Thursday, July 16, 2015

stitch.


i've been stitching words like crazy lately...in between making books...and little envelopes...and laundry...and all of the other stuff i do.  it is a nice portable project for those long waits at the orthodontist and during long car trips.  for some reason i seem stuck on red thread...it just pops so nicely on white.  


it has been a strange summer.  a transition of sorts.  my daughters are both at college...my older daughter working...my younger daughter at a pre-college art program...creating masterpieces i'm sure.  my older son is working many hours as a lifeguard and my younger son is working a bit as well.  even my dog, who is now 12 (or around 70 in human years) has altered his schedule...it goes like this...get up, eat, take a walk and go lay on the couch for the rest of the day.  the house is often empty and eerily quiet.  there are leftovers in the fridge...i've had to buy more containers.  there is less laundry and less cleaning up (which is kind of wonderful).  but, on the other hand, no one to fetch the mail.  no sounds of laughter.  no one to bake me cookies.  and while i still have a few years to go, it is a small taste of what an empty nest is going to be like.  of course, it is inevitable...kids do grow up and i want them to all go out into the world and become whatever it is they will become.  but still...it is a strange feeling.  one that will take some getting used to.  

meanwhile, i continue to create.  every day.  because that is what i do.  it gives me purpose and brings me joy and maybe it brings joy to others too...  



Wednesday, July 1, 2015

word collector...


her heart had separated from the rest of her body and landed at her feet
 among the scattered rose petals, bleeding.
-elaine hussey

i have this little poetry book by brian andreas...i have a few of his actually...they are fun to leaf through and read...you can find them on amazon, of course.  but anyway, in the introduction of one of his books he said that when he traveled he did not bring home "stuff" from the places he had visited.  instead he collected memories of people and things.  i love that idea...collecting something intangible.  if you read my last post you will know that i am trying to take up less space and this idea works out perfectly with my goal.

  one of my favorite things to "collect" is words.  words i hear or words that i find while i am reading.  when i made myself this journal last year, i decided to fill it with all of the lovely (and not so lovely sometimes) words that i find in my day to day meanderings.  of course, i have added other little treasures as well.  pieces of tattered paper, scraps of old lace and fabric and bits of string and thread.  it is almost full now and it is a little work of art just for me (and sometimes for you)...a treasury of inspiration.

  and it hardly takes up any space at all : )