12/4/12

More ornaments from this evening's creative session





This was some packing material for something I had ordered. I used a thick thread to stitch the two parts together. 


This too was packing material from something, perhaps the computer I got a few months back. The gingerbread men are a bit skinny, but they are very cite together. 


Luke made these 2 'candy canes' with carton from a cereal box that was in the recycling bin. 



On our walk back from the park Nora and I collected these pine cones. We painted them with silver paint and after it dried, we added gems to two of them. They each have a gold-colered ribbon.


Luke made a huge 'L' ornament for his name. 


Inspired by the heart one I made yesterday, Nora created one with gems. Mine had button decorations. 


This is a stocking made with the same packing material from the previous ornaments. 


Nora, my 5 year old stitched this heart ornament all by herself. 

12/3/12

Ornament Making Evening......

I love making art out of trash...what better time to do this than the Holidays....The kids and I sat down tonight and made some ornaments from whatever was around....You will need trash, scissors, a great glue (tacky glue works best), ribbon or string.....
This tiny 2" gift box cube was made from a recycled box we got from the trash room. 


The snowman came from some ribbon and old greeting card stock I had leftover from last year. The arms were just colored black and cut into branches. 
The best purchase any mom of a girl could do is buy a huge box of gems for all sorts of projects. Above is Nora's name in gems.....

 I love buttons, especially layered buttons. The heart shape was cut from a cereal box we got from the recycling room in my apt building. 
I have a heart-shaped Fiskars puncher and we cut out some hearts from unwanted magazines we got in the mail. The wreath shape in the back is the top of an oatmeal container. 

This tag was made from a very nice box that was in the recycling box in our floor. I used sharpie to write the words 'Love' on the front. 

Th backing is cereal box cardboard. We used tacky glue to glue on these petals that were leftover from when we were making barrettes. The buttons, shiny stars and gems we also had laying around, leftover from past adventures. 

This again is the cardboard from a cereal box. To create a gingerbread house look I needed lots of colors and textures. I used gems, buttons, cut up magazine paper and shiny decorations. 

Luke, my 8 year old son did this one all by himself. He cut out the hearts with the Fiskars puncher, colored them green, then found shiny red stars and blue gems to go over each heart. The framework for the wreath is the top of the oatmeal jar. 

This beautiful flower is a water bottle cut up. The middle is decorated with gems, Nora's idea. 

Nora did this flat bulb. She gemmed both sides. 

This is the top of a huge jar. Nora gemmed the inside. 


N for Nora.....

12/2/12

This year's lessons

                                This year has just been full of new lessons for me, I feel like I've gone back to college, but am actually paying attention this time. It's been like a really easy AP course on life, what an adventure. I wanted to share a few of the ideas I am playing with at the moment.

                                 First, there is this idea of spreading your energy. I got this idea from the great book, Notes From the Universe. The book talks about how your thoughts and actions affect every single being on this planet. Mind you, this phenomenon apparently happens even when you are not even attempting to consciously affect others. Imagine then what would happen if we actually consciously generated every thought, every action, every feeling with this idea that it's energy is going to be spread and expanded to the whole earth, heck, the whole universe. Oh yes, the book also urges you to not try to be logical about it. I too was trying to think in logical terms and about the impossibility of such a theory. But just Friday, I was invited to a 4th grade class party and the first mom I introduced myself to told me right off she could not eat the muffins at the party for she was juicing!!! Of all the parents there, me, the juicer ends up talking to another juicer, thoughts do materialize. Absolutely, our thoughts drive our world, every single solid 'thing' we see or experience or touch very much started as a formless thought in someone's head. So now, every time I have a wonderful, loving feeling or thought I imagine it as pure energy and visualize it growing and spreading out to there as a gift to whomever, whatever.... whether anyone knows it or not.

                                   Second, I am feeling beyond blessed this season. I made the most difficult choice in years of changing my job situation this past spring and after spending all summer agonizing, crying, staying up all night internally debating if I had, in fact, made a good decision, I look back now and think, 'how could I have even debated!!?' I could not have possibly asked for a better job situation; it's truly a gift from the Universe. In addition, I am also feeling blessed for all my past struggles, for my misfortunes, for the tears, the pain, the tragedies. I have various friends who are right now going through struggles and hope my words will bring some comfort. In my life, every single struggle has later revealed itself to be a wonderful, shining new beginning. You have no idea how amazing this will turn out girlfriend, and all you have to do is be yourself in the most honest, genuine way you could muster.

                                   The awesome power of inspiration as a driver of life is the next big idea I'm toying with. As an art teacher I always teach my little artists that inspiration can come from everywhere, and anywhere....that all artists, even use each others work and ides as inspiration to push forth their own work. What I always forget to mention, in addition to this, is that in regular LIFE people inspire each other all the time as well. Every single change I have ever made in my life has begun from a tiny seed planted via thought and spurred on by personal inspiration. My blind belief in the sheer power of inspiration is so strong that I also feel that negative inspiration, as positive, can be easily spread through this method just as easily. The ideas and thoughts we put in our minds turn to reality soon after, so choose carefully.


                                   So those are just a few things brewing in my world right now as the Holiday approaches. There are a few others I will post later, but this is all I can write in one sitting. This time of year I am busy generating ideas and lists for my New Years resolutions, which I take very seriously every year. Resolutions are great vehicles for setting new habits in motion in our lives and in order to be successful at my goals I need to choose them carefully.  In the meantime, wishing you all some wonderful, loving thoughts.

12/1/12

Even the annoying people are doing the BEST they can....

                     I heard a great quote today, something to the affect that everyone, even the annoying people we often come in contact with, are doing the best they can with what they have. I have been sitting here for over an hour trying to see what I can say or do to change someone and even at this age I have to stop myself and realize that no one....NO ONE can ever truly make someone be or do something else. You might physically 'make them' temporarily be or do something you want them to, but if you want genuineness, the pushing should not be an ingredient. So after all this mental debating I have decided to not do anything to change the other person's 'output', the work needs to happen within me.

Have to know how to fight

Do you know how to fight? If you care about your relationships dare to practice fighting.  It does not really matter what you fight over.......