Anti-Journal Week 3

((I typed out an entire blog post and this stupid f'n site DELETED the entire thing. GRRRR!))

It was difficult for me to decide what to post tonight because I have about 4 blog posts that I need to type out and get on here. I decided to start with what is relatively the beginning and get that out of the way. LOL (And, yes, I am just as bad at journaling with pen and paper as I am at this. I can just type way faster than I can write so this is actually easier.)

First of all, Kids Clothes Week was an EPIC fail for me. I was not feeling well for most of the week, so I managed to get a grand total of 1 thing finished. I am, however, currently participating in the Stash Game over at Sewing Mamas and am working my way toward my goal of 200 yards of fabric GONE by the end of this year. But more on that later. :D

Week 3's Anti-Journal was difficult for me. Sarah, the Wonderous Wonderstrumpet of Wonderstrange, posted a Master List of prompts for us to choose from and anyone that really knows me knows that A) I am not super great at choosing for myself and 2) I do not respond to change well. However, in the spirit of this year of Adventures, I decided to embrace it and just go for it. Sarah's Chronicles journal spread for Week 3 is awesome. And she posted a video about making journals that's worth a watch. ;)

Week 3's Anti-Journal


I really like creating these multiple page journal spreads. It lets me to include more that what the normal 2 facing pages would allow for.


Inside that envelope is ephemera from the trip to Tennessee that the girls and I took last year on Spring Break.


Two more drawings from the 100 Things to Draw When You're Bored 2014 list. #15 Ninja Banana and #61 A Shark Ate My Homework. And a cute little smiley moon guy :D


For my artwork this week, I chose to create some Found Poetry. I used to do this kind of thing all the time. In fact, it's probably my favorite thing that I create. It's always dark, usually twisted, and soul cleansing.
The poem reads:

They call him Candyman murdering eater of souls
unwavering dead eyes and black gloved hand
slab of onyx on porcelain

white angel screaming
dancing through veins like a real ballerina
breathing with a hatchet blade stuck in the throat

tender white neck
lightly kissed on the forehead
agonizing sighs but I love you would shatter his skull

up all night
hearing bones crack screams peeling wallpaper
cry cry cry gushing tears bloodred on the carpet

Don't make me go back there
sit right here in the dark
spinning my broken shame in the moonlight



And I tried to take a picture of this cute Jane Austen card that I put in here, but it turned out all blurry. LOL

So, that's my week 3, and I'm really pretty pleased with it. As usual, following thru and just going with things in the spirit of adventure has taught me a lot this week. About myself and what I can accomplish when I follow thru. :D

((The first f'n post was better. I HATE this thing right now.))

50 Canvases in 2014 -- Canvas #2

Oddly enough, I'm not super great on the follow thru when it comes to things like running commitments that have no necessary deadlines or don't absolutely have to be done. I have so much going on that if it is not an absolute must do, I just never manage to stick with it. Which brings me to the WHOO HOO! of it all.
Say it with me -- I FINISHED MY SECOND CANVAS OF THE 50! Unh Huh! That's right!

Anyway, enough of that. LOL For the second week, Sarah (the Wonderstrumpet) challenged us to use something that we have never used before for this week's canvas. You can check out the original post over at the Wonderstrange blog. While you're over there, check out some of the other awesomeness going on. Ann made a cute little crochet headband. The canvas Sarah made for week 3 is AWWWWWWWEEEEESOME! Every single week Ann lists a new way to decorate your house with all the amazing artwork you create. Etc. Seriously, these amazing artists are working their tales off sharing what they know and challenging everyone to be their creative best. As well as operating their own businesses and taking care of their families. They ROCK so hard.

Back to the canvas showing!

This week, for the challenge, I used something I had never used before. Taking inspiration from Sarah's circus family canvas, I used duct tape and tiny trim tapes to mask off sections of the canvas I had prepped with a coat of matte white acrylic. I've never used tape in my painting before and found out that there is a bit of a learning curve. Perhaps I just didn't use the right one, but there was A TON of 'cleaning up' around the edges that I had to do after it had dried because the paint had bled under the edges of the tape. So, using it for stripes that don't need exact definition, probably okay. Using it for crisp, defined lines, not so much. LOL Whatevs. I survived.

And I LOVE my little Goth girl! Especially her little ear :D

The text on the left is a verse from the song 'American Pie' by Don Mclean. I have always loved that song, even with it being 9 minutes and a million verses long. It gives me goosebumps and makes me tear up every single time I listen to it. So, I spent about 9 hours searching thru pages of text for the words to one of the verses (and using cut out letters to make the words that the pages didn't have). It was truly a labor of love and I am so pleased with the way it turned out.


I know the pictures aren't super great (she doesn't look that 'harsh' in real life LOL) but I can't figure out how to make them any different. LOL And, honestly, I get to look at the real thing every day, so I'm good with that.

If you want to join in the challenge (and I seriously think you should), check out Wonderstrange for the details. Sarah posts a new canvas post on Thursdays (Week 3 looks AWESOME, but it is going to be a 'break out of the box' challenge for sure. LOL). They post stuff every day of the week, so there's always something new. Look around, you're sure to find something to join in on. I promise. If you do join in one of the activities, be sure that you go back and post a link somewhere so that I can see it.

On to #3!

I Have LOFTY Goals

Today was an interesting day. It didn't start out quite the way I had planned (we overslept). And the plans that I did have for the day didn't get accomplished. However, something else wonderful did. :D
First things first though, it occurs to me that everyone has a different idea of just what 'adventure' means to them. For some, it involves travel. While for others, it involves risk in the extreme. For the purpose of my year, 'adventure' is just going to be anything that opens our minds to new things and allows us to truly embrace what we experience. Yes, there will likely be some travel, and possibly some risks taken, but we are embracing our lives as if we are living our greatest adventure this year. That's our goal in a nutshell. I may have said this before, but I want to make it extra clear. SO, if this is redundant, oh well. LOL

The day started kinda slow because, like I said, we overslept. And I had planned to take the girls to the library and do a couple of other things while we were out, but we were way behind and I am still not feeling 100% due to a recent medical procedure (let me tell you just how disinclined I feel about embracing adventure right now because of this right here LOL) But we were going to power thru and just go later, until I went next door for breakfast (my best friend lives next door and sometimes I like to go over and talk and eat breakfast.)
A bit of backstory, on Christmas day, a friend called me to see if I wanted to go thru her girlfriend's mother's old sewing patterns. The mother was cleaning out her basement and just wanted them gone, so my friend was bringing them home with her. Of course I said yes, 'cuz I can always use more sewing stuff. LOL Well, today she contacted my best friend to see if it would be a good day for her to bring the patterns over for me/us to go thru them. And I said sure, why not?
There were boxes and boxes of these vintage patterns from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. There were quilting magazines and hot iron transfers and tons of patterns. We went thru them one by one, laughing at the ridiculousness of some of them, and separating them. I didn't actually find that many that I could/would use, but it was nice to go thru them and look at them and just to see what was there.
Among the ones that I did choose to keep is a vintage pattern from 1969 (Simplicity 8147) that I am going to alter to fit me. The alteration is going to actually end up being a full pattern draft because the pattern is a single size that is much to small for me. Yes, I know that it would be easier to just shell out the money to buy one in my size. However, that would defeat the purpose of the adventure. :D I will, of course, be posting an update of how that goes at a later time.
I'm also borrowing a set of vintage hot iron transfers from around the same time period (I can't find a photo online, but it is a Laura Wheeler set, design 413, for Old Fashioned Cars.) The set is meant to be used for making a quilt where the pictures are transferred onto 9" x 9" quilt blocks and then the designs are embroidered by hand. You are supposed to make 24 of the embroidered blocks (2 of each design) and then assemble them into a full quilt with the finished dimensions of 63" x 91". Now, I am not a quilter. I never claimed to be. But, I believe that my dad will really like the designs and I imagine that I can make one of these block pieces every month so that it would be done by Christmas this year. So, that is my goal. 1 block a month, finished half quilt for dad for the holiday. Adventure's away!
While I was next door we also plotted some travel plans for later on this year. And I am awfully excited about them. However, that too is a tale for a different day. :D

If I had to pin down one thing that I feel was being pointed out to me today it would be the fact that I need to have a spirit of recognition for the many different ways 'adventure' presents itself to me. And, once recognized, I need to learn to embrace it however it comes. I'm pretty sure I accomplished that today, and will continue to endeavor to do so in the future. Because I'm determined not to miss out on a single awesome thing that happens in my life from this point forward. I can't imagine why anyone would ever want to.

Word of the Year 2014 and Blogging with Purpose

About a week ago, I acknowledged my Word of the Year for 2014 as being Adventure and decided to commit myself (and my girlchildren) to living out the next year embodying all that that word brings into our lives. It is not going to be the easiest thing in the world for us because we are not adventurous by nature and tend to live our lives by a set of routine ‘rules’ so to speak. But we are willing to embrace the newness that is the coming year and live out that time to the fullest of our adventurous potential. And I shall blog about it, here. :D

Adventure can mean a lot of different things to different people. Simply put it is an exciting or unusual experience. It may also be a bold, usually risky, undertaking with an uncertain outcome. A lot of times people think that adventure solely implies travel or going new places. But, to me, adventure just means experiencing new things and embracing them to the fullest potential of your spirit. And maybe some travel as well. ;)

So, stay tuned in 2014 to follow us on our year of adventure. There will be lots of postings and pics too. We’re excited to start 2014 right, so our adventure begins bright and early tomorrow morning. See you then!!