Go. See. Do.

If you've visited here before, you might already know how much I enjoy stitching paper together. It's my therapy when I'm feeling out-of-sorts, unfocused, and unmotivated. It happens, right? When it does, I feel called to my sewing machine and my big box of scrap paper. There I will sit for hours sewing bits together in a haphazard sort of way. There is no attempt at planning or perfection. I grab any color of thread and don't even care whether it matches the bobbin or not. The stitch quality doesn't matter either as long as the paper holds together.

It feels good to be doing something with no end product in mind. I view the process as a way to create when I'm not feeling creative. When the well runs dry I can fill it up with the kind of repetitive action that is important in my art making process. Stitching just does that for me, whether it's by hand or by machine.

This is an altered board book to which I have attached stitched and waxed paper and then added hand stitched text on fabric.

The message is simple: Go. See. Do.

It's how we journey through life.

I like working on board books for a couple of reasons. They hold up well under the type of collage I like to do, plus, they don't have a lot of pages. This book only has three pages! That's a plus for me since I often have a problem seeing projects through to the completion stage.

A simple book with a simple message. Go. See. Do.

xoxo

Random Acts of Art

I'm still creating little random acts of art to leave around my workplace. I don't always remember to document or photograph them since I'm usually too excited about "planting" them where they can be happened upon. On this particular day I did remember to snap a quick pic before setting out on my mission. My favorite part of the endeavor is retracing my steps the following day and knowing that they have been found by someone. I just love it when they are no longer where I left them!

I realize why leaving random acts of art makes me so happy. It's because I love synchronicity and this is my way of contributing to that. I like to think of it as me and the universe working together to deliver the right message to the right person at exactly the time they need it the most.

It's also a fun way to spread the love and that's why we're here, right?

xoxo

A Tiny Stitched Book

This is a tiny stitched book that I made.

Seriously. It's tiny.

Really Tiny.

Closed it measures two inches by two inches.

I cut down a small board book and then covered it in fabric because I wanted to see if I could.

Then I stuck some rusty washers between the pages to alter the fabric.

The circles created by the rusty washers reminded me of planets, so I stitched around them.

To create a little space-themed book for an altered book show I will be participating in during May.

I love the texture created by hand stitching.

And I love making tiny books.

A tiny stitched book. What could be better than that?

xoxo

Pick a Pack of Rick Rack

A dear friend of mine recently had the difficult task of cleaning out her parent's house.

And as a result, gifted me with some vintage sewing supplies which I was more than happy to accept.

Including this lovely assortment of rick rack.

I don't know about you, but I find old packaging such as this absolutely beautiful.

I have a feeling it might be really difficult for me to actually open them up and use them. Maybe I'll just admire them for now.

The Secret to Success in all Things

The secret to success in all things. That's a lot to deliver, right?

This little altered board book is going to do just that.

Are you ready?

There you have it. Work diligently, patiently, and persistently and you're bound to be successful. Easy peasy, right? It's pretty simple when you think about it.

The trouble is that working diligently, patiently, and persistently is pretty tough in a world where faster is usually better and so much is measured in terms of speed and ease. Modern living has made the click of a button or mouse the standard by which we expect all things can and should be accomplished.

Diligently, patiently, and persistently takes time. Lots of time. Painting this little book took a lot of time. There were moments when I felt like it was taking more time than it could possibly be worth.

For me, the process of making art is incredibly slow. I wonder how so many artists can be so prolific. So successful. Now I think I know. They work diligently, patiently and persistently. We don't necessarily see that. We only see the result of that.

Work diligently.

Diligently.

Work patiently and persistently.

 Patiently and persistently.

And you're bound to be successful.

Bound to be successful.

Keep it moving!

The Secret to Getting Things Done

Here's some advice we can all use in our lives, right?

Are you ready to know what it is?

Cliche? Yes!

Effective? Try it and find out for yourself.

You may have noticed that the advice starts and ends with "keep it moving." That's a favorite mantra of mine that I picked up from a former co-worker. You can apply those three little words to every aspect of your life--physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. It doesn't matter where you are as long as you keep moving forward. I think that just might boil down to be the simple purpose of life besides the most effective way to get things done.

This altered board book probably could have just contained that one phrase. But hey! I had a bunch of pages to fill to I paraphrased in as many ways as I could to really make the point.

Keep it moving! That's all you really need to remember.

Don't look back...just keep it moving.

xoxo