beautiful. We also are often afraid of change.  If we face something, we may become aware of the need for change.  You can't un-do awareness.  Change can be hard.  It can mean loss or just as easily mean gain or success.  Either direction can be daunting.  I do believe that dealing with change is much better than dealing with avoidance.  In fact one of my mottos is: "This will make my life easier, more fun, and expand my possibilities". That mantra has gotten me through a lot of changes or situations that would have been much easier to avoid.  So to move forward or create any type of positive change, you must face the things you are trying so hard to avoid. A better future is possible, and it can start today by facing it head on!  

Your Worth - Click Here To Purchase

Your Worth Is Never Measured By A Number On The Scale. Isn't that the truth? So many of us measure our very worth by that tricky little number. We give the scale SO much power over us - over our self esteem.  Wouldn't it be nice if we stepped on a scale and what it reported back was that we were AWESOME?  GORGEOUS?  ENOUGH? It's time to stop measuring your worth by what you see on the scale. You are enough. Right now. No matter what the number on the scale is - you are enough! And the first person you need to convince of that is - yourself. Now I'm not saying that being at a healthy weight isn't a good idea.  It is.  You and I both should definitely strive for that for a whole host of reasons.  But I am saying that a healthy weight does not equal what you are worth.  And a healthy weight should never dictate your self esteem, your sense of self worth, and your own believe in your abilities to be awesome.  So take this to heart.  You are Body Fab-YOU-lous! Prints of this piece are available for purchase here.  They look like this!

[caption id="attachment_613" align="aligncenter" width="692"] To Change Your Body
Purchase Here[/caption] We all want that magic pill...that miracle diet that will immediately transform our bodies into the icon of beauty that we desire to be.  The path towards that body doesn't start with anything external - it all starts with something inside of you.  Your thoughts are the key.  I learned from the amazing weight loss coach, Brooke Castillo, that your thoughts create feelings - and those feelings create actions - and those actions create results.  If you want the results in your life to be a body that is changing towards what you want it to be, you must start by changing those internal thoughts. Our internal thoughts sometimes are really mean.  So many women beat themselves up - for eating that extra cookie, for saying something dumb, for carrying that extra 20 pounds (again!), for somehow failing as a mother, as a wife, or as a friend.  If we are not busy beating the crap out of ourselves with the negative track that runs rampant in our heads somedays, then most of the rest of the time we are busy ignoring ourselves.  Distracting ourselves from things we are afraid to feel.  Sometimes we disguise distracting ourselves with being busy.  Or caring for others.  Or working too much.  Or eating. The path towards finding peace with your body all starts in your head.  Pay attention to your thoughts.  If you don't like them, find some new ones that you do like.  Some new thoughts that you can buy in to.  Thoughts that support the direction you want to go.  That support the fab-YOU-lous life and body you can have!

I'm so excited to tell you about a retreat that not only am I attending - I am teaching at!  The Creatives Celebrating Sisterhood Retreat promises to be an amazing time of art, connection, and learning.  This retreat was created by Linda Barutha of Live, Laugh, Love Retreats. Have you been to an art retreat?  I went to my first one in Portland, Oregon about a year and a half ago.  I had barely even picked up a paintbrush before, but I kept looking at art around me and thinking "I can do that - I just don't really understand HOW to."  But I knew the creativity was inside of me.  So I found a retreat, signed my bad self up for it, and off I went to Portland - paintbrush in one hand, blank canvas in the other - not knowing a soul there. What I found there was the artist inside of me.  What I learned there is that mixed media art was the home I didn't even know I had been longing for.  What I took home with me was the knowledge of how to do all those cool techniques that make me stop and want to TOUCH a piece of art.  The texture, the colors, the layering, the beauty....I learned how to do it all.  Going to that retreat might have been the best gift I have ever given myself. The Creatives Celebrating Sisterhood Retreat will be special for another reason too.  I took an online class with several hundred amazingly creative women last summer.  We have stayed in close contact, supporting each other in our creative and artistic endeavors.  Many of them will be attending this retreat.  And I am DYING to meet these women who have become my creative sisters!! I am going to be teaching a mixed media class on how to create the painting below.  It's called Believe In Your Beauty and is part of my Body Fab-YOU-lous line.  I will show you how to do the layering of paints, ink and papers.  We will learn how to do collage and incorporate an awesome transfer technique.  Plus, you will learn all about creating hidden messages inside of a painting for yourself.  While things dry I will share with my class what I have learned about finding peace in the body you inhabit - right now.  That is what Body Fab-YOU-lous is all about! I hope you join us at the retreat - we would love to have you there!!

[caption id="attachment_584" align="aligncenter" width="692"] Alluring, Apple Bottomed, Amazing - Rock Your Look
Click Here To Purchase[/caption] We all have our look. Girl - it's time to ROCK IT!   Some of us are pear shaped women.  Some of us are hourglass shaped women.  And some of us are apple bottomed.  Whatever you are - it's time to love your look!  I believe beauty shines through more in holding yourself confidently rather than by the size of your jeans.  Enough with the message that we need to disguise our look.  Embrace your look! This is the latest painting I have done in y Body Fab-YOU-lous line.    The full line can be found here.  The Body Fab-YOU-lous line is dedicated to helping women find peace and end their struggle with weight loss and body image challenges. I create this line because it comes from my heart - from my own struggle over the years with finding peace within a body that is not model perfect.  You can too.  You truly ARE Body Fab-YOU-lous! Choose today to Rock Your Look!

[caption id="attachment_541" align="aligncenter" width="692" caption="Click here to purchase!"][/caption] It's finally here!  I am excited to unveil my new art line - Body Fab-YOU-lous!   The Body Fab-YOU-lous line is dedicated to helping women find peace and end their struggle with weight loss and body image challenges. We all spend so much time wishing for that thinner version of ourself to reappear. But here is what I have learned - it's not the thinner version that gives us what we want. What we want is to FEEL the way we think being thinner will feel. We want to be energized. We want to feel strong, lean, and alive. We want to feel beautiful. And we want to feel free - free from the struggle of weight loss and body image negativity. I don't think I have all the answers, and I am certainly not inside what I perceive the ideal body to be.  But I have learned how to find peace from what has seemed like a never ending struggle - peace right now as I am today. The key to ending the weight loss and body image struggles that so many women have begins with changing the thoughts that fill up our own minds. I hope my art in the line will be a beautiful reminder that a better future is possible - one filled with belief in your own beauty!  I want to help women believe - believe in themselves and that peace can be found right now, in the body you inhabit today. The full line can be found by clicking here!  Enjoy the images! Prints of my work can be purchased on my Etsy Store.  Come on over and have a look at the different inspirational weight loss art.  You truly ARE Body Fab-YOU-lous!