Hiatus!

Hello my crafty friends - I took a little break! I've been on a little adventure, and in a few more weeks I'll be able to share some details with you. Meanwhile...here's a little few somethings I've been working on.

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Every so often, I like to take a little step back, and look through my past journals. Sometimes I find little nuggets that didn't seem like much at the time. This little bit of journaling and doodling were done in 2008 when I was thinking about how much had changed since I became profoundly ill in 2007.

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I remember that day as I sketched our bearded dragon, Oscar, as he sat on his favorite high branch. I started out scrolling the word Life, then let it take a life of its own as life often does. It got creative, was occupied by a faerie, a snail, a frog and a butterfly. It sprouted new growth, flowers, leaves, even a faerie swing!

My life had been like that - topsy-turvy, carving its own path despite my best efforts to confine it. So, I figured I could either embrace it and go along for the ride, or watch it depart.

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When I discovered this little gem, I took another look at where this crazy, creative, nightmare of mine had taken me. I tore away the excess areas of the original work, and burned it (yes, like, put fire to it!) around the edges.

I created a base page using distress inks (to be taught later!), and positioned the original work over that. Then I journaled about the difference between the 2008 life (reflecting the 2007 version) and the 2011 condition. This is what I concluded:

{click to enlarge, please quote me if you use this - it's my own}

I hope you enjoyed this little bit of art. Now for something almost completely different.

And here are a few things I'm working toward!

By the way, November is almost upon us. It's a busy, busy, evil-busy month. I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and *hopefully* able to interact more with our local Naperville, IL group. I am so excited about my story this year! I've been sitting, waiting for that bolt of inspiration, and it finally came. It happened to come just as I was laying down for bed, of course - but it came! Now I can get busy on prep work.

I plan to participate in Dawn Sokol's NaNoJouMo (National Non-Stop Journaling Month) activities - you work in your art journal DAILY. I neeeeeed to do that. NEEEEEED!

Plus the requisite family travel, obligatory doctor visits, physical therapy and crafting obligations. It's gonna be busy! Which could be a good thing since we're projected to have another whopper of a winter. You know I like it!

Do you have plans? Does your journalistic creativity stagnate during the push to the holidays? If so, is there something I could help with to keep you inspired? Do we need challenges? I look forward to publishing this blog a little more frequently, and having a dialogue with you, my dear reader.

Thank you for spending a little time with me!

Creatively yours,
♥ ~ky