The sun has burned away the vibrancy of Summer. Several inches of snow have already come and gone.. The leaves were shocked into a bit of an early color show. I've taken in quite a few quiet evenings lately and wanted to share my latest Fall journeys.
Views from my porch . . .
The sun's arch is on the fast track towards the south, so it's trail is very visible. From my vantage point, the sun sets behind Barronette Peak in October--moving slowly from right to left. The above photo was taken on the 8th . . . and the one below on the 20th. Soon the sun will be hiding behind the closer Republic Mountain earlier and earlier. The sun won't be back in this same position until late February. I take a cue from the tall pines and bask in the last warming rays of the evening. I just love it when they look like this! As I type, there is a cold front barreling down from Canada. Snow and grey clouds are sure to return. I've enjoyed Mother Nature's autumnal show this year and thought you might too. |
From my kitchen . . .
As the days wane and evenings get down right brisk, I get very domestic. I tend to do my deep cleaning in the Fall. We are about to shut the door and plastic the windows to keep old man winter at bay. I just feel much more at peace if everything is clean once we hole up.
From my heart . . .
For years, I looked at and envied art journals. I just never thought I had the time or enough to say to do it. SO VERY GLAD I TRIED IT ANYWAY! Surprisingly, I have found that my creativity is extremely linked to all the mundane parts of my day. So I hurry to do the things on my to do list, so I can get back to the desk and open my heart onto the page. |
To my delightful surprise, I have actually become more productive! I'm using the things I WANT to do to be my reward for doing the things I MUST! Once I have checked off several things of the MUST list, it's like I have cleared enough junk out of the mind that I can sit quietly and create. I call this "Dangling the Carrot".
I know it sounds odd, but to jumpstart "Beacon", I first deep cleaned the inside the oven--which I always hate doing. I then played around with my first successful inkjet image transfer. (Sorry, I do not know the original artist.) When that actually worked . . . well, that's as far as I had planned. So then I was at that "What now?" stage . . . on to wiping down the bathroom walls and ceiling. With more cobwebs cleared out of the ol' noggin, I sit back down to the art journal and work until I'm satisfied. I begin another layer, but my inner critic pipes up, "Dinner doesn't just cook itself." I have to agree and head to the kitchen . . . I think you've got the idea. |
How do you Dangle the Carrot?
I'd love to hear how you get to your creative ventures faster. Comment below and share your shortcut with me. As always, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read about my little Crafty Mountain existence.
Much love and creativity to you!
Much love and creativity to you!