When No One Is Looking She...

Daily Scrap

Fabric and Paint

Came out to play. 

She smiles a lot

when she thinks

no one is looking. 

She is kind of shy

that way.

I spent most of the day down in my art room. 

Eight bliss filled hours shared with my fabric, paint and paper.  I worked on the covers for 3 journals and hope to get a couple of them into my Etsy shop soon. The more I played, the more ideas   bloomed in my mind and then of course there was this girl; the one shared above. She danced around in the corners of my brain, daring me to catch her and thinking I'd never capture her being long enough to bring her out into the open, but I did. It was a game of hide and seek and I won. 

She brought a friend along too, not wishing to enter the world all by herself.

She's not quite as shy but worried that she isn't ready to live in such a big, giant place. I assured her that her presence is welcome. 

My funny little girls came out to play and it was the perfect kind of day. I really, really kind of like them. They are simple and just a wee bit funny and imperfect; just like me. I need to go and make one with red hair I think. 

Here is a little Storypeople poem for the occasion.

It was a day filled with the glow of ordinary things 

and we passed them quietly from hand to hand 

for a long time and someone said

she had picked a perfect day to be born 

and I think all of us felt the same.

Brian Andreas

www.storypeople.com

These girls were inspired by the ever enchanting, Mindy Lacefield's class Paint Your Story.

As always I put my own twist on the techniques we are learnin' and I am lovin' every second of it.

Wishing you every sweetness today.

Do something you really love, even if only for a few minutes.

Today is the perfect kind of day because you are in it. 

xxxoooxxx 

Grin!

Daily Scrap.

Silliness.

Colored pencils.

Friday's play time in Mindy's Lacefield's class; Paint Your Story. 

The past 2 day's I've been busy with DD's dance rehearsals so I am going through some serious art time withdrawal due to lack of time in my art room. However, I spent Friday afternoon sketching and coloring to my heart's content. The assignment was to create imperfect head shapes and add their facial features. They make me grin. 

Here are a few more. Lovin' my bunny. A few of my girls seem to be having bad hair days. My bear, lower left hand corner is just a wee bit sad and cross-eyed. My bear needs work. VBG!

That is all I've got for now.

Wishing you all a wonderful Sunday.

xxxoooxxx

Bounce

Bounce

Daily Scrap

Paint.

When the weight of the world feels too heavy to carry around just bounce.

I'm taking a couple of online classes. How To Paint an Owl by Juliette Crane and Paint Your Story by Mindy Lacefield. It's part of my goal to get more proficient with paint as well as loosen up a bit. Sometimes when I am creating I get so goal oriented that I forget I am supposed to be having fun with all of this. My creative time is limited, so I always feel like I have to be producing something either for my Etsy shop or for someone, rather than taking the time to create just because it is fun, about abandoning the stresses of the day, just to immerse myself in the pure pleasure and bliss of creating.

'Bounce' is my first owl in progress. A little guy on a 6 by 6 inch chunk of scrap wood. Yesterday as I looked at him I was struck by how much he reminded me of a beach ball and then my brain thought, 'yup, when the daily grind gets too feeling like it's pulling me down; just bounce' this crossed my mind as I was jamming around to some new music I stumbled upon while searching for a recommended tune. LOVE THIS ALBUM SO MUCH!!!!!! I followed the link cuz I was struck by the cover art which literally grabbed my attention.

The artist is Antje Duvekot

Awesome album. I don't normally fall in love with an entire album's worth of songs but this one really, really touched me in so many ways. It's a little bit country, a little bit alternative, a little bit folk. It's not music I would normally be drawn to but I now have a serious music crush going on and I have since picked up here newest album, New Siberia.

I am so hooked. 

Anyway, between listening to her music and painting and finishing up a commission, I now found myself with some time to work on the class assignments in Mindy's class, which I tackled this afternoon. We were to scribble, doodle, sketch symbols and find words we are drawn too. So I grabbed a canvas board that I'd used for a background experiment from another online class over on Lost Luggage and used it for my doodles.

And this is what came out of that mindless play.

'Fat Birds Going For A Walk On A Tightrope'

I then went ahead and painted out all the negative space which was yet another part of the assignment. I sort of crammed it all on this board in order to get myself caught up and laughed at the crooked line my mind follows when I am creating without thinking. I doodled (the banner; inspired by the week I've spent on that banner) strung hither and yon, (silly birds one of my symbols) walking on a (tightrope; inspired by Antje's album cover) the words 'fly' and 'play' which is what it's supposed to be about; freedom and carefree creativity. And later tonight I am going to doodle and scribble over all of this, just enjoy the bliss of 'wasting time' And that is what I've been up to the last few days. And when I need a break from that 'mindless' activity I intend to work with some of the goodies that came to me last weekend. 

A Gathering of Insignificant Treasure

1908

Daily Scrap

A Gathering of Insignificant Treasure

If you were paying attention; you will have made note that this past Friday was March 13; by all accounts a day many will tread lightly through. For most of us I am guessing; it was an uneventful and very ordinary day. No different than any other.  I don't put much stock in believing that Friday the 13th means that something unwelcome is going to happen and certainly I don't expect something wonderful to happen but I did have a very lucky day this past Friday and I am still a little bit in awe over the very insignificant treasures that made their way into my hands. 

The little leaf in the photo above has survived since 1908. I found it hidden between the pages of this vintage notebook; the botany notebook of a Miss Doris Kinne.

On Friday I decided to visit a couple of the local antique stores in my neck of the woods. It has been quite awhile since I treated myself to a day of roaming. I had no particular destination in mind and wasn't looking for anything in particular. It was a lovely day just to walk and window shop. I spent a little bit of time in one of my favorite quilt shops that recently expanded and I needed some fabric for a special project and found the perfect colors which made me happy. As I left the quilt store, I noticed that one of the antique shops was having a store wide sale so I thought, what the heck, why not stop in. I wandered around for about 15 minutes; not really seeing anything but then, my eye caught that very familiar look of   handwriting from days gone by, just a bit of a corner sticking out from under an old magazine which I moved aside to find the above notebook hiding underneath. It was in a sealed bag and I almost didn't want to turn it over as I knew the price sticker was going to be on the other side and I was afraid the price was going to be well out of my reach and I about fell over when I saw the price; a mere $12.00. I couldn't believe it. I never, ever find this kind of thing. NEVER. And then to make the deal even sweeter, it was also 20% off!!! Friday the 13th became the luckiest day I've had in a long time.

Here are a few pages from this notebook. I still can't believe I found this little gem and that I could bring it home, that it would be mine.

As I wandered around my luck got even better. Mind you, at this point I sort of felt like I was walking on air. I felt a little bit fluttery inside, like some little vintage fairy was waving her magic wand over my head. I found some vintage lace and dollies for a few dollars each, which didn't surprise me that much since they are an abundant, antique shop staple but at 2.00 each with 20% off; that  was a little surprising.

I left that shop feeling like I had just won the gazillion dollar lottery of art booty. I walked about a half a block to yet another familiar antique store and I honestly didn't think my morning could get any better, but it did. Lying in a corner under several vintage quilts was an abandoned crazy quilt top that had never been finished. I LOVE old quilt tops. I use the fabrics in my hand bound journals which I put up for adoption in my Etsy shop. I have only found one of these in my lifetime that I could afford, usually the price is way out of my comfort zone but on Friday the 13th I found one I could afford, a full sized no less and no scary price tag, that was meant to be mine. I couldn't believe my luck. I started to wonder if I was going to make it home in one piece, surely my luck had to change, something bad had to happen to me, either that or I was dreaming. 

And then, already feeling blessed and wonderful and prepared to go home but I decided to stop at our local thrift shop; a place I rarely find anything I want or can re-purpose; well lo and behold I found several vintage, lace table-cloths for super cheap. I won't tell you just how cheap I got them for. I don't think they understood what they had because in an antique store I wouldn't have been able to buy them.

As I walked out of the store I felt like I had just had the most bizarre day of my life. Stuff like this does not happen to me.

Seriously. I still can't believe the booty I came home with on Friday. And because I don't feel it's kind to gloat over such good fortune I am going to make up a little special something; probably one of my hand bound journals and host a giveaway here very soon, made up of some of this 'insignificant' treasure. I have to finish up a commission project I've been keeping under wraps but once that is done I will have some time to create something special to share. I am looking forward to it. After all, it's wonderful to find beautiful stuff but it's even more enjoyable when it can be shared with someone. Stay tuned.

xxxoooxxx

Waiting

Daily Scrap

Waiting.

Art journal page.

What are you waiting for?

 Ever consider how much time we spend waiting? 

Here are a few thoughts that went through my mind as I worked on this journal page.When we are kids we can't wait to grow up. As kids we think that grown ups have everything figured out and we think they can do anything they want. Really. Seriously? As an adult I still don't have a lot of it figured out. 

Waiting.

On Monday's, Friday can't come soon enough.

On Friday's we are already waiting for Saturday and Sunday and thinking about all the things we want to do 

or what we don't have to do.

On Sunday we are already waiting 

for the week to begin and maybe dreading it.

In the summer we often wish and wait for the cooler days of fall. 

In the winter we wish and wait for spring. 

We wait for holidays months in advance 

either because we love them or dread them.

We watch the clock. 

At work how often don't you wish 

the end of the day would already come

We wait. 

As I've gotten older I find myself simply wishing 

to enjoy each day as it unfolds. 

Some days I can and some days 

it just does not work out that way.  

I try and stay in the 'now' more than 

the 'later' and stay tuned in to the present 

rather than waste time worrying about 

the next day, week, or month. 

True, some things must be planned in 

advance and planned for and as an adult,

 I do my best to adjust my life to prepare 

for these moments in time, 

but at the same time I am aware that no 

matter how prepared I think I am; 

sometimes stuff happens that change the entire plan. 

So I simply expect that some things are never 

going to come off without a hitch.

Expecting perfection while living an imperfect life 

is something I simply don't 

have time to dwell on.   

If they do that is awesome and if they don't, 

 I will just have to deal with the bump in the road as best I can. 

Time can't be changed or altered. 

We can hit the snooze button all we like 

but those minutes and hours are still ticking away. 

We can move the clock back or ahead 

an hour each year but we still only get 24 hours in a day.   

Time simply keeps moving forward whether or not we are ready for it. We can't stop it nor hold it back. 

All we can do is hang on for the ride and make the best of it 

no matter what our reality holds.

xxxoooxxx 

Girl Friday - Dreams

Daily Scrap

Girl Friday.

Paint.

Maybe our dreams are all too small.

Live your life out L O U D.

Live in full and brilliant color.

Don't whisper your dreams,

shout them. 

You have nothing to loose. 

It's your life, the only one

you will ever have.

So, climb in and

enjoy the ride.

Put your heart into whatever

it is you are doing 

each and every day.

Wishing each of you a wonderful weekend.

Happy Easter 

and a blessed Passover.

xxooxx