Journal 52, Week 37: Hope

 Hope is the theme for Week 37 at Journal 52.  When I first read the prompt, I thought "Hope is not just a town in Arkansas."  When I couldn't find my Arkansas map, I decided to go a much, much different route.

It was then that I decided this week was all about trying a few techniques I either hadn't tried before, or hadn't tried in a long time. The first thing I did was get out my Crayola crayons.  These are the best when it comes to resist.

I wrote the letters using a red crayon and used a shooting star stencil in place of the "O."  Then I grabbed a bottle of Tulip fabric paint, a product I have had for many years, but never used.  It adds a puffy slick raised edge when dry.

When the paint was dry, I got out my Twinkling H2Os and created the background.  That's where the resist came in.  The crayon resisted the Twink and showed through the background.

I have a couple of books on Quotes, so I just cut all the ones that were in one of the books and used them.  There's no sense in not using them.  I am on a mission to use these originals, not copy quotes out of them anymore.   The 37 is the week number.

I also used a crayon (black) to outline the swirls.  I am happy with this stencil because I can turn it either direction, something I can't do with a rubber stamp.

Unfortunately, I don't see the Link at Journal 52 anymore, so I guess this is the only place you'll see my entry each week, since I'm not a member of Facebook or Flickr.  But that is OK, because I can show my dear friends a few photos I took yesterday who have followed my "Sally saga." 

These are the shoes she is keeping in her walk-in closet, but they are only a partial offering. 

It was very hard to get a good photo because I was fighting a few dresses and such that Sally had indiscriminately hung on a peg after we had cleaned the room.  These two containers hold her winter shoes only, which is what she wants handy when winter arrives.  The summer shoes are in her office closet, and her tennis shoes fit in shoe racks that fit on both her bedroom doors.

These are specialty shoes in the top container, including SEVEN pairs of swimming shoes.  I knew she had swim shoes, just not a pair for every day of the week!

You have to remember we spent three days sorting and purging in Sally's main bath.  This was all that was left when I got there early in the morning.  Against the back wall are two containers I cleaned and placed items in after we purged everything.  I realize it looks really bad, but you can't believe how much we've gotten rid of.  Next, it was time to purge and clean what was on her filthy sink counter.

Three hours later, this is all that was left.  I still needed to clean the floor, but I wasn't going to do that until I knew for sure that Sally was going to take care of the room.

For those of you who are like me, and don't like ANYTHING sitting on my counters, this will look like a nightmare.

These were all the things she wouldn't let me move elsewhere, because she said she used each of these every day.  I somehow have trouble believing it, after all the gunk and cat fur I found on many of those bottles and jars, but I was not in the mood to have her argue with me.  I was simply too tired to care.  This wouldn't make me happy, but apparently it does her.  And yes, I cleaned EVERYTHING, including all the items in each of those plastic containers, as well as the containers themselves. 

I had to laugh at a comment my blog buddy Corrine said about having one minimal room for her friend and letting her home stay like she liked it.   Sally has no concept what minimal is.   What you are looking at is her bedroom from her bath.  Nearly every room in her house looks like this or worse.  Originally I took the photo to show

her excess tee-shirts and where she stored them.  The stack starts at the dresser and goes to the top of her dresser mirror.  And those are just the ones she has no room for in her drawers.  In the process, I got a rather bad photo of her "dressing area" that is now piled high with junk that will need to be purged.  Sadly, I fear she won't be so willing to get rid of the pillows, blankets, and other things that are taking up space in this part of her bedroom.  

And now maybe you can see why it took so long to clear out the garage and her main bath.  Consider these last two photos "before" photos.  Not sure how much we'll get done in a week, especially since we can't even get through her living room, or get into her kitchen without stepping or crawling over things right now.  Only time (and my patience) will tell.

Thanks for following me on both my art journey and my Sally saga!