Look! I fixed the camera! Just gabbed and worked on some more bases for more ATC cards to trade; I didn't know so many people would be interested in my little ATC/Penpal project!
{working under the sky full of leaves and starts}
First order of business: here's this week's vlog. Outside. In the sun. I couldn't see the computer screen and kept trying to keep up.
I finished the page yesterday while out for an iced chai.
I have to say, getting out and simply doodling in my journal has done wonders. After weeks of prepping for class, rushing through Points of Two entries, and packing, diving back into my journal has help jump-start other creative processes despite having a room full of boxes instead of a working area. Which is fine; I'm down to papers, a toolbox, and a vintage red suitcase filled with goodies. Is it possible to jump into said suitcase? Live among the supplies and scraps and magic wand? I wish we could wrap ourselves in magic and wonder, all that stuff we accumulate that has our muses begging for a moment of time, snatched hours flying by unnoticed.
That happened today, when I took the wood panel painting outside to finish a drawing on it. There's a tree in my front yard that's spread almost like a tent, green leaves hanging off branches that seem to grow up then down into the ground. A dome of nature, with long grass and quiet. And yes, it's in the front, where people can see me, but I don't mind. Put on my pretty pink headphones and do my thing.
Maybe this is all truly like riding a bike. You get distracted, and altered, changed by the crap life throws at you, and then come back, sliding right into that flow of creativity you left for awhile. Things change. A bit of meditation grabbed on a long car ride re-centers and energizes, shows you who you really are, underneath all the failings and bitterness and stress of all this stuff. Secrets. I can only shake my head, detach with love, and count off the days until I move to another state. I'm yearning for that second chance, that new beginning, that moving seems to promise.
And let me say this, while I'm loquacious and frank: thank you. To every single person who's signed up for my class, taken a chance on this whirlwind in my head I'm dying to scream from mountaintops. I am ecstatic for the chance to touch the lives of others, and if one of you comes out with some new way of looking at things, I'll feel accomplished. But more than that, from deeper places, thank you. I've lived with the stress of no more prescription insurance and expensive medications, of bills and calls and denying myself at every turn. And because of you, yes, you, I was able to get meds and pay bills and live with a little more room to breathe. You've helped loosen the corset laced around me, and when I saw sign ups on Tuesday, I actually started to cry. You're the most supportive, amazing, magical people a girl could be blessed to know.
Tomorrow, I'm planning on sitting with my emails until everyone's got an answer. And plan to work out a better organization system. And then, I'm off to the races again, putting together my 'zine or book of journal pages and essays on creativity and journaling, scraps of words and paper put together.
Because isn't that what we're doing, in the end? Collecting scraps and creating meaning, in our own ways?
{ playing in the sandbox without an edge }
Next week, we're at 4pm CST. I will always tweet and post on the Facebook group to remind you!
[ may 25th, 2010 -- playing in the journal ]
Look! An actual blog post! There must be pigs flying up above, because these have been few and far between for the last two weeks!
Or, I may be excited because, except for a few tweaks here and there (there is a vast difference between how something looks on-screen and when printed), the class PDF file is finished! YAY! I love creating things that I can hold, whether it be ‘zines or simple workbooks. Binding them is the next best thing, which is why I probably am in love with making my own journals.
As I said in today’s vlog, I haven’t journaled in about two weeks. What a difference working in it makes! My brain feels like it’s been on overdrive, always thinking, creating, plotting, dreaming. And with no outlet, everything just built up until I couldn’t even sleep. Sitting down to work in my journal, however, let me BE. Just leak out and get to the bottom and scoop inspiration and resolve from my Inner Well, allowed me to dig back to the water hidden by the dirt of everyday matters.
I really need to take notes on all the ideas I have, even if that means I am pulling out a notebook every ten minutes in every situation. I will be that girl! My thin Moleskine has a pretty spray-painted cover, now, and I miss writing out journal entries and recording these thoughts.
Have you ever finished something on your to-do list only to discover three more items have jumped on it? Cause this is how I’m feeling. I even have different to-do lists: personal, professional, fangirl (yup, this gets a list, too!). And last week’s great fun with a new medication that I reacted….the wrong way with? In opposition with? Anyway, I lost all motivation and just could not get up. *sigh*
Now, to finish everything this week! And get supplies for a new project! And start packing the studio up for my big move in two months (yes, this last one makes me sad, but I’m also really excited to move!)!
Thank God all the shows are pretty much ending this week — that means I have about two weeks of free nights to work work play (or is it play play work?) before my lovely summer shows start up again. Maybe I should just record everything and hook up my new music…
{vlog tuesday: just playing around!}
Sorry for cutting this one short, but I'm feeling pretty under the weather in a way I haven't for a long time! Just me showing my experiments with the new Tulip fabric canon + paint and some ink writing. And then I just couldn't sit at the desk anymore.
I am entrenched in the TV room watching The Hangover with the puppies on either side of me. May nap later. Am working on today's second post, the introduction of my new workshop!
{a very special vlog wednesday}
I was stuck out of town extra long yesterday, so wasn't able to do the vlog. However, I tried to twitter that I'd be hosting on this morning so people in other time zones might be able to come on by. No, the system wasn't perfect, but I don't have an emergency tree! If there's someone who'd like to help -- I could email you and you can post on the Journal Girl wall maybe? I think I can post here via email...Anyway, you live and learn!
[ very special wednesday vlog ]
It's just me painting, because there wasn't anyone there when I started. So yah! I had tons of fun. Next week, I'll be working in my journal for the whole time, since I haven't done a layers vid in awhile.
Okay. I'm getting to bed early tonight; I didn't get to bed until 3am yesterday and kinda want to get a good night's sleep!
{excitement-drunk journaling}
Yes, I giggle. A lot.
[ 4/20/2010 - journaling, the new class, and giggling ]
I was seriously having a ball while doing this video. I love getting lost like a child while doing creative acts, and this is -- unfortunatly or fortunatly -- how I am most of the time when just playing around.
There was something else I was going to say, but I can't recall it now.
This week's Points of Two theme: "I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong." - Benjamin Franklin
EDIT: I remember now. I was asked about fanfiction during the chat, and said my LiveJournal name. Here it is, for reals. kiraboshi @ LJ . Yeah. I'm really going to go hide, now!
{vlog tuesday: a beginning guide to soldering}
Heee heee! I'm back!
Thanks for all the comments about the studio. I'm going to lose it as soon as we move, so I'm trying to really appreciate it right now. Oh, all the space I'll be losing! It means I need to get organized and used to putting everything away NOW so it becomes habit for LATER.
This week, I was working on some soldered pendants for my shop, so I just turned on the camera! There's a little bit of a "be right back" at the beginning because we were in the middle of showing the house to the Buy Owner guy...other than that, I was really into what I was doing!
[ vlog tuesday 4/13/10: soldering for beginners ]
I did end up staying at the desk....and while I thought I was only there for an hour longer, it ended up being TWO hours! I keep "losing time," that is, getting so into projects, I don't notice it passing. And I did end up getting used to the new solder and actually LOVE it compared to what I'd been using. I can make things thicker, and do effects, and the jump rings are easier to attach.
Except my hands shake too much, and this solder takes longer to harden. *sigh* Usually things don't bother me -- I've learned to compensate for my shaking ever since collage and not being able to do hand-held camera work because of it -- but this really did! Sometimes, it sucks being stuck in a body that doesn't work right.
So I shined everything up and attached the darling charms to the bottoms!
These are the larger pendants, and the one in the middle, is, of course, for me! I just need to find a chain for it. *giggles*
All the pretty pendants, all in a row...
Questions? Comments? Have a topic for next week's vlog? Please leave me a comment or send a note!
This week's Points of Two: a list of me. Write about you in a list -- kind of like an about page!
{vlog tuesday: extended journal play!}
Here's today's EXTENDED vlog! Yup! I was so into playing in my journal that I stuck around for an extra half-hour of questions and play-time. :) Again, I'm posting the link so everything works better.
I'm hard at work re-stocking my Etsy shop, working on a collage book, & putting out an anthology of the first three issues of Page by Page.
This week's Points of Two prompt is: a moment of serendipity, a meeting of chance you know isn't exactly coincidence.
And is there something you'd like me to cover in next week's vlog? Leave a comment here!
Now, I'm off to read and finish playing in my journal.