Enough Nerve

Today, I've got my spread for JOURNAL 52'S prompt "Collage Crazy":

"Anything's possible if you've got enough nerve." -J.K. Rowling

I can't even explain how much I love this spread!

Scrapbook paper base, followed by napkins, a wash of color, followed by gesso through a stencil and some glorious drippage!

Hubba hubba!

It's not my usual for sure, but I really love how this turned out!   SQUEAL OF DELIGHT!  SQUEAL OF DELIGHT!

Sigh.  Glorious!

I'm magically in love with this spread, and I love the sentiment behind it as well...the idea that the world is my oyster if I can only work up some nerve...or moxy if you will...I love that word...moxy.

I've worked on getting my moxy back since I've made my major life move...and one thing I did was to get a haircut:

Ugh.  Selfies.  But on the positive side, my hair is fabulous.

Considering the fact that my hair was halfway down my back when I got this cut, I'd say that more than a little moxy was required.  But I love it!

When I got my haircut, the lady (who my sister uses and recommended) said "You know, you just have the perfect attitude to pull this haircut off."  Which I took as a huge compliment, because to me, short hair takes confidence.  You don't have anything to hide behind...to shrink into when you're nervous.  You're just out there!  

So maybe my moxy wasn't entirely gone...it was just simmering quietely beneath the surface...waiting to be let loose on the world...

Dark And Mysterious

With the coming new year, I've been contemplating changes.

It seems like people spend an inordinate amount of time contemplating how things will be different in the new year.  We call them resolutions, but what they are is a promise to yourself that things will not stay the same as they have been.  Sometimes we keep them, sometimes we don't...but they always seem to get made.

I don't think I've ever been one for New Year's Resolutions...perhaps because I've always believed that if you want to change, you should start right away...don't wait for some arbitrary date, because you'll lose your steam, you'll talk yourself out of it.  If you want to change, jump in and change!

But sometimes spontaneous jumping is not the right answer.  I've come to realize that not every leap should be taken blindly...some things have to be planned and the execution of those plans may take a while to accomplish.  You have to be patient and create the circumstances you need.  That's what I'm doing right now...following a carefully created plan.

And it's BORING!

I'm not great at patience.  I'm a jumper.  This step-by-step program I'm working through is testing me for sure.

I decided a slight jump would be in order...just a teeny tiny little hop, really...but enough to keep me going for the long haul of my other plans.

So, two days ago (aka the day before xmas) I bought myself some hair dye and went to the dark side:

Sometimes the little things make all the difference, don't they?

Like I said, it's just a little thing, but for right now, it's holding my jumper side back, so I'll take it!

Plus, having black hair makes me feel a little (dare I say?) sexier.  My normal reddish brown always seems so 'girl next door'...but, whoa mama!  The black?  I feel like a va-va-voom Russian spy named Natasha who can learn all the secrets of the world with the bat of an eyelash...

I know it's silly, but the black hair makes me feel dark and mysterious...and, when it comes down to it, anything that makes us feel good about ourselves is important, right?

I commemorated my little hop with a page in one of my journals:

"She felt dark and mysterious..."

...you can't see her hair, but this is Natasha, and you caught her right in the middle of batting her eyes at someone...which means she's about to get what she wants, you know?

Hopefully, this little change will be enough to tide me over until the bigger ones can start happening...if not, I'm going to have to find some unsuspecting victim and force hair dye on them...