New Year: New Calendar

Happy New Year! Let's ring in the new, and throw out the old. No, wait! Don't throw out the old. Instead, "upcycle" it.

As I near the age matching the year I was born (mid-50's), I find this creative phrase a metaphor for life. Instead of grumbling about all those things that we mid-50 year old women find astonishing (like hairs on the upper lip, a body in need of toning, and grumpy teenage children, just to name a few), it is time to upcycle ourselves: limit the sugar and white flour, exercise for life, share a smile more often, and stop being so hard on ourselves. The super-Mom syndrome of the past few decades is no longer acceptable. Instead, it is time to find a gentle balance on our continuing journey called life. That being said, here are my Top 10 resolutions for 2011:

 1. Donate un-used craft items to Girl Scouts.
 2. (Continue to) volunteer at senior centers.
 3. Organize (i.e., toss out) expired coupons, old receipts, and newspaper clippings that I saved to read (but didn't).
 4. Spend more time reading novels and non-fiction.
 5. Take a class to expand my computer knowledge (which will benefit my blog).
 6. Take vitamins regularly.
 7. Add a day of tennis to my bi-weekly tennis schedule.
 8. Hide the chocolate--from me (i.e., don't buy the stuff anymore).*
 9. Enjoy spending time (instead of arguing) with our younger daughter for the next eight months before she goes off to college .
10.Think outside the box (i.e., my comfort zone) and expand my crafting repertoire.

*This is going to be tough!

Let's start with Resolution #10: expanding my crafting repertoire; thus, I present my first altered art project for the new year:

Calendar & Photo Canvas

Material List:

9" x 12" and 6 x 8" canvas panels

coordinating scrapbook paper cut 8-1/2" x 11-1/2" and 5-1/2" x 7-1/2"

acrylic paint & foam brushes

Mod Podge (glossy)

Binder clips

Buttons

Spiral paper clip

Hemp cord

Calendar, cut to fit smaller canvas (I found these for 50 cents at Michael's)

metal label holder & brads

4" x 6" acrylic flat photo frame

photo (which is interchangeable)

double-sided foam tape

assorted ribbon & ric-rac

silk flower (cut from stem and backing)

number stickers

hot glue gun

If you would like a tutorial, leave me a comment and I will be happy to email it to you.  Also, if you like this bright color combination, click here to see the matching mail & note holder I made last year.

Now onto Resolution #9:  enjoying my 17-year old--that is, after she yells at me for waking her...Happy New Year!

Editor's Note:  This is a repost of my 2011 calendar.  Time to update it for the new year!

Doreen

Linking to these fabulous party blogs:

Wake Up Wednesday
Silly Pearl Project Inspire(d)
A Dose of Paige Create & Share
Project Parade Link-Up
Domesblissity
      

Welcome 2012: Enter at Your Own Risk

Happy New Year!  Hope you had a wonderful and creative holiday season. 

Have you packed up all the holiday decorations yet?  We did.  It's always so nice to bring them out from the garage every year.  Then it's a chore great putting them away. 

Our home always looks so clean afterwards with just one exception:  my craft cave.  [I call it a cave because it is slightly larger than our master bathroom.]  It is currently a dangerous "Enter at Your Own Risk" space with craft supplies everywhere except where they should be: spread out on the floor, piled high upon the chair, and strewn across my desk.  Everything needs to be organized.  Ugh!  All I want to do is create new altered art projects.  However, I cannot even walk into the room without tripping on a cutting board and hundreds of ribbon spools.

So in the spirit of recycling, and in avoidance of the inevitable purging and organizing that awaits, I offer you my first post from last year as the first post of this year!   However, I've left out the rhetoric.  I'm not going to even pretend that I achieved all my goals.  That's what January is all about. It's the start of a new year. Everyone gets a clean slate to tackle the old and bring in the new resolutions, goals, aspirations and ideas.

So good luck to me, and good luck to you!  Ready, Set, Go! 

Calendar & Photo Canvas

Material List:

• 9" x 12" and 6 x 8" canvas panels
• coordinating scrapbook paper cut 8-1/2" x 11-1/2" and 5-1/2" x 7-1/2"
• acrylic paint & foam brushes
• Acrylic adhesive sealer
• Binder clips
• Buttons
• Spiral paper clip
• Hemp cord
• calendar, cut to fit smaller canvas (I found these for 50 cents at Michael's)
• metal label holder & brads
• 4" x 6" acrylic flat photo frame
• photo (which is interchangeable)
• double-sided foam tape
• assorted ribbon, ric-rac
• silk flower (cut from stem and backing)
• number stickers
• hot glue gun

If you like the bright color combination used for this calendar canvas, click here to see the matching mail & note holder I made last year.  Also, I have a written tutorial available.  If you would like a copy, just leave me a comment with your email address :) 

And here's another calendar canvas created with a different color scheme:

Editor's Note:  I plan to clean up the craft cave this weekend, and create something new, and post it next month sometime week.  Also, for those of you keeping count, I admit to only posting four Chanukah projects in my Eight Projects of Chanukah series.  [sigh]

Doreen

Attending these wonderful parties:  Oopsey Daisy, The Answer is Chocolate, 504 Main,

Serenity Now Weekend Blog, Tatertots & Jello, House of Hepworths, I {heart} Naptime,

Positively Splendid, Flamingo Toes, Making the World Cuter Craft-o-Maniac, Project Queen, Today's Creative Blog, Rook No.17, Someday Crafts Whatever Goes Wednesday, Oopsey Daisy, Ginger Snaps Crafts, Passionately Artistic, The Girl Creative Lil Luna, Dumpster Diva, Happy Hour Projects, A Glimpse Inside, Saved by Suzy, Katherine's Corner, Homemaker in Heels, It's Overflowing with Creativity