To do list:

On the schedule for this week:

• pictures of new items
• new item made everyday
• get through at least 100 of my sisters wedding pictures, there are over 1600!
• clean my fabric area
• find canvases that I bought a while back
• cut my new purse
• cut and sew hedgehog sack
• wash shower curtain so I can take down the Christmas one! 
• make Valentine's Day mini book
• make another mini book
• go through one box of my pictures and scrapbook(I will explain what my new process is going to be later. I really hope this will work)
• set up Audrey a little art area. She is my crafty girl and really wants an area, so I'm going to see what I can come up with in our tiny house.
• select fabric for American Girl clothes for shop. I'm thinking pajamas and other clothes would make good Valentine's Day gifts for little girls. I know Audrey would love more clothes for her doll(it's just an 18 inch doll we got at Target I think. She is working for an AG Doll.)
• Meet with our school district human resource person to discuss the search for a new principal. 

There will be lots of other things to get done this week, but those are the biggies.

A glimpse of a new card set! I love coloring!

To do list update and link love!

A review of my to do list for this week:

• List something new in the store everyday(at least Mon-Fri, still deciding if I will do weekends too)
• Start Valentine's Day cards-Have the ideas sketched. On the list for today.
• Finish getting Christmas stuff down. I like the tree up for my birthday.
• New blog header
• Make a Hedgehog sleep sack for a friend. Sounds crazy, but I will share it.-Got fabric picked.
• Sew some American Girl clothes, I think they would make great Valentine's Day gifts.-Hope to get some today.
• Watch the Christmas movies I didn't get to watch before Christmas. I have Holiday Inn, White Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, and It's a Wonderful Life to watch still.-Nope and I put them away.
• Make a Valentine's Day mini book.-Paper pulled and sketches going.
• Make my new purse.-Would help if I could find my fabric.
• Library run.
• Make banner for engagement party and get it mailed. 
• Get listings that have sold recently remade-Have a couple done.

And these are some of my favorite links from the week!
-This one is great for wasting time for movie buffs. Not going to lie, I kick butt. It's played hangman style so you can get a little help figuring some out.-If you need something to make you laugh, check out Snarky in the Suburbs blog. This post is the one I read this week. She is HILARIOUS!
-I posted about this article yesterday, but am posting it again in case you missed it. How to develop a creative practice.

I hope everyone has a good day. We are staying home and watching lots of football! Go Saints!

At this moment

Listening to-last night's Big Bang Theory. LOVE this show!
Eating-nothing
Drinking-water
Wearing-jeans, t-shirt, slippers. I usually have some kind of slipper on, even in the summer.
Feeling-was feeling a little off and then I read this and my mood changed.
Weather-very strange weather here. It's going to be in the 60's today. Seriously it's January.
Wanting-new running shoes, some books on coloring techniques.
Needing-new running shoes. I want these, WR10RG New Balance WR10 Women's Minimus Road Running Shoe
Thinking-about Valentine's Day projects, the article I mentioned above, and about needing a nap.
Enjoying-Big Bang Theory, the sunny, warm January day, Life.
Wondering-when it's going to snow.

It's okay to put your hood up and take a nap!

Poor Audrey was so tired after school she fell asleep with her coat and boots still on!

 Ever have one of those days where no matter how hard you try nothing you attempt works the way you want it to? How do you normally handle those days? Do you eventually say, "okay, you win, I'll do something else" or do you force yourself to keep going, knowing in the back of your mind that no matter what you do you are going to hate it tomorrow when you look at it and then beat yourself up for creating something horrible? We all have those days, even the most amazing artists do, at least I hope they do. We all have days where we aren't feeling it, but we push through and then the next day we say "not bad, if I change this it will be great." I'm talking about those days where you just are totally off.

I had one of those yesterday. I looked through all my normal things that usually inspire me, I went through some of my new supplies hoping something would scream "USE ME!", I looked at some new to me blogs hoping for something. NOTHING!! Now in the past I would just force myself to make something and then I would hate it and spend the next several hours beating myself up for having no talent(when I know that's not true) or thinking if I only had such and such stamp, paper, etc I could create something amazing. Or I would say okay I'm not going to create anything and instead I'm going to waste my day playing on the internet and then I'll beat myself up for wasting a day. Yesterday was a "New Day, New Year" for me. I knew I wasn't going to create anything I was happy with. I didn't even really feel like sewing, as sometimes sewing and forcing myself to follow some kind of pattern will help spark my creative mojo again. So instead, knowing how I was feeling I decided to do something else. I sat back for a minute and thought about what I would do in the past and knew I didn't want to do that. I needed something I would be happy with having done and still working towards something. So I spent most of the day working on cleaning up my external hard drive. Nothing earth shattering, but it is on my list of 35 things to do this year. And you know what? In the process I found myself feeling inspired. Looking at old pictures(most of which aren't printed, but I have a million printed to still work with) I started to feel happy. Part of my problem yesterday was I slept horrible the night before and I wasn't feeling good to begin with. Not really sick, but I do have a slight cold or allergies(considering it is in the upper 50's in Missouri allergies don't seem to follow the calender of it's WINTER). It was also the kids first day back at school and so we had to be up early and back in our routine. I had also ran a million errands and took down the remaining Christmas stuff, so by the time I sat down to work, I was just not feeling it.

I'm so proud of myself for recognizing it was going to be one of those off days and even more proud for not doing what I've always done. I feel good about the progress made on my ehd, I'm happy I don't have something I have to throw away because I can't stand it and I'm feeling ready to go today. Moral of this story, like the picture above of Audrey some days you just have to put your hood up and take a nap, because even taking off your coat is going to be more than you can handle. 

Quotes and words

The other day I read this on Karen Russell's blog and it really spoke to me. She did not say it, but someone told it to her at a point in her life and she posted it on her blog.

          "Time is inevitably going to pass and 1 year from today you can

find yourself in the exact same spot you're in now,

you can find yourself further away from your goal, 

or you can find yourself closer to your goal-

so where do you want to be a year from now?"

That quote along with this one:

"To get something you never had, you have to do 

something you never did"

really have me thinking. That and of course the start of a new year and a new age! I love the way I feel at the beginning of a new year, it's a whole possibility of new things. However I like most people lose steam. So this year I really want to try and treat each new day as the start of the new year. We tend to fall into the same old rut we were in the year before and the year before and the year before. And then we wonder why things never change. That's where the quote above comes into play, well both of them really. It is also where my one little word for the year is coming in. Okay so I have four little words, but they go together. My word(s) for the year is "New Day, New Year". I am going to make me a little canvas of it(I'll share that when it's done) and hang it close to my work area so that I will see it every day as a reminder to myself that each day can be like the start of a new year. 

You will probably see a lot more quotes on the blog this year. I have a major love for quotes and have a few ideas in mind of things I want to do with them. I will also post more about my words as the year goes on. If you decide to come up with a word for the year, let me know what it is.

New Header

Just a quick post to say that if you read this in google reader or another rss feed, please go to my actual blog and let me know what you think of the new heading. I'm still deciding, but for now I like it. I might play around some more later.

10 on Tuesday

1. Kids go back to school tomorrow. As much as I love them, I'm ready and I really think they are too.

2. Audrey asks everyday to look at the new American Girl doll of the year. She doesn't have a doll yet, but the one for 2012 is on her list. She is in love with McKenna for several reasons, she's a gymnast, she loves the color purple and she looks fairly similar to Audrey.

3. Speaking of Audrey and gymnastics she has been busy practicing her splits everyday. Everyday she gets a little farther. I hope I'm with her when she does them all the way for the first time because I want to see the look on her face.

4. The other day I opened one of Dart's drawers and was amazed at the amount of books he had in it. I forgot how many books we bought at the library book sale. We got somewhere around 56 or so books for $18.00. He still hasn't touched hardly any of them, he's had so many checked out from the library. I have to say that I love he loves to read.

5. At the time of writing this my google reader is finally at zero! It hasn't been there since probably before Labor Day!! Hopefully I can keep it under control.

6. I'm currently reading Devil's Food Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen Mysteries) and every time I read one of her books I always want to try the recipes. Maybe this year I will.

7. Speaking of books, my mom got me Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back, Deluxe Edition for my birthday. I have a feeling I'm going to need a box of kleenex when I read it. I may wait until after January 18th to even start to read it.

8. And again speaking of books, I can't wait for One for the Money (Movie Tie-in) (Stephanie Plum Novels) the movie to come out. I LOVE the book series. I'm anxious to see how Katherine Heigl does in the movie. I always said Sandra Bullock should play Stephanie.

9. I have 10 projects in some form of progress on my desk. I did get them in bags at least so they are a little more organized. Can't wait to be able to work on them.

10. My son while he drives me crazy sometimes because he's at that lovely age of 10 can be a real sweetheart too. He wanted so badly to get me something for my birthday so on my birthday when we went to Walmart he asked me to show him a few things I wanted. I showed him a few stamps and other little things I liked. He got what he wanted to get me and even went in the checkout line next to me so I wouldn't see what he got. He ended up getting me 2 stamps, an owl and a butterfly, some glitter glue and a 3 pack of Starbucks instant coffee. He knows I like Starbucks so he got me that. He was so excited for me to open my present from him and Audrey. I'll have to get a picture of the stamps some other time.