Monday update

Thinking about 2009 brings so much wonder and possibilities. What will the new year hold? Last year at this time a blog was the last thing on my mind. In fact, I hated even reading blogs and had just heard of art journaling so now I wonder what new thing will be in my future.

I have not been in the mood to blog this week. I've been spending time with family and finally getting out after being snowed in for a few days. I enjoyed the snow while it lasted but enjoyed it being gone just as much so that I could get around town and not worry about safety. We had a wonderful white Christmas and I was blessed with many new art supplies. I have been having fun with my Pan Pastels. They are so smooth and come in yummy colors. I got the drawing set but I think I will get more in other colors because I love them so much. I got some art books of which I will blog about later once I get a chance to look through them. I also got Colorsoft colored pencils. They are wonderful colors and if you didn't have a set of colored pencils that you liked I would recommend them because they have a soft lead that is very nice to color with. I keep hearing other artists talk about Pitt pens and was curious what they were like. They are exactly like Micron pens. I did get them in brown which is really nice since I only had black pens to do my outlining in. I have this obsession with pens. Never can have enough pens and they all are needed, you see, for different techniques in my journal. Just talking about it makes me want to go do a page right now.

I am teaching a class on art journaling on New Years Day and I hope it goes well. I am so excited to introduce these ladies who have never done art journaling before all the fun and exciting ways to create a page. I hope they fall in love with it like I am.

Well, I am going to have to go. My kitty has made her way into my lap and taken over the keyboard. I have set her aside five times and she is a persistent one and has made her way back onto my lap and laid her paws on my hands so it is hard to type. Silly kitty :)

Arctic Blast

They are calling our crazy weather an Arctic Blast. We had more snow last night and more is expected tomorrow. It is really exciting because we really have never had a true white Christmas since I was a little girl.

Yesterday we drove to the grocery store and this is what we were driving in. Soooo Beautiful.

The birds were going crazy for the dog's food. We didn't have any birdseed so we just scattered it out on the patio. We saw birds that we had never seen before. The big ones would just grab and go but the little one pecked the food into smaller bites and ate it right there.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas

We woke up to 14 inches of snow today. It is so beautiful and just put me in the mood to bake. My family was thrilled to say the least.

I have this great recipe for sugar cookies that you don't have to refrigerate. Makes the process much easier and more enjoyable too.

We called these cookies Moth Balls but my kids have never seen a moth ball so they didn't know what I was talking about. These are my favorite cookies at Christmas. They are also know as Russian Tea Cakes.

Peanut Blossoms are always yummy! I decide to make them in my flexible pan and insert the chocolate kiss upside down. You can use peanut butter cups too I suppose but I only had chocolate kisses. I am wondering why I made all my favorites when I am trying to loose weight. YIKES!

The entire time I was baking my grandson wanted to be in my arms and watch everything I did. He loves to watch me cook but being in his high chair next to me is not good enough. It is very hard to hold him and bake but I managed it most of the time. I wouldn't be surprised if this curiosity of his develops into more interest later. I am so hoping he has a creative side to him since none of my kids do. I always wanted a kid to color with and do art projects with. He definitely has a musical interest but he is only 14 months so you never know. Well, I feel like I accomplished something today.

Four days and counting

So much snow. We are up to 10 inches and it is still snowing. It is really pretty but I don't know what I was thinking. I imagined a quiet time at home watching the snow fall, working in my art journal and drinking coffee. Reality has hit as my sons are irritating themselves and me and I can't get anything done since I am constantly interrupted by bored children. We have managed to watch a couple Hallmark movies which I love but no one else is thrilled about it. I did slip out to my art room this morning and tried something new. I used one of my paint rags (paper towel) as the base for my journal page. It had such great color that I just couldn't throw it away. Because I used gel medium over the top it was hard to get a good picture because of the shine but you get the idea.

Now that I am looking at it I am thinking it really does represent the chaos that has been going on around here which is really funny since I'm talking about simplicity. Isn't that like life. Inner peace in the midst of chaos. I did work on another page from a couple of days ago and finished it up. It is much more calm and you will probably like it better.

Here is another one. I guess I have gotten more done than I thought.

Family Fun in the snow

We took the grand baby out in the snow today. He has just started wearing shoes and I had bought him some work boots and so here he is traipsing through the snow. He did quite well and loved every minute of it. My daughter was so afraid he would be cold that she wanted to take him in right away but he loved it so much we stayed out for about 10 minutes.

Here is the face we got when we told him he had to go inside. He was not happy. He was quite warm in that little Sesame Street Letterman's jacket I bought him last year. It has been snowing all morning but tiny little flakes. The huge storm they have been warning us about has not hit yet. I can't wait to see it hit since I get to stay home. Here is a picture of the weather so far.

Isn't it beautiful and they are saying 6-10 more inches.

I went out yesterday and finished up my shopping so

Let it snow!

Looking ahead to 2009

Whenever January is in sight I always get reflective. I start thinking what the new year will be like, where I will find myself in another year. This year, I am thinking of journals and what kind I will use to chronicle my 2009 journey. I am asking myself how much can I plan for and how much do I just wait and let happen? I can tell you that last year at this time I would never have guessed that I would start a blog, take multiple art classes, post pictures of my art on the Internet and know wonderful women from all around the world who love art the way I do. I don't think I could have planned all that but as I followed my heart one step at a time, as I listened to God's gentle prodding me to move ahead in spite of fear and as I persevered through tough times I have found myself right here. Right here in a place of new beginnings and new relationships. I look forward to the new year and wonder where this path that was started will lead. Knowing that I can't begin to plan the wonderful things God has in store for me, I think I will just enjoy the moments, press ahead when led to do so and love those in my life.

Oh, and create as much art as possible :)

Winter Wonderland

Snow is falling here today!

They were saying it was going to snow but you never want to get your hopes up because they could get dashed in the morning with no snow but it was true. Big huge flakes are falling and it is beautiful outside. I love days when I can sit by the window and watch it fall and ever so gently and blanket my little world. Our property is surrounded by fir trees and it is such a winter wonderland right now. The kids are home from school today and we are making hot chocolate and watching movies. I always feel the desire to bake on days like today. I was thinking of making sugar cookies but that is really risky because they are one of my favorites. Maybe I will make something different. I think I will put the ham in the rotisserie to fill the house with yummy smells and maybe make some potato soup to go with the homemade rolls. MMM!

Forty Pounds!

I am celebrating today. I reached the 40lb mark on my weight loss journey. I am giving myself a shout out, "GREAT JOB!" I started in August and have been very faithful to stick to the program and it has paid off. I still have 10-20 lbs to go so it is not over yet but for some reason this was the goal that made me want to celebrate. I am learning how my life is not about food but that food is for energy and health. I can't say I am there yet but I am closer to that goal too. Praise God for self control that only comes from Him. On my own I am out of control. I am soaking up success today because you never know what will be right around the corner. I hope you will stop with me and enjoy moments of success in your own life as time is quickly whizzing past. It will be a new year before we know it.

Take Heart

Oh, I am getting in the spirit. Presents ordered started arriving in the mail and I am feeling like I will have a present for everyone by the time Christmas is here. It has been debatable up to this point. It may still be touch a go for a while.

Today is normally laundry day but I ran out of detergent and the weather was bad enough that I didn't want to go out so I went to my art room which I have renamed "My Happy Place". I didn't like the way the background was going on this canvas and as I was getting ready to go to a massage appointment I got an idea. Then my massage therapist called and was stuck at home because of the weather. Hallelujah! I went right out to my happy place and started on my new idea. Here is a picture of what it became. The canvas is 8 X 8 and these two little girls are so cute. The little one has her hand on her head like OH NO! The verse right below her says, "Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." A verse near and dear to my own heart. Oh, happiness is flowing right now.

Snowman

What a fun day I had today. Met with some fellow artists and made snowmen. I forgot my camera so I will have to wait for the other gals to post theirs so you can see all the others. I had never worked on this type of medium before. I think it was called India( don't have a clue as to how it is spelled). Michelle, who hosted our gathering cut the board into snowman shapes. Everyone of our snowmen where totally different. Michelle was using a power drill on hers and Lani was glamming hers up with beads and lip gloss. Paulette didn't have very long to work on hers but to her surprise she was able to finish and, of course, it turned out amazing. Karla was still working on hers when I left so I will have to see her photo to see how hers turned out. It was such a fun afternoon and now I have a decoration for my house. The first thing my son said was, "did you pound that nail in by yourself?" I do tend to play helpless around here so that I don't have to do all the work. I stamped the word wish for the mouth and Let it Snow on the base. It might be more than a wish tomorrow. We might actually see some snow in our area. I hope it waits to come until after I go to my collage card making class tomorrow.

Don't Give Up Hope

I Finished my second large painting today. I was going for an urban kind of look. I think I got what I was looking for. I love her beautiful blue eyes and complimentary shirt. I have been trying different colors of hair and eyes to learn how to mix different colors. The words on her shirt are Don't Give Up Hope. She just spoke to me as I was working on her today. I was thinking that we may not always like the life we are in or a particular situation but it is hope that gets us through. As long as we think that it won't last forever we can get through the tough times. The last few years have been hard for me. Having four teenagers who like to push boundaries keeps me on my knees and clinging to the hope that we all will make it through. When I look at this girl I will remember that the hope I have is certain and so hang on to that on the rough days.

My kids have been so supportive of my painting. Today my oldest son said this painting was Bad, in a good way. He said he thought it would look good as wallpaper. I can't see it but it was so funny to get his perspective. He wants me to sell my paintings and make thousands of dollars to put him through collage. I had to break it to him that it probably wasn't going to go that way. If only :)

Art Give-a-way

It has been my blessing to have some friends who are artists. They are successful and a blessing to those that have followed their journey's of creativity. I admire them and would love to follow in their footsteps but we each have our own paths to follow. I look forward to see where mine takes me. Lani is one of those friends and she had an art sale this past weekend. I was able to stop by and pick up a few lovely items. She had so many beautiful things that it was hard to decide what to take home with me. She is having a give-a-way on her blog so be sure and check it out at Healing Expressions.

A Million Thoughts

A million thoughts are running through my head today and like a traffic jam they are making my brain freeze in place. I have a big women's event tonight that I need to do so many things for and can't do anything yet until the kids get home from school because a handyman is here fixing all my house boo boos. I just saw the cutest project in a craft book that I want to try as I was trying to distract myself and now I want to go get everything to do that project and can't do that either. I have a painting started in my art room that is begging for attention and a sketch that I drew last night that I want to transfer to a canvas that has a background on it. I should be making Christmas cards for the card exchange tonight but I really don't want to. I think I will save myself some work and purchase some really pretty ones instead. My head is full of a conversation I had yesterday with a fellow artist. We sat at Starbucks for almost six hours talking about life and art and it was fabulous. I want to journal it all down and process some of the encouraging words she said to me. While I was sitting there waiting for her to show up I had a lady walk by me and saw my Rosie painting in the bag on the seat and asked to see it. I pulled it out and she wanted to know where I had found it. I very sheepishly said that I had painted it and she asked for my card. I had to tell her I don't have a card because I don't sale my art and she said I really should consider it because she loved my painting. As she walked away, I stood there is shock and delight. So unexpected and so encouraging. I will live off the conversation for some time. OH, so much to think about today!

Rosie

YEA! I finished my painting today. I got up early and finished by noon. I was able to also prep three other canvases and do backgrounds on two of them. Now I will have to decide what is going to go on them. I will do some sketching this afternoon but right now I am tired after getting up early so I am going to read a book or watch some TV. In case you were wondering; the poem on the painting by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow says:

O flower of song,

bloom on

and make forever

the world more

fair and sweet.

New Painting

Finally, I was able to get out to my art room today and started working on my new canvases. There is something about being creative that settles me. I had so much fun and got a good start. I didn't take a picture but I will when I get farther along. What I really want to do is paint all night long but that is not going to happen so I will wait until tomorrow. I'm working on a bigger canvas this time. I am trying all shapes and sizes of canvases and I haven't found one that I don't like yet. I wonder what size I will prefer? I'm sure going to have fun figuring it out. Well, got to get to bed so that tomorrow can come quicker.

Thanksgiving Day

We had a great day of food and family. Lots and lots of food! My grandson discovered the pots and pans and we were all quite entertained.

At times we had to talk louder because of all the serenading going on. I see drums in his future. He was also taken with a basket that was laying around. Here he is with his mama, my oldest daughter.

He had lots of people willing to carry him around and keep an eye on him so my daughter could actually carry on a full conversation. I remember those days of only hearing snippets of conversations as you ran from room to room taking care of kids

Here are my middle children. .Little brother, or not so little, is not enjoying a hug from his older sister but she is not discouraged.

My youngest holding the bunny for his nephew, or at least that is the story he is telling. I love the smile. He is really a lot of help with my grandson. He is about the only one with enough energy to keep up. I keep forgetting to have someone take my picture. I am always the one taking the pictures and future generations are going to think I never showed up at any of these events. Anyway, it was a great family day and I'm thanking the Lord for the one I've got.

Award

Brenda, my new, talented friend has awarded me a blog award. This award states that: This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY- nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends, they are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers.Such a nice award -

I'm supposed to pass it on to 8 bloggers for the reasons stated above:
1. Karin, 2. Lani, 3. Michelle, 4. Sharon, 5. Katie, 6. Jo 7. Jen, 8. Paulette

Blessing of Nature

I am thinking about our trip to New England and missing the beautiful sights we saw. I am so glad that we took so many photos. It was such a great trip. I thought on the eve of Thanksgiving day here in my neck of the woods that I would share some more photos with you.






Just think how many pumpkin pies you could make out of these beauties. YUM, YUM!



So many back roads leading to unknown places. You could journal about a picture like this one. Where would it take you and what would you be listening to on the radio on your way? I hear John Denver singing, "Take me home country roads, to the place I belong." I learned to play guitar on that song. Seventh grade was a long time ago.
When we visited this cove, it was deserted for the season and you could have heard a pin drop. We saw a bald eagle flying over head and the water was as smooth as glass.

I love nature and I hope you have enjoyed the sampling of photos I took. More and more I hope that we learn how to take care of this beautiful planet we live on. As you spend time with family this weekend, I hope you find lots to be thankful for.

Encouragement + Love

Today I read this quote by Robert T. Allen and loved it:

The truth is that everything that can be accomplished by showing a person when he's wrong, ten times as much can be accomplished by showing him where he is right.

The reason we don't do it so often is that it's more fun to throw a rock through a window

than to put in a pane of glass.

As it happened I was also reading in I Corinthians 13 today and heard a similar thing.

If I could speak in any language in heaven or on earth but didn't love others, I would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I knew all the mysteries of the future and new everything about everything, but didn't love others, what good would I be?

There are three things that will endure - faith, hope, and love - and the greatest of these is love.

I am encouraged today to look for the good in people and situations and love them.

There are enough people in their lives taking the other side.

Monday moaning

I am still working on faces in my journal. I want so badly to go out to my art room but when I think of it, it just seem like a lot of work right now with being sick and all.
I am hoping for a miracle to happen in the next 24 hours. I am having about 16 people come to my house for Thanksgiving dinner and I am still really sick. My chest cold has moved to my head also. I am a little concerned that I won't get everything done in time if I don't start feeling better soon. This is definitely not fun. I am resorting to a Zip Fizz today so I can get the laundry done. This is the time when I have the hardest time sticking to my healthy eating program too. I want hamburgers, fries, pizza and all other comfort foods I dream about when I feel sick and sorry for myself. OK, enough whining for today.
I am thankful that I don't have little babies anymore to take care of and I can rest when I need it. There is always a silver lining somewhere to be found. Now I am off to do more laundry.

A Life Lived Out Loud

Laying around does not agree with me. I was bored and wrote a poem. It was based on Life is a Verb and this quote by Cecil Beaton; Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.

A Life Lived Out loud

I’ve come to decide
That my life needs to come alive
To be lived out loud
Even crazy at times

Not against my own morals
But bordering on the absurd
Silly and fun
Slow down and skip instead of running with the herd

Open my eyes to the wonder all around
Notice the insignificant
Seeing the moments
and hearing the sounds

To feel the passion
To know your true self
Not caring about appearance
Not pretending to be someone else

Living your dreams
Fulfilling your calling
Knowing you’ve lived
A life worth knowing

Oh, a life full of being, enjoying and living
Many will question and give raised eyebrow looks
But inside their own hearts
Are yearning for this life misunderstood

Saturday and still sick, YUK

I have been home the last couple of days sick with that cough/cold virus that is going around. I was feeling bummed that I didn't feel up to going out to my art room. Then, duh, it occurred to me that I could practice in my art journal some sketches with my watercolor pencils and woodless colored pencils. So this is what I came up with. I did venture out to the Allen Designs Studio sale and picked up a few goodies. I will show you a couple of things I bought for myself once I get a picture of them. I also got some great gifts to give for Christmas. I just love Michelle's work. I saw a painting she is working on in her studio that when it is finished is going to be amazing. I hope she shares about it on her blog. Here is the original painting that I was able to snag. Been looking at it for months hoping that I could get it soon and there it was hanging on the wall when I got there. Couldn't resist. The crown is actually done in gold leaf. I hope someday I can be as good as her and be able to sell my paintings. Big dreams. For now I am satisfied with playing in my art journal and collecting paintings and such from my favorite artists.

Books for the New Year

I have a couple more books to tell you about. The One Year Through the Bible Devotional, by David R. Veerman. If you have always wanted to read through the Bible in a year but just reading the Bible is hard because you are not sure about all you are reading, then this book will be a huge help. It gives you the long version so that you read the entire Bible in a year or a shorter version to get the main stories. Then it has a devotional to go with it so you can understand what you are reading and apply it better to your own life. I set up a yahoo group for some of my church friends and we are going to read through the Bible this year. I am super excited about it. This will be my third year to do this but I have never had anyone to talk to about it so now I will have other travelers on this journey with me. YEA!


This is another new book that I got this week. Journaling As A Spiritual Practice by Helen Cepero. I have started through it and it is really good. The author says, "All spiritual disciplines and practices, including journaling, are about learning to be aware and awake, open to God, ourselves and the world around us". She also says, "Our journal writing begins with our willingness to let God accompany us from the very beginning as we dip our journal sifters into the running streams of our own lives." She was describing how when you mine for gold you go below the surface to find nuggets of gold hidden in the river bottom and journaling is like that too.

I think 2009 is going to be a good year of reading and writing and discovering.

On a Thursday

I got a couple of new books in the mail this week and wanted to tell you about them. The first one is called, "Your Words, Your Story" by Michele skinner. It is a book to help you develop your own voice when writing in a scrapbook, journal or blogging. There all kinds of ideas of topics and ideas to get you started. If you are a scrapbooker then you can get ideas from the layouts as well.

The other book is called, "Life is a Verb" by Patti Digh. It is a beautiful illustrated book but there is a lot or reading as you work through exercises to help you live life more intentionally. It also is designed to develop the wonder of a child in yourself as you go through each day. She encourages you to engage with the book and write in the margins about what you are thinking as you read it. There are extra large margins for this very purpose. She has exercises at the end of each chapter for you to complete. If you love quotes and stories, this book is full of them. I am enjoying it so far and I hope that it continues to be good all the way through. It is not written from a Christian perspective and there are some quotes and poems I have not agreed with but overall it is a fun, whimsical book to get you out of the serious thinking we do everyday. Which is kind of unusual since the whole premise is what would you do if you only had 37 days to live?

OK, that's all I have for now. I hope you have a thankful Thursday

Things I am thankful for:

Time to read some of my new books

My family with all their quirks

Wonderful coffee

A warm house to live in

This blog and those who visit it

Journals to write and create art in

Friends that take the time to send notes and call

The Author of my faith

My camera to record memories with

Beautiful, sparkly pink things

Laughter

Date night with my husband

Hugs from my grandchild

What are some things you are thankful for today?

Prayers have wings journal

I had some fun in my art room today. I decided that I wanted a prayer journal. Each page will have a picture of those I pray for on a regular basis. I was playing with two different ideas, one by transforming a composition notebook and another by making a journal out of watercolor paper. Because you have to gesso all the pages in the composition notebook, I don't think that I will be doing that again. I was wishing for spray on gesso. I don't know if there is such a thing but someone needs to invent it. I am still working on the other journal which I am going to make into a travel journal for my New England trip. There are so many projects that I want to work on and I am chipping away on them one at a time. This one will be on-going but once all the pages are prepped it will go faster. Oh, so much fun. I wish I could do this everyday.

Philosophy question of the day

I was reading in a book today and the little girl asks her mama, "what makes you you?" I find that question very intriguing. What does make me me? Is it my experiences? Is it my looks, my actions, my thoughts and passions, what I own or my family? Is it what other people say I am or do I get to decide what makes me me. I don't know if I have thought that much about it before but I know my faith is a huge part of what makes me me along with all that I have experienced. I think that is why we are all so different. Even if we experience the same things we will be different because we will interpret the experience through our own filter systems. And what is true one day can change by the next because we are forever changing. Understanding who we are is a key part of knowing what our purpose is. If someone were to ask you that question, what would you say? What makes you you?

Finished paintings

I finished my paintings today. I wish I could take better pictures so you could see the details but this is as good as it gets for now. I decided to do two paintings at the same time so that I could get extra practice and they are very different from one another. You can see the process pictures on my flickr site. I may do a little more tweaking with them both but I'm not sure. this painting is called Dawn's Holy light. I can see her at the church candle light service letting her light shine brightly.
This gal has seen some hard time lately and the message to her is to not give up. Hope is there and all she needs is some quiet meditation to focus her for the road ahead. I love her steady gaze. She is not afraid but there is a sadness about her at the same time. There is so much to be seen in the eyes. Both of these are so much better in person. I learned so much form Paulette Insall. She is an excellent teacher. I would recommend her on-line classes for sure.

Today and tomorrow

I finished up the art journal today and delivered it to paperdoll so that she could have it on display for prospective students. I forgot to take a picture of it all bound and prettied up with ribbons and beads so you will have to use your imagination. I am so excited about the class that I am having a hard time sleeping. I keep thinking about all that I need to bring and say and how much fun we are going to have. January 1st is a ways off so I had better calm down about it soon or it will be a long month. I even have paid students coming. The classroom is small so I hope those that really want to take the class sign up right away. I even had another idea for a class that I will teach next. I want to get started on planning that one too. This is way too fun.

My watercolor crayons came today and so I am planning of finishing up my paintings tomorrow. I will post pictures when I am finished. I have learned so much in Paulette Insall's painting class but I still have so much to learn. Practice, practice, practice! Not that I mind or anything. I am hoping that I get a good portion of the day in my art room on Saturday. So much to do and so little time.

Fun on Friday

If you are having a boring Friday, go to the bottom of this page and click on the Sticky Note video for some creative fun ideas!!! This cracks me up :)

Give a hand up

Our job is not to straighten each other out, but to help each other up.(Neva Coyle)

I don't know who Neva is but she is right on. Let's give each other encouragement and look at how we can help each other instead of being envious or too prideful to be there for one another. It is not always the big things that make a difference in people's lives either. Quite often it is the thoughtful small things that we do that touch a heart. Just this week I had a a very busy friend of mine meet me for lunch and when I went to the wrong Wendy's she waited patiently for me to scoop up my food and take to the other Wendy's across town. Even though we only had 30 minutes to share everything, she never made me feel bad and listened to me explain about my crazy life. That was huge for me. One friend actually laughed at a funny comment I made. Now this may happen to you a lot but what I consider funny most people thing is bizarre so it was so good for someone to "get me". Another friend set aside what she was doing to get on line and join a group I was setting up so that I could see if what I was doing was actually working. So many things we can do may seem small but be big in someone else's eyes. I must remind myself to be attentive to others and make them feel special. I can so often get caught up in my own life and forget to be an everyday minister of love and grace.

File Folder Journal

The other day I was shopping at SCRAP and found these brown file folders. Instantly I knew that I wanted to make a journal out of them. They are thick so you don't need to gesso them if you don't want to and working in a larger size has been fun for me. I usually have the fold in the book to deal with which is not a problem here. I also found some old magazines that same day with these fabulous ladies in them. I decided to make a series of them for the journal and I think they are really coming along well. I was trying out different techniques because I am going to teach a art journal class at paperdoll in January. If you are interested you can sign up for their newsletter to get the specifics. The background on this piece was tissue paper from some shoes that I bought and is is a big map which I covered up mostly but you can see it popping through in places.

I loved the quote on this page by Audrey Hepburne. " The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows. And the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!"
GO, GO,GO, isn't that what we are all feeling the message is today? I am learning to say NO, NO, NO! These are only half the pages I have done so far but it gives you a sample of how much fun I am having with them. I am so glad that I grabbed a bunch of folders because I had no idea I would like the size and feel of them. I did go back and pick a few more magazines with the ladies in them though because they are perfect for art journaling my thoughts. I will be sharing more as I add to the journal but if you art journal, start thinking outside the box of what you can use because you could find more creativity in a different size or shape or medium. Happy Journaling!

Julia Stiles look-a-like?

The funniest thing just happened to me. I ran into someone that I haven't seen in a long time and he said I looked like Julia Stiles. I have never been compared to her before and so I had to look her up and see what she really looked like. I will let you make your own decision on that one but here is a picture of her with a similar hairstyle so you can see for yourself.

Allen Design Studio Sale

Michelle Allen from Allen Design Studios is have a sale. Check out some of the cute items she will be giving away and so many more will be for sale at her studio. If you live in the Portland/Vancouver area you should check it out for sure. What a talented lady she is!