I have been feeling so lazy

as far as getting on the computer goes. Funny huh? Just too...."Ah, it's too much to turn it on and then I gotta "blah".....I'll do it tomorrow." Tomorrow: repeat.

Awesome thing is that I have been oh so not lazy in other departments. Taking care of the house (I organized the master closet and am cleaning it....gosh stuff in there gets dusty....how does that happen?? :O ) - YAY though!). Spending time with the hubby :) It's tax season and he is an accountant (we thank God for that job every single day even though it's a really rough time). Enjoying the daughter cause she's trust-worthy, responsible, thoughtful and thoughtfull, FUNNY, and a real treat to hang around. Taking care of the cats, including the outside one - yep, that's 10 inside cats and one outside cat - I am a Saint and so is my husband. We are as much of a blessing in those cats lives as they are in ours. :) We just celebrated Rowan's birthday (he's the one eyed cat on the right ;). Everyone got treats (including the kittens - it was their first time for treats! awwww!) and everyone got to play. Zoe and the boy kitties all got "fixed" a couple weeks ago - they all recovered really well. Zoe is a real trouper!! (I'll be doing a post about the kittens very soon - as soon as I stop feeling so computer lazy :) .)

I've been a little quiet on the journal side, but I'm still almost finished a journal I began Feb 26....so that's not too bad. I think I had a lot to pour out, which I did, and now I'm feeling a lil more quiet - and just busy with the family/cats/house/yard.

Speaking of the yard....hubby and I started making trails in the backyard!! Oh, I cannot wait to walk on the 'finished' trail!!!! I've wanted this since we moved in almost 2 yrs ago.

Yes, Sandy, Spring has Sprung here!!!! YAY!!!! The ferns and lilies are popping up! The trees have buds! The birds are coming like crazy - cardinals, woodpeckers, goldfinches, chickadees and more I cannot name. I watched a squirrel take off with a half a coconut, that we use to feed them birdseed, this morning. Lil thief just ran into the woods with it. :) As a matter of fact, we were missing one and actually found it when we were making the trail through the woods.

Saw the groundhog running through the woods. The skunks make their nightly visits to the birdfeeders. They don't bother us, so we don't bother them - or maybe it's the other way around???

We're gearing up to do YARD WORK. :) We have such a good time, the three of us, doing yard work - mostly, sometimes there is frustration or annoyance, but mostly laughter and chit chat.

Been thinking of some projects for the inside or just what I want to do in general or what I can do....some of these kittens are getting really naughty - especially Cleopatra, but she's that cute kind of naughty "Mommy, I'm doing something naughty....chase me :)."

So, basically, I'm really really enjoying myself. That's about it.

How about you??

~Magick~
Melissa

You rock. I rock. We rock!

Just wanted to say thank you for your support regarding my previous post. I give you all many many many smoochie poochie, huggy puggies. :) Ya'll make me smile!!!!! I appreciate YOU!


I also want you to know that I know the person that the comment came from - it wasn't just some random negative comment. The anonymouse stuff didn't fool me....I knew who it came from as soon as I read it. So, this is a very personal attack. It isn't the first one that showed up on my blog, but this one really struck me as funny. After I posted it....she had more to say to me. But this time she didn't hide. How very brave.


Here's how I look at it.......it's like a tick at a picnic....I wouldn't throw up my arms and say "That's it, the picnic is OVER because I found 1 tick." Shoot....most of my 'picnics' would be ruined that way.


So, the party goes on.....and on......and on. YAY and YIPPEE and WOOOOOO-WHOOOOO!!


Comment if you like Tick....but all it's doing is making people see you for the tick that you are. I cannot fix your problems. I will not fix your problems. They say, "Hurt people hurt people." I know you are hurt, but trying to hurt me just isn't going to get you anywhere good. Wishing you peace.


~Magickal Messes~
Melissa

OH NO!!!!!

My world is crashing down all around me!! Nothing will ever be right again!! ::sniff, sniff, boo-hoo:: Someone left me this comment about my last post.....

Anonymous said...
you poor child - you sound like a 14 year old half wit! you really need to get a job and deal with adults!

:)

Yes, you are absolutely right.....a job would make me such an adult. And you are such an awesome example of an adult - because leaving a message like that for someone is such an adult thing to do. Why hide Anonymouse? Tell me who you are so I can be an adult just like you and return the favor.

:)

~Oh, what a wondrously wildly magickal place Earth is! and how funny are the people????~
Melissa

BTW: My job is taking care of my family and experiencing Me and My Life.......what is more important than that?? Nothing. There is absolute comfort in that knowing.

Well, at least I know what to do with myself

1) Clean this mess up.

2) Next time seal the bag.

:)

~Magickal Messes~

Melissa

Interview

The following is an interview of me done by Sydney. She has several fantastic blogs like Looky Here and Adventures in Nature.



1. I am very interested in how you came to the path of changing your thoughts. It may be a long and winding one, but can you remember how the first seeds got started and what you did to grow them to where you are today with it all? You are VERY good at affirmative thinking/writing/creating!

My initial answer is that I was conceived/born. I lived. That’s how I got to who I am today. A more in-depth answer is: I am a thinker. I first noticed that I was different than other people when I was a teenager. I felt different anyway (most of us do though, I think). I thought deeply about me, my life, whatever was ‘going on’, how I felt - as I grew I went deeper. I started reading Leo Buscaglia and read my way to others and more others still. I kept thinking, feeling, digging. (I think I touch a little on this subject in my answer to #4)

Probably very similar to what you and many others have done and are doing.



2. Does your husband work out of the house so you have time to yourself to create in the day or do you work and have to work art and blogging time around that schedule?

Yes, Hubby works outside of the home during the day, so I do have time to art/whatever. "Build fire, boil water."

3. I am loving your kitty palace... would you ever add a dog, bird, lizard, etc? Also, have you always had pets? And were they always cats?

I probably would never own a bird, lizard type animal. Honestly, most of these cats came to me and I decided to love them. If birds or lizards had shown up, maybe I’d have them. (No, please no more animals, love em, but have enough.) I do like cats best though. Dogs are cute and fun. The neighbor has dogs, I talk to them, wave to them when I see them across the yards. I was born into a family with a wonderful dog named Samba. But I haven't owned a dog since. Like I said, it’s always been cats who showed up. Only three of the cats we have were initiated by us - that’s Binx (as company for Rowan), and Wentz and Mooka (cause we wanted a kitten and they had a 2 for 1 deal at the Humane League :) We’re loveable suckers.




4. As a fellow lifelong journaler, I am wondering how you got started keeping journals and when you feel you really kept them with commitment. You mentioned you started at age 10, which is when I started full on, though I have some (with my baby handwriting) from age 7...
Also, did you ever read Harriet the Spy? That's what made me start in earnest and I've never stopped!

I dabbled in keeping a journal for many years, it was sporadic, times I did it like crazy, times I didn’t at all. It’s still like that. I had a journal from August until the end of February. There are many jumps in time where I didn’t write - then there is a month of writing, writing, writing. I just finished that journal and am currently almost half through a new one. I might finish it by the middle of March. Or I might not. I do know that I am more committed to writing ‘me’ down than I used to be.

My writing used to be mainly what was going on (probably about some guy being a jerk or something highly important - haha) and now it’s about what’s going on, but more who I am and how I feel about what’s going on or trying to figure out something I’m doing or feeling. That’s what really keeps me committed to writing me down. I’ve grown and learned so much and am more joyfull now because of it.

I’ve never read Harriet the spy, but it might be a good book to read laying in the swing in the summer air. :) Sounds yummy.

5. Do you travel much? Whether you do or not, what/where do you think your next vacation will be?

No, I wouldn’t say I travel a lot. I have been to various parts of Pennsylvania, Delaware (Dela-where?), New Jersey, Maryland. Where I have lived in PA is so close to the others. I’ve also gone to Florida (many times), Las Vegas (which I didn’t care for), San Diego and Hollywood, CA, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (which has been our usual vacation spot for 4 years), New York City, Washington, DC.

As far as vacation this year, this will be the first year in many years that we aren’t going away somewhere. Kinda sad, but kinda good too. It’s a lil $, a lot cats, and for now more restful to stay home. We’re planning on doing some fun things here though. We’ve talked hot air balloon ride??????? And we’re buying ourselves some treats with part of the vacation $. Perhaps an Ipod for the teenager??????

6. It's supposed to be five but can ask another can't I? If you could have a dinner party and invite whomever you wanted... say, up to a dozen people... who would be at your table?

I love this question cause it made me realize something cool about me. The first answer I came up with was: Hubby Stu and Daughter Tristan. Then I remembered how much fun it is having Tristan’s friend Nicole with us on vacation. So, if I could have a dinner party and invite whomever I wanted....it would be Stu, Tristan, and Nicole. They are a riot!

Now, the dreamy answer is more like this:
My bestest friend Dee
SARK
Jodie Foster
Goldie Hawn
Jim Morrison
Janis Joplin
M Night Shyamalan
My friend Dena from high school who died
Leo Buscaglia
Alanis Morissette
Stevie Nicks
John Lennon

If you'd like to be interviewed by me: Here's the instructions:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions and a link to my blog.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.


Thank you for the interview Sydney and for your patience!

~Magickal'ness~
Melissa

C and C? No, B and B.

Hi.

You know the saying, "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." (I think that's it. And I don't know who said it, but I'm sure one of ya'll do, and then I'll go, "Oh yeah, so and so said it :).

Well, Hubby is more the 'chopper of wood, carrier of water.' So, what does that make me?????

Got thinking about how there really are two basic 'jobs' to life:

You either get the food, warmth

OR

You maintain the food, warmth.

He's the getter, I am the maintainer. Both 'jobs' are worthy, valid, spiritual, blessed, cursed. Sometimes there is a blending of the 'jobs' - it isn't always one or the other, sometimes it's both. But here, in this, it's mainly the same (on the plain, in the rain).

So, I worked it out. This is what I am doing, "Before, during, and after enlightenment, build fire, boil water."

Ah, I like that.

Enjoy you.

~Magick~
Melissa

I am in Okay'ness

It's me....you remember me, right? :) Feelin' a whole lot better - just been journaling and thinking like crazy. And 'collecting' some meaning-full quotes from the boob tube.

Random stuff from my journal:

I am in Okay'ness right now - there are lil bubbles of confusion, unsure'ness, doubt, yuck, good'ness, laughter - and they are all inside the larger bubble I'm in of Okay'ness!

~from How to Make an American Quilt :

"Young lovers seek perfection,
old lovers learn the art of sewing shreds together,
and of seeing beauty in a multiplicity of patches."

"there are no rules you can follow, you have to go by instinct and you have to be brave."

The kittens are getting big. They just got their second set of shots last night. They went from 3 lbs to 5 lbs in 3 weeks! They're really packing it on. Poor Twix fell off of the top of the cabinets and somehow ended up stuck in-between the fridge and the wall. Lucky thing I was there to save him. :) Little guy was howlin "help me, oh god somebody help me!" heehee!!

The other night, Stu, Tristan, and I watched two skunks eating birdseed about 20 feet away from us. It was really interesting - a little scary, but a cool thing to experience.

I gotta go.....if I sit on the couch, no one bothers me, but the moment I get on the computer, here they are climbing on me, the computer, the keyboard. Ugh. No one bothers Tristan when she gets on here. It's just me. Well, I'm the Mom and that's got some good stuff in it (like they always come to me before everyone else : and they always come to me before everyone else grrrrr). Funny how the same thing can be wonderful and annoying depending on the circumstances. :)

Enjoy as much as you can today!

~Magick~
Melissa

Been watching movies

Here's a line I know you'll eat up.

"It's not brave if you're not scared." From the movie Bounce.

~Magick~
Melissa

Sprinkles of Delight

Just a lil something from my journal:

The outside looks different to me today. It is the look of potential...of change...of an altering state. The flock of grackles is back. They covered everything in their blackness. When they flew as one entity it was a black blanket, a blanket of blackness. I was captured by their united'ness, their together'ness. Watching them doesn't reveal who takes flight first - they all seem to move at once without provocation, together in the same direction...then they all together change direction. I wished I was as connected to others. Then I saw the lone groundhog scurrying through the landscape...hiding here, waiting there, being sure all is safe and well before moving again. My heart was delighted by the sight of this simple brown creature. She says, "Spring is HERE, even if we can't see much proof of its arrival." Groundhog disappeared into the woods...alone...going about her busy'ness. My attention returned to the gaggle of grackles. In their midst, a single hawk flew from one tree to another...alone...going about her busy'ness. I long to be as content, as secure in my solitude. And for a while, I am. For now, this is enough.

Sprinkle sized yummy'ness matters.

~Magick~
Melissa

Snow snow and more snow

This has been THE snowiest winter I've ever seen! Lately it's every few days. As soon as it melts (which isn't soon at all) it snows again. The kid is worried about her summer vacation being used up as they've already lost their spring break.

There is a comfort to this chilly blanket though.

I'm feeling better. Not 100%, but at least I feel like I can move. Have you ever felt like you just couldn't move? Like whatever energy you did have you had to spend on making sure you kept breathing?

I've spent the last two days cleaning....kinda early spring clean out. Organizing this cabinet and that one too. Making an attempt to get the house back into some kind of order after the Squirmy Wormy Hurricane.

That's about it.

I haven't made any art....just don't feel like it. The thing that is most annoying about this entire ordeal is that there isn't any 'real' reason for it - sure there are 'things' that I'd like to have in my life, but they aren't here (period)....so why not just enjoy what is here? I know all the counter arguments about choosing to be happy, arting anyway even if it's bad, counting blessings, just being with the feeling. They just don't work sometimes (and maybe they aren't meant to work every time????). I'd like to say "I know it all" and I think to a certain degree, I do. It's the putting it into practice I have problems with sometimes. It's the drive to get up. Ah, that bubble appears to have popped, so I won't focus any energy on trying to figure it out or conjuring it up again. I'm just glad to see it gone "And don't come back for 5 to 7 days!" (just a lil "My Girl" quote)..........actually lets make that 5 to 7 months!

Maybe my energy level was just really low and I needed to recharge. Maybe I read too much into it. That sounds like something I would do.

Thank you for your wonderful thoughts and words. I deeply appreciate YOU ALL!

~Magickal'ness~
Melissa

Blah blah blah

I've been caught up in a big case of the BLAH's! Ugh. I hate it....feeling like this. But that's the way it goes. On a journey, the mountain tops only last so long before you find yourself in a valley of thorny bushes. I feel like I'm finally making my way out though. So, back up the mountain I go!

How I can feel this way with so much Life and cute'ness around me I have no idea. I guess sometimes the inside just doesn't match the outside.

Pop-Tart has started suckling on his brother Twix (and anyone else he finds asleep). Cute lil Twix puts up with it and ends up with a slobbery belly (bottom left corner).

The following pictures represent what the kittens and I have been up to. Zzzzzzzzz.........

Here's Poppy sleeping on his sister Cleo's head.

Twix napping

Pirate napping


Twix yaaaaaaawnin'

Twix and Pirate napping together


Pirate and Cleo napping

Magick napping

~Have a nap-tastic day~

Melissa and Company

Mantra Magick

I finally got around to making a mantra card for Jennlui's Mantra Monday. I am really pleased with the results. I tried some things that I've never done before, but I now I know I'll do them again! By the end of the year, I want to have a whole deck of mantra cards. Thanks Jennlui for the fabulous experience! YAY!

Thank you for all your well wishes during my lil illness. I felt a lil yucky yesterday, but feel even better today. Can't wait for my nose to get back to normal!

~Magick~

Melissa

"Leonard, I'm sick"

That's a quote from a very funny show - "The Big Bang Theory" on right before my all time fav comedy show "How I Met Your Mother."

Anyways, yes I am sick. Just a lil cold that Hubby brought home from Massachusetts. Apparently it's a new strain that we never had before. Runny nose and watery eyes. The skin around my eye hurt so much last night I almost couldn't stand it. I feel much better today though. My immune system must be in tip-top shape with this home-body-life. I can kick a cold's butt in 24 hours! YAY IMMUNE SYSTEM!!!!

I've determined that being sick has some very very very very good points.

~ Excused lazy'ness - I'm excused from doing housework, including cleaning the litter boxes (if I want - but I have still been doing some stuff here and there). I can get anyone to do anything for me - "Can you get me tea...tissues...soup...orange juice...ice cream...medicine." :)

~ Naps galore!!!!! I can nap and nap and nap and no one will say a darn thing! YIPPEE!

~ Excused ugly'ness - At this point, my hair is so funky that I almost have a mohawk. :) It's kinda cool. But good thing I have a bandanna to cover it up. ;)

~ I can watch movie after movie after movie. Lucky thing we just got a 3 month free preview of HBO and Stars. We've been DVR'ing movies non-stop. Cool thing is that I don't have to wait to watch them with everyone else. No one would dare say "Why didn't you wait for us?" Cause I'm sick jack-butt and I have nothing else to do. :)

So there you have it. The benefits of being ill. Don't be too jealous of me though....be thankful for your health. :)

~Magick~
Melissa

Bliss~fully Connected

~Magickal'ness~

Melissa

Goodbye in '09, trouble with a capital T, and pages pages

Goodbye in '09:

Last year was a color~full year for my hair. I went from reddish-brown to white blond to part pink to part purple to some morphed half-breed growing out stages. Did I tell you? No? Well, goodbye purple'y goodness. Here's me now....


Super short and spikey. This is the shortest I've ever had my hair. But I'm digging it's funky'ness. I actually did my hair and put on make-up for this - so I hope you're happy. :) I didn't however change out of my pj pants. But I did put on a shirt!!! Which I took off right after this and replaced with my normal layers of short sleeve, long sleeve pj shirt, and old hubby sweat shirt (poor guy has everything 'stolen' from him).

And this is all that is left of purple'y goodness....I offer it up to the Hair Goddess.

trouble with a capital T:

Those Squirmy Wormers are growing all-right....growing 'bad.' Oh, some moments I miss the days when they just laid in a clump in a box under the table in the bedroom. Instead I have these climbing, chewing, biting, scratching, water spilling, mess making, getting into every single thing maniacs. But they are still super-de-duper CA-UTE! Here's Twix.

He just finished 'doing time' under a laundry basket a few minutes ago. Don't feel bad for him - he was climbing our make-shift computer cover (which is an old towel thumb tacked to the computer desk) for the 10th time in a row. Grrrrrr. He just tried to do it again. I don't just need cat food and litter....I need patience and a lot of deep breaths and some new cat toys. And again.....TWIX!!!!

The Pages pages:

~Nice quiet cuddly little kittens~

Melissa

More fun please!

Need I say more?

~Giggle Snort~

Melissa

Music for your Monday

Just cause it's so fun! Don't forget "this world is a beautiful, accident, turbulent, succulent, opulent permanent, no way" - so lets enjoy it.....even if we're a lil hurty today.



~Opulent....good word~
Melissa

Food for thought

Cooking is a very sacred act. When we forget its sacred'ness, cooking becomes a "chore", a pain in the butt, a time sucker. There are many times I rush through it just to get it done instead of focusing my energy on what I'm doing - creating something tasty to sustain our bodies so that we can experience Life/the journey.

Last summer, I spent some time baking in this sacred, focused way....made a world of difference. It made the time I spent cooking feel sacred, spiritual, magickal (thoughts can do that ;) instead of something I was stuck doing. I want to breathe some fresh air into that practice and bring it into an almost daily event in 2009.

Here's what I did: using the example of Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

I thought about each ingredient I was adding (and even some of the actions). What did it bring to the food? What were its properties, characteristics? *I did look up some things in a few books I have to complete the list, but that's really not necessary - use your imagination, your creativity.*

Butter: life giving base (cream), persistence in work (have you ever churned butter?)
Sugar: the sweetness of Life
Eggs: healing, removing negativity
Bananers: prosperity
Flour: grounding (cute huh? flour is ground, it's good for our energy to be grounded)
Baking Powder: the power behind
Salt: purification
Baking Soda: smooth flow (ever use it in the tub? makes your skin all soft)
Chocolate Chips: bittersweet dark'ness of Life

I would just repeat the attached association as I was adding that ingredient. While I was mixing it, I imagined all of those 'things' swirling around together making magick.


My #1 goal in 2009 is to say 365 BIG FAT YES's to Me!

My #1 desire for 2009: Eat more and Better (tasting I mean)!! Forget less!!

I have an issue with eating - I wouldn't say an eating disorder, I just forget to eat or put it off cause I'm too busy painting or whatever. Tis not good for me. My body is hungry....I know, but I ignore it. I would like to focus more energy on eating things that taste good instead of things that are fast. So far in 09, I haven't done a good job at this one....but there's plenty of time. :)
My #1 gift to me in 2009! FORGET WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK!!!!

This woman just showed up on the page....I saw something in the background coloring, so I drew it with a pencil while on the phone with a friend and POOF, there she was. I like what is said about her, "She relaxed into herself when she released the craziness of worrying about "What other people think."

This is one I want BAD! I am so sick of concerning myself with what other people think about me or Who I Am. I am so sick of wasting my time in that way. I am so sick of putting pressure on me, of beating myself up, of the stress and upset associated with worrying about what other people think.

Ah, but let's end on a good note............. how about C? :)

~SAY YES~

Melissa

Goals of sorts, of course

Hey Cutie-Pies! Hope you are having a beautiful bubbly day. I am cause I'm choosing it. (be gone bubble popping pins, you have no power here!!)

I've never made goals or resolutions at the start of the new year, but as 2009 approached, it just felt different than any other year. More full of ????? whatever. So, I began writing goals. As I went along, there were more and more, AND the way I wrote them changed. I decided to 'art' about them in my new journal. Here's a few:


You'll soon notice - They've all turned out to be #1. ;) Eh, why not? And they are very broad. I like that because it's very inclusive and I have lots of opportunities to be successful.




My #1 job this year is to create, Create, CREATE! I want to be dedicated to it - spend specific time, have a goal for the day (like today's goal was to take pictures of the pages I've completed and share them here - later, I've drawn a woman's figure, which I will make several copies of so that I can practice putting clothes on her until I figure out which I like best....then I'll go over to the 'real' painting and copy it on there....so much better than messing up the awesome work I've done so far).

I want to get up on the days when The "What's the point" Jerk is hanging around my neck and art anyway!! I've seen other artists talk about how dedicated they are: setting an alarm to get up early (I believe that was Miss V), even though they don't have to 'clock-in' per say OR working when they just don't feel like it. In the past, I would have slept on both occasions or watched TV...especially when previously mentioned Jerk is around.





My #1 pursuit in 2009 is to say YAY to the Day! in whatever way that is. Part of that is the previous goal of creating. Part is spending some time connecting with The Universe through

~ visualization (sometimes when I'm bothered or can't sleep, I take myself on a lil mental/visual journey - I will be sharing some of those this year *BTW, that's "Major Change #2*)

~ spiritual movement (see the picture of the woman I painted? She's doing yoga. Like I said on the page, I always mean to, I usually want to, but do I actually take the time out and do it? No. I WILL spend time doing some form of spiritual movement - yoga, tai chih chi, inten Sati - which is more a work-out video, but it is verbal intentions combined with movement....it's hot, I like it)

~ some form of ritual (I don't know what this will be yet - following the rhythms of the moon, ????? - I don't know, something)

This 'goal' is also blended with some others that I will post about later. Saying "YAY to the Day" is very complex easy-peasy....I know you know what I mean.


So there you have it.

What I'm YAY'ing today: getting back into 'watching' (more listening to as I clean up around here) "The Waltons" and "Little House on the Prairie". For some reason, those two shows always give me some umph to get stuff done. Plus, they're so cute and warm and cozy in their back-in-the-day'ness.

So, I'm off to YAY the rest of my DAY. You YAY too!

~Smoochie Poochies~
Melis

New year, new blog, new magick

I've never done this before, but I certainly am brave enough to try it......

It all began with "Spirit Journeys Creative Workshop" over at Little Faerie Tales. The first project was to make a journal. I've made journals for years, so originally I planned on making just a regular journal, but winter themed. And then a shift inside me began somewhere before Christmas ~ and then Christmas arrived.......you know, Christmas provides all kinds of gifts spiritual, emotional, mental, material, but this is one gift I didn't expect.

What to do with this piece of cardboard from the new sheets T received? Hmmmmmm........



How about this?









Winter's Lady is my new profile piccy. :)

Here's the inside

That piece of cardboard was just begging to be turned into a beautiful piece of art! And now it'll be my Art Journal for 2009. I have written in journals since I was a teenager (that was over 20 years ago ;) , but it was almost always just words. I wanted to expand, GROW creatively in 2009, so this is a good way to begin.

I decided to do one side winter and the other summer because it's large enough to use all year. I didn't want to permanently attach the papers inside because 1) I may want to use it again next year and 2) it just makes it easier to 'art them up'. What I did was take three pieces of ribbon, glue them down, and cover it with a piece of fabric I painted, put some holes in the paper, and "poof" they're in there.

I also completed several pages, but I'm only going to share the first one today.


If anyone else would like to share their art journal pages of 2009, I'd be happy to post them here or link to your blog.

Oh ~ can't forget, it is Monday today.....so here's some music for you...... another of T's favorites that she turned me onto.

~May we all go "Into a place where thoughts can bloom"~

Melis