LET GO - REVERB 10

Have you heard about REVERB 10?  


I am responding to their daily prompts each day in December to reflect on my life, gain wisdom, and strive for harmony in my future. Yes, I am jumping in late to this challenge but there is always time.  There's time for you to join too!



Day 5 prompt: Let Go
What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?

I needed to let go of negativity in my life, even if it meant the loss of a friendship. I must be naive because it took me years to see what was happening. 

I tend to look for the good in people, which IS a good thing, but it prevents me from seeing poisonous aspects of a relationship until I have experienced the angst. Count it as another learning experience.


I wanted to let go. I needed to make more room for the simple joys in life and all the honest, loving people who cross my path . Life is short and unpredictable and there is no room for competition and lack of trust among people who are my friends. 


Other thoughts on negativity here and here.




reverb 10 -- reflect on this year and manifest what's next.

happy day!

{this moment}

"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember." Inspiration from SouleMama:
                                                                   
You can read more about the tent here.

happy day!

LA VIGNETTE - PHOTO CHALLENGE

Today's photo challenge was to first show a vignette and then show the whole area . 


We tend to show the best and crop out the rest. I know I do!  We have too many things going on at one time (and animals in the house!) to have constant order. Plus it's not within us, it's not our priority, that sense of organization and order.


This is a grouping atop our piano. The plants and pine cones were gathered from our land and a card is one my sister made using her photography.


Now. . .here is a bigger picture of the same area, when Romeo our yellow kitten jumped up at the last minute. Do you see him? Meanwhile, Juliet had been there all the time and was cropped out.

and an even bigger picture

You can see the light green bookcase and folding chair I moved in there for art supplies and games on Thanksgiving day.. That was a week ago, perhaps I'll move them one of these days.


Chania at RAZMATAZ hosts the photo challenge. Head on over to see other vignettes.




happy day!

OH NO NOT THAT!

Does your child ever want to do something and your insides cringe? You want to immediately say no, and perhaps you do, or you may quickly squash the idea in a gentle way.


It happened to me, it happens to the best of us. Even mindful parents can have those moments. It is how we learn from them that matters.


You would think what my daughter wanted to do was something huge. You would think I would have to play a big part in it, the way it bothered me. 


I had to dig deep. WHY did it bother me? What was the big deal? Why did I have to let her sense my negativity when she was so excited?  Isn't that a smaller version of stepping on someone else's dreams? 


I was multi-tasking, had a deadline, was not in the best of moods, but that shouldn't play any part.


She is twelve. She could gather everything she needed herself. She and her friends could do it together without my help. She is able to climb ladders safely. She knows how to fold and do the laundry. I didn't have to be a part in it at all. 


She didn't bring it up again and I forgot all about it. . . 


until this morning.

And all I could do was stand there and smile. . . and grab my camera!


They made a tent with all our available blankets tablecloths and sheets. I stood there with my mouth open, and truth be told, I wanted to crawl in myself. 


It was held together with a multitude of clothespins.

And beneath the tent of fabric and warmth, three friends were fast asleep.

It was terrific and I loved it . . . 

and then the guilt seeped in.

Why did I have to be such a poo about it in the first place? 

Why couldn't I have been upbeat and cheery and given her words of encouragement?


Was it because once she takes it down, the blankets will just stay all around the room? (which is like an open invitation to allow the rest of the room to become messy. . .  have you ever noticed how that happens?) 


Did it bother me that all the blankets would be piled next to the washer and perhaps sit there for days?


Seriously. 
This was my child. 
A child, children actually, who had immense joy in constructing this and using this. In the scheme of life, what IS a mess of blankets in a room or a pile of blankets needing to be washed.


I have to tell them the moment they awaken, how glorious it is. And it can stay there for as long as she wants, and I am thankful I am stocked up on laundry detergent. 


It is a lesson to all of us. to breathe before we answer a child. It gives us those few milliseconds to respond in the best way possible, in a positive light, to encourage and allow their dreams to flourish and their imagination and ingenuity to take hold.


Every day is a new day.  We have a chance to start over, to change our responses, to look at life in a new light, and always strive for happiness.


happy day!

LOOK TO THE CHILDREN

I haven never given much thought to our Blueberry bushes in late Autumn. They are bare of leaves and bare of fruit, and while newer branches have a pretty reddish tint, they are just there. 

Not so for the children!
They see tunnels, and forts, and mazes! 

When I turned around, this is what I saw :

with voices that called :

We're hibernating!

Come hibernate with us!

as they lay ever so still under the Blueberry bushes.

Be still my heart! It was so very precious. 

This is where the children belong. . . 

in nature. . . 

becoming one with the earth

playing together 

 using their imagination.

If you are unsure about something, look to the children, they will probably have the answer.

happy day!

MARBLEIZED FUN

We marbleized paper today using our favorite method. . . with shaving cream! 
You should give it a try. It is really simple and you can have a stash of gorgeous papers to use in a multitude of ways. 
Here's what to do:

Supplies:
- paint or inks ( we used inexpensive acrylics)
-paper ( watercolor or sketching paper)
-shaving cream (men's is cheaper and we usually try to get unscented or anything but menthol)
- tray or cookie sheet (or you can also use foil or waxed paper)
- spatula for scraping shaving cream
-forks, sticks, and other assorted tools to swirl ( it's fun to experiment with different things)


We cut our paper in half. It makes it easier to handle, especially for children. One you get the hang of it, it is easy to do a whole page. And of course, the heavier the paper ,the easier it is to do a whole page at one time.


1) Squirt your shaving cream on the tray about the size of your paper. Please allow children to do it themselves, this is a fun part ! Spread it with a knife if there are gaps.

2) Decide on 3-4 colors and drop them onto the shaving cream

3) Take a fork ( and other things) and swirl the paint. Be careful not to keep mixing the same areas for it will turn brown. Swirl one area and move to the next area,

4) After it is all swirled, lay your paper face down in the paint-swirled shaving cream and press down making sure there is good contact all over.

5) Life one corner very carefully. . . Lift it straight up !

6) Carry it to the sink area and lay it down.

7) Scrape off the shaving cream with a spatula, scraping in one direction, dropping the shaving cream into the sink. You can even rinse the spatula, it won't hurt the paper 

8) Once all the shaving cream is off let it dry

9) Add more paint to the shaving cream on the tray and do it again and again .
That way you will have many papers to use in the future from the one batch of shaving cream and paint.

You can tell when you don't want to use it anymore. It starts to get cloudy.

10) Once they are all dry, put them between waxed paper or parchment paper and under a heavy stack of books to flatten out. Then use as you wish!

You can use them for backgrounds for other art, in journal pages, ATC's or mixed media art, or as greeting cards, thank you notes, etc.  You can cut out letters from them. 
Anything is possible!


Stay tuned for what we plan to use all our marbleized paper for. Ssssh It's a secret! But for now you can view the gallery of paper the children made. Beautiful!

 The Gallery of Marbleized Paper

Did you notice the grey one? That was the last of a batch when all the colors got mixed together. The grey is still beautiful though. A nice background for something special.

happy day, happy marbleizing!

ONE WORD WEDNESDAY

~ tenderness ~

(Please feel free to join in One Word Wednesday, just leave your link in the comments).

                                           happy day!