Valentine bookmarks make me happy.

I tend to feel a fair amount of stress every day at work so this year I am making a concerted effort to do something creative every single weekend.

It's amazing how spending a few hours making something as simple as a bookmark can make me so happy. Ah, the joy of just using one's imagination.

I have many beautiful books and journals yet I've been using magazine inserts, grocery store receipts and used gift cards as bookmarks.

So I made some bookmarks worthy of my books.

Since Valentine's day is just around the corner, I went with the Valentine theme.

The foundation of these bookmarks is just card stock. I used glue stick to adhere various paper scraps and I also used stickers. I punched a heart shape on the top of these and glued another layer of polka dot paper behind.

A corner rounder gave these a nice finished look.

Of course I had to add some glitter because somehow I've recently become addicted to using glitter (is this an age thing?).

I laminated the bookmarks with a Xyron 510 sticker maker/laminator. I love this little craft tool.

Punch a hole, add some ribbon or maybe a button and voila...something pretty and useful!





And such a nice relaxing activity.

iPod Art

When I received my iPod Touch a few years ago, I started experimenting with various free apps to create art.

I like to use drawing, painting, stenciling and stamping apps. I keep each phase of the piece as a separate layer by simply saving it as a photo on my device. Then I import that photo into the next app and apply another layer.

Creating digital art is very satisfying because it is so flexible. I also have the extra advantage of easily "undoing" something that I dislike and can go back a step.

Creating art on my iPod or IPad reminds me of fingerpainting when I was a child! There is such freedom in it. I can just keep layering and then erasing over and over until I like the finished product.

There are all kinds of apps for your gadget that are free. Here are a few that I have used:

Draw
Labelbox
iDoodleit
DoodleBuddy
Stencils
MyPaint Free

These digital creations can be printed as well and provide a foundation for other artistic endeavors.

Happy digital crafting!

Follow me Pinterest for more iPod art!

A Place for My "Craft" Stuff

My husband and I have been trying to find and buy a bigger home for a few years now. We both want more space for our respective hobbies. I want an art/craft studio and he wants a monster garage and gourmet kitchen! In the meantime, I've been trying to keep our house from getting too cluttered so that I am prepped to stage and sell it.

After a few failed attempts at buying homes we liked, we both decided that our hobbies are too important to put them aside any longer just to keep the house and garage clean.

So I transformed the third bedroom in our house. It is no longer the office/exercise equipment/ironing board room. It is my art room! I bought a large, lightweight folding table where I can display and use all my treasured craft tools. I have a bookshelf dedicated to displaying only things I create. I love this space now. No more doing projects on the kitchen table, dining room table and living room floor. I feel inspired every time I go in the space.

Sure, it now means that I use the dining room table when I work from home, that I have to get the ironing board out every time I iron in my tiny laundry room and that I park my car outside so my husband has space to work on his project car. But it is SO worth it to have space dedicated to what gives us joy.

When my friend, Wanda, bought her townhouse, she took the small bedroom to sleep in and made the master bedroom her craft room. Now she is the envy of her friends who come over regularly to make cards and jewelry in her fabulous space.

Whatever you like to do, I hope you can find a creative way to make space for it this year because you will also find that once you have the space, you also will find the time to do those things you are passionate about.

Putting Christmas Away

I am not ready to put Christmas away.

I love its sparkle, lights, music, presents, food, gatherings and uplifting mood. I love how creative and inspired I feel each December.

I love my tree.   I love my ornaments.

It's "Seattle" grey outside, I still need the color and glitter.

I remember reading an article years ago by a woman who wrote that she and her family make a ritual out of putting all their Christmas decorations away.  They play Christmas music and sing while taking everything down.  They examine each ornament and mend those that need repair before packing them up.   I love this tradition!

I look at the pile of packaging in my garage and I'm not excited about taking down my displays and wrapping everything in that cardboard, bubble wrap and tissue.   How will I ever find my favorite things again next December?  

I tried to simplify this Christmas and I only unpacked half my Christmas decorations. We put up a real tree but it was a table top tree.   I didn't need as many ornaments.

But when Christmas was over, I actually retrieved my remaining ornaments out of storage and put them in bowls and baskets just so I could just look at them.  I had missed them. 

So this year, I am doing something different.   I am ditching all the packaging of the past.

I went to Value Village yesterday to look for great used boxes and containers.   I'm going to package all my ornaments like they were jewelry.   Next December, each box will be opened with reverence, like I've uncovered buried treasure.  I'll get ALL of my decorations out because that's why I own them...to enjoy them.   And, as usual, they will stay up until mid-January...at least.

What was your happiest thing today?

What was your happiest thing today? When I was little, my mother would ask this question when we were gathered together in the evening.   "What was your happiest thing today?"  She would then write everyone's responses in a notebook.   As we grew older, she didn't document all the responses but would still ask the question occasionally during dinners to spur the conversation.  You can learn a lot about your kids by asking this question!  Even if we sighed and rolled our eyes, it made us think about our day and the good things in it.

I have continued the original tradition of writing down my happiest moments of each day.    It takes only a minute or two and it is a great way to focus on the positive.   I love to go back and flip through my old calendars.   They bring back great memories.

Sometimes I miss a day.  Sometimes my happiest moments are a stretch (like "Got my laundry done").  Sometimes I stray and write down something terrible that happened because I feel compelled to document it.  But most of the time, they are the moments that I most enjoyed.  

This year I purchased a floral spiral datebook with inspirational sayings to document my happy moments.  In the past  I've used wall calendars, plain notebooks, on-line diaries - whatever struck my fancy at the time.  I've even used the free calendar given to me by my real estate agent.

Facebook is great for sharing and I use it too - but I still prefer hand writing my daily happy notes on a calendar that sits by my chair and allows me to be free with my thoughts, doodle in the margins and doesn't provide feedback of any kind from others.  

Happy New Year

May your New Year's day be a guilt-free day of relaxation.