Attitude of Gratitude - Day 3

Morning Friends! I didn't get a chance to come here last night, but wanted to be sure to pop in bright and early this morning to stay on track and accountable for getting my posts here.

There were lots of little things I was grateful for yesterday, but out of all the things I lifted up two stood out.

First I was grateful for God's strength and companionship. I really needed His presence yesterday and He was by my side, led me to some fabulous scripture that was just right for the time, and kept my heart filled with the positive as opposed to the negative.

I was oh so grateful for all of us being at home together for an evening. Typically someone (my husband most of the time) is out of the mix. Everyone has lots going on so having all of us together for dinner and hanging out was fantastic. Even when we were done hanging out as a foursome, it was fabulous to know everyone was at home.

Here's the quote from yesterday that Tessa posted:


She also has a great LO and other info posted on how you can play along with a challenge and take a free class. Be sure you go here and check it out.

I'll be back later today with some art and another gratitude post. Hope you have a fantabulous start to your day. Be joyful in all you do and make some time to make art!

Art Every Day - Day 3

WooHoo! I am on top of it today boy! I didn't sleep well and the best thing to do when that happens is create. I got to it in the wee hours this morning and finished up my Attitude of Gratitude album cover. It started like this:


and now looks like this:

I used lots of stencils and stamps along with paint, gesso, mists, and my NeoColor crayons. The addition of some chipboard pieces and letters finished it off.

It felt really good to get something finished up so early, and I mean early LOL, in the day. I've got some chores calling my name, but after that I plan on getting back in my space. I think this time I'll be focusing on some stuff for the store I want to start. Maybe I'll be back later with some more art, as well as, my Attitude of Gratitude post.

Happy AED!

Attitude of Gratitude/Art Every Day Month - Day 2

Today was hard. It was one of those days where any calamity that could go wrong just kept coming. What made it turn around was this quote from Tessa's blog:

That's a whole lotta seconds, isn't it? Although I hadn't gotten through all of them I knew I hadn't taken any of them up to the point where I was in my day to thank Him for anything. So I went about changing my attitude for the day. These are the things that really resonated with me today:

I'm grateful for having time during my day to sit and be alone with God. After I read this quote that's just what I did. I have a teen and a pre-teen and what they're faced with daily is unbelievable. I'm grateful they know Him and that He watches over them. The fact He has entrusted their care to me in amazing and I'm ever grateful and know I need to be doing more to help them know Him better. I'm grateful to have a husband that knew and loved God long before I did and still does today. He is an honorable, loving, kind, gentle man - perfectly designed for me. Wow. I feel so blessed to be with him.

I struggle a lot with inner issues and people pleasing. I'm grateful God has brought this clearly to the forefront of my life at this point right now. It is something I can no longer ignore because its destroying the person I could and want to be. I'm grateful for other brave women like, Virginia, that have realized this about themselves, been brave enough to share it, and do something about it. Check out this post to see what I'm talking about. The book she refers to is getting ordered from Amazon by me today.

Finally, I'm grateful for friends that 'get' me. I don't have many women I'd call true friends. I've had lots that could be considered acquaintances and even pals, but my true friends can be counted on one hand. They are the ones I know for sure in my gut I can trust with anything. I had the chance to talk for some time with one of those friends today and I'm grateful for that.

With an attitude change, the calamities of my day didn't stop coming, but they certainly were easier to take in stride.

Art Every Day stuff

I've been wanting to take some time to get some pictures of stuff around or house whether it be animals, buildings, or some of the fall colors - but it just wasn't happening. I decided today was the day, grabbed a dog and my phone, and off we went. Sadly, it started raining (ooo, was that cold!) and we had to head back sooner than I'd hoped for. I did get some pictures of some cows I'd been wanting to capture, so playing with the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone was my art for today. These 2 are my fav of what I took:


I love the one cow looking at me in this picture. I had been there for a bit with my dog and I think it finally wondered what in the world I was doing. I was the clarity of the cows was a bit better, but I still really like it.


I love the grainy, vintage look this one came out with.

I haven't decided if I'm going to scrap these photos, use them in my AJ, or both yet - super happy I have them now though. YAY for art every day!

Are you participating in either of these projects? If so, do tell. If not you should check them out. There is a TON of blogs and inspiration to be found at Creative Every Day, along with Leah's personal posts there, and the posts Tessa has done at Precocious Paper are really wonderful and heart warming.

Have good nights and see you tomorrow!

Off to a Good Start - Art Every Day Month/Attitude of Gratitude - Day 1

Hey there, I'm back..... that's a totally good sign, LOL! I'm off to a good start and in fact I couldn't get these projects off my mind today. I was busy bustling along doing what needed to be done and thinking about all the things, big and small, that make my life amazing - even when I'm thinking otherwise.

Today I'm grateful for being able to watch beautiful sunrises from my living room window while the kids and hubby get ready for their days.

I'm grateful for my husband who gets up everyday (most weeks 7 days a week) to work and provide for our family.

I'm grateful for friends who make me laugh and not feel so alone in being a crazy lady at times, LOL.

I'm grateful for a new pup to the kennel settling in and knowing our home is now hers as well.

I'm grateful for this project.

I pondered throughout the day how I was going to best capture all of what I'm grateful for each day, along with some photos, and some contributions from my family. I decided I'd put together a journal with some Maya Road canvas pieces and a bunch of scraps. This is where the Art Every Day part comes in!

Today's art (so far) has consisted of a LO I can't show you yet, putting together my Gratitude journal, and painting/misting up the cover.

Here's the journal:


I'm not quite skilled yet on the best ways to photo journals so please bear with me. You can get the idea though, right? It has lots of canvas pieces and then paper cut mostly into 5x5 squares. Some papers are rectangles, there are tags, and I also busted out some journaling cards from Crate Paper. There are 30 pages so a front/back per day? I don't know, I'm not sweatin' it either.

Here's a couple peeks inside to see what makes it up better:






I started on the cover and can't wait to get back at it.
Here's what I have so far:

I'm not worried about getting it done tonight, but I would like to log Day 1's grateful entry while all is fresh in my head.

I'm off to post my link for Art Every Day. Until tomorrow I'll leave you with the quote Tessa posted on her blog for today:



Night!

Art Every day Month!!

Hi Friends! Guess what?! Today marks the start of Art Every Day Month!



I found this happening on the Creative Every Day Blog. What's fabulous is this is a no pressure event. While the badge might say art every day month your interpretation of what art and creativity for the day is is up to you. This is the direct link to learn how to play along. Are you going to? Do share by leaving me a comment if you're playing along. I'd love to come visit you!

I'll see you later this afternoon/evening for my first posts relating to Attitude of Gratitude and Art Every Day Month. Happy Creating!