Thinking of Maya Angelou...

I spent an hour harvesting strawberries this morning, and thought all about Maya Angelou. It is fascinating to me (have I told you how I love sociology?) how much the world has changed and stayed the same in her lifetime - what a gift she is.

I have pounds of art paper - I don't know how else to quantify it. I have endless amounts of art paper. I'm thinking about putting together paper packs to sell - would you be interested?

 I'm working on some Velociraptor Journals - finally! So fun...

And my newest creation is bookmarks, made from the bindings of the books I upcycle. I back them with art- and vintage- paper and viola! They are so fun - I've sold them at one show so far, and they have flown from my table.

Happy Wednesday! xo

Art Journaling

So much to share about things I've learned in the last two weeks, but for today, just know that I'm going to start sharing my daily work. Proudly. Not shyly. xo

Tidbits (not juicy)

I've been away from this space and have missed it immensely. Here's a little update about things here at Goodness Recycled...

I am growing seeds indoors. Yippee!! It is so much more fun than I expected (and I expected it to be super fun). This will definitely be something we continue every year. At exactly the moment that the grey days have worn you down...a little green sprout is peeking up at you. It's wonderful!

I am also now the proud owner of half of a beehive. That's right. Half. My friend Laura and I took the MIssouri beekeeping course and got completely overwhelmed. So we decided to start with one (they recommend that you start with two), share the responsibilities completely, and then (hopefully) take the plunge completely next year.

This is what happens when you rearrange your art room to be more family friendly. You may see the mess, but I see stories of four of my roommates (that would be all of them) spending time up here in the last two weeks, independently and together. I made my art space smaller and I am feeling more productive than ever. I think this was a great choice. Studio tour here coming in May. (And if you have young kiddos, I can't recommend Keva Planks enough - hours of entertainment for ALL ages - David (um...age 44) built this!)

I participated in Amanda's swap and loved it. I'm afraid I didn't document what I mailed out, but I received this lovely piece of quilted art from Lady Cordelia. It's made to go into a frame, but I may try to make it into a pillow.

In web news - She Finds listed the photo booth we created for my cousin's wedding in her List of 10 Things To Do To Have the Best Summer Wedding Ever. That was super fun to see.

Hope you are well and at least seeing specks of Spring? xo

Yearning for the sea...

   

When I turned 45 last year, I traveled solo to Seaside, Oregon to have some time alone and to take one of Alisa's amazing classes, You, Me and the Sea. It was such a wonderful combination of time to recharge and time to learn something new and challenge myself. I'm missing it today. xo

Grey, grey, grey, but still Friday!

I'm painting - just a little, but it's still so fun. Hard to know where a painting hobby can go when it's challenging just to paint a circle, but I'm enjoying color mixing and learning the difference between hot press and cold press paper.

Here is a little hint to whose studio we'll be visiting next week. Her work is just so happy happy happy to me!

I found these Trixie Belden books this week and will make them into journals. I'm never sure these books will sell (too specific a target audience perhaps?) but when people talk about favorite books out of print, Trixie Beldon comes up often - more so than Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, which surprises me. Does it surprise you?

If you're looking for a hand-made swap for February, Amanda is hosting one and taking sign-ups right now.

Happy Weekend! Happy Super Bowl! xo

At long last - my list for 2014

This post really is just a list of reminders for me, but I've decided that putting it "out there" is important this year...

Nothing like making your list for the year when it is almost February. But, all things considered, this is kind of how I work. Not a one of my roommates would be surprised that my "resolutions" were decided upon 22 days later than most. This isn't a list of resolutions really - it's more of a check list. And most of this list will be a delight to complete, so while it's going to be long, it's completely do-able. Ok, let's get to it:

Goodness Recycled

1. I will paint. A lot.
2. I will get my business functioning like a business - with quarterly goals, show goals, taxes paid on time, etc.
3. I will be in at least four local craft shows - I love them, they are filled with "my people" and I need to join in a bit more on a small scale.
4. I will blog again. I love it and it feeds me. No more cataloguing it as a decadence.
5. I will increase the range of products in my etsy shop.
6. I will research equipment that will help me - I will dread this goal but it is time for a high-quality paper cutter, binding machine and printer to enter this space. There will be research, reporting, saving and craigslisting/ebaying galore.
7. I will update (recreate) my website.
8. I will learn some essential computer skills, most urgently, how to upload a pdf to the internet for tutorials/selling.
9. My business space will be organized and determined - not somewhat a family space, somewhat a craft room and somewhat a business. This step may sound boring, but it's going to be exciting for some reasons I can't yet share.
10. I will explore finding an art space outside of my home. Thankfully, I think David has stopped reading my blog - otherwise, he would comment, "No you won't," and I would reply, "Yes I will!" and he would reply, "No you won't!" (Much in the style of the first 10 seconds here.)
11. I will go to one professional conference. [Read: art retreat.] The only guaranteed companion for this conference will be the ocean.

Creative

1. I will make at least one art doll.
2. I will learn to sew - pillows mostly.
3. I will start and continue art journaling - no excuses.
4. I will make one flip book.
5. I will make a journal for each of my kids.
6. I will learn to marble paper.
7. I will finish a needlepoint pillow for our back porch.
8. I will paint at least two paintings for our home - dining room, master bed.
9. I will knit David a hat that actually fits him.
10. I will knit something for myself. That I don't need.
11. I will make our winter holiday cards - they may be Halloween cards or New Years cards, but they will be handmade.

Health

1. I will walk. Walking has saved my life at times (seriously - more than once - maybe I'll tell you about it some day). I need/want to get back to it.
2. I will swim. I LOVE to swim! And I HATE to be cold - so getting my tookus to the pool is the challenge, once I'm there all is well. Lisa Congdon is a full time artist and avid swimmer - I kind of want to be her. She is my inspiration on this one.
3. I will learn so much about Celiac Disease and gluten, people will walk away from me at parties. I will be such a fact-spouting-smarty-pants-know-it-all, and..
4. by December, I will have a FULL repertoire of recipes to feed my kids that are delicious and crowd pleasing. And we will have a system in our house whereby gluten free healthy and junk food is always easy to find and within reach in a meaningful way (think homemade single serving lasagna in the freezer) - to say we have three growing kids is a ridiculous understatement.
5. I will garden with passion (see next section).

Garden

1. I will garden as if I am going to live in this house for the next 50 years.
2. I will research getting electricity out to our carriage house (details on why this is gardening later).
3. I will complete our side-yard garden - this will include fencing, a rain barrel, perhaps bees and maybe a turtle habitat.
4. We will start an asparagus garden.
5. We will find a way to save cilantro all winter (Similar to saving basil? I wonder.)
6. We will plant garlic again and for the duration.
7. We will explore planting a peach tree again and make a meaningful decision about it.
8. I will read at least two books on permaculture.
9. There will be a tipi.

It's going to be a great year! xo

Under Construction

 

I'm doing some reorganizing around here and part of that reorganizing includes this blog. Please be patient as I get the blog to where I want it to be - I want the photos to be larger, and I need a new heading that will reflect the direction in which my little creative business is heading. I have updated my blog roll - one of the "perks" of blogging is that you can list your favorite blogs on a roll and it will automatically tell you when a blog has been updated. The list I keep on the right changes so that the most recent posts are listed first. So fun. And now, that list reflects lots of changes and updates from other artists so reading should be easy and current.

There is a very small Upcycled Book Journal update in my etsy shop today. So much more to come, but for now, I'm working on getting a selection of listings there since I am starting to apply for some local craft shows. Happy Monday! xo

Happy. New. and Year.

I had so many expectations for this first post of 2014 that I found myself a bit tongue tied (keyboard tied?) about it all. So instead of trying to write some masterpiece of sorts, I'm just going to ramble a bit to get over the hump of starting a new year of blogging. 

Have you picked a word for your year yet? I love this tradition, but my word has not presented itself to me as of today. The finalists include: clarify, clarity, build, nourish, love, patience (my kids suggested patience - hmmmm...) produce (as in vegetables and to make things) and live. I'm going to give myself another week or two before "committing" in the hopes that the right word is obvious before then. One of my favorite new-to-me artists announced that her word of the year would be "snickerdoodle" - that sounds like a fun direction to consider also.

I have a list of things I want to do this year and I plan to post them here for accountability. Coming soon. I'm also very excited about getting back to blogging. I think I have two readers left (hi Elizabeth! hi Joe!), but with any luck, I'll get that number up to at least 10 (five hundred percent bigger - wow!). Ha! We'll see. I'm definitely bringing back Studio Tour Thursdays - can't wait.

These photos are of a recent paper haul I made in Chicago. Paper Source is opening in St. Louis this April - I can hardly wait. Happy New Year! xo

So much to share...

Lots going on over here and my little blog has been neglected to say the least. I didn't post about Faith's 15th birthday, so I'll put her first. Let's call this photo, "Predriving Teen with Huge Potato"?

We dug our sweet potatoes yesterday and had our biggest harvest yet. The soil just keeps getting better and better.

We had so many that David and I loaded them into a wagon and walked our block giving them away. We still have plenty to get us through most of the winter. And talking to neighbors was a great way to ring in these shorter days - the "rhythm" of which I do not always embrace.

It's November and I'm now getting ready for my Black Friday sale. I'll post the invite to that tomorrow. If you live in St. Louis, and like to shop on Black Friday, I hope you'll pop in.

Life is very good, but busy in ways we have not been prepared for. Having a kid in elementary, middle and high school is challenging (the schedules alone - oh my!) in many ways and we are missing some quiet family days over here.

My business has about three directions in which it can grow, and I'm still discerning all the possibilities. And did I mention that all of my kids have Celiac Disease? This means that our kitchen life has changed significantly - again, all manageable, but still feels quite big.

And finally, I think I went through a little creative crisis this year - spending more time quantifying my work and where is compares, what is is worth, rather than just enjoying it. My blog life just disappeared and this is probably the biggest factor in this.

So after the new year, I am planning to re-vamp this space completely. I want to post about my creative process without worrying about the product. I want to bring back Studio Tour Thursdays - I know my friends are missing it and I love doing it. And I want to bring a food component to this blog since our family has converted to being gluten free - I won't be posting as an expert or a "foodie" - I'll be posting as a student and a person who is "in it" in real time as we learn and make changes and grow. Thanks for checking in. xo

Blogging, Blogging - I miss you so...

It's Summer here for our family - our kids finished their school years yesterday. I am missing blogging so very much. Need to get back here, but don't exactly see it happening immediately. Hopefully soon though. In the meantime, I joined the Index Card a Day Challenge today - participants are decorating one 3x5 index card everyday - no pressure, no overthinking...you (I) just do it. More soon! xo

Finally!

I have not been completely forthcoming in my blog space here. I've been posting less and less because I am back at work - 25 hours a week. And boy-oh-boy am I humbled by it all. I've been working for about five months and I still have not found a rhythm to getting laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping and fun (not in that order) tended to in a way that is healthy and good. And don't get me started on how I've neglected my creative pursuits. 

 

Anyways, the stars aligned today in a twisted way - schools were closed for an ice storm that only just arrived and I have two kids who are sick - one of whom is nine today. More on him tomorrow! But because of our beautiful stuck-at-home status, I'm finally getting around to making Kyle a freezer paper stenciled t-shirt. I have some funny ideas to help him with his spelling - and then on the back I'm going to stencil, "Just another great day at New City School". Hope he likes it.

Our valentine show was slow but lovely. Always fun. I tried to make heart garland - it's all over the internet and seemed like it would be easy and fun to make. Um. Not fun. No fun at all.  A lot of work and now I'm thinking the hearts will stay up for a very long time because I don't know how to store them without tangling the thread. Kyle loves his.

 Hope you are warm, and thankful and happy...wherever you are! xo

Small miracles

This happens every single year so today I'm thinking I need to learn to reframe it for good (not as in forever, as in not-for-bad): the holiday art room disaster. Every fall I finish my last art show and then the holiday making begins for my kiddos so they use my (our) space and don't clean up of course and then use the space some more and then I need it, so I use the space on top of their space and so on and so on.... 

The papers in the photo above are from my fall kids' art class. I needed the container they were in, so I recycled this paper that I haven't needed or used since October and unearthed the things that actually belong in this container but have been clutter causing for months now. And that is one example of hundreds. Or at least fifties, yes, I am sure there are at least fifty things completely out of sorts up here. I also found this second grade painting of Kyle's which delights me. So yin and yang - that's what I'll tell myself.

 Thankfully, there is an art party up here tomorrow evening so it is time to stop the insanity.

Here are two clean work tables...miracles! And the fact that I still have a Darth Vader action figure (sans helmet, so do I actually have a dead Darth Vader action figure?) on my sequins container staring me down, and toothpicks that we were looking for when making our Christmas dinner, and two couches that have no room for people to actually sit on....well, never mind. All in good time.

And will I reframe this phase of art room disasterousness? Probably not, but maybe. For now I'm embracing the positive, embracing the positive....

xo!