One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is to see women I love in bloom, joyfully using their innate gifts and deepest passions to make the world a better, brighter place. And there are so many wonderfully wise women I know working on amazing things – true beauty artists! So, I think I’m going to use each Monday for the foreseeable future to celebrate some of their fabulous projects. Some days I’ll share several, others I might highlight just one. And I think I’ll call ’em Monday Mavens. I hope they inspire you as much as they do me!

COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES: Several weeks ago, bestselling author and artist Susan Kennedy (a.k.a. SARK) was on my radio show to talk about her new book, Glad No Matter What: Transforming Loss and Change into Gift and Opportunity. What a hoot she was! SARK is so vibrant and funny, and on a mission to help women around the world realize their creative dreams. And it turns out she’s a former Minnesota girl. Woot woot! I’m excited that she’s presenting a FREE teleclass tomorrow (Tuesday, November 16). It’s called SARK’s Big Purple Dream Crayon: Are You Ready to Reset Your Dream Vibration?! You can sign up now to reserve your free spot!



WORD UP: Once upon a time, there were two friends named Jen who had a passion for Polaroids. For two years, they came up with a theme each month and then set out separately to capture that theme with their cameras. The result is a brand new book they published together called WORD: A Polaroid Collaboration. Such a fun idea and I think it would make a great gift for any photography lover. Three cheers for the two Jens!

(photo credit: Jen Shaffer)

A HELPING HAND: Jessica Van Den has crafted a creative life for herself and is helping others do the same while celebrating everything handmade. I recently ordered her e-book, Etsy Success Stories; she interviewed some of the top sellers on Etsy and it’s full of great tips and tricks for online artisans. Click here to view more details. The book’s been such a hit that Jessica’s thinking about launching an e-course with even more insights. She wants fellow artists to submit questions and ideas for her to focus on, so head over to her blog to add your two cents!

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