I decided this past weekend I was going to go out on a limb and try a willow pattern stencil with fall colors. I love fall, enough sunshine to keep you happy, a brisk chill in the air and the colors of fall in West Virginia are simply amazing. The trees have just begun to change.
In just a few weeks the reds, oranges and yellows will be all over my front yard. It is a picture takers dream! No filters are needed during this time of year. The lighting and backdrops are perfect.
I have to tell you, as I begun this piece this weekend, I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out or if I even liked it before I pulled the stencil off. Using multiple colors makes it hard to not have colors bleed over into others, but I did fall in love with the end product.
The fabric paint I used has a sheen to it, almost like glitter, so the pictures don’t really do it justice. I got creative and used some colors over the others.
As I sit here and type, I begin to think about the change in the seasons and how life is really no different. I have been undergoing a great deal of change here recently. I work 2.5 hours from home, and my husband is a pilot, so he has a 7 on 7 off shift. I have a rental near where I work so I don’t have to commute so much. The weeks I can stay are the weeks he is home! Have I mentioned I have 3 dogs and 3 cats….. I feel a meme of some sort brewing here.
Anyhow, back to the topic. My son recently moved back to college and my daughter and son in law moved to Florida. It has been nothing but transition for the past 6 months. Move in, move out. Have evenings of riding 4 wheelers and weekends of kayaking to evenings of no one home and weekends of nothing. Life is constantly changing, sometimes for the good, sometimes, not so much.
I am beginning to see as I sit and watch the leaves fall from the trees, this too is a season in life. A season of change and loss but there will be better days of growth ahead, I just have to hang on. It is kind of ironic that tonight’s Lesson for Celebrate Recovery is the READY lesson. It talks largely about being ready to accept God and his will for your life and be willing to change. I tell you sometimes, we get so caught up in the moment, it makes it hard to be willing to change. We don’t even have time to understand the change much less process it.
I must say, I am glad I am not teaching this evening. Simply because I am not sure I could do so without buckets of tears. I am NOT ready for any more change in my life. I think I have had my fair share here recently. I am not at all in denial that there are areas I need to change, but I know I need some level of comfort too! Like my collecting, it brings me comfort.
I know deep down, this is a temporary season in my life and that things will again change, so making any dramatic choices would be the wrong thing to do…..
So instead, I will paint t-shirts until the cows come home or life feels better and more stable! I will let you know what else I come up with!!!
Blue Willow Treasures - A collectors showcase 