52CP01: Happy New Year!

Welcome to our very first challenge! The passage that I was inspired by for this week is from Oprah Winfrey:

One evening while having dinner at the Malibu home of TV producer Suzanne de
Passe, I began complaining about something I had agreed to do but that I no
longer thought was the best decision for me. In the name of "keeping my word,"
though, I felt I had to trudge through it. Suzanne looked at me and said
something that honestly no one had ever told me: "Girl, you know you have the
right to change your mind."

I went silent. As the words reverberated through me, I slowly said the phrase to myself over and over, trying to embrace what it would feel like to actually accept that principle as part of my conscious living. While the idea sunk in, I repeated it aloud to Suzanne: "I have the right to change my mind." She said, "Who else would? It’s your mind."

Before then, I hadn’t thought of changing my mind as even possible. What about honor, commitment, staying the course? I had always believed that going back on a promise was something only careless, flaky people did. Yet as strict as I had always been about keeping my word, I often gave it irresponsibly. Trying to be the nice girl, I agreed to do things I later regretted. And because I was saying yes when I really meant no, I’d end up cheating both myself and the other person involved. It’s an irrefutable law of the universe: You always get exactly what you intend - and my intention was to be seen by others as the dependable one, even if that came at a high expense to me personally.

What I know for sure is that you have the right to choose what is best for yourself now - not four years ago or even yesterday. And changing your mind does not mean acting irresponsibly; it’s just the opposite. When you honor what you know your spirit is telling you to do, you are making the most conscientious decision, one for which you are willing to accept all the consequences. You understand that when you know better, you ought to do better - and doing better sometimes means changing your mind; and you realize that letting go of what others think you should do is the only way to reach your full potential.

Every day, passion speaks to us through our feelings. That's why when you allow yourself to become anesthetized by what others think, you literally block yourself from living the life you were called to live. I promise you that if you make a choice that doesn't please your mate, your friends, your mother, or whoever, the world will not fall apart - the people who love you want you to love yourself. And as you become clearer about who you really are, you'll be better able to decide what's best for you - the first time around.

My favorite parts were the concept of making a new choice today, even if yesterday we thought something else was what we had to do, or wanted to do. It made me feel much better about how fickle I can be! I also need to be reassured that I need to choose for me, not allow someone else's opinion determine my choice. I often tell my children when I'm giving them advice (which is when they ask for it) that I can only tell them my opinion and/or what has or hasn't worked for me - they get to choose what to do with the information, as it's their life and they have to live it the way that it has validity for them.

So what creative effort did that passage inspire? Well, I've decided that regardless of whatever else I may make for these challenges, I'm going to make an ATC every time. I found a package of trading card sleeves at WalMart, and I'll put the ATCs in them and have a little collection - a journal of my year, more or less. Here's my "real" project:

Stamp: Inkadinkado; Ink: Stampin'Up! Real Red, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red; Paper: Watercolor; Accessories/Tools: Detail clear embossing powder, heat gun

I've had this stamp for years! It's never seen ink until now, but I had it displayed on a shelf in my workroom/crafting space because I just love it! I bought the frame at Dollar Tree and painted it white (it was a hideous coppery goldy kinda color before). I sponged the paint on instead of brushing for a different texture. The image was stamped, embossed and watercolored with the "smoosh" technique (smoosh the inkpad on a Teflon sheet or acetate, pick up ink with wet brush...) Please excuse the reflection of the camera on the glass...so sorry...

Here's the ATC:

And that's my contribution to the first challenge! Let's see if I can figure out the Mr. Linky thingie... If you post to SCS or another gallery, please add the tag 52CP01 (52 Card Pickup challenge 01). Thanks for joining me, and have a great week! I can't wait to see what you come up with!