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 Great news! After several months of renovation, the main Artella Café renovations are now complete! We will always upgrade and constantly add new, fun stuff of course, but the new Café is finally officially open. You can read below for more information about the new Artella Café, and how you can come join in all the fun. Here are some comments from some of the folks in the Artella Café community:
"This is the first true artist community on the Net. I absolutely love it! Marney and the Artella folks have created a fantastic place where artists and writers can meet and give full expression to their passion." - "billizetti" in the Cafe
"Wow! I am so amazed! Because this website is more wonderful than I ever imagined an artistic website could be. To offer a blog and an art gallery to everyone so we may share our thoughts on creativity and showcase the art we create...I am so inspired by all these women and men. I know I have found the right place for me to be me." -"romantikpoetry" in the Cafe
One of my personal favorite things about the Artella Café are the blogs and art galleries of the creative folks in the Artella Community. I'm so inspired myself to be part of this community of amazing souls. The Art Galleries are, simply put, an artistic feast. There is enough eye candy to inspire your senses for a lifetime! The blogs are full of creative ideas and day-to-day inspiration…whenever I read the blogs, I find myself just nodding and smiling, as I'm reminded that we all share so much in common in this life journey we're on!
Rumi said:
Come out of the circle of time
And into the circle of love.
When you're feeling caught up in "the circle of time"…when days feel too busy and life is going to fast….I invite you to slow down and visit the Artella Café, our own little circle of love….built by creatives, for creatives!
I hope you'll come drop by and see everything that's new!
For those short on time, to simplify this week's Artellagram, here are some "quick links" to the highlights in this edition. You can simply follow the links that you're interested in and go directly to that section.
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 1. Mixed Media Pilot Group Ends Sunday! Just a few more days left to sign up for the Pilot Group for Mixed Media ME-flections: 30 Self Portrait Projects to Change Your Life!
While following these step-by-step mixed media self portrait projects, you'll also embark on an unforgettable journey of self-discovery, inner healing, sacred inspiration, and creative fun! From assemblage to origami…clay to collage….photography to fine art….watercolor to wire…these self-portrait projects offer a really great opportunity to get to know and explore yourself more deeply as you become more comfortable, creative and confident.
Take a look at these great self-portraits created for ME-flection Lesson #1 by Jean Foley (left) and Bill Charlebois (right):
Aren't they terrific?Sunday, March 15, is the last day ever to enroll in the Mixed Media ME-flections Workshop Pilot Program which saves you $15 off the regular price of the course! Learn more about the Pilot Program, here!
PLUS, you can save an additional $5.00 when you use of one of our current Artella YOUpons!, for a total savings of $20 off the regular price.
2. NEW in the Artella Store this week! What a week! We've got lots of new items in the Artella store this week, including…
 3. Creative Cartography Coaching in full swing! After taking some time off from individual consulting to be with my baby son, I'm once again offering consulting for individual project development, only now enhanced for 2009 with a valuable creative twist! Have you ever just wished someone could hand you a literal map...with all the steps and paths mapped out to get directly to your creative dream? That's what we do in Creative Cartography! After hearing from you about your dreams and goals, I work with you to create a map for how to get from here to there...while remaining really inspired and creatively passionate as you do it. Since creative folks are generally very visually oriented, I also follow up your session by designing just for you a Customized Creative Cartography ActionMap, based on your own journey, and completely customized for your goals. This is fun and artsy on the outside, but ultimately a very valuable and resourceful visual map that you can print out to guide you on your journey and keep you inspired along the way! If you take a look at the links above and feel that Creative Cartography Coaching is something that would help you, I'd love to work with you! :-)
 4. Artella Café Remodeling is Complete! The remodeling of the Artella Café is now complete! We invite you to come take a look at the new Artella Café and check out all the new features, all created to give you an online creative community that is easier and more inspiring to use than ever!
To celebrate our grand re-opening, author Jill Badonsky will be in residence next week, as we host a week's worth of interviews with her as a special spot on her blog tour for her new book, The Awe-Manac: A Daily Dose of Wonder. A different Artella Café blogger will interview her next week, along with sneak peeks into the book to inspire you. We welcome Jill, and are thrilled to have her us celebrate our Grand Re-Opening. This is the first of many special events and exciting happenings in the Artella Café scheduled for 2009, so stay tuned!
There are dozens of forums where you can jump in and participate, as well as all the inspiring blogs and art galleries you can check out! Drop by and check it out!
Remember, every Artella Membership level comes with a free blog and personal art gallery in the Café. If you are already Member, you can request your blog and/or gallery by logging into your Member Ship and then clicking on the "Link Lobby". For more information about Artella Membership, keep reading below about our current specials!
5. Come Aboard! Have you boarded the Artella Member Ship? There's truly something for everyone!!
 The Luxury Art Journaling Cabin, celebrating the amazing power of Art Journaling to enhance creative well-being!
 The Blissness Cabin, offering Artella's unparalleled support for creative entrepreneurs of all kinds!
 The Luxury Art Studio Cabin, with our popular, super-packed downloadable kits each month, ideal for both paper and digital artists!
 The Digital Art Cabin, created especially for those who love Digital Art and want to learn more about it!
Or you can sign up for the Artella Land Complete Access Pass and save even more, AND get a bonus Artella digital spending spree! Here's what Pam Tucker has to say about the Complete Access Pass:
 "I am LOVING my COMPLETE PASS to all of the Member cabins! I love the weekly recordings from Marney (what an inspiration)! I look forward to hearing her messages every week. I love the Zines in each cabin...I don't know where to start! I could spend all day here!! Thanks so much, Marney, for these wonderful new additions!"
Thanks to everyone for your positive feedback! We're so excited to have you on board for what promises to be a fantastic new year!
 6. Are you an Affiliate, yet? Have you been wanting to bring in some additional income? If so, you'll be very happy to know that Artella's New Affiliate Program is finally here! After many of your requests and over a year in the making, Artella's Affiliate Program is ready to help you start earning income, just by spreading the word about Artella. The Artella Affiliate Program is free, and within a few minutes, you can be ready to actually start earning real income, receiving 25% commissions, one of the highest commissions available online. Get all the details about Artella's exciting Affiliate Program, here!
 7. Daily Muse Renovations Still Underway! Thanks to all who have written to ask about The Artella Daily Muse! We're still working on some very exciting renovations, including implementing many of new requests from our loyal Daily Muse readers! If you would like to receive an email message when the all-new Artella Daily Muse is ready, sign up for our free Daily Muse Teaser!
 8. Interested in Becoming Part of Artella's Team? If you're interested in becoming part of the amazing Artella Team, check out this post in the Artella Cafe for details. We're rolling out some exciting new features in the coming months and would love to bring a few more wonderful, creative souls on board!
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 I am very happy to share with you this interview with Cathe Bedard, an artist who has been in The Shoppes of Artella since the very beginning! Cathe has a wonderful sensibility as an artist, and a personal sensitivity that is quite inspiring. I hope you enjoy getting to know more about her, here!
I hope you enjoy this interview with Cathe!
Artella: How do you find your "voice" in your own art journey? What do you do to overcome or get past artistic blocks?
Cathe: Voice evolves. Style evolves. We all improve and change with experience. I’ve never been able to control my “voice”. I can’t develop a style on purpose. But I can look back at the work of several years and see a pattern – even when the media include photography, fiber art, polymer clay, and various types and definitions of collage that have become PolyMelanges.
In a similar way, I can’t get past a block by thinking about it. But once I start playing with the media – kneading polymer clay, looking through a camera lens, experiencing the textures and colors of papers and fabrics – the art comes to me. Sometimes I remember a design that I’ve planned, find my notes, and create the piece. Other times the colors or textures in my hands trigger new designs.
You can read the rest of Cathe's interview, here
See Cathe's products in The Shoppes of Artella, here.
 If you want more artist interviews from Artella, take a look at our eBooks Artist Profiles Assembled and Artist Profiles Assembled, Vol 2.
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  ART TIP OF THE WEEK: One of the new forums in the Artella Café is called "Artsy WeCycle", and it's all about sharing the ways that folks in the Artella community recycle stuff in their art. Here's an example of how a very common everyday object can be transformed to use in art. For one of the self portrait projects in the Mixed Media ME-flections e-course, I created a frame out of an old gift card (the kind that is the size and shape of a credit card).
To create this frame, paint both sides of the card (I used gold metallic paint), and let dry. Then use an X-acto knife to make the cuts for the "flaps" to fold back, and reveal the window frame. Place an image behind it, and – voila – you have a really fun frame made out of a recycled item!
Share your own artistic recycling inspirations in the Artsy WeCycle forum, here!
WRITING TIP OF THE WEEK: How does recycling apply to writing? There are lots of sources where words already exist, and you can use those words as the basis of your creative writing…you don't even have to come up with new words at all!
One example is a technique that is popular with altered book artists, but it is something that can be done by writers at any time, any place, with absolutely any book. It's the technique of using found words on a page to write a poem. Altered book artists typically isolate the words and then use the page itself as a canvas to illustrate the words. By simply looking at any page with words on it, you can give yourself the challenge of constructing a new piece of creative writing, given the words that already exist. In other words, recycled poetry! Try it with all different kinds of books and see what you come up with!
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Artella's PicturePrompt Passion: Unique Prompts for Art Journaling - We've taken the best "PicturePrompts", which are distributed weekly as part of the Luxury Art Journaling Cabin Membership, and laid them out in a new, beautiful eBook!
Artella's Digital Art DO-torials: 18 Artsy Projects to Learn and Do! – 75 pages of awesome step-by-step digital art projects, especially suited for digital artists who love the mixed media look! 
Artella's Metaphor Machine – a fun, unique tool to spice up your writing!
Marney