Tuesday, August 3, 2010

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.

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                    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.

 

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                                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.

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                                                    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.

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                                                                              Happy retirement Col B

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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. 

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

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

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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…

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

My sentiments exactly. There is something in me that starts feeling anxious and sometimes depressed when too much time goes by without a project. I too cannot focus on one thing for too long. It must be an Artist Attention Deficit of some sort? Those people who have found there thing, their nitch, are lucky. Some of us are still trying it all out.

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I'm with you! I would rather do 100 different crafts...and have supplies for them ALL than stick with one thing and become proficient! heehee! I do love making cards but I think it's because I like small projects that I can finish at a sitting! Your cards are wonderful! And we ALL love handmade gifts! ♥ I'll let you know when my book gets juicy! lol ♥

Andi said...

Wow. Compelled to make things...That baffles my mind. I'm only compelled to make food, and that is usually because I'm compelled to plant a garden (refuse to believe I'm no longer a farm girl) so therefore, I must do something with my harvest. And, I cook because it's cheaper and easier...But crafting? We are quite different that way, my dear.

But, I do LOVE what you do.

barbara said...

It's so funny you would post this today because there's so much of what I was thinking about. (Especially the part about not being able to relax. I need serious help.) I wonder, too, about the need to make things, but then I ask myself whether, oh, tobacco executives wake up in the morning and question why they do what they do. I'm guessing not. I'd like to think there's something innate and good and kind about wanting to create. Anyway - your cards are lovely, and the one with the Mary Engelbreit figure made me think about my brother, and that was nice.

Unknown said...

Man, I am so with you on that crafting thing! (I don't know what happened to my sister, Andi, who comments above, maybe she wasn't in 4-H!) I am always saving patterns for embroidery or paper crafts or baby gifts or some other making thing off the internet. I might make one and I'm done and never get better at what I attempt! But it is fun to give home made, even with the frustration of learning something to be just good enough!!!

Leila said...

Hey, rubber cement is awesome, once you read the directions and stop trying to make it stick to the paper. And also don't breathe it. It's good for hasty people like me, who can't be careful while applying glue. Just rubs right off...


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This is me to a T. I sometimes do like how things come out, but very often I'm stunned by how much of a production a very mediocre item turned out to be! Wow.

But your cards are very cute. I love them. You are good to give people homemade cards - it's so loving!

I'm also a sticker lover, which makes my kids laugh. What.

Leila said...

"Usually I will make a card (or sew a dress or bake something or paint something) and not even like how it came out."

This is the part that got left out. I hope it appears here or what I said doesn't make sense...

Emily said...

I LOVE your cards. They are just the cutest things. I love to read, but can't do it fast enough. Isn't that strange? I wish I could read faster. I knit some, but mainly straight lines. I sew some, but not confidently. I'd like to improve on LOTS of hobbies. Photography, crocheting, scrapbooking.......I think I've got too many hobbies.

i cant decide said...

Love the cards! I go through a creative time each month. Must be hormonal for me.

Unknown said...

Good morning my Freckled Hen! I happen to love chicks and hens!

I really enjoyed seeing your cards. One of my favorites is the same Mary E. drawing. It spoke to me for years too. The little boy is one of Mary's sons. A few years ago Mary lost one of her boys. You often see them in her older drawings.

I totally understand the peace and creativity that comes from taking heart moments and they become hand moments.
I enjoy coloring...and I like to make shadow boxes. It takes me to a place where reality sometimes does not live...in a little box of cute!

I encourage you not to grow up beyond 12, stay there...it's safer than adulthood!

Happy Friday from my home to yours...
~Jacqueline~
P.S. You might like my post today on Positive Thunder Storms...hugs.