Stationery Scoop

Kick it creative

 

It's a weekend jam-packed with creative endeavors, just as a weekend should be. The way I see it...Monday to Friday are for serious thinking and planning, Saturday and Sunday are for letting loose creatively.

Last night, I joined my monthly crafty crew for scrapbooking, cross-stitching, painting, and [in my case] knitting. Here's the project that I'm working on, a tuque for my eldest daughter. Here's the link to download the free pattern. I knit for so many hours that one finger went numb. I guess when I go for it, I really go for it!

Today, I assembled a play tent and crawling tunning for my girls. Thank you Ikea for coming up with great play toys that FRUSTRATE THE PARENTS when trying to assemble it. According to my Kolbe profile, I have lots of energy for fact-finding, and limited energy for assembling and building. Gee, you think? Happily, the kids are now outside, in the tent, in an imaginary, far-away land. Perfect.

 

And to keep us going through the afternoon, we're diving into this book How To Draw Dinosaurs. There should be enough variety to satisfy the T-rex lovers and the velociraptor fans in my family.

Next week is my 500th post, so stay tuned for something exciting!

a good day for making art

I was reflecting today on how anyone, anywhere can make art. Years ago, my Mom and I taught a class in papermaking. It was at a lake-site retreat, with the beauty of nature all around us. We covered the basics of papermaking - making pulp, setting up a papermaking station, pulling sheets, couching on the pad, pressing and drying.

And then it was time to get creative.

We put out the suggestion that the students could now take inspiration from their surroundings and incorporate leaves, grasses and flowers of their liking. My husband John had been lurking on the fringes of the group, but at that point, I invited him to come join us. He agreed and set to work on his own project. I got busy helping other students with their work. Some were embedding flower petals, plucked fresh off their stems. Others were laminating green leaves between two newly-pulled sheets. Still others were layering colored sheets of paper, one on top of another.

After some time, I wandered over to John's station to see what he was up to. To my surprise and delight, he was creating something really special. One three sheets of cotton paper, he had placed whole roses, covered them with a second sheet of cotton paper, and then carefully and selectively pulled away some of the paper to reveal the treasure underneath. It was the coolest sculptural piece!

That moment stands out in my mind, because it demonstrated so clearly what can happen when you park your artistic inhibitions, rules and "musts" at the door and just get into a project.

John didn't have an artistic background, but he had a moment of inspiration and went for it. When the pieces dried, he had a fantastic piece of art, which to this day, hangs framed in his office, a testiment to how anyone can create art.

What are you doing today? Go make some art!

Gift wrapping & New Year's plans

After a brief and restful hiatus from normal life, we're getting back into the swing of things including work and regular exercise and eating normally (if I can remember what that is!).

While I was wrapping gifts last weekend, I found a number of great sites for gift wrapping and gift tags. I'm documenting them now, in case you still have some New Year's gifts to hand out, and as a reference for next year.

Blueprint print-your-own black and white wrapping paper and tags. I used these templates together with gold wrapping paper (see right) and was delighted with the results. This paper would also be wonderful for Valentine's Day, paired with red or pink tissue paper.

I needed some fun and festive tags for my daughter's gifts so these tags were great, so were these gift adornments.

And with Christmas over, my thoughts are on New Year's Eve. It's our turn to host this year, and my husband and I are considering this Menu #3, provided that we can pull everything together over the weekend (Monday is a work day).

And for New Year's Eve favors, what better than a Plantable Greeting Card set, to equip our guests up for any special occasion in the new year.

Winterland Crafts

It's a winter wonderland around here, and with the gentle snow falling, I find myself in a mood for crafting. This baby bootie knitting project
is perfect for a snowy winter's day. It's an easy project that gives rapid gratification; when it comes to knitting, I love the small, doable projects like booties, dishclothes and tea cozies.

Papermaking is also a wonderful afternoon's project for kids and adults alike. Check out this papermaking kit that even includes a video. And the Encyclopedia of Papermaking and Bookbinding will inspire you on a winter's day.

Get organized clip-art and templates

Being both a paper person and someone who loves the *idea* of being organized, I like these clip-art freezer labels from the folks at Martha Stewart. Just print them onto label stock, trim and then affix them to everything that you put in the freezer.

Speaking of clip-art, I also like the DIY Planner pages that allow you to print and create your own daytimer, for free! I used the DIY Planner system for a long time, before switching to the new Moleskine 18 month weekly planner notebook.

To get organized for the holidays, you can't beat the Holiday Grandplan, an 18-week plan to prepare for the holidays in December. There are tons of free downloadable templates, shopping lists, planning charts and more.

Finally, I stay organized around the house thanks to FlyLady, that paragon of homely preparation and organization who encourages us to tackle our homes in baby steps. Love her!

Do you have a favorite organization website or clip-art source that you'd like to share? Let us know - we'd love to hear from you!

Monday Special: Buy 2, Get 1 Free Handmade Paper

A few years ago, Botanical PaperWorks' handmade papers received "CK OK" designation from the folks at Creating Keepsakes magazine. This layout was published in Creating Keepsakes along with images of our handmade papers. I found the page recently when I was going through some samples at work. Can you guess who the baby is? It's me!

For our Monday special this week, I want to make an offer that gets our handmade paper into your hands, the hands of our cardmakers, scrapbookers, bookbinders and paper crafters. So here it is:

Buy two sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 handmade paper, get the third sheet free

Don't wait - this offer is valid until Wed, August 29 at noon Central Time on orders of 24 sheets or less. For orders placed online, your total will be adjusted by our Customer Care Team and a confirmation sent by email.

When your paper arrives, don't hoard it, be free and use it (instead of saving it, saving it, saving it). And be sure to send us a photo or scan of your creation. We'll post it on our blog.

Weekend Project: Personalized CD Covers

Looking for a fun and easy weekend project? Spend a bit of time burning a CD of favorite tunes for a cherished friend, sister or niece. Choose songs that have special meaning for the two of you, or songs on a particular theme.

A friend of mine loves a CD that was made just for her, exclusively of songs with "Hallelujah" in the lyrics. The selections range from Handel's Hallelujah Chorus to Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" to the Weather Girls' [Hallelujah] It's Raining Men. It's quite a diverse mix!

When you're done burning the CD, make it totally personal by crafting your own CD cover. Use handmade paper, scrapbooking paper or recycle the Saturday comics by printing out this template and following the directions: Template for CD Covers.

->Send me a picture of your creation, and I'll post it on the blog next week.

Have a great weekend!

Looking to improve my handwriting

After one too many jabs from co-workers on the abysmal state of my handwriting (Priscilla has been known to say that I missed my calling as a doctor - my terrible handwriting is perfect for the job!), I've embarked on a handwriting improvement project. Here's a picture of my first exercise paper. I look like I'm back in grade school!

While I'm on the topic of handwriting, check out this article from Martha Stewart on addressing wedding invitation envelopes.

Pen of the week

What pens are you writing with these days? If you're like me, you have your pen of the week. For a while, I reconnected with my Waterman fountain pen, a graduation gift of many years ago. Then, on a recent shopping trip to Staples, I found a package of 10 Silver Ball rollerball pens by Staedtler. Now my daytimer is resplendent with all the colors of the rainbow and I've even  been known to sign cheques in a gorgeous shade of turquoise!

(the journal is Miquelrius from Kate's Paperie in New York)

Great book: Designing with Greetings

I'm enjoying a book published in 2005 called "Designing with Greetings" by the folks at Autumn Leaves. I bought it at Michael's in Winnipeg last month with one of those 40% off coupons. I originally went to buy my mom a book on rock painting (she was at the cottage and needed some fresh material for her new hobby). Eventually, I found myself trolling the aisles, looking for some crafty inspiration when I happened upon this book. The projects use colorful cardstocks, some computer work, innovative cutting and interesting details. It was either this book or one on drawing fairies, I may still go back for the fairy book!