October Squigglies

The concept illustrated on the right is nothing new. We can all relate to it. I can certainly look back on my life and see so many of those squigglies.

But I guess lately I'm really feeling those curves and loops. I know it's part of the reason that I'm struggling with more dips downward when that depressive dark cloud keeps showing up.

But the arrow even on the squiggly diagram is still headed upward, right? :crossing fingers:

Speaking of arrows hopefully headed upwards, the file on our construction loan has come out of underwriting.  We have a conditional approval on our loan!  We are crossing our fingers and praying that the last little dots on the i's and crosses on the t's will go without a hitch. 

Despite the kids' voicing of displeasure about it, we're doing a family fast Sunday afternoon/evening into Monday.

And now it's October. From a weather and seasonal standpoint, I'm elated. My favorite time of year has finally begun. It is considerably cooler in the morning (I love when I get to break out my hoodies!), and hopefully the triple digits are gone for 2014. Still, it may hit 100 this weekend. But yes, another summer is practically behind us. 

But from a "reality" standpoint, October is looking rather busy and I'm not sure I'm ready for it. We have volunteer work at the Phoenix LDS Temple. The Open House is beginning in a couple of weeks. Chris and I are volunteering as ushers one of those days. At least it's during Fall Break so it won't be as hard to have the kids taken care of. There's also the big Halloween party back in Queen Creek in a few weekends. Hoping that goes without a hitch because of the work schedule Chris ends up having bi-annually (hitting October and March). It's so wrong that these crazy work schedules also coincide with Fall and Spring Breaks. Bleh. But I'm not forgetting for a minute what a blessing his job is. That part is certainly not forgotten.

October also only slightly panics me because I also have numerous pumpkin orders and an ongoing project with my return customer from Canada. I am so grateful for her and her faith in me. She keeps coming back, so I must be doing something right. Haha 

Still, the self-deprecation part of me also feels inadequate. I guess it's the monkey on the back of moody artists that tell us we don't measure up. We all have those monkeys. I should name mine

Phillip, the Self-Doubt Moody Artist Monkey - he should be holding up his middle finger.

, Phillip.

Meanwhile, here is the work finished so far for my Canadian customer. She's part of a big fundraiser for the Lake of Woods in Ontario/Manitoba and Minnesota. Since the lake straddles two different Canadian Provinces, part of the US and the Indian Land, there are a lot of different governmental entities and jurisdictions. That usually means headaches and red tape. Therefore, the fundraiser is to raise awareness for everyone to help keep it and the entire area clean and preserved.  I am honored to be a part of this! These two are going to be part of a bangle bracelets that are being made to raise awareness.

And then there's the pumpkins. This one below is a gift for a friend's daughter. Her daughter is serving an LDS mission in Kansas, so the theme had a Wizard of Oz/Witch/Kansas feel to it, along with personal elements about her daughter. 

Let me go on record that while that technique I used for her name (stippling) is something I enjoy doing and use it a lot, I am not sure I want to do it for a large area like that again. It took forever! If someone likes that technique and effect for a large area that much, I might charge a few extra bucks to do that again. lol






These three pictures below is from the same pumpkin which was shipped out to California today. It is a custom larger one for a family with five boys (gulp..lol). On a whim, I did the jack-o-lanterns all the way around below the web on the top. I think I'll do that on all of my big ones. That is, unless the customer requests otherwise.

Sunday Doodle 9/28/14

I wish I had time to get into the Sunday Doodle from last weekend. It was actually a double meaning, since we had some nice rain the day of the Womens Conference on Saturday that Mikelle and I attended. Then there was some wonderful words spoken by Dieter F. Uchdorf that I added to the design.

 I love when real life and metaphors fit nicely like a puzzle. Well, I love it when it's a good thing, of course. :-)

Until next time.