a little inspiration

I think my journey towards minimalism began long before I identified the term.  When we were moving down here I started to switch from loving and looking for color to fill our bedroom to searching for white and calm.  There could be details, but subtle, simple was what I looked for.  White sheets instead of patterned, a single white blanket.  A dark wood bed frame to give contrast but also to fall away visually. I love the feeling of that bed now.  The soft texture of the blanket, the cool feeling of the sheets.  One painting, painted by my love for my Christmas gift this year, sets the meditative tone.  A place of peace. But all around it, the clutter.  The noise of life I wouldn't give away, but the stuff I can never find a home for?  Ugg.  I see pictures of rooms without stacks of things everywhere and yearn for that but never knew how to make it happen.  There simply isn't room to put away everything we have in this sm...

This last week I have been rocking my way through a long action item list and feeling very good about it. My whole life is ups and downs of productivity like anyone (?) but I do a whole lot more thinking about doing than actually doing. But when the list gets longer I just have to get to work because it messes with my head space. (Ignore the dirty floor but check out the passed out pooch. So sweet, she wanted to help.) The first thing I had to complete was our donation for Craft Hope . They are organizing the donation of probably millions of towels to help with cleaning animals affected by the oil spill. I don't have a good picture of the finished project because the light was bad. (Which hardly matters. It just looks like stacks of fabric anyway.) I only have this picture of the left overs. Senor (the saint) and I stayed up late one night this week and cut up about 50 t shirts that his company had given us to do this with. That works out to something like 250 washcloth...

Another OAD bag ready to go out! My friend Kim bought a couple of these as Christmas gifts and then ordered another one for herself. Since it was also her birthday last week I decided this one should be a gift as well! So- Happy Birthday Kim! I'll see you Wednesday. I appreciate the support so much! (Click on the picture to see more views.)

I made a from a pattern (I always think "recipe") in Stitch Magazine . My sweet neighbor Jill asked me if I could use some old pants that needed to be retired and of course I said yes. When she was dropping them off she also asked if I could make a small bag for her out of them. I immediately thought of this pattern (recipe). I had in mind to make myself one as well and almost cut out my fabric at the same time but didn't for whatever reason. And now I am glad. I like this bag, but it isn't the kind I would carry (I need far more room for diapers and rice puffs) and though my bag would be made of different fabric I would have cut it to line up the same (since I was going to use some retired corduroys as well) and I feel like the effect isn't the same as the picture in the magazine where the sides are different from each other. Though it may just be the denim that is throwing me. I tend to keep denim in jeans and the occasion skirt and away from everything e...

Okay- what I am about to show you may not be brilliant or anything but I do think it is cute, and hope it will be helpful. Ever since I saw Amy over at Angry Chicken make these simple envelopes with magazine pages I have been a little obsessed with using catalog and magazines pages. Luckily, this is the time of year where you wrap lots of things in paper! So first we just used the envelope idea to wrap our homemade, everyone gets it gift. We do this every year- pick a nice gift that everyone can use or enjoy and personalize it. Last year we made calendars (which were a huge hit, maybe we will do that again next year.) One year we made cook books, one year Christmas cards- anyway, you get the idea. The draw back to giving out a gift that is the same is it is the same. Does that make sense? I mean, trust me, I have thought of every person who we are giving this gift to and though they are different I can imagine them all using this gift, but still the sameness is a little boring...