There is nothing I like better than sleeping in on a Saturday morning. It’s been a while since I have done such a thing. “Sleeping in”, means 6:30/7:00 am. Today, I did that!
Actually, DD beat me to the couch. I trudged over and asked her how she slept, and she told me all about a bad dream she had. When her story was finished, we exchanged a good hug and I asked if she was hungry for breakfast yet. Nope. She started playing “Animal Crossing” on her Switch and I wandered into the kitchen to make some breakfast.
I pulled out a frying pan to cook up/use up some bacon from two weeks ago. I placed it on the stove, but before I turned on the burner, decided to check if the bacon was still good to eat. Nope. Fine by me. One less thing I had to cook. I trashed the bacon and started heating the pan for hash browns. I started coffee, cooked up some hash browns and eggs, peeled an orange, and decided on reading my book over a game of Sudoku. It was a wonderful, peaceful morning. Oh, AND the whole time there was a blizzard raging outside. It poured all night long, then turned to snow this morning. So, cozy feeling BONUS!
No Rush Saturday Morning for giggleFritz
The Book I am currently Reading – “The Empty Throne”, by Bernard Cornwell
We lounged around until 9am. Then, it was time to get moving. DD had “Christmas for Kids” at school, DH drove her and had stuff to do, and I am now tackling today’s “To Do” list. It was nice while it lasted. Now it is time to Rush!
Hello, Everyone! I have been working on a few sewing projects intermingled with decorating for Christmas and day-to-day chores. Why not throw one more project into the mix?
This year, on Black Friday, we ventured out to breakfast at a decent hour. Afterwards, we stopped at a few stores: not so much for hardcore shopping, but mostly to entertain some Christmas Spirit. We picked up some seasonal Starbucks Holiday Drinks and headed to Target. Why Target? For all of the obvious reasons AND they still have a Book section!
We browsed the $1 section in the front of the store, women’s clothes, movies, and then we finally hit the books. The book and movie section is much smaller than in past years, but it was still nice to browse. And then, I saw IT. Way on the bottom in the righthand corner of the shelf, was this book:
“Wreck This Journal”, by Keri Smith
I know I have seen this book before, but never paid much attention to it. The first printing was 2007 and it has been reprinted and expanded since then. I’ve also seen Smash Journals and Junk Journaling. I have looked into junk journaling and watched a few YouTube videos. It looks interesting, but never enough to get into it myself. It feels like there is no real purpose for what you are making, so why make it? It takes a lot of thinking outside the box, making a mess, and making a lot of mistakes or imperfections. The things I see people making aren’t “good”, they miss the mark. This thinking of mine actually bothers me something fierce. The reason you do this kind of journaling is to flex your creative muscles: try something different, expand on the ideas you are working on. It’s all very uncomfortable, yet rewarding when you see it through.
I think it would be great to take a class on collage, or if they have a “junk journal” class. I took a journal class at the library a few years ago. It introduced us to all of the supplies and types of journals, but it didn’t go deep enough. So, when I saw this book I wanted to know what it meant to, “wreck this journal”. It’s pretty cool!
Each page gives you something to do: draw circles, “wrap something with this page”, “color this entire page”. Some of the things I don’t want to do, but others are really interesting. I almost didn’t buy this book because I thought it doesn’t seem too creative to have someone telling you what to do. But, I am so inconsistent and lazy in my sketching and journaling, I need a bit of structure to get anything done.
Wreck This Journal: “Fill This Page with Circles”
I have been working on a few of the pages and feel good that I did them. But, my pages feel boring or I just didn’t put enough thought or time into them. Because of this, I went looking on the internet to see if other people had shared their work done in this book. The answer is YES! They sure did! If you search for the reviews on this book on Amazon, you will find pictures of peoples creations. There are also Pinterest boards dedicated to ideas for this book, and there are web sites with prompts for Children as well:
Today, I am sharing my “Fill this Page with Circles” page with you. It is looking like it needs some color or texture or something. I will fix it up and share it again later, I think.
Do you have a “Wreck this Journal”? Did you fill the whole thing up? If you don’t have the book, you could make your own with a sketch book and check out the prompts on Pinterest or other web sites dedicated to the book. It’s a fun creative outlet!
It is six days after Thanksgiving in the US and I finally have a chance to say, “Happy Thanksgiving!” I am truly thankful for all of the blessings God has given my family and me. We had a wonderful, delicious Thanksgiving lunch, shared with family and neighbors. I hope your Thanksgiving was fantastic as well!
One of our Thanksgiving Centerpieces, Turkey crafted in Sunday School
A Little Piece of Each: Pumpkin, Apple, and Pecan Pie
Hello Everyone! I am busy with sewing and Thanksgiving prep this week. I had to take a moment to ship someone a new friend. Go, make someone happy, Sock Monkey! Safe travels!
I hit the ground running like any normal day. Who am I kidding? I hit the ground moving slowly toward the bathroom, wishing I could stay in bed a few more moments. DD was home from school for a teacher in-service day. At least I didn’t have to get her up and out the door. I got dressed, made breakfast, we ate breakfast, and I moved on to straightening up and shipping orders.
Soon after I started working, I received a text from the Grandparent of one of DD’s friends. Did we want to get the kids together for a play date? Heck yes! We worked it out that the friend would come over by us and the kids could play for a few hours. That worked out nicely. However, I don’t get much done on days DD is home, much less when a friend comes to visit. But, the kids had a great time and when it was time for our guest to go home we were feeling a little gloomy. It was a perfect time to slow down and do some drawing together.
I have been wanting to dig out my sketch book lately and just draw SOMETHING. Anything. I haven’t drawn anything in a long time and getting back at it isn’t pretty or easy for me. We got our supplies out and DD automatically starts drawing something she saw. She draws constantly and I am very proud of all of her wonderful ideas and drawings. Maybe that’s why I get the urge to draw now and then, to just put something on paper, to not be afraid or critical.
I started doodling flowers and leaves. Typical. Then, I thought back to this neat drawing I did years ago. It was a root cellar with a big pumpkin next to it. I grabbed an older sketch book of mine and found it. I was instantly critical of it. It looked just ok. What did I not approve of? The pumpkin. It was wrong. Why was it wrong? After thinking about the old sketch I remembered I did it from my head. It probably would have been much better if I had looked at an actual pumpkin. I ran outside and grabbed one of the cute little pie pumpkins off the front porch, one I had grown in our garden this year. I set it down and got to work.
Pie Pumpkin Sketch by giggleFritz
Not bad, but I need more practice. It was really frustrating to slow down and try to get the lines right. I did a lot of erasing and thinking about how to make the lines appear less “line-y”. It was frustrating, but also felt great to focus on drawing again. I will try to sketch something else tomorrow.
As I wait for DD’s school bus, it is pouring rain. It’s been a damp, warm fall in Wisconsin. I am wrapping up a Note-to-Self Mini book. The pattern on the fabric is much more cheerful than our current weather situation. Hopefully, I’ll have it listed tomorrow in the giggleFritz shop. Lots to sew, list, and do.
Meatloaf for dinner tonight. Pumpkin pie for dessert! 🙂
Hello, Everyone! Life continues to be busy. All. The. Time. I wouldn’t have it any other way! I have been hard at work harvesting, canning, and freezing the veggies in our garden. I have also been cleaning out and decluttering our home. It is time to get back to giggleFritz work and fill my shop with lovely things!
I had to run an errand today AND had several Joann Gift Cards burning a hole in my pocket. I decided it was the perfect day to take a road trip to Joann Fabric in Fond du lac, WI. It really IS a road trip. The closest Joann Fabric is 37 minutes away. The one I like to go to is 42 minutes away. Either way, it’s kind of a haul.
I ran my errands and drove north to Fond du lac. The drive north was fantastic! I brought my travel mug filled with coffee, ate my snack, listened to the radio, and enjoyed the farmland scenery. The peace of a nice long drive with no one asking me a million questions or needing anything was much appreciated.
I wandered the store for about an hour. That is all the time I can handle before all of the things become overwhelming to me. I also got hit with an allergy attack and that made it difficult to want to stay too long. But, I found some cute things! I really needed some inspiration, and I found it at Joann’s! Now comes the discipline to create and complete things my customers will love.
