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

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Crest Neat Squeeze Dispenser

It’s not so much the toothpaste that I’m in love with, it’s the dispenser.  It sits nicely on the counter and stays neat and tidy.

Hope’s Perfect Glass

I mentioned how much I like Hope’s Perfect Stainless in 4 Faves – Version 3.0.  Hope’s Perfect Glass is just as good.

Wiggles Wags & Whiskers Freedom No-Pull Harness

I’ve enjoyed using the Freedom No-Pull Harness on my walks with Freedom and Casper.  It allows me to maintain control without choking them.  I purchased our harnesses from 2 Hounds Design.

Yankee Candle

I love candles…quality candles.  Yankee Candle is a quality candle.  Lovely scents (something for everyone), exceptional fragrance throw (how the fragrance disperses through the air), and clean burn.  I prefer the large jars.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

The month of August will be “4 Faves – Friends Version.”  What are your favorite things?  Tell me about them during the month of July and one (or more) of your picks may be chosen as a “favorite” in August.  You can let me know what you like in one of three ways…post a comment, email me (whatremainsnow@gmail.com), or let me know on the What Remains Now Facebook page (either by commenting or writing on my wall).  Tell me what the item is and why you like it.  Want to see what “4 Faves – Friends Version” looks like?  Check out this post from May.

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Throughout this year (2011), I’m reading and working through books about creativity in order to reignite my creative spirit.  Currently, I’m reading Creative Is a Verb by Patti Digh.  This week’s reading covers the fourth creative commitment, Catch Fire: Please Lick the Art.  The sections within this chapter are: (1) FedEx leaves to someone, (2) Be like Mary Alice, (3) Do, or do not, (4) Please lick the art, (5) Carry your own tuba, and (6) Jump your mask off.

It’s all about passion this week.  Patti illustrates her points about being, discovering and doing what we’re passionate about with these images:

• The lines in a coloring book.  What lines stop you or rein you in?
• A box of leaves sent to her by her husband.  What do you do to create surprise in your life and the lives of others.
• A dear friend whose every aspect (home, art, spirit, appearance) reflected her passion.  Does your life reflect your passion?
• A game called “Goats and Bananas” where the participants’ “intention” in the way they delivered their lines completely changed the tone, nuance and mood of the “play.”  What are your intentions in life?  What direction are they taking you?
• A book you wish you’d written; a painting you wish you’d painted.  What piece of art makes your heart soar.  Why does it do that to you?  How does it make you feel?  What’s the impact on you?
• Patti’s daughter wanting to play the trombone.  How do your unconscious and deep-seated beliefs about normalcy effect and perhaps limit you?
• Phiippe Halsman’s photographs of people jumping.  Capture a picture of yourself jumping.  When you jump, character that is otherwise hidden is revealed.

A quote that stood out to me this week is, “Be passionate in your life.  The passion in your art will follow.”  After each section in a chapter, Patti offers a few creative challenges…some that you can do quickly and some that you may want to incorporate into your life for a longer period.  Patti calls the longer exercises “Give yourself 37” (as in 37 days).  I was thrilled to take on all these challenges for the next 37 days:

• Write a thank you note every day to someone.
• Seek ways to make your clothes, your house, your car a reflection of who you are.
• Try to eliminate the word “try” from your vocabulary.
• Get close to something or someone–give yourself over.
• What messages did you get as a child about what boys could do, or what girls could do?
• How could you surprise yourself every day?

What happens when you open yourself up to changing your life?  Is everyone supportive?  NOPE!  If you’ve ever embraced your faith in God, lost weight, changed your life in any way, you’ve gotten “push back” from someone.  Change scares people because in order to accept our change, they must change themselves.  When I first started this creative journey, I found myself sensitive to how others reacted to the change I was incorporating into my life; but the more I get into it, the less I am affected.  Not because I don’t care for the people who would rather me “not change,” but because feeling passion in my life is its own reward.  Passion leads us to our purpose and it’s all in the journey!

My pictures this week are: (1) My wedding day…a perfect illustration of a time when you feel passionate about someone and a change in life, and (2) The flower basket on my front porch.  I purchased this beautiful white petunia, but when watering it yesterday, I noticed that a little red patch had bloomed.  It made me laugh because it seemed to illustrate passion breaking out.

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I was surprised and delighted when Tales and Tails gave me the Inspiration! Award.  Blog awards are a nice way to say, “I like what you’re doing!” and to share fun facts and things you like with others.  If there were a “#1 Favorite Blog” Award, I would give it to Tales and Tails.  Carrie’s blog introduced me to the fun of blog reading and inspired me to start What Remains Now.  As I’ve said before, there would be no What Remains Now without Tales and Tails.  Thank you, Carrie!

As recipient of this award, you are asked to link back to the blog that honored you with the award and share ten other blogs that inspire you.  A note to my awardees:  If you don’t care to share awards on your blog, that’s okay.  I just want you to know that you inspire me in life, in spirit and in blogging.

Since I blog about all the things I love, I thought it would be fun to share a variety of blogs that I enjoy and that inspire me.

Creativity

Inside A Black Apple – Inside A Black Apple is the blog that What Remains Now wants to be when it grows up.  Emily’s blog is beautiful to look at and to read.  She is an extraordinary artist and her creative spirit touches every aspect of her life.

Creative Collective – Creative Collective is a group of bloggers who share fun, interactive projects with their readers.  You can follow along and even share with other readers on their Flickr group or on their Facebook page.  Every month they host a challenge.  July’s project is “Time To Finish” and challenges you to finish a project that you started but have tucked away somewhere.

Favorite Things

74 Lime Lane – Kellie is a blogger, graphic artist and photographer (she’s one of the members that bring us the Creative Collective).  Kellie is an avid blog reader, so her posts are full of links to fun things she finds on the web.  I’m also inspired by Kellie because she posts about some of the nitty-gritty details of managing a creative life.

How About Orange – Jessica is a graphic and textile designer.  Her blog is beautiful and she shares links to a variety of sites on a variety of topics.  She also offers free printables and fonts.

Greyhounds (and Pig Dogs)

Never Say Never Greyhounds – Jennifer’s blog chronicles her life as she trains and competes with her greyhounds in obedience and agility events.  Reading Jennifer’s blog inspires me to do more with Freedom and Casper.  She’s also super kind and willing to help you personally with advice for any challenge you may be facing with your dog.

Little Dogs On Long Leashes – Georgia is an Australian Pig Dog who has strong opinions and has been known to get in a kerfluffle or two; but Georgia is well on her way to becoming a perfect lady.  Her Typist (that’s her mom) blogs about their adventures.  Both Georgia and her mom are big-hearted, funny (hilarious actually) and well…opinionated.  They’re just fun to know, and I’m glad I do!

Crafts

One Pretty Thing – Rachel showcases DIY projects and tutorials and links to their sources.  She also has a wonderful category browser that makes it easy to find things.

blah to TADA! – Claire does numerous times a week, what I try to do once a week with my Thursday craft post, “Look What I Found! Now What Do I Do With It?”  blah to TADA! is how Claire recycles and whether you craft or not, you’ll get a kick out of Claire’s vision and creativity.

Movies/Books

Sunset Gun – Sunset Gun is Kim Morgan’s blog.  Kim is a writer and knows movies and the movie business.  Kim’s posts will introduce you to things you didn’t know and give you a deeper appreciation for film and the art and talent that goes into making one.

Emma Book Blogger – Emma’s blog is relatively new (her first post was November 2010).  I enjoy the diversity in Emma’s selections and the honesty of her reviews.

I hope this inspires you to take a look at these blogs.  Feel free to leave a comment and let me know about the blogs that inspire you.

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Alice I Have Been tells a fictional account of the life of the real Alice in Wonderland, Alice Liddell.  Alice was one of the daughters of the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford University.  Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) was a friend to the girls and spun the tale of Alice in Wonderland while on a boating party.  This book examines the life of the real Alice, her childhood, her relationship with Dodgson, her loves and her tragedies.  It is a look at the fascinating, complex life of a woman who was immortalized as a little girl in a story.

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Glory tells the story of the 54th Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the US Army’s first African-American regiment to fight for the Union.  The unit is commanded by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the son of a prominent Boston abolitionist family.  Glory is a stunning historical film, and it brilliantly captures the diversity of experience and the personal histories of the individual soldiers in the unit.  It follows the difficult road they had to traverse to become an efficient and respected fighting unit.  The film is able to be both sweeping in scope and personally intimate.  The soundtrack adds to the mythic quality of the film; a film that conveys the momentous struggle that made us into the United States of America.

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All of June’s crafts will be kid-friendly, in honor of “School’s Out For Summer!”

Inspiration:

Kaboose – Tissue Paper Party Pom-Poms

Supplies:

Tissue paper (9 sheets – approximately 20″ x 25″)

Chenille stem

String

Scissors

1.  Stack pieces of tissue paper on top of each other.  I used three different colors.

2.  Starting at the 20″” wide end, accordion fold making 1-1/2″ folds.

3.  Loosely wrap the chenille stem around the center of the folded tissue paper and twist.  I wrapped it too tight in this picture.  Wrapping it loosely makes it easier to separate the layers in Step 6.

4.  Attach string to the chenille stem.

5.  Trim the ends of the tissue paper, using rounded or pointed cuts.

6.  Lay the tissue paper flat and start separating the layers, one by one, very gently so you don’t rip the paper.

7.  Now you have a festive decoration in the exact colors you want.

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I’ve mentioned our first Greyhound before, but never told her full story…how she came to us and how we lost her.  Here is Paloma’s story:

How I Came To Know About Greyhounds

You may not know it, but I was never a “dog” person.  I liked cats (and still do).  When my daughter left for college, I was selling PartyLite to help with college expenses.  A woman contacted me who wanted to do a fundraiser for her Greyhound rescue group (Allies for Greyhounds of West Michigan).  I set a time to meet her to explain our fundraising program and drop off materials.  I knew that she had four Greyhounds, and I was DREADING going to her home.  Four big dogs!  I arrived at her home and went to the front door.  Standing on the other side of the storm door was a Greyhound who just looked at me.  No barking, just looking.  The woman came to the door and let me in.  She said, “You’ll have to excuse Anita, she’s doesn’t have her manners yet.”  The other three hounds didn’t even get up when I came in.  Anita was curious about me, but no jumping, barking, licking…she just followed me around.  I told the lady about our fundraising program and then spent the next hour asking questions about Greyhounds.  I was VERY intrigued.  I told my husband about these unusual dogs and eventually we went to a Meet ‘n Greet so he could see them.  When we got in the car after meeting some of the hounds, he said, “I don’t know.  I think they’re too meek.”  I told him, “I’m not interested in getting a dog, I’m only interested in getting a Greyhound.”  My husband, being a smart man and knowing that a window of opportunity was closing said, “Okay, we can get a Greyhound.”

Paloma Comes Into Our Lives

My husband was interested in a brindle male.  I didn’t want a male.  So we picked a couple dogs from our group’s website and a young woman brought them out, along with Paloma who she was fostering.  There was no magical moment…nothing.  I asked the young woman who she thought we should take and she said, “I’ve always thought Paloma would be the one for you.”  It sounded like a good pick…brindle for my husband and female for me.  A fun little side note…The young woman who brought the dogs out often fosters “hard cases” otherwise know as dogs who need a little extra work.

Paloma, Our First Greyhound

Paloma was not the calm Greyhound that I anticipated.  Paloma was a big, wild girl, and my husband and I fell desperately in love with her.  Paloma was not cat-friendly.  We had to work with her A LOT on that.  Paloma was a jumper, so coming into our home was tricky.  If Paloma got to you, it was like getting hit in the chest with a sledgehammer.   Paloma would use our family room as a race track…she’d use the back of the couch as a spring board.  Other than those few eccentricities, Paloma was a sweet, loving, joyful girl.  She was a good girl too.  She really wanted to please, she just got a little excited some times.  Her absolute favorite activity was chasing a laser light.  Every evening my husband would take her into the backyard and she would run laps, chasing that crazy light.

Tragedy

One evening, after coming inside from chasing the laser light, my husband called for me to come into the family room.  He was standing beside Paloma and when he took his hand off her side her right leg folded forward.  We first thought that she had broken a leg or snapped a tendon.  We got her down and gently felt her leg.  We couldn’t feel anything wrong and she didn’t seem to be in pain.  We took her to the Animal Emergency Hospital and after doing some tests, the vet suspected it was FCE (Fibrocartilginous emboli); simply put, a blockage in the spinal cord that causes paralysis.  When we consulted with our vet in the morning, the prognosis didn’t look good.  In agony, we made the decision to end her life.  Since then, I’ve read articles about misdiagnosed FCE and full recovery FCE.  I’ve also read stories of dogs that never recovered.  For awhile, my husband blamed himself for allowing her to run and chase the laser light.  Did we make the right decision?  I’ll never know.  We did the best we could at the time, but I still feel the heavy weight of that decision.

Paloma’s Legacy

As horrible as losing Paloma was, our empty, dog-less home was terrible.  Paloma had left a huge hole in our hearts and we decided it would take two Greyhounds to fill it.  Enter, Freedom and Casper.  Another interesting side note…my husband picked Freedom because her dam/mother was Paloma’s “grandmother.”  I picked Casper because he was being fostered by the couple (now dear friends of ours) who had Paloma’s sister.

I know that many of my readers have lost precious pets.  It’s never easy, and I think it’s extra hard when you have to make that final call.  Paloma changed my life and who I am…all for the better.  I hope she’s there to greet me when I pass over.  I’ll be bracing myself.

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Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock

I like the “Dry-Touch” aspect of this sunblock.  When you apply it, it feels like…nothing.  It comes in a variety of SPFs, so you can choose what’s right for your situation and activity level.

Soma Vanishing Edge Panties

If you don’t do thongs or feel like wearing Spanx, these are a great alternative for lessening panty lines.  They’re made of a lightweight microfiber and have strips of silicone at the leg openings to hold them in place on your backside.  They come in 5 different styles, so you can stick with the type of panty you prefer.

Modern Dog Magazine

My friend, Amy, introduced me to Modern Dog, a quarterly magazine that is “the lifestyle magazine for modern dogs and their companions.”  You’ll find great articles and all types of new and fun things to buy (or dream of buying) for your pampered pooch.

Ten Thousand Villages

Ten Thousand Villages is a Fair Trade retailer whose mission is “To create opportunities for artisans in developing countries to earn income by bringing their products and stories to our markets through long-term fair trading relationships.”  I love not only the unique, handcrafted items (and there is something for everyone), but also the stories of the artisans and businesses that create them…like Dominion Traders of Pakistan who made my beautiful onyx lamp.

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This week’s reading from Creative Is a Verb by Patti Digh covers the third creative commitment, Get Present: Show Up Like Magic.  The sections within the chapter are:  (1) Always take the train, (2) Swing slow big arcs, (3) Carve a Chinese chop, (4) Sit still with Slumpy, (5) Find Miss Florence Painter, and (6) Blow bubbles every day.

Patti talks about slowing down, relaxing into the rhythm of your life, and looking at opportunities for stillness.  She asks us to consider what “gifts” we need to offer others.  She encourages us to follow threads, ask questions and be curious.  And ultimately, what do we love the most and what do we need to release.

A quote in the reading stuck out to me…”We had the experience, but we missed the meaning.” – T. S. Eliot.  How often have I a done this?  Often.  In the last 10 years, I have slowed the pace of my life significantly and it has made a big difference in how I think about people and events.  But the process is ongoing.  There are so many opportunities to do things, that our calendars tend to fill up.  I’ve often been stressed because I have too many wonderful events and opportunities on my schedule.  For me, the question comes down to what I love the most and what I need to release at this point in time.  It’s not necessarily a question you answer once, but rather a question that should be asked whenever you consistently feel an uncomfortable tension in your life and your schedule.  There are things in my life that are important now that didn’t exist a year ago and of course, things pass from of our lives.

My pictures this week are of two precious things that have passed from my life…a period of life, my daughter’s childhood and a special pet, my sweet Paloma who was only with us six months.  They were special while I had them and there is more opportunity ahead.

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This year, I’m turning a room in our home into my “creative space.”  Here’s a review of the posts from previous months – January, February, March, April, May.  This month, I planned to paint and organize my closet.  One of those tasks is done…I painted yesterday.  It is a bright, happy shade of green called “Season’s Promise.”

Finishing the closet will give me some nice storage space, but I’m going to step back a bit and do a little planning.  One of my favorite organizing books is Organizing from the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern.

I like Organizing from the Inside Out because of the process it takes you through.  First, you “Analyze” the problem, (1) What’s working? (2) What’s not working? (3) What items are most essential to you? (4) Why do you want to get organized? and (5) What’s causing the problems.  From there you move on to “Strategize” where you (1) Define your zones, (2) Map out the space, and (3) Rearrange furniture.  The final step is to “Attack” and that’s where the action is.  During the “Attack” phase you (1) Sort, (2) Purge, (3) Assign a home, (4) Containerize, and (5) Equalize.  This process has been helpful to me in other areas of my home because without the “thinking and planning” part up front, I tend to lose focus, and then I start to pile.  So before I install any shelves in the closet, I’m going to go through these steps.  I’ll take plenty of pictures.

My current fantasy for this space is ScrapBox furniture.  These are the two pieces I’m in love with.  I’m going to have to save lots of pennies if I want these.

EZ View Desk

The Sewing Box