AMANDA'S BASKETS: ARTIST DATE PART TWO

Thursday, April 4, 2019

ARTIST DATE PART TWO

Well, when I first tried to write my post Blogger could not copy my pictures to post. After trying to find out if anyone else was having that problem, I choose to do what I normally do...shut down my computer and restart it. Voila...pictures are posting!

So, for those of you who are unfamiliar with an Artist Date, it comes from Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way as well as other books she has written. The idea is to do something once a week for yourself to inspire your creative juices. It could be a walk in nature, a visit to a museum or a thrift shop, or even a craft store.

I told you about the two visits to Goodwill stores and the books I bought. By the way, one (which was new and only cost 99cents) is looking very interesting. The entire title is The Quilting Path: A Guide to Spiritual Discovery through Fabric, Thread and Kabbalah by Louise Silk. I haven't really checked it out yet but I'll let you know when I do.

Back to the date, I also went to a craft store and bought a frame and a stand, both black...

I plan on using these to take pictures of my 12 by 12 pieces of fabric art to post on ETSY. And yes, I do have the camera (not my cell phone) all ready.

I spent a great deal of time at Home Depot checking out pcv and metal pipes and their fixings to see if I could actually make a tent for the bed of my truck. (For those times when I want to venture into areas where Duchess can't go but want to spend the night - not interested in sleeping in the cab nor on the ground!)

I also checked out the lumber for ideas and tent fabric. I think I am going to use a painters canvas drop cloth and a plastic one which I will iron on to the canvas one.

When I finished checking those things out, I bought myself two plants on sale...

Lastly, I did find at a magazine stand a Time publication...

I have begun reading this and am finding it very interesting. It re-enforces the idea that all of us are creative, not just artists. Some of us make ends meet budget-wise. Some of us are great parents. Some of us are organizers, etc., etc., etc.

Finally, I took a couple small, little used roads to see where they went. And it was simply freeing. Remember if you get lost you can use your gps to get home. No signal, keep on driving until you find one...even more fun. ONE NOTE: Make sure you have enough gas!

That was my date and I came home full of ideas...
Thanks for stopping by...
See you tomorrow...
Friday, again, already?
And rain forecast (but that's better than snow!)

CRAFTING IDEAS

I am always looking for a small piece of paper to write down something which will later be disposed of. I decided to use some of the scrap paper of which I have a ton. I mostly use the paper for glueing projects. I decided to cut the paper into a small size. (Six pieces from a piece of copy paper.). But just having them sitting on my desk would get messy without a container. So, using a cardboard box, I cut it down to size and using a hot glue gun I glued the ends together. Using a picture from a magazine cut into pieces and stick craft glue, I glued the pieces to the box inside and out. I also used some decorative tape for the outside edges. And to finish the top corners which were not covered, I used straight pins with colorful tops. Looks nice and works well.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

So in looking over your habits what did you find? Some popular good habits folks have are: Meditation, exercise, journal writing, flossing, reading and walking up early. Some not so great habits included smoking, saying yes, swearing, tolerating folks, not sleeping enough, always complaining and constantly making excuses. Do you have more good habits or more bad habits? Is it time to change? If so, start with the easiest bad habit to change, not the hardest. This will give the best chance of success. Decide on the best way for you to change your habit. Worry too much? Set a time to worry and then stop. You may have to stop yourself several times at the beginning but keep it up and you will worry less. Or, alternatively, write the worry down as well as options to stop the problem. Just figure out which way to stop is best for you.