Make My Way

Good Friday Afternoon! While I might not have my Friday Finds polished off and ready to post YET, I do have something to share. It's a cathartic part of why I haven't been combing the blogosphere for cool new things:


See, I'm *this* close to meeting my weight loss goals for a healthier life. Just after Christmas, 2009, I decided it was time to take off the 80 pounds I had gained over the few years before that. Now, I've lost 70 of those 80 and I feel purty durn cool about myself. I can tell that the last ten pounds is going to be a struggle. In part because I've decided they are going to be a struggle. In part because I'm just plain old comfortable and content saying that I weigh 170 lbs (at 5'9" tall). I've lost that bit of drive....but I haven't lost ALL my drive. I've still seen my mirror image. I still want to work on lifting things up, toning things down and looking like some version of whatever "hot mama" means to me. I also want to fit into the remaining size 12 clothing that I didn't give away to a friend of mine many years ago. My goals have shifted from the simple to the complex. As long as I understand that; and that I'm still looking to progress, I'm okay with the shift. I'm even okay that it seems to have taken me a few weeks to realize what it is that I now want and outline how to get it. Now to... get it!

It helped quite a bit to create this page and solidify my thoughts. A lot of details went into it; like this sketch from Creative Scrappers:



Also, I was inspired by the March Tres Chic challenge at Bella Creations. To quote the criteria, "...create something/anything in a vintage style....use the colors Navy blue, khaki, white You must use theses elements: a vintage inspired image, metal embellie, ticket." When I first started working on the page I could have sworn the color combination was navy, BROWN, khaki and black. I wud wrong; but I think I had covered up my lack of reading skill.... sorta. The vintage-inspired image is the circle of sheet music; which I found on (I believe) the Graphics Fairy. The metal pieces are all from Tim Holtz:



The ticket is an image that was shared by Micupoftea in her Violia Ink group (also at Bella Creations). I FINALLY had a moment of clarity and incorporated it into the page. The original sketch only had a couple circles, but obviously I added more and turned one of the intended circles into my journal spot -- to keep my goals clear and understood.



The scrabble tile images were shared by Scrapperlicious on her blog many moons ago. After printing off the paper images, I decided to attach them to small squares of Grunge Paper to give them a little something more. Also, I'm starting to finally dwindle down on my stash of Technique Tuesday Technique Tiles -- the bracket frame. I layered the white chipboard with a good coating of Distress Ink, then Glimmer Mist. Back when I was sure I needed to add brown, the three brown gems made more sense. And, of course, the paper is Bo Bunny's Mamarazzi line. I loved the quote strip and figured I needed to keep that as a reminder as well.

And I DARE NOT forget! The title itself is the title of a song by the band, Blues Traveler. I've had an intense love of their music since I was 16. It's always plucked at the right strings of my soul to help me figure out what's bothering me and how to fix it. Just like this song suggests, I'm trying to make my way. I found the song on You Tube and thought I'd share it with my readers as well (assuming my limited techie ways are correct):



Now, I'm curious to know if the video link worked, so I'm going to thank you now for taking the time to read.