making things with paper

 

When I was 20 or so I had two rubber stamps.  I made many cards with them using rubber cement. (like, what is rubber cement?)  I would use liquid starch on fabric and iron it until it was like card stock.  Shortly after that we moved to Idaho where I set foot in a scrapbook store, it was remarkable.  Though it was really just the size of a walk in closet I could easily spend an afternoon there.  Though I haven’t been much of a scrapbooker, I just like to make stuff with the patterned papers.  Mostly cards.

 

                    for my in laws who sweetly house and entertain my children every summer

Needing to make things often overpowers my mind.  I think many women have this in different forms.  There are times I find this troubling… why the need to make stuff?  Is it a way of adding chaos?  Why can’t I just buy a card at the store instead of hauling out bins of stuff?  Usually I will make a card (or sew a dress or bake something or paint something) and not even like how it came out.

 

                                for a friend’s baby-I have probably made 100 of this same card over the years

There is something therapeutic in the making part, don’t you think?  I sometimes wish I could just focus on one hobby and advance my skills instead of trying out everything and staying at a 12 year old skill level.  I often see such beautiful whimsical creations with paper and vintage baubles.  It isn’t in my brain to do that.  I wish it was.

                                                    My husband’s squadron gets a lot of homemade cards. 

Crisp lines and simplicity, I can’t be rid of them.   No fuss, the same way I am at home.  It’s part of not being able to relax, I think. Remember Almanzo’s sister Eliza Jane in Little House?  I used to be afraid I would be like her.  All bound up and self conscious.

 

                                                                              Happy retirement Col B

Having kids kind of forces that self conscious feeling out.  How can you not laugh at yourself when your son leaves a 30 foot pee trail to the bathroom in Target? 

This wooden plaque/thing is for you, Carl.  My dear brother who lives in a  little house by the ocean.  Do you ever look off into the horizon and wonder what world is out there waiting?  It’s me, your sister waiting out there until we can sit under the same umbrella and and make fun of our siblings. 

 

I have had that Mary Engelbreit image of the boy looking off at the whales for years, it’s among my favorites.  

  

                      This is 3-D art, it was popular in Germany when we lived overseas.

 

I heart Mrs Grossman stickers, even more than I did when I was 12.

What do you find comfort in making?  What are your favorite hobbies? What do you wish you were better at?

Hoping you are having a terrific Tuesday…