{Points of Two Week #9: a sign from above}

Points of Two is an experiment in journaling with myself and Roben Marie! Check out our archives to see the previous weeks' pages.

This week was Roben-Marie and I focused on an instance when we felt God gave us a sign that we were on the right path or when he guided us in the right direction.

It was hard to think of a time, because the Divine can be incredably subtle and nudge you without you even knowing. Those little moments of serendipity, a chance meeting, a missed connection -- these are all helpful nudges from above.

I focused on the idea of a chaotic life needing direction and the myriad of possibilities we're presented with at every moment as I composed this page. I was really thinking and putting my confusion and awe onto the page. There are little things only I know the meaning of, and more apparent hints -- just like these signs!

Finally, I chose the time when I decided to follow my heart and not the money. I stumbled upon a Paper Source near my office, and often went in. Then, when I started to become disenchanted by my job as a property manager (read: landlord's assistant, the one doing all the dirty work), I received comments from the staff about how I'd be a good fit, how they'd love to work with me. The next week, there was a sign saying they were hiring. Next visit, I met the store manager and she gave me an application. On the day I was to start, I walked up to my boss (a VP!) and told her I was leaving. She'd treated me horribly the day before, and that really pushed me to leave.

If I hadn't done that, I would have never discovered art journaling as it is. I would have never learned how to do the covers on a journal you make yourself. This was a clear sign that I was meant for other things, and the one that remains a top change in my life.

Make sure to check out Roben-Marie's blog for her story!

found papers, scrapbooking pages, scrap shapes (mine!) watercolor crayons, dip pen & ink

Roben-Marie's page:

{missing artist returns!}

As you can see, we're switching things up this week. I'll have the live vlog at 4pm on THURSDAY and show some journal pages today.

I've had a doozey of a week. I feel like I need a break from everything even though I haven't been around! For awhile there, looking at the computer screen made my stomach flip flop -- I'm on my laptop now on the couch, using the trackpad and taps since the mouse is broken, and my leg's keeping the one side with the broken hinge from falling over. Such is life. It's kinda hard to use a USB mouse when you're laying on a couch!

Last week, I fell into a terrible flair up, one I kinda saw coming. Note the date on this journal page.

It's quickly become one of my favorite pages, and all I used was paper, scissors, double-sided tape, and watercolor crayons. Crowded, yes, but it gave me an hour and a half of constant distraction, what with all the cutting and taping and random bits of color.

Anyway, I wasn't feeling well, but bounced back. Got back into it. Enjoyed my birthday. Went out with a friend.

But things were more and more painful at the end of the day. I would start a page, and finish it days later. But I need to get things done, get the etsy shop up, pay bills, teach classes. And I like pushing myself, I guess, because I just don't listen.

Wednesday, I decided to FINALLY listen to myself. Took a bath in epsom salts, a candle burning next to me as I tried to fit into my bathtub. Goes to show how long it's been since I've taken one, because, well, I don't fit in a standard American bathtub anymore. Really. When I'd get all myself in, the water level would get up to that little overflow-prevention thingy and start leaking out. Oh, all that warm water going down the drain!

Soaked with a copy of Somerset Studio next to me, put up my hair, and relaxed.

I noticed about four that afternoon that things weren't right. If I looked down, my stomach jumped. I couldn't turn my head. The pain was leaking down my neck to my upper back. By seven, I was sobbing.

And....I emerged on Saturday. I know I watched a lot of DVDs and took my more severe meds, and chatted with people, even made a journal page, but....I have holes. I know the pain was horrible, worse than it has been in awhile. Hell, ever.

last week's Points of Two, done during that hazy time.

I know I felt bad, and kept wanting to go work on stuff, my regular posts, answering emails. And my parents steered me away.

The end, basically, is that I can't work at a desk anymore, hence the broken laptop on the couch. I'm re-evaluating how I can work and make digital media and do web stuff. I'm more angry that I live in a body that restricts me in this way, that I started to actually achieve my dreams and got smacked down. I'm pissed at myself. It's something most can't relate with, and that's what this blog post is -- my venting to a friend. Except it's to a mass of anonymous people online.

So here's my latest page, which I adore, because it's all my favorite colors and shades and pieces and doodles and I FINALLY got the color laser printer to work over the network, and have been playing with Vintage Printable's considerable collection of images. Seriously, have you been there yet? Because there's a ton of eye-candy for use in your journal!

{Points of Two Week #7: What makes you a good friend?}

Points of Two is an experiment in journaling with myself and Roben Marie! Check out our archives to see the previous weeks' pages.

This week, we focused inward, exploring what qualities make us good friends to others.

I surprised myself with this one. I first took to a notebook and began writing about what I thought made me a good friend. There were specific events and generalizations, and some was even petty (as in, I did this for you, and you did this to me?!). I wrote two pages before I got to the main point: that if I'm your friend, I will be honest, supportive, and there for you.

This topic's been on my mind lately because of a very particular thing my friend Jun does (she's the blond in the photo in my blog's header). She has many little bits about her that I love, but she feels she needs to apologize for them all the time. I keep telling her it's okay, that I've accepted her as she is, all the bits included, and that she never has to apologize for anything. Anyway, that came out in the end of my two written pages, and I think it's helped me to understand not only my friendship with Jun, but with my other friends. The power of journaling, right?

I used my fluid acrylics, paper bits, and glue. Pretty basic, right? Most of the papers are either found or from this line of scrapbooking papers I've fallen in love with...what is the name!? Got it! Nook & Pantry by Basic Grey. Great, beautiful papers!

When finishing my page, I ran out of room! So I stapled in the rest for a nice folding paper. I love adding bits like that, and really should do it more often!

And here's Roben-Marie's page for this week!

I got a question via my Formspring.me page asking if they could use our Points of Two as journal prompts. YES YES! That is half the reason we share our prompt along with our pages. To show you how two people may start with the same idea, but create vastly different pages. Please feel free! The archives list all the prompts we've done thus far.

{Points of Two week #6: to-do lists! & WISH workshop preview video}

Points of Two is an experiment in journaling with myself and Roben Marie! Check out our archives to see the previous weeks' pages.

This week's assignment: since Roben-Marie and I are so busy and like lists, we incorporated our To-Do lists into our journal page. Which we did fast. And then crossed it off and moved on! It's a busy time for both of us!

I've been having fun with a new evolution of my style, more paint and collage. I'm going from complete mess to structured mess. I swear, it's the scrapbookers. They're slowly moving me to their side!

I have one of those Moleskine planners with a page for every day, and on Saturdays, I write in everything I need to get accomplished the next week. The key to me actually getting a lot done is micro-movements; each task is split into bite-sized pieces that I can do without getting overstimulated or tired. Thanks, SARK!

So I put a copy of my to-do list in the center and collaged around it. And colored in my doodles. And admitted I like crossing things off. Look, I'm crossing off posting this blog entry off today's list. See? Smooth line right there. Ahhh...makes me feel so productive!

I used liquid acrylics, found papers, stencils, and watercolor crayons. Oh, and a big Sharpie, cause it's fun!

Here's Roben-Marie's page. Head to her blog to get the story behind it.

I've also read your comments for yesterday's post -- I didn't get them emailed to me for some reason, and had no idea so many people had commented! I'll reply asap. But I thank you for them!

So, as requested, a preview video for the WISH Journal Workshop.

I'm off! Have a wonderful weekend!

{points of two week #5: around the house. i found a dreamcatcher from 5th grade.}

Points of Two is an experiment in journaling with myself and Roben Marie! Check out our archives to see the previous weeks' pages.

This week, our assignment was to find something around the house that had special meaning to us.

My object was a dusty purple dreamcatcher. My best friend Nancy gave it to me, and -- oh, click on the image above to get it big enough for you to read my story. I really should go on Facebook to find her, but I'm sure she's either a. married by now, or b. I'm totally spelling her long last name wrong. Could be either. I'm banking on b.

For this page, I decided to just PLAY. And I put a scrapbooking paper up there under the blue paint, a big chunk of paper, and I hated it. So I painted over the whole thing and wrote with ink just to be sure it was covered to my liking.

The photo came out really white, so I blended it the best I could with white paint. After that, I started putting down random scraps, and used the water in my cup and some leftover glaze from the first layer to tune down the stark white of the little placecard thingy I wrote on. Used my finger and the last of the paint to smush all over the scraps and tie them in to the whole page. Overall? I like it. And the photo totally blends, so extra points for me!

Here's Roben-Marie's page. Head on over to her blog for her story.

Have you signed up for the Wish Journal Workshop yet?

It's a fun & easy technique based class that has you playing with collage, getting paint on your fingers, and binding your very own journal. If you're new to journaling, it's easy to follow and will help you get the jump start you need. And if you're an old hat at journaling, there are edits and additions that will help make the journal purely your own.

Tons of videos, a detailed PDF, and support from yours truly. And all for $20! Get the details at the link above or as away in the comments. Class starts 2/22/10, but you can sign up at any time!

{points of two week #4: kindness mission}

 

Points of Two is an experiment in journaling with myself and Roben Marie! Check out our archives to see the previous weeks' pages.

This week was based on the following quote:

"I learned long ago that those who are the happiest are those who do the most for others."

Booker T Washington

And what's funny is we both brought someone cookies!

This week, I've been focused on setting the groundwork for a more consistent blog, starting stock for etsy, working on custom projects, doing samples for classes -- anything BUT journaling. So when the opportunity arose to make this page, I just sat down to play...and how nice it was!

I often go between randomly-spread paint and using a brush; for this page, I wanted chunks of color that I then wrote on or layered with papers. And I found my labler!

Part of getting ready for classes is using photos, which means I've been taking many, many more. I took this shot of my friend J (also seen up there in the banner!) while she was concentrating on beading her necklace; I loved how into it she was and her hair was really cute, so I snapped a pic. I then went on to take tons of super macro shots of beads because they looked pretty. What can I say? I do what's fun.

Blues and golds and stripes! All things I did to relax into my art. And stamping, because they were there. Nothing too deep; I kinda just went with what I liked and somehow pulled it all together.

Roben-Marie's Page:

Next week: Around the House. Take a pic of something in the house that's meaningful and journal about it. Won't you join us?

{points of two week #3: beginning, my word for the year}

Welcome to week three of Points of Two! This week, Roben-Marie and I decided to focus on our word for year. Be sure to check out her blog for her thoughts behind the page.

I’ve been thinking about what word would guide me through the year every since I saw Ali Edwards’ post around the holidays discussing her own word-choice mission. She says:

One little word can have big meaning in your life if you allow yourself to be open to the possibilities.

I’ve never really been able to keep new years’ resolutions because I usually forget what they are a month or two in, or, if having failed for a few weeks, decide just to give up. But near the end of last year, I realized what amazement could come out of a year long project, and knew this was something I had to tackle.

A few months ago, I had a sort of spiritual re-awakening, an event that prompted me to get a tattoo on my wrist. I felt I needed a visual reminder of the stride I’d made, something to catch my eye and say:

“Calm down, Kira. Pray. Believe. Live in the present. You’re never alone.”

Putting that intention into the tattoo, a word itself with several meanings to me, allows me to quickly re-align and remember what I know in my heart but forget when in the hustle and bustle of daily life.

I feel a word with intention for this year would do the same thing (though I won’t be getting a tattoo of this one...imagine how many that would be for the years to come!).

While browsing Ali’s posts on her word, I discovered Christine Kane’s Word-of-the-Year Discovery Tool and promptly printed it out. This worksheet gets you to REALLY think about the word you’ve chosen and what it means to you, why you’ve chosen it, and how it can help you break past whatever’s held you back in the past.

Ali has a wonderful list of words suggested by her readers, and Christine’s worksheet helps you figure things out. I really recommend you take advantage of these resources -- I feel so much clearer about what I’m working towards this year and feel things may be easier (emotionally, at least!).

This also shows how much thought can go into one journal page that the world may never see!

& Roben-Marie's delicious hybrid page (isn't she marvelous with the hand & computer pages?).

Next Week: my new four-day posting schedule. Yes! Almost daily updates of DIY, product reviews, live vlog shows, journal pages, and more Points of Two!

{Points of Two Week #2: What do we want to accomplish this year?}

Hey! This week, we explored what we want to accomplish this year.

When I work on a project, I usually allow my desk to become a complete mess -- paper scraps, discarded items, photos, pens, etc. So when I sat down to do this week's journal page, I had a ton of stuff to choose from. This page is just a jumble of scraps...I don't know where life is heading and I'm trying to hold the pieces together. But I know what I want to accomplish, and tried to let that play out on the page. Forgetting about audience and source and method, I just played....as you can tell by the girl on the left. But play always has a place, and let this become a favorite.

Check out Roben-Marie's story. Or bookmark the archive we've started.

& Roben-Marie's Page:

New post coming next week, including all the details for my first workshop!