Monday Monday

We are getting much needed rain the last few days but I do have a pretty picture of my lush Flowering Almond shrub to share that I took on Saturday morning. This is the 1st year that ALL of the shrub has bloomed... some years it has only bloomed on the lower branches and other years just at the top. I'm wondering if a healthy trimming last summer was the key to success?

I'm determined to blog a few days a week even when I'm not sewing which is pushing me out of my comfort zone. Which is OK really because that's how real life has been lately too. I'm finding that learning how to parent kids that are 1,000+ miles away is not natural for me. It's easy to blog about happy events but what about the rest of life? Our daughter and her fiance became unengaged/disengaged/not engaged (is there a word for this?) a few weeks ago. Our son has been having a rough semester at school with one class in particular and I have been trying to help in a way that isn't helpful to him.

Generally I'm not a person who spends a lot of time worrying because it just isn't healthy or productive for me. I like to keep my mind & my hands busy when I'm stressed... for some reason quilting isn't the cure right now. Instead it's paper play and writing that I'm turning to. I shared a few of my Junk Journals a few weeks ago HERE and in May I've started a fun project called #ListersGottaList hosted by TheResetGirl.

Basically each day there is a prompt and you run with it. Some days are light & frothy (like these) and other days we dig a little deeper... yesterday's prompt was My Strengths for example. Pictures are shared online and it's a lot of fun to see the creativity and insights shared. Elsa and I contemplate our world from here most mornings while I'm cutting, pasting and writing.

I've also resurrected my Fauxbonichi which I first posted about HERE. I got behind when I went out East to see the kids in late March/early April, tried to catch up, got discouraged and decided to make a fresh start in May. The Facebook group I belong to is simply amazing... so many talented and inspiring women who are very encouraging to newbies like me and share their art techniques generously.

We have daily prompts to use if we chose as well as theme days to learn techniques. Above you will see my Tuesday Tangle where I'm learning how to use Micron pens for Zentangle-like doodling. Under the card on the opposite page is some personal journaling about my sad mood that day. I even wrote the date wrong TWICE (it has since been collaged over).Some ladies paint and sketch... others do collage... some use a lot of stamps and others mostly write.

Each Thursday one of the members provides a quote and a technique to try. I have always loved quotes and pretty lettering so this page made my day! I still can't believe I made that quote look so good and it was such a fitting quote for me right now. Even beginner art like mine is good therapy.

And, for the real nitty-gritty-write-it-out-of-my-system-stuff I have a worry notebook inside my lovely eggplant fauxdori. I love to write and have used different techniques over the years... sometimes I get thoughts stuck in my head and simply writing them down helps to dislodge them.

So, no quilting but lots of real life today. I'm looking forward to having our son back under our roof for the summer in 10 days. And, I'm simply going to have to trust that our daughter is doing OK as she has told us. She will be home for a week over the 4th of July. But I'll continue to keep my hands and mind busy in the meantime.