I Did It

Over a month ago I talked about being Scared, scared of starting a new job.

Today I started that new job and couldn't be happier. It was the right decision.

More to come on this new adventure and how it is going to bring my balance to my life and exciting new challenges for my career. But for now, my brain is drained from new information overload.

I'm Proud of You

Ahh, Mr. Rogers. He was genuine, as a kid you never doubted the fact that the Mr. Rogers you saw on the screen was the same man off the screen, but as sceptical adults you develop those doubts.

 

After the Boston Marathon bombing, I came across this quote for the first time (although it has been around much longer):

 

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

                                                                                                       ~ Fred Rogers

And then I came across this compilation of "Heartwarming and Beautiful Facts" about him. What a great guy, huh?

Finally, I discovered Alexandra Franzen's blog (I have mentioned her on here before) and she is also a BIG Mr. Rogers fan. She talks about this book, "I'm Proud of You." I just finished it and can honestly say I cried and smiled through every chapter. There are quite a few religious undertones to the book but it doesn't take away from the message (if religion is not your thing).

 

Cute side story: I left the book in the van for my husband to return to the library for me. He started to read it himself. I had to renew it so he could finish it. He was reading it in the van while waiting for the boys to be done at school and shed some tears as well. A couple of days later a couple of the moms approached him to see if everything was okay because they saw him crying!

 

 



Back to School

All 3 of my boys are now going to the same school. I remember when Grayden was born and calculating how old he and his brothers would be when they would all be in school together. It seemed so impossibly far away but last week it actually arrived.

I almost feel a little sorry for all of the teachers having these 3 roaming the halls together. To make myself feel better, I try to believe they save their most rambunctious behaviour for home.

I love that all 3 of their teachers keeps a blog that tells me what they are working on and what is coming up in the class. It helps to ask specific questions about their day if you are looking for an answer other than, "I don't know" or "I can't remember".

This feels like a new chapter in our lives. I am excited; bring it!

From This to That: Cowls, Owls, Journals & Enthusiasm

I have been on a creating spree, turning materials from one thing into another this weekend. It has been fun, it hasn't taken away from my family time AND I still got some laundry on the clothesline. I call that a score, touchdown, nothing but net WIN.

My yarn went From This:

To That:

It is a big, florescent, super chunky cowl. It will definitely keep my neck warm in the colder months and I do believe I will be safer as no car is going to miss those colours on a gray Vancouver day.

I used my arms as knitting needles, super-fun. If you are looking for a quick project, you can check out Simply Maggie's tutorial complete with video. I made 2 of these for girlfriends before I made mine and used regular worsted weight yarn. They turned out very nice and I used the recommended stitch count of 12. They were very loose and airy.

 For mine, I used 12 stitches and suffocated myself when I was checking the length.  I ripped out the stitches to start again just casting on 6 stitches. I only wish I had made it a bit longer but I would have needed a second skein of each colour.

And then my clay went From This:

To That:

Playing with clay makes me feel good. It helps that my kids encourage me by saying I am awesome and can make anything (thanks boys!). I used Sculpey III clay, it stays soft even when I forget to cover it until you bake it. Be warned, the baking instructions are not on the package. You can find it on the website or use this rule: bake 15 minutes for every 1/4" of thickness at 175 degrees. F. For these little critters, I baked them for 30 minutes.

The clay is very hot and stays very hot for a good hour after you take it out of the oven. It may not feel like it is hard enough for you when you first take it out but trust me, it gets harder as it cools down.

My wallpaper scraps went From This:

To That:

A pretty little journal. I had my sewing machine out to fix my oldest son's backpack for back-to-school tomorrow and tackled this mini-project I have been thinking about for awhile.

It really took less than 10 minutes. I folded 10 sheets of letter paper in half, cut out the wallpaper a smidge bigger all around than the paper and sewed them all together along the fold.

I think I have a new book to brainstorm blog post ideas!

And finally, some blank paper and an exercise went From This:

To That:

One page full of the things I love to do that make me hum with happiness; inspire me; recharge my battery.

Michelle Ward is generously offering this sample chapter of her book, The Declaration of You, when you sign up for her newsletter. She is the When I Grow Up Coach and I want to have as much fun as she does, doing what I love when I grow up!

Please visit her and become inspired.

What did you make this weekend?

I AM

Via my regular reading of my friend Vivienne's blog, Be Your Own Beloved, I discovered Alexandra Franzen. And what a delight she is!

I have read pages of posts on her blog and so wish she would publish said posts in a book. I would read it and re-read it, lend it to a friend and then read it again.

When I signed up for Alexandra's newsletter she sent me (...but I am sure she would send you one too if you signed up as well), a copy of the great I AM worksheet. You can also find it on her blog here.

It is a fun exercise and one that I would like to do again to see how I have changed and evolved.

So for the record, here is who I AM (today):

I am a wife, mother and a Facilities Manager.

But really, I'm a dreamer, organizer, creator and idea generator.

I am amazing at loving my family and organizing the hell out of our household.

And I've devoted most of my life to searching for the one project I can sink my teeth into; the one where my mind, body and heart sing "yes, this is the one!"

When you work with me, you can expect encouragement and yes, lots of organization.

And you'll probably be surprised & delighted by my goal to smile and have fun while completing any task.

My work matters because I matter and I bring my own brand of optimism and problem solving to all things I work on.

And I am here to remind you that details and people all need attention.

My question for you is why judge when you can accept a situation or remove yourself from it when it doesn't fit in with your ideals?

To sum it up? I am an optimistic, friendly soul who has big creative dreams. I am a researcher and seeker of projects. I am a work in progress. I am Creating Harmony, one day at a time.

A New Tee for Me!

I love unique t-shirts and it seems the only way to get one that is truly unique is on Etsy (that may be debateable) or to make one  yourself. I do love the Etsy Shop Friendly Oak (and will probably buy a shirt or 2 from them) but decided to go the DIY route first.

I was going to use any old gel medium I could find at my local craft store to create my shirt but then discovered that Mod Podge has a special medium specifically for photo transfers. I picked it up on Friday and was off to the races.

I decided to experiment on a shirt Connor had and used an image I found online of Slender-Man (he is obsessed with this lately).

I printed out the image, covered the picture side with the gel and placed it on the shirt. It recommends to leave it for 24 hours but I don't have the patience for that kind of waiting when I am excited about a project. So, after about 8 hours it felt dry enough to me to see what I created.

What you do after the "24 hours" is wet the image and gently rub off the paper portion. I wasn't sure what to expect, I thought just the ink would be left on the shirt and I was afraid that it was going to run and smudge onto the white shirt. But no, the people at Mod Podge do not disappoint! The gel medium changes the image in such a way that no smudging occurs and the image itself is turned into a rubbery applique that is flexible and is adhered to the shirt. Disclaimer, the bottle says to only use a dry toner image but I used my inkjet with no problems at all.

The only black smudges on the shirt were from my fingers, it was all those black pieces of paper you see above. I rinsed the shirt out and hung it out to dry - no more black fingerprints.

I didn't cut out the images and over-applied the gel onto the white part of the paper. In this case it worked out nicely as the image looks like an old photo and the frayed white edges just fit.

Onto experiment number 2. I used one of my older white shirts to try and perfect my technique. I printed out this seahorse illustration and cut out all the tiny details. If you like the look of vintage science illustrations, do a Google Images search for Ernst Haeckel (you're welcome).

 

Next time I would leave a white border around my image (as long as I was putting it on a white shirt) as the little spikes along his tail were quite fragile and I did rip the tail a bit getting the paper off.

Connor is more excited about his shirt than he appears in this photograph. He is just practicing his "I am a pre-teen and nothing excites me look."

Project Life - Week 11

Here is the layout I made from the week my dad was visiting. It was a full week, I just wish I had picked-up my camera a bit more. We had lots of good times that included late night card games with drinks and snacks and going outside after midnight to take pictures of the stars.

I did learn to take some awesome macro shots from my dad. Wish he lived closer so we could have more photo dates!

Here is one of my macro shots. After my last post, I am starting to make some plans.

Scared.

I am struggling to break through the rut I have found myself in.

I see ways to do it, but I am scared at the same time.

There is a chance for me to change jobs, to a job that I will enjoy and will allow me more flexibility (I can work from home!) and let me manage projects (which I love).  The money would be the same and I have worked with the company and people at that company before so as far as risks go it isn't that bad. But there is the big WHAT IF factor? What if they don't like me? What if they decide they really don't need another project manager? What if, what if, what if??? And I have stability right now even if that comes with a 3-hour commute, both ways, on top of my 8 hour day.

Scared.

I have set-up my Etsy shop and have paralyzed myself into inaction that anything I put out there won't hold up against all of the items I drool over when I visit Etsy to shop. I want to create more and share my creations but I am not sure this is the right time for me to open shop. Perhaps I should just focus more on creating for creating's sake and see what comes from that. But if now is not the right time, when will it ever be?

Scared.

This blog, I am holding back. I am not writing as much as I would like and not using my voice but instead a censored version of it. I want to just put my thoughts out there and not worry about what anyone thinks. My hope is to connect with like-minded creative folks and to share my thoughts and projects (and yes my kids too). This post is more me than anything on here yet, but I still have not let go and let loose.

Scared.

Then I read inspiration like those found below and I become a little bit braver. Brave enough to write this post.

Vivienne McMaster
Alexandra Franzen
Trish Blackwell