Look on the bright side

When I went to work on my project for this week’s Punky Scraps challenge, I was in a bit of  a creative slump. All of you creative types probably know what I’m talking about………I was just staring at some cool supplies, hoping my imagination would provide some help. That paper with the chairs on it? Um, I ADORE it. It is from October Afternoon’s “Farmhouse” line, and as quirky as a piece of paper with various chairs on it is, it just drew me in. Beyond that? I was not able to conjure up any mojo. Then, while in mid stare, I heard the front door to my house open, signaling my girls were home from school. I was quickly gathering up the various papers and embellishments that I had strewn about, when my daughter came rushing toward me……face red, and crying so hard she could hardly talk. It was one of those moments as a momma, where my heart went in my throat. She was saying things I couldn’t understand, through her crying. I was terrified. Finally, when I had hugged her long enough, that she calmed down enough to talk discernibly, she got out that she had been bullied at school. Not the beating up kind of bullying (thank God), but the mean, tormenting, making fun and not stopping kind of bullying…….that only 13 year old girls seem to be able to do so well.  My heart felt broken that a group of girls had done this to my baby. I was angry, and felt overwhelmingly sad.  I did what I could for her, and it helped. It also gave me some inspiration for this page.  I wanted to remind her to find the good things, and focus on those instead of the bad. I know myself, that especially as a young adult, I focused on all of those things that had made things hard, that had made me hurt. I hope to encourage my girls to instead find the good things instead. Life is certainly not rainbows and kittens all of the time, but it is what you make it.

In this photo, my girl looks sad. Actually, she’s thinking……..this is her thinking face. 🙂 We were doing a quick photo shoot, and she was sitting on the ground, in the sun, when I surprised her by asking her to look over her shoulder. So, I caught her thinking. I think the picture is pretty cool…..I love sun flare, and this photo catches it just above her head. I think it makes her look a little angelic. Yeah, I know……I may be pushing it. That chicken, and the milk cap….I so love it.

This punky scraps challenge is “get picky,” which is so much fun. I love the challenge of choosing fun and excited new items for my layout. 🙂 You MUST visit the blog to see team A’s choices for us. 🙂 Mine are maybe as unconventional as my weird, messy style…….more thoughts on my style will be coming in my next post.

I hope I inspired you to give this challenge a try….and to consider sitting in the sunshine….my scrap studio is the equivalent of doing that for me. Creating is MY sunshine.

Blessings, Gnomies……

~A

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