bee creative

Reflecting on the year to come

Went for a walk down by the bay with my Mom and Dad today.  A very nice way to start the new year!

I also spent some time thinking about resolutions.  I'm not one to think they only should be made in January, but rather whenever appropriate.  However, the change of the calendar year is a good marker for reflecting and thinking about where to go next. So I do have some goals.  And they are:

1.  To become more comfortable riding my bike.  This will help make my bus/walk commute shorter and I'll still get exercise.

2.  To lose another 20 pounds or go down another size. 

3.  To stop eating treats from the co-op that are wrapped in plastic.

4.  To use my library card rather than buy books (even used).

5.  To use up all my fabric scraps in some productive way and then to keep scraps more organized.

6.  To continue to find ways to be sustainable/regenerative in my life style.

And of course, to continue being creative rather than just thinking about it...

Happy New Year everyone! 

Inspire Me Thursday-Ice

Here's my effort for "ice" for Inspire Me Thursday.  My ice is hard to see.  The glitter didn't scan very well. 

It's 26 degrees F right now...there will be more ice tomorrow morning, perhaps some snow.  Right now it is clear and cold and it's easy to see the stars....

Recycled materials for this project:  paper from my stash and my old journal. 

Inspire Me Thursday-Gratitude

I'm also grateful to Inspire Me Thursday-it's helped me become more consistent in my efforts  to be more creative....  A new challenge that I'm setting for myself is that in every response to an Inspire Me Thursday prompt, I'm going to include something recycled.  I've done this pretty frequently, but am aiming to make it a  regular  part of what I'm doing.

 

Living in the moment of November

November can be a difficult month to enjoy.   So much of our culture is about getting through November to get to December.  So I thought I'd remind myself of some of the things that I like about November. 

Quince Paste experiment

Finally had a chance to try making quince paste.  I found a recipe last year in Cooking at Home, On Rue Tatin by Susan Herrmann Loomis.
And then, thanks to my grandmother and aunt and uncle, I had quince.  Two things I learned today:

1.  Quince paste is yummy stuff.
2.  Cats that sit on keyboards are a pain in the neck (that's another story...). 

Inspire Me Thursday-Journal

Thinking about the "hats I wear" I decided the best was the juggler, and an overachieving juggler at that.  I contemplated making a list of all the projects that I'm working on, but decided I really didn't want to see it all in one place!

 

My current goal:  I will not start any new projects until  I finish all works in progress. Except for, umm...those mittens I need asap! 

What's on my mind this morning...

The first blog I fell in love with was Keri Smith's Wish Journal.  I admire tremendously how she approaches life.  This morning I found an interview with her that summarizes so much of what appeals to me....  She talks about being creative and about how being artistic connects to her concerns about the environment. 

I added my favorite quote from the interview to my journal:
 

"There are many forms of creativity, many people have not given themselves the space to find other methods that might appeal to them."   Keri Smith

By "other" she means the technical ability to draw is not what it takes to be an artist, to be creative. 

She talks about the process of creating as being important.  This is one of the things that I work with everyday.  Part of my work with one year old children is often to explain to parents that children this age have no sense of product, that it is all about process...

I'm mulling over in my mind right now about how we are so product oriented in our culture now.  About how often success in our culture means having things.  Buy more, shop more, shopping as entertainment.  I suppose this is driven by marketing.  I'm guessing I'll be thinking more about these things.  Next up on my reading list is Deep Economy by Bill McKibben.

It's not a big leap in my mind to go from creativity to economy and consumption.  Because the answer for me about how to be less consumption driven is to be more creative.  Being creative is not just about art, but about how I want to approach life.  Because being involved in the process of what I need in my life is important to me.  I think being sustainable and being creative go hand in hand.

Lot's more for me to think about here....

Inspire Me Thursday-As Free as a Bird

A response to the Inspire Me Thursday  journal prompt.  This is an altered picture of a chickadee that I took.  My parents  have a bird feeder right outside their kitchen window.  It is so amazing to sit right in front of the window and be a foot from a bird, separated by glass and a window screen.

I'm also lucky at work.  I have a window right next to a tree where I've hung a bird feeder.  The one year olds I work with love watching the birds come. 

The text at the bottom is from a poem by Wendell Berry, one of my favorite poets:

"I go easy and silent, and the warblers
appear among the leaves of the willows,
Their flight like gold thread...." 

Art journal in progress

I'm working more and more on altering my old journal into my new art journal.  My journal spans a time frame from November 16, 1999 to May 31, 2004 and covers some of the biggest changes to my life.  I'm not a "write an entry every day" kind of person so sometimes there were large gaps in the time line.  It's  been fun to read back through this journal and decide what should be kept and what should be covered-altered in fact.

Because it is now a "new" journal, I decided to alter the cover this week.  When I bought this journal it was solid blue.  Right away I taped the dragonfly card to the front with some copper tape and add a bit of text from a favorite poem.  Today I added some more paint, ripped the paper a bit, and then added a bit more paint.  And lastly I added the prompt to "Bee Creative." 

Inspire Me Thursday-Journal

Thought I'd have a go at that Inspire Me Thursday Journal prompt...