Joy Express

Quality time with ME.  Wow!  What a thought!  Sarah says it’s the hardest thing she had to do during the Simple Abundance process.  I wonder if it will be that hard for me?

I guess not, given I have just spent a wonderfully indulgent weekend with my Authentic Self and some long distance girlfriends. What a Great Trip!  My commitment to myself was to really understand some more parts of my Authentic Me and I found myself overwhelmed with observations before I even got on the plane to Brisbane.  LOL.

However, there was not a spare moment in the whole 48 hours I was away to do a single scrap of journalling after arriving in Queensland.  If only talking could be automatically transcribed onto paper.

I think that really this concept of ‘Creative Excursions’ is about spending quality time with that wonderful being – “Michelle”.  That might just be a bit harder than I first thought.  All the things which Sarah lists in this article are all excuses that I would have employed.  But, having read Excuses Begone! earlier this year, I know that I cannot use excuses anymore.  So, I DO commit to spending Quality Time with my Authentic Self this week.  YAY!

[By the way, the weekend was a Huge Success!  Lovely Beverly was a wonderful hostess and fabulously caring friend.  She took me on the tourist drive to see her world and nurtured me as only a really good friend, or mum, can do.  Her family just included me as another member and it was fabulous. 

The Animal Dreaming Girls were AWESOME! The thing I struggled with?  Trying to remember that we'd only known each other for 3 months and spent very little time alone together over the Animal Dreaming weekend because we were busy learning!  We talked so much that I think a couple of us were just a bit shell-shocked by then end of the day.  LOL.

An update on "The Creators" by Beverly ... SHE'S FINISHED!  That's right, the 50 000 word novel Challenge for November has been achieved!  Woo Hoo!  CONGRATULATIONS Special Friend.]

Splitcoast Stampers had a fabulous project, last week, which had a simple yet elegant card … my brief look at the project provided the inspiration for this cute Owl card.  Ever since attending Animal Dreaming, in August, I have been keen to use this little bloke. 

I’ve used lots of ‘old’ product this time, and I love the clean and crisp lines of the card.  I also LOVE colouring in – thank goodness Stampin’ Up! coordinates all its colour families!

Ingredients: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Very Vanilla cardstock; Au Chocolat Designer Series Paper; Celebrate Everyday stamp set; Chocolate Chip ink; Pumpkin Pie 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon; coordinating Markers.  All product from Stampin’ Up!

The 3rd card in this ‘Inspired by I {Heart} Hearts’ phase I have been in is actually made with Perfect Plum cardstock, although the photo does not reflect this.

I was inspired by a simple card layout that I’ve seen several times in several different layouts which basically used one image centred on a tile.  I hadn’t used this particular heart stamp yet, and wanted to ‘play’.  I really like the elegance of it, and the opportunity to do the ‘fiddly bits’!

Ingredients: Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Certainly Celery, Whisper White cardstock; Perfect Plum ink; Silver Cord; Buttons – Sherbet & Soft Subtles.  All product from Stampin’ Up!

Today is about recognising my Authentic Self … when you look in a mirror, who do you see?  As I write this, it would be hard to tell who I can see as my eyes are still a bit blurry from sleep, and my brain hasn’t quite got all cylinders sparking!

But, in a few moments, a couple of hours, a day or two, I will be able to recognise my Authentic Self … she is the one who is taking me on the Journey to Queensland for the weekend.  She is the one who has Time to just BE ~ Be ‘Michelle’, not ‘mum’, not ‘wife’, not anything other than “Self” and “Friend”.

I wonder what pearls of wisdom await me on my path?

Oh, wow!  I really had fun with this card!  I was inspired, today, by the gorgeous spotted heart in the new I {Heart} Hearts stamp set and just love how it turned out.  Keeping up with my desire to use some of my stash of product, I kept the colour scheme simple and added in some very funky Flower Fusion Felt Flowers.  WOW!  I think this card would be a fabulous ‘Friendship’ card for a special girlfriend.  What do you think?

Ingredients: Rose Red, Regal Rose, Purely Pomegranate, Very Vanilla cardstock; Purely Pomegranate ink; Purely Pomegranate Double Stitched Ribbon; Flower Fusion felt flowers; Brads – Silver & Earth Elements.  All product from Stampin’ Up!