Today I was talking with a friend about how I have too many items in my stash to be recycled: tissue and cereal boxes, tin cans, empty juice cartons and more. So much Stuff! and I’ve not been using it up fast enough. My friend said to get rid of it–and I said that I use so much recycled materials in my art, it’d be too bad to toss it all into a recycle bin.

SO, I’ve given myself another challenge: to use up as many of these items as I can by the time this 365-day challenge ends in 33 days, and then I need to pass on whatever is left. I will always have more cans and boxes to use!

Accepting that challenge, I covered a larger can with this pretty purple fabric, and turned a small frozen pie box into this journal cover. I used a small paper bag to cover the box, then added an image from a Graphic 45 catalog to the front cover. Not sure what I’ll used for the rest of the journal, and it’s a start. I also added doily hearts to 4 more red hearts for my birthday party in February, since it’s close to Valentine’s Day. EnJoy!

Purple Fabric Can

Small Dreamland Journal Cover

Small Dreamland Journal Cover 2

More Hearts

Love is in the air! I’m in process of creating a love nest, imbuing my home with love to welcome the Beloved, both spirit and human form. Today I took down my Christmas wreath from my gate, and hung the sparkly pink heart and some red fairy lights in its place. Dusted off a strand of heart garland and hung that in the love corner of my bedroom, and am singing sacred love songs througout my day. Sweet!

This evening I had just enough energy left to make this tiny little journal, using up some scraps for the cover and the pages. EnJoy!

Valentine Heart

Tiny Pink Love Journal

Just 35 more days for this year-long challenge! Yay me! I will be hosting a virtual party on February 25th to highlight some of my creations and what I’ve gleaned along this journey. You’re cordially invited to attend, so save the date!  I’ll post event details as the day draws closer.

Today we had sunshine again, hurray! In fact it will be sunny all week, with highs in the low 50s. It’s going down to 28º F tonight, though! Brrr!

This evening I cut out some red hearts to make place card gifts for my birthday guests next month. I finished this one, apart from adding the guest name, which I’ll do right before the party. EnJoy!

Heart Place Card

Today I zoommed off to Auburn to my chiropractor there; she is back at work after having knee repair surgery in November! Then I went on to Roseville for some shopping.

I got some Valentine supplies to decorate with, also to make some place cards for guests at my birthday party, which is four days before. Found the dark chocolate chips that I like at Walmart, and stocked up on groceries at Trader Joe’s and Grocery Outlet.

It was raining all the way home, and dark, so I drove slowly and carefully along the highways. Dropped some compost off at a friend’s house (I didn’t have time on the way south!), then just made it to Briarpatch for drinking water before they closed at 9 pm–an hour earlier than usual in winters now!

Here are pix of my Valentine treasures; I’ll start creating tomorrow. EnJoy!

Wood Heart

Valentine Heart

Valentine Supplies

Valentine Supplies 2

Heart Candy Cups

We had sunshine today, wheeee! So nice after so many gray days of rain!

This evening I decided to make a journal from a small paper bag and some scraps of paper and greeting cards from my stash. I sewed some pages to the hinge of the smaller folded pocket on the left, and put a separate journal into the larger pocket on the right. EnJoy!

Red Bird Bag Journal

Red Bird Bag Journal 2

Red Bird Bag Journal 3

Red Bird Bag Journal 4

Red Bird Bag Journal 5

Journal within the Journal

Journal within the Journal 2

Red Bird Bag Journal 8

We had rain and snow today! The snow did not stick, though, at least at my elevation. Higher elevations got more.

This evening I got on my weekly artists group call, where we create and discuss art while on zoom. Fun!
I also turned this old greeting card into a mini journal, with four blank pages inside to write on. EnJoy!

Valentine Card Journal

Valentine Card Journal 2

Valentine Card Journal 3

We had some rain today, not as much in the past several days. While I love the rain and we need it, I could do with a little sunshine soon!

Finished my laundry, listened to the Miracles Activation meditation for my YOM class, and made two charts of where I am now and where I want to be in one year, in terms of relationships, finances, home, health, friends, and so forth. Since I slept in, I didn’t end up doing much else for creativity, and now I just want to relax and read before sleep.

Here is a little tincushion I made inside a tiny pail a few years ago. EnJoy!

Tiny Pail Tincushion

Mother Nature is certainly aiming to make up for drought years here! Rain came down in sheets today–interspersed with hail!–and a small stream formed in my patio. I called the landlady; she can’t do anything now, and I suggested that some time soon she might want to put in drain holes in the dips of the cement, as current drains are too high up and useless. Thankfully the rain has abated for now. I did get in a walk earlier–and there are two huge puddles on the road that runs past my house, with no drainage at all! The water came up to the top of the sidewalk there. Yikes!

This evening I made this sweet little Valentine card; who would you love to send it to? EnJoy!

Lacey Valentine Card

Lacey Valentine Card 2

Lacey Valentine Card 3

Lacey Valentine Card 4

Today we had More rain! My patio has poor drainage and puddles were building up, so I donned some rain gear and went out to see what I could do. I dug a couple of tiny ditches for the water to drain under the fence, then used a small pushbroom to move the water off the patio. Eventually gave it up as a lost cause! The downside is, I now have a pulled muscle right above my left leg and sore muscles around the lower ribs on that side. OUCH!

Made several phone calls to catch up with friends, and spent too much time on the internet Again. WHERE does the time go? I am resigned to not making something new today–again. Yes, this is a fallow time of year, the time to plant seeds and let them germinate before expecting growth with Spring. So I can relax into this moment of fallowness. Tomorrow is another opportunity to create something magical!|

A few years ago I finally taught myself to crochet by watching a good tutorial video, and made this sampler with bauble stitch. EnJoy!

Bauble Crochet Stitch

I managed to get up earlier today, got my stretching and other routines done in a more timely way. Progress!

This afternoon my coach and I met with a friend who is a career coach and knows a lot of people; we showed him the Financial GPS and told him what kind of clients would be a good fit for him to refer. Always good to spread the word!

I got in a quick walk and rinsed and filled the water saucers for birds and squirrels; we even had some sunshine today! Then I got on another zoom call with my new friend; we agreed to meet for lunch at a Thai restaurant in Truckee, about an hour from where I live, on the 20th. I’m visualizing good weather and clear roads by then; currently there is snow on the mountain I’ll be crossing.

Got my new weekly planner in the mail, yay! Also I received this lovely MDC that I won last Sunday, so pretty! The creator sent me some extra goodies to play with, too. I did not create anything new today, so you get to view someone else’s art. EnJoy!

MDC from Sharon

MDC and goodies from Sharon