Another Experiment with Orange...

After a very FULL day of substitute teaching, I needed a bit of fun tonight, so Bethany and I got out the Fimo and Sculpey .  I decided to play a bit with the bright orange colour and made this tiny pumpkin bead.

Next, I tried to take some of the blues that I loved and work in a strip of orange, just like I did with the friendship bracelet at the beginning of this exploration.

Once I had my strips, I braided and rolled them into a ball.

Next I pressed them into a firm ball to marbleize it a bit.

I took chunks off and rolled them into bead shapes with their hints of orange like lightning through the blue...

Then set everything out on some foil to bake.

Erin was so intrigued by the process that she made some beads of her own in her school colours.  Creativity really is contagious!

Tomorrow, I’’ll show off the two scarves that had the staff room at Erin’s high school asking how many projects I knit a year.  One pattern, created by Yarn Harlot , is incredibly addictive and was taught to me this weekend by one of the stitchers in a class. Yes, Jocelyn, this new addiction is YOUR fault!!

INHALE: Even after a demanding day, taking the time to be Creative instead of just  sitting passively to watch television can help recharge something deep inside each one of us.  When Life gets hectic, we are sometimes tempted to cut out indulgences, but those are often the things that help us feel more rested and grounded.  I actually went to bed feeling far less tired than when I began to make the beads.

EXHALE:  If you don’t feel like buying some clay to explore bead making, find another small craft that you could do to help you relax the next time you have a hectic day.  Tuck it somewhere in your kitchen cupboard or keep it close at hand so that you don’t have to go hunting when you need it. Don’t feel guilty about taking time for yourself when you do your craft... you may just discover other members of your family sitting down to join you!

Being Thankful for Orange...

Getting ready for a show always narrows my focus.  I get fixated on tiny details, scatter floss and other kit parts about the house in various piles and get slightly short with my family over the silliest things.  Then I go away to teach and they miss me, so they are glad when I come home again.

This year, I am at least more away of trying to live Creatively and adapt to changing situations.  My dad is coming for a visit all the way from Tulsa, but called this morning to say they’d run into more traffic than they anticipated on the drive past New York City.  So, they will be here tomorrow instead of tonight.  I’d planned the turkey meal for Monday just in case...

I got our table ready anyway, since this is the Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada.  Guess what colours I used to fill the two bowls around the candles?  Oranges, yellows and browns.  I even found a package of little plastic acorn shapes in those 3 colours on sale at Michael's for 70% off.

This year, I am actually thankful for the colour Orange... among many other things.

INHALE: It is easy to get busy in our crazy, hectic world.  Finding time for yourself to follow a path like this can be REALLY tricky!  But there are always lots of moments to think that I considered a “waste” before; in lines, waiting for someone, standing in the shower, drifting off to sleep, stirring a pot on the stove... all moments to THINK about creative challenges or possibilities.  Instead of overlooking those tiny moments, gather them up like grains of sand.   You just might be surprised at how fast they can add up to a sand castle!

EXHALE:  Find a bowl to use as a centerpiece and fill it will things in the colour or colours that you were wrestling with.  You can use bits of fabric, yarn, paper or anything that grabs your fancy, as long as it includes the colours you feel most challenged about.  Take a picture of the bowl.  Live with it on your table for a few days and see if you don’t become rather fond of how it looks.  You may actually miss the centerpiece when you finally change it.

Creativity amid Chaos...

No pictures or fancy message tonight, just a gentle reminder that when you go looking for something, you usually find it.

Last night, heavy rain and high winds tore a lot of the lovely orange leaves from the trees.  I am hoping there are still plenty to see when Dad and Barb arrive this weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving since she has never really seen the maple leaves turn colours.  I was feeling cold all morning until a great friend showed up to take me to our lunch date while the kids goofed off a bit from their morning of child labour assembling kits for the show in Toronto.

We went to lunch at a marvelous restaurant here in Moncton called the Blue Olive .  My plate was such a work of art that it had me wishing my cellphone had a camera!  A wonderful sampling of Mediterranean food was arranged on the plate in artful groupings and every little bite offered different flavours.  Creativity in food presentation.

When I went to the washroom, there were patterns in the floor tile and also in the wood grain of the dark brown wooden stalls that had brightly painted ORANGE door handles and hinges!  It was a gentle reminder than when you seek, you shall find.

INHALE:  Even in a crazy, hectic day of trying to get ready for an important event, I could still notice and appreciate the Creativity all around me.  I find the older I get, the less I believe in coincidence. I rather think the Universe was smiling along with me today and putting gentle reminders in my path that in the midst of my own chaos  (as I get ready to go share my Creativity at a show), I can still enjoy, experience and savour other Creativity around me.  Such offerings are everywhere once we begin to look for them, just as the negative will be if that is all we go looking for.  When we look for the positive and the Creative, we are really just affirming Life and Hope in all their glory.

EXHALE:  When things get hectic, it is OK to bask in the Creativity of others.  Today’s project is to make two lists in your sketchbook, taking time to think before you write things down.  Make one list of the people in your life who exemplify Creativity to you; your favourite authors, musicians, cooks and even friends who have talents you admire.  Next, make a list of the people in your life who most ENCOURAGE the Creative spark that lives inside of YOU.  Neither list has to be long.  The first list is to remind you of where you can draw inspiration and the second is to remind you of who you can call on for support and encouragement when you need it.  Think of these as emergency contact numbers... you never know when you might need them!

Tiny Steps, Tiny Tastes... One Little Strand.

In all the preparation and chaos of getting ready for the CreativFestival in Toronto next week, I found it MUCH harder to catch my breath and take time to play.

I wanted to find a way to blend the colours that I love with one that I am not so fond of... and since there were piles of floss spread about the house as I prepared kits for classes I teach next week, I decided to fall back on an old favourite pastime.

I first started making Friendship Bracelets as a teenager because it gave my hands something to do while I was watching TV shows like the Hardy Boys, Buck Rogers, Love Boat or Battlestar Galactica (am I dating myself yet?).  The bracelets were fun and quick to make as I pinned one end to my jeans and then knotted in various patterns almost by feel.

For those of you who have never tried this craft, your can find basic instructions on the DMC web site and also on a variety of sites like this one.  As I roamed around the Web looking for the patterns I remember doing as a teen, I came across the ULTIMATE site for bracelet creativity. OMG!  Oh to have known about a site like this as a teen when I had a LOT more time on my hands... but that was back when we got excited about a computer called the Commodore 64.  Right... there was no Internet back then!

So I picked out a group of my favourite blues and then one sample of orange.  I cut 2 meter/yard long strand of each blue and then one strand of the orange, knotting them all together to start turning them into a band like this.

Oddly enough, I actually LOVE how the orange sings and causes the blues to look more intense. Hmmm.  Maybe I really do like this colour!

As for the incredible web site I found,  I will probably be tempted to try a few of the really complicated patterns on this site just to see if I’ve still got what it takes... but AFTER Toronto!!

INHALE:  Sometimes, the best way to get used to something is in small doses.  Erin had to have a vaccine at school this week, our province is promoting both flu vaccinations and I am learning to be creative with a colour I always thought I hated.  Small doses, like ONE strand vs. 8 of a colour I adore, was a great way to ease into something.  It’s like sticking your toe into the water rather than doing a cannonball.  It’s like trying a tiny taste of a new food.  You never know... it just might become your new favourite.

EXHALE:  If you’ve never made a friendship bracelet, go to a craft store or a needlework store and pick up some embroidery floss.  Pick out FOUR colours that you really like and ONE that you think you don’t.  Braid them, twist them or learn from the sites above how to knot a really cool band for your wrist or even as a bookmark.  It will be fun and it will keep your hands from snacking when you watch TV at night!