And the winner is.....

Julie - please send me an email! You've won a copy of Jill Berry's fabulous book - but you haven't left a way for me to get in touch with you. Please shoot me a note quickly!

And just a hint to everyone - if you leave a comment for a giveaway - leave your email or add it to your blogger ID and set your profile to public.

Joy in Service: Day 10 The Gift of Music

There was a time in my life when I wanted to be a professional musician. I gave up that idea when I chose to have children and mother them myself. It was incredibly painful and I thought I'd never be able to play my horn again, never have the experience of playing with an orchestra in my life again. 

I was wrong. Today I'm spending hours playing some of the most beautiful music there is with a group of musicians who come together just to share it freely with the community during Christmas.

I've spent hours at rehearsal and practicing but that doesn't even come close to what the conductor and organizers have put in. Or the soloists. Nobody is being paid for this but because we all find such joy in sharing music we are happy to do it.

I think one thing I've finally lived long enough to understand is that when you sacrifice something, things change... but often the change is beautiful.


Of course it was worth sacrificing that dream to have my children and be with them. But I had no idea of the blessings that would come from it.

www.apexnativity.org

I never would have imagined myself as an artist or someone who travels and teaches art to others. That never would have happened in the driven, single purpose, life of the musician I thought I wanted to be. I certainly have as much joy from sharing art as I do from sharing music.



And now I have music too. It's certainly different than it was. I'm nowhere near as good but this time, it's not all about me, and about being the best and beating out the other musicians for a chair or solo spot. This time it's about sharing the beauty and the fun of music.

If you are anywhere near Apex, North Carolina come today and share with us. The Apex Nativity Celebration is a display of over 800 nativity sets from around the world. There will be live music the whole day. At 7:30 we'll play and sing Handel's Messiah together. There is nothing like making music. Even better is sitting in the orchestra in the middle of it all. (I'm in heaven there!) It's just as good to be in a crowd of hundreds making this beautiful noise.

www.apexnativity.org

How can you share your talents and gifts today?

In what way, big or small, are you making the world a better place?

Please leave a comment telling me about your experience.

We'll inspire and give ideas for service to each other and I'd love to send you a little gift from my studio in return.

Work in Progress: rockstar boro

Today was a hurried scurry from one errand to the next.

As per usual I had left several things to the very last minute.

Son's tunic for his school's ren-fest was one of them. He's one super excited little nobleman wearing his dad's size 13 pirate boots.

Then instead of getting started on dinner or sitting with kidlets to get homework done I decided that I really, really, really wanted to just get the last gore sewn and the zipper in on my boro project. (I'm following along with Melaine Testa's rockstar boro project this month.) 

So I did it. I haven't sewn in an invisible zipper in several years and I must say I was rather pleased with myself.  Nice tight insertion. The seam lays flat. I was a little lazy and just zig-zagged the seam allowances to the zipper tape rather than the fancy french seams or bindings I often do.

Then I trimmed up the waist and made a binding for the waistband. I've even topstiched all the seams in this skirt, whether they are raw side out or in. I've mixed it up a bit on the skirt.

Then I held it up and turned it around.

Pause.

Look again.

I sewed the zipper and the binding inside out. 

Granted, some of the seams are inside out and some outside in on this upcycled garment made from old linen shirts in my interpretation of the boro spirit. That confuses the issue a bit. But I purposefully held the skirt up, placed the zipper, looked at it carefully and distinctly told myself to make sure I do it on the correct side. And promptly proceeded to sew it inside out.

Time to go make dinner.

After dinner little miss ripper and I will get down to business while we sit next to kidlet who really does not want to do homework. Sigh.

The funny part is that skirts and I have a history. Back in high school I was sewing what was one of my very favorite skirts. Grey pinwhale corduroy, ruffle at the bottom with a raised portion so that a fake lace petticoat could show through. I was talking on the phone to a boy while I sewed in the pointed yoke and waistband and zipper. I sewed it in upside down. 

Twice. 

In a row.

Joy in Service: Day 8 Your Time is a Gift

I'm busy. It can be overwhelming. I hear people talk about television shows I've never heard of and wonder what it would be like to have time to sit and do nothing but watch an hour of TV. I'm tired too.

Signature: half time by Lyric Montgomery Kinard

I was at a rehearsal last night and it was getting later and later and they were playing through some numbers that didn't have horn parts but we had to wait around because the very last number had horns. Did I mention that I was tired? I found myself thinking tired and grumpy and irritated thoughts.

Then I thought - my time is my gift.

And I sat and enjoyed the music for a few minutes.

I was grateful for its beauty and so many people who were working so hard to produce it.

It was a shift in attitude that made all the difference.

It takes time to truly listen to a child or a client. It takes time to go out of your way and deliver a package or a meal. It takes time to create something beautiful for someone. The time you are taking to make the world a better place reminds me that my time, the most precious thing I own right now, is a gift.

Please tell me what you did today to make the world a better place.

You inspire me to be a better person.

Book Review (and a giveaway): Personal Geographies

I introduced you to Jill K. Berry here - she's an amazing mixed media artist and I am greatly attracted to her work. Lettering, maps, beautiful colors, collage? I love it. I wonder if those things tie into my college days as an architecture student?

I'm rambling. To the point. Jill has the most amazing book out titled

Personal Geographies: Explorations in Mixed-Media Mapmaking

It's part project/technique, part inspiration, and ALL eye-candy and 

I get to give away a copy to one of you who

comment on this post!

You have until Dec 10th to tell me about your favorite map and what it means to you.

Campomigliaio Head Map by Giavanni Cera

My favorites? All of them.

There is something that intrigues me about maps of every kind. I can stare at them for hours. I have large laminated world and US maps on my wall that I'll drag the kids up to any time a "where" question comes up. I save every single National Geographic map insert and would paper my walls with them if I could get away with it. (Wait a minute - why wouldn't I? Hmmmmm - dangerous thoughts arising here!) 

Heart Map by Jill Berry

I love maps even more when they are of imagined worlds. I a huge fantasy and ski-fi literature freak and the maps of those worlds are some of my favorites. 

Maps as ART? Oh be still my beating heart. I've had a series of "map" quilts in my head for ages, waiting and waiting for me to get around to working on them. This book might just push them right to the front of the line.

Flipping Trip by Jill Berry

This book is full of those wonderful interior and imaginary maps, beautiful galleries of work from many different artists in different media.

I think perhaps one of the reasons I'm so drawn to mixed media work is that the techniques are very applicable to textiles. I can do almost anything on fabric these days that artists can do with paper or collage or paint. I can print stuff on fabric (isn't that the coolest thing!?!?) or even collage paper to it. (QA magazine has a number of articles that detail how to make "paper cloth.")

While I don't pick up project books intending to follow along a copy someone else's projects - these ideas are all so inspirational that they are sparking all kinds of images in my minds eye. This fold-up map box could just as easily be made with cloth on a stabilizer like craft fuse or timtex.

Cartographic Reliquary by Jill Berry

If you want even more yummy map type stuff - check out the blog that Jill started to further inspire you with more mapmaking beauty and wonderfulness.

  http://personal-geographies.com/

There you will find links to book reviews, podcasts, other cool map links.

Carved copper hand map by Jill Berry

Don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win!

Each of these blogs still has a giveaway of Jill's book open. Visit each and leave a comment for more chances to win your own copy of Personal Geographies. All the winners will be drawn on December 10th.

fine print: the publisher is only willing to ship to domestic US addresses. :-(

Friday, Nov 25 Aimee Myers Dolich http://artsyville.blogspot.com/

Mon Nov 28 Carla Sonheim http://carlasonheim.wordpress.com/

Tues Nov 29 Diana Trout http://www.dianatrout.typepad.com/

Weds Nov 30 Gloria Hansen http://www.gloriahansen.com/weblog/

Thurs Dec 1 Gwen Diehn http://real-life-journals.blogspot.com/

Friday Dec 2 Jane LaFazio http://www.JaneVille.blogspot.com 

Mon Dec 5 Judy Wise http://www.judywise.blogspot.com/

Tues Dec 6 Lisa Engelbrecht http://lisaletters.blogspot.com/

Weds Dec 7 Lyric Kinard http://lyrickinard.blogspot.com/

Thurs Dec 8 Orly Avineri http://oneartistjournal.wordpress.com 

Friday Dec 9 Tracie Lyn Huskamp http://thereddoor-studio.blogspot.com/

Jill Berry's map of her wedding day

And if I hadn't already bought my copy the minute it came out, I'd certainly buy it now.

During the Blog hop, there is a also a great deal here from the publisher.
Get FREE Shipping and 35% off retail price for PERSONAL GEOGRAPHIES! 

Visit ShopMixedMedia.com and use promo code SMM106 to claim your savings.

[Fine Print: Offer expires 12/09/11 at 11:59 pm EST. Offer applies to standing shipping in the US only. Please note that additional discounts and shipping offers are not available on products that ship directly from the manufacturer: see product pages for details. Thank you for shopping at ShopMixedMedia.com!]

Joy in Service: Day 6 Thank a Worker

The invisible ones.

The guys who pick up your garbage. The custodian who cleans up the school. The bus driver. The kid who gathers the grocery carts. Your mail carrier.

What ideas do you have for ways to thank them. I'm thinking of standing out when our garbage truck driver comes through and handing him a gift. They drive by in the big robot trucks so the driver doesn't usually get out of the truck... I'd have to get his attention some how. We love the robot truck. We run to the window to watch the arms reach out and grab the bin and lift it up so high to dump it into the truck! I think I might still run to the window to watch even without kids.

Boro Project by Lyric Kinard

I've been mentioning this to so people as I'm out in different places and it's so much fun to see them think of little ideas they can do to make someone feel better. I did stop and say thank you to the secretary at my kidlet's school, and told her how great she looked. I didn't leave myself enough time to give a gift. I did some quick shopping later and instead of just picking up teacher gifts, I picked up extras for the bus driver, the secretary, and the custodians. They need the lift as much as the teachers do.

But I feel bad for one thing. I was rotten grouchy after some worse than usual "homework fights" with the kids last night and after they went to bed I went to the grocery store. I smiled and asked one girl who was stocking shelves how she was and she said "tired." I smiled and said "tired too." I wish, wish, wish, I had a little gift... a flower, anything, to give her. Or maybe I should have just knelt down next to her and given her a very quick hug and told her thank you for what she does. Now I know what to do next time.



And here is the progress on my Boro project. One more gore in the skirt, a zipper and a hems and then some of the real fun begins. I think I might raid my stash of hand dyed lace. I like the idea of embroidering stories into the cloth as Melly does.

Upcycling!

Please tell me what you did to make the world a better place today!

It's not bragging - it's giving me ideas for what I can do.

It's inspiring others to look outward.

There is nothing that makes one feel better than helping someone else.

And I'm having so much fun sending little thank-you gifts from my studio. Mostly some lovely Quilting Arts magazines that I need to clear out, but a few other things here and there.

Joy in Service - Day 5 upcycle something

Yesterday you did so many lovely things. Knitted prayer shawls and caps for soldiers, gave compliments, coffee cozies and desert choices to both strangers and loved ones. I offered a ride to a friend and fed a couple of hungry young missionaries who were far from home. I sat next to someone looking alone. 

Gene Black is making and collecting lap quilts for a youth center. Do you have one you can ship off?

Today I'm officially joining Melanie Testa in her Rockstar Boro project.

Look here to learn more about this beautiful japanese upcycling art form.

I've had this stack of old linen shirts - cut up and laying over the back of my studio chair for months. I'll start there and work out a skirt. I know it's not exactly following the Boro esthetic of appliquéing onto existing garments.... but I'll get there.

First this had to come off Brunhilda, my duct-tpe-double. I've enjoyed remembering my fabulous sisters every time I glanced over to it's colorful corner. (really, you've got to go check us out...you'll smile!)

This is the progress so far in the first quick hour.

After I get back from lunch and center time at kidlet5's school I'll sew a few more bits together. I think I'll take something (who knows what) as a little surprise giftie for the front office secretary.

Tell me what you did today!