Mixed Media Collage from Kim and Kris at diydish.com

Just in time for Mother's Day--here is a link to a video by Kim and Kris on creating a collage of photos and other things on an inexpensive canvas frame.  The results are impressive.  The process seems easy, quick, and quite inexpensive.  As you will see, the requirements are a canvas, some decoupage paste, photos printed on a laser printer using regular photocopy paper, and a few crafty things like flowers, beads, or really anything number of things you might want to glue on to personalize the collage. I don't have a laser printer or a good friend with one willing to let me use up their color ink cartridge.  As suggested, I will be using the big box office supply store.

I'm looking forward to creating one (or two).  I'll post the results.

Promises to live by

Just a quick entry here.  One the blogs I frequent, Kind Over Matter,  has a wonderful piece from Christian D. Larson posted that serves as a succinct reminder of  ways we can best navigate life.    Just click here.  I hope you will like it as much as I did

I have a frame on my desk where I keep whatever inspirational writing appeals to me at the moment.  It changes frequently.  At present, there are three about change. I don't remember where they came from, but they may well have come from Kind Over Matter.  Since I often have trouble dealing with change, both in accepting the need to move on from abruptly changed plans and from long-term situations that are not longer working, these have worked well for me.   The quote from Alan Cohen says:

"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new.  But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful.  There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power." 

Anais Nin's advice is:  

Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through.  Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it.  This is a kind of death.

And from Georg C. Lichtenberg:

I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.

Hello!

I finally did it!! I have a blog! I have continually said to my husband, "I really want to start a blog." He has continually responded, "Great idea. You should do that." The prospect of starting, however, always seemed sooo overwhelming. I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Everything has to be researched in depth before I can begin. What if I wrote something that had errors in it? What if no one cared about what I had to say? It would be all out there for EVERYONE to see! But yesterday I was reading Gretchen Rubin's book, The Happiness Project. Not only did she admit to sharing some of my doubts, but she really did start a blog. Thanks to Gretchen there will be no more blog procrastinating. This may not look exciting right now, but I am determined to learn as I go with this.

Why do I have a blog? There are a number of reasons. First, I like to write even though, as I said, I am a bit of a perfectionist. I edit to distraction and agonize over any errors that still manage to get through. One of my goals is to write and just let it go. I will try to do it as well as I can and will accept the errors as gracefully as possible.

I also want to find kindred souls that share my interests in sewing, crafts, books, home maintenance, writing, photography, and life in general. I love my family, but they really don’t want to talk about how difficult it is to gather appropriate fabrics for a quilt. I love my book club members, too. We can only get together once a month, though.

In addition, I really appreciate other bloggers who have taken the time to share. They have given me so much inspiration. Sometimes the simplest ideas have helped me make life easier, create something beautiful, find the perfect solution to a dilemma, even be a better person.

Last, I sometimes forget how much I really do accomplish. This blog will serve as a record of all the successes and even failures I have in the course of just living. I’m hoping that someone out in the vast web world might benefit from them as well.

Consider reading The Happiness Project. While I am only a quarter of the way through, I have already found interesting ideas, encouragement, justification for some of the ideas I have long held, and greater understanding of how we, as human beings, interact with one another. I am going to read this though quickly because I hate putting it down. Then I am going to read it again with a highlighter and a notebook in hand (more likely a laptop in hand) so that I can go check out at some of the many resources Gretchen mentions. There are few—very, very few—books that I willingly read twice. The only other one that comes to mind right now is Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. Look at that! Two book suggestions in my first blog entry.