Blogging and inspiration

I think everyone should blog and of course that's my personal opinion but I think we all have a story to share and there are plenty of people who would want to listen to your story and blogland connects the two, the story teller and the story seeker.
The other day over dinner DH and I started discussing our winter school uniform from our childhood and the girls got really interested in it. They have no concept of uniform dressing in school and so everything from my Mary-Jane to the color of my hair ribbons was fascinating to them. And after I was done telling them all that they scooted over to Daddy's side and prompted him to tell about it, who knew...

I remember the time as a young girl when my Dadi (paternal Grandma) and I shared a room and she told me such interesting stories, many of them we later realized were even unknown to my Dad. I wonder how many of them did I really understand at the time and how many many I recollect in completion now and of course there must have been some that I slept right through...

Besides a legacy that you might leave for others to follow, blogging is also a marker to measure your own growth. It is always easier to look back and connect the dots and use the direction as a launching pad for tomorrow rather than trying to judge on a spur, where am I headed.

Anyways, I think I made a point and you caught it....

Just because I love stories and draw a lot of inspirations from fellow bloggers, I wanted to share some blog posts/ bloggers that help me keep a healthy balance and of course my 'Can do' attitude.

Mary Jo and I became friend through scrapbooking and over the last couple of years, I am not as actively pursuing Scrapbooking as I used to but she is a really inspiration in times when I think I can't do it anymore. Her kids are in general age group as mine and when I see her pages using the latest products and creative story-telling, it compels me to document more of my own stories in a creative fashion and continue even though at albeit slower pace...

I love art but it always becomes a production to start a new project and so I am very hesitant to pick up and sketch, that is untill I saw Alisa Burke's post about drawing on a brown paper with white correction pen for personalized wrapping paper. And out came this doodle on the back of my calculation pad with Bic correction pen.


This inspiration about hanging Christmas and new year cards on the wall using painters tape came from Elsie Blaha's greetings wall and Elsie Larsons kitchen tour.

Elsie Blaha also inspired me to set smaller running targets to get back into running after taking a small hiatus Her instagram updates make me want to enjoy the mild winter that we have for this year and step out in the open for quick runs. (running a mile everyday)

Elsie Larson has been an inspiration for a long time, since I bought her first book about 52 scrapbooking projects. Have been following her art projects and fashion style on her blog for quite sometime but the recent house tour series inspires me to embrace my own style and not follow trends just for the sake of it. Here's a picture of the potential nook that I am creating in the landing/hallway for my work area...

  

Karen Russell is a wonderful person and I love her teaching style, I audited her 'Photographers Workshop' and absolutely loved it but what I love most about her blog is that she is too real and that inspires me.



I have been following Kal Barteski's 'love life blog for quite some time. The fact that out girls are in the same general age group, we often find ourselves dealing with same issues and its relieving to find someone in same boats as yours boat blog. I really enjoy her art and most recently the script brush art but her bullet proof attitude and war against piracy through 'Link with Love' are a major source of inspiration. I have adapted her Every Other Day philosophy to get through my cyclic chores and not be bogged down by it.

Ali Edwards' is probably one of the first blogs that I started reading and I have drawn a lot of inspiration from her. Not just from her creative scrapbooking style but also the aspect where you discover yourself through following a creative process. I follow her One little word for inspiration and have now launched into 'project life'.

Project Life - week 1

Here are the first couple of pages from my Project life Album of the year 2012. Before I say anything else, I would like to say that I am really enjoying the process of documenting this way. I am thinking that I should go back and adopt this technique for making albums for the previous years.


I am big on writing everything on calendar and I use iPhoto to catalog my pictures, so it’s really very easy to go back and track the specific events. I am sure I’ll miss out on the little stories from that time which I’ll be capturing live for 2012 but I think it is doable without overwhelming myself about taking up a huge project.

So, an update on the Project life from 2012, my Core Kit from Becky Higgins, in cobalt arrived when I was in my third week of the project but I had yet to finalize pages from week one and two so ended up using bit and pieces from there mostly for journaling. I haven’t done that yet, but I plan to carry those journaling cards with me in my purse because we have the most interesting conversations in the car and by the time I reach home, the hurry to make dinner and get to activities on time take over and I often forget the ‘punch line’ from the earlier conversations that make me tick initially.

The intro page includes a picture of God ‘Ganesh’; he is the God who removes all obstacles from your path and all the prayers began with a salute to him to make sure the rest of the ceremony proceeds without obstacles. I clicked this picture on the New Year Day visit to the temple. Our pictures were taken then too against the ornate Golden door at the temple. Besides that there are my resolutions/ guidelines for the year, along with the word for the year ‘Do’.

The first week lay out is essentially mostly pictures, I wrote generously on the pictures and added a few notes. The pictures on this page are very awkward because I was trying to print square pictures on a 4x6 pallet at the local drug store. It didn’t work out good, but I am documenting life which tends to be imperfect at times…

The next few weeks should be completed soon, I intend to get caught up…

Sari-Party

Since, my sari pictures were so well received at the ‘discomania’ that I decided to share a few pictures of Sari party that I hosted at my place last fall.

I have travelled and moved so much as a kid that I always felt that I carried my roots in my arms, roots that go beyond my ethnicity and encompass the experiences and encounters that have molded me. I have lived in this state and this country the longest I have ever lived in one place and though it is very different from where I originated, it has significantly contributed to the roots that I have finally began to let go. I have caught myself saying that I don’t want to move again till my girls are in college and that is very unlike me as I used to be.

I have taken a lot from the culture that I now call my home and I have given back equally. It is not possible for any person to live in isolation and with interaction comes exchange of ideas, of philosophy, of books, of food, of hugs and love. Well, this Sari Party was my way of giving back to the community that I have received so much from as a person and as a mother through my kids; It was a pleasure introducing friends to the ‘unstitched fabric’ or the ‘pure fabric (something that has not been spoiled by the needles made out of animal bones). There is usually 6 yards of it but it can be longer depending on the style it is tied around the body and it can be of any fabric from silk to cotton to modern day mixed fabric and has a myriad of patterns and embroideries.

Just some updates

Finally, I think 2012 and I are coming to some terms but I think I am still missing 2011

1. I am working on Project life still, I know hard to believe since I haven’t posted any pages so far but these printing pictures on a regular basis, specially the square format from instagram are just not working out. I hope to have the first three weeks done by Wednesday, keeping my fingers crossed. This year it is so good that the week ends on a Saturday and I have Sunday to tie the pages together with printed pictures but it’s just not happening.

A random sketch at the back of my design pad... 'Life is.'

2. I am trying to finish some decorating projects at home, I seriously wish to post a home tour pictures post, very inspired by Elsie Larson’s home tour pictures. Again, hopefully soon. I did hang DH's most cherished travel souvenir dinner mat on his office wall the other day.

DH's office wall, notice the long horns :-) he's a Bull

3. The girls are going to perform at the Hindu temple during the Saraswati Puja, next Sunday. It’s their first Kathak performance and they are both very excited about it. And so are the grandparents; eager to see them dance via Skype/you tube.

4. I haven’t gotten back on my running schedule yet but haven’t given up yet. But DH and I are trying to work out together every other day and I like the quality time together, so all is not lost on the fitness level.

5. The New CB2 store is now open in uptown Minneapolis. If you were a fan of their stuff you’ll see an end to the catalog shopping days; now you can actually touch and feel them before they are delivered to your home. They opened on 10 December 2011 but since they postponed their opening from November and a new Anthropologie store opened on Grand Ave in St. Paul on Black Friday, I just lost track of it all. I had a brief visit to the CB2 store and I love it except that they don’t have a restroom in the store which is very tough to deal with since my daughters use restroom as a break from Mamma’s shopping experience. So, now I have to leave the store if they need a break and there’s often a possibility that I lose my way back.

6. And on an opposite note, Bloomingdale’s at MOA is closing and although I haven’t shop much at the store I loved their table settings and decor nooks. Will miss that…

A display at Bloomingdales' MOA

7. I have been caffeine free for past couple of weeks and I am doing quite alright. I just had one decaf coffee on a coffee date with DH otherwise I am staying away from it, except the aroma that I let my senses enjoy since DH drinks coffee at home every morning.

8. I have finally gotten into the habit of practicing dance every day and though it’s not as much or as long as I’d like it to be, I think slowly my muscles will start remembering it all and accumulating the benefits of daily practice.

Apart from these updates I plan to finish posting all the posts that have been living a draft status for very long. I think I’ll let them appear for when they were intend to be published based on a chronological order rather than posting them as new posts now, so if there is a topic that interests you, please click on the labels to see all posts under them.

Repurposed shelf for kids room

Sharing this project, which has been in the pipeline for quite sometime, but I finished it very recently. I think I acquired this piece a couple of years ago from a garage sale and it sat in the garage collecting dust and served a shelter to spiders until late last year when during a cleaning spree I had to make a quick decision if I wanted to keep it or let it go and I decided to revamp it.

I think, it was meant to be used as a jewelry-hanging shelf but I didn’t care for the numerous hooks and little shelves. First I removed all the little hooks and gave it a good rinse. Then I primed the piece with the kilz primer. Since it was a piece for kids’ room, I let them help me and take the ownership of the piece.  

I used left over spray paint from my sofa project, the heirloom white that goes perfect with the Shermin Williams’s antique white, the color of the baseboard and trim in the room.

After it dried completely and then some, I finally found the time to decoupage paper that coordinated with the colors of the room. I did contemplate using gray base color for the papers to ground the colors in the room but finally found a balance in my scrapbooking supplies Basic Grey’s Oh Baby series. It is an old package that I used for some of the girls’ baby pages and had the perfect balance for colors and subdued background.

The piece is now complete and waiting to be hung up. The girls have plans to display some recently acquired squinkies and little books and I am looking forward to it all. 

Sari for Discomania

When I saw Holly Becker's call for participation in the discomania virtual blogger party, I decided to dress up in a sari.
I love to wear sari, it always fits, on me and for the occasion as well, thanks to the variety of fabrics and designs available. When I shared this blog party idea with DH, he was game and took pictures and offered suggestions.
I wore two saris, the first one in peach color with net fabric. It has sequins sewn throughout the entire length and has extra bling in the front, most appropriate for this party.

The second sari that I chose is more traditional in color and although the added gems and stones is a modern touch, the embroidery and the design stems from olden day techniques. DH asked me to pose like an old fashioned bride and I readily agreed. 

Hope, the virtual party or the glimpses of it were fun for you too... 

DO…

I am a ‘Doer’ and so when this word popped up as an inspiration for the ‘word of the year’ in my mind, I had to dig deeper and realize what prompted the thought and it wasn’t difficult to see what I am being guided into.

‘Do’ with intention, attention to detail and a big picture plan.
If you have read me before, you know I believe in the universe and look for signs while following my intuition closely. So, it’s tough to ignore signs when it’s asking you to ‘do’. I have to explain this in the same thought process as it came to me so pardon me if it feels choppy or random blathering…

I am constantly busy and setting 15 minute times to attend to chores is a most favored way of getting it done. If you noticed my graph for the miles run, it had most miles in the week before I was set to finish it; make a last minute push which is just in time that you still maintain the illusion that you finished it comfortably and you still have energy left over. If I set a target to practice my dance 25 times before my Saturday class, I usually squeeze them all in on Friday night… Do you notice a pattern here?

Yes, I ‘do’ too and I’d like to change that. Faith, intuition and belief that it will all work out is wonderful perspective to hold close to your heart but it doesn’t replace the work that needs to go into pulling it together and I have never been afraid of work, may be lazy at times but never afraid to work.
And work is beautiful; it shows and feels good to ‘DO’…

So the plan is to do with intentions of getting it ‘done’ and not in a last minute rush but at a steady pace following a plan and monitoring progress… I have made a few goals, some that I can quantify and express like the list below and others that I’d rather not because I’d rather drink 64 ounces of water each day than set an yearly target and meet it by mid-year and exhaust the allowed water quota for the rest of the year…
LOL! Ya, I am totally capable of doing that.

In 2012, I plan to…

Run 500 miles

Bike/Walk 250 miles with family (in addition to personal runs)

Make 366 Scrapbook pages

Do 12 art projects (paintings)

Document my projects better at work

Chart a path for my dream artisan project

Focus more on consumption and less on acquisition

Nurture and grow

Drink more water

Eat more vegetables

Better attend to the household chores

Finish old projects before starting new ones

Take action

DO MORE….

I found this inspirational quote at Karen Russell’s blog and it will serve as a perfect lighthouse during stormy weather… Where will I be in a year from now?

Time is inevitably going to pass and one year from today,

You can find yourself in the exact same spot you're in now,

You can find yourself further away from your goal or

You can find yourself closer to your goal –

So where do you want to be a year from now?

BTW, Happy New Year 2012