Why be so serious...

A couple of weeks ago we went to one of our favorite restaurants where you can sit outside and enjoy a nice evening watching the people and this beautiful fountain than runs down the middle of a little cul-de-sac. It was a beautiful evening and very hot. I thought it would be fun to let the kids walk though the fountain to cool off and have a little bit of fun. Now, Noah can read and noticed the sign right away that said to stay out. Being the good kid he is and hesitant about doing things he's not supposed to, we had a little talk about sometimes it's okay to break a little rule. That it's really just there to keep you safe and I wasn't going to let any harm come to them by letting them walk through the fountain. Now, if they were running and jumping through it I could see the harm, but they weren't doing anything wrong. The walked through the fountain and I think they felt a little bit daring and they laughed a lot. It felt good to watch them have so much fun!

This got me to thinking. I take myself way to seriously! Especially when it comes to scrapbooking. Worrying if everything I do is ok or good enough. If this paper really should go here or this embellishment here or if the feeling is right or the journaling is wrong...blah blah blah! I decided to make this page about my kids breaking the (little) rules and having fun and to challenge myself to have fun and break some of my own rules (whatever those are).


For the background paper I didn't even think about what I was doing. I just did it. I sprayed it heavily with silver and brown mist, then I stamped on it and then I wrinkled it all up and then I tore it up and then put it all back together. (Noah was watching me do this and he knew right away what I was doing. He said "you're trying to break the rules aren't you mom!") It was freeing. And scary at the same time. I like clean lines and this was going against everything I would normally do...but you know what. It was fun. And I got to push myself creatively as well. I have to admit that it took me a few days to finish this page and actually accept what I was doing, but I'm glad I did....just for the sake of letting go for awhile.


Does anyone else ever do this?

While I was challenging myself to not put so much pressure on things being perfect I decided to go to the opposite end of it too and do something really simple. I challenged myself to make 3 cards in less than 20 minutes and keep them as simple as I could. It was hard being so simple and not worrying that I was being to plain, but again...fun!


I challenge you to do the opposite of what you would normally do and see where it takes you!!