Spontaneously Happy and Totally Unexpected

9:04 AM

Tribute to a fun day
Stillman & Birn Zeta Sketchbook
Watercolor and ink
Valentine's Day has always been a minefield for dating couples or those who have just broken up or those who have just gotten together. Add that to the pressures of Madison Avenue to buy bigger, better, sparklier things and it becomes a hated holiday. And that pressure is also felt by those who are alone and would rather not be!

Chris and I don't ignore the holiday as we both feel it's nice to recognize each other, but nor do we get caught in the "Hallmark Trap" of trying to make it picture perfect with just the right card, gift and activities for the day.

As it turned out, this year's Day of Love came about as something a little more special than the usual with a surprise gift (for me, that I adore), a great movie (Kingman: The Secret Service), lunch with friends, discovery of a cool, new shop near the theater with some fun new finds for decorating our home!
Detail of journal page
They were giving out roses at the new store, so another surprise—two white roses. Not only have they opened, but Moby and her holy terror tactical team have left them alone! (UPDATE: I spoke to soon—we awoke this morning to find one of the roses visiting the floor.)

Lastly, we ended our outing at Ruby Tuesday's. We wanted to sit out on the patio because it was jam-packed inside and very, very noisy. After we were seated we heard others complaining about the 45-minute wait. Because we opted for the patio, which we had all to ourselves, we didn't wait at all!

That's when we remembered it was Valentine's Day. Oops. I assure you that had that little piece of info crossed either of our minds, we've gone home and rewarmed the leftover pizza.

Our waitress asked us how long we'd been together and of all the folks she'd served, we had been together the longest (22 years and counting).

I decided to put together a journal spread for the day and it became very busy, very quickly.

To help make the text flow…wait. Stop. Let me back up first.

The first thing I did was kind of a quick pencil layout where I wanted all the items. I then laid down a piece of the drywall patch* that I've seen used by others to help with the journaling.

I'm sad to say, it left a very nasty glue residue all over the page which would not be picked up by a kneaded eraser nor a plastic one. Grrrrrr!
Detail of the page
I decided to keep going, sans drywall patch, and just wing the journaling. To better help the text flow (which really had no flow), I decided to add the arrows in a different ink color.

I added the movie ticket, a logo from a bag from the new store and RT's logo to offset the art and journaling. It was a busy day and I kinda like that the page is busy as well.

After nearly completing the spread, I began to think of a few more things I wanted to capture and added them in yet another ink color.

A fabulous day all the way around!

I hope your Valentine's Day was a special treat as well.

*While the patch did not work out for me this time, I will try it again. If you want to give this a whirl, I STRONGLY suggest you adhere the patch to a piece of fabric (that you don't care about!) several times BEFORE you press it down to your page.

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13 Creative Thought(s)

  1. What a fun page for what sounds like a great day. We don't get all worked up about the day either. Glen cooked me a very nice meal and we had a quiet day at home together.

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    1. It's nice to have a hubby that cooks! Mine's good at microwaving…;•)

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  2. What a fun page for what sounds like a great day. We don't get all worked up about the day either. Glen cooked me a very nice meal and we had a quiet day at home together.

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  3. I like the busy-ness of the page and the fact that you kept adding things as you thought of them. It's really fun! (I want to know more about the foot grinder...)

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    1. That foot grinder is a prize! It's the Amope Pediperfect file. LOVE it!

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  4. Oh, and I meant to say also that I like how you've done the date in the center with the cute dangling hearts!

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    1. Thank you…I'm thinking there's more to be done with the hearts. Waiting to see what Sam comes up with.

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  5. I love this page. It looks like it is "bursting" with energy, enthusiasm, and joy! Sometimes I find myself just overflowing with ideas to put down - when they are just "bubbling" out of me. I'm wondering if that is how you were feeling with this page. It sounds like you had a fun and lively time. Those unplanned, but perfect times sure are special! and "yes" we were both thinking of 'dangling hearts'.

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    1. My ideas usually bubble over when I'm short on time and heavy on commitments, but in this case, I had more things to add and journal about than I had room because the day was so full. Good memories, good times, and now, even more connections—thanks for the card!

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  6. Your sketch is full of love. How wonderful.

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  7. Love your page and even more, that you had a great day! Planned things are great but when something goes "according to plan" that wasn't really planned at all it's terrific!

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