Write it down

There's something to be said for blogging, and there's also something to be said for writing it down with good old fashioned pen and paper. Katie's running a journaling challenge this week on her Facebook page and invites people to share a page from their journals. I've been enjoying the She. 1.1 journal and created this page for the start of Lent; you might recognize those lyrics. I took some scraps of things I had scattered around my desk and stuck them right to one of the pages of pretty paper that's clips out of the journal.

I used to journal a lot, but it really tapered off when I started blogging. It's been nice to rediscover it as I find some things are better expressed without a computer. =) Sometimes I wanted to journal, but didn't know just how to start up again, anybody else have this problem? Katie's journals are loaded with prompts, which is great for people like me. What about you? Do you journal?

Stitched Portrait

A letter recently came in the mail from a dear friend's little boy. His class project was to practice writing a letter...with the hopes the recipient would send something back. As somebody who teaches formal writing to university students, I have to say I was impressed with his little letter: opening/closing statements, structure (first, finally), and a clear call to action -everything was there! Better than some of my university students...ahem.

He says, "First of all I play BmX" and included some pictures of him riding his bike. He asks what I do, so I think an appropriate response is "I play creating" -though how grammatically correct that is remains to be seen, ha! I decided I would send something his way and thought I would share it here as well.

I'd seen stitched portraits in Sania Pell's Homemade Home and have been wanting to try one out for some time now. I totally wrecked the first attempt, mainly because I thought I would adapt the book's instructions and use the feed dog cover on my sewing machine. Dumb. I thought this would make it go smoother, but it totally messed up my tension. I stubbornly pressed on, determined to overcome...but I lost that battle and had to re-do it. Thankfully I had traced the photocopy enlargement of the original photo, so I had something to work with. I discovered faces were trickier than I thought, so I salvaged a bit of the photocopy to incorporate into the final project.

This little guy wears a lot of green when he races and he's also pretty fast, continually ranking high in his age group. He's often called 'The Green Hornet', fittingly, so it was only right to use green thread for this project. I hope he's as pleased with this project as I was with his!

I play creating. What do you play?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope there's something about today that makes you smile, no matter your relationship status. The other day I saw that Katie was going to send her grandmother lottery tickets for Valentine's Day, ha ha! I think that's awesome; Valentine's Day doesn't have to be all sappy romance.

We recently acquired a heart shaped photo holder that has since found its home in our kitchen. It's a nice way to brighten our walls and free up some of the space on our tiny refrigerator doors. Of course, the majority of the photos seem to be of my adorable nieces -surprise surprise- but it's also turned into a fun spot for postcards and other little memorabilia.

Are you doing anything special today? I made a little heart-shaped chocolate cake last night, but the frosting turned wonky (although it still tastes good!), so yeah, no need to gross you out with a photo, ha ha!

PS - How cute is this little Valentine's video from Etsy??

Brigitte and Bloggers

The German women's magazine, Brigitte, is running an interesting "Kreativ-Blog Award" contest this year. I do feel like these things can easily turn into popularity contests, especially given that bigger blogs have more readers and thereby get more votes, BUT I also think these can be great opportunities to see what else is out there, find some new blogs to read, and maybe even pick up a few new readers.

There are currently about 300 blogs listed and it's fun to see all the different crafty/DIY blogs from around Germany. If you're curious to see what's hot in German creative circles, this is a quick way to take a peek. Lots of felt, crochet and paper crafting. There's a fair amount of sewing, and party decor ala Amy Atlas is also really catching on over here. 

I also often feel that blogging in Germany is still in its babyhood, and I believe it shows in a variety of ways. However, I think its fabulous that a major women's magazine continues to reach out to bloggers. That's so huge. It feels like a very win-win sort of situation.

You can click on a blog's profile, see 6 photos from the blog, and read a series of short questions answered by the blogger. I took the leap and wrote in German, but definitely had my husband polish it up before I hit 'submit', ha! I neeeever get my der/die/das and akkusitiv/dativ correct, never! You can see my blog's profile here; if you want to click 'Ich mag dieses Blog' (I like this blog), the number in the little heart will go up. Apparently you can click once every day from the same computer (further adding to my wondering at how this thing is really tallied). The jury will pick 3 blogs each month to highlight and at the end of the year will award 3 prizes; the grand prize winner gets to style a DIY insert for Brigitte. Pretty much everything is in German, but you can read more about it in English here.

It's funny, I made a little 'vote for me' button and put it up on the sidebar, but then I took it down because I didn't want to get caught up in the whole 'how many people clicked on my blog' thing. As I was looking at other postings I realized 2 things: 1) I really like my blog and want to keep blogging and improving it and 2) There are a lot of cool German blogs out there! So head on over and see some other Kreativ Blogs!

Washi tape clothespins

These are so easy and cute. Just make a small snip on the corners and where the tape would otherwise make a bump over the metal part. Washi tape: on hand. Wooden clothes pegs: on Obi's 1 Euro rack (PS- Obi also has those mini rolling adhesive thingies like this for 1 Euro). Easy.

These have been great on my DIY fabric pinboard. I've also seen them used on gifts - shoot, give them as gifts! Where would you use them?

Easy Fabric Pinboard DIY

I've been wanting some kind of pinboard in my office, but couldn't find the right thing for the longest time. All the affordable cork boards were ugly and I knew I would never get around to painting the frame. I also wasn't sure I really wanted one drilled into our concrete walls (and knew I wouldn't be into filling holes).

I can be incredibly indecisive and non-committal. I doubt I'm the only one.

This idea was initially manifested on Holly's blog, but again the nails were off-putting. I revisited my days of teaching camp craft and found a way to rig my fabric between my shelf brackets by simply knotting two corners of the fabric and tying them to my anchor points. I already had the fabric on hand. Twine, washi tap, paperclips, pins and clothes pegs make great ways to adhere things.

I'm rather pleased with my pinboard solution. It leaves no trace on my walls while providing ample space to pin little bits and bobs. Things like pretty gift wrap from Tina, a failed craft attempt remnant, some pom-pom wire, Amy Butler's autograph and a note from Allison all have their home here. My little calendar is also right at home.

Do you have a pinboard? What sort of things hang on yours?

On Judging Book Covers

I was perusing some books the other day for a possible review and the book covers from publishing house Atticus Books totally caught my eye. Now, I know there's no shortage of bad books with decent covers out there, but have you ever noticed that there's an insanely small amount of good books out there sporting incredible covers? What's up with that? If I ever get a book published you can be sure I'm going to insist on good cover art.

Props to Atticus Books for investing in good cover art and extra props to them for writing me back in less than a day when I asked who their artist was. The books at Atticus Books that really caught my eye are those designed by UK designer Jamie Keenan.

So yes, I know the adage 'don't judge a book by it's cover', but I have to say a good cover certainly draws me in. I've been known to hold out for a book until I can get it with a more attractive cover, and -so bad- known to buy a book for solely it's cover. Anybody else into book covers like me? 

Btw- I've downloaded one of these books and am looking forward to reading it during the semester break. Sadly my reviews don't usually send me a free hard copy of the book, so I'm without cover art (hence the blog post, ha).

What are you reading now? I'm reading a book that's about to get a bad review, so I won't bother sharing the title. However, my book club is meeting in a couple of weeks to discuss Abraham Verghese's 'Cutting for Stone', a book I highly recommend. Incidentally, I held out for the red umbrella version of this book. =)

A New Month and a Sneak Peek

There's a little story that goes with these pictures and it starts like this:

A while ago there was a cute little stationary shop before/after on Design*Sponge. The shop, Studio Carta, is charming and I popped over to their equally charming blog, Edizioni, to discover they're located in Brookline, right next to Boston (my old stomping grounds). I saw they were running a little giveaway and threw my name in the hat, never thinking I'd win because the prize was simply too perfect on all accounts. To make a long story short, I won the giveaway, am hoping to stop by this sweet shop and meet it's pleasant owner, Angela, face to face this summer when I visit Boston.

I just love this letterpress calendar by Moontree Press! The colors are perfect in my office and the size is just what I need given my limited wall space. I'd been wanting some kind of small calendar and just hadn't managed to find the right one, so this oh so perfect. I love when that happens! Plus, letterpress, hello. I love letterpress! So soft and tactile, yet strong. Loveliness.

 So yes, this calendar has a home now. It hangs right next to something else I find lovely and practical (auf Deutsch: praktisch). I'll have to show you soon! I'm off to teach my last class of the semester now, phew!

PS - I did a big free printable calendar round up last year, but if you're still looking for the perfect 2012 calendar you might find a fun free printable one in 74Lime Lane's roundup. If letterpress loveliness is more your thing, head to Studio Carta!