Any other parent out there secretly cringe when a snow day is announced? Especially a snow day when there isn’t any actual snow? Don’t get me wrong, I love snow. And, I love my kids. But, this has been a crazy week with schedules interrupted over and over again by school closings and delays. Fridays are my days to catch up on chores and have uninterrupted creative time while my kiddos are at school. Darn snow.
So, my plans of blissful alone time were rudely interrupted by our local county schools canceling classes for the day. Luckily, my twins still headed to a few hours of preschool, but my 7 year old daughter was left trapped at home with no actual snow to play in. She’s relatively low maintenance, but as she spent time reading Harry Potter in her room, I still sat at my desk fuming because my day had been interrupted.
My mood initially spilled over to my art journaling page. Once again, I had a plan in my head, and once again, the page had a mind of its own. I imagined a gorgeous, layered blue sky in the background with bright, bold flowers in the front. As I began to lay down layers of paint, the sky quickly became a muddy mess. However I learned from my experience last week that sometimes you have to keep pushing through in an art journal until you get the result you want.
I reached for a calendar that I purchased from my local dollar store. There are some great finds at the Dollar Tree…check out some other crafty products I found! I cut out some bright tulips and layered them on top of the page. Strokes of satin-finish fuchsia and lime green paint over the top of the tulips incorporated them into the page a bit more. 
After adding the doodling around the cut-out, I was stuck. I knew the page did not feel finished, but my daughter was also anxious for my attention.
At that point, I begrudgingly left the page behind, thinking that I would just finish it another day when new inspiration hit. I opted to cuddle with my little girl, watch a cartoon, and then take her to a local craft store. While I looked at some new ink pads, she gleefully searched up and down the aisles, finding all kinds of treasures. A set of heart shaped glass beads caught her eye as well as anything that glittered! It was a joy seeing one of my favorite stores through her eyes. By the time we were headed home, both of our moods were lifted, without spending a single dime! Turns out, the surprise morning together was a blessing to both of us, and we really enjoyed our time together.
When I returned to my art journaling page, I was newly inspired! I printed out one of my favorite pictures of my daughter and the rest of the page came together very quickly at that point. I layered the picture with items from my stash and grabbed for the Tim Holtz small chat stickers to finish off the page with phrases that remind me of my girl.
What have your interruptions been this week? Any chance they were blessings in disguise? Let me know in the comments below!
Keep it creative,
-The Scrappy Wife
Supplies used:
- Jane Davenport Art Journal
- Dylusions Paint
- Jane Davenport Acrylic Paint
- Uniball White Signo Gel Pen
- Tim Holtz Small Chat stickers
- Illustrated Faith label printables
- Illustrated Faith ephemera piece – You Are Loved