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GentlewoodFarms
January 8, 2021

Love Your Life

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This is my project for the ATG Week 2 Challenge.
The project specific requirements can be found here
https://www.scrapbook.com/forum/?m=topic&tid=252699&pid=8504113

~ * ~


In 1998, I was running a trail string program for the YMCA of Tulsa, and that was all the horse world I knew. But I also knew there was more out there than what I knew, and I was committed to learning ALL of it.

Since that time, I have gained a wealth of equestrian knowledge. I'm a certified horsemanship instructor. I'm the "go to" trainer for horses with issues at my local barn. I've met Monty Roberts, Pat Parelli, and Clinton Anderson. I'm a respected regional resource for things involving kids, horses, riding instruction, and broke horses. I bred and raised appaloosa sport horses and produced a lovely stallion who I showed competitively at the local, regional, and national level. I've shown competitive western dressage. I've started three-year-old colts and made decent riding horses of them. I've ridden cutting horses, reining horses, dressage horses, and hunters. I've produced multiple local and regional champion horses. I've ridden in clinics with Buck Brannaman, Susan Harris, and Mimi Benton. I do consulting work for local riding stables about best safe practices.

But. I will never either be a national champion myself or produce one. I will never be a novice eventer. I will never ride a Grand Prix dressage test. There are still so many things that I want to do that I simply don't have the time to achieve.

But that's ok. It's time, at my age, to RELEASE all those things that I was "gonna do" when I was in my 30's. Some of them I did. Some of them I did not. I need to let go of the ones I didn't because not only is it really too late in my life to accomplish them, I have discovered that they are no longer all that important to me.

When it comes right down to it, what I REALLY want to do is just ride my horse down a new trail. And I gotta say, that's always been a great ride.

~ * ~


The project specific requirements can be found here
https://www.scrapbook.com/forum/?m=topic&tid=252699&pid=8504113

Here's how I incorporated them ...

1. Cool Toned Color Palette ~ I did a deep dive into my paper stacks. A few years ago, I sorted all my paper into potential project kits and stored them in 2 gallon ziplock bags, so it wasn't as hard as it could have been to find something suitable. In fact, I had about four options, but when I found this BoBunny Midnight Frost collection at the VERY BOTTOM of the last stack, I could feel it saying, "pick me. pick me!" So I did.

2. Two Photographs 10 years apart ~ The photo on the left was taken during my tenure as the equestrian director for the YMCA of Tulsa, and based on that shirt, I'm pretty sure we're talking 1998. The one on the right was taken right before Christmas of 2020.

Mirrored Elements ~ Sometimes, life just throws you a bone. I had planned to use some mirror stars for the mirrored elements, but I wasn't feeling all that great about them. But I went ahead and cut the papers and started the basic bones by getting my papers distressed and glued up, thinking I'd feel better about things as I went along.

The next day, when I got home from work, I had an order from Pappardelle's pasta (who makes the world's best orzo) waiting on my porch. The pasta bags in the shipment were tied closed with these wonderful little silver wire ties, which I knew right away would make the perfect mirror elements for my page as floral flourishes.

Red, Pink, or White Florals ~ I really wanted to use pink flowers, but when I pulled those red roses out and laid them down on the paper, the pink florals just went right out the window never to be seen again. The turquoise flowers - that's the last two of those I have, and they fit the cool color scheme so I went with them and used them up. Then I found this really cool stem of purple silk flowers - I think I used them way back with that Graphic 45 project I did for my mom's 80th birthday. Anyway, they added just a bit of "not blue but still cool" interest.

Red Bling ~ The red flowers are glittered, so they could technically be considered "bling," but I have this jar of large sequins that I'm trying to use up, so those went on as well. And as long as I was using up - I used the negative flowers from the punched border paper. There weren't a lot of them, but enough to add a little extra interest and draw the eye into the project. I sparkled them up with some biscotti shimmer mist.

GIFT, LIFE, OR GIVE in the Title ~ I had a cool velum tag titled "Every moment is a GIFT" all picked out to use as my title, but when I went looking for something to tack it onto my layout with, I found the VERY cool, VERY "Janus-god symbolic" sticker phrase, and that did a very clear, very loud "pick me pick me!" So the velum followed the pink flowers out the window, and I managed to find a Tim Holtz sticker phrase to cut apart, ink up, and make my substitute title, which I'm happier with anyway.

Technique List ~ I went overboard in my usual kitchen sink kind of way when playing with this list, and actually managed to accomplish more than the three required.
Polar Bear Plunge - Wet Distressing. I actually put one of my papers in the sink and soaked it, then crumpled it up, dried it, and smoothed it out.
Drinking Straw - On that very wet paper, I managed to get a couple of nice tears, and one of those made into a beautiful rolled back edge. I created a rolled back "peekaboo" window on another one.
Dress Up Your Pet - That's me and Bonnie, my great little retired show mare - riding down by one of our local lakes in the photo on the right. The photo on the left is so old I don't remember which horse I'm sitting on. I had almost 100 horses go through my program during my 15 year YMCA tenure, and about half of them were chestnuts.
Bubble Wrap Appreciation - I used bubble wrap from a Christmas gift to apply glass bead gel to my project. It adds beautiful texture and just a touch of sparkle without being overwhelming.
Inspire Your Heart with Art - I created the heart feature from a piece of raw chipboard, covered with paper, moonshadow mist, glass bead gel, glimmer mist, and ink. I'm happy with how it turned out.

I thought I was done at that point, but as I was cleaning up my desk area, this stray white flower just showed up and fell onto my page, and said simply, "pick me pick me." So I did.

If you've gotten this far, thanks for looking and reading and indulging my rambling explanation of my process. I'd love to have you come share the ATG Weekly Adventure with me!


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Cheer sent!

Thanks for spreading positivity!

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