As I was prepping my samples for my membership, I experimented a bit.

I wanted to see the woodgrain through the paint a bit, so I added a good amount of water after initially laying down a bit of paint. I made 2 watery ones, one red and one green. They were taking a while to dry, so I went to bed and came back in the morning.

To my surprise, there was a crack in each one! 

I should have known– when you get too much moisture in wood, it will swell. And as it dries, it expands. The raw edge of the discs wasn’t strong enough to hold it together. And it cracked as it tried to find its flat equilibrium.

And then you’d think I’d learned my lesson. As I was demonstrating, I saw one with a slight crack at the top of the drilled hole. Like 1/8 of an inch. A few minutes later, I heard a POP as I looked down to see the disk crack right before my eyes. Stunned, I showed the group. I realized I had used more water than I realized to thin the paint on that one.

We add water to make the paint more slippery, to go on more smoothly, to spread farther.

Do we “add water” to our lives?

Sometimes do you try to fit too much into your life, stretch yourself too thin?

Maybe that’s what we do in life, especially around the holidays. We stretch ourselves too thin… only to be surprised when we CRACK.

We might snap at a loved one, or get overwhelmed. We might feel completely frazzled and inadequate.

Watch how you spread out yourself this holiday.

Make time for your own rejuvenation.
It can be as simple as 3 minutes of quiet breathing behind a locked bathroom door.
We want you to stay in your wholeness.

Write it down: I feel rejuvenated when….

Grab a journal, write down your plan. You got this.

 

Have you heard about my membership? Listen about it on a podcast I was a guest on here.
You get to join an online community of women, with finished projects every month. Step by step instruction and live face-to-face feedback, you not only learn art, but have fun. Come check it out here.