Was it just me, or did November disappear before you knew it?
In an attempt to try to keep up with how the weeks and months vanish, I like to do these weekly wrap-ups. They're perfect for sharing with you and for helping me remember just how I filled the days. Here's the latest peek.
Sunday was a super lazy day full of rain. I spent it getting out Christmas decorations and... little else. Toward the end of the day, I was getting restless. Since I've been itchin' to do some stitchin' for weeks, I went ahead and started on a project.
After lazing about on Sunday, it was surprisingly hard to get going on Monday.
I made us some fried rice for lunch from whatever I could find in the fridge (I hope to share a recipe later.) And, that led me to getting my butt in gear.
When I finally made it out of the house and to the grocery store, I had to stop and nervously giggle at the stripped salad cooler. The romaine scare is real!
Back home, I found a much more comforting sight. The leaves on our Japanese maple tree were a beautiful red. Even the few that had fallen on the deck were pretty awesome.
But, the tree is really what stole the show.
Tuesday was a flurry of who knows what. Seriously, I have no idea.
I'm pretty pleased that I've continued my morning art journaling practice. In fact, on Wednesday, I finally finished the last page of one of my journals. It's the first one I've ever finished. I'm so excited. I'll likely do a flip-through video and share some of my favorite pages here too.
Even though I was at my mom's later in the day, I continued to ride a creative wave as I worked on some jewelry in my bead box.
After a busy day on Thursday, I asked Facebook who else eats their peas like this in what we call a "bird's nest." I was super surprised how many opinions there were on peas.
After dinner, I finished filling in part of my embroidery. But, now I have to decide if I want to add more and what exactly. It's kinda fun to free-hand this.
Walking around the property on Friday, I noticed that the ginkgo tree was a beautiful yellow. I couldn't pass it up.
Nearby was this craggy mushroom that also needed noticing.
For some reason, I awoke Saturday having decided to participate in #CarveDecember. I was surprised but prepared. I guess we'll see how that goes. The rest of the day was super-crazy-busy with taking one niece to have her senior portraits made, attending a Christmas party with another niece, and watching the SEC Championship game (TWICE-ish - Roll Tide!)
With the week at its end, let me share a few of the inspirations I found on the web so maybe you'll get something out of this strange and rambling post. I've divided them into sections, depending on what kind of inspiration you're looking for.
- Gift-making
- Lynda of Fresh Baked Designs shows how to make some wonderful Wire Whimsies that are great for gifts or decorating gifts.
- Upcycling an old sweater into a Headband and Mittens Set would not only make a great gift but might be something great to make for yourself too!
- Over at The Yellow Birdhouse, there's a really fantastic list of Gift Ideas to Make and Sew. They're all so pretty!
- I have to admit that I wouldn't mind some of these DIY Mason Snack Jars for my own countertops. But, as I have limited counter space right now, I may just have to make some for my friends!
- Decorations
- I absolutely love the vintage look of these Paper Tassel Ornaments. And, they seem so simple too!
- These Bingo Card Christmas Trees are so cute. And, I can see even making them from other old game boards.
- Words of Wisdom
- Julie Fei-Fen Balzer talks about the fear of Wasting Supplies and how to use the ones you have.
- Autin Kleon has a post on the Residue of Creativity that really grabbed my attention.
- Art and Artists
- My friend, Tiffany of Southern Gals Designs, makes super-inspiring art journal pages. This Layers and more layers video from her shows just how creative and talented she is.
- Go take a look at these spiked sculptures from artist Matthew Schlian and be in awe over the fact that they are PAPER!
- The Laser-Cut Leather jewelry from ShopElenaDesigns is something spectacular to behold. It, even more, makes me want to fire up our laser-cutter!!
- I don't even know what to say about these rusty assemblage sculptures from Penny Hardy. They took my breath away, gave me goosebumps, and spoke to my soul!
- Jewelry-Making
- I think this Wire-wrapped Bangle Tutorial is a wonderful idea. She goes through the steps so thoroughly!
- Beaducation shared 7 DIYs & Classes on Texturing Metal.
Yeah, that's a pretty thorough list. I hope there's something there that sparks your interest and fuels your creativity! Have a spectacular week!!
Seems like you had a great week, Hope. The maple leaves are such a pretty colour. Have you considered incorporated them in your journal?
ReplyDeleteDivya,
DeleteThe week was pretty good. Thanks! As for adding the leaves to my journal. I really like the idea, but as they're rapidly falling and browning, I'm not sure how they would do in the journal. I guess it's worth a try. Thank you for the suggestion! :)
We got a rice cooker recently and I'm looking forward to that recipe :) The maple tree is gorgeous! I checked all the links, really precious, I will certainly check them out in detail later. Just to mention the metal scrap sculpture and the paper sculptures - fabulous!
ReplyDeleteWe have a japanese maple that is intensely red too! It was green during the summer so we did not expect this. You stir fry looks delicious. Sometime combining leftovers or whatever it in the fridge creates the best dishes.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that mushroom is NOT fit for eating? And about peas, are those on mashed potatoes or cauliflower rice? I didn't see the fb post. Here's a recipe I discovered in France where we have an abundance of Petits Pois de Printemps ... sautee onions, add a little ham or proscuitto & brown a little .. dump in freshly shelled peas, add a small bit of water, cover & simmer for about 10 mins.. You can usually smell when they're done, same as brocolli. Yummm.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I have no idea about eating the mushroom. We have SO MANY and there are tons that are not fit for eating. So, I haven't taken my chances. At some point I do hope to learn mushroom identification. But, for now I play it safe. That's mashed potatoes. My hubs isn't big on the mashed cauliflower. That recipe sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing!!
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