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Saturday, November 29, 2014

December Thanksgiving Art Journal Challenge

December Thanksgiving Art Journal Challenge www.danicafavorite.comAs everyone still happily munches on Thanksgiving leftovers, there's one thing that I'd like to keep leftover from Thanksgiving- being thankful. November seemed to have a lot of Thanksgiving art journal challenges, but once we leave turkey season, we forget about gratitude. Part of why I'm not a big fan of the holiday season is that it seems like once we put away the turkey, and sometimes before, we rush headlong into Christmas without pause. As far as my creative endeavors go, everything seems to come to a halt, and my beloved art journal sits forgotten and out of sight.

When we're caught in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it's easy to forget about the simple things in life. It's easy to forget when Mr. Jerkface cuts you off trying to find a parking spot at the mall that we have so many better things in our lives to focus on rather than that irritating moment. And yet, we tend to spend so many of our moments during what should be the happiest time of the year focused on Mr. Jerkface. Or we have that irritating family member we're going to be forced to spend time with. Then there's the shopping, the cooking, the arranging of schedules, and all the other things that stress people out during the holidays, but for some reason, we keep doing it year after year, thinking that next year will be different.

I'd like to propose that we actually DO something different.


The December Thanksgiving Art Journal Challenge! Every day in December, I'm taking time out to be thankful. Gratitude is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. It can turn a bad day into a better day, and a ho-hum life into a better life.

The thought of adding one more thing to an already packed December can be pretty terrifying. When I first came up with the idea, I thought, "clearly I'm crazy." And yes, I am crazy, but in the best possible way. :) But what is not crazy is giving yourself the gift of five minutes a day to slow down and be thankful. I've created an art journal challenge that's about recognizing the things we don't often express gratitude for, but I'm a firm believer in the fact that the more you recognize the little things, the more you see the good in everything.

Each day, I'll provide a prompt for you to do a quick art journal page about something to be thankful for. You can follow along on my blog, or you can subscribe to my newsletter for a quick PDF reference calendar of the challenges. This is meant to be a simple exercise in gratitude, and not take a lot of time.

I created two short videos explaining the challenge and how to do it.

Let's be thankful together!!




December Thanksgiving Challenge from Danica Favorite on Vimeo.



December Thanksgiving Challenge Demonstration from Danica Favorite on Vimeo.

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Let's continue the spirit of Thanksgiving together! I hope you'll grab your art journal and join me!

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Leadville Inspiration for Rocky Mountain Dreams

In my last post, I showed you the cemetery where my husband's family is buried. Today, I wanted to share the inspiration for the location of Rocky Mountain Dreams.

When we go to Leadville, my husband likes to take trips into the hills to see the old mines and check out the scenery. As you'll see from my video, it's beautiful there. But for me, the inspiration is all about the stories of the people who were there before us. History is such a fascinating thing for me. I was never much for just the facts. In high school, we had these quizzes every week where we had to memorize the dates of events. BO-RING. I want to know the stories about the people. Who were they? What were they like? What was important to them? Take a trip with me into the hills above Leadville, and see how those questions led to my book, Rocky Mountain Dreams. I made the video in two parts, one from on top of the hill, and one from the bottom. Enjoy!

And if you haven't gotten my book yet, it's been spotted at Wal-Mart, KMart, Kroger, and is still available online.
Buy Today!

Tattered Cover

Harlequin.com

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

 

 

Leadville movie part one from Danica Favorite on Vimeo.



Leadville Inspiration part 2 from Danica Favorite on Vimeo.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Family Inspiration for Rocky Mountain Dreams

9780373282890 The reason I chose to set Rocky Mountain Dreams in Leadville is because we spend a lot of time there. When my husband's family came to the United States, they settled in Leadville. So much of the family history is tied up in the mining history, and that history inspired my story. That's not to say that my books are at all based on the family- they're not. But I can't think of Leadville without thinking of my husband's family.

Yesterday we buried the last of the Leadville generation of our family. My husband's great-aunt Angela passed away last week. She was the daughter of Anton and Mary Novak, the youngest of their eleven children. Spending time with the family yesterday reminded me of a video I made earlier this year when we last went to Leadville. I'm sharing it with you here, and I hope you'll enjoy this tiny peek into the family history that inspired my book!

And if you haven't gotten my book yet, it's been spotted at Wal-Mart, KMart, Kroger, and is still available online.
Buy Today!

Tattered Cover

Harlequin.com

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

 

 



Leadville Cemetary from Danica Favorite on Vimeo.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Rocky Mountain Dreams Release Month!!

9780373282890It's finally here! The release of my debut, Rocky Mountain Dreams! I've got all kinds of fun celebrations happening, so be sure to check them out.

Earlier this month, I stopped by Margaret Daley's blog with an interview with my heroine, Annabelle Lassiter. And, if you want to get to know my hero better, I shared an interview with Joseph Stone on the CRAFTIE Ladies of Love Inspired blog last month.

If you're looking for a little more in depth chat with me, I stopped by Winnie Griggs's website for an interview, and I have a great interview up on the Harlequin.com community.

I have a few more appearances coming up, including a visit on Sheila Wray Gregoire's blog, To Love, Honor and Vacuum on November 13th, and a stopover at my friend Megan DiMaria's later this month as well. So stop by and say hi. :) I'm so thrilled that so many of the people who've encouraged me over the years are supporting my book!

 

So far, my book has been spotted in a few KMarts, a few WalMarts, and of course, you can buy it online.

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

ChristianBook.com

Harlequin.com

Tattered Cover