Well, here it is, October. It is a glorious month here in Michigan, as the nights are cool, the days are warm and (usually) sunny, and the air is crisp and smells of apples and crackling bonfires. Personally, it was one of my favorites in childhood, being that it contained both my birthday and Halloween, which meant gifts, cake, costumes and candy. Later, it also held my husband's birthday and our anniversary. It was the king of months for me. The past few years, however, it has been a difficult month. It is breast cancer awareness month, and my mother passed due to complications of breast cancer. Now, October is often a month of as many tears as smiles for me. Not only do I miss my mom at the important events of my life, but I also get the "treat" of shopping at stores filled with pink ribbons on one side of the aisle and tombstones on the other. I have to wonder why no one ever foresaw this disturbing imagery when they chose October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
You may wonder what all of this has to do with this week's card. Well, this card symbolizes a lot for me, and I thought it wholly appropriate to include it as my first October post. First, the background, the beautiful Opto Checkerboard,
LJ 915 which reminds me of MC Escher, art school and a lesson plan I once taught in a previous career. To me, it also relates to October, because it is an unexpected checkerboard. It is just a little "off", like all things in October, especially at the end of the month. I pasted this one with black paste.
The butterfly is absolutely one of my favorite new stencils. It is
LJ 916. If you followed my Art Glitter blogs over the summer, you have seen this one before on a straw bag. I just love it. It looks its absolute best, I think, when it is double glittered, like it is here. In this case, I used the Double Sided adhesive paper and soaped the back of the stencil before I attached it. I then filled the holes with stunning autumnal (also Monarch colored) Art Institure Glitter, and black Stampendous Fun Flock (in the body). I removed the stencil and poured black glitter over the whole thing. This is a very large stencil, and it runs over the boundaries set forth by the card. I liked this. It seems like the butterfly's will to fly is so strong that it breaks away from its world. My mother and I used to go to butterfly houses where ever we could find them. She loved the idea and feeling of flight, so I imagine that she would have really loved this strong willed butterfly.
Finally, the Make a Wish sentiment. This one I did with Black Adirondack Pigment Ink and a stencil brush. It is from the Birthday Words stencil
LG 704. I chose this one for many reasons. Most of all, it is because my mother and I went to Disneyworld after her cancer metastisized. We saw the fireworks display Wishes for the very first time. During the show, the narrator tells us to all "make a wish". Mom and I both started crying, because we both knew what we were wishing for. Anyway, that is what this phrase reminds me of.
So now, here it is, some years later. Sometimes, especially in October, it seems like yesterday, and I feel like an open wound. Most Octobers, I try to just "lay low" to escape all of those pink ribbons and tombstones in the stores. This year, I am opting to face it head on. That is what this posting really represents. While the butterfly reminds me of my mother, it also brings up the sayings that I have been so fond of lately, "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly" and, of course, "Without change, there would be no butterflies." I can't undo this change in my life, so I guess that it is time for me to try and become the butterfly. So, maybe this post was a little less lighthearted than others, and for that, I guess, I am sorry. Sometimes a card is just a card, but sometimes it is a catalyst for thought. I would love it if you could leave me a comment. Check out the other Dream Team designs for this week and play along if you are so inspired. Link it to the Dreamweaver Blog. I hope I didn't bring anyone down. Just remember, try to become the butterfly. It is never too late. Start now.
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