• Art - Blog - Crafts - Creativity

    2018 Recap

    Here we are at the end of 2018. Time to take a look back at the year and discover the highlights.

    Such as my word of the year…Discover

    Looking back I’d have to say that I made some discoveries along the way.

    I discovered a new type of journal keeping that gives me the freedom to do what I want. Not a rigid everyday, writing only journal.

    I discovered that I like like making videos of my creations. Not sure where this will go but it’s fun nonetheless.

    I discovered how much I love my job now in year 2 back to work. Developing relationships with those crazy kiddos whether they are “mine” or not has been amazing.

    Another big discovery was learning to let go of the things I can’t control. This is a work in progress…

    I discovered… I am strong, I’m funny, I am clever & creative and I am uniquely me.

    I am also a Norwegian from the Mid-west and those statements are as close to boasting about oneself as I dare tread.

    I thought I’d share a couple of collages of the important things of my year….from both my personal and artsy/crafsy sides.

    Events, travels, triumphs and good clean fun.

    So many crafts…so little time.

    Now I look forward to what 2019 has in store for me.  Stay tuned tomorrow for the reveal of my 2019 Word of the Year.

  • Blog - Crafts - Creativity

    T Tuesday: Christmas is coming edition

    The countdown is on. Christmas will be here before we know it! AHHH! Who had all their shopping done? Nope, not me. And we have a couple birthdays on either side of Christmas too. WHEW…the pressure.

    In reality, I’m not super stressed at all. It all seems to work itself out. I do enjoy gift giving…just more the spontaneous gift giving than the obligatory. Such as I got a sweet gift from a coworker completely unexpectedly. I had complemented her a  her bag and she told me she’d picked it up in the dollar spot at Target( not affiliation). A couple days later she brought me my very own matching bag!

    I like to try to make some gifts…or make gifts for others to give. I was working on a new item I saw a while ago and have wanted to give a whirl. I got all my pieces cut and ready then ….

    this happened.

    Totally not getting anything done. That’s ok because I was still recovering from the weirdest illness I’ve had in recent years. Sore throat, stuff nose, icky tummy and wicked dizziness…like hardly able to walk dizzy. Mini-me got it first then me then Mr. G. Thankfully it only lasted a day.

    Back to the craftiness…

    I made microwave bowl cozies. No more burned fingers. They are microwavable, reversible, washable and downright handy.

    Our school is having another craft sale week long this year.  Its really fun to see what co-workers like to create in their leisure time.I brought some of my old etsy and craft sale stock as well as the new product that I’m trying out. Frankly I don’t care if the bowl cozies sell because I can give them as gifts.

    On other news…my December Daily is ready to go. I will share it in another post. I’m really excited about this project. I keep tucking bits of this and that away each day to slip into my journal. It will be super fun to look back on in the coming years. I still pull out the book I made from my calendar project of 2014.

    The cold weather has me sipping on tea everyday…both to keep the chill off and to sooth my sore throat.

    What are you doing today?
  • Blog - Crafts - Creativity - Photography

    T Tuesday: still full edition

    I swear I’m still full from Thanksgiving dinner! Ok…that’s a bit of a stretch but geesh. Too much leftovers and too many days off. Making me soft(er).

    I’ll start with a little catch-up on my Photo a day challenge. I got several days behind but have gotten caught up now.

    13. Letters….just one important one. UMD acceptance letter for J.

    14. For me….just a little treat of apples in caramel dip. YUM!!

    15. Hot + Cold…sometimes I’m a two-fisted drinker. 🙂

    16. After…after a long day at work it’s nice to put my feet up a bit.

    17. Cooking…I unexpectedly cooked Thanksgiving dinner this year.

    18. I love this…Grandma’s dishes.

    19. Whole….it was a whole pie….a whole lotta yummy. 🙂

    20. Bright….the setting sun through my window.

    21. Shoes….I have a love/hate relationship with these. I love them (so cute) but my feet hate me when I wear them all day at work.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    I discovered mt latest obsession craft on Pinterest yesterday. 

    Fabric star ornaments. I found the link to the original tutorial but it was in Dutch I believe. It had great photos but I was missing something in my understanding. Then I found the tutorial by Betz White that finally cleared things up for me.

    I’m considering putting a button on both sides with either hot glue or tied through with embroidery thread.  Not sure but I do know I’ll be making more.

    The school I work at is having a holiday boutique for staff so I’ll be bringing my crafts in. I’m so excited both to make a little Christmas cash and to see what crafts my coworkers like to do.

    My baby girl starts drivers ed Tuesday…I can hardly fathom it. She’ll get her classroom instruction done just before her 15th birthday but she’ll have to wait until the New Year to take her permit test. That girl is ready to get behind the wheel….me, not so much.

    Tuesday holds work of course and a choir concert…at my school. Mini-me’s choir is singing at the middle school. I think they send the high school choirs to perform periodically to keep the younger ones interested in continuing through their school career.

    What are you doing today?