Creativity, Crafts, Books, Movies, Greyhounds & Favorite Things

.

For years I’ve wanted to read more poetry, so this year I’m going to share a poem every Friday.

I’m also hosting a kindness challenge every Friday called Kind is Kool. Each week, I’ll post a prompt of something you can do to make the world a kinder place.

I want to offer both the poem and the kindness challenge without any obligation, so I’ll turn off “Comments” every Friday. Enjoy.

.

Buried Love

I have come to bury Love
Beneath a tree,
In the forest tall and black
Where none can see.

I shall put no flowers at his head,
Nor stone at his feet,
For the mouth I loved so much
Was bittersweet.

I shall go no more to his grave,
For the woods are cold.
I shall gather as much of joy
As my hands can hold.

I shall stay all day in the sun
Where the wide winds blow,
But oh, I shall cry at night
When none will know.

Sara Teasdale

.

Kind is Kool Challenge

Week 3 Challenge – Write someone a thank you note.

.

Something new I’m doing in 2013…Inspiration Mondays and Results Thursdays. Every Monday, I’ll post a painting “inspiration” and then on Thursdays, I’ll post how I’m interpreting that inspiration. I think this will be a fun exercise for me and keep me painting. It will also allow me to discover and share my “process.”

This week’s inspiration came from a list of ideas I wrote down during my Artist Date at Down To Earth. I wrote down “day of the week.” To pick the day of the week, I wrote the days on slips of paper and drew one from a jar. The winner was TUESDAY. That made me think of the rhyme…

Monday’s child is fair of face,

Tuesday’s child is full of grace,

Wednesday’s child is full of woe,

Thursday’s child has far to go,

Friday’s child is loving and giving,

Saturday’s child works hard for a living,

But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day

Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

So this is my Tuesday child…

I didn’t get very far.

How to be HAPPY!

Every Thursday, I’m participating in How to be HAPPY! a weekly challenge from Jay of The Depp Effect. It’s easy to participate…

Take a picture and write about one thing that makes you happy in some small way. Then, head on over to The Depp Effect and link your post.

I love the beauty and intricacy of matryoshka dolls. My collection is actually my daughter’s collection, but I’m watching them until she tells me I have to give them back.

.

Here are some of my newest Etsy finds.

LoveBeadCreations

My friend, Michelle, made this for me! I love little charms like this because you can hang them off a zipper or on a bag…or anywhere you can clip something. Michelle also makes lovely earrings.

Handmade Gifts By L

My friend, Lynne, who writes the blog Dip-Dip and The Bridge, has opened a new Etsy shop. Lynn makes the most amazing 3-dimensional creations. I have one of her crocheted cacti and it is perfection!

Harvest Moon by Hand

I’ve read Ann’s blog Harvest Moon by Hand for about a year. Recently, I ordered one of her window stars. It appears opaque. The magic happens when you put it on window glass. I am crazy for these.

.

Every Tuesday in 2013, I’ll post something about the houndies. To start, I’d like to introduce Freedom, Casper and Nikki. This week, it’s Nikki’s turn.

Nikki is a retired racing greyhound, and she’s 5 years old. Her racing name was Silver Nikita. Nikki is our champion greyhound. She ran 75 races and placed 1st in 8 races. The funny thing…Nikki hardly ever runs in the backyard. Freedom and Casper will be racing around the yard, and Nikki just walks around and lays in the grass.

A little note…I said Freedom and Casper had less than 10 races each. That is true, but a little misleading. Freedom had TWO races and Casper had ZERO. I don’t even know if I can classify Casper as a retired racing greyhound (ha).

Back to Nikki…We adopted Freedom and Casper in April 2010 shortly after we lost our beloved Paloma. We never planned on being a 3 dog family. 2 seemed just the right amount…then came Nikki. Nikki was fostered by our friends. They got her in March 2011, and I first got the feeling that Nikki maybe should be ours in May 2011 during our Greyhound group’s annual Spring Fling get-together. A lady who was interested in adopting Nikki came to see her and I kept thinking, “I don’t want her to have Nikki.” The lady didn’t end up taking Nikki and as the next few months passed, whenever I heard that Nikki had a home visit, I’d find myself hoping that she wouldn’t be picked, and she never was.

 

My girlfriend and I speculate that Nikki was never chosen because first, she was meant to come to our home and second, she never “showed” well. Most folks look for a big personality and a special spark. Nikki doesn’t have those.  Nikki is a VERY reserved dog. Nikki had a traumatic past. Her trainer, when his racing license wasn’t renewed, decided to starve his greyhounds. He was discovered when he turned in 8 malnourished greyhounds to a greyhound adoption group. At the track, authorities discovered 32 dead greyhounds and 5 still clinging to life.

Nikki has made some big strides, but she is still very cautious. We’ve celebrated victories with Nikki, like the first time she roached out and the first time she play bowed with my husband and did some spins in the living room. Nikki was the perfect pup to add to our pack. Where Freedom and Casper are all about playing and arguing with each other, Nikki takes it all in stride.

Nikki is the complete opposite of Freedom when it comes to her coat. Nikki is the furriest greyhound I’ve ever met. I like to say that if it weren’t for her pointy snout, you’d think she was a Black Lab.

Nikki is the best and sweetest dog. I love this gentle spirit so much, it hurts at times. She is my little baby and my fuzzy bear.

.

Here’s what’s been happening in my studio…

Last year, I started an art journal project using prompts from Art Journal All Year E-Course from Red Velvet Shop. The course offers an art challenge and a journal challenge for 52 weeks. This week, I finished up Weeks 39 & 40.

As promised, here are the cards I made at the card club I hosted on January 13.

A lovely Valentine card.

An “I Love You” card.

This card was made from a kit…just peel and stick the decorations.

 This Week’s Inspiration

Something new I’m doing in 2013…Inspiration Mondays and Results Thursdays. Every Monday, I’ll post a painting “inspiration” and then on Thursdays, I’ll post how I’m interpreting that inspiration.

Last week’s inspiration was NURSERY COLORS, and here is my interpretation.

This week’s inspiration comes from a list of ideas I wrote down during my Artist Date at Down To Earth. I wrote down “day of the week.” To pick the day of the week, I wrote the days on slips of paper and drew one from a jar. The winner was TUESDAY, so that’s my inspiration for this week.

.

I’m starting 2013 by reading Creating A Life Worth Living by Carol Lloyd. I picked this book because I’m trying to figure out the place I want painting to play in my life.

This week…Chapter 2, “Stoking the Coals,” has a series of conceptual, visual and verbal exercised to ignite the idea-generating part of your brain and train your imagination to rise from the mired realm of worry to the inspired world of play.

I had two favorite exercises from this chapter.

The first involved a series of questions that took me from a vague idea to a specific task. It began with the question, “What is the one essence that you seek to bring out in your life and in your work? Okay, I wrote down more than one:

Specialness, Uniqueness, Hope & Possibilities, Creativity, Peace, Friendship, Love, Gentleness & Kindness, Relationship (one-on-one & groups)

Ten more questions followed with the intention of transforming a vague longing into a concrete goal with a specific list of tasks. The final question was, “If you were to commit to this project tomorrow, what would be the first tiny step you need to take? I wrote down:

The project – Apply for an art fair.

The first tiny step – Research and compile a list of 10 art fairs I’d like to participate in.

I really appreciated this process of questions. It did take a little time (30-40 minutes) but I think knowing your intention and the essence you want to bring is essential to coming up with meaningful goals and projects.

The second exercise asked me to list the tasks I enjoy doing most, what environment I’d like to work in and what fields I am interested in. I wrote down:

My ideal tasks include…writing, painting, talking to people and teaching.

My ideal environment is…My private studio, short-term situations, environments that are fun, creative, unique, appreciative and cooperative.

My ideal field is…Selling my art, writing and teaching.

These exercises were pretty easy for me to work through because I’ve been thinking about the role I want painting to play in my life for awhile. It’s good for me to write them down though, because I can get so many things rolling around in my mind, that working through these exercises and getting them on paper can only strengthen my focus.

.

Every Saturday, I’m going to take you on an Artist Date with me. The Artist Date comes from the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. This week, my Artist Date is at The Eatery | Reads & Things.

Of all the places I’ll go this year for my Artist Dates, this is the place I love the most.

Why? because this is where I work when I’m not painting.

Over the last few years, we have transformed our church building and campus into a wonderful resource for the community…Granger Commons.

The perfect place for a little quiet time for yourself…

…or a great place to meet friends or co-workers.

The Eatery offers fresh, interesting soups, sandwiches, wraps and salads along with a full coffee service.

Reads & Things offers helpful resources and inspirational gifts.

There’s even a Reads & Things jr.

With a lot of nice things for kids.

See why I don’t want to quit my day job. I think I’ll take advantage of this beautiful space for many Artist Dates.

.

For years, I’ve wanted to read more poetry, so this year, I’m going to share a poem every Friday.

I’m also hosting a kindness challenge called Kind is Kool. Each week, I’ll post a prompt of something you can do to make the world a kinder place.

I want to offer both the poem and the kindness challenge without any obligation, so I’ll turn off “Comments” every Friday. Enjoy.

.

In The Day’s When We Are Dead

Listen! The end draws nearer,
Nearer the morning, or night,
And I see with a vision clearer
That the beginning was right!
These shall be words to remember
When all has been done and said,
And my fame is a dying ember
In the days when I am dead.

Listen! We wrote in sorrow,
And we wrote by candle light;
We took no heed of the morrow,
And I think that we were right,
(To-morrow, but not the day after,
And I think that we were right).

We wrote of a world that was human
And we wrote of blood that was red,
For a child, or a man, or a woman,
Remember when we are dead.

Listen! We wrote not for money,
And listen! We wrote not for fame,
We wrote for the milk and the honey
Of Kindness, and not for a name.

We paused not, nor faltered for any,
Though many fell back where we led;
We wrote of the few for the many,
Remember when we are dead.

We suffered as few men suffer,
Yet laughed as few men laugh;
We grin as the road grows rougher,
And a bitterer cup we quaff.

We lived for Right and for Laughter,
And we fought for a Nation ahead,
Remember it, friends, hereafter,
In the years when I am dead,
For to-morrow and not the day after,
For ourselves, and a Nation ahead.

Henry Lawson

.

Kind is Kool Challenge

Week 2 Challenge – As you see pieces of litter on the ground this week (inside or outside) pick them up and throw them away.

.

Something new I’m doing in 2013…Inspiration Mondays and Results Thursdays. Every Monday, I’ll post a painting “inspiration” and then on Thursdays, I’ll post how I’m interpreting that inspiration. I think this will be a fun exercise for me and keep me painting. It will also allow me to discover and share my “process.”

This week’s inspiration comes from two little girls I painted during the Art Every Day Month Challenge in November.

Every time I thought about them, the words NURSERY COLORS popped into my mind, so that’s what I used for my inspiration this week.

I started with the background.

I planned to do something in yellow and green, but it ended up with a lot of pink.

I liked the simplicity of the “inspiration” girls, so I kept this girl simple too.

How to be HAPPY!

Every Thursday, I’m participating in How to be HAPPY! a weekly challenge from Jay of The Depp Effect. It’s easy to participate…

Take a picture and write about one thing that makes you happy in some small way. Then, head on over to The Depp Effect and link your post.

I was putting away my earrings the other day and thought, “I love my silver safekeeper.”

Silver safekeeper is a type of lining used in jewelry boxes that keeps silver from tarnishing. It’s great because you don’t have to reach for a favorite piece of jewelry only to find you can’t wear it because it’s black with tarnish. What a great invention.

.

Here a few of my new favorites from the sewing notions department:

Rule Your Rulers – Over the years, I’ve collected a variety of quilting rulers. I don’t use them often, so as I put together my craft room, I wasn’t sure about the best way to store them. That’s when I saw this clever little item. I wouldn’t recommend this to someone who uses their rulers frequently, but if you don’t and want a simple solution to keep them all together, this works.

Deodorant Removing Sponge – This is a favorite of my daughter’s. Have you ever put on a top only to discover that some of your deodorant has transferred on the fabric? This takes it off.

Seam Ripper – This is a super handy tool to have whether you sew or not. Thanks to my sister, I own this super beautiful Gingher seam ripper, but a really nice seam ripper can be had for under $5. They’re great for removing tags from clothing and scarves and for opening pockets on new clothes that are sewn closed.