Here's my fourth canvas for Kelly Rae Robert's Mixed Media Mantras e-course and the first one that felt effortless.  I didn't critique every move, continually wonder what I was doing wrong, or question what I should be doing instead.  My self doubt gremlins were in check.  Progress!    

I started this one entirely with collage.  While I've hidden most of the collaged background, I love the dimension it continues to add to the painting.  I incorporated flower doodles, doilies, and stenciled and tinted modeling paste, which continues to meld my art journaling and scrapbooking elements into my painting.    

Here's a layout I created awhile ago, but never shared.  This photo was taken while in Puerta Vallarta with my sweetheart and friends back in July.  We spent a year planning the trip, the excitement building for months and I can hardly believe it's over. Good thing I revel in both the after-travel reflection and the pre-travel anticipation almost as much as the trip itself.  After a day of swimming and relaxing, we'd meet every night in the lobby of the resort to take in the breathtaking sunsets and sip on pre-dinner cocktails.  What a hard life we had in Mexico.    

Now for the detail photos.  While I still have a lot to learn in terms of photographing layouts, I can see how far I've come in the last couple months since this was photographed.  I used modeling paste, gelatos, spray ink, stamps, layers of paper, a mix of alphas, wood veneers, and added chipboard embellishments.  I also like taking memorabilia from the experience and incorporating it into the layout.  Each night the resort would do turn-down service, leaving us chocolates and slip of paper letting us know the next day's forecast.  I included the slip of paper from one of the nights.    

Continuing with week 2 of Brene Brown's art journaling assignments, here is my joy and meaning list.  I think I spend a lot of time foreboding joy.  I have a hard time reveling in the joyous moments, always anticipating the worst, as if that's going to brace me for the hard times. It's a practice I'm striving to change. I think gratitude helps, as I remind myself of all the ways my life is actually pretty damn amazing.

Intention: I will honor my basic need for play and rest

Two quotes that I appreciated from this week's lesson: 
1) "The opposite of play is not work."
2) "Exhaustion is not a status symbol."

Below is a closeup of both journal pages.