On a cozier note.

Jeez, where should I start?

Well, I did finish one of my UFOs. I finally have a finished pair of cable-knit boot cuffs, my attempt at being trendy. :)  They're warm and cute and I sort of feel like Santa Claus when I wear them, but it feels good to be able to cross something off my list.

 

Also, I followed through on a couple of New Year's resolutions before I had a chance to make quilts for them!  I hadn't expected that to happen, and I'm not sure what to do now.  Time to think up a couple of new resolutions.  I can tell you what one of the resolutions was, but only if you promise not to laugh.  Promise?  I signed up for Zumba classes.  Yes, I'm finally fitting into smaller jeans after popping out two gigantic babies (one 10-pounder and one 9-pounder, thank you very much).  But I'm definitely not in shape.  I'm active on a daily basis and the little dudes keep me plenty busy, but I don't do much to keep my heart rate up.  So I figured since I love to dance like a fool in the privacy of my own home, why not dance like a fool in the company of...um...other fools?  :)

 

And I'll tell you what the other resolution was soon.

 

It's been very cold for the past couple of weeks, so I've reunited with my art journal.  I hadn't picked it up since around Thanksgiving (when things started to get really busy).  Now that the holidays have passed, I've had more time to devote to it.

 

 

I also got a book gift card for Christmas, and I put it to good use.  I got a couple of books by artist/art journalist, Danny Gregory.  Omigod, I'm addicted!  You've got to see his books.  They were/are great inspiration to get me journaling again, and his drawings are amazing.  Plus, they're just a pleasure to read.  It's always fun to read another person's perspectives on life and grief and creativity, and I found his to be so...human.  I have a back-ordered book of his coming in a few days, and I can't wait!  Check him out.

 

Oh, one more thing about his books, and then I'll shut up. In the book, Everyday Matters, Gregory has drawings of the everyday stuff that's around us...our food, our living space, stuff that we typically take for granted.  Looking at the book sort of gave me permission to draw and write about ordinary stuff.  I was sort of waiting around for something fabulous and different to draw, or to go someplace new and exciting and draw and write about that.  And I was coming up short.  So I was inspired to draw and write about a familiar place just down the street....

 

 

Or about some familiar thoughts and emotions...

 

 

 

Wow, that was therapeutic.  Releasing fears onto paper somehow releases them from ones body and mind.  This is the cheapest therapy I know of!   And the journal entries don't have to be about anything particularly exciting or different.  Just put stuff in it!  Now I have to go out and get another journal because I have two, yes two, blank pages left in it. And I know I'll be filling them up soon, because I am on a roll!