Jump Into the Roses

Have you participated in Artists in Blogland's "Seize the Day" challenge?  My first take on that phrase was about how we always put off seizing the day because we want to get our ducks in a row:

 Marjie Kemper liked this take on it, and created a gorgeous journal spread:

© Marjie Kemper

There's a tutorial on Marjie's blog with step-outs for how she created this gorgeous work.

The idea of "seizing the day" has been on my mind.  We never know how many more days we will have to "seize."  I was recently reminded of this when Joe Collins of From Houses to Homes, the organization we volunteer with in Guatemala, lost his battle with colon cancer.

 

In the week before he passed, I spent some time with Joe.  I held him, and we talked about what happens when we die, and the importance of the life we lived.  He felt like there was so much more he wanted to do for the children of Guatemala.  I promised to do whatever I could to help fulfill his dreams.

I wanted to make a tribute to this quiet, humble man, who didn't like to waste lots of time discussing and studying and planning; if someone had a good idea, he wanted to jump in and get it done.

I started with an art journal page in which I had loosely painted hearts and roses.

I cut out this old picture of myself.  My mom had taken it in a playground when I was about 3 or 4.  I was jumping off a ledge into my father's arms.

 I decided to try to paint myself:

Then I glued the painting onto the page with glue dots, to give her a little dimension.  I also added a twist on the saying "Stop and Smell the Roses.  I wrote the words out on cardstock, cut them, and adhered them with glue dots.  I added some shadowing, so they would stand up a little off of the page.  On my computer, I cropped the design into a square, to zoom in on the girl and the roses. 

Jump into your life.  Jump into your ideas and your instincts.  Seize the Day!  You never know when you'll have another chance.

Linking to my favorite Monday blog hops:  Make It Monday, Mandarin Orange Monday, Creative Every Day, Inspire Me Monday, and Be Inspired. 

Linking also to Art Journal Journeys (square),  Make My Monday (add some dimension), Create Daily and Tuesday Taggers (collage with a twist - add script).

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