Sunday 23 February 2014
"You Need No More Than 33 Items In Your Closet"....
...and those 33 items include clothes, coats, boots, shoes, purses, accessories, sunglasses and any jewellery you don't wear every single day. Luckily, the 33!items don't include underwear or exercise clothes.
I read this article (see blog post title) today in "O" Magazine. Although it nearly caused me an anxiety attack, I immediately set to work in my bedroom. But first I skipped over to author Courtney Carver's Project 333 website. I also check out her website, Be More With Less, which is filled with great information on simplifying our lives. In addition, her home site, Courtney Carver.com is another good source of information. I'm working my way through the archives at Be More With Less right now. There's a lot of really good stuff in there that's motivating me to make some positive changes in my world.
I was like a whirling dervish in my bedroom this afternoon. After two hours I had eight (8) clear blue recycle bags (the big ones) to donate and two green ones for the garbage bin. I swear I could have given a nice scarf or wrap to everyone on my street! I haven't narrowed things down to 33 yet (not even close), but it's a huge start. And I didn't just do my closet - I did my dresser and my jewellery box as well! Phase II will get me closer to the 33 things. Hopefully I'll get to Phase II sooner rather than later.
Next stop - linen/medicine/toiletries/ tools closet (over-stuffed shelf for each). Scary thought.
Tuesday 18 February 2014
Crazy Hair Ladies
Book of Days has two awesome spreads posted for us to tackle, but my sister and I haven't been able to synchronize our schedules this past week, so it'll be a while before we can get together and do the next one.
Life Book has a new lesson out this week that looks like fun, too, by Alena Hennessy. I'm not familiar with her, but will check out the link myself.
In the meantime, I was salivating over Natasha May's online workshop "Crazy Hair Ladies", and remembered that I did a spread a while back with my own crazy hair lady in it. I think she might have been for a swap group I did at the Glitterhood last year. I'm not sure.
I like her - and I hope at some point I'll get a chance to do Natasha's workshop. It would be a blast!
The sources for learning amazing mixed media art and art journaling online are endless and exciting beyond words. There's something for everyone, no matter what your ability or experience and, trust me, if you have, or think you have, no ability at all, you'll surprise yourself in no time - seriously! I'm not kidding. A lot of my stuff is still pretty sad looking to me, but some of it surprises the hell out of me. As I've said many times, I couldn't draw a decent stick figure or a proper happy face when I started this, so I've come a long way. And even if I hadn't, I'm having so much fun, and it makes me so happy, that I'd do it anyway.
Just pick something and try it....you'll see!
Life Book has a new lesson out this week that looks like fun, too, by Alena Hennessy. I'm not familiar with her, but will check out the link myself.
In the meantime, I was salivating over Natasha May's online workshop "Crazy Hair Ladies", and remembered that I did a spread a while back with my own crazy hair lady in it. I think she might have been for a swap group I did at the Glitterhood last year. I'm not sure.
I like her - and I hope at some point I'll get a chance to do Natasha's workshop. It would be a blast!
The sources for learning amazing mixed media art and art journaling online are endless and exciting beyond words. There's something for everyone, no matter what your ability or experience and, trust me, if you have, or think you have, no ability at all, you'll surprise yourself in no time - seriously! I'm not kidding. A lot of my stuff is still pretty sad looking to me, but some of it surprises the hell out of me. As I've said many times, I couldn't draw a decent stick figure or a proper happy face when I started this, so I've come a long way. And even if I hadn't, I'm having so much fun, and it makes me so happy, that I'd do it anyway.
Just pick something and try it....you'll see!
Monday 17 February 2014
Why Rumblestrip?
Rumble strip - noun - a set of grooves along the edge of a highway or across a road that cause noise and shaking when they are driven over and that are used to warn drivers that they need to slow down or are too close to the edge of the road
In case anyone should find my blog and wonder why I named it Rumblestrip, the definition above may help. I read an article by Martha Beck a while back, in "O" magazine, where she referred to hitting a rough patch in life as a rumble strip, and it struck a chord with me that has remained since. I've hit the rumble strip more times than I can count. The important thing is to get back on the road and not end up in the ditch...or worse. Hence the name of my blog. For me it's a perfect fit.
Tuesday 11 February 2014
Today's Rumblings and the Latest Book of Days Spread/s
I'm actually getting my "studio" to come together....it's just a little room at the back of my house, but it's my space and I've missed it. Condensing two spaces into one has been challenging, but I'm slowly getting there. Here's a photo of my little art journaling workspace....it'll be undergoing changes in the next few weeks, but this is it for now.
Book of Days
My sister and I have been doing our best to keep up with Book of Days, but it's challenging because we're 525 miles apart and doing it together over Facetime. She works full time nights, so we are limited as to when we can work together on our spreads. We are, however, managing to keep up fairly well, and it's SO much fun being able to do this with her.
Week One was our word for the year, which I posted previously.
Week Two included a simile with reference to winter. I like the way the spread turned out, but as much as I like the colours, they certainly don't bring winter to mind. I am happy with my progress, though, which is good because I'm usually never happy with anything I do. However, I'm coming to terms with the fact that I can't expect to get good at anything without constant practice. Since I don't get constant practice I have to settle for gradual progress. So - I'm ok with that now. Here it is.
Week Three was Titled "What Lies Beneath," which I really enjoyed because it involved a tree. A lot of introspection came with this one, as is the intent with all of Effy's lessons. I thought about all the times I didn't think I could cope with something happening in my life, but yet I've always seemed to find the strength to get through whatever comes my way.
That was probably my favourite so far. It bugs me a bit that in the photos it's hard to see all the different layers to the spreads, but I can see them in my journal, so that will have to do.
Week Four was called Be In It....it and asked why we don't treat ourselves as well as we treat others. I did my spread with the definition of radical self care. It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, and it involved the first "selfie" I've ever used in my art journal, but I liked the concept, as it made me think about taking care of myself, which I rarely do. I finally have time for myself, but am still not doing anything to heal and renew from the past few years of so much stress and heartache. Time is helping, but I need to do a lot more inner work, and a hell of a lot more "outer" work. These years have taken an awful toll on my body and it'll take a lot to heal it and get it into a healthier state. In the meantime, this is the spread - not my favourite by any stretch, but it'll have to do for now.
Week Five was "What Feeds Your Soul," which I did last Friday. The background is entirely a paper towel I'd used to blot up paint from the page. It looked better than the page, so I put it down with gel medium and went from there. Even with a coat of gel on the top, it wasn't easy to work on, but considering that, it turned out ok. I keep reminding myself that a year and a half ago I couldn't draw a decent stick figure. That keeps me from being too hard on myself and expecting perfection when there's no such thing, and when I'm still a beginner.
A couple of weeks ago I finished a spread that was a tribute to Marilyn Monroe. I'd have never dreamed I would do something like that, but I read an article containing some of her diary entries and was blown away by her awareness. She wrote well and was very introspective in a lot of ways, which was surprising to me. I felt sad after I read the article....sad that she died, for whatever reason, and didn't get to meet her potential and find what she needed to feed her soul.
Well, now that I'm just about caught up on Book of Days, hopefully I can post more regular, perhaps shorter, missives on what's happening here on the Rumblestrip.
Book of Days
My sister and I have been doing our best to keep up with Book of Days, but it's challenging because we're 525 miles apart and doing it together over Facetime. She works full time nights, so we are limited as to when we can work together on our spreads. We are, however, managing to keep up fairly well, and it's SO much fun being able to do this with her.
Week One was our word for the year, which I posted previously.
Week Two included a simile with reference to winter. I like the way the spread turned out, but as much as I like the colours, they certainly don't bring winter to mind. I am happy with my progress, though, which is good because I'm usually never happy with anything I do. However, I'm coming to terms with the fact that I can't expect to get good at anything without constant practice. Since I don't get constant practice I have to settle for gradual progress. So - I'm ok with that now. Here it is.
Week Three was Titled "What Lies Beneath," which I really enjoyed because it involved a tree. A lot of introspection came with this one, as is the intent with all of Effy's lessons. I thought about all the times I didn't think I could cope with something happening in my life, but yet I've always seemed to find the strength to get through whatever comes my way.
That was probably my favourite so far. It bugs me a bit that in the photos it's hard to see all the different layers to the spreads, but I can see them in my journal, so that will have to do.
Week Four was called Be In It....it and asked why we don't treat ourselves as well as we treat others. I did my spread with the definition of radical self care. It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, and it involved the first "selfie" I've ever used in my art journal, but I liked the concept, as it made me think about taking care of myself, which I rarely do. I finally have time for myself, but am still not doing anything to heal and renew from the past few years of so much stress and heartache. Time is helping, but I need to do a lot more inner work, and a hell of a lot more "outer" work. These years have taken an awful toll on my body and it'll take a lot to heal it and get it into a healthier state. In the meantime, this is the spread - not my favourite by any stretch, but it'll have to do for now.
Week Five was "What Feeds Your Soul," which I did last Friday. The background is entirely a paper towel I'd used to blot up paint from the page. It looked better than the page, so I put it down with gel medium and went from there. Even with a coat of gel on the top, it wasn't easy to work on, but considering that, it turned out ok. I keep reminding myself that a year and a half ago I couldn't draw a decent stick figure. That keeps me from being too hard on myself and expecting perfection when there's no such thing, and when I'm still a beginner.
A couple of weeks ago I finished a spread that was a tribute to Marilyn Monroe. I'd have never dreamed I would do something like that, but I read an article containing some of her diary entries and was blown away by her awareness. She wrote well and was very introspective in a lot of ways, which was surprising to me. I felt sad after I read the article....sad that she died, for whatever reason, and didn't get to meet her potential and find what she needed to feed her soul.
Well, now that I'm just about caught up on Book of Days, hopefully I can post more regular, perhaps shorter, missives on what's happening here on the Rumblestrip.
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