Screw Reality, Choose Possibility

It's 10:30 P.M. which seems to mean it's time to have a drink and dream of a better future. That's how every evening has turned out for the last few days.

I'm feeling restless. Several times a day, I've been overcome with an urge to just... GO. Big changes need to happen. That is, after all, what I'm supposed to be documenting here.

It seems like every step I make towards a new life makes me want to run for it. I say this every year, but this time I mean it; everything is about to change.

I can't be the only one who feels this way. What's stopping us from pursuing our dreams? No excuses, now. Is there any REAL reason why we can't run away and join the circus or see the world? Sure, there may be some inconveniences and it may be hard, but isn't happiness worth working for? Is it worth risking everything for?

Source: landscapelifescape.tumblr.com via Travis on Pinterest

We know what will make us happy. Admit it. I think I've know for my whole life, but I've always felt like I have to put others' happiness and expectations before my own.  I've believed all of the discouraging things I've been told.  That's pretty silly, right?

Honestly, I may be just a little bit drunk right now.  Ernest Hemingway said to always do sober what you said you would do drunk. Granted, he said that it would teach you to keep your mouth shut, but that's not how I see it. What I say when I drink hasn't been filtered through self doubt, expectations or practicality.  It's what I really think, and often what I know I have to do.

Just do it. It will be amazing.

Day 10 Journal: My Favourite Song

I'm not going to lie to you.  I drew this today, not yesterday.  But I will NOT make a habit of it, so help me.

On the upside, I had loads of time to work on this page while I was "working" at my volunteer job at the nature house.  It wasn't an amazing day, so I had lots of long visitor-less stretches.  Also, there is a library full of books with pictures to reference for the drawing.  Bonus!

The theme for today was "my all time favourite song."  I was torn between several songs.  In the end, I decided on the one that I felt would be the most fun to draw.

 What can I say?  I'm a sucker for The Beatles.

Now, I'm going to head off and work on today's page.  What is my heart full of?  Exciting!

Journal Days 7, 8 & 9

It's that time again.  Time for a 30 Day Journal Challenge update! 

Day 7: A love letter to someone special

It's to my cat.  I know what you're thinking, and no, I'm not a crazy cat lady.  I'm not close enough to anyone in my family to feel comfortable writing a letter like this to, and my partner isn't the smooshy love letter type.  But Rosie has always been there for me, even when we lived at home and times were tough for her.  I would have understood if she decided to find another home to feed her.  When I had no friends and my parents were distant, she was there to play and cuddle with me.  She's a cat, but she really means a lot to me.  Now she's getting old and starting to get confused.  I just wish that pets lived longer.

If she was a dog, it wouldn't sound as crazy.

Day 8: What I would put in a time capsule to be opened in at least 100 years.

Of course I would never actually tuck these away never to be seen again by me.  It's more of a snapshot of my life right now in objects.  I decided to try my hand at an actual font and experiment a little with ink.  It was so much fun!  I'm really happy with how everything turned out. 

The little bird and the feeder are my favourite part, though I'm also pretty fond of the seed packet.  Cute!

Day 9: Something random with no pens!

This was so much fun to make!  I think there will be a lot more mixed media in my future.  Stickers, string, a crossword, wrapping paper, a feather, ribbon and an envelope that was given to me by my grocer for lunar new year.

I'm excited to get started on today's topic: Illustrate your favourite song!  Don't touch that dial.

30 Day Journal Challenge: Days 2 - 6

As mentioned in my last post, it has been a busy, busy week.  But I have taken time out of each day to keep up with the 30 Day Journal Challenge.  From now on, I should have plenty of time to put a lot of effort into each day's entry and to make a daily update on it here.

Without further ado, here are the entries.  You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Day 2: Create 3 to 5 simple, accomplishable goals for your 30 day journal challenge

I'm not crazy about the visual impact, but I like the goals.

Day 3:  What are at least 5 things that you want to do in June?

 
Can you tell I'm a fan of The Simpsons?  This one makes me really happy.  And I can't wait to start scuba diving!  I already have a buddy lined up from work!

Day 4:  What I wish I wore. . .

 

I was trying to draw a dusty rose coloured dress and  old fashioned brown shoes, but I'm not too good at drawing clothing and my pencil crayons suck.

Day 5:  What are your summer traditions?

These are old traditions that I would like to do again some day.  I'm not too happy with how this looks.

Day 6:  Write a love letter to yourself

I feel a little bit silly sharing this with everyone.  It turned into more of an advice letter than a love letter.  I was worried that I wouldn't be able to fill the page, but instead I had to stop when I ran out of room.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's update.  The prompt is "write a love letter to someone special."

Happy Birthday, Sylvia!

Wowza.  Has it ever been a busy week.  This is the first time since Thursday that I've had a chance to sit down and post.

It was my good friend Sylvia's twenty-fifth birthday last week.  As part of her gift, I made the cake for her party.  The cake is one of the things that I was so busy with, and it was totally worth it.  It turned out even better than I expected, and she loved it!

AND I finally had an excuse to use the cake stand I got for Christmas!

It was Swiss chocolate cake with French Vanilla whipped icing, and it was pretty darn tasty. The lettering and decorations are piped chocolate and purple sugar.  Not too shabby for a boxed cake mix and canned frosting.

It was so much fun to make. There will be many more baked goods in the near future.

30 Day Journal Challenge: Introduction

It's June!  That means it's time to post the first page from my art journal for Run With Scissors' 30 Day Journal Challenge!  Today's prompt was "create an introduction page."

Ta da! Day 1.  It's way busier than I would have liked, but it was so much fun to do.

It was so nice to work with dip pens again.  It turns out the orange ink doesn't have much of a scent on the paper, but it smelled lovely while I was drawing. 

It got a little bit smudged.

This adorable ball of fuff is my bunny, Lucy. I'm really happy with how she turned out.

I was trying to make it feel as if she was underground in a burrow, surrounded by roots (Blooming roots. . .  Sure, that can be a thing.).  I guess it's about the contrast between reality and dreams/what could be.


This was awesome.  I'm completely hooked on art journaling, and I can already tell that it's going to be my favourite part of the day.

It's never too late to join in, as far as I see it.  If you're interested, get in on it!  If you want to see other people's entries, there's a flickr group for the challenge.

Happy journaling!