Ah yes...that time of year again

As New Year's Eve is soon going to be upon us, we've seen a lot of chatter about New Year's Resolutions. Like most everyone we know, we've done the resolution thing in the past. The problem that we see within ourselves is that they never end up lasting very long. Oh yes, we begin the year with the best intentions ever but when it comes to carrying them out, we often fall very short.

We have a saying around here that seems to work best for us 'if not now, when?'. We think that this applies very well to the concept of New Year's Resolutions. Who was the one who said "Why put off tomorrow what you can do today?" We're firm believers in beginning things NOW. Not next week, not three months from now, not next year. Now. Today.

The thing about beginning things Now is that we never really know how long we're going to be here. We're getting this lesson ourselves a little later in life than most people. If we had thought about not putting things off years ago, All The Goods would have started a whole lot sooner than just this past month. (Come to think of it, we celebrate our first month's birthday on Dec 30th).

We believe that sometimes wisdom comes with age. We still don't have it all figured out yet, we might not ever but we feel more confident to make changes than we ever have.

But anyway, back to the topic at hand. It's a lot of work when one begins something now. Once we've committed to beginning something in the now, then we need to keep after ourselves to maintain it. It can be eating better, losing weight, getting more exercise, getting rid of toxic negativity, your mileage may vary. The hard part is not in the decision, it's in the After. Discipline comes to the fore. We think that if something is important enough, we will make the time to keep after ourselves to ensure that we do whatever we've decided to do.

Here are some of the things we decided not to put off-

~Starting this site for one. All The Goods was something that we felt that we needed to do. The urgency to create this site is not something that dimmed, rather it grew stronger as the days passed. It was all we could think about. It still is uppermost in our minds as we type this. We have a great bit of passion for this site and many great ideas yet to come. (Believe us, we wish like crazy we could do all of those ideas Now but due to logistics, we have to wait because those things involve other people and their schedules.)

~Veering away from negativity. This was a big one for us. We are all unfortunately surrounded by negativity every moment. It's on TV, on the radio, online and rampant in society. Sometimes it lives and breathes in our own minds. It's only been within the past couple of months that we've been seeking out the good news in the world at large. Part of the mission statement of this site is to promote that very thing. We're inputting positive ideas into our minds and getting great positive inspiration everywhere. We've been noticing that even with the bad news in the world, there's still a rippling undercurrent of good news. One just has to look for it and be open to it when it presents itself.

~Losing weight. This is a huge one for us (no pun intended.) We have always struggled with maintaining a healthy weight, usually through lack of exercise or just eating all the wrong things. The holidays have been really hard on our systems. We're not used to eating like this-rich foods, high-fat foods and abnormally high portions of food. Our body has been rebelling something fierce. We made a conscous decision to just stop and when we hit the grocery store yesterday-it was back to salad and healthy things. The admin of this site (that would be me) lost nearly 30 lbs before the onslaught of holiday eating and it's time to get back on the horse so to speak.

~Sharing our art with the world at large. We belong to an art society local to us. We're going into our 3rd year of membership. Every month this art society holds art shows in which the members can display their art. We'd been talking for nearly three years now about getting our photography into one of the shows. Finally this past week, we quit talking about it and just did it. We chose a photo that was actually taken with a smartphone and made it into a high res photo. We just picked it up from the place that did the framing. We will be entering it in the society photography show in Jan. And yes, there are ribbons and cash prizes.

So those are just a few examples of things that we didn't put off til a later time (in this case, the new year.) Your mileage may vary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=GBaHPND2QJg&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=GBaHPND2QJg&feature=youtu.be

This is so awesome! A flash mob does 'Ode To Joy'. Very uplifting.

21-Year-Old Raleigh Woman Touches Hearts by Paying it Forward | Weird News

21-Year-Old Raleigh Woman Touches Hearts by Paying it Forward | Weird News

This is the sort of story that All The Goods is all about. This young lady gets it on so many levels. After hearing her on the radio, I felt inspired to do something like this.

Many things to be thankful for this year

Recently, the staff here at All The Goods begun to keep a "Gratitude Journal" to help us to become more aware of how blessed we are in so many ways. At first, it felt unnatural and a bit hokey but then we began to get into the spirit of it. Doing this opened up our heart and our eyes a bit wider because we began to notice that it really didn't take very much for us to feel grateful. The things were are grateful for here range from the small to the large and then some. A Gratitude Journal is a good thing to read back over as time goes by as a reminder.

Here are a couple of really good quotes that we've found in our travels-

'If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money cannot buy.' (A good one but a hard pill to swallow sometimes.)

'He who does not thank for little will not thank for much'-Estonian proverb

We wrote in our Gratitude Journal on a daily basis. It has taught us to become more appreciative of what we have instead of what we don't have or wished we had. It has also helped us to stop and notice the little things that otherwise might get overlooked as we're rushing through our days.

The idea for keeping such a journal came from a very spiritual friend of ours who knows just the right things to do and say at all times. She has been instrumental in our lives and I would have to say that I am deeply grateful for her.

Here's another great quote-

'There is always, always, always something to be thankful for.'

And another-

'Be happy with what you have while working for what you want'- Helen Keller

All The Goods is grateful for all of you and our many supporters.

Thank you!

All The Goods would like to take this time to properly thank everyone that has come to read and view this blog. We're very appreciative of all of you and those that are getting the word out. This is why social media can really benefit people.

We are really enthused about our new blog and have some really exciting ideas for the new year. We will be focusing on talented people in the art realm, acting profession, musicians and other gifted people. When we speak to them, we will also do our level best to get the word out and help promote their causes and share their awesome talent with the world.

Don't want to give too much away quite yet, but by all means, keep coming back.

This big clucker has his eye on you!

Xmas Light Display at Botanical Gardens cont'd

Lovely garden and tree white light display

Lighted palm tree with our friend The Moon off to the upper right side

A couple of the small trees seen along one of the many winding paths that led us through the Gardens

Christmas comes to the Botanical Gardens...

Last night, All The Goods was pleased to attend the Christmas light display at the Botanical Gardens in Largo, FL on 12/15/12. The place was packed but it proved to be a good opportunity to use a new camera.

Here's some of what we got~

Swans

 

Flamingo display
Butterlfy Garden display

Closer view of the flamingos

A little correction...

Which is why feedback is always a good thing.

The business that was noted on the Nov 30th blog was incorrectly named 'A Peace Of Joy'. The correct name is 'A Little Peace of Joy'.

Scratchboard Art by Barbara Lewis

A drawing of a goose, using the scratchboard technique. The feathers on this goose appear so multi-textured that one has the illusion of being able to run their fingers through them.

For more information on Barbara's scratchboard technique or her other fine works of art, you can find all of that here-

www.wildhawkstudio.net

You can also find out about the Painted Fish Gallery here-

www.paintedfishgallery.com

Barbara Lewis Scratchboard Demo

All The Goods is lucky enough to know many people of various talents. One such individual is the multi-talented artist Barbara Lewis. (All The Goods will be chatting with Barbara in an upcoming issue.)

All The Goods attended a 'Scratchboard demo' given at the Painted Fish Gallery in Dunedin, FL on Friday night (12/14/12). Scratchboard for those that might not know is a technique where drawings are created using sharp knives and tools for etching into a thin layer of white China clay that is coated with black India ink. (Source- Scratchboard Wkipedia page. You can find out more about this unique style of art by going to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scratchboard.)

Barbara is extremely proficient at this type of drawing and her subjects seem to almost leap off the board. This drawing technique is such that the artist can create the feel of multiple dimensions such as when birds or animals are drawn, one can almost get the sense of the feathers or fur literally lifting off of the page.

Here are a few photos from the other night-

Here, Barbara is showing her scratchboard techniques

Barbara speaking to demo attendee about her craft. (Note, the tiger was drawn by Barbara this past week.)

Barbara demos more of the scratchboard technique.

All The Goods will soon be chatting with actor Joseph P. Genera! We are incredibly excited to have Joseph talk with us and help us kick off this new site.

Meanwhile, you can catch Joseph's interview with Dr. Carol Francis here-

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/dr-carol-francis/2012/12/10/living-fully-in-a-wheelchair

Beach of the Sky

Rod of the Sky-top
Sand of the Sky-bottom


Did the Arton The Bay show in downtown St. Pete today. The $1 bracelets were once again a big hit. They seemed to move the best, so I'm going to keep making them.

Didn't sell any cards though. Oh well, I know where I can sell them, so it's no big deal.

Kitties & Angels photo

                                                  Kitties & Angels-photo by Kim Salter


Today I plan to spend most of the day working on new cards. I have a few ideas tucked into my mind. I also have a new stencil to play around with.

I'm going to be uploading more photos as well. I have a ton of them to scan and put up. A lot of them are pretty old; it will be fun taking a walk down Memory Lane.

                                              Feathers of The Sky photo by Kim Salter


Today was a very productive day. I took the day off of work and got busy creating this site as well as the tumblr site and Facebook page.

I also visited a local gallery to drop off a donation of a necklace for a memorial fund. A local artist passed away suddenly a couple of days ago and many local artists are donating pieces for a memorial fund. The artist's name was Bill Woo; he owned The Woo Gallery in downtown St. Pete. I had only met Bill once and he seemed like a nice guy. What a loss.

I also visited a few other small galleries and got some inspiration for displays for my upcoming art show. All The Goods will be participating in Art On The Bay, Sat Dec 8th. I'm going to be sharing space with my best friend Joy, who also creates handmade jewelry. Joy's work is similar to mine yet different at the same time. (Joy's business is known as A Peace of Joy and it can be found on Facebook.)

I also checked in with my friend whose rising career as an actor will be explored in an exclusive interview. He and I just have to work out the particulars and then we'll be off to the races. He will be my first interview and I have to say that I'm really excited about it.

 

 

 

Yes! More places to find us!

Good news!

i have created a few more social media spots to find us.

www.facebook.com/AllTheGoods and alltheg.tumblr.com

I'm still trying to figure out how to add a second account to my Twitter page. Hopefully coming soon.

All The Goods-Our Story

St. Pete Beach, May 1997 from the window of the Don Cesar Hotel (photo by Kim Salter)

This is the story of how All The Goods came to be. All The Goods is a multi-function sort of idea, a one-stop shop if you will. It's partly a business; a blog; a place to display art and hopefully sell some art as well. All The Goods is owned and maintained by one individual Kim.

Now onto the story...Kim (that would be me) is the sole owner of All The Goods. The name All The Goods was a flash of inspiration I had one night as I was settling down to sleep. The name came out of nowhere. Luckily I keep a pad by the side of the bed and was able to jot this down. There were a few variations of this name but this seemed to be the best choice.

What All The Goods is all about is to display my art as well as writing. I also will be doing interviews with people that I find interesting. I actually have a list made up of people that I will be talking to in the near future. I am fortunate enough to have some really good connections in the arts and hopefully I can finally shed some light on these talented individuals.

All The Goods will also be sharing the positive good news in the world. So many of us are surrounded by so much negativity and it seems as if it's almost too difficult to escape it.

All The Goods will also be establishing its mark on other social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr.