Possibility

I adore old keys. Growing up in ancient houses probably helped spark my adoration of keys as I remember the skeleton keys that went to our locks. Holding one in my hand today is a flashback to the past. A piece of key shaped childhood. Of freedom and fun, play and carefree days.

Antique keys hold so much mystery. They unlock the imagination. Who did they belong to? What secrets did they lock safely away? They represent security.

I was gifted a handful of keys (pic taken via iPad) recently from a lovely friend. I have great hope for their use as the possibilities are endless. I imagine using them in photographs, encaustic art, making a mobile or windchime, something loving and artsy. Instead, they end up hidden away in a drawer. Treasures of their own, ironically locked away for safe keeping, their potential lying stagnant as I cannot bare to part with them. Perhaps it was growing up poor that causes me to hang onto treasure as when I open the drawer that holds my collection, I feel like the richest girl on the block. That alone makes them worth their weight.

Still, it saddens me, this inability to use them. I fear not doing them justice. Not having an art piece turn out good enough. Not having the pictures successfully represent their beauty. It is the "not good enough" part that causes me to keep them locked away. "Not good enough" is not good enough for me anymore.

What a cathartic post! I wasn't expecting it to end this way! What an epiphany! I think I'll take my key collection and proudly display them in a bowl where I will pass them regularly and they can whisper to me and spark my creativity. They will say, "You are good enough! Come play!"

Dreaming

Cue the music!

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas!

I guess I should have clarified 'light and fluffy' vs. 'wet and sloppy'.

At least our tree is Merry and Bright.

Today is a snow day. The kids had all sorts of play dates planned with the idea of snowmen, snow forts and hot chocolate. 

 The snow came. Then the rain. More snow is scheduled to follow. Right now they would be stuck making slush men, so they are hunkered down with books and crafts. 

Today I am thankful for a warm house, the beautiful snow and the love and safety of my gorgeous children.

Busy, busy, dreadfully busy...

My first born graduates this weekend.

I had full intention of putting out a heartfelt,

well thought out post about this mountain of a milestone.

As would be expected, I'm too busy to blog about it!

Instead, I will post a picture of the pretty beanbags I made for the beanbag toss.

So quick and easy and it turns out the family loves them! 

They've been practicing juggling, playing catch,

and making up various games aside from the originally intended beanbag toss.

It doesn't take much time to make them.

If you have some scrap fabric laying around, I highly recommend you make some!

Fun for the whole family!

p.s. I cheated. They're really filled with rice.

Play Day

A magical play day.

Visions of dreams.

Good eats, loads of laughs, art abound, all around.

hey

play

day

Imagination awakened.

Heart light.

Happiness flitting about like leaves in the wind.

hey

play

day

Weekend gone.

Play day done.

Back to the daily grind.

hey

play

day

Look back now

on shadow self

wondering where she went.

hey

play

day

Life lacks lustor

during everyday tasks.

Back to the daily grind.

hey

play

day

Make new mission.

New life position.

Make every day a play day.

hey

play

day

play day with a friend

Angels

Do you believe in angels?

I do.

Sometimes You Just Have To Play

Some people have studios.

I have a dungeon.

I've been playing in my dungeon!

note to self: dungeons are not the best place for photo shots 

Something has shifted in me this year.

Perhaps it's my word for 2012.

Faith.

It has allowed me more freedom to be.

Faith. Play.
Two words highly recommended by yours truly.

Childlike Wonder

There's something about zebras that bring out the childlike wonder in me.

Their stripes are so bold, so exact, so... fake looking!

I've seen horses my whole life and the zebra looks like a horse in striped pajamas.

They appear to be imaginary. They are entirely too amazing to be real.

Zebras were always my favorite zoo animal by far.

When my local zoo took the zebras out, I was heartbroken.

Guess where I found them?

Near a local amusement park wandering the fields free and happy.

(as free as a large fenced field allows)

I was giggling with glee when I took the park's mini-train ride and spotted them grazing.

I could ride that train all day just to get a glimpse of this gorgeous creature.

Staring at them makes me feel like a child again.

They free my sense of wonder.

What frees your sense of wonder?

I challenge you to find something this weekend that wakes your inner child.

Give yourself permission to play!

Couple

I want to do something with this picture.

Write a story.

Play in photoshop.

Crop it.

Blow it up.

Add thought or word bubbles.

No time to play.

Going away for the day to help a friend in need.

Any grand ideas for this couple?

What's their story?

   

Took this photo while sitting in the passenger seat in the rain waiting for Darling Husband to come back to the car.

Who The Hell Do I Think I Am?

Perfectionism is a disease.

Not that I'm perfect.

No.

Far from it.

Yet it halts me in my tracks.

Stops me like a deer in headlights.

That damned fear I have of judgment.

Remember Gertrude (my inner critic)?

You can find her

here

here

here

She and I have been going at it lately.

This time has been different.

I've been kicking her butt!

I was walking out of the vet's office the other day.

I walked into an invisible wall of awareness.

Hit me smack dab in the face.

Stopped me in my tracks.

Gertrude puts all these doubts in my head.

She makes me feel like I can't do what I want.

She shoves fear in my face.

On occasion she has even tripped me.

Bitch!

Seeing how Gertrude is a part of me,

the Awareness Wall made me realize it is ME who is stopping me.

I'm the only one in my way.

I'm the one with the excuses.

I'm the one who lets her get away with her evil plans to hold me back.

I want to write.

I want to take pictures.

I want to do encaustics.

I want to make money.

I want to move.

I want to live.

Everything on that list is do-able.

The Encaustic thing.

Fell in love with it years ago.

I don't make any because what I make looks and feels like shit to me.

Yesterday I was thinking...

Who the hell do I think I am?
Why do I expect perfection out myself?
Especially in the beginning?
Who do I think I am that I expect a masterpiece when I pick up a brush?

Everyone has to start somewhere.

I need to practice to get better.

I'm no Picasso.
Never will be.

Even he has critics.

My pieces are sloppy, immature, willy nilly.

That's OKAY!!!

I'm finding my voice.

Years ago I made some pieces and stopped.

A year later I made some more, hated them and stopped.

I haven't created in a long time so I sat down yesterday to create.

Not good.
Guess what????

I'm not stopping!

I'm going to play and learn.

That's how kids get started.

They don't judge their work.

They create.

They grow with each creation.

They play fearlessly.

I watch my children create

and fall in love with every piece.

Observation of their process is such a liberating event.

Play, enjoy, create.

For the sake of playing, enjoyment and creation.

I am going to step back into the process of learning encaustic.

It's okay if I don't create masterpieces.

I am new to the process and self-taught.

I am a kindergartener.

Just starting out.

Play, enjoy, create.

To Gertrude: You can come play with me but only if you play nice!

Play Date

A friend and I have play dates.

Creative play dates.

We visit art shows, fiber fares, shop handmade.

Last weekend we had a create date.

I met her at her house and we pulled out some paints and played.

I'm not a painter.

Never used acrylics before.

She handed over a giant canvas (gulp!)

and told me to paint.

It was intimidating.

Gertrude (my inner critic) must have been hiding in the back seat on the way over

because she came out of nowhere and started razzing me.

The music went on, paints were mixed and played with,

I shushed Gertrude and painted.

I know it's no masterpiece and I don't claim to be able to paint

(I love encaustics, mixed media, collage because it's so forgiving).

I did not finish it there as I ran out of time,

but when I stepped back to look at what I had done,

I was pretty darned proud of myself!

I brought my daffodil home and propped it up on the dresser.

When I woke the next morning to see my sunny flower beaming at me

it made me smile.

Take THAT Gertrude!

I challenge you to embrace this day with creative energy.
Kick your critic to the curb.

Write, cook, paint.

Do something creative.

Tap into your inner child and play.

A Prayer

God

grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change,

courage to change the things I can,

and wisdom to know the difference.

I have come to the recent conclusion

that this prayer was created for those dealing with

TEENAGERS!!!!

Except they forgot the line...

and a whole lot of patience.

The Lair

This is home to my teenage son.

The Lair is headquarters of operation "How Far Can I Push Her"

and related operation "How Much Can I Get Away With".

Both continuous ongoing covert operations

taking place behind the locked door of the command center

with the aid of high tech gadgets and enemy army troops (other teenagers).

Included in said operations are the acts of

lying, treason, blasphemy and stealing

(all small scale but still punishable by death hard time).

Okay, okay, joking aside. 

It's not that bad.

All my kids are good kids.

No really.

I know everyone says it, but mine really are!

As far as the teenage bullshit I'm dealing with?

Mild really.

Still...

I don't like being lied to and

I am frustrated with his inability to communicate.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I hear you.

I hear the collective...

"sounds like typical teenage boy behavior to me".

Well then...

YOU COME DEAL WITH IT!!!!

Just kidding.

I love my teen dude. He's a good guy.

He's learning and growing and testing the waters.

He's fun, funny, handsome, a family guy.

He still gives me daily hugs and shares with his little siblings

(when he's not harassing them).

He's waaaay better behaved than I was at that age.

Don't tell him that!!!

Of course I had good reason.   ;)

∞ • ∞ • ∞

Every new season blooms roses.

With those roses come thorns.

The flower offers beauty, scent, pleasure.

The thorns offer lessons.

You cannot have one without the other.

I vow for the rest of the day to let it go and play!!!!!

(encaustic piece I'm playing with) 

p.s. my morning has been improved upon considerably

as I found out I won a give-a-way over at Beth's Awesome Blog!!!! 

Thanks Beth!!!

Playing

Hi all.

I hope I was not misleading with my lettuce flower picture from my previous post. Nope. I don't live somewhere dreamy and warm. That picture was taken during the summer. My back yard currently looks like this!

The past few days have seen quite a bit of downtime. Mother Nature has dished out a small snowstorm and a couple of viruses have chosen our house to host their latest party. With the weather outside being frightful, I've been spending a few stolen moments doing something delightful!

I have been rediscovering photoshop thanks to Kim Klassen and her awesome Skinny-Mini course. She offers several other great Photoshop courses as well and is a wonderful teacher! She also offers textures and tutorials. You really must check her out.

Here's an example of what I have been up to.

The picture from last post...

The picture with textures added and played with. I also added a quote from John's E-book My Eternal Journey which you can find more information about at the bottom of his blog page.

 How cool is that?!?!?!!!!!