Hooray for Friday

Happy Friday.

Man, this week went by fast.

I have been buckling down in the art room to get ready for the 

Red Dirt Art Festival

Saturday, May 2

10:00-5:00

It will be the 10th Anniversary!

I'm working on (new) designs for the (vintage) book pages.

I love the new quotes I have come across that really fit with the pages.

journal page done with dylusions spray, black staedtler .01 pen and copic marker.

I'm doing some journal work in between pages, wondering where all these birds will end up!

The lettering is getting to be more and more fun for me to do.

It will be even better when I find a light that is somewhat portable and has super powers.

Until then, I'll be working on the lines around my eyes by doing my squinting exercises.

More birds and little bitty canvases. Some birds stay in the journal, others take flight...

Hoping you are taking flight this weekend!

Linking to 

Paint Party Friday

Art Journal Every Day

Opening My Eyes and Throwing In The Towel.

Spring Break has sprung and honestly?

I'm over it.

It just hasn't been one of our best. 

In fact, I call it a perfect storm.

A husband working two weeks straight, a sick child, disappointments, frustrations, a child barfing everywhere due to antibiotics, a heat wave, a big no- well, you get the idea.

I'm not one to whine. 

But for crying out loud.

There were a couple of highlights..

Brenna made cake pops with a friend and I ate a lot of them.

We went bowling.

How is it, though, in the midst of such a storm it's a struggle to see the good? 

Maybe that's just the nature of a storm.

art journal done in left over gelli print paint, anthropologie magazine cut out and vintage sheet music.

I tried going through my manifesto, a little art journaling, turning up the music, sleeping in, coffee, you name it.

I gave up last Sunday and stayed home from church and took coffee outside and dug into a fabulous article written by Emily P. Freeman, entitled "When Your Heartbeat Feels Like A Drumbeat".

In the post, Emily talks about longing and limitations and meeting Jesus at the intersection of the two.

It stopped me in my tracks (at the intersection) and had me re - thinking a lot and just plain thinking.

Even though there have been multiple times I have thrown in the towel on the day over the last two weeks, the post has opened my eyes and heart in ways I was just not expecting, and kind of redeemed the last few days in a hard but beneficial way. In a bending metal with your bare hands good kind of way. Not really the throwing confetti good kind of way. But good.

Maybe Spring Break hasn't been a total wash.

 But holy moly, I'll be glad to see next week.

Linking to:

Paint Party Friday

Art Journal Everyday

Hello, Fifty Three

I was at a store yesterday, treating myself to a little pre-birthday present.

Under those hideous fluorescent lights, I began the horrible realizations of aging. As I bent over to examine what had happened to my legs over the last year, I began the descent into being hyper-critical of myself.

I tossed everything back and burst through the doors into the fresh air. As the glow of the fluorescent lights faded, I came to a realization:

NO.

 I gave myself two minutes of mourning my aging legs, and began finding positive words.

Going with it, I have written my own manifesto. 

Here goes:

This year, I will continue to gather.

I will find art each day. 

I will find it in the simple things, I will create it. I will make it happen and I will share it.

I will buy some chicks, feed them, keep them warm and nurture them into giving us fresh eggs.

I will always wear sunscreen. Sunshine is meant to be enjoyed in vast quantities, preferably in or near water.

I might even wear a hat.

I will look at my legs that I have inherited from my father and stand up for them. I won't hide them away, but I will protect them just a little more. 

I will begin yoga and return to swimming. 

I refuse to be a hardbody.

I will say thank you every day and keep record of things I am grateful for. 

I will tell my family that I love them with words and actions.

I will practice spiritual white space. 

I will raise my hands when I sing and lift my face up to the One who desires to infuse great joy to my life. I will remind myself that every single day, there are new mercies waiting for me.

Every day.

I will continue to dance in my kitchen and list my favorite songs and REVEL in their variety. 

Best of all,

I will throw my head back and laugh as many times as possible and for as long as I need to.

I will not say no to tears.

I will seek wise counsel. 

I will be willing:

To learn

To say I don't know

To ask for help

and

I will not fall apart at disapproval.

I will make every effort to be nice to myself when I just cannot seem to get all my sh*t together and my brain has ceased to be young and fresh and I am hot for no reason. 

Because this will pass.

Amen.

Linking to

Paint Party Friday

Art Journal Every Day

Menopause and Feathers

I don't really know what Menopause and feathers have to do with each other, but that's pretty much what sums up my brain right now and therefore is blog fodder.

Also, my computer is fixed!!!! 

A word to the wise:

When Apple tells you to install new RAM, they may or may not forget to tell you that the PRAM needs to be reset. Don't even ask me what a PRAM is. I don't know, nor do I care. Nope, I don't. 

All though I probably should because the guys at another computer store told me I needed to replace the hard drive, then told me the processor was out and I needed a new computer.

So, maybe I do care about the PRAM. 

Onward on my newly reset computer.....

I'm on a roll with birds and feathers in the art department.

My newest Pinterest board is slowly but surely gaining steam as I pin whatever I can find on birds and feathers.

Doing this also seems to calm my menopausal brain.

My first obsession was with pheasant feathers.

Done in a loose fashion here, I actually like it paired with the soft pinks. Which is unusual, as I am not a pink sorta gal.

Which makes me laugh as I look at this next picture with the large red-pink circle on this page of a practice art journal.

Then, I saw a gorgeous photo of a peacock. You know the kind of photo-it looks better than the real bird.

Aaaannnddd, I was off and running.

The colors!

They would be better on that pink practice journal.

I used my Caran D'Arche crayons and thought to myself,

"Can life get any better? I'm COLORING for crying out loud."

I bet in some medical journal some doctor wrote a journal article proving that Coloring and feathers help menopause brain. 

So does Wild Orange essential oil, cutting out sugar, and a husband who doesn't mind if I am "raw", but that's for another type of blog.

This blog is about coloring.

Just so I can prove I don't have dementia, I remembered an outing with my middle sister as I was coloring.

 I can't remember where we were, nor can I recall what we were doing. BUT.

I can remember it involved a peacock and that my sister and the peacock had the most amazing conversation. 

Somehow, my sister picked up on speaking peacock, and whenever the bird would make a noise, my sister would make some back, with lots and lots of enthusiasm and that silly bird kept responding for what seemed like an eternity.

I think we were supposed to take him home, but somehow that got lost in translation.

Either that or my mother kiboshed the idea.

She wouldn't let me keep a horse in the front yard, either.

And yes. Kibosh is a word in the dictionary.

Your welcome.

O.K., gotta go and draw more feathers to help my brain.

Have a great weekend!

Linking to Paint Party Friday

Art Journal Every Day