A Little Birdie Told Me…

Just a little something I worked on in the past few weeks and thought I’d share.

Sorry it’s not any clearer…I was too lazy to scan it so I took the pic with my phone and uploaded it.

I’ve been doing more Zentangles than ever but I’m doing them in shape form instead of freeform. I think I may have to try a LARGE one for the wall in our guest room

Happy Thursday!

Peace & Love,
Barb

Life is a Highway

It’s been a busy Monday!  We had to do an inventory at our store in Sumiton, about 75 miles away, and didn’t get home until after 7:30 this evening…and I am dead beat. The hubby is laying here beside me, snoring lightly, off in dream land…where I really should be, to be honest.

I’ve not felt like art journaling much in the past couple of days…just too exhausted to find anything creative inside me at the moment. I find that i miss it when I don’t do it, though.

I have started a Gratitude Journal that I keep on my iPhone (I do love my iPhone!) so that I don’t feel like I’m not doing any journaling at all when I’m just too tired to dive into one of my art journals at the end of the day. 

OH, and I have signed up for Dawn Sokol’s Art Journal Stimulus Project-online workshop. Dawn is the author of the wonderful book pictured in my sidebar, “1000 Artist Journal Pages”,  It is one of my very favorite books!  The workshop is uber affordable at $15 for 10 weeks and tarts August 12th.  Get more info or sign up and join me on Dawn’s website, D’Blogala.

I guess the most creative thing I’ve done in the past few days is the haircut I gave my son-in-law….and what a haircut it is!

Before….

After…

Whew….talk about a difference! lol  He loves it and my daughter is warming up to it, too.

I’ve made Pink Lemonaid Pie (which is soooo yummy but way rich!  Let me know if you want the super easy recipe)…. 

…and I have even done some sketches and Zentangles but haven’t managed to scan or take pics of any them, yet.

Life is moving right along, as it should, and I am making it my goal to enjoy every minute of it…even when I’m exhausted.

Love to you all and thanks so much for welcoming me so warmly back to the blogosphere!

Peace & Love,
Barb

Well, Hello There!

Hi y’all. I know it’s been a while…a very long while…but it was time that I desperately needed to acclimate to working again, fitting art into a much fuller schedule, and just some down time without feeling the pressure (self-induced, i admit) to blog.

Much has happened in the past 5 1/2 weeks that i will share with y’all in due time, yet nothing has happened…if that makes any sense at all. 

I did make the decision to make this MY blog…not just about art and journaling but about my life, too. More about my life than before. I guess that’s something I should have given my self permission to do when I began this blog but I didn’t so when my art production went down, I felt as though I shouldn’t blog.

What a crock that is.

This is my space, my little online world of my own making so why had I made these crazy rules about what I could and couldn’t include here?  I really guess it had to do with the fear of losing readership if I wasn’t artsy enough or creative enough.  But now, well, I yam what I yam and to try and be something I’m not was suffocating me.  Yes, I am artsy and creative and love to make tons of different things in my own crafty-artsy way…but I also have a life with a husband, kids, a grandson, sisters, brothers, a job, bills, good days and bad days, tears and laughter.  I just came to the conclusion that my art is not the only thing about me that I want to share in this space…and that is what the days to come have in store for the pages here.

I hope you’ll like the other parts of me that I will share from here on out and that you’ll keep in mind that I’m human, with quirks and opinions and I make mistakes as well as have my triumphs…it’s all fair game.

If you’ve read this far, thank you. Thank you for letting me step back into your life after a little hiatus; thank you for your patience.

Peace & Love,
Barb

Taking a Blogging Break

I’ve realized that I have very little time to myself anymore, now that I’m working full time again.  I am not journaling as much as I would like to, I am not keeping up with all the wonderful blogs that I so adore, I am not even playing with my baby boys (Jasper & Juno, my precious maltipoo pups) like I should. 

Everything is suffering...mainly me.

So, I decided to take a blogging vacation.  I love this blog and the great friends I’ve made through it but I don’t like the feeling guilty that I wind up suffering with when I don’t update for long periods of time due to just being overwhelmed.  (I don’t know how some of you chicas manage to do it all !!!)

I’m not leaving the blogosphere by any means, I’m just going to take a little break...probably just for the month of June or so...to spend more time doing art, working in my journals (yes, I have FOUR of them going right now!), playing with my babies, playing with the hubby (lol) and just not worrying so damn much.

I know I’ve already lost readership around here due to my inability to post with any regularity and I am sure I’ll lose even more of you with this decision...but for those of you that do stick around, I am eternally grateful.

Take care and I will talk at ya later.

Much Peace & Love,

Barb

Life Changes

We all go through changes in our lives from day to day…some big, some small. 

For me, it seems as though life has been a true rollercoaster in the past 3 months.  If it weren’t for my art and the love of my family, I really don’t know how I could have gotten through it all.

I decided to return to work in spite of my panic/anxiety disorder and debilitating depression, I now drive all the time (a HUGE fear of mine) for work, am dealing with ongoing major dental work, and on and on…

Then, a few weeks ago, my youngest daughter who has been my constant companion since her birth and, dare I say, my very soul, decided to move out and really begin a life with her husband.  Out of our home, no longer living in the basement of Mom and Richie’s house but to an apartment of their own…2 hours away in Huntsville.

*sigh*

This has been really tough for me.

I’m still journaling and doing art, as much as time will allow, but I can’t help but feel a bit disoriented by all of the change.

It’s just all a lot to deal with and absorb for me right now but I think this journal page pretty well sums up how losing my “baby” has affected me.

I’m still here…still around…just taking some time to adjust to all that life is throwing at me right now.

I hope this finds you all doing well.  You are all in my thoughts, I promise…I’m even reading your blogs…I just can’t find any words at the moment.  Given time, I’ll be back to my old self.

Bear with me.

Peace & Love,
Barb