Raymond Carver said it best....

This is just the best way to describe how I feel right now. Enjoy, then buy his books. :)

"Poems"
by Raymond Carver

"They've come every day this month.
Once I said I wrote them because
I didn't have time for anything
else.  Meaning, of course, better
things--things other than mere
poems and verses.  Now I'm writing
them because I want to.
More than anything because
this is February
when normally not much of anything
happens.  But this month
the larches have blossomed
and the sun has come out
every day.  It's true my lungs
have heated up like ovens.
And so what if some people
are waiting for the other shoe
to drop, where I'm concerned.
Well, here it is then. Go ahead.
Put it on. I hope it fits
like a shoe.
Close enough, yes, but supple
so the foot has room to breathe
a little.  Stand up.  Walk
around.  Feel it?  It will go
where you're going, and be there
with you at the end of your trip.
But for now, stay barefoot.  Go
outside for a while, and play."

Week 4: Giblets.

 This is my 5-year-old's original painting.  She said she made it just for me. I could kiss it, or eat it with honey!  I just absolutely love this!

Now, about giblets. :)

Giblets is the affectionate name my husband gave for the piles...and piles...and piles of little pieces of toys that both of our girls seem to love. The Cootie Bugs game, Monopoly, chess and checker board sets, Barbie parts, card games....all of these things seem to get piled in the middle of our playroom! They make a huge mess. Then we have to go through, sort them out a piece at a time, find which game that every little piece of cardboard goes to, and we don't feel like we've really accomplished any housework when we're done sorting through it. 

A lot of my art projects seem to follow this pattern too.
 
I'll have fifty-five different ideas in any given day.  Sometimes I'll start pieces of a project, then abandon it for whatever reason--I need another tool, the project's not working the way I want it, a kid loses a fingernail (!!!) or I just get sidetracked.  Eventually, I look around, and it feels like half of my studio is covered with half-finished items.

Any time I finish a writing project, my brain simply aches for the physical and visual action of crafting.  So, after finishing a short screenplay last week, I was revved up and ready to finish a lot of the little things, the "giblets" that had accumulated in my brain and work space. 

Of course, I felt like I hadn't accomplished *anything* artistic this past week until I looked through my photos and had a physical record of everything I'd done. Blogging to the rescue! :)

The first project was to make this incredibly fun "schedule" for the kids. I've wanted to do this for a year, literally, and just "never got around to it." I literally found the sun picture in a moving box from our last house!Now it's finally done. I got the idea from the inimitable FlyLady, who suggested making a visual routines list for kids that were too young to read.  The girls both loved it, and started following it immediately.  :)  With no pressure from me, of course.  And I never had to remind them of anything ever again. :p

The tags were upcycled cereal boxes, and I used some old beads that weren't annealed--so they busted in my hands when I tried to make jewelry with them. >:-[

I made these with the girls.  We took clothespins apart, covered them with gesso, slapped on the acrylic paint of our choosing, and then stamped them with Staz-On ink.  I got the idea from Shona Cole, but thought, "Aw, what will we do with those? And who would ever want to buy them?" Cause no idea is good unless someone would want to buy it, right?  Well, these little babies made me smile, and that was enough for me.  I started using them everywhere:

...and they make me smile every day now. :)

Another project I worked on this week was an art journal, here:

...and here...

...and then I bound the pages together....

 ....only to realize that I'd measured something wrong at 4am, and the pages didn't fit to the covers properly!

The bound pages stuck out at the top of the cover, and were half-an-inch away from the bottom. :(  And, um, I'd used wire to bind it with, so it wasn't like I could just chop all the excess off.  I'd spent all that time cutting out tabs and holes and binding everything, and now I'd have to start all over again.  :(

I put a new tool on my wish-list: a wire binding machine!

Also this week, I learned to make great guacamole, thanks to my new favorite website: www.chipotlefan.com.  Yeah, it was yummy. We had that for lunch a couple of times.  With chips. And nothing else. :) I'm not ashamed.

My oldest made a new creation:

And celebrated it:

Yes, that really is her throwing pieces of Styrofoam everywhere. She thinks I'm the cool mom, until I make her help me clean it up. ;) Styrofoam is not fun to clean up.

I did some writing.  I spent one morning outlining my musical play.  Yeah, it's the one I've been working on for a bajillion years, have ten songs for, and have even written spin-offs of it for various church skits, but never finished.  I almost hate it now, but I want to finish it, just so I never have to think of it again.  I think I may need to write a SFD just to get it out of my system. (google "SFD writing" if you don't know what that means, haha)  At the very least, I was able to figure out a couple of reasons *why* I always get stuck, and hopefully I can spend a week on it without puking. :)

One morning, I felt so blah/sleepy/useless and prayed, "Lord, what do You want me to do today?" I strongly felt like he said, "Praise Me," and I did.  I pulled out my guitar and praised Him.  I even wrote part of a song.  That's when my two-year-old walked in the room with a stunned expression on her face, and I realized that she may have no memory of me playing.  For Shame. 

I took some pictures, and experimented with the different settings on my camera.  I'll post those later, because the kids have been patient enough, and I need to get back to the real world.

Finally, I had a blessed moment when my two-year-old knocked some Raymond Carver poetry books off the bottom shelf.  In a whirlwind moment of ADD, I just *had* to sit and read forty pages of it (I'm a fast reader--it took me about 10 minutes). Carver's language soaked right through my skin again, reminding me of all that God had delivered me from.  I wrote a couple of poems in his minimalistic style, and I'll post one for you here.

I have to be patient. 
I will not be my mother.

I will not scream when 
A little girl sings 
about songs that never end
at the top of her lungs
when I have a headache. 

I will take an asprin
and remind her
that she'll be on Broadway someday.

Week 3: One ten-page screenplay, two kids, sick for nine days.

"All That You Think About" , a 10-minute screenplay about how men deal with their thought lives, and how women respond to them.  Click on the linky to read-y, and let me know what you think in the comments below. :)

My goal for next year is to put together a team for the 168project.org competition, where a 10-minute movie is written and produced in a week, based on a Bible verse and a theme of their choosing.  I'm practing writing the 10-minute format.  (Of course, next year I'll have a nanny set up for the week, and  make sure she'll have a flu shot. :) )

To help me practice, I picked a random "verse of the day" from http://www.biblegateway.com/.  Then, I picked a theme that naturally came from that verse.  The verse was Philippians 4:8: ⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." The theme that I gleaned from that verse was "purity." 

The rest came to me in a bit of a flash---and this is a story about guys and their eyes.  :)

During the times when both of the kids were napping (!!!) I was able to pound out  the beats for this screenplay, then finally got a morning to myself to write it all down.  I have to remember that I'm an outliner.  I do my best work when I build the skeleton for the story first, then know where I'm going with the dialogue and the action, fill in some fun details, and make it sucker-punch the reader/viewer with a twist on the very last page.  Even though the kids, and not the art, were my priority during this week, I was able to do a little creating by working the way I work best.


My kiddos have been so sick. :( Between the snow and the flu, we've been house-bound for two weeks.  The only exception was a day when I had to use a hammer to break up the foot of ice that had encased my tires, so I could take them to the doctor.

When my oldest gets sick, we think, "Ok, this is her time to rest, to calm down, to stop climbing the walls, and she'll be fine in a few days."  She fights that sickness like it's one of her favorite bad guys, and she's back to bouncing around in no time. 

When my youngest gets sick, it's like the whole world comes to an end.  Her fever goes higher, her energy goes lower, and her little body just doesn't want to put up much of a fight. It breaks everyone's hearts.  She was coughing, sputtering, feverish, inconsolable....yeah, it was rough on her. 

Right now, the youngest is sleeping well, has no fever, and has stopped coughing.  We're hoping that the battle is over, but we're staying vigilant, and praying.  Next year, we're getting the flu vaccine.


I have to put in a blurb for Michelle Ward, both here and here.  I have NOT yet used her coaching service, but just her newsletter ( titled, "8 Ways to Get Through Your Job Without Shooting Yourself in the Face" )  and other blog posts gave me the permission I needed to enjoy working in multiple fields at the same time.  I've always felt like "You will be a complete failure if you don't pick one of these fields and STICK WITH IT! You WIMP"!  That's the whole reason why I started this blog: to help me pick one of these fields and....well...grow up.   

Michelle says I don't have to.  Really? REALLY?  AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! (I'm running through the fields, happy, so happy!)  She says that it's perfectly reasonable to carve out a career for yourself that puts all of your talents to work.  She profiles clients who are both chefs and (I kid you not) pet portrait painters. Or nurses and ballet dancers.  Or salespeople and members of the blue man group.  Yeah, I made that last one up. 

So, it's okay to make journals one week, write a screenplay the next, and write spoof comedy songs the next? Seriously? Seriously! I'm doing it. I'm seriously doing it.  I'm loving it. 

And I'm no longer looking at any of these projects with a note of regret: "Yes, I love making art journals, but I'll be wasting my talent for music if I focus on this."  No, I'll get to the music.   I'm just making a mess with acrylics right now.  My guitar needs to stay safely in her case until I clean up the mess.  Paint would be a problem for my screenwriting software. I can do all of this.  I can grow.

Thanks Michelle.  I'm buying time with you, as soon as we pay off the first credit card.  You're worth it. :)

Ok, until I figure out how to post the short screenplay here, just email me at d o t t y j y o u n g at y a h o o dot c o m, and ask to read it.  I'll send it to you in PDF format. :) 

And leave me comments to let me know you were here! Over 250 independent views so far---thanks for joining me on this journey. :)

End of week 2. Things worked out a bit differently.

 This was fun!!

I know, I was supposed to be writing short screenplays, but life happened.  My oldest got sick, work got busier, my sleep kept getting disrupted, and the LAST thing I wanted to do was engage in word-smithing of any sort. 


So, when my husband gave me some much-needed downtime, I spent it making this lovely Valentine's present for him.

Valentine's day is my favorite holiday.  Yes, my favorite of ALL the holidays.  :)  It's about love, hearts, the color red, and CHOCOLATE. What else could a girl want? 



Here's a quick picture of  my Dear Husband receiving his gift.  Yeah, I gave it to him two weeks early.  I can never hold onto a gift. Ever.  I think I've given him almost every Christmas, Birthday, and Anniversary present at least a week early since we've been married. Below those pics is the tutorial for how to make one of these yourself. :)




 Oh, by the way, our two-year old doesn't like to wear clothes.

Cover a piece of scrap wood with a coat of gesso.  This helps everything else adhere better, and gives a place for any run-off paint to go. 

Sketch out a grid for your composition.

 Cut out the papers of your choice to fit in the grid lines. 

Now remember, I'M CHEAP. ;)  These Valentine's papers were bought on clearance at the end of *last year's* Valentine's day.

The sheet music was actually found down inside of our piano when we got it! It's an old 1920's upright, and had plenty of little nooks and crannies where things could hide.

 Once you have adhered the papers, cover everything with a thin coat of gesso, to mute any bright colors and unify the surface.  Wipe off any places where you want the underlying papers to show through.



Yes, that is an old sock. That's what mis-matched socks are for---art supplies. :)

 Mix 1-part acrylic paint with 1-part gel medium, then add about as much water as paint.  This gives a thinner paint that holds the vibrancy of the colors. 

Splatter the paint randomly across the surface, then smear the color around using old wax paper, plastic, or magazine pages.


 I then drew lines with a brown pastel crayon to help my grid stand out.

 I used a big background stamp down one side of the grid, and stamped other areas of the surface, using solvent ink. 

That's when I realized that I'd set my wood on top of some quilt pieces, and the board was rocking back and forth. So, remove any ridiculous things that might be on your work space, lol!

Cover the whole surface with gel medium or Mod Podge. 

 Get some fun-looking, mis-matched buttons.  Let the kids play with them---they'll love you for it.

 I made some home-made art papers, using Shona Cole's technique here.  I used junk mail for my base paper, so these are one-of-a-kind upcycled flowers. :)

If you get a chance, look at her video on the same subject.  You'll understand why everyone in the mixed-media art community loves this woman, because she's doing this tutorial with her 11-month-old son strapped to her back. :) 

 Thread the button onto 26-gauge craft wire, or whatever wire is thin enough to go through the buttons you choose. 

Twist the wire into a "stem." Then, punch a hole through the center of your flowers, and thread the flowers behind the button. 

I don't have a picture of this yet, but once the flowers are in place, twist the stem into a little coil behind the flower, to keep the punches from slipping off.

 Gather them into a bunch.

 Twist all the flowers' heads until they're facing forward, then decide where you want to place the bunch.

I raided my husband's tool closet, and used a staple-nail to hold them into place.

I don't have pictures of the next part, because I did this while the kids were watching TV one day. :)

Take an old tin can---yes, the kind that you have in your pantry, but empty---and decoupage thin vintage papers onto it.  Cover the can with a coat or two of Mod Podge.

Then, CAREFULLY, cut the can in half down both sides, but don't cut yourself!  I used my husband's wire cutters (without his permission--he's gonna get me for that) and then,  when I got to the bottom of the can, I simply bent it back and forth until it broke in two. 


I nailed the can into place, then added more nails on the side, wrapped with wire. 

 Stamp text onto vintage papers, using solvent ink.  Cut out, and ink the sides. Adhere with Mod Podge. 

 Put eyelets in the "growing" text block, and wire-wrap the text to the can. 

 Using the same paint from earlier, paint down the sides of your board.  Stamp with solvent ink.

Take a picture *without* flash, because all that Mod Podge and gel medium reflects flash like crazy. :)

Aaah, that's better. :)

Week 2, Day 1: Writing Short Screenplays

The funny thing about having a writing time is that I can't really publish it here on my blog right now. It's not done yet.  :) Rough drafts are fun when you read them on DVD extras, but that's when the finish product is done baking.  Take a cake out of the oven too early, and it just falls flat and tastes goey. 

For now, I'll just do a check-in on how the past week went.  I spent some time just journaling over the weekend, and the truth is, I really, really loved doing the collages.  My goal was just to paint four backgrounds, and I did that and plenty more.(Although, I didn't get to do a L.K. Ludwig homage--I was going to use pics of my kids for journal spreads, the way she did in the latest "Art Journaling" magazine. Oh well, next time.) 

The criteria I set up for this challenge were:

1) Did I enjoy it?  Ooooh yes.  :) It felt easy, cathartic, like I was soaking myself in color and beauty. I felt free to practice and learn new things.   I got lots of great ideas for future projects. ("Oooh, let's make a couple of journals with these covers, a bunch of bookmarks, and maybe some hand-made scrapbook embellishments, and put them all on an Etsy shop!") 

2) Does it fit with our current lifestyle?  Absolutely.  Collage feels like the perfect medium for a mom--which may be why it's dominated by women.  The kids absolutely love paint, glue, paper, scissors, and the assortment of tools that they can break.  They especially love poking each other with said tools--so sharp ones have to stay waaaaaay out of reach.  :)  

Seriously, though, it was easy to work on a project early in the morning, walk away from it to change a diaper/fix a meal/do some laundry and come back to it later.  By contrast, writing seems to possess me.  I get an idea, a character, a situation, or a "what-if" scenario in my head, and it burns like a fire in my bones, puts a knot in my stomach, and won't let me return to my normal life until I get it on the page.  Kids do not like asking mommy 500 times for cheerios while Mommy tries to get her characters out of an exploding building. 

On the other hand, I've recently made some *good* changes in my life that may allow writing to join me in a more controlled, structured manner.  ADHD meds and a gluten-free diet have cleared my head and structured my time in a way I didn't know was *possible.* 
Anyway, on to:

3) Does it help my family reach our goal of being totally debt free in 5 years?  Eh, maybe, but I'm not sure.  On the one hand, art supplies are really freaking expensive.  In order to learn to paint an apple, I have to buy paint, brushes, and something to paint on.  Classes and instructional books cost a fortune.  On the other hand, there seem to be five gazillion opportunities to make money with this craft--everything from Etsy, to teaching classes, to custom work, to craft fairs, etc.  Also, I'm simply the best thrifty crafter in the world, lol, because I'm determined to get my supplies cheap.  I simply don't have enough information right now to tell if this is profitable for me, but I'm going to add a couple of new "week's goals" to my list:

Make 5 journals to sell on Etsy or Ebay. 
Research how much people make on their craft, why they make that much, and how long it took them to get there.

There are tons of resources on doing a successful craft business, so I just need to take the time to learn them. 

In the meantime, last weekend I also came across an opportunity for a temporary writing gig.  I'm not sure if I'd be a good fit for this company, but I've got some queries and samples in, and we'll see what happens.  Pray for me!

My goal for this week is to practice writing 11-minute screenplays.  The 168project is for Christian filmmakers to make an 11-minute film in one week, from start to finish.  The biggest obstacle is that you don't know what the topic is until the company releases the verse and the theme--then you write the thing!! :)  It's great, but I want to get in some practice writing in that short of a format before I even *think* about putting a team together, and doing that amount of work.  

Aah, I'm going to sleep while my daughter sleeps. :)

Week 1, Day 4

Sigh. :) It's been a good day. 

Yesterday, I attempted to do a background that the fabulous Pam Carriker had published in the latest issue of Somerset Workshop.  It totally fell apart.  Her instructions were great, but sometimes my brain simply cannot process basic English at 3am. (Yep, that's when a lot of artist moms get up)  I felt like a heel--a total waste of artistic space.

Just to make life more fun, I had to do a messy, painful job for my daughter, that involved my wearing rubber gloves.  I will not go into any more detail than that.  We were all exhausted, traumatized, and not thinking anything even remotely artistic.  I collapsed on the couch, and my evil anti-art twin said, "What was I thinking?  There's no way I can finish this challenge. I was dumb for even trying."

Then, at just the right time, I got a quick note from an artist I (really, really, really, like REALLY) admire. "Dotty, I showed my wife your blog.  She loved it, and thought you should open an Etsy shop."  



The next morning, 3am couldn't come fast enough. :)

Today, I did a background outlined here by the amazing Shona Cole. ( She's a homeschooling mother of 5, a pastor's wife, and a fabulous artist.  Yes, you read all that right.)  I needed something quick and simple, but that would give a dramatic effect.  With 5 kids, I think Shona has become a master of those types of techniques.

I started with a layer of gesso on my journal spread. Note that I always wrap the other journal pages in plastic to keep them from getting ruined/splattered/stuck together.

Then, while the gesso was still wet, I dropped three colors of paint on the page...

...and used a credit card to scrape it all around.  And yes, I am a Dave Ramsey nut. I think this is a fabulous use for credit cards.










Then I thought, "Dang, I've only got so much time before the kids wake up, and I really don't want to work on something else while I wait for the paint to dry." 

So, I took some serious creative initiative, and invented my own tool.

    

I used the tip of this to do some journaling directly into the wet paint, and made some really cool effects. 

No matter how much I painted over the pages later, you could always see a hint of it.












I used acrylics to paint the tree and the tulip, Pitt Artist Pens for some flourishes, and used yellow and black pastels for accents and outlining. 


The most fun part was adding the Bible verse.  It was from my grandfather's old Nave's Topical Bible that was falling apart.  I love using these books in my work.  He was a preacher for 61 years, and I felt like his books, even the ones that are outdated and almost dust, can live on in this way. 

Lisa Kauss was a big inspiration for the tulip, and I hope one day to be able to paint 1/5th as well as she does.

The Plan

These are the projects I want to tackle in the next year.  I've always wanted to do them, and now I will. :)   At least one project per week, for 52 weeks.

1. Mixed-Media
   1. -ATCs
   2. -Art Journaling
      1. Marriage
      2. Birds
      3. Flowers
      4. Trees
      5. Bible Verses
      6. Collage Techniques
      7. Book-Making
      8. Motherhood
   3. -Photography
   4. Canvas Work
      1. Tulips
      2. Square Canvases for the girls
   5. Jewelry
   6. Drawing
   7. Altering other items
      1. Cigar Box Purses
      2. Beaded Bobby pins
   8. Card-Making, a la “Take-10” style
   9. Christmas items
2. Sewing
   1. Altering My Clothes
   2. Altering the Girls' Clothes
   3. Sewing from a pattern
   4. Quilting
   5. Christmas items
3. Writing
   1. The Play
   2. The Veggie Tales Spec Script
   3. Skits for church
   4. Short Stories
   5. Short screenplays
   6. Non-fiction
   7. Songwriting
      1. Worship Songwriting
      2. Comedy Songwriting
4. Guitar Practice
   1. Learning new songs
   2. Learning new techniques, such as scales and new chords
5. Practicing stand-up comedy.

Oddly enough, this is the perfect time to begin such a challenge. 

First, I have everything I need.  I've spent the past several years slooooooooowly building up a collection of art supplies, collage ephemera, stamps, sewing notions, and other assorted tools. This stuff is *expensive*, and takes a while to collect.  One of the best ways to do this is to figure out what projects really speak to you, then stalk the "arts and crafts" section of Craigslist.  I do mean stalk.  You are a hawk, baby, and you know there's a bunny just quivering under a bush.  When it jumps out, you swoop down in all your glory and grab that sucker!



My husband has known me to be perfectly slow and sleepy on a Saturday Morning, then suddenly stand up and shout, "HONEY! There's a craft store going out of business in Grandview, and I've got sixty bucks.  Can I go? Please please please can I go?"  I would get both of my kids dressed in the first clean outfit I could find, then drive them all over kingdom come, with promises of donuts if they were really, really good.  Then I'd buy $400 worth of craft supplies at some garage sale/closing sale/warehouse sale for my sixty bucks.  Tee hee hee.  Aaaah, that made my heart happy.  Enjoy the donuts, kids.  :) 

Once, I mentioned, "I'm building up my art supply collection," to an artist I knew, and she kind've snarkily said, "You should be making art, not buying art supplies!"  Gee, thanks.  The fact that I had a new baby and a husband in grad school kind've meant that things needed to move a little more slowly. If I got my teeth brushed during that season, it was a successful day.  A shower was heavenly. Picking up a set of water-soluble oil pastels w/ my 50% off coupon at Joann's on my way back from the grocery store meant that I could stare at them and dream while I nursed my baby. :) Now, my oldest is in school, and my youngest wants to create with me.  It's TIME. 



Secondly, I'm organized. 
Thanks to the amazing Lauren Lee Yentch, an organizing guru from Linworth Road Community Church, my basement is the perfect sanctuary for this season.  Also, the book "Organizing From the Inside Out," is a great resource, and of course, the inimitable "flylady.com."  (I'll add the links once I can get my Amazon associates account to start working again. Silly thing.)  I have a separate space for art, and a separate space for the kids to play while I'm creating.  Shona Cole, author of "the Artistic Mother" encourages all mothers to carve this space out for themselves.  However, since I've loaned this book to a friend, I don't have any of her cool quotes from it, lol!  :)

Finally, I was "developing symptoms."  Steven Pressfield, in his amazing book, "The War of Art," proclaims that all major vices--depression, migraines, websurfing, to name a few---are all a part of our struggle against a demon he names "Resistance."  You know Resistance.  You feel it any time you want tighter abs. :)  Resistance was kicking my tail from here to Chatanooga, and I was tired of it.  I don't want to live my life for 40 more years, then wake up and say, "Dang, I wish I'd done all that stuff, but now I can't see."  I'm starting. I'm living like I want to live. There's no time like the present.  

This is the person God made me to be. 

Now I gotta go--we're out of diapers.