Cyanotype for the Tiny Art Show

I really did try making these cyanotype prints for fun. But then I remembered I signed up for our library’s Tiny Art Show. I decided to incorporate the vintage music and negatives print into my piece. I’ve been thinking about nostalgia a lot lately–a mix of watching Stranger Things and visiting my hometown and just existing in today’s cruel world…

Anywayyyyyyy…I have had this quote by George W. Ball in my journal for a long time, “Nostalgia is a seductive liar, evoking bowdlerized pictures of times past with all the shadows painted out.” So I distilled the point down to a few words and typed them out and added a shiny vintage Dennison star.

Last Sunday, I met some friends and we went to check out the Tiny Art Show together. (We found Naoto there!) It was such a great variety of styles! Most people painted, but there were a couple who (like me) chose to go another route. I’m sharing some of my favorites:

Now my piece is back home on its little easel and I think I am going to display it with my other library art which just happens to match!

National Handwriting Day

Oh Mr. Dior, I couldn’t disagree more…

Spend Out

When I read The Happiness Project, one thing that stayed with me most was the part where Gretchen Rubin talks about “spending out”. She confesses to having a hard time using brand new things for the first time (not wanting to ruin their “pristine glory”) and tells a personal story about a bottle of perfume that sat on her grandmother’s dresser for as long as she remembered. The bottle was full when her grandmother died, most likely because her grandmother was saving it for a special occasion.

I’m a total saver. In some ways, it’s a good thing. My savings paid for our wedding and the down payment on our apartment. But in many other ways, my saving is just crazy. I save my “good outfits” (just in case some fun, unexpected plans come up) instead of wearing them to work or to run errands. I save gift cards for the perfect purchase. (We still have three gift cards from our wedding almost seven years ago.) I save the snacks I bring home from Japan. I save the “good” pens for the “right” use, as if I don’t deserve to enjoy writing out my to-do list. I save the good stationery for special occasions (which, for the record, never happen). I save scrapbook supplies because I never think I’m good enough or creative enough to use them the “right” way. I save good art in the closet because I’m afraid to mess up where/how I hang it. I save (as pictured above) fancy paper for juuuust the right project. (Full disclosure: this is just a small portion of my paper collection…the rest is in bins in the closet. Shall I take a break while you call the Hoarders people now?)

I don’t think I’m alone in my saving (hoarding). I often hear to other crafters lament that it’s hard use up their “best” supplies. I know other letter-writing lovers who talk about “hoarding” their vintage postage. I know people who have a hard time making the first pen mark in a brand new journal. I have a set of teacups that my mother received as a wedding gift that sat in its original box in her attic for thirty-nine years before she gave them to me. (A year later, I have yet to use these teacups.)

One of my goals for 2013 (and beyond) is to spend out–to use up or wear out everything I’ve been hoarding. I am going to break out the new dishcloths that my mom gave us for Christmas in 2011. (See how crazy I am?) I am going to use up my fancy papers, even if it means dreaming up reasons to use them. I am going to spend the gift card stash and wear the good clothes until they cannot be worn anymore. I am going to hang up all the art, even if it means patching a few mistakes in the walls. I am going to crack open the journal I made five years ago and fill it up with messy handwriting. I am going to use up ALL of my stationery (I’ve actually been doing well using up this lovely stuff Naoto bought me!) I am going to fearlessly use my typewriter, knowing I can easily buy more ribbon for it, and use my vintage Dymo label-maker knowing I can buy more tape for it. And…I’m going to use up my washi tape–which is by far my most-hoarded supply. I don’t want my craft stash to become the perfume bottle of my existence.

Are you a saver? Is there something you would like to use up this year? Are you a spender? Any words of wisdom for the savers?

Thankful Quotes

Almost all of my Thanksgiving invitations in past years have included a quote about being thankful. (The 2008 invitations above included a quote from Willie Nelson.)

I, like most people I suppose, am a big fan of quotes. I love having little bits of wisdom to think about or turn to when I’m stuck or sad, or happy and thankful. I always notice good quotes, but I don’t always take note of them (except for on this Pinterest board), so one of my goals for the upcoming days is to always write down sayings or words of wisdom or song lyrics that speak to me. And actually just yesterday, as I was Tweet lamenting my compared failure at coming up with a good Thanksgiving table, Donovan reminded me of this: Comparison is the thief of joy.

So, while I am digging out our spare room–which by the way is already a complete dumping ground for ongoing projects, hoarded craft supplies, and home improvement tools but now has also become the dumping ground for the contents of one closet and the master bath–please enjoy these grateful quotes. Some I have used for Thanksgivings past. If you have any grateful quotes to add, please include them in the comments! I love expanding my world of words to live by!

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. -William Arthur Ward

Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart. -Henry Clay

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. -John F. Kennedy

Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. -Marcel Proust

Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude. -A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others. -Marcus Tullius Cicero

When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around. –Willie Nelson

Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart. -Seneca

God has two dwellings; one in heaven, and the other in a meek and thankful heart. –Izaak Walton

For each new morning with its light, for rest and shelter of the night, for health and food, for love and friends, for everything thy goodness sends. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul. –Henry Ward Beecher