Tag Archives: creativity

I’m A Little Triangle

Posted on by

1

So I met Tim Keller today.  He’s the pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.  And I finally understand why so many people appreciate his teachings.  Today at work I had a lot of data entry to do, so by the end of the day I had eaten three jelly donuts and listened to three of his free online sermons – talk about feeding yourself both spiritually AND physically.  (Wow, was that remark cheesy or what!?)

No but really, I listened to Christianity and the Creative Age, Arguing About Politics, and Writing From a Christian Worldview.  And wow, it was so refreshing!  Felt like I got transported to a seminary class for the afternoon.

I enjoyed all three sermons, but I found Christianity and the Creative Age to be extra helpful in some areas of personal refinement and acceptance.  The sermon is actually from 2006 but still completely relevant to today.  In fact I didn’t know it was from back then until after I was finished listening.

It was so helpful because I think recently I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on myself; pressure to succeed and pressure to have everything I want in exactly the way I want it right now; not tomorrow, but now.  Sounds stressful, right?  And I think that a lot of this pressure has come from trying to fit me, Erin: a triangle, into a rectangular box.

Now, the rectangle isn’t a bad shape.  In fact, there are lots of rectangles that I’ve been trying to be like because the rectangles are really good and talented and etc. etc. etc.  However, the triangle is just as good and talented and etc. etc. etc., but it’s just a different shape.  The triangle is meant to be triangle and the rectangle is meant to be a rectangle.  Welcome to pre school Erin - pull up a carpet square for a lesson in Self Acceptance 101.

The sermon covered a lot of ground, but in one part Dr. Keller described the characteristics of creative people and how they can use their creativity to better the Kingdom.  I think that’s where it really clicked.  Because lately I think I’ve been trying to succeed in the same ways the rectangles succeed in, rather than simply asking myself: What do I love to do and how can I use it for the Kingdom? 

Today’s sermon came at the perfect moment because honestly I was getting really tired trying to look like a rectangle all the time.  So today I’m feeling inspired to dream about all the ways that God could use a funky little triangle like myself.

***fyi: Tim Keller never mentions triangles, rectangles or self acceptance in his sermon.  Those were my own brilliant analogies.  His were a bit more refined.

Pretty Little Things

Posted on by

4

I made my frist Etsy purchase today!  You know when you buy something really, really cute and you just have to tell somebody about it!?  Well, my husband really cares about me, but he can only get so excited about things like lovely little hair accessories.  So I’m telling you!  Plus, he will see it on our bank statement anyway.

I’ve been contemplating buying something from Pretty Pink House for a while now.  I went to college with Callie, the creative hand and mind behind these pieces.  She has a blog called My Life In Mixed Media where she shares about the creative stuff she makes.  I get jealous when I read her blog.  Not jealous in the bad kind of way, but more like I stare in bewilderment at her masterpieces and think, “How in the world did she come up with that?…If only I knew how to sew…” 

So thank you Callie for inspiring me and I’ll thank you in advance for making my head more fashionable with these adorable hair pins!

I almost bought the broach too, but I mustered up some self control.

Don’t you just love cute, original little things like this?  I do, and I can’t wait to get my package in the mail!

Paper Mustache Straw Toppers

Posted on by

0

I am really trying to figure out an occasion where I can put these paper mustache straw toppers to good use.  They’re by  Paper and Craft and they have a template you can download for free!  Not that it would really be that hard to draw your own…buy hey, why not elimate one step of the craft, right?  Here’s the step-by-step.

Do you have any ideas for an occasion where these could fit in?  Maybe a themed party for kids?  Or maybe a themed party for “big kids” like myself?  I’ve been wanting to have a Bunko night for a while now…maybe these ‘staches’ will show up there if I can ever get around to throwing said get-together.

For Great Grandma Alice

Posted on by

3

This morning at 2:30am my great grandmother Alice Lockhert passed away at 100 years old.  Despite her age, she lived in her own home until the final few days of her life.  She loved oil painting, gardening, her family and since she never owned a computer, the highlight of her day was often when the mailman stopped by and delivered her letters and the stacks of catalogs that she liked to order. 

It was a sort of ongoing joke in my family about how many stamps she went through per month.  She loved to send money to any and every organization that sent her postcards asking for donations.  Even to the society that takes care of orphan cats.  Is that even a real organization? I dont’ know, but I think she sent them money anyway…  However, the comedic part of her generosity was that in reality it was my grandparent’s money that she was so-generously giving away.  So they weren’t always too keen on her giving habits, even though I’m sure they felt bad for all the orphaned kittens around the world too.

I have a lot of special memories of my great grandma Alice.  Most of which are wrapped up in humor considering that I only knew her during her late 80′s and beyond;  A time when people tend to get a little “funny.”

So in honor of great grandma Alice, I’ll share a few of my favorite memories with you: 

She didn’t hear well, so if I wanted to tell her something I had to yell it to her.  That’s something  I never got comfortable doing.

She also didn’t speak very clearly because of her old, worn-out vocal chords so I have many memories of nodding and smiling when I had no idea what she was saying.  A good life-skill and ability that has helped me as I pursue a career in  Public Relations! 

She made cookies every year for Christmas that were too rock solid to eat. 

One time I watched Wheel of Fortune with her at the highest volume setting on the TV. 

For a reason I will probably never know, she had a white porceline toilet in her backyard that she had peculiarly planted flowers in.  I guess that’s old school DIY for ya!       

She had gorgeous ice-blue colored eyes and whenever she kissed me goodbye her bright lipstick stuck to my cheeks. 

Every single year she would mix up my birthday with my sisters.  So I always got a birthday card in March and Devan always got mine in September.

Whenever I visited I would ask to see her oil paintings that hung in a spare bedroom in her house.  She didn’t paint very much anymore during the time I knew her, but I always liked to look at them even if they always were the same paintings.

One time I drove her home after a Thanksgiving dinner and she spent the ride across town telling me about how she personally never learned to drive and what a privelage it was that I had that opportunity.

And probably my favorite collection of memories of my great grandma Alice is our shared love for writing.  Because of the difficulty I had hearing her and speaking to her, we developed a special friendship through written letters and the sharing of our writing.  Although her handwriting was sometimes just as hard to interpret as her speech, her letters were fun to read because they became cases of deciphering written code.  Sometimes a simple card took me thirty minutes to figure out, but it was always well worth it.

Most times she wrote about her gardening and the weather, but other times she shared with me about how she met her husband and how she developed a relationship with the Lord.  Writing back and forth about Jesus became something that occured often and she would always encourage me to stay strong in my faith.   

She wrote poems that displayed her spunk, love of life and sometimes her stubbornness.  Apparently after being in a car accident and experiencing whiplash she was given pain medication for many years.  Her poetry and use of sarcasm displayed her feelings of dislike towards the pills and how they made her feel.   I’m thankful to my aunt Susan who made copies of her writings and put them together in a binder that I was given at her 100th birthday party earlier in February; something I will always cherish. 

And in return I would write her back telling her about my big move to California, informing her that I had met the man I would marry and letting her know about how my job was going.  When I wrote a story or a poem that I was particularly proud of I would make sure to print it out and mail it to her also. 

I like to think that my love for writing was at least in part influenced by her.  Maybe she passed along a creative gene that I was blessed enough to inherit. 

Whatever the case, I carry happy, loving memories of Alice.  She was a strong woman of faith and I hope to carry on the family tradition.

My Favorite Wall

Posted on by

3

I recently redecorated a wall in my living room because after skimming through the latest Ikea catalog I decided that my current wall arrangement was ugly.  I didn’t take a before picture at the time because I was in such a rush to tear down what was there and start fresh that it didn’t cross my mind.

But after a few days of hanging out in a creative slump it all came together nicely.  Now I’m happy to say that this is officially my favorite wall in our apartment.  And the best part is, I only used items and supplies that I already had laying around (most not-so-surprisingly emerged from the Dark Cave…excuse me, I mean the guest room). 

Here’s what I did:  

  

Look at that fabulous wall!!! 

To start, I grabbed a few old books because if there’s one thing I learned from spending so much time on wedding blogs last year it’s that books do not always belong lined up on a shelf. 

A few of these I found at a used bookstore in Downtwon SLO last year and the big green book on the bottom happens to be the Guest Book from my wedding.  Really, it’s a book highlighting California’s National Parks, but we bought some sharpies and had our guests sign the pages.  We hoped it would remind us to go on some great adventures over the years. 

Next, the picnic basket is something Jon accumulated some time ago.  When I found it I asked him why he had never used it to take me on a picnic.  He didn’t know.

The colorful candle stands were a wedding gift from my little sister Devan. 

And the wire basket-turned-votive-holder is something I picked up at a nearby thrift store.  I heart thrifting.

I didn’t get a good close-up picture of them, but those beautiful sturdy wooden shelves were a dollar a piece at a yard sale.  Steal!

I hung one of my engagement photos about level with the chair to fill in the empty wall space.  We still haven’t gotten around to framing any wedding photos yet, but I love the artistic feel to this specific shot.

The white K was a table prop from our wedding and the white lamp is from Target ($15).  Lately, I’ve been appreciating the look of white on white.  And since all our walls are white and must remain that way since we signed a renting contract, it’s a good thing that I can appreciate this look. 

This geometrical wall decor was passed on to me from my last roommate Shawna.  Again, loving the white on white. 

The glass jar with ribbon and twirly whirlies was yet another table prop at my wedding. 

And finally, we reach the main event.  I had a lot of fun creating this collage.  I actually had to destroy, or rather cover up, an old piece of art in order to re-use this canvas, but it needed a change. 

This project emerged from Jon and my desire to organize our plethora of plastic CD cases that were taking up so much space.  We bought some of those thin CD sleeves and began moving our CDs from their plastic cases into the thinner sleeves where we could then fit them all into a couple woven baskets on a shelf.

 

We were about to trash all the old cases when I decided that I wanted to keep the paper inserts that came with all the CDs.  So I spread all the hundreds of cases out on the living room floor and one by one I pulled out the insert to see if it was anything worth keeping. 

Then, after I had chosen my favorites, I ran upstairs to grab my good friend Mod Podge to help me with the final step. 

Section by section, I painted a layer of Mod Podge (matte) over the canvas before placing the square pieces where I wanted them.  As I went along I made sure to smooth down all the corners and air bubbles to prevent as much rippling as possible later on as it dried.  And when everything was in place I painted a thick layer of Mod Podge over the entire surface to bond it all into one cohesive piece of art.   

Oh, rewind:  before I started placing the pictures down on the canvas, I actually painted the outside edges lime green.  Forgot to mention that. 

So now, this collage respresents all the different kinds of music we have accumulated over the years.  The bright mix of colors also allows me to tie in almost any color into my living room color scheme.  And unlike those similarly bright and funky pieces of art that I sometimes drool over at Urban Outfitters, this project only cost me a re-used canvas, old CD inserts, and a half a bottle of Mod Podge. 

Yep, pretty cool!         

Mother’s Day Ideas

Posted on by

1

Mother’s Day is about a month away, which for me, means that it’s time to begin thinking about what I’d like to do for my mom this year.  I don’t know about you, but last minute gits are never as meaningful or fun as well thought out in advance gifts that I get to put a little heart and craftiness into.

However, my mom is usually happiest with a pedicure gift certificate or some dark chocolate, so after some contemplating I may end up giving her one of the “usuals.”  But nonetheless, its fun to think about some new crafts that I can do.  Hope this helps inspire you! 

Doily Wall Art

I really like this doily wall art idea, especially if your mother or grandmother has a doily that they wanted to preserve.  With a little fabric dye from Michael’s you could even dye your own into a fun color and create a meaningful piece of family history.

Fabric Flower Collage

This project looked fun and fairly simple overall.  I really like simple. 

 

Chalkboard Flower Vase

I made chalkboards for the women in my family last Christamas by buying cute frames, then covering the glass with chalkboard paint.  However, for Mother’s Day I love this idea of making Chalkboard Flower Vases (or pencil holders, or kitchen spoon holders, etc.).  This gift is cute and something that mom can decorate to fit any holiday or occasion. 

Decorative Mirror

I like the idea of taking something that your mom may collect (such as sea shells, bottle caps, ticket stubs, old jewelry, pictures you drew as a kid, etc.) and making it into a piece of art.  My mom likes to cut out funny cartoons from the newspaper so maybe I can make her a magnetic board so she can display them fashionably.  All you need for this project is a sheet of steal and some paint or fabric.

Mosaic Garden Stepping Stone 

And for those of you who aren’t afraid to roll up your sleeves and deal with some concrete mix, you can create a mosaic garden stepping stone.  Whether you personalize it or just make a fun pattern these are great gifts for a mom who likes to spend time outside in her backyard or in her garden. 

Happy creating!