I just put together a gift guide for the guys over on the Made in Vermont Street Team blog. It’s full of great ideas for both men and women, made by Vermont artists. It includes prints, iPad covers, and coffee cozies.
And the MIVEST blog has links to all the members’ stores, where you can find even more wonderful gift ideas.
Find the blog post here:
http://vermontetsystreetteam.blogspot.com/2011/11/gift-guide-for-guys.html
I came across this quote today. I’ve seen it before, but was struck by it again today. So after posting it on Facebook, I realized it would be good to post here, too.
Here it is:
The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanely sensitive. To them… a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death.
Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create — so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, their very breath is cut off…
They must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency they are not really alive unless they are creating.
–Pearl Buck (1892 – 1973)
Good one, huh?
It didn’t rain long or much today, but it did rain while I was outside tie dying! The sacrifices we make for our crafts! It’s just once you are in the middle of tie dying, it’s hard to stop and pick it back up again, so I’d rather stand out there in the rain than stop. Plus, I hadn’t really checked the weather forecast (obviously!), so I wasn’t sure how long it was going to last. Of course, it stopped shortly after I finished up and was back inside. Oh, well!
I was tie dying women’s shirts today, so I’ll have them listed in my Etsy store soon. First, I’ll rinse them out and wash them several times tomorrow.
Here’s a few photos, including of the cloudy skies!
Shirts tied up and ready to dye
The dying has begun!
Gray skies above that quickly turned to rain!
Truth be told, in some ways, the rain helps. It washes away the dye from the table and makes clean up that much easier!
I was fortunate enough to spend Mother’s Day with 4 mothers this year: my mom, my sister, my sister’s step-mom, and my neice! So I made up a card for each of them. Making 4 cards all at once made me realize that I’m a little out of practice. I’ve known for a while that I have a couple of go-to designs for cards. And while different embellishments can make those designs look different, when you’re making 4 at once, you kind of notice the similarities! I need to expand my repertoire! Luckily, I have a group of friends who get together and make cards. So that helps. I’ll post those cards next time we get together.
Here is a photo of all 4 cards. The insides were a pretty basic “Happy Mother’s Day!”.
I hope everyone, especially all the mothers out there, had a wonderful Mother’s Day!
I’ve posted about several Easter craft ideas this week, but considering today is Easter (Happy Easter!) and it’s after 10pm, I’m guessing you’re not interested in those anymore, so I’ll skip them. Which makes this week’s list a little short, but here it is:
Crafts
- How About Orange has a great tutorial on making some really pretty flowers out of crepe paper. If you’ve got some crepe paper lying around, I suggest you give it a try!
- Interested in doing some collages? You can download this eBook for free: Peace By Piece: Collage Your Way to Inner Peace and Harmony. This workbook guides you through several collage projects, each one designed to bring you closer to your true self and your powerful ability for manifesting your dreams and desires.
Business
Like I said, it’s a little short this week. We’ll see what I can come up with in the next week!
What articles or blog posts have you run across that you enjoyed? Feel free to share by leaving a comment!
