Joy Express

The second Colour Challenge at UStamp was to use Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip and Basic Gray ~ fabulously stimulating colour combo!  I do struggle when there is no patterned paper which fits the challenge but found a little bit of Au Chocolat left over (from a couple of years ago) and added that to my Bird Punch card.  I am really happy with the end result.

 Continuing my theme of using very old Designer Series Paper in my stash, I created another version of Jenn Picard’s Scalloped Easel Card ~ this really is a super effective card style and can be made up in so many ways.  This one is for a friend’s birthday, next week.

I LOVE UStamp!

 

 

“Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.”

George Seaton ~ “Miracle on 34th Street”

 

This month’s theme at Meditation was “Faith”.  Funnily enough, it was only after the session that I happened to look down at my little “Expect a Miracle” Window Card and noticed that the message was all about the same topic (see above quote)!

Norma guided us through a meditation to visit that energy/space of “Faith” and my experience was most interesting.  I realised that Faith is a belief where no words are possible.  It’s difficult to describe, especially to others, and when visiting that space, I realised that my visualisation was unusual because I didn’t actually get a ‘picture’.  I always get pictures!  This time, all I saw was colour, which changed several times.  The non-dominant hand exercise which we completed after the meditation was hard to record for exactly the same reason – there really was no picture (and I get quite ‘thingy’ about recording what I see accurately, which is pretty hard when using my left hand!).

And I realised that “Faith” really is beyond words.  It just “IS”.

So, I’ve been contemplating this concept, how it fits into my reality and how I see the world.  One thing I have noticed as I’ve got older is that there is only one view on the way things are, and that’s the one which belongs to ME.  I have a perception of how things are which is tempered and influenced by external sources but essentially it’s just mine.  I can only BE all that I can be according to how I see things … not how others would prefer me to see things.  Which, on the whole, isn’t a huge issue until that approach to life – the one which involves Honouring ME – collides with the approach to life which I was brought up with. 

I find the contrast of being a child and being a parent a tricky line to walk.  But, if I adopt the same approach to parenting – that’s the one which honours how I view life – as I do to living my own life, I believe I am honouring my kids as individuals and equals, too.  The only time(s) this gets difficult is when their perception is radically different from mine!  But, eventually, I notice that they are wise, too.  They bring in new perspective, new approaches, fresh knowledge to living, and I benefit from that.

I believe in them.  I believe in ME.  “Faith” is not logical, nor describable.  It’s a belief which allows Me to live the best life I can, be True to Myself in the face of stiff opposition, and to still be JOY-ful.

 

The JOY of being an Air Sign ~ Gemini ~ is that I can stimulate the IDEAS part of my brain like nobody’s business. 

I’ve been seriously stimulating All Morning!

Which is FABULOUS.  It’s like having caffeine injected straight into my veins (and on days like today a little coffee goes a Really Long Way!) on  a continuous drip!  Woo Hoo!

And, if I happen to shower in the morning, on a day like this, which I did this morning, then the combination of water and massaging my brain following on from my morning cuppa means IDEAS, IDEAS, IDEAS!  (and, I seem to need to write with lots of exclamation marks! LOL)

This tends to mean that I spend a lot of time bouncing around and not feeling very grounded.  Which is ok for a while but not great when I still feel the effects of the first coffee/idea of the day later that evening, or even the next day.

That bodes badly for the next week, or two, or three, because it is a sign that I am about to sleep less and that means I’ll be stressed more.

But, at least I know that!

I am still in Creative Mode ~ thank goodness for the July Creative Challenge Girls: Beverly, Davine and Jenny ~ which I’m thoroughly enJOYing.  I’ve done heaps of variations on a few of the awesome UStamp projects (another one is on the list for today) and I’ve been experiencing some lateral thinking regarding the Stampin’ Kids workshop, this weekend.  Ahh, it’s Very Exciting.

I’ve also enJOYed the stimulation I’ve received from the Creative Mode to try out some different meals …  the Vietnamese Soup was very successful but not quite perfect.  It’s a great excuse to try again!  I LOVE this type of food, especially since having experienced it at the Central Market in Adelaide while away on an amazing weekend with Angel Julie.  Gosh, that brings back fabulous memories!  Isn’t it wonderful when you can revisit food or other experiences which, in their original guise, came with such magickal energy?!  Last night, I made Thai Salmon Cakes from the Jamaica Blue booklet which Kels and I picked up last week, at breakfast.  They were yummy, too!

So, Brain Dumping is the next thing on my agenda – again!  I’ve already ‘dumped’ once, today, and obviously need to do it again.  I AM INSPIRED!  I am inspired to Create Workshops ~ Crystal & Angel & Stamping ~ and Make Fabulous Food ~ tasty and healthy ~ and I’m even inspired to catch up on the chores! 

Ideas, Ideas, Ideas … they are a neverending source of JOY.

I have had the most busy week of Being Creative!  July is the month for all things creative and a couple of girlfriends and I are just ‘creating’ away and sharing our passion and achievements with each other, via email.  This stunning Sweet Treat Flower project is my most recent creation and is based on a project by Lynn Sichky for the current round of UStamp with Dawn and Friends ~ Early Summer Edition.  It was So Much Fun to create!!  I even took the pieces in the car with me to stick together while I waited for Kels to come out of school.   This was my very first time of using the Sweet Treat Cups – Fun, Fun, Fun!

I have also fallen in love with Tracey Old’s Double Pocket Purse.  Ooh La La!  It was really easy to create (once I got my head around the folding directions – sometimes my brain just doesn’t work like other people’s!!)  I have been using and using the fabulously gorgeous Sunny Day Simply Scrappin’ Kit ~ gosh! It’s gone a long way.  What a fabulous investment!! 

I was So Thrilled with Tracey’s project that I created another one which I gave to Josh’s girlfriend for her birthday, this week.  It was the perfect size to pop in a gift card and the birthday card as well as hide a new crystal bookmark and a little glass ornament, in between the pockets!  I also used an old Simply Scrappin’ Kit from my stash – I LOVE the Bright Colours!  In fact, I was excited when I realised that I could use up a couple of different Designer Series Paper Pack Patterned sheets – it’s So Wonderful that Stampin’ Up! coordinates all their product!  The cute little book is just the right size for the pocket in the purse … guess what I will be making for the next round of birthday gifts?!

I have made up more UStamp projects, this round, than I’ve been able to in the last couple of sessions.  Time has been on my side and my ‘need to be creative’ has been in overdrive!  In fact, I gave myself a little talking to, this morning, and suggested that maybe I could make some cards?  LOL.

Maybe it’s the stimulation of creating the Joy-Fold Card using Tempting Turquoise, Real Red and Old Olive that’s got me thinking about creating more cards.  This Colour Challenge is also from UStamp and I got to use even more of my favourite Sunny Day Scrappin’ Kit goodies.  I challenged myself to go a bit further than the rules of the challenge and not use Whisper White … I am pretty excited with the end result and it pushed me out of my comfort zone.  Yippee!

Ahh, Life Is Good with UStamp!  (Check out the next round, if you’re interested, because it’s all about CARDS!)

… My Craft Room will be overflowing with projects!  LOL.  I’ve been actively engaged in UStamp with Dawn & Friends’ Early Summer Edition 2010 projects and completely surprising myself at just how many fabulous things I’ve made!  I think I’ve got about 7 photos in the gallery!  This is amazing because I haven’t had the time to do much in the previous UStamp sessions – school holidays allow such flexibility for how I manage my time.

While being sidetracked on creating cards, chocolate covers, double pocket purses etc, I have been trying to ignore the “5 Year Plan” thoughts … I just don’t know where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing and I am even a bit scared of committing to doing something ‘just in case’ it goes awry.

But, I didn’t realise that those things I mentioned before were even possible in my “10 Year Vision” (this is why it’s great to go and have an Angel or Tarot Reading – it stimulates those otherwise dormant thoughts about what you might like to achieve in life).

I’ve been thinking about what I could set as goals for the next 6 months, what I am likely to achieve between now and the end of the year, and I find myself, yet again, reticent to Make a Commitment.

Why is that?

My artistic/creative side doesn’t like to be ‘locked in’ and it’s influencing my decisions a LOT, at the moment.  I am So Inspired to Be Creative!  Being Practical has been a challenge although I think I am able to ‘convince’ my Creative ME that my Practical ME needs a little time, today … cleaning, and Angel Workshop Preparation, MUST be a priority. LOL. [I can hear Creative ME already: "but, but, but ..."]

So, an easier way to commit myself to something is to think about what life may look like in 5 years time … it’s sufficiently far enough away that I can’t feel threatened by the commitment or the Fear of Success issues I experience or anything else.

In 5 year’s time …

my health will be in Great Shape

I will have a consistent income and be well on my way to being Financially Independent

I will have travelled to all the parts of Australia that I have ever wanted to see

I will be Living My JOY and Sharing that JOY with many people around me

Kels will be close to the end of her schooling and I will be close to the end of my more immediate parenting responsibilities

I will have my own car

My business premises will be organised/arranged and I will be in the process of refining my team of practitioners

I/we will be Giving Back to the Community ~ not sure how, yet

“Expressing JOY” will be my mantra.

Gosh! It still amazes me what comes through when I write these lists of thoughts about life in the future.  I feel they are a bit repetitive but that’s where my life is at, right now.  A lot of my ‘holding back’ comes from having a 12 year old who still needs her mother’s involvement (although not as much as before ) and that will naturally change as time moves forward.

Hmm.

Food for thought.

Maybe I might be able to think about what I want to achieve for the rest of this year now that I have broken down the next 10 years a little bit. 

By the end of the year I will have …