The DeClutter Project Report - Week 6

One thing I am learning about decluttering is that you have to be in the mood to do it.  If you're not, it can be an exercise in futility.

That's how yesterday was for me.  I think part of the problem is the fact that I was busy all day Saturday, leaving just one day to do all the things that need to get done on a weekend, like laundry

I did sort through some things. I rearranged my collection of papers into 3 boxes/categories: images, vintage and colour.  While doing so, I pulled out a bunch of fodder for a birthday present I am making.  I cleaned off my dining room table for the 2nd day in a row, tidying up and putting away all the supplies Marilyn and I had used the day before.  I told myself I was going to clear off all the miscellaneous "stuff" I had piled on the bed in my guest room while working on last week's declutter project and I did make an effort, but in the end, I just seemed to be moving things from one pile to another and not actually clearing off or putting away, so I stopped.

So, here I am on Monday, learning to cut myself some slack and telling myself that it's not the end of the world if I didn't complete a task this week.  Learning to ignore the inner critic who is telling me I didn't do enough and/or didn't do it "right".  I took a little bit of action and contributed to portions of bigger projects that will be completed later.  As Sark would say, I took some baby steps towards the bigger goal.  For yesterday and today, that is enough.

Photo by Bliss Boutique Photography,
via the Internet

Superbowl Sunday

I may be one of the few people on this continent not watching the big football game today and I'm okay with that. 

The day has flown by and I don't have a lot to show for it. No, that's not quite right.  It has been one of those days where I can't seem to focus on anything for long enough to actually finish a major task.  Except for the laundry, got that done, after starting it yesterday and only doing one load when I found out how busy the laundry room was, I finished two more loads today.  Found myself wondering how one person could generate so much laundry then I remembered that I only do it every 2 to 3 weeks, as it takes that long to fill up a basket. 

But for everything else, I've been starting and stopping things all day, picking up items and putting them down, moving things from one spot to another, tidying up one area and cluttering up another.  I've made progress but not actually finished anything, which feels like a bad thing because it wasn't finished.  I need to give myself credit for doing what I have done, even though I can't actually check anything off the list as being finally and totally done.  In football terms, I have moved the ball down the field and scored a few field goals but no touchdowns.  Nevertheless, I'm farther ahead than I was when I started the day and that's always a good thing, regardless of what it says on that non-existant scoreboard. 

I think I'll take the rest of the day off from doing chores and focus on filling in these black lines that I painted mid-afternoon on the brown craft paper that was covering my dining table from yesterday's art visit with Marilyn.

Making Art With Marilyn

My friend Marilyn came over this afternoon to make some art with me.  We have taken classes together in the past and are now attempting to get together on a regular basis to make things with our craft supplies.

Before she came over, I had to get busy and clear off my dining room table so we would have a surface to work on.  Here's how it looked at 10 a.m.:

Basically, about a month's worth of projects in various stages of completion.  The clutter was really starting to bug me, I just hadn't had time to sort it out before today.  However, a little bit more than an hour later, the table was cleared off (much to my great relief) and I had laid out the supplies we would need for this afternoon's project:

Today, we made pages for a journal, based on an online tutorial I had taken as part of the 21 Secrets collection of classes. This particular idea was the brainchild of Tracie Hanson, what she calls the "Doodlicious Daybook".  You can read more about it in her blog entry of January 26th. Basically, we painted some cardstock, both coloured and brown paper, cut the pages to the size of our choice, punched holes in them and joined them together with binder rings.

The more time we spend together doing this type of thing, the more our contrasting styles are apparent.  Marilyn is speedy and got her book assembled this afternoon and even started writing in it while I was still painting away at individual pages.  I am taking more time with mine, and over the next little while will be embellishing the pages with rubber stamps and ink, photos, collage, sewing and gluing more paper onto them, adding pockets, etc.  Marilyn was working with pastel colours today (see top photo, below) while I was absorbed with primary colours (2nd photo below).  She made a lot of square and rectangular shapes, I was all about swirls and circles. 

No matter how different we are in the way we create, we both love to play with paint and pen and ink and paper.  That's one of the great things about art, the way it brings people with different styles and habits together in a fun and friendly way.

Cat Girl

Here's a picture of an art paper doll I made last Saturday afternoon when I got together with my friend Marilyn to craft.  As you may recall from my January 16th post (here), Marilyn and I both attended the "make and take" hosted by Bizzy B last month featuring Laura Haviland.  We're both signed up for Laura's first official class at the store later this month but we wanted to get a little practice in before then.

The pieces of the paper doll, or body parts, if you will, came from stamps made by Character Constructions (except for the feet, which I got from a stamp made by a different company), which I then cut out, decorated using ink, rick rack, pencil crayons, lace and decorative paper and put together with glue and brads. 

Marilyn and I are getting together again tomorrow afternoon (which means I will be busy in the morning trying to clear off my dining room table so we'll have a workspace!).  This week, we're making pages for a journal.  Stay tuned for details and photos of our creations.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!  Here we are, beginning the Year of the Rabbit.  Predictions for the year ahead suggest that "the year of the Rabbit is traditionally associated with home and family, artistic pursuits, diplomacy, and keeping the peace. Therefore, 2011 is very likely to be a relatively calmer one than 2010 both on the world scene, as well as on a personal level." (Source: chiff.com, who also wisely caution us to: "Remember, whatever the omens portend, for better or worse, you are the final master of your own fate.")
Here are a couple of photos to get you in the mood:

(Many thanks to the various Internet sites from which I obtained these images.)

The Major Snowstorm That Wasn't

Weather forecasters and news reports have been warning us for several days about a BIG storm headed our way, telling us to expect the most snow we've had in 3 years and "near blizzard" conditions.  I was all excited, thinking I'd have an excuse to work at home in my pyjamas all day.  Carted home several files last night, stayed up late, thinking I could sleep in this morning.  I even woke up around 4:30 a.m., turned on the radio and listened to dire warnings about staying off the roads and tales of snowplows try to clear the major highways.  School was cancelled for many regions, the police were urging people not to drive if they didn't have to.  I turned off my alarm, rolled over and went back to sleep, secure in the knowledge that a snow day was on its way.

Imagine my surprise when I woke up two hours later, turned on the radio and heard that the storm had passed through much faster than anyone had expected with not as much snowfall as predicted.  Damn!  I jumped up, got in the shower and headed off to the office.  A quick and easy drive, seeing as so many people had decided to stay home.

Oh sure, we got snow and some places got quite a bit but not us here in the city.  I looked out my window this morning and I could still see one little bare patch of sidewalk in one spot!  Yes, it was bloody cold, the wind was blowing the snow around quite a bit and the roads were snow covered but it really wasn't anything unusual for February in Canada.  It definitely wasn't anything near to a "snowmageddon".  More like a "snow big deal." 

The weather also helped bring about predictions for a early spring from 2 famous groundhogs here in the Northeast - Wiarton Willie (Ontario) and Punxsutawney Phil (Pennsylvania).  Although this Wikipedia list of 2011 predictions from 25 rodent prognosticators suggests the split is about 14 to 11 for an early spring vs. 6 more weeks of winter.  Let's face it, folks, here in Ontario, we have at least 6 weeks ahead of us, if not more, before we're out of the potential for a real "snowmageddon" (and if you live in Alberta, the land of snow in July, it's never safe!!).

Regardless of the weather, my dear friend Heather is celebrating her birthday today, so I'm sending a shout out and lots of love to her (she's the young looking one on the left in the photo below).

Plus I'm celebrating a major milestone of my own today - I am pleased to report that as of yesterday, I've had 20,019 visits to this blog and 29,336 page views.  Thank you to all who visit from all over the world to read my various musings and especially to those who comment and share your thoughts and opinions and kind words, it is always very much appreciated.

Collaging with Baby

As someone who likes to make collages, it had actually never occurred to me to actually do it with live objects until I got this email today at work, featuring the photography of Adele Enersen.  Adele hails from Helsinki, Finland and apparently started taking pictures of her sleeping baby while on maternity leave.  These photos are somewhat reminiscent of Anne Geddes' work but all the more clever because Adele creates the landscape to surround the sleeping baby using whatever objects she has on hand, as compared to the staged photos created by Geddes.

If you check out Adele's blog here, scroll down to see some equally cute pictures of baby Mila when she is awake.  The Christmas one is adorable but my favourite is the one from Dec 13th where the baby is learning to crawl or maybe fly. :)