Adorable Christmas Outfits...

My mom and I made some outfits for Lily, my nephew Zaryk & my niece Leighton for Christmas pictures. It's the one time of year when we get professional pics of all 3 kids, so we thought we'd go for something cute and creative this year.

They each wore a long sleeved white t-shirt, which had hand made designs on them. The girls had Christmas ornaments with a bow, while Z had a candy-cane striped tie. The girls also wore hand made tulle skirts in green & red, along with white tights & sparkly shoes.  They are so stinking cute it isn't funny!

For the shirts, we bought cute colored fabric (1/4 yard each), using the same fabric for both Lily & Leighton but alternating the ornaments for a small difference. My mom traced the bottom of a small drinking glass for consistent circles and cut out the ornaments & the tie after fixing the fabric to iron on paper. She then ironed them on the shirts and used fun ribbon as string. She also made a bow with a button to embellish the girls shirts.

For Z, she measured out the length on Lily and drew a decal for the fabric to be cut from. She cut the top "knot" separately, so that we could turn the fabric and have it contrast with the length of the tie. His was definitely the easiest to make.

For the skirts, I used red ribbon and two different colors of tulle. I measured around Lily to get a general idea of how big the skirt should be. I then cut up 5 yards of red & 5 yards of green tulle in 2.5 inch wide strips. I folded a strip in half, laid it under the ribbon and pulled the ends through the loop at the opposite end.

By the way, using shiny glitter tulle will leave everything covered in glitter. We're still cleaning up glitter after almost 2 weeks!

I pulled tight and there you have it! I used Lily as my model throughout, just making sure the skirts would fit. This is a great way to make the skirt-the ribbon simply ties at the back when you've completed it, so you can tie it as tight or as loose as needed. This was helpful, considering Lily is bigger than Leighton (who wasn't around to be "fitted"), so I had to tie one a little tighter than the other.

Cute outfits for cute kids! That's our cutie of a G-pa in the background!

 

 

 

Lily modeling her outfit for Mommy. So festive!

Couldn't wait to share with everyone! Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays! :)

Disney Princess Baby Blankets...Part 2

So, I went shopping this weekend with my mom. We were shopping/buying items to make ridiculously cute Christmas outfits for Lily & my niece and nephew's Christmas pictures. That's a future post-the outfits are seriously adorable. I can't wait to post pics!

Anyway, while we were at JoAnn Fabric, I came across Little Mermaid fleece. Of course I snatched it up. After some more digging, my mom found Disney princess fleece with a nice sized picture of Belle on it. So I grabbed it and got a 1/2 yard cut in each. Now, 1/2 yard is wayy to much for a baby doll blanket, but when you have to cut the middle of the fabric to get the picture you want, you make it work. :)

This morning I sat down to put together the blankets while the girls watched. Evidently, it's very entertaining to watch someone cut down fabric...lol. Anyway, thanks to a comment on my last post (Thanks, Jessica!) I decided to try a different way to edge the blankets. Instead of tying them together, I snipped, cut & crocheted my way into a braided edge. Here's the link for those interested...

Belle's blanket was first, so the edges are a little rougher looking. If you opt to make a doll blanket, I would suggest smaller sections of fabric no wider than 1.5 inches.

Ariel's blanket was next, so it looks a little smoother. Cutting the smaller edges took me a little longer, but with this new method I finished 2 doll blankets in the time it took me to finish baby Rapunzel's blanket last week. Not bad!

 Lily absolutely loves them! The first thing she did with each blanket was cover up her princess babies with their special blankets. Here's what I found when I looked in her room just a little while ago...

What a fun, cute, easy & relatively cheap way to make special blankets for any girl's baby dolls!

I can't wait to try out the new edging on the blankets I'm making this weekend. I have 3 full size blankets to put together and I was dreading the pain that knotting each blanket would give my poor fingers. Now, I can finish them more quickly and with much less cramping in my fingers. Yay!

Disney Princess Baby Blankets...

So, originally I was supposed to knit 3 blankets for Lily's Disney princess babies (Ariel, Belle & Rapunzel). Unfortunately I was not a fan of how they were turning out. I put the needles & yarn down, walked away and haven't looked back for a few weeks. Maybe once the frustration wears off, I'll try again.

In the mean time, I found Tangled fleece at our local Wal-mart, so I bought 15 inches, hoping to make a blanket for baby Rapunzel.

For those who don't know, fleece tie blankets are kind of my thing. I love to make them (so far, my parents, brothers, nephew, niece, husband & daughter have all received one over the course of several past Christmas' as gifts) so I thought I'd try one out for baby Rapunzel. I measured it out, centered Rapunzel's picture as best I could and 30 minutes later I had a finished, albeit tiny, tie blanket.

 Don't mind baby Rapunzel's messy hair-Lily was trying to style it the other day. :) I've decided to buy Disney princess fleece to make blankets for babies Ariel & Belle as well. I don't think I'll be lucky enough to find Little Mermaid & Beauty and the Beast specific fleece, but we'll see.

Lily loves it. She has, in fact, told me to call Santa up and tell him to bring her a Rapunzel tie blanket too. Looks like I'll be making time to add one more tie blanket to my list of gifts to finish up this year!

baby Rapunzel now sleeps in Lily's bed every night, covered in her special blanket. :)

Ok, I kinda suck at this blogging thing...

But, in my defense, it is kind of hard to keep up with when you're watching an 8 month old who does nothing but scream and cry all day. Unless you happen to be holding/carrying him around 100% of the time. Which means that, in addition to the other energetic little ones running around my house, I'm mentally exhausted at the end of the day and have no energy to even attempt anything creative. I'm serious. I feel like my brain is leaking out of my ears some days.

However, on the upside, my latest DIY project was quick, easy and pretty stinking cheap.

I made my own laundry soap. Yep, laundry soap! I'm feeling pretty awesome. The first load of clothes is in the washer right now, so we'll see how it goes. :)

For those interested, I've listed the items & prices below. You can find them in the detergent aisle at Walmart.

And yes, I found this on Pinterest. Which is kind of like crack for DIY, crafty females. I find myself browsing it all. the. time. How did I ever live without it?!

Ok, ok, enough drooling for Pinterest. Onto the laundry soap!

The Ingredients:

1 4lb box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda @ $3.24
1 4lb box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda @ $2.12
1 4lb 12oz box of Borax @ $2.98
3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap @ $.97 per bar
2 containers of (or 3.5lbs) of store brand Oxyclean @ $1.98 per container

So, before taxes the cost was barely over $15. And this is supposed to last 9 months or more! Considering our laundry detergent, even with coupons, is close to $10 per bottle this is an amazing way to save.

The Process:

After grating the bars of Fels-Naptha (I used my food processor, which worked extremely well) you dump all the ingredients into a garbage bag that's stuffed inside of a 5 gallon bucket. Or in my case, a storage container since we didn't have any buckets handy.

Final Product:

This gallon jar cost me $4.97. Now, it didn't hold all of the laundry detergent, so I'm keeping the extra in a rarely used Tupperware container until we need to use it. It's currently sitting on my laundry shelf in the laundry room underneath this little guy.

Yay for saving $$!! Since both Lily and B tend to be rough on clothes, I'll be using 2 scoops per load of laundry. But there's so much that it really should last us a good long time before we run out.

Hope you all found this useful! :)

New & Improved Projects list...

Here's a refresher on the projects I still have left from my first list:

 

1. Refinish the dresser in the basement. Yes, it's still there and incomplete. Turns out the color isn't the best (plus it's the wrong texture). So lesson learned. I'm going to find a new paint color soon and start over. Hoping the second time around is better than the first!

2. Write a book. This one is obviously going to be a continual work in progress. My being a perfectionist is definitely a hindrance, but I'll work it out. The one idea I keep coming back to is telling my G-ma's story. She really lived through some difficult moments in her life but she never lost her joy. I just want to honor her and her amazing faith through it all. 

3. Make a quilt. Now, this one can technically wait a while longer, seeing as how we aren't having another baby just yet. So it's going to remain on my list until that happens. 

4. Build a shelf for & refinish the inside of my antique trunk. Don't remember who gave me the idea, but once it's finished, I will be using the trunk for all my creative journey necessities. Thanks to whoever gave me the idea! I can't wait!

5. Make a hobo-style cable knit purse. Here is the yarn & handle that are waiting on me to use. I still have to find a cute fabric to line the purse with & I bought a cable stitch holder today (finally!) so I can get started any time.

Those are the remaining projects from my first list. Here is my extended list. Yes, it's pretty long & is probably a little too adventurous, but I honestly love tackling difficult projects. It makes things so much more interesting! :)

1. Disney Baby Doll Blankets.

This is  baby Belle &  baby Ariel. They belong to Lily (along with baby Rapunzel-whose blanket I've almost completed). I'll be knitting them blankets to match the colors in their outfits. They'll be similar to Rapunzel's blanket (size wise, at least & which I will post a picture of once it's complete). Lily loves any knitting project I make, so I know those will be a hit. :)

2. Scarf. Ok, this really doesn't sound difficult, especially since I've made scarfs. Several of them. In fact, every female in my family received one as a gift from me last year for Christmas. Anyway, what makes this scarf different is the amazing (and expensive) yarn I'll be using.

This is  100% handpainted Merino wool. It costs $16 a skein. Which is crazy expensive (to me at least). But I found it on vacation and couldn't pass it up. I just love it. So, I need to find a pattern I like and practice, practice, practice on not so expensive yarn before I even take a crack at this. So my goal right now is to find a really great scarf pattern I can use.

3. Corduroy's lost overalls.

I have all the material I need to make Corduroy some overalls. Now I just need to find (or create) a pattern and go from there. I'm considering making the straps of the overalls connect to the rest with velcro. Then we can pretend that his strap is loose when we read the story. And so I can easily wash his overalls. My child looks at something and she gets dirty, so it'd probably be a good idea to make them easily removable.

4. Circular Knitting Needle Holder & a Roll Your Own Needle Case. I still have to find fabric for both of these projects, but I'm excited to start looking! Currently my needles are standing in a vase, which works for now. But it will be so much easier to keep track of them this way. Plus, the circular knitting needle holder will keep my needles in numerical order (which is awesome because mine aren't labeled and I always have the hardest time remembering what size they are). It's a pretty nice sized sewing project & it's on the backburner until I'm done refinishing my trunk.

5. Slouch Hats. I have my friend Ginger to thank for this one. I've been tossing around the idea of knitting a hat for awhile. With the weather finally starting to turn cold, I opted to go for it. Once I made the decision, I remembered reading a blog post by Ginger about something called a slouch hat. I scoured her blog, found the post & copied the pattern. I'm way excited because the hat looks adorable. Don't know if I can pull it off, but I'm going to try! :) So thanks Ginger, for posting a fun new pattern for me to try! (Also, check out her blog-it's pretty awesome.Here's the link to Ginger's blog. Enjoy!)

So it looks like I'll be making 2 hats. Bought the awesome plum colored yarn last night. Came home & found the cute barley colored yarn in my yarn bin. Totally forget that I had it. It was supposed to be for another project, but I forget what it was so it's going to be for this instead.

So there it is. My updated projects list. I'm sure I'll find more to add as time goes by, which is alright by me!

I can't wait to get started!

Coming Soon!

A new & improved list of projects!!

Yes, I still have items on my old list that need to be completed, but I'm finding more and more everyday that I just can't wait to add.

I hope you're all as excited as I am!

Check out Goober's blog!

For some reason, Lily's most recent photo book will only post into her blog and not into my creative journey blog. So, make sure you check out Goober's blog for a look at her photo book for age 2-3! Just click on the link below!

http://brandonjesslily.blogspot.com/

Project 5...

...is complete!

At least, until Lily's next birthday that is. Although I didn't end up having her professional 3 year pics added to the book I still had a ton of fun. In fact, this may just be her best photo book to date! I actually felt like I had a lot more creative freedom because I didn't start and end with professional pics.

I highly recommend Shutterfly (or Mixbook) to any of you who enjoy putting together scrapbooks but don't necessarily have the time. They are so much fun and if you're a customer long enough, you get pretty great deals. Like free photo books! It's worth it. I only spent $8.67 for this one, and that's just shipping. It saved me $29.99 and I am all about saving bank when it comes to this kind of stuff. It really is a fabulous way to document your child's life in pictures. I'm looking forward to putting one together for our 1st family vacation when I get my next free photo book. Since I'm all caught up and everything. ;)

Hmm, now I just have to decide which project to work on next.

Forget That Missing Button-Where Are My Overalls??

Meet Corduroy. Remember him? He has trouble finding his lost button. Well, he's one of Lily's favorite characters. We read about him a lot. And today while I was garage sale-ing with mi madre, a very nice woman gave me this bear for free. Because I have a little girl who happens to enjoy snuggle-y things. It was originally wearing a hideous dress with an apron. But once we took the dress off, I realized he was perfect for a Corduroy bear!

You guessed it. Corduroy is my new project! In case you missed it, Corduroy isn't just missing a button. He's currently missing his green overalls. So, using a sewing machine for the first time ever, I'm going to make green overalls for Corduroy. It should be an interesting venture into creativity. And I'm excited to use the sewing machine. It's always fun to learn new skills! Besides, that's kind of the point to this whole creative journey, right?

She can't wait for Corduroy to find his missing overalls. And that button too, of course.

Dilemma!

Dilemma! I have an offer for yet another free photo book, which means I can catch up on Lily's yearly photo book for age 2-3. Excellent, right?!

Wrong! We haven't done her 3 year old pics yet. What's a mom to do?? This offer will save me $30 odd dollars, but I have to have her 3 year pics to include. Why, may you ask, do I have to have them?

Her book from birth to 1 starts with her professional baby pics to her professional 1 year old pics. Same goes for ages 1-2. It's a theme I have and helps show off just how much she's grown through each year. All the in between pics are fun, candid pictures of her throughout that year. I just love the contrast of starting with her previous age and ending with her current age. So I have until September 21st to complete the book and order it.

I've never been this far behind on her yearly pics before so I'm really kicking myself right now. Grrr!! I'm sure I'll come up with a solution. Then I can check Project 5 off my list until this time next year. And that will be  a relief!

Any helpful ideas would be appreciated! :)

Mission Complete (well, one of them anyway)

The nightstand is finished! Finally! While Lily was gone all weekend, I worked like maniac on a couple of different projects. One of which was my nightstand. For those who haven't yet seen pics or don't remember, here is what is looked like before:

Pretty cool yet unattractive, right?! Well no longer! It looks so much better. If you don't believe me, check out the after pics:

The finished project. Love it!

I spray painted the hardware with a cute champagne type color. I like it. I didn't want to dark or to bold. I think I aced the subtle...lol

Closer full on shot.

Close up on the leg detail.

So my first refinishing project is done and I'm already looking forward to starting another. But I should probably tackle more things on my original creative journey list, don't you think?

Making strides!

I've gotten some major work done on my night stand! It's taking me forever to sand it down, but the cabinet doors are painted!! I'm hoping tomorrow to get the nightstand painted, then working on finishing it up soon. Yay!

In the meantime, we've taken on a few home updates here at the Patrick house. The master bath (Brandon's bathroom) has been almost completely updated. No more wallpaper! It's been de-wallpapered, sanded and painted a beautiful green color. We added a new recessed medicine cabinet & a new light fixture. It's amazing how different it looks. We're still not finished (still have flooring and a new vanity w/sink to add) but it's a major improvement! 

I've also started working on the hall bathroom upstairs. Since I de-wallpapered when we moved in, I'm focusing on sanding the walls down and painting. I also bought a new recessed medicine cabinet today-I'm excited to see how it turns out! We're hoping by next summer to have new flooring & vanity's w/sinks in both bathrooms. Then they'll be complete. :)

In addition to all that, I've been working on a gift for a friend of mine. She's having a baby boy in October, so I've been putting together a gift basket of sorts in addition to the hand made gift. It's totally cute!

I'm hoping to build a shelf for my steamer trunk soon, and updating the inside. It's next on my list-after all this other stuff is done! I've decided it will be used it for all my crafty items. I can't wait!

Pics to come soon of all that's been keeping me busy!

It's baack!

My motivation, that is. I've been working on a few things the past several days. I'm making a blanket for the baby Rapunzel doll we bought her for her birthday (all her Disney princess babies are getting their own blankets. I'm a dork that way. :)

I've also started working on a project for my BFF's new baby, who's coming in October. It's a tough one, but I'm figuring it out!

And I've finally started work on my nightstand. So far it's been scrubbed clean and taken apart (the doors & hardware). I'm starting the sanding process tonight. Possibly more. Yay! I've decided to stick with a white color, with darker antique accents. I'm considering keeping all the original hardware, just updating the color a little as well. We'll see how it goes. I'm excited to post pics soon!

In the meantime, we're also working on finishing the master bath. I finished taking off the wallpaper last night.  We need to paint and put up the new medicine cabinet, but it's already looking better.

While all this craziness ensues, I'm also planning a birthday party for a soon to be 3 year old. Two parties actually...she wanted a friend party this year. So we'll be doing 2 parties in one day. Which means the house is getting a major cleaning overhaul. In concession to the craziness, I have opted against making Lily's cake this year. Instead, I ordered a cupcake cake. Who doesn't love cupcakes?!

Can you tell life is slowly getting back to normal?? It just doesn't seem right unless I'm doing, planning & organizing a million things at once!

Photo Book!

Just ordered Lily's photo book for age 1-2. Yay!! There were so many pictures to choose from, but I think I captured Lily in all her various personality traits. :)

But now, her 3rd birthday is closing in fast! Which means I have yet another photo book to finish. I'm kind of hoping I get another freebie (or at least a discount) via email. I saved $30.00 thru Mixbook this time around!

Until then, I can check at least part of Project #5 off my checklist. Ahhh, I feel like I'm making headway. It's a great feeling.

It's been awhile...

Sorry for the hiatus. My motivation kind of took a hit this month.

For those of you who don't know, July has been a pretty rough month for my family. On July 3rd, we said goodbye to the greatest woman I've ever known-my G-ma. We were very close and I've had a hard time getting back into the swing of things regarding my creative journey. But, I know that's not what she would want so I'm hoping to pick things back up over the next week or so. At least, before our first family vacation in August!

The dresser and nightstand will continue to stay on hold until this ridiculous heatwave is over. While I would be fine working in the heat, Lily would not be. And where I go, Lily must follow. She's a go, go, go kind of girl and that's not a good combo with the 114 heat indexes we've had this week. So, those are postponed until further notice. However, I did receive an email for a free photo book from Mixbook. What a great way to jump start project #5 on my creative list, right?!?!

Since I'm a perfectionist, I'll be working on Lily's 2 year old photo book until we leave for vacation. Which is perfect because the offer is only available until August 3rd. And yes, it will take me that long. Instead of uploading photos into a preset format already designed by Mixbook, I like a little creative freedom. I also like to find appropriate quotes and quirky sayings regarding pictures and moments we've captured of Lily's life so far. Yes, I'm a dork, I know. :)

I'm looking forward to having another year of Lily's life in book form for her to look at. She loves looking at the photo book/journal I kept while I was pregnant with her and she adores seeing herself as a baby in her birth-1 year album. So another photo book will be fun for all of us.

I'm also going to be working on a photo collage of Magaw Nita (Lily's name for G-ma) & Lily for her bedroom. They had a close, very special relationship and I'm hoping to put together a fun, creative collage for Lily to remember her by. We'll see how it turns out.

Project 1: One Step Closer!

I finished sanding the dresser & drawers today. I have to be honest, I had some help yesterday. The kids were outside playing after snack so I sat down to work on the dresser. Turns out the girls were fascinated with the whole sanding process. So I let them each have a turn. Yep, I capitalized on child labor (does it really count if they were begging to help?!). They did a pretty great job! Probably because they each stood in one place and sanded for several minutes at a time. :)

So, I finished sanding and tonight (after letting Goober watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in her room & turning on the old, but still useful baby monitor) I headed back out to the garage to start painting. Yes, painting!! The first coat is done, on the dresser at least. The drawers still needed a little time for the putty to dry, so I'll be able to paint them tomorrow. I am so excited and I really like the color. It's fun. Not a bad buy for clearance at Wal-mart, that's for sure! 

I added some pics so you can see the color. And tell me what you think, of course!

Project 1: Slowly but surely & another project already?!

It's taking me a lot longer to work on this dresser than I originally planned. Turns out, when you have an almost 3 year old who has to be in near constant contact with you-it's hard to get the work done. I finally convinced her to sit in a chair yesterday to watch me while I worked. It helped that Brandon was blowing up her swimming pool at the same time. Double the entertainment, right?!

But, the dresser is as stripped  as it's going to get and even partially hand sanded. I'm borrowing an electric sander from my Dad. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring it home with me after our visit on Saturday. Ugh. Positive side to all that hand sanding? Awesome muscles!

Finally moved it upstairs and into the garage.

Note the stickers? Those were ridiculously hard to take off. Took a lot of elbow grease that's for sure!

Stripped and sanded! Kind of.

I also bought a bedside table over the weekend through craigslist. It's needs work and lot of TLC but I love it and can't wait to get started on it! I'm hoping if I like (or love) the color of the dresser, I'll be able to use it on the nightstand. Then I'd have semi coordinated pieces. Unless another color catches my eye first. I'm thinking a nice pale green would be amazing, too.

My brother told me I'm a little old lady because I like the detail work. Not true-I'm just awesome!

I love the cabinet style!! No more drawers!

It really  needs some work, but I'm super excited!

 I knew it would only be a matter of time before I found yet another project to add to my list!

Hmmm, my list keeps growing...

I have added a 6th project to my journey of creativity. I received this steamer trunk as a gift from my grandparents for my high school graduation. I had always wanted one (I'm slightly fascinated with all things old & awesome) and this one was perfect. I've had it for 10 years (can you believe I graduated high school 10 years ago? Where in the world has time gone?!) and can't wait to actually be able to use the inside for more than storage of old textbooks.

My awesome steamer trunk, completely refinished on the outside.

 Now here's a pic of the inside. Not so refinished. I've always meant to do something with it, but never gave myself the time or credit for doing so. Now I'm adding to my list the refinishing of the inside of my steamer trunk.

Ignore the piles of books. The inside lining is falling apart. I'm hoping to find something cute & old fashiony to line it with. And build a removable shelf with smaller compartments to hold whatever.

So, my list has grown (as I'm sure it will continue to do). There so much I want to do that deciding is kind of difficult. Eventually, I'm sure that every project I want to tackle will end up on this list.

Stay tuned for before, during and after pics of each project I attempt!

Project 1: I'm ready to go!

Looks like I'm one step closer to starting my first refinishing project!

This is the dresser I'll be refinishing. Old school, covered in stickers, good times. I thought about replacing the handles, but instead I'll be keeping them and refinishing them as well. 

This is the paint color. We'll see how it goes. I love it, but you just never know how it'll turn out until it's done. 

I'm hoping to get the stripping process started tomorrow night after work. Eeeeek!

Where to begin...

I've been inspired by several things lately. Friends who are going through a rough time, but still enjoying life. Friends whose creativity is awe inspiring. And friends who are just living the life they were blessed with.

And I realized that there is a lot in life I have to be thankful for. A healthy family. A husband who happens to be my best friend. Friends who make me laugh. An amazing house to live in. The chance to stay home with my daughter. I'm pretty stinking lucky.

Because I am so lucky & because my friends are so inspiring, I've decided to start doing the things I enjoy most AND to start trying new things I've never done before. No more sitting around saying "I wish I could do this." or "I wish I was more creative". If I don't do things now, I'll never do them in the future.  And I want to learn new ways to be creative. I guess you could say this is kind of like my bucket list of creativity for the rest of the year.

Here is the list of goals that I'd like to make a reality:

1. Refinish the dresser in the basement. It's just sitting there, ugly and covered in stickers. I'm going to turn it into something beautiful and amazing. I'd also, at some point, love to buy old furniture, refinish it, and then use it to furnish our bedrooms. But one step at a time.
2. Write a book. Not anything fancy. I'm mainly fascinated with relationships, love and happily ever afters. I want to make some of the characters that live inside my head come to life on paper (or the equivalent of paper, right here on my laptop).
3. Make a quilt. Preferably one similar too, but not the same as, Lily's blanky (which was my blanky when I was little). That way, our next child (whenever it happens) will also have a comforting piece of my heart to keep with them.
4. Make a hobo-style cable knit purse. I have the yarn. I have the needles. I just haven't made myself do it. Yet.
5. Create Lily's photo books for years 2 & 3. It's my goal to have one capturing every year of Lily's life. So far, I have one for my pregnancy with Lily and one for her first year (up until her first birthday). I'd like to catch up with this before it gets completely out of control. It's my favorite way to "scrapbook".

That's 5 pretty nice sized, creatively inclined projects. I think I can do it. And I decided to blog about my adventures in creative learning! I don't know if people will read it. Or if people will even care. But I"m hoping to learn a lot. Not only about creative techniques, but about myself. So many times, I've quit in the middle of something because I'm convinced I'm really not good enough. Well, this blog is a way to remind me that I am, indeed, good enough! And if that can help inspire even one person to believe in themselves, to start/complete something they've always wanted to do? Then I will have been as inspiring to them as my friends are to me.

So, thanks for all the inspiration!