the ahnna! another tiny free library enters the world.

my march creativity challenge is COMPLETE! the handover went without a hitch...and now my friend ahnna is gonna run her own tiny free library. yay!

and what a challenge it was. yes, it was hard at times (ahhh...making something out of wood, what!?) but here's the real story: my friend ahnna asked for what she wanted. how often to we (women especially) NOT ask for what we want? from my perspective, it feels like we can easily ask for what others want (kids, partners, friends) AKA advocate for them, but rarely voice what WE want/desire. ahnna put it out there - she wanted a tiny free library - and i could (did) give her what she wanted. it's simple. like that saying: "ask and you shall receive"...this is a good mantra.

i was also reminded that i need to ask for HELP (as scary as that can be sometimes)...and that i need to work on my patience. like majorly work on my patience. there was a lot of waiting for paint to dry in the final stages of the project.

so, here it is, some shots of the painting process and the final library with the door put back on and in ahnna's hands. (it took me five tries to get that freaking door back together - another patience lesson!) she's going to send some pictures of when it's "planted" in her garden (on the post and all officially in the ground), so to speak...i'll be sure to throw them up on the blog.

she and bob requested something that was going to blend into the yard, so i tried to keep things muted...and ended up being drawn to a watercolor kinda look...or through water...or watery feeling. i drew a different type of flower on each side of the box and went forward from there. (please ignore my messy apartment!)

i have this habit of painting with my fingers and putting a lot of layers on and then covering it all up or taking it away. i'm sure this technique is called something! OBTW - oil painting with your fingers does work, it just leaves you with green fingers.

at one point, i stopped taking pictures of what i was doing because i was lost in the creative moment...which is a really nice place to be. and then, like magic, i was mostly done.

i'm really happy with the final product and it looks great full of books! THANK YOU ahnna for this formidable challenge. and thank you for being my friend for so many years...even through those awkward junior high years. yikes! and for believing in me - that i could make this. and again, thank you for asking for what you wanted...life lessons abound.

i wrote a quote on the door by author neil gaiman: "a book is a dream you hold in your hand." truth.