Jan 27, 2013--Creativity Is Its Own Reward

Caption:  A few of the vignettes filling the Christmas void.

Happy to report:  I have made good on my commitment to dedicate more time to my creative endeavors; this has been the case for TWO whole weeks now.  That makes it a habit, right?  It’s my understanding that experts say it takes two weeks for a new behavior to become a habit.  Well, we’ll see about that.

I’ve been known to defeat the law of averages quite soundly in numerous tête-à-tête with the universe.  Albeit, most have been self-prophesized, which experts would likely identify as self-defeating, but who listens to those “experts” anyway?

This venture into my dormant creative self is much needed.  I’ve forced it to take a back seat to many others aspects of my life and it’s beginning to be difficult to conjure.  I fear if I allow it to climb any further into the back seat, it may end-up trapped in the trunk!  I am trying to revive it and already feel better for my efforts.

Last week I wrote about my journal-style calendar, which is a large part of my artistic re-entry.  I often discuss this subject with my friend, Kimberly Santiago.  Kimberly is a local artist who has—conveniently for me—set-up her studio on the second floor of our building.  She has on numerous occasions encouraged me to further explore my creativity.  She is very supportive, however, as I berate myself for my lack of inventive adventures, she will chide me to remember that what I do via my shop requires a fair degree of originality and imagination; she is my art “therapist.”

We are our own worst critics.  (I’m not just saying that for my benefit—I’m saying it for your benefit, as well.)  We expect so much of ourselves, but find it so easy to notice the achievements and successes of our friends.  I will leave that topic open for my next session with my art therapist, but in the meantime, I will take pride in my minor creative successes.

This past week I took time to arrange a few vignettes around the house—things that take the place of the holiday decorations which have made their way into my newly reorganized storage space.  (Hey—I’d like to just take a moment to give myself a pat on the back for that monumental feat of ingenious displacement packing.  How I fit that much stuff into the same space AND made it look more organized is beyond me!)  Back to the new “old” stuff . . .

This time of year, I pull out the silver stuff; not that it ever really goes away, but I pull it front-and-center during the colder months.  When I disassembled the holiday décor on our the mantel in our living room, I left almost everything silver and brown, added a few tan and brown books, as well as a few bare branches to tie the theme of winter together. 

In the kitchen, I’ve arranged a tray of vintage pewter mugs with their white porcelain insert cups, a collection of crisp white linen napkins and transferred our huge container of hot chocolate mix into a vintage style jar.  I also have a jar of the mini marshmallows at the ready.

In the dining room, I’ve begun preparation for Valentine’s Day.  I’m not a fan of hearts being used in my decoration, but the proper amount of vintage influence allows for exceptions.  I employed decoupage techniques to upcycle empty bottles into decorative accents for the impending lovers’ holiday.

So, there you have my journal entries for the past week.  I have carved-out some time for nurturing my creativity and I feel so much better for it.

Jan 20, 2013--Creative, Inspiring Year Ahead

Caption:  My resourceful endeavor to plan and record my anticipated creatively inspired year ahead

One of the best features of a passing into a new year is a new calendar.  I love calendars; so much so that I have a minimum of three—no, wait—four, running simultaneously.  There is the Microsoft® Outlook calendar which is my most dependable, especially since it syncs with my iPhone® calendar, then there is my wall calendar which hangs in the kitchen and lets the family know what is happening.  The fourth calendar, however, is my favorite; it is the one I carry with me pretty much everywhere.  It is the one that ends-up holding more than just my schedule; it is where I stuff receipts, coupons, agendas and more.  This “favorite” calendar has seen many incarnations—from a very corporate-style Day Runner® in a black portfolio to the pocket-style family agenda in a wipe clean plastic cover. 

My favorite, however, has been found.  It is a journal style calendar.  There is plenty of room to write my scheduled activities, as well as some notes about the day or week.  As it seems I have reached maximum capacity in my “grey matter” storage unit, I’ve found it necessary to not only write down where I am supposed to be going, but also where I’ve been and what I did! 

A few years ago, I found the perfect journal-style calendar for my needs.  It was actually designed to resemble a ledger book—like those kept by business folks for their record keeping.  I remember liking that feature immediately.  Then, upon closer examination, I realized it was also appealing because of the design lay-out of its content.  Each week shared a two-page spread, so there was a generous amount of room for my notes.  I liked it so much; I placed an order for the shop.  When November rolled-around and I hadn’t received them, I called the vendor and was told they lost the contract and wouldn’t be wholesaling them after-all.  Rats!

I went into research mode, to no avail, trying to locate the publisher and deal with them directly.  Finally, I found it online through a boutique similar to mine, but located in Ohio.  I contacted the owner and asked her to share the name of the vendor, but she wouldn’t tell me!  I was shocked, but undaunted.  I continued my research and found the journal at our local Borders—the same day I received the negative response from Ohio.

Well, long-story-longer, I was able to scavenge the calendar for only two years.  In that time, I tried desperately to contact the publishers, but the information just led me to a non-working number.

That’s when I decided I need to make my own, using a real ledger book I found at an office supply store.  I worked with my friend, Märtha, and sister, Kendall, and we created our own, but I just couldn’t finish it.  As luck would have it, Patty found one more of the published calendars, which saw me through last year.  Unfortunately, 2013 hasn’t materialized; therefore, I decided to get creative and made my own.  Unlike the last time, however, I am not waiting until it is finished to use it.  I figure, for it to be a truly creative journal, it needs to develop throughout the year.

I will be writing my notes, jotting down ideas and memories and using a glue stick to attach ephemera and other inspirational findings.  This is going to be a creative, inspiring year and I’m going to capture as much as I can in my journal calendar. 

Jan 13, 2013--Displacement Cleaning

Two trees down, two to go . . . plus the mantel(s), staircase and kitchen décor.  Anyone else feeling overwhelmed by the post-Christmas un-decorating process?

I’ve been using the fact that my husband was gone during the holidays to justify my leisurely approach to returning the house to its pre-Christmas blah-ness, but (if you’ve been a faithful reader) you know this is my perennial lament.  I really like my house decorated for the holidays.  I like the glow of the lights from the trees and staircase.  In fact, as I write this I am sitting in an otherwise dark room—the only illumination being my computer screen and our Christmas tree.  I love it and hate to see it go, but go it must, because I am also disconcerted by the furnishings and art work the Christmas paraphernalia displaces.

I’m ready to return my treasured art, created by local artist Billy Renkl, to its place of prominence on the wall which is currently blocked by a 9 foot artificial tree.  I am ready to have the table, which belongs in the same general area, back in place—to reload it with the “moments in time” we have captured and framed; to slide the vintage chest into place and re-stack my collection of magazines.  And that is just one 3 square foot area!

So, you see, it is not as though I will be de-cluttering the house in order to return it to some minimalist domicile; nope—never been accused of being a minimalist.  What I actually do is displacement cleaning and arranging.  By “displacement” I am referring to the physics definition; in the end, there will be the same amount of stuff, it’ll just be redistributed. 

Now, wait a minute, didn’t I just write a column about celebrating my minor successes?  Indeed I did.  I need to give myself some credit for off-loading at least a year’s worth of magazines (just one title—kept the other three, of course).  I’ve even allowed two of my subscriptions to lapse; the counter balance to this effort is, however, the fact that I’ve subscribed to a new magazine.  I will end up with a net of -1, which is, in this case, desirable.   

Regardless, by the time you read this, I hope to have packed away the family tree ornaments, but as I am still in the planning stages of this action, I need to let you know something—that way I’m more likely to do it.  This year, I am packing all of the ornaments the kids have been given over the years, into their own boxes, where they will stay until they have trees of their own.  I decided that this is the year to do it because I am starting to forget which ornament belongs to whom.  (We’re talking about a lot of ornaments—collectively, a minimum of 52—that’s allowing for gifts from relatives.)  I feel awful if/when they break.  I’d rather go ahead and put them away now, so they can break them on their own in their future homes.  So, with some help identifying each designated ornament, they will go into boxes, marked with their names, until they claim them for their own holiday celebrations.

You realize, of course, this means I’ll need more ornaments for next Christmas.

Jan 5, 2013--Celebrating Minor Successes

As we move into day 6 of the year twenty-thirteen, many of us are considering what we can do to improve our situation.  We may be thinking about personal improvements, such as learning a new language or finding a new job; we may be planning to make physical improvements, such as improving our eating habits or level of activity; or we may just want to make changes in our surroundings, such as improvements to our home or perhaps purchasing a new home.  Whatever you have decided to take on or give up this year, I wish you luck, but more I wish you dedication. 

Dedication pushes us through otherwise insurmountable odds.  It is what tells you to keep going, when everyone around you is failing.  Dedication moves forward with every success and resets the backstop.  If you have this type of commitment you will succeed, even if you don’t achieve your intended goal.  Commitment to a goal is bound to realize some level of accomplishment and with varying levels of achievement come personal growth.

What do you think?  Are you buying what I am selling? 

Too be honest, it’s kind of strange to write these words, as they are usually coming from the mouths of friends and family as they try to convince me of my own success; or from my own mouth as I encourage those around me.  Why is it so difficult to see our own success?

Well, I am determined to improve my own outlook.  I will attempt to find my own minor successes in attempts my former self would have viewed as failures.

For instance, my numerous attempts to clear our “back porch” in order to find a creative space will no longer be viewed as failures, but partial successes.  While I have not been able to claim it as an inspired work space, my repeated efforts to do so have reduced the piles of discarded sports equipment and categorized tools and garden equipment. So far, the producers of that reality show about hoarders have not yet knocked on my door.  Success!

My inability to stay on top of my social media marketing for the shop—especially my blog—has been a constant source of self-admonition this year.  Instead of berating myself for not doing better, I will congratulate myself for not distracting my loyal Facebook fans, Twitter followers and blog readers with a barrage of my ramblings.  Success!

My efforts to re-establish a workout routine have not emerged, but I do take my dog on long-ish brisk walks each morning.  Of course, this is more in an effort to break her spirit and hope for a few moments of inactivity, than to keep the size of my thighs in check, but it’s something.  Oh yeah, for the past two months, I also managed to squeeze several days of “power yoga” each week.  So, cheers to my better than nothing fitness efforts!

I just decided to take a look back at what I promised to do better last year and was delighted to find that I made no resolutions last year—other than to get past the misery of 2011.  So kudos to me on that stroke of brilliance—no goals means “no failures.” 

Wow—I am on a roll!

So, whatever you decide to put your mind to in 2013, I hope you do attack it with dogged determination, but, if you are only able to lose 13 lbs. instead of the full 20 lbs. or if your to-be-filed pile remains, even though you resolved to be more organized, I hope you are able to find your minor successes and celebrate them!  If you need a cheerleading section, give me a call.

Do you prefer hardcopy or e-books?

26AUG12
A cursory peek at my new followers on Pinterest tells me I piqued the “pinterest” of many of you. That’s wonderful! I think this is a great website for quickly and easily finding images of items which reflect your style. I love that I can search images and, instantly, I have hundreds upon hundreds of images to peruse; google has already done the work for me!
I have always enjoyed research. I used to love spending time in the library looking for resources for my research papers, feeling like Indian Jones when I was able to unearth references I was sure no one else had cited in all the years of term papers written at Lenoir-Rhyne College (now a University, but old habits . . .). In fact, I enjoyed research so much I had thought of becoming an attorney, but after receiving my BA in History, I took the track of paralegal instead. Upon landing my first job as a paralegal, it didn’t take long for me to realize there was a lot more to lawyering than research—umm, no thanks. Researching product for home décor is a lot more fun, so here I am.
Do you remember my suggestion of keeping a notebook for your home decorating ideas? Well, it occurred to me that Pinterest is probably the “notebook” for the next generation; perhaps for this generation. While I do enjoy it and think that it is nifty, it will never replace my idea book. Just like an e-reader will never replace my need to hold a book on my lap and flip through its pages.

I think that is why one of my favorite publications is a quarterly about blogging. Yup—a magazine about blogs! It’s called Artful Blogging. Like all Stampington & Company publications, it is produced on a beautiful, matte paper (love the feel of the paper). The content is submitted by bloggers and simply provides some insight into how they approach their blogs, but it is gorgeous! They also furnish photos, which are often the best part of many blogs. I like it because I feel like I spend my entire day in front of a computer screen. I need tactile interactions with more than my keyboard and mouse!

Another of their publications is Where Women Cook, which shares stories and images of the kitchens—some commercial, but most are the household variety—of the women who elevate the simple act of meal preparation to an artful level, either as a domestic goddess or a professional chef. What you find as you flip the pages of this publication are real kitchens—kitchens which are truly used and abused. You can tell these kitchens are not kitchens designed to impress your bunko group—they are real, hard-working kitchens whish have evolved with the talents and needs of the chefs or families that use them. You see kitchens decked-out in the finest, most desirable professional series equipment, as well as kitchens fitted with a basic four-burner, electric stove and crock pot on the counter. As an added bonus, the articles usually include several recipes.

Another reason to love these magazines is their minimal advertising. There are no “made to look like articles” advertisements about kitchen appliances or the latest sleep aid on the market. And, unlike most websites and many blogs, there are no pop-ups which you have click on the precision-pin-point-spot to close, lest you open another window to learn more about why you should refinance your house now. Stampington & Company publications are intended to inspire and that they do. After reading them, I am motivated to do stuff—to make something or to reorganize my craft area.
So, yes, I love perusing the Pinterest site for images and ideas, but nothing beats the feel of a good decorating book or magazine. I much prefer being able to flip the pages to the “sliding” of images across a screen.
You can pick-up many of the Stampington & Company publications here at Hodgepodge, but they are also available at book stores and the magazine racks of many supermarkets.