The Journey Continues ... New Life from Old

I have a number of thoughts from the past week to process and then distill into a blog post.  It looks like I won't get around to that for a couple more days.  Meanwhile, I want to share a link to our church's Christmas Eve sermon.   http://stjamestheapostleregina.wordpress.com/sermons/  or on Facebook, you can hear the sermons at https://www.facebook.com/StJamesRegina I don't think my comments will add anything extra to these sermons, so I'll close this post, giving you time to check out these links.

UPDATE 2017:  This year, I really needed to read my own post from 2014.  With grandkids and flus & colds before Christmas, I feel like I'll never get everything ready by the time company arrives for dinner on December 25.    And from 2015: I'm so glad I don't over-do the Christmas season... Don't get me wrong.  I love the entire Christmas season.  I love the church services, especially late at night on Christmas Eve with a soft snowfall as I leave.  I love the carols, the decorations, the baking, turkey dinner on the 25th, seeing family and friends, Christmas cards ... all of that.  I even love shopping. I don't care about the crowds or complain if the stores are playing the same carols over and over.  I love it all. I just don't get overly anxious about getting everything done.  Whatever gets done is fine with me.  Whatever doesn't get done ... well, there's always next year.  There's limits to my philosophy for sure.  I mean, if I didn&#

I'm so very blessed that my husband loves Christmas so much.  About a week ago I woke up to find he had put up the majority of our decorations.  Instant Christmas!  Our grandchildren were excited to discover the lights and all the various items we have collected over the years.  Their reaction was the best part of it all. Feeling like I should do something to contribute to the way things look for the holidays, I started some housecleaning today ... washing cupboards, cleaning appliances, that sort of thing.  It never seems right to start Christmas baking until the kitchen is just the way I want it to look, with freshly cleaned and organized cupboards.  Just a quirk of mine! While we don't do a major gift exchange any more, we do buy for the grandchildren.  I like to make something for them as well.  My plan is to start their gifts this weekend, along with the first of the baking.  I am looking for a craft to do with them as well ... something special for Christmas, and prob

After not posting for over a month, I am feeling inspired to write but I should be preparing for this weekend's craft sale. I will compromise with a short post. This weekend Ruth's Green Treasures will have a table at a new two-day craft sale.  The sale will raise dollars for MS.  The organizers are people I met at a craft show in the spring, who decided we should host our own sale.  I hope there will be a good group of vendors and customers.  I am not familiar with the venue but have heard that it's very good. This week's preparation will be mostly focused on producing fused plastic wallets and gift card holders.  I was hoping to make a couple more rugs but that looks unlikely now.  My working time is being reduced by two meetings I committed to attending:  one is a women's meal & meditation at church, and the second is a Save the Children meeting that I somehow volunteered to host at my house.  What was I thinking when I agreed to the date? I found a

As soon as I saw the announcement that Etsy was going to have a Etsy-Made in Canada Day, I knew I was going to participate.  Never mind that my city wasn't one of the market sites.  Never mind that I had to apply and be approved as a vendor.  I knew I would be there.  As luck and, possibly, my ability to see the future would have it, indeed I did participate in the market day. The market event itself was great.  A number of vendors commented that it was the best craft sale they had attended.  Erin, the Saskatchewan team leader who organized the event, did a fantastic job.  She had family members help, including her brother who chalked side-walks for blocks around the venue to encourage foot traffic to attend.  There was an origami table to entertain children of all ages, a super assortment of handmade products, and lots and lots of customers.  Erin did a lot of media work to publicize the event --social media, newspaper, and tv -- and it paid off handsomely. On the cuttin

I'm really pleased to have finally launched my latest "Green Treasures" ... wallets made from upcycled plastic bags that are fused into a new, strong material that is super light but strong.  I love creating the fused plastic; impossible to recreate two that are the same, so every item is so unique. I have listed one wallet plus a "teabag" wallet and card holder that I'm selling as a prototype.  It didn't start out as a teabag wallet but the design took on a life of its own.  They are fun little gifts or for a treat for yourself.  I'm keeping the prices low, at least to begin, because I feel like I'm still developing the process, thus each item seems better than the last. This is a short post, just to celebrate the product launch.  I have a few sheets of fused plastic that I've created, waiting to be cut and stitched, so hope to list lots more items in the next few days. Let me know what you think.  And what features are important to yo

Every day I look at the spaces I use most, and every day I promise myself I will de-clutter, organize, tidy, clean, whatever you want to call it.  Every day thinking about doing all that makes me very very tired, and I often succumb to a voice in my head that says, “you need to have a nap”.  Some days I do feel awake and productive, and I can get a lot done when I feel that way.  Unfortunately, it rarely lasts two days in a row, and by the time I get back to the organizing project, I have to re-do so much of what I got started the last time. Two steps forward, two steps back.  Inertia. So this time, I am not looking at it as cleaning and de-cluttering.  I’m looking at it as creating a new workspace for my projects.  Some of that workspace is in the basement where I want to create a proper studio for my projects and everything related to my Etsy shop.  And some of it is on the main floor, where I sometimes prefer to work and enjoy the sunshine.  And then there’s my closet ….

Has it really been months since I posted?  Yikes.  I've been adding more and more blogs to my reading list, and reading as much as I can, so I guess my own writing went by the wayside.  Plus ... so much as been happening in life. The grand kids just grow more precious every day.  They are beautiful little beings, full of curiosity and love, and I don't think it's possible to spend too much time with them.  That being said, I sure am ready for a nap whenever they take one!  It's a full time job keeping up with them.  The oldest is two and a half, and just discovered bubbles.  He got a set recently, and it's been a daily activity for him.  It is pure joy to watch his fascination with the bubbles that float away in the breeze. Baby is walking now and enjoying her freedom to play and move around independently.  At the risk of being totally repetitive, she is a beautiful little girl. I signed on with a couple of companies to do mystery shopping and completed a numb

Yay. Another sale. I usually have my first cup of coffee in bed while I check emails and shop stats on Etsy.. Yesterday, there it was - an email saying I had been paid -- so I knew something had sold. That's a great way to start the day. It was my first non-North America sale, which made it extra special.  Recently I saw some notices of upcoming craft shows. Now, if I left it to myself, I would likely think, "hmm, I should enter," and then miss the registration deadline. So I talked to my sister, who has been doing a lot of painting lately, and asked if she had enough inventory to enter the show and, if so, I'd share a table with her. She is organized and gets things done -- on time, no less! So we are entered in three craft shows. I have done a couple of shows before, but they ended up being not-craft shows ... most of the tables were rented to home party sales people, so lots of Tupperware, candle companies, and cookware dealers, but very few crafts. The

The new year is no longer so new, it being February now. No need for season's greetings anymore; it will soon be time to tally up the resolutions I have kept, except I didn't write any. Does anyone else have time slip away from them like this? I closed my Etsy shop for most of January while I was on a bit of a vacation. I believe the shop notice said to come back in February to see my new shop look. Hmmm, there's no new look but I have been toying with making the products I want to list.  My new project has been experimenting with fused plastic. It's fun and feels really creative, in a I'm-being-green-and-saving-the-landfills sort of happy way. I spent a few hours online to get an idea of how to fuse the plastic ... it's plastic shopping bags. Everyone cautions that you must work in a well ventilated room due to fumes (even if you can't smell any, they're there). I had a window open beside me, despite the fact that the wind chill was minus 35