By Elizabeth Prata
I've been off from school a week now, and that includes the weekend and the Memorial Day holiday just passed. So really, 4 work days. I spent the last week navel gazing, napping, and watching TV. I 'took the week off' so to speak and completely vegged out.
Now I have to get on a more consistent routine. I can easily sink into total laziness and fritter away this blessed time the Lord has given me. I think a lot about how to use the time for Him best. After all He gave me a job I love AND that comes with buckets of time off. I must be about my Father's business, and during school vacations I have no excuse.
I also have more mental and physical energy so that means experimenting with some hobbies. I like to make art, either writing or photography, which comes easy to me, or collages and painting, which is painfully hard and yields products that look like a 2 year old did them. Oh well, I try.
I decided to make a project of eyeball-inventorying my papers I've collected for crafting, something I have not done in a while. Inventorying nor crafting.
Then I discovered Etsy. Dangerous place. I initially went there to search out book subscriptions. I bought one book subscription, it was the kind where the shop owner puts a book in the box after you select your genre, and adds a couple of other surprises, like a sticker, bookmark, or treat. I liked the book I received and the little extras, and the whole idea of the surprise, but decided not to pursue any book subscription box because I can buy books way cheaper on my own and the extras didn't make the price worth it.
However, at Etsy that book-box search brought me to ephemera for crafting. I love paper. Really, really love all kinds of paper. So of course I then searched for stationery, collage paper, ephemera, and handmade lokta paper. I put a filter on my search for less than $10 and free shipping. I found some clearance sales and other items that were low cost. This is what I bought: Everything was under $8 and several were less than $5.
This represents 5 purchases, each bundle was a different purchase. Some are lokta, some are cardstock, some is ephemera
Left is 80-pieces ephemera closeup and right are cardstock in different designs
Left is a bundle of embossed/textured paper and right are 4X4 Lokta papers
hedgehogs paper so cute!
mushrooms, so 1970s!
I found a woman's Youtube channel who seems experienced, can articulately explain things, and is calm. You'd be surprised how many people have a youtube channel who are not articulate. Or are too frenetic. Or who don't know to pan slowly and you leave their video feeling seasick from all the swings and moves.
Anyway she's Margarete Miller @MargareteMiller and I enjoyed her video '10 things she wished she knew as a beginner collage maker'. I hold little hope that I will make anything comprehensible or that I will even allow to see the light of day, but I keep trying. "Trying and failing in making art since 1990" is my sad motto, lol.
Anyway, I do have plenty of supplies and I can quit Etsy now. That was one of the ten things Margarete mentioned- THIS craft supply or THAT latest gizmo will not make you a better collager. Only practice accumulated into experience will make you better. To that end, I bought her gluebook planner, each page has prompts for collages and a starting place. I never quail at a blank page when I write. But I di when I make art. I hold little hope that I will stick with the progressive prompts thru the year. I rarely stick with most organized plans I put myself on. But hey, I know myself. Doesn't that count for something?
I have edifying material to read and also some summer reading light stuff like James Patterson and chick lit. I'll read the edifying stuff in the mornings and in the afternoons the light stuff, then watch a tv show or two. I'm currently addicted to Doctor Cha, a K-drama. The final episode to the season is tomorrow and I cannot wait.
So that is the outlook for my summer. I am not traveling so I invested in some paper for crafting. I like my quiet summers of reading, naps, and church.
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