Value

I'm sure I'm a little late to the party, but I heard this analogy the other day, and cannot get it out of my head so I thought I'd share...

If you were offered a clean, crisp, new $100 bill, you'd want it, right? Duh, of course!

What if that same $100 was wrinkled and old, would you still want it?  Yep! 

Ok, so what if that old, wrinkly $100 was taken outside and stepped on and it got dirty and maybe a little torn - would you still want it? YES - count me in! :-)

(I realize this is a $50, but I couldn't find a picture of a $100, just play along.)

That money has intrinsic value, no matter what condition it is in.  And, just like that $100 bill, we have an intrinsic value that doesn't change, no matter what circumstances we are in or what decisions we have made.  No matter what has happened or what will happen - no matter how broken or dirty or old or ugly we may feel, it doesn't determine our value! 

The external "packaging" doesn't define us.  Our value doesn't come from what we do, what we have, who we know. Our value comes from everything that makes us who we are - because of our strengths and our weaknesses.  We are valuable because we're here - because we are all children of God and because He loves us and has a plan for us, our value is priceless - simply because we exist. 

LOVE THAT! :-)

Instead of Art Journaling - Part 2

Continuing from yesterday, here are the rest of my Bible Verse cards - at least the ones I've finished so far...

On this one, I was playing around with Liquitex acrylic inks.  I love the vibrancy of the colors!

I don't love these two.  I just couldn't figure them out, and I kept adding more stuff trying to fix it and it just kept getting worse. Oh well...  

I like the way these two go together with all the blues.

And some of my favorites are for upcoming months - I can't wait until it's time to add the Bible verses to these.

As you can tell, I'm working in the book both vertically and horizontally.  I decided not to limit myself on the direction and I'm so glad.  It's given me more options and I think the vertical pages are some of the best.

I've had this tulip forever. I cut it out of a magazine, and it was twice as long as this. So that I could use it here, I cut it in half and just used the leaves as a background for the flower part.  I just LOVE the way both of those pages turned out! Pretty and simple - hmmmm... Maybe that's a lesson I should pay attention to in the future.

On the writing side of this spread, I'm not finished.  I need to figure out something to put on that page that will give me enough un-busy space to write on.

That's it - that's the last page I've done so far.  I LOVE that leopard print.  It's from a small paper sack that I couldn't bring myself to throw away.  Can you say hoarder?

Anyway, I'm having so much more fun with this.  As I work on the pages, I'm also working on the memorization part of this project.  

I'm thinking I should get another 4" x 6" note card spiral and use that as my art journal.  It's much less intimidating than trying to tackle the full-sized, hardback book I've been trying to work in.  Since I've never done it before, I think this may be a much better way to start.  They are small and quick.  Almost instant gratification - and I LOVE that!

Linking up here

Instead of Art Journaling - Part 1

On Saturday, I mentioned how bad I was at working in my art journal.  So, after a few minutes of blank staring at blank journal pages with an equally blank mind, I will pick up my Siesta Sisters Bible Verse cards and work on those. 

I liked the other cover, so I just cut it off and stuck it on the new one.  I did the same thing with the inside cover, too.

After writing that post, I decided that I needed bigger cards.  I went out and bought a 4" x 6" note card spiral and started over.  I love it so much better now!

I've really been trying to use up the bits and pieces and scraps from some of the other things I've been working on.  I'm also using a lot of the art supply packaging - it's pretty and I hate to waste it.  That's what I used for the background above.

This is one of my favorite spreads so far.  And, as you can see, not only have I worked on the pages that have the Bible verse on them, but I've also been doing the opposite side where I can put anything without worrying about leaving room to write. 

I also really like this next one.  I love the colors, and the way they don't really match, but at the same time they do.

The flowers coming off the edges are actually a mistake from the previous page.  I had painted the background of this page before I did the one before it.  When I painted that one, it ran over the edges on this one, so I just made it part of the design. 

This post is getting really long.  Stay tuned tomorrow, I'll show you the rest of what I've done so far...

Linking up here.

Art Journal

I signed up for Julie's Art Journal Every Day challenge last month. Lots of people doing lots of good work, check it out here.  But not me...

In that picture, I was just playing around with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists and a Christmas ornament (the bird).  In the next one, I like that image,but I need to find a head to put on it, and I think I need to give it a title or something... maybe?  I don't know.

Yep, I pretty much suck at this.  That's all I've done - well.... not really I did do one other page that is so bad I cannot bring myself to take a picture of it.   My pages got all warped from the mod podge and ink and paint, and I am stuck when I look at it. 

I've never been one to regularly write in a journal, and it looks like I may have the same problem art-ing in one, too.  I just don't know what to do.  I set it down in front of me to work in it and I just sit there and stare at it...  "ummmmmmmm, yeah, let's work on something else today".

BUT... I am going to keep trying.  I've signed up again this month.  Stay tuned... hopefully I will get better.  I'm giving myself credit for trying. 

Soul Food

On the Brave Girls Club site, they have just posted a recap of Day 5 at camp.  Click here to read all about it.  While you're there, join the club and sign up for the daily truths (it's all free and so, so wonderful).  You can also check out the archives to read about days 1-4.  But be forewarned - after you read them, you will really, really, really want to go to camp. 

This video is also posted on the Day 5 wrap up, but I wanted to share it here, too.  It is one of my most favorite things we did at camp.  Reading the post and watching this video for the first time tonight was amazing.  I have been jonesing for another taste of the BGC experience, and this was just the soul food I've wanted.  It took me right back to that moment.  What a blessing it was to have been a part of this.  Enjoy!



I cannot believe that Kathy and Melody were able to belt out that song all the way to the end.  I lost my voice to tears about half-way through.  But that is what Brave Girls do - they will share their light and they will carry you through and continue to sing your song until you find your voice again.  They are AWESOME!

I hope you're sharing your voice and your light, and if you can't right now, that's ok.  We've got your back - we'll light your candle and sing your song until you can join back in...

Team Sports

I've never been one for participating in team sports.  Not much for participating in sports in general, but if I'm going to do something, I prefer the individual practice (shocker, huh?). 

Well, in January, I joined a team. I don't even remember where I read about it, but someone mentioned it on their blog and it just sounded like such a good thing.  Individual effort, but with the support of a team...

I've joined the Siesta Sisters Memory Verse Team.  Beth at Living Proof Ministries is the team leader(?).  This is not the first year, but it is the first year that I have participated. 

On the 1st and the 15th of each month, the whole team (over 5,000 on March 1st) converges on Beth's blog and enters the bible verse that we will be memorizing for the next couple of weeks.  Then we spend the next two weeks trying to commit it to memory.  That's it.  Apparently there is a conference at the end of the year where many of the team gets together, but that's not the point. 

I don't know many  any bible verses, so I just thought this would be a good exercise.  Not only would I learn a few, but just the effort of choosing which ones I want to focus on would force me to read and know more of the bible.  It's also one of the things I'm doing to work on my word for this year. 

This is a completely non-denominational exercise - anyone can participate and you can select verses from any part of the bible.  You can choose any verse you want - I'm sure there is some duplication, but mostly everybody selects something different.

The recommendation is that you get a spiral-bound set of index cards that you can carry around with you.  Whenever you have a free minute, you can pull it out and work on your memorization.  Also, if you go to the conference at the end of the year, these cards are your admission ticket.  These are my last four verses.  (You don't have to decorate them, but I like thinking about it while I paint a page.) 

What have I learned so far: 

  1.  I'm much more successful when I choose a shorter verse, and 

  2.  For me this isn't about the memorization, it's about contemplating the message and all the blessings that I have received. 

So, does this really qualify as a team sport? I don't know, but I think we're all rooting for each other to win.  :)

Daily Art Journal

I ran across this blog a couple of weeks and ago and have been obsessing a bit with the idea of starting an Art Journal.  You can read all about Julie's Daily Art Journal challenge here.  Since I've decided to start doing something creative on a more regular basis, what could be more regular than every day?  So, I linked up earlier today to participate in the challenge this month.

I can give this a try for one month, right?  Just 10 minutes a day - no big deal.  This is part of my healing plan for this year - the mind and mostly the spirit part.  

I had this journal - it's just a blank, hardback sketchbook.  I mod podged tissue paper all over the cover and then added the chip board thingys (forgive me, I don't know all the lingo).

I have to admit that I am loving all the tools of the trade, but I must.stop.shopping!  Just to name a few:  crop-o-dile (the big one - LOVE), debossing tools (LOVE!), Mod Podge for days (LOVE it so much I might marry it!), Exactos, bone folders (LOVE!), pens, papers, stencils (OMG, the stencils!), paints, stamps, etc, etc, etc.  There are so many super-cool toys to buy that I could get lost in all the stuff and never get around to making anything!

Here's the inside cover.  I lost my mind here.  I couldn't decide what I wanted to do, so I did EVERYTHING!  Then I just needed a little empty space and stuck that ugly note on it.  Oh well - I'm not judging - at least I started.

I think I need to work on my relationship with the matte version of mod podge.  The shiny is starting to get on my nerves a bit.

This is the first page.  I don't know why I felt the need to put this in there.  It's not like this book will EVER leave my play room, much less my house, so there's not really any danger of it being lost, or if it is, of anyone other than me finding it.  I was influenced by some of the other journals I'd been looking at online.  Several seemed to have a contact page, and it didn't require much effort, so there it is.  :-)

Today is Day 1, and what did I do today in my journal?  Nuthin'.  As soon as I committed and joined in the challenge, all of my ideas on things to journal about seemed to dry right up.  Why does that happen? 

Instead of journaling, I posted pictures of the cover and wrote a blog about it.  It's taken me at least 10 minutes.  That counts.  (This game is supposed to be about fun, and I get to make up the rules.  So, if I say it counts, and we start celebrating.)   Happy dance!  Feel free to join in - no rhythm necessary.

Assuming my brain starts working again in the next few days, I'm sure you'll be seeing more posts about this in the future. :-)

heal

I've intended to write this post for the past TWO months, but I'm running a little late. Do you sense a pattern???

Anyway, early in January, it seemed like everyone out there in blog-land was talking about finding ONE word to set the tone for the coming year. At first, I kept thinking why would you limit your year with just one word??  It was overwhelming to think of all the words, all the possibilities, all the limitations associated with this idea.  But every time I'd think that and try to dismiss the idea, one little word would whisper in my ear:  heal.

I'd hear it. I'd acknowledge it. I'd dismiss it. After all, if you are going to focus your year on one word, shouldn't it be more dynamic, more positive, more "doing", more motivational, more spectacular, more visible, more...impressive?  But that word kept whispering, and I'm telling ya, it sounded like a place I wanted to go and curl up for awhile (maybe for a....year).

So, here I am, two months in, crawling into my word for this year. (BTW - March is my birthday month, so I can very easily rationalize that this month is the beginning of my new year, and not only am I not late, I'm early because I have almost 3 weeks left 'til I start my new b-day year.)

The past couple of years have been pretty crapilicious. I have been surviving. Getting through each day was an effort, and thinking about getting up and doing it again the next day was overwhelming. I don't want to live my life in survival mode. Some things have improved, but many remain the same. I know that until the situations that are out of my control change, all I can do is change my response, pick up the pieces, apply the lesson's I've learned, and prepare for all the good stuff that's gotta be heading my way. (Can I get an Amen?)

Frankly, I'm not ready for the good stuff. If it showed up today, I wouldn't be able to fully appreciate it because I am too blinded by all the yuck. To be able to hug all of that goodness to me, first I need to spend time recovering from the beating that has been the last few years.

ALL wounds heal, but there are things we can do speed the process. I need lots of stillness and contemplation. I need water and sunshine (best I can tell, they cure pretty much everything). I also need some action. I was concerned about there not being enough "DOING" associated with this word, but I think it may end up that I have to work harder and do more to heal than I would have for any other word I could have chosen.  

I've started this journey:  my trip to BGC and my new commitment to doing something creative on a regular basis, have made an amazing difference in my outlook already.  Now, the other 'sick' areas of my life deserve a similar focus and commitment (either that, or some serious medicine-man ju-ju).  Since we're short on ju-ju in these parts, I guess that means I must DO all those things necessary to heal my mind, my body, my spirit, and my situation. 
 
So, here goes - let the healin' begin!

Maybe next year, I'll focus on the word TIMELY....or, probably not.