Hi there! 
It's August!!!
Which means back to school!
​My little dude is going into 3rd grade!!! 

August and back to school also means fall is just around the corner and I.CAN.NOT.WAIT!!!!
I have tons of things I've been working on and I can't wait to share everything BUT in due time! 

I hope everyone has had an awesome summer! 
Stay tuned for more! Much much more!
Much love
Amanda

Hi there!
Time for the Father's Day Cards post! 
So I didn't do such a great job documenting the process on these but I'm still gonna share them because they turned out really cool and I'm proud and maybe someone can still use some of the ideas... You never know.
I'm sorry y'all I am who I am.
I'm messy. I'm kinda scattered brained ya know?
But I'm ambitious and creative and I'm gonna share that with whatever world tunes in.
Without further ado here's the two cards.
One for Dad and one for Step dad. 
​Keep scrolling to see how I made each one!

Dad's card!
I feel like I really did Dad's card process some injustice here because it's a pretty cool card... but I did get stuck for a while on photo #3... I could not figure out what to add to it for days and of course the last minute came and the magic happened.
Honestly, I didn't think I was one of those "thrive under pressure people" but the more work I do, the more that seems true... that's not something I really ever wanted to be proud of but I am who I am I guess haha. 
ANYWAY.

Dad's card.
Dad's card was easy. He's a car racing (yes literally) Mustang guy.
The picture of the Mustang is actually a legit picture of him right before a race. 
I thought it would be cool to add that to the photo.
I totally admire how he does exactly what he wants to do.
​He enjoys his life.
It's inspiring. 

So after I picked out the elements... I printed those out (twice... the first time they were too big...) I went ahead and sketched out a checkerboard pattern for the background...
That is done on Watercolor Paper. I like the thickness of it.  
Of course it didn't fit perfectly AND I thought about trimming it down but I left it and I like it that way. 
I also picked red as an accent because that's my dad's favorite color, which is great because black, red and white go pretty well together.

I decided I wanted to distress the background a little bit and create a grunge type of effect. I used a black chalk pastel. 
I added some metallic red stars, cut down the Father's Day text and added a double layer background. ​
The gold you see is Pastel Paper painted gold. 
Besides the checkerboard background I used Pastel Paper for everything else.
I like the texture for one and the thickeness is important. I want the card to be sturdy.
For the last touches I tapped some white paint on the grey background and topped off the entire card with some gold speckles.
Of course I got that one bit of gold paint that wanted to be overzealous so I ended up using my finger and added some more gold.
​That's how the bigger spots came to be but I like it...   
Also added some White Chalk Pastel around the elements and the stars to give it a bit of a pop. I did secure the elements with some foam tape so they do have some depth to them they aren't just plastered on the card. I dig it.
​
Very proud of my end result! 

​Step Dad's Card!
Step dad was a bit more challenging at first but I went with my gut reaction which was coffee and sweets! 
I didn't have as much of a struggle-fest with this card but it also came down to the wire because I guess that's just how I roll lol
I did manage to get a lot more photos of the process on this card though
​so here we go: 

Okay so first off, blue is my step dad's favorite color so that's how I chose the color scheme here besides the coffee and sweets.
How lucky I got with colors lemme tell ya. 
Super happy about that... and as before I picked out my elements, some were just printed from Word, a few others I actually cut from magazines. 
​
Now that I look at it all the pictures on the left are from the internet... the ones on the right all cut out from a magazine... ha that's pretty cool! 
As for the paper I used, well the blue background is actually a file folder I cut up. 
Got a huge pack of them for $1 at the dollar tree.
The yellow background is pastel paper again. I don't know what to tell you, I like it. 

Well now that it's almost Father's Day I guess it's safe to share the Mother's Day cards I made haha! 
I didn't want to ruin the surprise at the time so I wanted to wait to post them...
I made these myself. One for my mom, step mom and MIL.
I feel like they captured each mom pretty well. 
I had a blast making these and I will be doing more card making for sure in the future.
I used just basic stuff... Watercolor Paper, cardboard. melted crayons. watercolors. images were printed from my computer.
I also picked out a bible verse for each card. Pretty sure I nailed it. 

First up is my mom's card.
The Clover on the back is real and plucked right from my backyard.
All the decorations were printed off the laptop.
The background is watercolor and melted crayon. 
I believe it's the same for all 3...
​I love the vintage feel of this card.

And finally my MIL's card.
It's probably obvious I struggled with this one the most but in the end it still turned out nice. Purple is her thing so I think I caught that pretty well. 

And that's that!
Hope you enjoyed!
Feel free to leave comments or questions if I didn't cover everything.
Much love!
​Amanda

Hello there! 
Yes I've updated the header and YES it is my work done on some scraps... cardboard with some acrylic and watercolor and some washi.. melted crayons.. pens.. 
And YES the clover is real. I guess I could share in the future how I preserve the clovers if that's something you're into.
Anyway.
The light is crappy. Shadows are terrible. Editing was unsuccessful. I didn't want to tinker with it too much beyond some lighting changes. 
But that's just how it is for now. I am happy with it anyway. 
It's raw and grungy like me I guess hahaha. 

As for the contiuation of the weekend I'm not sure what all I'm going to get into.
I finished up the header art last night and I attempted to work in my journal but the flow wasn't there and you can't force art. 

I know it's a holiday weekend and everyone is doing their beach and bbq thing so I hope you all stay safe, eat some good food and honor those who served/serve our country!
Much love to all 
Amanda

A big part of being "AmandaIRL" is accepting all of myself.
While I do love the days that I'm in sync with the flow of life there are just as many, if not more, days that I'm completely off the track. The train just wrecks. 

I've been on this Earth for 30 years and in that time I can tell you so far that no amount of fresh air or meditation or Jesus or diet changes or pills or alcohol or drugs or awareness have made any impact on my shadow. It is alive. It exists. 
Self awareness has helped me grow. A lot. I'm awake to my emotions so I am fully aware of my behavior and my attitude. I can issue warnings. I can say the shadow times are shorter and I'm able to connect to the light a bit quicker but taking a fall doesn't hurt any less. 

I feel as if I was born with active depression. I can remember being sad as far back as I have memories. I can remember being happy too. I'm pretty manic at times.
I don't hang out much in the middle. Mediocrity bores me. 

So here I am--- this soul inside of a shell with a miserable ego.  As Alan Watts said "getting rid of your ego is the biggest ego trip there is" there's no getting around it.
I am coming to accept that there is no running away from who I am and I won't continue to pretend that I don't have days that are less than 100%. 
It's dishonest and it doesn't actually help anyone anywhere around me. 

On days like these the one thing I can do is wait. Wait with hope.
Because I know that all is temporary. Emotions. Existence.
The key is to be okay with not being okay.
Pushing against it and attempting to fight it off only fuels the fire.
There's a lot of shame involved with feeling down because I have the belief that I shouldn't be feeling that way and that belief is what causes my pain. 

Instead, I just sit with it. I chat with it. Serve it tea maybe. 
Attempt to see what it wants but I don't fret over it anymore. I don't judge it.
Perfection isn't real. The perfect human isn't real. 
So instead of beating up on myself I turn to love. 
I find something within reach that leans towards self-love. 

I find that writing does help. Reaching for a better thought helps. 
Moving up the emotional scale helps. Maybe I don't get all the way up to contentment or appreciation tonight but it's right over the hill. 
I'll just keep going. Until this body stops breathing.

And I hope that if anyone else is struggling they can find some hope in my experience.
I think we are all here to be our true selves... our entire selves. 
You never know who you are helping or inspiring but it's often done by being completely true to yourself, both in the light and in the shadows. 

I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful evening!
Tomorrow will be better.
It's Friday after all.
Much love-
Amanda

BUT!!! I am now an official .COM and I'm SUPER excited about it.
​Let the games begin! <3
Yes two years have passed. 
Resistance is real. 

Well April starts this week!
I wonder why I put Decorating Month on the thingy twice... jeez. 
OH well I guess I was excited about it haha ;) 
​
I'm kinda glad my son is going to be home for April Fool's Day.. it's never really been one of my favorites and things can get carried away pretty quickly especially when you have a classroom full of boys as my sons teacher does (he is in Kindergarten)
Anywho.
Kinda weird that we had St. Patricks Day and Easter in March...
March went by super fast and now April is upon us! 
I guess it's kinda nice that we are getting a break from hustle and bustle. Earth Day is in April and I figure we can start to get our garden together. I really haven't put a whole lot of thought into it yet. I have made some mental notes and there are things i really want to grow but I haven't made any real decisions. 
So I will at least have time to plan out what I want to do with the garden AND I have weeds everywhere. I really need to get out there and start pulling but we have been getting a lot of rain and cold weather still so I have yet to do it. 

Lots of things always going on. I am happy to know that things are always working out and I am always on my path. I've been really enjoying life lately. Just going with whatever flow is present at the time. It's working out really really well. 
I hope you all have an Awesome April! 
I know that we sure will! Not sure what all is going to show up on the blog but I'm sure it will be more of the norm.. printables, recipes, ideas all the cool stuff. 
Until next time. 
Much love all. 
​VintageModMom

Yes I have been scarce but little things are still appearing on the blog so yes I'm still working... right now it's a balance. I currently have the opportunity to help a family member and I have been dedicating a lot of my heart to that. 
I do still have lots of things left undone but I'm also getting a lot of well needed time to plan and think... which is nice. 
So things are going well and I will be back on track very soon!
Yay for March!
Kind of a weird month though eh? 
Weirded out by St Patty's and Easter sharing a month..
Seems like April got jipped this year.
​(I was never a fan of April Fools so let's just move along from that haha)

I did make a menu for St Pattys and a menu for Easter so please feel free to go check those out!! They are in my printables section under HOLIDAYS.
As for our menu this week.. well.. I'm sure there will be chicken and tilapia and rice and veggies... maybe potoates somewhere along the week.. 
THERE WILL BE FOOD!! Hahaha. 
OH well. Life is life. You just roll with what you have.
Sometimes you're the shining star and sometimes you're just a stage hand..
Either way... it's still your stage. 
I hope you all have a great week!! 
I am going to work on updating more often even if it's just some thoughts... 
It's great to be able to look back and see where I've come from..
It's nice to watch all the pieces come together even when you feel like they're just tumbling around you. 
MUCH LOVE ALL.
VintageModMom
I AM. MOM. WIFE. ARTIST.
​

Over the past while I've been making lots of lists. 
Even though I don't make New Year's resolutions I still make monthly and yearly goals.. and when the time comes I make weely goals too. So not only has my son been out of school for ... however long it's been... It's also a new month and the huge holiday madness just ended and I kid you not my Christmas tree is still standing.. 
but alas I degress and herein lies the problem. I have all these things that I want to do and I guess I'm hesitant to begin. I feel like I need to have a more solid plan in order but honestly I think I've pretty much planned myself to death. I believe a time does come when you must take action... otherwise I'm lingering over from productive into perfectionism which causes procrastination because of course I don't own everything in the world to make my situation perfect at this very moment. However, there are proactive things that I can start doing that will kickstart the change I want.

The goal here is progress not perfection.

I can say lately that I've been getting things done. Yes I mentioned the Christmas decorations.. I have started to take them down so the process has begun.. I then had hubby's birthday and my parents came to visit today so it was still kind of Christmas for my kid... either way the excuses or what not I'm okay with my tree being up still.. because it will come down and the world won't end from my tree being up into January. 
On the upside I have been able to spend lots of time with my son while he's been on Christmas break. I feel like him being at school now has caused a bit of a disconnect between us...not bad just different..he's growing. He's learning to be more indepedent and of course school comes with lots of peers and authority figures and things change constantly. I'm thankful for the time I have spent hanging with my little dude. The house may not have stayed spotless, but it was worth it and who cares. It's temporary.
I can say over the past year I have been able to worry less. I can still maintain my happiness by expecting less.. realizing I don't have or need control over the world. Just over my own actions.
I think I surprised myself by the things I have completed. I had monthly calendars done for the blog a month early. Granted I have kind of paused on the printables, I added quite a bit to the collection and after adding the calendars I felt pretty satisfied. I will definitely start making more printables again! I've also got my paper binder ready-Home Management Binder- and sorted, I also have a monthly calendar this year.. I will still use Google but I need a paper calendar as well. It's just who I am.  
I am seeing major results from my planning so I know that when I take action this all will pay off. 
I guess for some reason I just needed to get the stuggle out visually. I don't know the reason but it helps me move on to the next step once I can account for my progress and have a way to remotivate myself. Hopefully I can motivate another.

Even though I don't make New Year's Resolutions I decided that my overall yearly goal is to Organize & Minimize. It seems like this goal repeats yearly but since having a kid our clutter has increased and it continues to increase lol but now that he's at Kindergarten age vs baby age I think I can get a better handle on it. We'll see I guess. 

I plan on tackling each room.. I have made a LIST.. lol as usual.. with things to clean out and ideas to try.. so hopefully I will be able to share some successes and/or other stuff. Hopefully successes though. I have managed to do a few small things so far..
I did clean out one of my kitchen drawers,
Also the top shelf in the laundry room and
I cleaned out the pantry.
So I'm feeling good already getting a little bit of momentum going. 

I haven't actually decided what to tackle first beyond these small things which, do make me feel good, I gotta say. The kitchen is dying to be cleaned out but I know it's going to take some work. I would like to think I could go cabinet by cabinet, but I know that's going to start getting me into some rabbit holes. I want to plan that before I decide to dive in.. 
I think my bedroom will be the first. We do spend a lot of time in the bedroom and I'd like for it to be a more comfortable environment. Right now the clutter is seriously injuring any flow of energy. It feels anxious for sure. Busy. 
I also think since it's already so busy I can do it in small chunks and make real progress in small amounts of time. 
I will also have to include under my bathroom sink and our closet... 
I'm working on a full wardrobe clean out as well... this will be a very cleansing year. That's not to say that I am getting rid of everything or throwing things away.. I may just find a better way to store some things.. but I also know that there are things that I need to let go of. Things that do nothing but get moved from this spot to that spot etc. Things taking up space and energy being useless. Or space just not being utitlized properly. It's a goal for sure. I am very passionate about this and my results lol. 
I am looking forward to this no matter how long it takes.. But I plan for it to take 6 months to a year... I want to make budgets for each area.. as well as ideas/solutions to issues I'm having with storage.. such as for my crafts which are currently in my dining room also stored with Jaxon's crafts lol
Ready to make some changes!! 
So.
I think now that I've said all that I am feeling ready to get some things done that are lingering on my brain right now.. giving me that anxious feeling I hate so much. That thing just poking at you because it needs to get done. Yes laundry I hear you. And it's all good because I am coming for you... 
AND. I'm gonna fold and/or hang it all up.. and put it all away. 
BAM.
Excellent play if I do say so myself.
So do that thing that's bugging you. I know I'm going to. So I can enjoy more minutes of my life without feeling anxious or overwhelmed or rushed by something that I can easily eleviate. =) 
Make an awesome day.
VintageModMom

I feel a bit frozen this evening. I've been feeling kind of blah lately but I'm thinking that it's only because of the holidays... and honestly my shifted perspective of time. This all happens quickly.. and this whole "Christmas Vacation" from Kindergarden thing with the Kindergarden happening. Everything has just felt weird.
I suppose it didn't help that it was 75 degrees on Christmas Day. 
Either way, we had a fantastic Christmas! It just happens fast.
We got most of the things on our bucket list done but a few we opted out on because it was just too warm. We didn't turn on the fireplace so we skipped roasting marshmallows and Jaxon made Reindeer food at school so we didn't do that either. He also didn't show much interest in baking cookies and it's been raining here for what seems like weeks so Chrismas was a bit different this year BUT we did do some pretty cool other stuff.
We made snowflakes. That was fun. We put lots of decorations up around the house. Watched our traditional Christmas movies of choice. All the Santa Clause movies with Tim Allen.. Grinch (both Jim Carey and original).. The movie about Fred Clause.. I think it may be called Fred idk it's a good one though... and I can't remember what else we watched.. maybe a few of the Chevy Chase holiday movies as well. They are funny. Anyway... the holidays went pretty well. I'm just trying to figure out where to start to get myself organized. There are a lot of things I want to do and some things that are rolling over from last year which I am totally okay with.. because I would rather reach a little too far... I like to be ambitious.. I can be realistic enough to not be devastated when every little thing isn't accomplished. I am able to instead admire the things I did accomplish and it does help me to see what my limits are.. I suppose I am still testing my limits but I guess I will do that for life...
because I do wish to grow so this all seems to be working out pretty good for me. I am happy with my results so far so on to the next!!