GPP Street Team Crusade # 61–Restraining Order

Well, I had to join in !

I did so under the wire, but just in time.

The awesome and incredibly talented Michelle Ward is hosting the last of her fine Green Pepper Press Street Team Crusades and I had to take part.

In the past, I used to do these great prompts every month.

They inspired my journal pages and also connected me to a great community of artists all over the globe. Michelle would link us all on the GPP Street Team blog, and we could visit one another, see how each artist had interpreted the great prompts and get feedback on our own entries from the other Crusaders.

I don’t have any excuses as to why I stopped doing the Crusades. Life just changed things…

But when I read that Michelle was ending the project after 61 months worth of projects, I wanted to join in one last time and pay a little homage to something that brought me many treasures over the years.

Crusade # 61 is entitled “Restraining Order” and our prompt was to create a journal page while focusing on avoiding clutter or overfilling the page and paying attention to composition a little more. Trying to leave some space, some open air for the eye to rest a little.

I knew I wanted to do a bit of a self-portrait piece for my art journal.

This week, the question of what “success” is came up several times in conversation and in thought.

I realized that to some people on the outside, I may not seem conventionally “successful”.

Upon some pondering though, I actually concluded that to my own sense of what is success is measured by, I am a very successful person.

I believe success should be measured by how close you are to achieving the goals of your Heart & Soul, and not so much what society or your bank account may reflect.

My Heart and Soul goals are to love strongly and fiercely and to make a difference in the world in my own little way.

I do this.

Most days, I do this very, very well !

When I go to bed at night and I can say, “Today, I loved. Today, I was loved back. Today, I saw beauty. Today, I created a bit of beauty of my own.” When I can say those things, that has been a good day !

A successful day.

A successful life lived.

For my minimal journal page, I created a colorful background with spray inks, Golden fluid acrylics and Twinkle H2O watercolors.

Then I took a copy of a photo of myself and trimmed it with some decorative deckle edged scissors.

I added a piece of torn piece of ledger paper to the center of the page, tapped down with some polka dot Smashbook paper tape.

I stamped my phrase out with rubber alphabet stamps on some white tape.

It reads : “I live a simple little life.”

I think the simple composition works well with the message of this page.

It was a challenge for me to keep it this simple. I wanted to add more pen work, etc or maybe some scribble, maybe use some stencils to add more to the background, etc

but in the end, I love how it turned out.

I live a simple ordinary extraordinary little big successful sweet life.

And for that I am extremely grateful.

 

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As I contribute this post for the final GPP Street Team Crusades, I am also grateful for the wonderful treats that this project has brought me.

I made so many awesome artist blog friends through the Crusades.

I got to “know” Michelle and her fabulous heart, and contribute to some amazing projects offering special help to the community that she has lead.

I also learned the value of creating art work and sharing it with other artists, the best kind of audience and the best kind of support for the creative process.

So thank you, Michelle, for all the things you have contributed to the on-line art blog community ! You Rock, Lady !!!

And thank you to my fellow Crusaders who have shared their art and their hearts along the way ! Keep on rocking it, Crusaders !