I have a towering stack of magazines that I cannot ever seem to widdle down. Whole volumes of Somerset, Cloth Scissors Paper, Artful Blogger...not to mention all the House Beautifuls, Real Simples, & other assorted mags. So in the spirit of organization, I'm making myself recycle! (But not before pawing once more through each one & pulling out those gems of inspiration!) Here's the cover of the scrapbook inspiration. This slim volume holds my favorite pages from 25+ magaines! Yay!!

thankful grateful blessed joyful glad

I had a tin of old plain milk caps that my mother-in-law gave me a while back, and thought I'd challenge myself to use up as many of them as I could...Thanksgiving garland! I covered the caps with 5 different patterned papers, punched them, and joined them with jump rings. Then added thankful grateful blessed joyful glad along the length of it, accompanied by some gems and butterflies. I think this is going to become a holiday-by-holiday project! I've already started the Christmas and New Years garlands...

supplies: cardstock> Neenah. patterned paper> Cosmo Cricket, BasicGrey, My Mind's Eye, DCWV, Scarlet Lime. punches> Marvy. font> Typerwriter Serial Xlight. adhesive>Xyron. other stuff> ~65 vintage milk bottle caps. jump rings>Making Memories, Blue Moon. gems> My Mind's Eye. butterflies> Jenni Bowlin.

Paper beads

Here is my take on the fabulous bead cuff from Copy + Paste. Mine has some quirks: the bicones might be slightly too small for the ends of each bead. My wirework is something to be desired on the straight end. However, I loved making this project. The vintage book pages have a magical lustre when glazed, and it's a very cool-looking accessory. Thanks Kirsty & Julie!

so many possibilities!

From the class series over at Copy + Paste, my first of *many* covered journals. I had a little stockpile of blank journals, but not for long. They are getting dressed up & customized for some friends. Easy, and very charming. I'm off to make the project that appeared in this morning's classroom; so inspired!

Jump Start

The wonderful girls at Copy + Paste are having a 12 Days of Handmade Christmas Class, and I've signed on for a little inspiration & clearing of the decks. We get to "shop our own houses" and to play along, here's my questionaire answers. How many days till Christmas?? 1. It would be amazing if my house was a shop like ...Anthropologie meets Goodwill treasures. 2. But at the moment, it's more like...a bookshop meets Lego Store. 3. The best stocked area of my house has to be...the boys Lego dept., the bookshelves, and my craft area. 4. But I'm not sure I would take stock of my...Christmas ornaments. 5. I could actually open my doors and sell off most of my...fabrics & sewing notions {and paper in general, but I never EVER would sell!}...and I'd still have plenty left over. 6. If I could go shopping in someone else's house I'd choose...my mother-in-law! 7. With the money I'd save by shopping at home for my supplies, I could buy...more paper :) 8. During this class I hope to "buy"/revisit/finally use my stock of...paper milk bottle caps. 9. The best thing about shopping at home will be...making space for new stuff! 10. Shopping at home will mean I can get away with wearing ...comfy-est yoga pants with the little bleach spot & bare feet...which I'd never dare go 'real shopping' in!

Apple Jacket and *the Quilt* part 1

First, the Apple Jacket: is this not the most whimsical use for a half-ball of left-over cashmere?! You can find the pattern here, or go through Ravelry.com. It only took me (me, the s-l-o-w-e-s-t of knitters!) a couple hours. And that's because I completely free-handed the leaf. It's kind of early in the year for apples, but perfect for protecting them in backpacks and handbags. Next, I'm starting a quilt. It's my new family job at the 4 yr old's nursery school, and I'm so happy to have a creative job after 3 years of more email-oriented ones. I'm making sketches, and have a game plan. I've chosen a color scheme, but alas, must go fabric shopping. The quilt will be raffled off at our Spring Auction in March 2011. I think I'll be very sad to see it go, but it's all part of the process. I've got about 7 months to sew and quilt something that represents our community, therefore I'm using a house-theme, surrounded by natural elements. It'll be bright and quirky. Come back soon for more!

embroidery floss?

Do you stitch? My first craft was embroidery, taught by my grandmother. She gave me a little printed sampler in a small plastic hoop, and showed me a few stitches. I've always used the DMC floss, but sometimes I see samplers with really luscious, thick floss, and I'm wondering if people have recommendations. I saw a snippet from Teresa McFayden's blog, and am *so* imspired by her mixed media sampler. Time to dig out that hoop!

Dover Sampler

If you hop on over to the Dover Publication site, you can sign up for their weekly sampler of copyright free imagery. They have everything from paper doll costumes to coloring pages to vintage luggage tags. I save a few images from the sampler to my Dover file each week. Above a two recent ones. I doubt either of my boys wants a bo-peep dress for anything, but maybe for a pre-school project.. :) My favorite are the background patterns which you can recolor and use for just about anything!

Camp!

This week I signed myself up for camp! In Idaho! And I am so thrilled. Check out these inspiring women, and what they're up to in the Idaho mountains. I'm joining Melody Ross, her sister Kathy, and a group of other equally brave gals for 5 days of creating! The recommended art supply list is brief, but I think that's one rule I'll have to break. I can't wait for this retreat!

A quick, quiet page

Yesterday I took the stack of scrapbook pages and actually put them in an album. And filled it right up. The kids were so delighted to flip through the pages, eager for the next one featuring them, a favorite toy, or friend. So now we're sorting pages since they want their own separate books. Here's a page from Matthew's reminding myself to enjoy the little mouse before he's tucked away at school all day.

supplies: cardstock> Bazzill. patterned paper> Hambly. alphas> AC Thickers. stickers> Kaiser Craft, Chatterbox. brads> Oriental Trading, My Mind's Eye. ink> SEI. stamp> Stampin' Up. other stuff> old book page, butterfly & vintage trim, Prima florals, Jenni Bowlin accents.

Amateur marbeling

Borders Bookstore has this new collection of classics with gorgeous cover designs, so I'm visiting an old process...

A while back, I found myself a marbeling kit, and made my first batch of imperfectly marbeled pages. I love this process, the mess of it, the dry time, the textures. This weekend, I'm at it again, paying more attention to the palette, and mixing some custom colors. I thought these papers might make amazing frontispieces in my little handmade books, but I'm seeing that they may just work for scrapbooking too (if I can get the colors right). 'bye!

creatively promiscuous!

I've said it before, and I make no excuses: I *love* to make things. And I do jump from genre to genre now and again. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that I've found a new tangent! Hand spun wool. Yep. Amazing stuff. Monica & I went to Stitches West today, and the wonderful folks at Snicklefritz Yarn had a sample of unbelievably, hand spun yarn. So I came home with some roving, and now am itching to find a drop spindle. I'm eager to get myself into a drop spindle class at either Urban Fauna or over in Berkeley to A Verb for Keeping Warm. {Worry not, scrapbooking friends, paper is still my craft passion}. xxoo

Fanfarlo!

Saw these guys last night at Great American Music Hall! So fun & absolutely great sound. {Thanks Julie!} Fanfarlo check 'em out. Enjoy!

Cold Hands

Even though I've been crafty all morning (making, cutting, writing), my hands are freezing! It's simply chilly here in SF this week. *Lots* of rain. But that hasn't swamped my mood about this page. Long before I actually moved to San Francisco, I loved that Natalie Merchant song "Milk and Honey." Give the lyrics a listen if you haven't for a while. I've decided I need to focus on some of my story instead of: all boy, all the time. And I'm going to post some pages here as well to help me document. For my scrapbooking friends, you've got to see these brads from Oriental Trading. They are hefty, well-made and completely charming!

Supplies: Patterned paper> SEI, BasicGrey, Hambly. Alphas> American Crafts, Jenni Bowlin. Brads> Oriental Trading, SEI, Creative Cafe. Ink> Martha Stewart Crafts, SEI. Stamps> Hero alphas, 7 Gypsies, Inkadinkado. Rub-ons> BasicGrey. Chipboard> American Crafts. Other stuff> Prima florals & pearls, Vintage map with calligraphy from Kenner Road, Creative Cafe gems, tag from Living Room Floor, felt coaster from Michael's, vintage butterfly, trims & threads.

I will...

I have many resolutions this year and one of them is to create a new banner for this blog. Why does that feel so difficult? I'm always so impressed with amazing banners, and when I grab Somerset's Artful Blogger, I first flip to the back where they feature beautiful banners. I've even seen them on etsy...for sale! So, I'm publishing myself a deadline: by the week's end, I will create a new blog banner.

In a word...

Welcome to the New Year! Two thousand ten has lots of promise for me in the creative arts arena. I've been working to free up my time so that I can work on my illustrations and collage art. And right out of the gate, I've got a fresh start! At the indirect urging of my friend Amy and her past January podcasts, and through the inspiration of Ali Edwards, I've chosen a word to help guide my creative endeavors this year. It's a word that I had chastized myself with last year in the avalanche of projects happening around me. I often felt out of control, and that my creative time was not my own. I have always been (and will likely continue to be) an full spectrum art & crafter. I have tried to do it all: paper, fabric, paint, rubber, wood, metal. And that won't change. What *is* changing is my purposefulness. My intentions. My focus. *Focus* Focus on what compells me, what intrigues me, what challenges me. Focus on the lines and shadows. Focus on the dailyness. Focus on learning. Focus on being present. And not just the art, but on parenting and friends. Focus on being present in conversation, and fully committing to the moment. We'll see how it goes. What might your word be?