Category : Creativity

612 posts

T Tuesday: I’m still here edition

Hey there…glad you stopped by today. It has, once again, been quite some time since my last post. I had good intentions of posting more but the motivation to sit in front of another screen after doing it all day just wasn’t there.

I’m all about sitting  in front of my sewing machine though.

Now that all staff will be back in the building, my home office area can become a sewing station.

I pulled the quilt top I had previously completed out of the closet and have been working on revamping it a bit and creating a quilt back complete with a signature in a block. I’ll show my terrible embroidery skills when I get the quilting done.

This is what kicked me back into sewing mode…a big bag of scraps from a coworker. Her and her girls started a small business/side hustle sewing scrunchies then masks and now they have added aprons. She saves her off cuts and scraps  for me. So many fun bits of fabrics! I ironed every scrap and began cutting pieces for a scrappy quilt pattern I saw on Pinterest. The pieces are so small…I am having a bit of regret. I may just set that stack aside and use it for something else.

Speaking of Pinterest…this was really weird. I was scrolling through Pinterest on my phone during my lunch. For those not familiar with how Pinterest works, if you don’t specifically search for something the site picks things it thinks you’d be interested in based on previous things you’ve looked at and things people you follow have posted. So like I said I’m scrolling along in my “for you” pins and I see these…

Those are my own projects. Things I had blogged about and pinned forever ago. So weird seeing your own creations like that. “hey we think you’d like this…” ah yeah I would, I made it.

So what else is new…hmmm… J is back up at college for Spring semester. He is happy to be back even though he has different roommates and a different apartment(a nicer one in my opinion). Even though most of his classes and his tutoring job are online, he has one course with a lab component so he had to be there in person. Unlike Mini-me who got a lab kit to bring home.

She extracted DNA from blueberries right in our kitchen. It’s actually a really fun lab that I do with my 7th graders.

Speaking of Mini-me…she was invited to participate in a competitive scholarship by the University will be attending in the fall. She got 2nd place which is basically half of her tuition paid each year plus a one time stipend to be used for approved study abroad, supplies or research. We are so incredibly proud of her…she works so hard and now all of that hard work is playing off in a very big way! I could continue to gush about her recent accomplishments but I really don’t want to be that mom.

All staff went back to school today. This is my new look when working in person with kids…super fun. I am on the list to get my first COVID-19 vaccine. I had to pass up my first opportunity since I had just gotten my Tdap vaccine. Of course, getting the COVID vaccine will not make the mask and shield go away this year. I was actually surprised once I had it on my face and starting working, it didn’t bother me like I thought it would. My only real issue is the need to push up my glasses regularly….not easy.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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Card making frenzy

In my ongoing effort to get rid of things, I decided to challenge myself to use up scraps to create a bunch of greeting cards. Most of these, if not all, will be donated to Cards for Kindness.

I sent in a couple dozen cards a while back but recently saw they have a need for some specific categories. With that in mind, I set my creations in that direction.

I still have a couple pounds of scraps…it’s a serious problem. I’ll keep plugging away at them. I’m sure some scraps will make their way into some journal pages and master boards as well.

Until next time…stay safe and go create something!

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T Tuesday: Christmas and catching up edition

It’s certainly been a while since I have joined in on T stands for Tuesday. So much, yet so little has happened.

This doodle is from before Winter break. Since I have had the same class over and over, I tend to doodle while waiting  for my small group time to begin. I never realized how often I doodle until distance learning began.

Winter break started a bit early for me…similar to last year. My back was giving me trouble from all the sitting. UGH! At least we found out that we are going to back to hybrid in-person learning mid-Feb. Since all the sitting is really hard on me I tackled making a new table for the treadmill.

It still needs a bit of work as it now tilts backward a bit which is kind of uncomfortable to type. But now I have the ability to slowly walk or just stand when I need to and still work. I’ve been working from school some days as well to change things up.

Christmas was a quiet one. We had a blizzard on the 23rd that lasted into Christmas Eve. Not a big deal when you aren’t going any where. The drifts were crazy in places…these were just cool!

We had fondue and played a couple board games…a nice and peaceful day.

Marvin always enjoys posing in front of the tree for me. He’s kind of a diva.

And what self-respecting cat wouldn’t crawl into a present box. Of course he’s huge and didn’t completely fit.

Since I hadn’t been creative at all for what seemed like weeks I did a page in an art journal to start off the new year. I don’t love it but that ok. Just trying to start the year off right.

Speaking of starting off the year right…I have chosen the word Strength for my Word of the Year.

You can check out the post by clicking on the image in the sidebar.

And if you were curious how I did with last years word: Mindful…be sure to check out that post as well.

I’ll leave you with a my breakfast and my fortune from last evening.

T stands for Tuesday
Today has me working from home.
What are you doing today?

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A second look: Wishes and Dreams

I thought I’d play along today with Second on the 2nd and share a second look at an art journal page I had a lot of fun creating.

Take a look….

Wishes and Dreams – 11/7/2015

I’ve been very drawn to the multi layered look of journal pages, collage and mixed media of all sorts lately. The more textural, the better. As I sat down to create, I had two things in mind…texture and spray mist color.

wishes and dreams art journal page | Halle's Hobbies

I placed masking tape down the spine then layered joint tape randomly in opposite corners of the pages. Next I gave the whole thing a thin coat of gesso.  Even with the thin coat of gesso, I got impatient waiting for it to dry so I started spraying sooner than I likely should have.

wishes and dreams art journal page | Halle's Hobbies

At this point everything was so wet I had to walk away.

After it was thoroughly dry, I began laying down some texture.  I used foreign text from a Brothers Grimm fairy tales book, leftover burlap from my monogram wreath, rusted fabric, a clothing tag and a bit of calico fabric for my layers.

wishes and dreams art journal page | Halle's Hobbies

In addition I used a punched square from an old greeting card as a focal image on the left hand page. A sweet little girl blowing a dandelion seed head making a wish.

wishes and dreams art journal page | Halle's Hobbies

Which ties into the words I used on the clothing tag. The words are from a Tim Holtz sticker pack.  I cut the phrase apart to place on the clothing tag.

I watered down some black craft paint to make splatters but was unhappy with the result so I attempted to soak them up with a cloth.

wishes and dreams art journal page | Halle's Hobbies

Lastly I used vintage photo distress ink to stamp a floral vine in opposite corners to give balance to the pages.

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Hope you had a happy and safe New Year! Wishing you all the best in 2021!

 

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T Tuesday: turtle shell edition

I can’t even begin to tell you how long it has been since I have even considered posting or even visiting other blogs. I have been “turtled up” so to speak in my shell. Sometimes I feel the need to do that. When things are out of my control or I feel I have nothing positive to share. At times like that I often turn to my art to walk me through. Other times, it’s all too much.

I finally felt the drive to create. Maybe because things are starting to look better. We still have a long way to go but I’m trying to see the silver lining. I think COVID is really starting to weigh me down. My emotions are raw. 

Regardless…I made art!  It felt amazing. I wish I could get that into my head when I’m feeling down. Art this good therapy. It’s just like exercise…I feel so much better after I do it…it’s just the getting out there and doing it that is the challenge.

So what else have I been up to? I made a few more masks for both my family and commissioned orders for kid sizes.

I’ve also been making pretty envelopes in hopes of sending out purchased items from my Etsy store inside. Of course I’d have to get a few more things listed for that to actually happen. Baby steps…

I had a health scare almost a month ago now which I believe sent me into my proverbial turtle shell. All is well on that front though. I went back for further tests and got the clean bill of health.

Mini-me has committed to her college of choice for next fall. We will be empty nesters with kids almost 3 hours away in different parts of the state. So crazy. The thought has given me very mixed emotions. Can you tell I’m extremely emotional right now? It’s not my usual state of being. I am usually quite stoic. I’m Norwegian…it’s the way we are made. But I feel as if I’ve been running on adrenaline and now I’m crashing.

As usual. I dressed up for Halloween at school.

What else made sense in a pandemic but to be a doctor?!

School continues in-person for me so far. I can’t imagine it will be much longer before we go to distance learning though…at least for a time. Exponentially more positive cases and self-quarantines every day. 

One of the things I do when I’m stressed is starting purging things. This weekend I tackled my clothes. I’ve lost 20 lbs and it was time to get rid of the old, the ugly, the ill-fitting, the “why did I ever buy this” and the vastly out of style. Amazingly, I still have a ton of clothes. Nothing super cute but we aren’t going anywhere now anyway. The time will come and I will buy myself something cute. I may do a bit of thrift shopping between now and then to fill in some gaps but the thought of going into stores to browse doesn’t thrill me. I’m shopping out of necessity only these days to stay safe.

In keeping with the rules…here is the obligatory beverage alongside a yummy open faced bagel with cream cheese and lox. 

Another day of school is in front of me followed by my at-home teaching day.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: so many photos edition

I’d like to apologize in advance for this long post and the excessive number of photos. Thankful most people these days are on high speed internet…if not…you may want to return at a later date. You have been warned.

Where to begin… Well let’s start with a journal page I had slated to post last week and never got around to it.

It’s a page in my wonky junky journal.

It started its life as this…two different sizes and textures to work with. A challenge really.

The images I used are from an elementary music book. these two reminded me of a Romeo/Juliet thing…only with a happy ending…it is elementary school after all.

It’s not my favorite page but at this point, I’m just happy to be creative.

Another page I finished was this one…which I believe I posted a WIP shot the last time.

 

Making time to craft and create is a priority for me but as you know, life sometimes gets in the way.

Enter exhibit A:

Do you see what I see…? This image was texted to me simultaneously with a frantic phone call from Mini-me.

Lets back up a little for context shall we…

We had inadvertently left the garage door open a few inches overnight which was an obvious invitation for a mouse to waltz on in looking for a snuggly place to overwinter. Marvin clued me in to this on Friday morning by laying in front of the washing machine, diligently peering underneath. Since there was nothing I could do to help him with his task, I went back upstairs and proceeded with my morning. Made lunches, brewed coffee and had just sat down on the couch to enjoy my cuppa before moving on with the day.

As I sit taking my first glorious sip of coffee, I hear Marvin make a sound somewhat like it would be if you were trying to say “mouse” with a sock in your mouth then proceeds to bang around on the stairs with his giant paws. In an instant, I realized that he had caught the mouse and was bringing it to me…but decided to “tell” me about it…therefore releasing his jaws and the mouse. Marvin is cute but does not have a big brain. He lost track of it and I determined that it had gotten behind the baseboard and into the wall. Crud. Off to work I went with Marvin staring at the fireplace.

Now lets get back to this photo above…the mouse was on the mantle…he can climb bricks.

♫ spider mouse. spider mouse ♫

*shall we now collectively shudder*

My kids have now discovered the mouse on the mantle…send me a photo…call me… Yeah…I’m working…good luck kids. In turn I messaged Mr. G telling him the tale. I got this image back from him with what I can imagine was peals of laughter.

Image credit: Great Outdoors

Long story short…they did not get the mouse. I did late Friday evening with their help in corralling said mouse. Saturday was spent cleaning…everything… *shudder*. Gross.

Marvin was thoroughly exhausted from staying up for almost an entire day. Didn’t get his 18 hours of beauty sleep.

We did have some fun too…movie night at the neighbors.  Chicken Run was on the projector.

I got my vote in at our county election office.

I also made a knitters wreath that I have had rattling around my brain for a while. Finally made it happen after all the cleaning and purging of things. Funny what you uncover like a wreath base.

Time to settle back with a lovely glass of red wine by the glow of my salt lamp. I don’t drink much red wine or any wine these days. It tends to make my joints hurt…I think it’s the sulfites.

I had to snap a photo of this sign at Goodwill…it made me laugh.

My kids have dubbed my cocktail of choice, gin and club soda, “spicy water” after inadvertently taking a big gulp of it when they were younger.

That about sums it up for me… my life is chaotic. But its good.

One more thing! Mini-me got accepted into both the universities that she applied to. We now need to make one more visit to cement her plan. Her college of choice is even giving her a yearly scholarship. Not full ride mind you but hey, every penny counts.

T stands for Tuesday

What are you doing today?

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T Tuesday: another two weeks edition

It appears that this is how things may be for a while…slow to update…such is life these days. Time keeps ticking away and I’m finding less and less time to be creative. So many fall projects to tackle before its too late.

I’m scrounging for canning lids as I keep getting more green beans. What do you think of my carrots? LOL  I had to pull them up because the squirrels were trying to do it for me.

I also have a couple other canning projects I’d like to try but I either need more regular lids or more wide mouth jars…neither of which I can find anywhere.

I did can some bloody Mary mix and somewhat appropriate sized containers.  It is a homemade, never be able to reproduce since I didn’t measure anything, type of mix. Hopefully its not the best ever. (Please excuse the poor photography and chaotic pantry.)

School is going well. We all seem to be finding a rhythm…although I really should not have said that since I’m likely jinxing myself.

One crafty thing that I actually completed during the past week was this paper garland. Our resource room is tiny…white cinder block walls with 6 doors but no windows…I can’t even make that up. It was originally a storage space of band instruments almost half a century ago.

I really want to dress it up a bit without spending money since we certainly don’t have a budget. I’m hoping that between the 4 of us that current use the space throughout the day, we can make it a like happier. Brighter. A place the kids actually want to come for extra help without being distracted or over-stimulated.

Last week, (I think…it’s a blur) we had some really interesting sunrise and sunsets. A high veil of smoke gave the sky a sort of post-apocalyptic look.

I’ve been suffering with a sore hip or sciatica this past week. Its so frustrating! Hurts to do anything for any length of time. Whether its sitting, standing, walking or laying…it all hurts. I’m sure it came about from my abrupt change in activity when I returned to work. I’d been used to walking 2-3 miles most mornings then puttering around the house and garden. Being barefoot on soft surfaces. Nothing like life now. More sitting, hard floors, shoes, standing, leaning over. When I spell it all out like that, it makes complete sense but it doesn’t make the pain any less.

I did get out for a walk Sunday morning. The trees are so beautiful. There was a slight crisp in the air. I love this time of year. Jeans and hoodies…my perfect outfit.

I’ve made a few more masks as well. I decided when this is all over I’m going to cut apart all the masks I’ve made and make a COVID quilt.

I have done a bit of art journaling as well….this is a current WIP. Of course this was what I should have been doing…but since I cleaned up my space it just had to be done.

As many of you know my art space is in the laundry/utility room. My crafty chaos tends to overflow my actual space and I end up putting things on the washer and drier.

But look…they are clean. Unfortunately there is a really lame reason for my sudden cleanup. The rubber gasket that keeps the water from leaking out the door of my front load washer ripped. Mr. G ordered a new gasket but the washing machine has to be taken half apart of replace the it. While waiting for that part Mr. G came across a video showing a potential hack to “rebuild the gasket with roofing sealant. We are giving it a go since…if it fails…we are right back where we started. I’ll update you next week as it takes a couple days of cure time.

I’m so thankful that he is able to tackle these projects. In the meantime, I had to clean and make a trip to the laundromat.

It’s certainly not perfect but trust me…much better. I tend to end up creating in a one foot square space. So dumb but I can’t seem to break myself of the habit.

This is also madness. All of the scrap papers I had laying about. Ok truth be told…half of this was in the bin to start but seriously. I have a problem.

T stands for Tuesday
What are you doing today?

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