...quotes

I'm not sure where I read this, but I have to say I love it!

I need to learn more of the balance between thinking it over and over thinking. I need to put that full stop in between letting it go and letting it bother me. Between working and over working. Between wanting it right and setting ridiculous standards.

Balance is a good thing.

hoppy little froggies!

This is a little valentine I made as I was experimenting with pop-ups.

Gotta love an easy-peasey accordian folded center to make poppin' up super fast.

I love the cheerfulness of this little card.

Happy Valentine's Day!

...finding inspiration anywhere & everywhere.

So there I was, going through the mail and THWACK I was hit by inspiration. My Muse must have been getting bored with all of the housework and directed me straight toward a divine moment of craftiness. So here's what the Muses sent me in the mail:I love this catalog! Inspiration on every page. It makes me want to create things, and shop. I resisted ordering anything (for the moment) and instead got myself busy creating, not wanting to waste a moment of divine inspiration.

So here's what came of it:

My goal was to balance the concentrated bling with some blank space and simplicity. I started with the pink paper and then made the "bling." I painted a piece of paper until I was happy with the color and got the gold and shimmer that I was looking for. And then I added the twinkle stickers. I stamped the sentiment and then punched that out and inked the edges. I decided it needed just a little bit more. The ribbon that I had didn't work at all so I just colored it until I liked the look of it. Pop it all together and this is what I got. So glad I made the time to craft when inspiration thwacked me in the head!

Where do you find inspiration? What inspires you? What do you create when inspired?

Supplies: Stamps- A Muse Artstamps; Paper- naturals ivory cardstock Stampin'Up, pink Paris & Co. by My Mind's Eye; Ink- rich cocoa Memento; Paint- LuminArte twinkling H2Os in pink crocus & autumn butternut; Bling- twinkle stickers A Muse Artstamps; 1/4" pink satin ribbon; Marker- E57 Copic.

One Little Word Project

Just came across this quote for my project:

"All you need to do is hold on tight...and believe." -Stephen King

This is so how I've been feeling lately. Lots of things going on and sometimes it's all you can do to just hold on and believe.

Check out Ali Edwards' blog- www.aliedwards.com/blog/one-little-word
Or join the class at www.bigpictureclasses.com and look up Ali's class One Little Word.

...Valentine's Day

I did a lot of baking over the holidays and had some empty spice jars. As I was about to toss them into the recycling bin a little thought popped into my head. These would make cute little spice jars for a play kitchen. And here they are all dressed up in some Valentine-y cuteness. They will make a perfect gift for some special little girls in my life, AND all I used were some scraps a touch of glue and one tiny twinkle sticker! Gotta love saving money and using up scraps while making something super cute! Now all I need is to get my hands on some more spice jars!

...finished projects!

Wow! It feels good to finish a project, especially when it is one that I have been working on for a few years.I designed this rug for a class I was taking at Green Mountain Hooked Rug School with one of my favorite teachers, Jule Marie Smith. The class was a study of early primitive rug styles with an emphasis on making that style your own.I loved playing with the crazy hit-or-miss boarder which is a common technique of old rugs. It was a great way to use up scraps. I learned a lot about color and movement as I worked. Hit-or-miss isn't quite so willy-nilly as it may seem. There is a lot of careful planning that goes into it to make it look the way it does. I purposefully hooked a few quirks in here and there because that is something that I like so much about the old rugs.

This little house is a favorite of mine. Simple. Wobbly. Primitive. Colorful. This is my kind of house. I would love to live in such a sweet little place. It makes me happy just to look at it. I also really love the background. I had fun dyeing lots of light value yellows to mix together. Swirling them all gives a tone on tone movement that is a favorite of mine.

I love to design rugs and dye wool and hook! And, boy oh boy, do I love a finished project.
It's so freeing...
I wonder what I should start working on next...




www.greenmountainhoodrugs.com/school

A Word for 2011

Like most people I have a tendency to get a little introspective at the end of one year and the start of the next. I used to make resolutions. Promises to myself to change, do, not do.... Promises that I broke before too long. Then I read a blog by Ali Edwards and she was talking about choosing a single word for the year. How freeing I thought! A single word to focus on, learn more about, apply to your life, listen for, and let speak into your life.


And so, at the beginning of 2011, I have been thinking about what my new word should be. It came to me slowly. After considering a lot of possibilities, this word just kept coming back to me. So I think it has chosen me as much as I choose it.

Believe.

I look forward to seeing what this word will come to mean to me over the course of the year. What is your word for the year?





"One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying." -Joan of Arc

"When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably." -Walt Disney

Believe: (verb)

1. To have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof.

2. To have confidence or faith in the truth; give credence to.

3. to have confidence in the assertions of a person.

4. to have a conviction that a person or thing is, has been, or will be engaged in a given action or involved in a given situation.

5. to suppose or assume; understand.

6. to have faith.

Synonyms: accept, accredit, admit, affirm, attach weight to, be certain of, be convinced of, conclude, count on, credit, deem, fall for, give credence to, have faith in, have no doubt, hold, keep the faith, lap up, place confidence in, posit, presume true, presuppose, reckon on, regard, rest assured, suppose, swear by, take as gospel, take at one's word, trust, understand

link to Ali's blog: www.aliedwards.com/2010/12/one-little-word-2011.html