Day 220: Making a Guide to Your Creative Dreams, Part 2

Quote:

“However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them? ”

-The Buddha

So, here’s the thing. We must learn that actions indeed speak louder than words. Who really cares what you think or how you believe, if you do not act upon it? It’s like art; to be an artist, you must actually become one. Actions. That is what the world around you sees. That is what you see.

The act of love is what makes it so. It’s the same for all things. You can’t just expect people to come to you, for opportunity and prosperity to come to you, you must go out and chase after it. You must reach for it.

Today, I finished the album I was making. The rest of the steps are really simple. I decorated the pages based on what I thought went next in my little guide to my own creative dreams.

A good tip is to have a mental list. I put envelopes in the pages, for journaling about my creative dreams.

Remember the earrings I made? Well, I lost one. So here’s the other one.

This key. I love it. My mother in law says that whenever you see keys on the floor, lost, you should always pick them up and put them somewhere sacred. I think it’s so that you can have open doors in your life.

This key is easy to make. Just add glue, and your left over glitter, and top it with crafty chica glaze. Cool, right?

The Empress. She is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. She gives the ideas form, and makes them happen. Cool right?

Anyway, that’s my book!

In your book, add the pictures and things that represent, not just what you want, but what you need to get what you want. In the envelopes, add poems or a list of things that you think you need, or should focus on. This book helps you put your dreams into action, in a fun interactive way.

I have to go. I have a meeting with a friend tonite, and then I have to prep for this:

This Saturday. Holy Crap. I completely forgot, can you believe it? I am shitting bricks, trying to get everything together. I hope you can make it out to New Jersey so you can support me, your local artist and crafter.

The Craftaholic

Day 179: Make a Book of YOU-Part 2

Quote:

“There’s no shop that sells kindness, you must built it within.”

How does one build kindness? It is implied in the quote above, that one must create it. When you build something, you are creating something that isn’t there yet.

So then, how do you build kindness?

Kindness.

In dictionary.com, it’s defined as:

of a good or benevolent nature or disposition, as a person: a kind and loving person. indulgent, considerate, or helpful; humane.

Wonderful! So how can we “build” these things into our heart?

When you fall in love, we say that someone is in our heart, or stole our heart or some cliche like that. This is because the person is in our mind and in our life so much, that they become a part of our heart. In the same way, the aforementioned actions should become a part of our mind and part of our life so much, that it then becomes ingrained in our hearts. It becomes our heart.

Today’s crafty endeavor is a continuation from last night. I’ve been really into chunky books lately. I love making them.

So today, I added pictures and pretty lace. And here’s a story: I was walking around with my hubby and little one, and went to one of my favorite little fabric stores. I don’t sew much, but they have such cool things, I always buy something. Anyway, they had some beautiful lace trimming at only 20 cents a yard! I bought like 10 yards.

Anyway, put the pages together with some pretty lace or ribbon. On the pages, I added some pictures of myself and a couple of my daughter cuz you know, she’s a part of me. This book is all about ME. No one else’s goals but mine.

I know it’s a shitty picture, sorry.

Here’s what it looks like, all finished:

Cool, right? The cover is a paper doll fairy that I made a long time ago.

Sorry the pictures are crappy and the posts are late. I’ve been trying to spend more time at home with my little one, teaching her the abc’s and stuff like that.

Anyhow, I’m super excited for tomorow! I will be working on a very cool piece that’s going to be a part of an upcoming mail art exhibit, in California.

I was so uninspired to be honest with you, until I bought a box of candy. So it’s on like donkey kong.

More about the exhibit tomorow.

Ta, kids. I’m watching Sheer Genius and hoping to work up the bravery to get a hair cut soon.

OH yeah! I wanted to mention, that if you don’t have chipboard, just use some cereal boxes.

The Craftaholic

Day 178: Make A Book of YOU-Part 1 + custom colored glitter!

Quote:

“If you have a sincere and open heart, you naturally feel self-worth and confidence, and there is no need to be fearful of others.”

Yesterday I wrote about having a good heart. Today, it’s about being open and sincere. The one thing I hate about living in New York is the fakeness of people. I hate that. More than I can’t stand the coldness, I have low tolerance for fake people.

REALLY low.

One thing we can all try to do, is know our truth. If we know our truth, then we know ourselves, and can act with a “sincere and open heart”. But then…what does it mean to know our truth? Our truth is who we are, and what we are looking for. Knowing this can affect your every day life, and the friendships you seek.

Know your truth. What do you REALLY want in life? What are your dreams, your goals in life? Are you who you envision yourself to  be? What I mean is, we all come to this earth flawed, and wrinkled. I realized this shortly after giving birth to my daughter. Not that she had flawed, because really, how many flaws can a 3 week old have, right? But she already had her own personality. Even in the hospital, just a few days old, she never wanted to be swaddled. She would wiggle and squirm until she had nothing on her. I thought it was so cute, that she just didn’t like something. I mean, only a few days old, and she already had her likes and dislikes.

So we all come to the earth with our quirks and our flaws. But we can choose to evolve. Do you see yourself evolving, changing, growing? I see myself growing. Evolving. But then, I’m a sagitarius. We LIVE for change and evolution. If you’re a taurus or virgo out there (who detest change), just think: we all grow up to be adults. And just as our physical body grows, so our spiritual body, and mental self must also grow. It is not nice to be just like our children in the playground.

When you are in touch with your truth, then it makes you respond to the world around you differently. When you are focused on the truth within you, you aren’t acting nutty, or expecting the world to grant you something it doesn’t have to.

Today I have a cool project for you. I started a project, it’s called, “The Book of You”.

This book is just as the title suggests. It’s a chunky scrapbook, about you. Not really the pictures, but about your desires. What do you see yourself becoming? What do you want from your life, from your future? This is what this book is about. This is a book of pictures, affirmations, and just all the things that catch your eye, that you call beautiful, combined with words and objects that personify what you want in life.

The first thing you’ll need is seven pieces of chipboard. These are cut to 1/4 the size of a regular copy paper sheet. I know there are more than seven sheets in the page. The rest are for another project soon to come.

After that, get some papers you really love. The papers will of course, go with your theme (which is or should be, what you want in life).

These are the ones I picked.

And on the other side….

Then, glue them to the chipboard. I covered all of them with the paper to the left, then the other side, with the paper to the right. I know some of the white parts and chipboard are sticking out. It doesn’t matter, we’re going to cover the edges with….

YES. Glitter.

Let that dry, and we’ll chat tomorow, about what to do next.

Meanwhile, here’s a bonus tute for you.

I love glitter snow. ALOT. It’s fun. The only thing is, it does of course, only come in clear white. But that can change, my crafty friends!

So, here’s how to make your own CUSTOM colored glitter.

You’ll need, of course, some glitter snow.

It’s easy peasy to do this. Just sprinkle the glitter on some cardstock.

Now for the next step, get your container where you plan on storing this glitter, and some india ink. India ink is easy to get at any art supply store.

Just put the glitter in your container, and add about 6 or 7 droppers full of india ink, and shake, shake, shake. Also, it helps to have a chopstick or bamboo skewer or something like that.

At the end, you should have some thing like this:

I had to take the picture in the bathroom, because it has the best lighting. And you still can’t really see all the glimmer to it. But trust me, this works. You can also use glimmer mist, but it makes for a  paler look.

Anyway, that’s all for now.

The Craftaholic

Day 146: Little Owls Everywhere

Quote:

“All religions are essentially the same in their goal of developing a good heart so that we may become better human beings.”

What does this mean? I think it comes down to the idea of just going beyond the idea of labels. Why must we insist on labeling ourselves? When we do this we separate ourselves and create division.

Go beyond the comfort of “staying within your pack”, and just work on your inner self. If we all do this, then perhaps we can be further surrounded by peace.

Think about it. What does it mean to be spiritual? It’s just an idea of trying to develop a good heart, and slowly tread towards our spiritual goal, which is just the state of Nirvana, no matter what we call it.

To be good is simply defined as “moral or virtuous”.  Although we all define our own morality, we can agree that having a virtuous heart, is certainly something we all seek.

Perhaps you can try to achieve this, by going beyond the labels that we and society put on us. We can also try doing something for others. Think of others before you think of yourself. Try making your art, just for art’s sake, and maybe try donating your time or your art to something you believe in. In this way, we can slowly tread towards having a good heart.

Today I made another set of books. I know, I am unstoppable. But I have this pretty paper, and so I want to show it off.

I made a set of little owl journals. Cute, right? I love them. One of them is for sale, in my shop. The other is going in a pile of books to give away somehow.

Speaking of giving away, I do have a plan for my knitwear. Some time ago, you may remember that I said I wanted to make scarfs to give randomly to homeless people throughout NYC. I didn’t have enough donations for my efforts, and I started a bit late, so I am going to do the giveaway this coming December.

I would love for you all to donate some scarves to my efforts! This December, I’ll be giving them away. You can also plan to collect a bunch of scarves on your own and come with me. You can also do a “Scarves for the Homeless” in your city! If you do, let me know.

Day 145: Mixed Media Collaged Journal Page

Quote:

“The ultimate way to solve human problems is with nonviolence.”

It seems like we try to agree with this. Right? What does non violence mean?

Well, I can tell you what it doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean arguing. It doesn’t mean that instead of fighting with hands, you fight with words. Your words have power, more than your hands do. Through your words, you can heal or destruct someone. It’s sad, that most of us, we pretend to understand this, but we do not truly get it.

What we do know, is that we want good things to come to us. But we still label ourselves and others. We still form cliques. We still exclude people, in a childish fashion, as if we were “good enough” to exlude someone. As if we have some right to leave someone out. This is a violent thing we do, act in these childish ways.

Non violence. Hmm. I doubt that you ever saw Ghandi or Mother Theresa leaving someone out. You are probably thinking, well I don’t really want to be Ghandi or Mother Theresa. I know. Neither do I. But my point is that these two people are the prime example of what a compassionate life is.

Life isn’t about adding to your bank account, or trying to be someone famous. I doubt very much that Ghandi said to his wife, “you know I just want to be a world leader, and become very famous and have a movie made of my life.”  He didn’t. He just knew what his calling was in life, and chose to pursue it, through peace and non violence. The opposite of peace is strife, right? Who wants that? Not me. So if you want peace and non violence in your life, then show it. Be it. Find your passion, your calling in life, and just pursue it. You don’t have to be the next Martha Stewart. There is only one Martha Stewart, Fridha Kahlo, or Ghandi. They all have distinct roles in life.

Your soul will tell you what your life’s calling is; your passion and drive will get you there.

I don’t think that Martha Stewart has to try hard to be her. She just is who she is, and does what she does. Like birds just fly. That’s what they do. They don’t have to over analyze it. They just are. So just be who you are. Take steps forward, and move. One foot in front of the other. That will get you there. Just move. Life, and move within yourself. Just like the birds in the sky. They just are. They know how to be a bird, because that is what they are.

That’s what is so wonderful about art. Through our art and our creativity, we can discover ourselves. We can find out who we are. Do what comes naturally.

Speaking of art, my creative endeavor today, I am sharing with you today, a journal page from my sketchbook. There’s a small book that I made, with some collage work with my poetry. The little book is glued on the collaged page. The owl is there, of course because as you all know, I love owls.

The book is made of grocery bags.

This page features my poem, “I was afraid to speak”

La Dama.

This is my poem, “Once upon a time, while sleeping”.

My poem, “Cellophane Girl”

Like it? I hope you do.

The Craftaholic

Day 143: Thoughts of forgiveness, and Some Art Work

Quote:

“The basic sources of happiness are a good heart, compassion, and love.”

I have come to realize that few people really understand this. I think that many people long for peace, love and goodness. But few people actually open their minds enough to apply this to  their life.

We go through our lives holding on to so many things from the past. We hold on to p[ast hurts, and emotions from the past. Lovers that broke up with us, family members that have passed on, people who have hurt us…but we do not realize that holding on to these things only punishes ourselves.

When you don’t forgive someone, you think you are punishing them. They don’t deserve your forgiveness after the dispicable thing they did. How dare they. They don’t deserve your forgiveness. This is what you think, right? But you’ve got it all wrong. Me forgiving you isn’t about weather or not you deserve it. It’s about weather or not I DESERVE to be happy.

I looked up the word Forgiveness in dictionary.com. You want to know what the antonym is?

Antonyms:

accusation, blame, censure, charge,punishment, sentence

We cannot have happiness without forgiveness. We cannot have peace without forgiveness. We cannot have love without forgiveness. You cannot hold grudges, or fail to forgive someone, and then expect your life to go well. You cannot expect to be happy when you hold things, negative things in your heart.

When you fail to forgive, you only punish yourself.

Today’s crafty endeavor is a couple pieces of art that I made. One of my goals this year, was to make more artwork. So here goes, some art that I recently made.

This is the fairy of creativity. In her hands, she holds a heart, because creativity comes from the heart.

And this one wasn’t from today, but I do love it. It’s called, “My tears are never ending”. I made this when I was in a dark place. I don’t feel that way anymore, but it’s interesting to see how emotions come into play with art. Right?

The Craftaholic

This is MY life-UPDATED

(this is a picture of my little one, this past summer. We were on our way to Coney Island.)

I emphasized the word my, because as a mom and a wife, I get so caught up doing things for everyone else, I sometimes I forget about myself!

So Andrea Shroeder has made another assignment that I am late on. This one, is to make a life list. A life list, meaning you make a list of small goals that you can achieve this year. They are proclamations for your self. These are focused on what you’re doing this year, for 2010.  There’s one list for several categories.

Here’s my list:

• this is my health

I will do yoga at least once a week

I will meditate as often as I can

I will eat less refined sugars and white flour

I will NOT salt my food. too much.

• these are my relationships

go on regular dates with my husband

be the friend to others, that I seek in others

I will show compassion to others

I will let love and kindness in

• this is my buisiness

I will double my income this year

I will continue blogging

I will sell my work in stores and shops throughout the U.S.

I will set up my own website

I will design and post ads throughout

I will be PROUD of my work no matter what

• this is my creativity/purpose

I will make art, for art’s sake.
I will make art every day, when possible
I will make art with my daughter
I will try to sell my handmade journals in fairs and markets

I will get published

• this is how i practice self-love/self-care

I will take a long hot bubble bath, at least once a week
I will get regular manicures
I will write/draw/imagine in my journal regularly

• this is how i experience happiness/adventure

I will take regular day trips with my husband, out of the city

I will be more spontaneous

I will remember to respond to a situation with reason not emotion

So, what do you think? What are YOUR goals for this year?

So, here’s the update.

I do remember to take my vitamins every day. Usually. And I drink more water. I have a to go mug, to bring my coffee in, to be more eco-friendly.

Next month, I’m going to be teaching a class on making your own handmade soap, and want to get back into making my own soap.

It’s too hot for a hot bath, but I practice self love by making yummy desserts, and making lovely craftiness just for me.

Getting out of the city is hard when you rely on the metropolitan transportation authority.

But I’m trying.

I am.

I make art for swaps and such now, so that is fun.

And when I make art, i get a project for my daughter to work on also, or she watches me thru parts of it. That’s fun.

The Craftaholic