all about me....for the Documented Life

i found some much needed studio time this weekend and played catch up in my moleskin. i got out my homemade girl stencil and used her. she captures and embraces me.....i just love her. i painted up the pages working many layers onto these pages- some bold, some worn, and some just peaking through....

i had a realization while putting the finishing touches on this- how old i was turning this year.....i was looking for a bingo number; searching for a 43....and then, i realized that it was 2014. well son of a beehive!! i had a moment where i was really crabby. how did i miss a year?! did i really think i was 42 this past year? no- i do remember 43. i am just ill prepared for this number- 44, is all.

oh well- life goes on and it is certainly better than the alternative. i think there was also a moment of panic as i felt like life was going quickly. am i doing as much as i can? am i wasting precious time? and as i contemplated this looking at my painting, i realized if this is about me- i didn't tell anyone anything. i very brief glimpse into my quirky painting habits (which i love and always revert to....). so i added my top ten list.

yes- a little list to round off my now very soon to be 44 years of life. things i love and help define me.

this is me....all 44 years of me. finally able to hold my hands on my hips and face life.....a little more ready, but, definitely ready to conquer. 

documented life- pinterest inspiration

playing along with the documented life? the challenge for week 6 was to find inspiration on "Pinterest." and where better to find some great inspiration right?!

have you seen Jacqui Fehl work? take a peek here! i love everything about her work- the colors and variety...

i knew when i saw Jacqui's "cake" that i wanted to do her "grunge cake." and had started on friday working through the first couple of layers of my cake. i had first put down spare letters, numbers and shapes from a scrapbooking pack and some stamped tissue paper; followed up with stencils and spray inks.

 once i got the third and fourth layers of my cake, i moved to painted scrap papers that i had in my stash.

i loved how it was coming together....

i wanted to get this piece finished today and started on this project first this morning....i went to use my black india ink- and my hand hit the bottle- spilling ink across my "grunge cake." i will admit- i did freak out just a bit.....

this was the back pages in my moleskin planner/ art journal and you can see the spill all the way down the edge of the planner.....i was so crabby.....i did post my oops on instagram, and bless everyones' hearts- i got so many nice messages reminding me that life is messy and so not perfect- and this is what it will be at this point; and it would be just fine.

 i did manage to dab most of the ink off of my cake- and it just adds some additional grunge to my layers. this bottom pic is my finished cake.

thank you for your wonderful inspiration Jaqui Fehl!!

the documented life project- 1/1

january 1, 2014 found me in the studio with a deep breath of relief.....the holidays had been busy and i had not found much studio time. i knew that i there were several projects starting in january and i would have to find some time....you can see my "to do" list here in my planner starting with the Documented Life Project. 

the card i wrote on is one of Roben-Marie's Art Pops cards- they work great for quick journaling as several cards have the blank middle for either a pic or a note....

 the first challenge of this project was to incorporate your "front door." if you check here you can see what the organizers of this wonderful project did for their front doors.....and below is my front door into my creative journal world. welcome.....come along.