Blackbird Fly

THE BEATLES

Specifically, The White Album...

And a song about a Black Bird...

I recently had another complicated specific "hope" that was sort of maybe happening in my life

I prayed and prayed and had others pray about it...

I waited...

I
Let
it
Go
.
.
.

Then it popped up again....
I prayed and prayed and had others praying too...

And then again,

I
Let
it
Go
.
.
.

Once more it came back with real hope (I thought)
and
for one weekend I allowed myself to dream of this "hope"
To touch it, to see it, to believe in the possibility of "it"...

And Then,

just. like. that.

"It" was gone...

and I HAD to

Let
it
Go
.
.
.

(Only this time...I did not want to.)

I haven't done a lot of art lately,
I 've been spending time thinking of new things people might like to see in my Etsy store.
But today, it was time to do something just for me.

I heard "BlackBird" by the Beatles the other day and couldn't get it out of my head.
I got some cash from someone for my Birthday and bought "THE White Album" b/c first of all I don't own it and second of all I needed to hear that song over and over.

I put the CD into the player and found the track...
The guitar softly and melodically plays and then
that sweet simple voice that rings true into my very soul starts to sing
and it is Paul.
Over and Over I listen to it.
I hear the guitar line with it's harmony to the melody of the voice.
I hear the actual Bird calls from the blackbird.
I hear and mediate on the words.
It's such a simple song.
I've overlooked it for my whole life but have always known it.

You see, the Beatles are a part of who I am.
I grew up on the Beatles.
My Mom and Dad were Beatles junkies and we listened to them all of the time.
My middle name is even Michelle...
(which I choose to believe is b/c of "My Michelle" by the Beatles)
So with that said, I am a true fan and lover of them.
I have a connection.

As I was listening to the words over and over I began to see my next piece.

I start with a black blob of paint and paint it on with a scraper.

I like the way the paint makes it's own way on the canvas.

I use my Silhouette Sd to cut out a vinyl Bird.

I lay down the Bird With Contact paper on top of the black paint.

I Cut out the lyrics to the song and place them down too.
(the pictures for this part were not cooperating!)

NEXT!

I am able to peal off the letters and the bird...

Opppsss....Alot of the paint peals off with it.

Here it is finished. Obviously it needs some touch up but I like the general feel of it.

I wear my hat in honor of the Band that inspired me!

Some final shots of it outside on a beautiful day!

BlackBird....

Here are the Lyrics to the Song:

BlackBird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

BlackBird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be Free

Black Bird Fly
Black Bird Fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

BlackBird singing in the dead of night
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

I think this song is just truer than true.
We all have suffered a broken wing in the blackest darkest night we thought possible
but when you realize that it is in "This" Moment that you are able to Fly,
it was "This" time that you were able to be brave,
it was "This" time that you could "see",
That is when we take off into the sky even if it's dark b/c we know that somewhere out there is the light.
I will ALWAYS find the light, I will ALWAYS find the beauty in my life and in "This" Moment.

I hope you are able to find "That" moment in your life,
that moment when YOU were only waiting for "It" to arise
 And
If needed,

You
Let
It
Go
.
.
.


This post was created with a lot of dark to get to the light of "It". It was made from a messy place with messy hands that made something beautiful and found that Hope will always be there if you wait for that moment to arise and it was made with my own two hands.


XOXO,
JillyG

Confessions of a Pinterest Addict...

So my new obsession is Pinterest.

I bet so many of you know what I am talking about

and 

are addicted to this site just as much as I am.

If you are not on Pinterest...You are missing out my friends!

Basically, this site is a virtual pin board

and 

the source for a plethora of Creativity.

(I may be risking sharing some of my creative secrets 

but

it's so much FUN I just have to talk about it.)

My time on Pinterest has lead me to pinning over 1,000 "pins" 

(quite an accomplishment and an indication of how much time I have wasted.)

Today, I decided to put my months of pinning to good use.

I do not have one specific

"pin" 

that I used to make this but the idea is

"inspired" 

by so many who make adorable bow holders of their own. 

So, here is my take on the "Bow Holder".

 The first thing I did was find the cutest Ribbon EVER!

Then I sewed some hooks onto the ribbon so it could hold headband and such.

(Please excuse my cuticles!)

I laid out the  ribbon in a pattern and painted out a canvas.

I chose Navy for my background.

(I don't think you have to have a perfectly solid background

because the ribbons will cover most of it up.)

Next, I wrapped ribbon around the canvas and left a small space in between.

(I never really measure...I'm a "guesstimator")

I get out my handy dandy staple gun 

and 

staple each ribbon to the back of the canvas.

Pull them taught so that they can really hold the weight of 

hair bows, clips and headbands.

Make sure your ribbons are nice and smooth. 

Everything will show.

(I use my straightening iron for my hair to iron them out.

It works GREAT!)

Continue to staple them along the edges. 

Don't worry about the length being too long 

because you can trim it 

and then later 

you will cover the ribbons on the back.

TIME OUT.

To reload more staples...

(Now begins my Quest to locate staples in my garage...)

Ummmmmmmmmm.... Yeah....

Would you know where to start looking?

(My husband has just about every tool you can imagine. 

It's extremely well organized...

In HIS mind.)

Is it in here?!

In HERE?!

Finally found them and we are "locked and loaded"...

I continue to lay out and secure all of the ribbons all of the way across the canvas.

This is what it will look like on the back of the canvas. 

 I didn't like the back unfinished so I pulled some coordinating ribbon and covered the sides.

Use your Hot Glue Gun to do this part so that you don't have staples shinning through.

I rolled the end over to finish it a little bit more. 

(I didn't have enough of one type of ribbon so I used 2 diff. kinds.)

I use a picture hanger to hang it and Viola!

And here it is! 

I like it and hope I can find just the girl to give it to...

I grabbed some of my hair accessories

and 

threw them up there 

so you could see the potential of your very own

A-dor-a-ble Hair Bow Holder!!

This Craft was made by a "Proud Pinterest Addict",
Inspired by Creative Souls every where 
&
created by my own two hands.

Enjoy!

But still...that pain remains.

I have been very weepy today and this Christmas Season. For some reason, This Season, more than others was especially tender.

It all started just before Thanksgiving when I realized that

"I thought" I would be having a "Lil' Turkey" to welcome into the world.

It hit me like a ton of bricks and I was 

so, 

so, 

so 

sad. 

I thought I had dealt with all that came with having a miscarriage!

(I mean I turned miscarried into "carried" and it changed my life just like that! For the Better.)

But still...that pain remains. 

It's not so raw as it once was but it's still there. 

It's healing but it is still tender.

I've started a new and exciting journey in Adoption and am filled to the brim with HOPE again. 

Really, filled with HOPE.

Christmas was hard because "I thought" I'd have a baby to share with my whole family. 

Instead it was talk about adoption which was wonderful and supportive.

But still...that pain remains. 

I've of course been thinking a lot about what this new year will bring 

and just like the past 3 years which will now turn into 4 years,

I will once again HOPE for a baby. 

(Maybe this year it will happen...I can only HOPE.)

We are moving right along in the adoption process and it's been a lot of work. 

So, so many papers to fill out and forms to send in and signatures required it feels like 

too 

much 

sometimes. 

I find myself thinking..."It's not fair!" 

Why does it have to be so hard?

Errrrr.........

(record sch-reaching sound!)

I can go down this path and feel pity for my self just like the next person but I will not. 

I am going to Trust my Journey instead.

I am going to hold on so tight to HOPE and be happy about the unexpected, beautiful gift that Matt and I will receive when we are blessed with a baby of our own.

I will instead begin to focus on how our Birth mother must be feeling. 

How alone and scared and hopeless she must feel. 

I will pray for her 

and for her strength

and for her to understand that we realize

that her choice

is out of the purest form of LOVE someone can give.

So much Love, for her baby that is growing inside of her.

And BRAVE, oh so BRAVE!

I hope I get to tell her these things one day. 

I hope we get to put our arms around each other and just feel gratitude for one another.

I will feel so grateful to her for giving me the greatest gift that I can ever imagine. 

I hope she feels gratitude to know that I will love and care for her baby as my own. 

That this baby, 

the baby she has carried inside of her 

was LOVED before she even met us. 

I hope she will be a part of our lives in some way forever

because how could you ever forget someone who gave you such a gift?

(I told you I was weepy!)

I know when that time comes it will be all I have ever imagined and so much more. 

Even if I never meet her, I will let her know of our gratitude. 

She will know how much she is loved!

So.....This Year

I will Trust my "Perfectly Imperfect" journey

and I will continue to pick myself up 

and I will never, ever loose HOPE!

For without HOPE there is nothing.

I am working on some beautiful new things to add to my JillyGs Etsy shop

that I just know you will LOVE!

I hope to blog more in the coming year because it is cleansing for me. 

Even if the only person who reads it is my Mom. 

For me, that is enough.

(I LOVE all of my readers though! Shout out of LOVE to you too!)

This post was written from a place so raw 

and 

written from a place that still has pain

but most of all this post was written from a place 

filled with HOPE and LOVE to

just 

simply TRUST. 

Oh! And it was written with my own two hands.

XOXO,

JillyG

"You were born in my heart"

I finished a new piece of art today. 

 

In honor of National Adoption Month, I felt compelled to make a piece especially for Adoption.

I have been trying to think about what to do for this very special piece

that will one day hang in my adopted baby's room.

(I know I have plenty of time for this but it helps me while I wait.)

I have a very dear friend of mine that has 2 adopted children of her own. Seeing how her life has been blessed by Adoption makes me have so much HOPE! 

Knowing her journey and all that she and her husband went through to get there

is made even more special each and every time I get to see her 

and her sweet babies as they are growing up.

She asked me if I would make something for an auction they are having to help families raise money to afford the cost of adoption. 

I was honored! 

 ME?!! 

I just started to make art...I hardly call myself an artist...

But how could I refuse? 

 

I truly feel God is leading me...well more like pulling me in this direction.

I am feeling more and more that this is my ministry. 

That God has shown me something that was always there

but I was never quiet enough to see it. 

 

So, I am so very happy to make this piece for someone that has been touched by adoption. 

I really feel like it doesn't have to be for an adoptive family 

because anyone that knows someone involved with or

touched by adoption can enjoy this piece. 

 

(I actually feel like everyone can enjoy this piece..

It's not like I put the word "ADOPTION" on it in bold letters.)

 

 

It's clear when you really look at it but

every baby was born in someone's heart. 

Some babies and parents (birth and adoptive) just have a different story to tell.

 

But every baby born is a miracle 

 

and a true Gift from God.

So here's how I made it! 

I started with a wash on the wood using my absolute favorite color to work with. 

This color and a special red color I use for each bird's heart is in just about every piece I make. 

I can't help it...I just have to use it. 

I cut out the tree from a beautiful patterned paper from Melody Ross at Hobby Lobby.

   

I made a pattern by tracing the doves from my "carried" piece 

and cut the doves for the birth parents out of a white patterned paper 

i got at Hobby lobby too. 

(on clearance)

I love that they are the same birds from "carried" because

one day I will be carried by them 

and they will be carried by me.

Next, I cut out the Birds for the Adoptive parents. 

And add an adorable baby chick-a-dee for the baby bird

out of a different patterned paper.

Just 3 little birdies sittin' in a tree....

Now I started to work with the layout of all of the components. 

I used a piece of gold rope like the kind I used in "carried" for the birth parents to hold together.

They have a heart on that string because their baby that they created will always be in their hearts.

The baby Chick-a-dee is cut from the same paper as the heart the birth parents hold.

I painted out all of the pieces and begin to lay them down onto the wood.

 "Eeeerrrrr"...

I heard a record scratch in everyone's mind. 

I know what you are thinking...

"How could you paint over that beautiful paper?!!"

Well...I didn't want it to compete with the birds.

The birds are just too important in this piece 

and it makes the flocking stand out even more. 

That's why.

 Can you find all of the pieces?

I lay it all down with my favorite...Mod Podge! 

I love that when I paint onto this board it makes an outline of the shape.

Now each time I paint I will always see these birds all together. 

I Love how my hands look in the middle of working on a piece.

(we pause for a moment to feature my fur-babies)

  

This is Maggie...my sweet docile, content, lazy girl.

This is what she has to do when Tigger makes an appearance...

(He's only 3 you know)

I add in the chip art words and begin to fill them in with color. 

Here it is!! 

Now for some pictures for an Etsy listing.

(Don't forget that 100% of profits go toward helping us with out adoption fund.)

They make great gifts.

Just sayin'...

I love that I have such a variety of plants in my yard.

They make beautiful backdrops.

See the gold strand in the baby's mouth? 

Love it!

I added an antiquing process to highlight the patterned paper.

They are "carried". 

This is my dream...to bring home a sweet baby chick-a-dee to our home. It's not to "start a family" as I've always said it's to add to our family. 

Because a family is not always a Mom and Dad and a Baby.

A family is made from LOVE. 

So much love,

from so many places and that love is never ever lost.

It remains and settles in our hearts and we are forever changed.

This piece was made with LOVE, 

maybe a couple of tears

but mostly filled with hope

and it was made by my own two hands. 

xoxo,

JillyG