The Creative Notebook

When my Checking Account is empty and I want to create, I look to recycle.  If the budget won’t even allow a little thrift shop or yard sale cruising, I go through my own closets.  Old sweaters can be remade into bags to carry your reading or knitting in.  I slice up old sheets to use as fabric, or into strips to crochet with.  Old sweaters can be taken apart and upcycled into new garments.  Old books become altered books or with a little paint or gesso over the writing a journal. 

Green crafting, recycling, upcycling keep you creative when there are no funds.  I’ll be posting great recycled art ideas as I come across them.

I love flea market.  They are a great source for collage ephemera.  I can find yarn for cheap and add to my many collections.  Going to a flea market is one of my artist dates with myself.  The people, atmosphere, and booths full of stuff give me tons of inspiration and refill my creative well.

Here’s a video by Jennifer Perkins from Naughty Secretary Club.  She’s one of my favorite creative people.  Jennifer shares her 5 best flea market tips.

I seen lots of prospects for this market bag in our donation bag of clothing.  Check it out.

It’s Coffee Pot People’s One Minute Market Bag!

This is right across the highway from our homes.  I can’t seem to get it to work!!!http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/weather/2008/06/08/vosil.indiana.flooding.aerials.mxf.wthr

http://www.reporter-times.com/stories/2008/06/08/news.nw-899552.sto

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/06/09/severe.weather.ap/index.html

When you see the ace hardware in the video on cnn, that shopping center is across the street from my home and my mother’s home.  She’s disabled and mostly blind. 

37 between two rushing currents. 

We were the first to know the water was rising, the first to be evacuated.  The Fire Department had to go in and get her.  It took four calls to 911 to get them here.  Our whole neighborhood is destroyed.  Our whole town is destroyed.  Our high school is full of families with no where else to go. 

For a full day, we were completely cut off from the world, except for by air.  I’m not kidding.  The highway washed out on one end, flooded on the other.  Cars were stuck on one part of hwt 37 between two rushing currents. The marines and national guard flew in.  I can still hear helicopters above us.  I just really can’t describe it. 

I sat at my dad’s house after the evacuation and watched the rain keep coming down.  I’ve been mostly in shock.  It’s been only 6 months since I lost my other home to fire.  Now this.  And my mom, too. 

Tell people to donate to the red cross.  People need diapers and baby formula.  Clothes, food and shelter.  It’s like something out of a movie here.  Homeland Security and FEMA are everywhere. Walking through the town trying to keep homes and business’ secure. 

I’m really not sure how much more I can take.  My son sick.  Fire.  Being diagnosed with rheaumatois arthritis in Feb.  This.  Feeling like the universe is out to do me in. 

If you want to market your creations, this is a great article.  It’s a long one, though, so be sure to bookmark it. 

Hello, Creative Pals!  Hope all is well with all of you and that your muse is blessing you with much creativity.  All is well here.  Just the day to day obstacle and joys of living.  My son’s computer isn’t working.  I credit that to being in storage through a cold three months after our house fire.  I’m searching for the best deal on a barebones computer for him.  That’s never any fun.

I thought I would add a couple of new things to the blog.  I’d like to showcase some creative projects as I come across them in blogland.  I’d also like to talk more about the creative process, enhancing creativity, and spotlight other creative people.  I’ll still talk about journals and offer springboards, because I feel journaling is so essential to the creative process.  Hope you enjoy the expanded content.

That’s exactly how some people see it.  Creativity is some magic pixie dust owned by a selective few people, held close to your heart like your grandfather’s  pocket watch and sprinkled around in tiny little precious portions for only the most amazing projects.

In reality, creativity is in everyone.  Every single one of us is creative every day and we don’t even realize it.  Did you rearrange the living room furniture today?  Creativity.  Did you plan a meal for your family?  Creativity.  Did you put together an outfit for a night out?  Creativity.  Did you find a way to solve an emergency at work?  Creativity. 

You don’t have to paint like Van Goh to live a creative life.  Look around your day and see if you can find any ways you were creative and give yourself credit for it.

Here are some links to articles about keeping a journal for your child, and about encouraging kids to journal.

Capture Memories of Your Child With a Journal

Help Your Child Learn to Write Well

Teach Your Child to Keep a Journal

Waiting Adoptive and Foster Families and LifeBooks

Creating your child’s legacy journal

If you find any more good links I can add to the list, let me know and I’ll add them and give you credit for finding them.