Category: Blog

What kind of holiday wreath can you create on a budget? If you have $3 – $5, you can buy a simple (undecorated) wreath at Michaels crafts stores, and decorate them with whatever you have on hand. Add another $5 (or so) and you can have a wreath that looks like the one above.

That’s one of Michaels’ $10 wreaths, currently on sale at $5. It’s big.

I also bought a pick of white flowers and a small vial of shiny ornaments – both at 50% off. The total cost, including Florida sales tax, was about $12.

I snipped the wires in the flowers so I could weave them into the wreath. (Yes, I’m going to move one of the flowers… it’s not quite where I’d like it.)

Then I hot-glued the ornaments in place.

It may not be my most creative or original wreath ever, but this year I’m focusing on handmade gifts for family, as well as my collage work. So, for the time and money, I’m pleased with this wreath, and wanted to share it with you.

Happy holidays, merry everything!

During 2020, many of us have had time to pause, reflect on what we’re doing (and not doing), and make different choices.

Like me, you may find your deepest self-expression in art, whether or not you’re ready to describe yourself as an “artist.”

Suddenly, creativity is emerging from our hearts and our souls. That artistic voice is announcing to ourselves – and perhaps the world – who we are.

Unique.

Valuable.

With something to say.

We’re saying that in our art journaling, scrapbooking, drawing and painting, decorating, and more.

We’re using pencils, paint, paper, canvas and cloth, digital resources, and “found art” items.

We’re coloring, reorganizing, and redecorating.

We’re simplifying. Focusing on what brings us joy.

We’re creating journals, wearables, objects d’art, and… well, lots of things we don’t have words for. Not yet, anyway.

This is about US… who we are, inside. The things we want (or need) to say.

And this is tremendously healthy.

Our future is ART!

Celebrate it!

Have the critics – including that inner critic – worn you down? Do you just want to curl up in bed and sleep, utterly overwhelmed by “impostor syndrome”?

If you’re fighting the snarky critic in your head (or maybe a few around you, in real life or online), Danielle Krysa’s TED Talk is powerful, and – admittedly – kind of painful at times. Watch it anyway.

And here she is, in her studio. I love the honesty in this.

She has an intriguing blog: The Jealous Curator/blog. Go see it.

Danielle also records podcasts with fellow artists & creatives. So far, she’s recorded over 150 of them, which you can access at “Art for Your Ears.”

Of course, if you’d like to see her books… well, she has lots of them for and about artists. Some are advice. Some are insights. Some are how-to. Here’s the Amazon link: Books by Danielle Krysa.

Like many people, I’m working my way through “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up…” by Marie Kondo, also called the “KonMari” process. It’s about decluttering, and surrounding yourself only with things that bring you joy.

The process has been astonishing, and I’m still early in the process.

The following is this morning’s observation, which I shared elsewhere (in social media), but… well, you may enjoy this, too.
…

Clearing out, I keep stumbling onto things I’ll like but I know I’ll never use.

Or, an item that’s long past its “use by” date in the real world, but I’ve had the idea that “I might need this someday.”

Or, the reason I bought it…? Now, it’s LIGHT YEARS off my current and projected creative trajectory.

But, I’ll be honest. Letting go of the item is, on a small scale, kinda-sorta like a divorce.

The breakup itself can be difficult (or not), but the REALLY excruciating part is: letting go of the original dream.

You know… that “ooh, shiny” moment when I acquired whatever-it-is. The idea that it would be the coolest thing EVER, when I used it for… something. Often, that was some specific event or project that was part of an even larger, future vision.

And then, my life swerved in a different direction.

A direction that made more sense and turned out pretty darned cool, and I do NOT regret it.

But each new adventure on that path took me even further from the earlier vision.

So, a lot of the stuff I’m letting go of now… it was part of a rosy, “what if..?” dream. But that’s in the past.

Often, the swerve in my life happened for an external reason.

It’s WAY too easy to blame it on someone who really DID stand as an obstacle in my path, at that point. And he or she really WAS a jerk.

But, jerk or not, my life went in a different direction. And I had fun anyway.

Probably a LOT more fun than I might have had, on the previous path.

Still, some of this process is like a divorce. And it’s FAR to easy to want to hold onto that old dream (and that related, old grudge)… IF I let myself do that.

The process isn’t easy, but it’s healthy. And, by releasing those mini-anchors to the past, I’m allowing myself to move forward with less holding me back.

For me, THAT’s what this is about.