emerge in 2012 (with a special offer for those who come along)

Last summer I co-taught Emerge with my good friends and creative cohorts Jenna McGuiggan and Vivienne McMaster. The course is hosted by the awesome team at Live it to the Full. We're excited to offer it again this January in the hopes that it will invite you to focus on how you want things to unfold for you in the new year. 

We invite you to join us as we share our own personal stories of transition and play with words, photography, and mindfulness practices. We'll explore the ebb and flow of happiness, the unique power of telling your story, and the beautiful, yet precarious, process of learning to trust yourself.

We designed this course to be full of beauty, truth, and inspiration – all wrapped up in bite-sized stories and prompts that won't feel overwhelming. Emerge is a gentle way to kick off your creative year, and it's also a nice way to get to know Viv, Jenna, and me. Each of us offer our own creative courses besides working together on Emerge. If you've been curious about any of us or have considered taking one of our courses, Emerge is an affordable way (just $49) to “meet” all three of us at once.

We hope you'll be inspired during Emerge and want to continue exploring your creative side.

**That's why we're offering everyone who registers for Emerge a little bonus: three 15% discounts: one for a course from each teacher in 2012. This means you get one 15% discount for any of Viv's photography courses (such as You Are Your Own Muse), one 15% discount for any of my upcoming courses (such as Create Space), and one 15% discount for any of Jenna's writing courses (such as Alchemy: The Art & Craft of Writing). 

(We did the math, and this means you have the potential to save more than the actual price of Emerge! Sweet, right?)

Emerge starts January 2, and registration is now open. We'll send you details on redeeming your bonus discounts once class starts. For now, all you need to do is sign-up and you'll be all set.

We loved creating this course together and sharing it with so many amazing women last summer. We're looking forward to sharing it (and much more) in 2012!

create space (the online experience)

I have been up to a little something over here and I am so delighted to tell you all about it...

Create Space is an online experience that invites you to give yourself the gift of being present in this moment of your life. During this four-week course, you will slow down, take a deep breath with intention, and notice what you need. Through video and audio lessons, stories, writing and photography prompts, and weekly creative adventure assignments, we will explore self-care and being-present practices to use in your everyday life.

Some of the topics we will explore include:

• Creating internal space through accessible meditation and being-present practices that will help you find your breath, sink into your body, and quiet your mind. We will spend time discovering our personal soul mantra phrases and connecting to the heart space within us.
• Creating sacred space within our homes through gathering the treasures, inspirations, and words that speak to where we are on our journeys. We will look at ways to create small altar spaces to honor who we are, where we have been, and where we want to walk next on our paths.
• Creating space for ourselves throughout our days with writing practices, getting out into the world for short creative adventures, and using our cameras to capture who we are and what we find in this moment.

We will explore ways to integrate these practices into our day-to-day lives, and I will share stories about the ways I do this in my corner of the world. Note that this class is more about the experience of slowing down and noticing than it is about lots of homework and “doing.” That said, along the way I will gently encourage you to work through the lessons in the course so that you can give yourself the gift of using these practices as you walk through autumn (or spring) toward the holidays.

Additional details:

Dates: Create Space begins October 24 and ends November 20.

Where: The course will be hosted on a private blog and private Flickr group. The course will stay up on the blog until December 31 to give participants time to soak up the information. The Flickr group will be available indefinitely for continued connection after the course ends.

Lessons: There will be three main posts per week on the private blog plus downloadable audio meditations, inspiration and resources, and other goodies along the way. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and check in about their experience during our time together. 

Supplies needed:

• Journal/notebook
• A camera (any camera is fine, including a camera phone, but if you use film, you will want to be able to scan the photos to share in our Flickr group)
• A Flickr membership
• An additional supply list will be shared after you register for the course. This list will include items you might want to gather before our time together that we will use as we create sacred space in our homes. More than likely you will have these items on hand, but I will also supply a resource list of my favorites. 

Cost: $70

Register: 

• Registration has begun! To participate in the Create Space online experience, click the PayPal button below.
• Your confirmation email from PayPal confirms your spot in the class.
• Within a few days of your registration, I will send you a welcome email that includes a resource list.
• Note that I will use your PayPal email address to communicate with you. If you prefer that I use another email address, let me know when you register or via an email to liz [dot] lamoreux @ gmail [dot] com (or click here to email through this website).

Questions:

Feel free to email me any questions.

creative self-care (a one-day inner excavation workshop)

I am so delighted to announce my first local one-day workshop!

Come along and explore ideas and themes brought up in my book Inner Excavation: Explore Your Self Through Photography, Poetry, and Mixed Media. In this workshop, we will look at how to use writing and photography to find the beauty in the everyday moments in our lives, and we will explore how seeking this beauty becomes a brave practice in self-care. You will be invited to slow down and notice where you are in this moment and to think about how creating a daily practice can support where you are on your journey. During our time together, we will also play with paper and color to create a simple journal to house our inner excavation observations. This day will be all about reflection, recharging, and fun!

Details

When and Where: 
Saturday, October 29, 10 am - 5 pm
Tacoma Pregnancy, Birth, and Family Education Center
7406 27th Street West, Suite 301 (top floor), Tacoma, WA 98466 

Supplies needed:
Notebook + favorite pen/pencil
Scissors 
Digital or instant camera (a cell phone camera is great; if you don’t have a camera, we will have one or two for people to share)

Optional supplies (the following are not required): 
A few copies of photos that you can use in your journal. Examples include: nature photos, self-portraits, childhood photos, and so on. Images from magazines are also great.
A quote or poem that has meaning for you.

Supplies provided:
Kit + all art supplies needed to create the journal 
Printer to print out photos taken during our time together
Other surprise goodies for our adventure

Cost: $130 
Lunch included (sandwich, fruit, chips, cookie from the GreenSpot Tea House)
Snacks and beverages included throughout the day

To register (or ask any questions):
Email me (you can also click the email link in the sidebar)  

Please note:
This workshop is for women only. 
Because this has come up in a few emails, I want to just let you know that even though this workshop is being held at a birth and family education center, the workshop is not about pregnancy or birth and is open to all women.

*****

For several months now, I have been hoping to find the perfect place for local one-day and evening workshops. During this time, I had no idea that Patti Ramos, our doula for Ellie Jane's birth, was living one of her dreams into reality and opening the Tacoma Pregnancy, Birth, and Family Education Center. In July, we had an incredible afternoon that went into the evening brainstorming session and the idea for me to teach a few classes at the center was born. This is the first class in a series that will be taught at the Center over the next few months. I am thrilled that Patti wants to encourage all types of gatherings at her new sacred space.

If you would like to make a weekend trip to the Seattle/Tacoma area to attend the workshop, there are some great B&Bs and hotels here. Just email me with any questions. 

If you are interested in more of a retreat experience, there are still a few spots left at Create Magic, the Fall Be Present Retreat, that I am hosting and teaching at with Vivienne McMaster and Mindy Lacefield.

one more invitation to emerge...

On Monday, the Emerge ecourse with Jenna McGuiggan, Vivienne McMaster, and me begins! I am so excited about the course the three of us have created together. Collaborating with these two friends on the course material for Emerge has been, well, simply awesome. If you have been intrigued by my recent blog posts about having a daily practice and how these practices got me through "survival mode," I hope you will come along for this course because it will invite you to explore possible writing, photography, and accessible meditation practices to include in your own personal practice. The community aspect of an ecourse also gives you the environment to spend time connecting with like-minded souls as you embark on or continue your journey of seeing where you are on your path.

Jenna, Viv, and I have partnered with Live It to the Full to bring this course to you. Along with being delightful hosts with a vision the three of us believe in, Amy and Aleece have created a beautiful, user-friendly site for us to use on our adventure together. I hope you will join us as we share our personal stories of emerging from times of transition in our lives and provide you with creative tools to use as your face your own seasons of change. The course material will be available for an additional four weeks after the course ends, so you will have plenty of time to work through it even if you are taking a vacation or have other plans for parts of August.

If you have already signed up, please let me know! Can't wait to connect with you in my first ecourse teaching adventure!

a workshop at teahouse studio!

viv :: liz

Wondering what to do just for you this summer?

How about roadtrip to California to spend a magical weekend in Berkeley at Teahouse Studio with Vivienne McMaster, me, and the Teahouse Studio girls.

Join Vivienne and me July 16 and 17 as we explore some of the ideas and themes brought up in Inner Excavation and share stories of our own inward journeys. 

With a view of San Francisco on one side and rolling hills on the other, we will examine our inner and outer landscapes through photography excursions, putting pen to paper, sitting in the quiet and listening, and playing with juicy, colorful mixed-media supplies. We will seek the magic we create with our cameras when we look through them and when we invite ourselves to stand in front of them. We will also create a mixed-media journal and play with words until we find the poet waiting inside us.

For this workshop to happen, we need YOU! So come along and join us on a colorful, light-filled, joy-seeking adventure this summer!

(Find out more information at Teahouse Studio)