Life is What Happens

I know. I know. I promised to do better with my creative endeavors and especially with my weekly creative challenges. So, how's this?

 

The Unfinished Mermaid

 

Okay. Now it's time for the truth. All I did was work on her hair a little bit. I had those darned good intentions, but they didn't carry me very far in terms of adhering to this week's drawing/sketching challenge.

 

And I'm okay with that. We've been in the middle of a bedroom remodel, so the household is in a bit of upheaval...and mess. My little guy did a solid face plant on the hardwood floor two week's ago, so we had a follow-up visit to the dentist this week. And I've been up to my elbows in prepping assignments for Romeo and Juliet for my freshman class.

 

Sigh.

 

But I have squeezed in a couple of small things, as always. I'm trying very hard not to abandon creativity completely. And I figure even the smallest attempts are good enough.

 

This week was another successful round of daily Instagram posts. If you don't have the Instagram app, you can follow my feed here. I've been working with textures from the newish DistressedFX app, as well as a couple of other photography apps:

 

Going Home

 

Empty Nest

 

Wide Open Memories

 

What She Stumbled Upon

 

The last two are probably my favorites from the week. Both of them make me think of magical things and places, of trips down the rabbit hole. Or at least peeks down that rabbit hole...

 

I also participated in "Throwback Thursday" with a pic of myself when I was about three:

 

Cutie Pie! :)

 

And strictly for comparative purposes, a selfie from the other night:

 

Filters are my friend!!

 

I may not have done too well at my weekly challenge, but I did start on a new artsy endeavor! I had a bit of Christmas money left to spend, and while surfing around Amazon, I found Smash Books by the K&Company. How to explain them...Basically, they are scrapbooks/journals/mixed media collections all in one awesomely designed binder. Do yourself a favor, check out one of the videos from K&Company. And then order your own. I haven't had much of a chance to amass all the goodies I want to tuck into mine, but I did start with a couple of lovely little tidbits:

 

I got the kit with two books. The green one will just be my anything

and everything book. The red one? All about me and my Hubby! <3

 

One of the guided journaling pages

 

Affirmations: "I now go beyond other people's fears and limitations..."

 

From a Hallmark bag!

 

Last night's fortune...added to the red journal ;)

 

So, while life tends to take over when it comes to my creative plans, I still manage to sneak in some random moments. Would I like more time? Of course! But every little bit is good enough for me!

 

Or so I tell myself... :)





 

 





Guilt: A Powerful Motivator

Do you remember the blanket statements that teachers used to make while you were in school? Like "If we don't stop talking, no one is going out for recess!" And they were only talking about one or two students, but rather than calling out the perpetrators, they addressed the entire class.

 

Remember that?

 

Well, I was always the good kid that wasn't talking but who felt hugely guilty anyway!

 

The angel on my shoulder is the size of a sumo wrestler and the devil on the other? A pancake.

 

So when I posted that I hadn't fulfilled my weekly creative endeavor in yesterday's blog entry, I felt guilty. Hugely guilty. Dirty look from the sumo wrestling angel on my shoulder guilty.

 

Know what I did? Grabbed a pencil and a notebook and got to work:

 

A Window to a Guilty Soul

 

There. I feel better.

 

And to feel further better about myself, I processed a portrait on my iPhone:

 

Little Boy, Big Imagination

 

And then I decided to play around with Photoshop. I used a free stock image from Catnip Studio Collage:

 

 

Then I used a bunch of textures and such from Jerry Jones and the authors of Digital Art Wonderland, and voila!

 

 

The Sisters

 

There. I feel better. The guilty stare from that sumo wrestling angel has been replaced by a patronizing grin. I'm okay with that.

 

 

 

 

You Know How It Is...

Oh, you know how it goes. You make some plans (that notoriously dirty word), and you set forth to follow up on those plans.

 

And then life says, "Hey! Go get some groceries! Stay late for some meetings! Get a migraine! Be a mommy and a wifey! Clean up some cat puke!"

 

Darned ol' life needs to keep its smart mouth shut!

 

But alas, it doesn't. And I will confess that it has not been the creative week that I had envisioned. I trust you will forgive me just this once. And then again when it happens in a subsequent week. And so forth.

 

This week's mini-project was supposed to be drawing and sketching. As soon as I rolled that die, I had a feeling this would be the first week that I didn't fulfill my weekly goal. I did bring a couple of drawing books out along with a sketchbook. They are staring at me scornfully from the shelf under my coffee table.

 

I'm hoping this counts:

 

Coloring is like drawing...right?

 

Well, it's Saturday, which is still a part of the existing week, so there's that. I could still draw or sketch something today...

 

Sigh.

 

No, not "sigh" because I don't feel bad about sacrificing some creative endeavors to:

 

 

My most favorite people in the world.

 

And it's not like I did absolutely nothing creative in the hands-on department. I did make this:

 

Cooking is creative, y'all!

 

And I did process a slew of iPhone pictures, so that counts for something...

 

Homeward

 

Leaving

 

Down on Main Street

 

Barn Love

 

On the Horizon

 

Signs

 

So, you see...it's not like I just sat on my couch all week. I mean, I did. As much as possible. But I was still creative. Ish.

 

Will I promise to do better in the coming week? Well, I hate to break promises, so I simply promise to try. I'm going to carry over the drawing/sketching assignment and see what happens. I'll still process an iPhone pic every day (have to hit my goal of 365, after all). And I'll hope that the coming week isn't quite so dreadful as this one.

 

After all, tomorrow is another day to be creative...









And That's When Life Steps In...

What is they say about the best laid plans?

 

It has been...a week. I suppose that just in saying that I have said enough. But this being a blog and words being a must, I shall further say this: It has been a stressful, overwhelming, and tumultuous week with most of those feelings going on in my head and in my heart, some going so far as to spill out and into my daily life.

 

Sigh.

 

So, what did I do about that? I did what I could. I vented to the people who listen. I avoided the people who don't. I got and gave hugs. And I tried to be creative when I could, forcing myself in some cases, more so for distraction than for release.

 

One of the first endeavors I relied on was my monthly project. February, of course, was dedicated to Valentine's Day crafts, so I took one evening and put together the Valentine's my little guy will be taking to preschool next week.

Two Down, Ten to Go

 

Another Pinterest-Inspired Winner

 

My weekly project was dedicated to doodling. Yeah, about that...I wasn't too successful. I had started a page in my workbook but quickly discovered two things: I should've started with a larger marker, and I shouldn't have tried to work on it in proximity to a bouncy four-year-old. At least he had some luck!

 

Upside Down Doodle So I Could See It Better

 

Now, this isn't to say that I completely failed to create any doodles. I did finish a piece I started the other week...

 

Simplicity Can Be Best

 

I had also decided to start a mixed media project this week. Here's how that turned out:

 

At least one of us was creative! <3

 

I did keep up with my daily post on Instagram. That's been the easiest creative endeavor for me to pay mind to so far. I try to also process each image a bit so that I'm doing more than just take a quick pic and post it for the sake of posting it. Here are a couple of shots from the week:

 

The Bridges We Burned

 

Backward Glance

 

Up Home

 

I also took a little time to work on a secret mission. But that's all I can tell you about that:

 

Sorry. Spy Stuff...

 

The Art House Co-Op offered up a free project yesterday, and since it was an easy enough one to accomplish quickly, I signed up. And since we had a snow day, I was able to start and finish the project yesterday. This free project was "Map Your Adventure" and I got to work about two minutes after I signed up.

 

Rough Draft Turns to Final...

 

 

La Vie

 

I need to burn the edges, of course, and crumple it up a bit, but I was pleased with how it turned out.

 

And finally, I was able to process a couple of non-iPhone pictures yesterday. I'm really happy with how they each turned out.

 

The Good-Bye Farm

 

The Memory Keepers

 

See. Even when life is in the way and getting one down, there is still time for creative endeavors. No excuses, right?

 

So, what's on tap for the rest of the weekend and the week ahead? I have some pictures to upload and several to process. We got six inches of snow last night; if the huge gusts of wind don't blow all of it away, maybe I can snap some pics. With the roll of the dice, I found that I would be focusing some creative efforts on drawing and sketching. Um...yikes?

 

Wish me luck!

 





 













 

A Week in Review

Brr! What a chilly week  it was! We've had temperatures in the teens, and bouts of snow and ice all week. Monday was even a snow day, so that gave me an extra chance to get some photos processed, as that was my artsy task for the week.

 

I ended up processing a little of this and a little of that in terms of subject matter. So, let's see what I came up with!

 

Not Theirs Anymore

 

Homestead

 

Taking a Walk

 

Frozen Landscape

 

Winter's Caress

 

Frozen

 

The other type of photo processing that I did was via my iPhone. I've been trying to process and post at least one iPhone shot a day. Knock on wood, I've hit 34 days straight! Here are some of those shots...

 

Fog

 

A Glimpse of Wings (See it?)

 

Stormy Morn

 

Defunct

 

Yesterday's a Memory

 

Chilly and foggy were the predominant themes for the week, huh? Ugh. I like the variation in weather, but a couple of nicer days would be okay. I'd just like to see the sun!

 

So on that note, one more shot from the week...It's from last summer, but I just processed it this week. And it will provide us with some warmth to get us through the rest of this chilly week!!

 

On the Horizon

 

Now, as for this week, I have two tasks to attend to. First, I have to get started on my project for February: Valentine crafts! There is sure to be an exchange of Valentine cards at my little guy's preschool, so I must make sure that he has something cute to give to the other kids. And maybe I can squeeze in time before then to do some other cute activities. Maybe.

 

As for my weekly project, I'm back to doodling! That's actually perfect because I was in the middle of a little picture that I'd like to finish. I also have something else I want to do that involves doodling, so we'll see if I can find time to bring that to fruition.

 

Wish me luck! Now, what are your creative plans for the week?