Idea Journal.

Back from vacation, and not feeling as motivated as I usually am.  Year after year, I find myself wishing I would use my talents more to feather our nest.  I finally came to the not-so-welcome realization that the first step is not making stuff, it's purging stuff.  And I can't seem to summon the drive to tackle that, even when I break it into baby steps.  I remember my friend Beth used to have an ongoing schedule of decluttering one room per month, every month, month after month.  What's your plan?  Nothing motivates me like a great idea!

To that end, I am going to share peeks into my Idea Journal over the next few posts.  My Idea Journal is where I record all my creative ideas until I have time to actually create them. 

 

Many Idea Journal entries never see the light of day, but this one I accomplished by bringing it to soccer a few days this summer:

 

The letters are freehand painted on the front (nature) and the back (nurture).  A second, smaller, layer of green was placed behind the letters before I outlined them with buttonhole thread.

 

I trimmed the green closely around the stitching, then assembled the shirt by handsewing with two rows of stitching.  (Raglan sleeves are perfect for this technique.)  I then clipped out the inside of the letters on the top layer, revealing the green beneath ("reverse applique").

Comments

[Melissa Gruber]

I love to purge, so hopefully my plan can help you out.
I typically go through all of our closets, storage and kitchen stuff 2 times a year. I make a plan and a list to figure out what I am going to do first. I typically start with the easiest or hardest room or area and work my way around the place.
Yesterday I set the timer for 20 minutes and tackled the linen closet, it was my last closet to go thru. I always do one area at a time and really focus on it. And setting the timer helps!
Hope you enjoyed your vacation.

Love your new shirt, that is really cute!

[Alice]

That's absolutely lovely! You are so talented! :)

I was wondering if you'd ever thought about selling digital versions of your stamps? I bet there would be a huge market for them in the digital scrapbooking world. You have an amazing eye for design.

[Nancy Travis]

Hi Gina...I love alabama chanin too!