Harper Valley

New Moon Premier

 
  
New Moon is here.  At last!  It opened in theaters yesterday, and I've already seen it twice.  I started off with a midnight showing of the movie on Thursday night (aka Friday morning).  Then I did it all over again Friday night after work.  Whew!  It was a marathon but I finished the race. 

Critics aren't giving New Moon high rankings, but I disagree with them.  What do they know anyway?  It was great... a definite improvement from Twilight.  They honored the book well, and the music was hot.  Think I'll download the soundtrack this weekend. 

My favorite line from the movie was surprisingly from Charlie, Bella's father.  As he checks on his depressed, heartbroken daughter, he leans over her bed and says..."Sometimes you have to learn to love what's good for you."  I thought...So true, so true.  Easier said than done, but thanks for the reminder, Charlie Boy.  I need to hear that daily.   

Here are some pix from the last 24 hours of my life...

Me and Sabrina {hostess supreme}.  She set up a special New Moon soiree for her vampy/wolfie freak friends.  We started with a pre-party at Fiddler's Green, and then moved the fun to Aloma Cinema Grill for the midnight showing.  Everyone sported their best New Moon gear --- custom shirts, glitter, fangs, fur, and flannel.  I couldn't choose between Team Edward and Team Jacob, so I went Switzerland with my shirt.  Apparently, my message tee was confusing to several folks who thought "I love them both" referred to my lovely girls.  While I do cherish my bosom dearly, that's not what the shirt meant.  We had a good laugh over that.

 

Cherie joined me at the party.  She's represented her wolf pack, Team Jacob..with a stylish fur vest.  Very furry and chic indeed! 

 

Time for Round Two at Winter Park Village.  Here I am with some of my fave work peeps, Lauren and Monique.  We showed up two hours early, armed with camping chairs and a cooler.  Shockingly, there was barely a line, so we ditched our tailgate paraphernalia and hung out on the Crispers patio for convo and cocktails.  As we sauntered up to the theater 30 minutes before showtime, we quickly realized that there WAS a line..we just didn't see it.  Oy!  Despite the crowd of amped up tweeners, we still scored decent seats.  It was a close call though. 

 

And finally..the best pictures of all....

How can I choose between Fangs?

Or Fur?

 

Creative Fear

Hola mis compadres creativos.  I'm sure that just like me, you've experienced fear, anxiety, and doubt surrounding your creative journey.  You've heard of Eat, Pray, Love, no?  Chew on this inspirational and poignant talk by its author, Elizabeth Gilbert.  Whoa. Stick with it until the end.  It's worth it.  

Craft Corps

Guess what?  I'm famous!!!  OK, so kinda not really.  BUT....I am a member of the brand spankin'  new Craft Corps website. 

Craft Corps is the brain child of Vickie Howell, knitting extraordinaire. Vickie's original plan was to create Craft Corps: The Book ...which is still happening and debuts in May 2010.  The book features some of our nation's fave and most interesting crafters.  Some of the featured artisans are in the public eye --think Carol Duvall (Carol Duvall Show), Jay McCarroll (Project Runway), Kathy Cano-Murillo (Crafty Chica).  Some are behind-the-scenes folks just doing what they do best..making stuff!

The book applicant response was overwhelming, so Vickie rounded up the extra troops (AKA the ones of us who didn't make the cut...AKA me) and gave us an online community home.  I feel grateful that she found a way to include us!  And a little bonus to being on the website ---> a new member will be featured on the home page and the newsletter each week.  Check out my profile here.  From anywhere else on the site, I'm in the Paper Arts section on the right sidebar.   How groovy!

p.s. I appear a little younger on the site because I turned in the app a while back.  That was my age at the time, so I guess I'll be 34 forever.  Yahoo!!!

Coffee & Coloring

 

When was the last time you colored?  Probably a long long time ago, right?  Most of us think of coloring as child's play...but grownups can do it too!  This afternoon, I spent some time enjoying a Christmas gift from my sister, Jill....a meditative coloring book.  I've been super sick this week and forced myself to relax today instead of the usual errands and chores. 

Many times, my relaxing turns into all-day couch potato-ing. So today I turned off the idiot box, broke out my most fave grownup drink (can of Starbucks Iced Coffee), turned on some Mozart, and dug up my colored pencils.  Coloring is a great way to unwind.  It's pretty mindless and there's little artistic talent required.  It can be tedious at times.  But oddly enough, the tediousness seems to be what relaxes me.  I get so into what I'm doing that I don't think about anything else..just what's in front of me. 

Try doing this when you need to ~chillax~ ...or when you'd like to spend time with the favorite children in your life.  They can color Dora while you color an intricate butterfly.  Even older children like it.  I used coloring as an art therapy project with the women we visited in China.  Most of them were late teens/early 20s, and I was amazed at how much they loved it.  You can use markers, crayons, colored pencils, or whatever you have around.  

Ruth Heller makes some great books!   She has a wide selection on Amazon.  Once you're on the website, you can also type in "adult coloring books"...you'll be surprised what you find. 

p.s. While coloring, you may find yourself being critical of your work or over analyzing your color choices.  When this happens, bring your mind back to what's in front of you, and remember...you're not selling this to the MoMA.  It's just coloring.  =)

 

 

 

The Scrapbooker's Creativity Kit!

Lookie what I got in the mail this week ---> Claudine Hellmuth's latest creation: The Scrapbooker's Creativity Kit!  This kit is complete with a book of unique design ideas -and- two card decks for prompts.  One deck is full of colors.  The other deck is full of words.  The idea is to draw one card from each deck.  Or you might choose to draw an additional color card as Claudine did in the example below.  She drew Food + Pink + Red.  From there, she created a project that included these three elements.  Of course, they need not be literal interpretations of the words...they're just ideas to get your brain warmed up.  

Claudine says this word prompt technique is tried and true.  And she knows her stuff because she is famous.  Hahaha!  OK, it's not because she's famous (although she IS famous)....it's because she is a truly talented artist.  I know this for sure because I took one of her collage workshops, which was WAY wonderful.  One look at her art and I think you'll concur.   

If you're not a scrapbooker, you could still use this kit to spark ideas for collages, greeting cards, mixed media projects, paper crafting, paintings, or whatever.  Let your creative juices persuade you!  They always know the way.

After I posted this, Claudine mentioned me..mentioning her..on her blog.  Check it out here.  Now I'm famous too!! 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Word and color prompt cards

 

Claudine's collage = Food + Pink + Red

 

Layout examples by contributing artists.  The book is full of sample layouts using additional word and color combos.  This one is Change + Blue-Green + Celery Green.

Random Acts of Everyday Creativity

A few months ago, I shared some fun and free ideas that you could try to get your creative juices flowin!  To my original blog readers....did you try any of them?  If so, I'd love to hear about your experiments. To my new blog readers...see my "Creative Juices" post from 9/7.  I'd love to hear from you too!

I promised you more simple and interesting ideas** that you can do by yourself, with friends, with children, with your macho man..or your lovely lady!  You don't have to paint or draw to live life more creatively.  Check these out:

Project 16 - Make the perfect margarita.  Then drink one, two, three, or more.  Oh yes, lots of tests must be done.  Second, third and fourth opinions will be necessary, so invite over your crew.  There are many recipe variations for the perfect margarita, so diligent research and taste-testing is required.

Project 31 - Place new photographs in all of your picture frames.

Project 25 - Wake up.  Take a personal day.  Use the day to do that thing you've been meaning to do.  Saturdays are for laundry, errands, get-togethers, shows, all-day events.  Sundays are for waking up late, going to church, eating brunch, picnics, long-distance phone calls.  And of course weekdays are usually for work.  Personal days are yours to take, yours to make.  Use them wisely.

Project 18 - The next time you get some bad news, or you wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend/best friend gets some bad news, pop open a bottle of champagne.  Drink it.

Project 17 - Wake up at 5am.  Usually, it's about catching a plane.  But do it just to take advantage of the quiet, early morning hours.  Take a walk.  Go for a run.  Read the paper, leisurely.  Work on your novel.  Read a novel.  Write a note to a friend.  Write a long, long, entry in your journal.  Make a huge breakfast.  Just sit there, drink coffee, and watch the sun come up.

Project 21 - Take one picture every day for a month.  Either take a picture of the same scene every day at the same time for 30 days, or just god about your day and make sure to take one picture each for a month.  You could also take a picture of yourself, or someone you are close to for 30 days straight. At the end of the  month, get the film developed, put the picture in chronological order in an album.  Make a poster out of them, put them in a special box, or post them on a bulletin board.

**Ideas are adapted from the book 52 Projects: Random Acts of Everyday Creativity.  This book is full of "offbeat, exploratory, artistic projects: memory inducing and life-affirming writing exercises; photographic assignments that capture the essence of fleeting moments and times that you wish could last forever; exploration of the arts - from the culinary to the literary; ideas for gifts from the heart...ideas to document and preserve the little details that make up the life you are living..."

Reading Day

Today was so relaxing.  I slept in, watched some cooking shows, ran a few errands and then...read a book.  I'm in a book club that meets in two days, and I was only on Chapter 5 of 24.  So I got crackin' with some serious bookage this afternoon. I'm reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.  Stella likes to read with me.  This is her sitting in my lap, trying to sneak in a good ole face rub on the pages.  That's my girl!

Creative Juices

Most of you know that I'm happiest when I'm creating something or learning about creating.  This weekend, I had some time to work on my scrapbook, so that was wonderful.  But sometimes I get too busy to do creative things...or I'm too lazy to gather the supplies...or I just don't feel any creative juices a-flowin'.  This probably happens to you as well.  Life just takes over, doesn't it?

Or maybe you're one of those people who says "There are no creative juices flowing through my body!"  Well I'm here to tell you that YOU do have creativity flowing inside you.  "Who me?"  Yes, you. 

Living a creative lifestyle does not mean you have to paint on canvas or create sculptures.  Creative projects come in all shapes, sizes, price points and levels of difficulty. For all you self-proclaimed, non-creative types, consider the following.... How about exploring a new part of town and journaling about your adventure?  How about trying a new recipe and photographing the results?  How about making a video letter for a long lost friend or grandparent you rarely visit?  How about taking pictures of flowers and trees?  How about taking your kids on a nature walk and examining your treasures?  How about an archaeological dig through some of your junk drawers full of buried treasures and memories?

A few weeks ago, I picked up a little book called 52 Projects: Random Acts of Everyday Creativity.  This book is full of "offbeat, exploratory, artistic projects: memory inducing and life-affirming writing exercises; photographic assignments that capture the essence of fleeting moments and times that you wish could last forever; exploration of the arts - from the culinary to the literary; ideas for gifts from the heart...ideas to document and preserve the little details that make up the life you are living..."

The projects in this book are fantastic!  And they're all very inexpensive or FREE. I'm going to post these project ideas over the coming months, so you can try them out with me!   Here's one I recently completed:  "Project 26 - Take a picture of yourself first thing when you wake up Monday morning.  Take another picture just before you leave for work, and another just after you sit down at your desk.  Take pictures of yourself throughout the day at specific times.  Be sure to take one just before you leave work for the day.  Repeat the picture-taking for each day of the week, Monday -Friday.  After you get them developed, organize them in sequence, and then flip through the pictures.  What do you see?"

Sure, my first picture below is hideous (ya..this is what my future Prince Charming has to look forward to every morning).  But this was a fun, free project that I really enjoyed!  It was also a great visual for me to see how stressed out I get at work and how much staring at a computer screen all day zaps the joy and energy right out of me.   

Ah, if only days like this were the exception, not the rule!