A Life Uncommon

This song has moved onto the soundtrack of my day...EVERY day.



LOVE it!

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.

Hysterical!

Oh my goodness, this cracked me up!  I was reading The Nester this morning, and she had a link to it.  I'm sure that this is old news for most of you, but it was new to me and I had to share.



Have a good weekend!

Keepin' My Promise

I made a promise to myself that I would spend some time doing SOMETHING creative at least once a week from now on.  It's only been one week, but I'm keeping my promise so far.

I made this collage for my friend's birthday.  I had fun, fun, fun making it. 

Just an 8 x 10 canvas and I layered on paint and papers.

Then I took two pieces of paper, painted on them a bit, put some batting in between and sewed it all together.  Then, I mod podged the heart so it would be kinda "crunchy".

And, then I put it all together... and waaala!

Not a masterpiece, but I enjoyed the process.  YEA!

Linking up here and here and here and here and here:

Creativity is Messy

Remember my office/craft room make-over? 

It was so pretty and clean and crisp and ORGANIZED!

Today, it looks like this.

Yes, that is a make-shift paint palette (aka plastic plate) sitting on my laptop.  It'll be fine.

Oh my goodness!!! How did this happen??

So, two things:

1. I am knee deep in unfinished projects (literally).  They've been piling up since before Christmas, and I just keep starting more, and
2. I've decided to reorganize based on color.

Remember, I was inspired by The.Art.Room. at camp. The paint, ribbon, fabric and paper were all organized by color.  Here's the paper...

And here is my newly re-organized paper stash

How can you not love that?!  It's pretty awesome, the only problem is that I still have to contend with the rest of the mess. 

I'm looking at it as a positive that I prefer to step over the piles and actually work on (AND FINISH) something instead of letting the cleaning up distract me so that I never really work on anything.

That's gotta be progress, right?  Just sayin'...

Brave Girl Projects

This is the last Brave Girl post, I promise...until the online workshop starts at least.  :-)

  

Everyone loved playing with the Chip Art Tools. They were so easy to use, and the results were quick and CUTE!  It was instant gratification.  I made this leather cuff.  This is before I stained it.  LOVE!  You should see some of the GORGEOUS stuff the other girls made.  Need to get me some of those tools.

Speaking of tools, I got to play with all kinds of stuff I'd never used before.  All different kinds of glitter, texture mediums, a batik pen, split peas, dimensional mod podge, chip board, various "bits" to add texture or to layer.  Or using some familiar things in new ways - just tons of new ideas for me!

It was also so inspiring to be surrounded by the amazing talent of the other girls. I'd love to show you some of their beautiful work, but each piece was so personal, and I didn't get their permission.


So, here's a peek at a few of the things I worked on.

This is the cover of my timeline.  It was a blank accordion book with chip board covers. I mod podged fabric onto the covers and added various bits and a ribbon to tie it closed.  Then I got to work on the innards, here's a little bit of that:

The worst part of this project was the fact that I had to turn it over and start working on the back,

 but...

And two of my other projects:

We had so much fun!  I wish I could spend this much time working on art projects every week.  What a treat this experience was.  I am so grateful to have been a part of it and to have met such wonderful people.

Cuteness

We interrupt our regularly scheduled broadcast for the following message:

How cute is this?  Amanda, Tyler and the boys came over this weekend.  They were in top cuteness form. 

Both boys wanted to go out  back and see "the water" (aka, the pool).  This summer should be fun, but we're really going to have to keep an eye on them.

You can't really tell, but Ben was break dancing - no music necessary.  From this particular wiggle, he'd drop to the floor into "a split" and a roll.  Too funny!

Ahhh!  To have that much energy!