December, 2022
After upcycling and recovering a bunch of flip top boxes, I had a huge stash of beautiful papers and a craving for something a little different. Lucky for me I came across Nancy Akerly (@libertygrovepaperarts) and her online offerings. My favorite structure so far is this magic box. I’m getting a little more precise with each try, and they’re great little gift containers.
I say this every #thankfulthursday – the photos I show are student work, if you want to see what an expert can do, take a look at Nancy’s work
For more of my work, click for a video montage:
December, 2022
I rarely achieve “empty mind” when I meditate. Maybe like you, my mind seems to default to use this time to “plan”, which is a nice word for obsessively reviewing my to-do list and my worries. One day this phrase came to me: Breathing IS planning. I “plan” because I think it will improve my reaction later when something happens. But it probably won’t happen exactly like that anyway. What will always be true, though, is that whatever happens, taking a breath before reacting will improve my situation. So, the best planning I can do is to plan to breathe.
November, 2022
Another #thankfulthursday post for my art teachers and inspirations
My “work” life has involved maps and geography for years and the Map Haiku workshop with @valeriegoodwinart gave me a way to cross it over into my art life.
Don’t judge her work by photos of mine – she is masterful, I’m still experimenting. Looking forward to learning with her again at @craftalifenapa for Monoprint Map Collage
November, 2022
When I was a child, my Aunt Mary was my window into the world of craft, or as I think of it, art. She, along with one of my grandmothers, were the ones who could sew, knot, crochet, and opened that world to me. In many ways my Grandmother had a greater influence, but that is a story for another time. This is the story of stockings. Aunt Mary crocheted our Christmas stockings. A ballerina slipper with tights for me, and baseball and basketball shoes and socks for my brothers, and they were hund by the chimney with care my whole life, well into my adulthood while we still gathered at my mother’s hime every Christmas.
Fast forward to my 30s, I’m married and setting up Christmas for the first time on my own. By that time I had explored ribbon weaving a bit in simple pillows, so maybe that is why when I thought about his and hers stockings for our first mantlepiece, I thought of ribbon weaving. They were multicolored, scrappy, and made of silky ribbons. I still love them – even made a matching Christmas tree skirt at one time.
Then, my brothers started having children. I don’t know if they asked, or I offered, or I just pushed my way in, but as each niece and nephew were born, there was a new ribbon woven stocking. The patterns got more complex as time went on, and the pace of my production grew, especially since every time there was a new baby, there was a baby quilt to do along with the stocking. As of today, there are 9 family ribbon-weave stockings out in the world. No, make that 11, because my sister asked for one for her and her husband as well. Not all of the families use them, but I like knowing that they are there – this is what I do.
This year, for the first time in quite some time, no new baby. No new baby, but lots of left-over ribbon. I can never quite run out of ribbon and of felt scraps at the same time, so when I started out to use up the ribbon, I needed just a bit more felt, then a bit more ribbon. I still have ribbon, maybe as much left over as when I started this earlier in the fall, but I think I’m on pause for now.
What to do with them? Well, they are in my Etsy shop , not that I can claim to be doing all the things to promote them, but I’m experimenting with a few, so maybe they will find their way into the world and in to someone else’s family.
