• Around home - Blog - Crafts - Creativity - Kitchen

    T Tuesday: thankful edition

    November 26, 2018 - By 

    Welcome to T stands for Tuesday where we share a little about whatever the heck we want along with our beverage of choice. Pretty easy rules, right?!? Here’s my adherence to the rules…

    Since I am finishing up my extended break from work….6 days off… Woohoo!…. I thought I’d share a few highlights.

    Wednesday evening, Mini-me and I went to MOA (Mall of America) not to shop but to pick up J.  So cool that he can take the bus right from campus to home…or relatively close.

    Thursday, we enjoyed a lovely meal at my in-laws. I brought the stuffing aka: dressing as it is unstuffed. I wrapped the dutch oven in newspaper and towels just like my parents taught me when I was a kid.Later my BIL followed us home to extend our visit a bit. We hadn’t seen any family in a couple months which is sad when we are only about 20 minutes drive from one another.

    Friday, we decorated for Christmas….it’s our tradition to decorate the day after Thanksgiving. No Black Friday shopping for us. Only twice in my life have I braved that chaos. No thank you!

    Saturday was so quiet I can’t even remember what we did…or didn’t do.

    Sunday Mini me and I made the first batch of lefse of the season. So yummy.  Of course, later In the day Mr. G and I had to deliver J back to MOA to catch the bus back to college.  Just a few short weeks and we’ll be driving up north to get him for winter break.

    Monday I spent going through some totes in the storage room. I was able to reorganize and purge enough stuff that I have one completely empty tote. Mini-me and I brought a pile of stuff to Goodwill to donate. They always give a 25% off coupon when you donate…so of course we went in to see what they had. Mini-me found some yarn…she’s requesting another cowl.

    I did manage to work on some creative pursuits as well during this long break.  You can check out the previous two posts for my vintage linen remake and art journal page. I also continued work on my personal journal and completed my December Daily journal. It’s all ready to go! I’m thinking I’ll do a video with a flip through perhaps. It has WAY too many pages for photos. WAY more than I need but hey…I’m still learning with this process.

    The current experiment is rose gold tint for Mini-me

    She’s been trying little bits of it all through the break but tonight decided to go all in. I helped her spray it in damp hair…now she’s waiting to rinse.

    I think it will be fun regardless. Besides…it’s temporary. When I go, I go all in with the pink hair…permanent style.

    Tuesday is back to reality for everyone.  All good things come to an end. I do really like my job, so its not all bad. I just miss my free time. My mini-me time. Gosh, it’s going to be really hard when she goes off to college. *sniff*

     

    T stands for Tuesday
    What are you doing today?
  • Art - Blog - Creativity

    We flew

    November 25, 2018 - By 

    Lately most of my time has been spent creating journals, writing in them or thinking about them…but not art journals.

    I tend to do this…I get completely obsessed with one thing and virtually abandon the rest for a time. Art journals and mixed media always find there way back to me. They are my true calling.

    Today though I knew I wanted to art journal. I started out with some dress pattern paper and gelatos for that lovely aged yellow color. I added bits of torn fabric and papers in opposite corners of my spread. I then added some red and gold with a variety of sprays and golden paints.

    After that I wasn’t really sure other than I thought I needed another color…something contrasting. I came across a tattered book mark in my stash. The colors of the flowers matched perfectly and the blue gave that contrasting color I was looking for.

    After I decided on the wooden bird for the opposite page I dug out my sealing wax just for fun. I haven’t use it in ages. My cousin and I got little sets back in the early 1980’s when we were girls and wrote letters to each other. I still have my set and a few more seals that I’ve picked up over the years just because they are pretty and kind of a unique thing to come across at a rummage sale.

    I happened to find a journal tag that was the right color blue to act as a perch for my bird. The words we flew jumped out at me from my box of found text. I thought a bit of loopy thread gave some nice texture and was a bit reminiscent of a nest.

    The tag looked a little boring so I used a bit of distress ink on a script stamp for a little more vintage feel. I didn’t have a brad the right color so I dipped a white one in paint then sprinkled with baking soda. once it dried It had a nice muted appearance in just the right color.

    I’m super happy that I gave in to my impulse and got creative today.

    Linking up with Art Journal Journey for Vintage or Modern

    Art Journal Journey
  • Around home - Blog - Crafts - Creativity

    Vintage linen remake

    November 24, 2018 - By 

    I have so many vintage linens squirreled away in boxes. It’s really a shame. Lately I’ve been thinking about purging some things especially things that no longer bring me joy. My trouble is that I have a hard time parting with some of these vintage pieces. I’m beginning my journey of letting go by cutting up the stained and tattered ones first because in reality…who’s going to want them other than me for sentimental value.

    These pieces were just waiting for an opportunity to come together.

    I’ve added the completed piece to enhance my laundry room decor.

    I think perhaps this is a good first step in letting go by being able to hold onto a little piece…if that even makes sense.