Second on the Second

 On this eighth day after Christmas, or ninth day of Christmas depending on your reckoning

From 2. Janurary 2015, a Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Visited Himself's side of the family at the annual  Gathering

2. Had brunch at Lambie's and a fabulous visit. Her Christmas decorations were still up.  She has such a knack for decorating, and her house should be featured in a magazine.

3. Had the The Brother and his wife over. They gave us a gift card to The Cheesecake Factory. We spent the card on a date night. I took home a slice of Chris' Outrageous Cheesecake   and I didn't share!

4. Each day, I display an affirmation card. The card chosen for New Year's Eve was Dream. I thought it was perfect. Rather than looking back, look forward as I start The Good Things journal for 2015.

5. Between all the leftovers from the Brother's visit, eating out, and our tradition of having Chinese food for New Year's Eve, I haven't cooked all week!

How was your week?

It's your turn to play. From Elizabeth: Now it's time to share your Second on the 2nd.  The rules are quite simple and everyone is welcome to join the fun look back.  All you have to do is bring back a post that you are especially proud of, or perhaps one you shared before anyone knew your blog existed.  Any post, any genre, any artistic endeavor is acceptable.  Join hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth to see what else is being served up the Second Time Around.

Affirmation of the Day

Acrylic painting. 4" x 4". Wash, spatter, dot. "Just for today, I will not worry"

Imbolc

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Visited Himself's side of the family at the annual Clan Gathering

2. Had brunch at Lambie's and a fabulous visit. Her Christmas decorations were still up.She has such a knack for decorating, and her house should be featured in a magazine.

3. Had the The Brother and his wife over. They gave us a gift card to The Cheesecake Factory. We spent the card on a date night. I took home a slice of Chris' Outrageous Cheesecake   and I didn't share!

4. Each day, I display an affirmation card. The card chosen for New Year's Eve was Dream. I thought it was perfect. Rather than looking back, look forward as I start The Good Things journal for 2015.

5. Between all the leftovers from the Brother's visit, eating out, and our tradition of having Chinese food for New Year's Eve, I haven't cooked all week!

How was your week?

Affirmation of the Day

Wabi Sabi: Nothing is perfect. Nothing is permanent. Nothing is complete.

How I Use Affirmation Cards

I was asked what I do with the affirmation cards. The cards are like the Community Chest cards used in Monopoly minus the dollar amount for winning the beauty contest. There are 31 cards, one for each day of the month. The cards are shuffled and each day a card is drawn from the top of the pile and displayed on the easel. Along with meditation/prayer, the sentiments on the card are a reminder to focus on the positive instead of caving into the negative emotions often induced by stress, remarks of others, or self-doubt. Life is good.

Affirmation Cards

Back in April I started making affirmation cards, but got bogged down by cutting and decorating paper. the project would go faster if I had a stack of pre-cut cards and a faster way of decorating the backs.

In a desk drawer, I found a bazillion, old business cards. They weren't any use as business cards because information had changed. The paper was a nice quality, too, and in a test took watercolor pencil well.  So the business cards have been recycled, up-cycled, re-purposed, re-used, whatever you want to call it. Two cards to make one affirmation card. One for the sentiment and a second for the decorated back.

The backs were decorated using a monoprint technique from Diana Trout: Sumi Smoosh. Diana used alcohol inks. I don't have any of that kind of ink and didn't want to buy more art supplies. She also applied the inks to the inside of a clear, plastic folder and pressed her paper between. I didn't have any plastic folders, but  I did have quart-sized, food storage bags. I cut one along the side and bottom edge so it would open up like a book. Instead of the alcohol ink, I used blue, green, and gold Tempera paint. Dropped a blob on the plastic, folded the bag over and mixed the colors, then instead of folding the cards in between the plastic, I just laid them in the paint, pressed, and pulled. If there was too much white showing, I just pressed the card into more paint. Ta-Da! A quick way to decorate paper, and use and recycle materials I already had on hand.

Saturday Sayings

Ziller Glossy Black, Comic G, Pigma, Watercolor Pencils

Saturday Sayings

Ziller Glossy Black, Comic Z, Pigma, Watercolor pencils

Saturday Sayings

I am worthy. No ego problem for this Little Princess.

Saturday Sayings

Every day you wake up is a beautiful day. Attributed to John Wayne.