today’s face is made on a brown paperbag. I took it from the bagel cafe we go to in the weekends. I then scrunched it up, and then wetted it and scrunched it up once more. Then I flattened it out and let it dry overnight. And then painted on it. It was fun and I like the outcome.
Today’s quote is:
If you want something in your life you’ve never had, you’ll have to do something you’ve never done.
In some ways, this one seems so obvious, doesn’t it? If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get the outcome you’ve always gotten. But even though it sounds relatively obvious when we read it, we still do this all the time. I find that I have lots of areas in my life where I complain about how things go. I find myself frustrated with the end results.
But, I rarely do anything different.
Most of the time, I am just frustrated but I don’t really take action. Even if I don’t know how to fix the outcome, what this quote reminds me is that I need to change something. Anything. The only way to ensure my output is different is to change my input. In any way at all.
So here’s my plan: next time I find myself complaining about the outcome of something, I will see if I can change what I do. Anything that can possibly give me a different outcome. Even if it doesn’t end up being the ideal outcome, I think trying new things will show me what’s possible.
At least, I am willing to try.
I know it’s weird but The Ocean at the End of the Lane was my first Neil Gaiman. And it was such a lovely one.
I read American Gods years and years ago.
Well tried to read it. And didn’t like it. And with that, I wrote off Neil Gaiman.
Until I listened to his graduation speech and then fell in love with him all over again.
So when I saw this short novel, I decided I would give him another chance. And I am so glad I did.
It’s a truly lovely lovely lovely story. Highly recommended.
today’s quote is:
So plant your own gardens and decorate your soul instead of waiting for someone to being you flowers.
This one had me thinking for a while, too. Maybe this is because of movies or books but I think we always wait for others to do the nice things for us. Part of growing up, for me, has been realizing that I can buy my own flowers. And chocolates. And presents. I don’t need someone to buy them for me.
And even more importantly, someone buying or not buying them for me doesn’t mean anything. I’ve had it both ways and I can’t say that the guy who bought them loved me more than the one who didn’t. Some people are into those little things and do them all the time and others do not. In fact, the guy who always bought me flowers was also considerably less nice to me overall than the one who didn’t.
Who made the rule that we have to be waiting?
Why do others get to decide when we get to have flowers?
Why does anyone else ever get to decide my worth? My soul’s joy?
Part of growing up is owning who you are. Stepping into that fully. Decorating your own soul. Planting your gardens. Buying whatever you desire without waiting for approval. Being not just okay with who you are but beaming in the unique beauty of fully being you.
That’s what I want for myself.
And for all of those around me.
So, I start the process of decorating my soul.
Life Book week eleven was taught by Tam. The Lesson was on creating a painting around the idea of a Tree of Life. I decided mine would be a girl sitting by the tree, reading. I did this whole page in about twenty minutes. Mostly with my fingers. Tried not to overthink it.
It’s all acrylic paints.
It says: we are all part of the same story.
Aren’t we?
Remember This is a project for 2014. You can read more about it here.
Today’s quote is:
Just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to, doesn’t mean they don’t love you with everything they have.
As I grow older and older, I understand that this is one of the fundamental truths of life. It’s true for couples, siblings, parents or any other relationship you can think of. People love you the way they love you. They can love you will all of their hearts and souls and it might still not be what you want or need.
But it’s all they have.
We often don’t understand others’ perspective. Sometimes we don’t even understand ours. We don’t know what makes us do what we do and we certainly can’t understand what motivates others. But when it comes to judging people, that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re measuring them from our perspective.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this.
I’ve been realizing how much the people in my life love me. And even if they don’t always love me the way i want to be loved, I know in my heart that they love me with all they have.
And how can I possibly ask for more?
For this week, I picked engaged. One of the parts of being active for me is to be more engaged in all areas of my life. When with my kids, at work, when talking to Jake, when out in social situations, and even when alone, I want to be more engaged. I want to be fully present. I want to be very conscious of this very moment. I want to be in it. So engaged it is.
The lettering I used here comes from this pin.
The image here is an eye. I wanted it to look like it was looking you in the eye as in engaged but it looks tired and sleepy to me.
Listen with Intent is a project for 2014. You can read more about it here.
these are family photos just to back fill because we did take them:
they are blurry i know
but they were our only chance this week
and so we went with it.
and here we go. so grateful for my life. i hope your week was lovely, too.
Weekly Diary is a project for 2014. You can read more about it here.
Nathaniel Reads to Mommy is a project for 2014 that I am doing with my 4.5-year-old son. You can read more about it here.
This week’s inspiration comes from this pin. I loved loved loved this little image.
I drew this page and then colored it using watercolor pencils. I colored the whole background with Neocolor II crayons.
prompt says: today i know that i spent way too much time
I wrote about carrying the weight of my past and feeling broken.
Today I Know is a project for 2014. You can read more about it here.
This is a layout I made for My Mind’s Eye.
I have decided to continue my attempts at telling the longer stories and combining the two 6x12s to create something that’s interesting to me.
For this month, I decided to take the journaling from this blog post on my core desired feelings. Something I want to remember all throughout 2014 and hence a great layout subject. Like last month, the journaling took up an entire page, and here’s what I ended up with:
This page brings together several lines that I love: I cut out the hearts from the Cupid’s Arrow – Chevron paper and I also used the back of the Love You Foiled paper from the same line. I added some bright pink from Find Your Wings and Fly’s Up and Away Big Top and the bright green of Krafty Floral’s back side from the same line. The final paper comes from Kate&Co’s Cambridge Court “Striking” paper. Who knew you could mix all those colors and end up with something lovely?
I also added little tidbits here and there, including these chipboard arrows I love and adore.
Since this page is about me and how I want to feel, I decided these photos of me with my kids would be perfect since I look so happy in them. I am feeling how I want to feel for all of 2014. I added some word stickers on the photos. Word stickers make me happy, too.
On the left side, I only put a few little embellishments since it’s so text heavy and there isn’t a lot of room. The colors and shapes of these allow the left page to tie in with the right page, making the layout come together. I also wanted a little more green on this side so I decided to add a strip of tape, simple, easy, and exactly what I wanted.
A full frame of tape brought the whole thing together and I was done. In case you’re wondering how this goes inside a page protector, I can show you that the two sides fit together really nicely to create a 12×12:
So I can just slip it into a normal 12×12 protector. If the looseness will bother you, you can also tape them together in the back, but I like it better this way.
This week’s stitching also comes from urban threads. I loved the two little birds. I used stem stitch and back stitch on this one. The little word is together.
Stitching Circles is a project for 2014. You can read more about it here.
Today’s quote is:
People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out if fear of unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.
This piece was my favorite of the ones I did in my first week, mostly because the way I did it was so new to me. I first painted the background all black. And then drew my face and painted it on top. Which is why it’s dark looking. But I love it. I loved the process of seeing the face emerge from darkness.
I wish I could tell you my faces get all better after this but that isn’t so. As I predicted, I do a few I like and many I don’t. The process is long, tough and arduous. But we soldier on.
As for the quote, it’s another one of those that gave me serious pause. I will admit right here and right now that I do this. I do this all the time. In fact, I am doing this right now in various areas of my life. As I get older and have more responsibilities in my life, I’ve noticed that I get more and more scared of the unknown. I get much more risk-averse.
The suffering I know is much better than the potential suffering that might come from the unknown. Who knows how bad it might be? I never think “Oh it might turn out so much better.” I just spend most of my energy worrying about how very bad it might get.
And while a little risk-averseness isn’t necessarily bad, it can easily get debilitating. If I am always choosing the familiar suffering, I am still always choosing suffering over any other possible path.
And here’s something I learned a long time ago: taking risks is like a muscle. Unused, it can atrophy. To be good at taking risks, you need to practice that muscle. You need to be willing to try. The less you try, the more you breed fear. The less you’ll try and the circle will go on.
So here’s what I thought today when I read the quote: Maybe I can look at my life and see the small sufferings I’m choosing. Ones that I can risk playing with. Ones where even if the unknown ended up being terrible, it wouldn’t be disastrous. I can start taking small, non-harmful risks wherever I can. This way I can flex my muscle. I can practice and strengthen it. I can also show myself that sometimes the risks pay off. Sometimes the known suffering is much worse than the alternative.
And I will only know if I try.
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projects for twenty twenty-five
projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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