A thought or two (or more?) about *Sometimes*...

I haven't been 'here' since May 2014.  

We will fast-forward through the "where have you beens" and go to this....

I've been around, living.  Sometimes it has felt like "just barely" accomplishing that.  Why? Because crappy things happen.  Life can be so very difficult.  Sometimes the difficult times last a lot longer than it feels is fair.  And sometimes everything changes.  Sometimes that's a good thing.  Sometimes it's not.  Do the good times and bad times even out?  Well, sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't.   

In a lot of ways I feel at a more "even keel" now than I have in a while.   In other ways I feel better.  In other ways I feel worse.  I have faith that all will even out eventually.  It's already a better spot than it was even a year ago.  Some time will go by, and things will change.   Some things better, some things worse.  

What I do now is this, I will keep striving to make the best of what life dumps on me.  I will be thankful for blessings that I receive.  I have become more thankful and appreciative of the good in humankind when I see it.  When you see so much of the bad on a seemingly never-ending loop, it does help you recognize the positive.

Sometimes bad things happen.  Sometimes good things happen.  Sometimes one can be mistaken for another.  Sometimes you learn life's lessons in a way that's harder to accept.  Learn from that.  Appreciate good times when you have them.  Celebrate small things that may not be around forever.  Embrace times that are hard, while striving for survival through them to come out smarter and more aware on the other end.  

I'll be back around again . . . some time ;)

                                           Chicken *G and *B (circa Nov2014)

Photos...in which participants bomb themselves

Eh.  Sometimes she just has to bomb her own stuff.   I get it. I do this a lot myself.  Though, not during prom pictures LOL

There's "awwwww"....

 Then "der"...

Then "be the treeeeee"...

 and then "uhhhh..."

Then "dramatic face"...

 and finally, "HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY" (what? all I said was, "is there a spider on you???")

and thus ends our "self-photo bomb" session ;)

Another April/Lynn Challenge for each other? Say it isn't so...

So, a couple of weeks ago amidst my A3C madness  (believe it or not), Lynn and I were challenging each other a bit, trying to antagonize the mojo to create greatness.  OR to amuse each other and try to play around with papers.  Found an idea that we scraplifted from (yet another) ScrapbookSoupTV episode about sketches (and twists on sketches) with Kelly Purkey.  Each of our layouts looked different, yet somewhat similar. Loved that episode, but also loved what I ended up with!

One really cool thing that I did though -- the round "hole saver" stickers? they were white until I attacked them with multiple Sharpies.   *sigh* love how they turned out too.  and her face just makes me giggle.

And so then another scraptastic thing happened...

I watched the newest web-version of ScrapbookSoupTV and grids happened *sigh*

There was a tutorial on "hand-drawn grids" on their recently posted episode.  Wellllllll...grids are one of my favorites.   But *I* of course, had to "April it up" a bit - because grids are supposed to be symmetrical.  The only thing symmetrical about mine is the fact that I have grid lines in the background (hahahahhahhaa) Everything else was kind of like a free-for-all.   Now, one of the points of the tutorial was to "use your scraps" or bits and pieces if you will.  I've always gotten a kick out of challenging myself in strange ways - like "scrap with whatever is on your desk at the moment" for the times (all of them?) that you have multiple pieces of projects on the desk and haven't tidied ever in a while.  Makes things interesting!  

I'm liking the inspiration I'm finding around - still all twitter-pated about the ScrapbookSoupTV ;)

A3C Journal 2014....before and after

So, this year my April's April Artistic Challenge Journal (2014) was different than the previous.   

I started with this:  a mash up of a few different chipboard mini albums randomly spaced...

Add some acrylic paint, massive amounts of mist, date stamps and washi tapes (for continuity, if you can believe it)...

Front Cover!  

 "Overview"  oh - come on, that was funny...

 The last page, aka "mini exit interview"

 Back cover -- yes, more (a lot) mist and using the "a" chipboard as a stencil

I was so excited about this year's A3C.  The materials I started with were nearly literally like a blank canvas.   I got to use a lot of different supplies that I haven't had out to play with in a long time, that in itself is extremely exciting.

But the outcome of this is amazing from my perspective.   Thanks so much for being a part of this year's A3C journey with me!    Can't wait for next year!!!

<3 p="">

Days 19-30 this is a looooooooong one, picture heavy ;)

Keep it rolling!!!

DAY 19::::::::::::::::::: a VB Lazy Day :)

 DAY 20::::::::::::::::::: Happy Easter!

 DAY 21:::::::::::::::::Friggin stalker bird knocking on the bathroom window.  every. single. day.

DAY 22::::::::::::::  I just don't know.  

 Day 23::::::::::::::::::  Car stick figures - are they prostitutes? zombies? you be the judge.    and another truck, with a skeleton attached to the front.  Why?  I have no idea.  But to see  both of these things in the same day?  Very entertaining.

 Day 24:::::::::::: Googly eyes only.  Just because I could ;)

Day 25:::::::::::::::::  No, that is not an incorrect number.  300+.  Yes, it was just as ridiculous as you can imagine that it was.   Incidentally, I LOVE the chalk marker -- friggin awesome.

 Day 26::::::::::::::::  By the way, the total for this day (cell phone only) was 176.  No, I'm not exaggerating.

 DAY 27:::::::::::::::::::::::  I was actually LOVING the white pen on the black painted chipboard pages.  LOVE THEM...

 DAY 28::::::::::::::::::::::  um....201 total this day.  But I was busy on this aspect.  Sure was.  So there.

 Day 29::::::::::::::::  WOOHOO the spring band concert for the younger two chickens!

 and a pocket for the program

 DAY 30:::::::::::::::  Boomer...so sleepy and old...and snore-y  LOL

This has been an AWESOME ride this year ----- UP NEXT...I'll post the covers (back/front) because those are always my favorites and usually done after everything else is complete.

A3C 16-18

Day 16::::::: Lots of colors here.  I have no idea what was going on --- other than a lot ;)

DAY 17:::::::::::::::::::::::  I used the leftovers of some alpha cut-outs that Lynn sent me waaaay back, used them as STENCILS to be exact - with a simple permanent marker and then outlined with sharpie.  I felt brilliant...except when the whole word had to get jammed in because I didn't judge well.   Ah well - goes with the rest of "me"  *snort*

 and I TOTALLY did not do this on purpose, the photos printed in B&W totally by accident because I didn't pay attention to the grayscale that I had switched on.  So this had a "different" look with all of the splashes of colors I have flying around.

DAY 18:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::   Boom.  Traffic again.  Not like the last time, but bad enough to eek out a tear or two if necessary!