Upcycled For Christmas

When I went to the craft fair a couple of weekends ago, I heard a lecture about creativity. Quite interesting that financias crisis always seem to spur peoples creativity, but also the tendency to start reusing instead of buying new things constantly. It is not "IN" to buy-and-throw-away - but it is "IN"/trendy to reuse items, and create something with your own hands. Insert a little laughter here, when I claim, that I have not been untrendy the past 5-10 years, I have merely been ahead of time.

Got this box with something inside a couple of months ago, and decide to save the box, as it had potential for being upcycled. It just so happended that I this week realised, that I was in need of a box, hence the mentioned one getting a purpose.

An old friend of mine, who also loves receiving letters in the post, celebrates her birthday next Saturday. Wanted to give her something personal, that I know she will make good use of : homemade Christmas cards.
Had thought of stamping a lot of images to use on the cards, but the purchase of the die Reindeer w/Antlers gave me an idea and a chance to use a lot of the redish/white designpaper from Panduro hobby.

Maybe these seem simple, but I like them all and actually have a hard time parting with them. Have considered, if a sentiment should have been stamped on them, but decided agains it, since the birthday girl is to send these to receivers ,who speak various languages (just like her). Included some of my gifttags to the box  and some of this years Christmas stamps in the box.

Hope she will like the box and the items inside.

Writing Class

I recently signed up for a writing class and the deadline for the first submission is today. I had planned to submit this earlier, but I ended up doing the first assignment today in the last minute. Flashback to school - but then the best results from my hand were created at the last minute.

While writing images from a 80s movie were in my head and they wouldn't go away! But at the same time they made me laugh and I suddendly had a different angle to what I was writing. Not that any of it resembled to anything in that movie, but I had this strange feeling that inspired the words I was writing.

I have had a story in my head for the past 1½ years, that I would like to get down on paper one day, so see if I can accomplish just that. No intentions of having it published, it is simply just something for me. And me being reluctant to have the story shown to any publisher is not because it has resemblance ot anything personal, that I am putting down on paper - since it is merely something my mind created. What I was writing today was inspired from the story in my mind, but with a new angle.

The 80s movie in my head was "Romancing the stone" - one of my favourites frmo that time. I remembered the beginning, where Kathleen Turner finish writing her book, that she is having published: the old fashioned type writer, the wall mounted phone, the mail/letters (in stead of our time's email etc) - not that I want to be a romantic novelist like her, but things were just more down to earth.

Next assignment is released tomorrow and is due next Sunday - and I am looing forward to it.

Can a Movie Really Inspire you??

I should be sleeping now - or maybe doing other things on my have-to-do-list instead of blogging.... have to get up earlier tomorrow (or it it today?) to make a card to a colleague.

I just saw "Letters to Juliet" on DVD, and I just had to write about it - not the movie, but the thoughts it generated.... no wonder part of my blog's sub-headline is "Random thoughts just put out there...."

Well my old innovation professor would call my string of thoughts, association technique... but here goes... all inspired by a chick-flick I soo needed after having had a troublesome day.

Just the title made me think of "Romeo & Julie" and of course Shakespeare, one of the worlds greatest writers... or was he? Hmmmm.... been reading way to many books with different theories on that subject andstill does not know, what to believe.

Everywhere I looked, it was if as the world could only speak about writing: this movie, the fact that they handed out the Nobel Prize of Litterature today, that the heroine in todays movie wants to be a writer, that one of my favorite magazine announced a writing competition today...

Do you believe in signs? I mean, it can all be coincidental...?!

She is searching... in the movie.... Claire is searching for her long lost love Lorenzo and Sophie is searching to refind her passion for writing... and the rewards are so much more than the initial searches.

And I just realised... Maybe I have been looking for something without even realising it? I think that the writing competition is a challenge, that I have to do.... I do not expect to win... But it is simply to try to accomplish writing that story and feel good about it.

Maybe I am rambling and it is getting late.... but time to take a dive into the deep end of the pool and see if I can reach the edge of the pool :o)