Mini-Collage Challenge #21

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Honor The Artist
Three simple words.  Honor the artist.  Yet some days I find myself struggling to fulfill them.  What does it mean to honor the artist that you are?  To give yourself the freedom to play.  To be kind to yourself as you learn and grow.  To make time - no matter how little or how much - for doing whatever creative act makes your heart sing.  These mini collages have been one way for me to try to honor the artist that I am.  2" x 2" squares that I can fill with whatever I want.  No judgement.  No rules.  Take as much time or as little time as I like.  What can you do to honor the artist that you are?

Happy Birthday Box Set by Amanda Corbet

With this fun January Bonus Project - A Happy Birthday Box Set by Amanda Corbet - you will be ready for those birthdays that pop up throughout the year.  This gift set features five different fun card designs that double as gift card holders and five small gift bags that are perfect for a gift card or any other small gift.  All of this comes with a fun box to keep it all in so it’s ready when you need it! This would be fun class project too!
This is the January Bonus Project at Craft Project Central!  Bonus projects can be obtained by subscribing to two or more months in a row at Craft Project Central, putting the Craft Project Central badge on your blog, or by referring a friend and when they subscribe, letting Craft Project Central know.   Get more details by heading over to Craft Project Central!

Paper Expressions 5: A Video!!!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Allow That You May Not "Do" Anything With It
As I have been posting my Canvas Play and Paper Expressions videos, I have been getting asked "What do you do with the paper/canvas after you create it?"  It is a very reasonable question.  After all, the pieces may not appear to be finished works of art ready for framing.  At the same time, I am intrigued by the question and I wonder if it comes from a place deep within us where we somehow believe that something does not hold value unless we "do" something with it.  I feel this pressure on myself sometimes.  Am I of any value if I am not "doing" something with my time (at all times!)?  It is this worship of "doing" that has led me to unhappy and unhealthy places in my own life.  Times when I am not taking care of myself because I feel guilty if I am not "doing" something with my time.  So I am toying with the answer, "I don't do anything with it."  For some of the pieces I have created, that currently is the correct answer.  The paper or canvas sits in my craft room - waiting to see what the future will hold.  Will it be turned into something?  A mixed media piece?  A collage?  A greeting card?  Or will it just sit?  And, if it does just sit...is that okay?  My resounding answer to that question is YES!  It is okay to not "do" anything with it.  I believe that in many ways its purpose has been fulfilled in the making - by just coming into being.  The fact that I was able to spend minutes of my life engaged in the act of creativity - of giving birth to something - of allowing expression to come through me - this is what the piece has "done" and I really need not ask more of it.  My focus being on the process and what it teaches me, versus the product.  Of course, I may find, as time passes, that the piece has more creating to do in this lifetime.  That will be fine.  It is also fine if the answer is I may not do anything with it.  I hope you enjoy my Paper Expressions 5 video :)

Domed Pedestal with Floral Bouquet & Card by Bev Adams

A fitting tribute, this Domed Pedestal with Floral Bouquet & Card by Bev Adams is enthroned on a glimmering pedestal and protected under a shiny clear dome.  Flowers in Wisteria Wonder, So Saffron, and Blushing Bride are tied around their stems with silky Wisteria Wonder Seam Binding.  The coordinating card is dedicated to Bev's sister, but could also be a fitting tribute to your lovely mother or other special woman in your life.  Get the full step-by-step instructions by heading over to Craft Project Central and subscribing to the month of January!

Choose Happiness Tear Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Let Shape Inspire You
I was playing around with dry embossing using stencils.  This particular stencil was called Mini Rain.  As I was doing the dry embossing, I noticed how much those rain drops looked like tears.  The tears led me to use the greeting from the Choose Happiness stamp set from Stampin' Up!  What will shapes inspire in you?