creative crafts | Apron Memories

a Taxing Spring Cleaning

On April 14, 2011 By EllynAnne In Blog

The idea starts out with the best of intention: to toss mail and receipts and articles of interest and notes-to-self into a box, which I will go through and organize at a later date. But the box multiples into boxes, which become a part of the architectural landscape of my creative space, and thusly, become invisible.

This Landscape Filing System is ridiculous, and I know it, and yearly I strive to do better, especially at tax time, when the boxes need to be sorted through.

I always get the job done, but in the “getting there,” I need a creative diversion to balance the intensity of left-brain focus.

This year’s diversionary project began with this table. Purchased about ten+ years ago for $5.00, I’d envisioned its transformation many times, but never followed through. Until……………………………

I paired a vintage block of cowboy material with a serape-stripe remnant, which led to a quick trip to the paint store to match the turquoise saddle and the red blanket, with a stop at the glass store for a quarter-inch topper. Three days later……………………………………

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happiness is this table. Were you to see it up close, it’s not perfect, but it’s steps above my usual bar of “Good Enough!” If only my taxes and the computations required could answer to the same conclusion.

xxea

Tie One On…an apron, of course!

a Simply Sublime Giveaway!

On December 30, 2010 By EllynAnne In Blog

Based on my clicking preferences at amazon, the site has taken to recommending books. Well, alright!, I thought, figuring I’d follow one link to see just how spot on the trackers are. The book, a craft selection, featured an apron on the cover, so adorably photographed. Visual that I am, I was sold.

Curious about the author, I followed link upon link to Jodi’s website. Then more clicking to see her recent appearance on the Today show, where she made a tote from a tee shirt, duct tape and a stapler, to multiple magazines and this wallet crafted from comics and iron on vinyl. Jodi is obviously a very creative person, endlessly inspired by what lies about our homes.

I was so taken with the bucolic design of her site in juxtaposition with the excitement of her creations, I contacted Jodi to tell her just this. And to request a copy of Simply Sublime Gifts to giveaway.

Jodi is delighted to provide such a giveaway, and it will be awarded Wednesday, January 5th. To enter to win, just leave a comment by Tuesday, late late evening. Winner selected by random human (much more fun than the generator).

Conversing with Jodi was like chatting the old fashioned way – no impatience to hurry things along, to make a point in 140 characters (or less! for the uberachievers), use icons instead of language or the worst – tippitytaptapping an email to someone else as I’m speaking.

I miss when we made time for real conversation. Such is this new leaf idea for the new year!

xxea

Tie One On…an apron, of course!