Lightbulb Moment

"I'd love to hang around a guy like Tony Stark or even Robert Downey Junior. No romantic stuff* but just to be around that kind of brash energy, fast-talking funny dialogue that's intelligent and actually makes you think. I'd love to be challenged by someone like this. Someone who is smart and confident and doesn't dumb it down for the people he's hanging around with, and in fact doesn't depend on feedback from anyone or validation, who just puts it all out there in a take-it-or-leave-it-I-don't-give-a-shit way.

You know what?  I don't want to HANG OUT with someone like that... I want to BE someone like that.

*unless he wants to, of course. : )"

As I was writing out my wish list of characteristics I'd love to have in a person-to-hang-around-with (friend or otherwise), I suddenly realized that I can actually BE that person.  And just entertain my own self.  HA!  My problem is that I keep a damper on a lot of what I say and do, lest I accidentally offend or allow someone to see me for real.  And that's fine when I'm talking to the principal at my kids' elementary school... but that's about it.

I'd still love a friend like this - how much fun would that be?!  But I think maybe instead of looking out there, I'm going to look right over here.  At me.  Time to let the cat out of the bag.

Look out... it's on.

Love Shelley!

Oh, the fury

I know this journal page probably looks all happy and cheery but really I was in the grip of a horrible rage when the writing just flooded out of me.  (That's why I blurred it all out, for your own safety.)  (Please note the high-school-like use of repeating 8s to blur it out.  I never said I was mature.)

Other than the ugly feelings that spilled out, I really like this page!  It's a fold-out in my journal and I'm especially partial to the "June" tab.  And of course the bright colours.  Even when I'm thoroughly pissed off, I still have that magpie eye for radiant, lively colours.

The megaphone was just clipped out of a magazine, and the rest is ink, gesso, stencils and stamps, with some washi tape for good measure.  You just can't go wrong with washi tape.

Today though: it's gonna be a shiny happy day.  Just watch me go.

Love Shelley!

I'm working on something...

But it's not done yet.  So here... this made me laugh and I'm all about having a good laugh.

I'm pretty sure I meant to ask my sister something important, but as usual our conversation immediately devolved into complete nonsense:

 

*sigh*

So when you see me furiously texting my sister, please don't think we're solving the world's problems, or even saying actual sentences.  You now know the disappointing truth.  I... I hope we can still be friends.

Love Shelley!

Treasure

Don't you just want to run your fingers over them? 

The kids didn't have school on Friday so we picked up my mom and went gallivanting.  Among other adventures, we ended up at an antique store just outside of town.

Vintage type, in a mint-condition type tray.  Which he also wouldn't sell me.

Anyway, right inside the door was this tray of PURE GOLD.  I started to drool immediately.  He wanted a buck apiece for the bits of type, so I picked up a few.  I tried to get him to sell me the whole tray, but he said nope.  I think he figured he'd make more cash selling the pieces individually.  Rats.

There's a little dog at the shop named Zoey that comes to visit all the newcomers, and Zoey was pretty interested in my runners for some reason.  Then I remembered that we had done our chickens the weekend before, and that was probably what she was smelling.

Which made me think of this text exchange with my sister:

 

Don't worry, it was all very humane, there was no shooting or dancing... but the bottom line is that we have a freezerful of delicious chickens.  AND now that all the aggressive roosters are gone (except Henry, of course, he's a sweetheart) the hens are starting to lay the most beautiful little brown eggs.  I guess they were a little stressed out with being harassed all the time.  Now that they can settle down, the egg production should go way up.  And since we didn't make our fences high enough, they all pretty much fly over it and make use of our entire yard (not to mention free-rangin' it in the neighbour's garden).  Luckily they all still come home at night.  But wow... you should taste these eggs, they are UNBELIEVABLE.  Can't wait till we're getting a dozen a day and we can eat our fill.  YUM.

Pretty, and tasty too!

That's all for today.  Gotta focus on actual WORK, which is cutting into my art time.  Ugh.  I might have to have a word with my boss about that.

Okay, get going!  I'm sure you have things to do too.

Love Shelley!

Pink, and yellow, and green, oh my

Holy crap, do I love this month.  It's not even my birthday, or Christmas, or anything, I just love the change in the season, the feeling of brand-new possibilities, the fresh start that the school year brings.  Everyone is back to school and work with a new determination, and it feels GOOD!  I love the change in the weather most of all.  Fall has always been my absolute favourite season, and this year is no different.  It really puts me in my happy place.

I can tell I'm still not back in the groove yet though, art-wise.  This page was a collage of pieces from a very old math book, covered with a light coat of gesso.  Then a bit of stamping at the bottom, then some Dr. Ph. Martin's radiant watercolors on top.  The colors surprised me a bit.  The gesso came up through the watercolor, the daffodil and cyclamen blended to become a beautiful orange, and then once it all dried, a lot of the orange changed back to a pink colour.  Very strange, and unpredictable, but I have to say I still like it.

Turns out, even with a generous coat of watercolors though, that Sharpies do not like to go over top of gesso.  I only ruined one this time before I caught on and switched to a paint Sharpie instead.  Then things got fun again.

That's it for today.  Maybe tomorrow my mojo will come back.  If you see her, could you send her home?  I really miss her.

Thanks.

Love Shelley!

This and that

My kids signed up for musical theatre and tonight was the first class.  They begged me to stay with them, and there were four chairs lined up against one wall, so I stayed to see what it was all about.

Close-up of Joelle's head.  I love the curve of her cheek.

I couldn't draw Cameron; he was too excited to be there and flitted around like a drunken firefly.  Maybe next time he'll be a little more still and I can capture some sketches of him too.

I know this isn't much, but I was pretty busy today and still managed to sneak in some art so I'm pretty happy.  In fact, I did pretty well on my whole checklist:

9, 3, 7, 5, 8, 3, 8, 8, 4, 8; overall 8!!
(I weight the answers however I want to, and I'm not consistent either.
It's my checklist and I'll jig the answers however I want to.)

I know it's a weird kind of checklist.  But these are the things I'm trying to focus on.  Otherwise whole days pass by and I've forgotten to jump feet-first into an adventure.  Or I haven't learned anything.  It's not meant to be an OCD "CHECK THE CHECKLIST!!!" sort of thing, just a nudge to remind myself to keep the balance of all the good things I'm trying to fill up every day with.  Things that fulfill me, things that make me say, yep, today was totally worth it.  That make me fall into bed at night with a sigh of pure satisfaction, knowing I seized the day and wrung every drop of juice out of it.

Speaking of which... this day is DONE.  In between everything else, I've put together an IKEA sofa table by myself, gave the chickens some TLC, did a bit of art, a 45 minute yoga dvd, and I got supper on the table on time.  High  five, me!  Off to catch some zzzs so that tomorrow will be equally as, or even MORE awesome.  I also have some bat pics to show you, so stay tuned.  If that doesn't get you all excited to come back, I don't know what will.

Love Shelley!

Still calling it in, I'm afraid

Right now I'm still feeling a little dry and boring and un-adventure-y, but I'm looking HARD at things I can do to change that.  The bright colours are helping, and I'm just going to keep pushing until the inspiration comes flooding back.  Right now I'm doing the fake-it-till-you-make-it program.  : )

And that's all she wrote... for now.

Love Shelley!