Back to work

Work started officially today. School, though, only starts with half-days this Thursday and full days next week (after Labour Day weekend.)

What do kids do when the schoolyard's lawn has just been cut and there's grass laying everywhere? Well, they make nests for the soccer balls and basket-balls of course! Half a dozen of the kids were doing that this afternoon for well over an hour! And they weren't even bored yet! I told a couple of 6th graders who were there that they should enjoy their last year in elementary school, that it's their last chance to still do childish stuff and getting away with it because in high school, you can forget about playing "baby" games. They loved that I said that and had a blast all day long! Hopefully it'll spread to their friends and they'll have a fun year.

My muse came out of hiding. We made peace and she helped me finish one swap and get another one well on its way to being done. It feels good.

Now I'm off to bed because I have to get up in less than 7 hours! Yikes! Time flies when you're having fun...

Imperfections

For a couple of weeks now, I've been struggling. Struggling with my art (my muse is playing hide and seek most days.) Struggling with my weight. Struggling with my thoughts and beliefs. Struggling with my choices.

Today, I give myself permission to accept that I am not perfect. And my imperfections make me who I am. I am imperfectly human.

I chose this photograph today because it is NOT perfect. My settings on my camera weren't right and I just couldn't work them out that day. But I love this photo anyway, for all its imperfections. Diesel looks like she is surrounded by light, by a presence bigger than us all. And, well, truthfully, it had been quite a while since I had posted a photo of my baby! (I just checked and the last photo of Diesel was in January!)

Work is starting next Monday. We have a meeting this Friday, in the morning, to get our group list and other important infos to start the school year. Even though I have done a lot of stuff this summer, I feel like I barely made a dent in my to-do list. But that's ok. Tomorrow is another day. ( I did do more sorting/cleaning than I thought I would though!)

Last thing: I'm planning a giveaway for Labour Day weekend which should be when I reach 200 posts.

New hair, new painting

So I did get my hair coloured but decided not to go for the "fireman" red like last time. I went for a dark brown with red highlights. And I got a new haircut. I love it!







Today, I got the urge to paint. It hadn't happen in a long time. This is the result. I have no idea who or what she is. But she wanted to be painted. She doesn't have a name yet either.

The canvas board is 12"x16" and I only used acrylic paints. For the building, I used Light Modeling Paste from Liquitex mixed with black acrylic paint. The lighter streaks were made with reinkers that I let drop down the canvas board (I turned it upside down afterwards to complete the painting) and then wiped off.

I don't have much else to say.

First Fabric ATC

This week, I worked on my first fabric ATCs for a round robin. The base is couch fabric sample. The second player added the coffee cups with fumes. I did the beading, fabric painting (white) and added a heart charm. To attach the fabric to the cardstock backings, I used my trusty Crop-a-dile and eyelets in all 4 corners.

Tomorrow, I'm getting my hair re-coloured and I'm going for the bright red again.

Welcome love

Some time ago, Brandy sent me a blank journal in a beautiful cover that she made herself. I had put it aside with all my other blank journals, waiting until I finished the other one that I was already working in. Well, when I got sick of working in that one, I pulled Brandy's journal out and began drawing in it. The first drawing is only pencil but I plan to eventually colour it in. This is the second entry in that journal and it was done late at night. I was about to fall asleep when this image appeared in my head and I just had to put it to paper before forgetting about it. The page came out exactly as I had envisioned it which doesn't happen all that often. I simply drew with a regular HB pencil and then added colour with my basic watercolour kit and my AquaPainter brush (you fill the handle with water and just go from there. I love it!) I used Micron pens for the heart border and the letters, a gold gel pen for the outer border of the heart and finally, the next day, I used my date stamp with StazOn ink to complete the page.

While working in my journal, on my ATCs and Chunky pages lately, I've challenged myself to use less colours. I try to stick to the primary (red, blue and yellow) and secondary (purple, green and orange) colours with some black and white. I find that sometimes, less is more.

If you haven't already, go read Judi's latest blog post. It's uplifting and inspiring. Definitely made me smile. I wasn't feeling down or creatively blocked at all when I read her post but it STILL helped me to get ready to create. And create I did! Yesterday, I spent the whole day working on ATCs, chunky pages and skinny pages while watching DVDs from my collection. And this afternoon will probably be the same!

Get inspired! Get creative! Have fun!